Survival

The first CIA officer killed in the line of duty rode for six months across deserts and mountains while escaping Communist China. by Stephen Caldwell Douglas Mackiernan rode at the front of the caravan, pushing his horse across the frozen Tibetan plateau. The animals were thin, the men exhausted, and …

Four true accounts of men who ran out of options, water, and luck on the continent, and found a way through anyway. Africa doesn’t negotiate. When things go wrong, the nearest help may be hours away, and the backup plan may come down to whoever is standing beside you. Soldier …

by Martin Kufus Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from  Plow the Dirt but Watch the Sky, a memoir by Martin Kufus, a former editor at Soldier of Fortune. This chapter shows Martin’s experience at the Special Forces SERE Instructor Qualification Course, where he encountered the legendary Col. Nick Rowe – …

We were leaning over the throttles, breaking the seals on our masks, and yelling at each other. by Mitchell “Taco” Bell To all my passenger friends out there who always text me with the crazy pilot questions, I can assure you as pilots we train for this stuff all the …

Deep in the jungle, there’s no medevac, no backup, and no room for mistakes. At the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center, instructors teach Navy corpsmen to be the light in a dark time. For 10 relentless days, they learn to survive, treat the wounded, and move through terrain that wants …

No music, no narration, just the sounds of men as they navigate the rappel wall. These U.S. Marines tackle the wall during a jungle exercise at the Jungle Warfare Training Center, Okinawa, Japan. The week-long course teaches Marines survival skills and increases proficiency in fighting in a jungle environment. This …

One of the rules in the Yukon Territory is that hunting guides must always be within hearing distance of their hunters. This is a good rule, as we soon shall see.  It was the first day of an early September expedition when hunting guide David O’Farrell brought an archery hunter …

Then-Corporal Kenneth “Rock” Merritt poses for a photo. (Courtesy Photo) During World War II, Kenneth “Rock” Merritt was aboard a plane that got lost over France. Here are his memories of his experiences in the Army from 1942-45. His words are as follows. … I was sworn into the Army on …

The crew of Little Eva bailed out of their B-24 Liberator over northern Australia in 1942. They spent the next four months trying to get out through flooded wilderness, tidal coastline, and river country. Not everyone made it. by Jose Campos The trees caught him hard enough to stop the …

The French Foreign Legion these days is more exclusive than it used to be. If there is an Interpol notice against you, for example, you won’t get through the gate. A century ago, however, a man who wanted to escape his past and assume a new identity could disappear into …