The Fire Pit

by Greg Chabot The beginning of February 2005 was a busy time in Baqubah. Insurgent activity had picked up considerably, keeping all of us at the Police HQ on our toes. With the end of the deployment coming, I had tried multiple times to extend my tour but was denied. …

Perfume, purloined jewelry and a millionaire’s son form the complex story of Herbert Repsold, a Navy deserter who also was known as the Perfumed Burglar. In the early 1900s, Repsold was a troublesome youth. Growing tired of his son’s antics, the elder Repsold cut off his son’s cash and forced …

by Cliff Wade Iraq, 2007 Every now and again we’d get an outsider attached to our unit on missions. Sometimes they were enablers who proved to be assets, other times they were regarded as interlopers who got in the way. One such instance sticks out in my mind over others: …

Publisher’s note: This article includes a photo of former SOF managing editor Bob Poos, who was a war correspondent in Vietnam. ~SKK by Marvin J. Wolf, The War Horse I steered the Jeep off the dusty, rutted main road and rattled down a well-worn track until I beheld a bizarre …

by Mikial The author tells Soldier of Fortune: “All of my work was with Department of Defense contractors. We never considered ourselves mercenaries although we were called mercenaries, gunslingers, and worse at times. It was difficult and dangerous work and also sometimes boring. We often lived rough in camps and …

The Marine next to me started screaming, which I could clearly hear over the engine and wind noise  by Al Hagan As a Marine Corps lance corporal, I was going through helicopter training at Camp Lejeune. Our bird lands, we jump on, and I find that my seatbelt is adjusted …

The world of anti-poaching is difficult and dangerous. Especially when you come face to face with an enraged rhinoceros. by S. Anderson I’ve always been fascinated by the African Bush. Lions, Leopards, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, and Rhino. The Big 5. Endless rolling hills, dense bush, and undisturbed ecology. Growing up, …

by Jim Lechner Army Ranger (Ret) Jim Lechner wrote the following hymn to comradeship and patriotism – an essay that reverberates among those who long for the lost clarity of war. A veteran of multiple Special Operations missions, Lechner was wounded in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia. He …

By Heath Hansen We entered the base between the HESCO barriers covered in concertina razor-wire, unprepared for a betrayal from one of our supposed allies. On November 9, 2005, as the convoy snaked its way into the safety of the base walls, I could see Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers …

by Greg Chabot Editor’s note: This story contains some very raw, violent material that could bring readers back to their own stark experiences at war. ~SKK It had been quiet in Baqubah with some IEDs going off and some occasional small arms fire in the city. This was about to …