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 …
Read More »Eerie Silences and Strange Time Warps: The Weirdness of Life Aboard a Submarine
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 …
Read More »The Cordon: One Very Bad Day in Baqubah
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 …
Read More »Green on Blue in Afghanistan: He Attacked Us for 40 Bucks and a Trip to Paradise
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 …
Read More »We Attacked the Jungle With Flamethrowers and Explosives
by Marvin J. Wolf, The War Horse Tall, muscular, broad-shouldered, with a full head of white hair, Brig. Gen. John M. Wright Jr. scrambled up a termite mound, some 30 feet wide at the base and seven or eight feet high, and gestured for us to draw into a semicircle. …
Read More »Election Day in Iraq: We Were the QRF for Trouble Spots
by Greg Chabot I was taking MRE coffee and putting it between my cheek and gums to stay alert: an exhausting mission when elections were held in Iraq for the first time in two years. Election day started off very early for us. A nation-wide curfew was declared, and buses …
Read More »The Giants of Afghanistan: Mystery Tales From the GWOT
by Greg Chabot For Halloween, Greg Chabot leads us down the rabbit hole in search of the legendary Giants of Afghanistan. So gather ’round in the dark and hold your flashlights under your chins, while Greg tells the tales. ~SKK Throughout history there have been phenomena and sightings of things …
Read More »A Strange, Spectral Quiet Spooked Our Team in Afghanistan – Was It a Ghost?
by Heath Hansen I slowly poured a bit of water into my MRE heater bag and waited as the chemicals reacted and began to warm. I slid the main course into the packet and folded the top sleeve over, laying the bag against a rock or something. As I waited …
Read More »When the Lance Corporal Met His Match Against Gummy Bears
by Mitchell “Taco” Bell Back in 2005, I spent a tour living in an old Iraq bathroom in the control tower on Al Taqqadum airbase. Great place, you get a bit smell tone deaf to the room, but it was better than tent living. We received a ton of care …
Read More »They Called Us Mercenaries, Gunslingers, and Worse: A Contractor’s Story
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 …
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