The Fire Pit

by Susan Katz Keating The portrait of a military working cat is part of a display honoring police dogs at the Pentagon. The portrait, a dignified portrayal of “Minou,” shows the gray tabby wearing a collar with a badge labelled “Feline Unit.” The badge contains the image of a paw. The …

BOOK REVIEW by Ric Prado As an avid reader and now a New York Times Bestselling author of Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior, I have learned to truly enjoy historical fiction. These are most often stories based on real life experiences, composed to both instruct and …

by Cliff Wade It was the kind of place where a man earned his name on a bracelet for all eternity.  Iraq, September 2007 In an attempt to win over hearts and minds, we would sometimes be tasked with delivering humanitarian assistance (HA) to local villages or neighborhoods. We would …

by Al Hagan The night started off fairly typically, just four Marines in a car, going out on the town to slam down beers. And it was innocent for most of the night, drinking and shooting pool.  I’ll call my companions Mike, John, and Steve, to pick some random names …

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: …

by Martin Kufus An excerpt from Plow the Dirt but Watch the Sky, by Martin Kufus Anyone who serves as a volunteer firefighter eventually will confront bad things, perhaps receiving a heartfelt “Thank you” later in compensation. This is what you sign up for and train for on a volunteer …

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 Cliff Wade Iraq, 2007 Much more often than not, our missions in Iraq were meticulously planned out well ahead of time. However, there were occasions when opportunities were presented that did not allow enough time for applying the proper troop-leading procedures, and we just winged it.  One such instance …

by David Chetlain, The War HorseI spent 18 months in training before reporting to my first submarine. I learned a lot about damage control, sonar, electronics, and how to distinguish a sperm whale from a humpback whale. But nothing prepared me for the disconnection from Earth that distorted my perception …

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 …