Survival

Then-Corporal Kenneth “Rock” Merritt poses for a photo. (Photo Credit: 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 …

Four days of a live-fire exercise left us smoked and ready for exfil. We still had to play a farewell joke. The metal monster boomed over us and arced up and away to the south. It had disgorged its 13 passengers – a U.S. Navy SEAL team, ready to hop …

by Sgt. 1st Class Laura Berry, Massachusetts National Guard STERLING, Mass. – Specialist Ryan Leger finished his drill with Massachusetts National Guard’s 110th Maintenance Company, and his wife picked him up. As they were driving home, they noticed how nice the sunset looked. His wife, Courtney, a photographer, wanted to stop …

This scenario plays out so often, our sources inside the Border Patrol tell us they watch for it closely and act quickly. In this incident from last spring, a one-year-old Guatemalan child was abandoned along the Colorado River in Arizona. As shown in the video below, a smuggler brought the …

Call it a pawsome recovery. A dog named Leo fell from a 300-foot cliff in Oregon earlier this year. It didn’t look good for Leo, since he was injured, and the tide was rising. A rescue crew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria quickly responded and arrived on scene, …

Coast Guard watchstanders in New Orleans were told late at night on May 3 that two boaters were overdue to return from an outing. The two had last been known to be on the water aboard a 23-foot recreational boat. The watchstanders launched a search, and found the disabled vessel. Rescue …

by Heath Hansen “I sent the grids; we’ll be heading out by noon on Thursday,” Tim Foley informs me over the phone, before I hit the road. Foley is a grizzled former paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division, and leader of the volunteer group Arizona Border Recon (AZBR). For more than a …

They call it the world’s toughest row, one that brings voyages to remember – especially this one, for a team that encountered high waves during their 2022 expedition. That’s when an All-American team of four military veterans were rescued after their boat capsized during a 3,000-mile Atlantic rowing challenge. Fight …

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 – …

The benefits of training to shoot while moving. by Gary Paul Johnston Traditionally, cops have been trained to shoot while standing still. By now it should be pretty clear where this is going, and going should be the name of the game when the going gets tough. When I became …