War

by Friedrich Seiltgen  During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force’s Forward Air Controllers (FACs) became critical to the war effort, serving as eyes on the battlefield and marking enemy targets. The overall mission began during World War II with Air Liaison Officers directing close air support from the ground …

by Jose Campos They knew the enemy was coming. On that day in March 1971, Army 1st Lt. Brian Miles Thacker and his seven-man team braced for the inevitable. But when the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launched their assault, it was not a question of whether the firebase would fall …

“Be ferocious in battle and magnanimous in victory.” The British Army’s Col. Tim Collins gave this eve-of-battle speech to 1 Batt., Royal Irish Regiment, on 19 March 2003, immediately before they went to war in Iraq. Men who were there say they never will forget it. “There may be people …

by Gene Pugh One of the darkest days in Special Forces history occurred on a summer morning in 1968 in Vietnam. In the early hours of Aug. 23, the Da Nang MACVSOG camp known as FOB4 was attacked by approximately 167 soldiers from the combined units of the 22nd VC …

  Former American diplomat William Boudreau encountered mercenaries during his career with the Foreign Service. Here are his recollections and observations about them. by William Boudreau    I will not advocate for a humanitarian award for any mercenary I have known. However, they embrace humanity. My point is they were …

by John Spencer Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of the book “Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War” published by Potomac Books and available for purchase at Amazon here. The excerpt describes 2LT John Spencer’s experience jumping into Iraq as a platoon leader with the 173rd …

As World War I raged across the European continent, the streets of Dublin erupted in violence on Easter Monday, 1916. Not with the tread of an invading army, but with gunfire from Irish rebels. On that day, a force of some 1,600 nationalists rose against British rule, to proclaim the …

Mendoza received a Silver Star for his actions that day in Iraq. The film WARFARE follows a platoon of U.S. Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission gone wrong in November 2006, during a battle against insurgents in Ramadi Province, Iraq. The film from A24 is based on true events. Among them …

by Alex Quade Diyala Province, Iraq — Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (A-Team) 072 rolled into the village. It was dead quiet. Nothing moved. Suddenly, “squirters”—people running away from the village and cars leaving at a high rate of speed. Clearly, something of interest was in that village. A-Team Commander …

by Martin Kufus If Hezbollah’s rocket barrages into northern Israel seem to be a recent phenomenon, they aren’t. As former Soldier of Fortune magazine editor Martin Kufus writes, deadly cross-border attacks from southern Lebanon began decades ago. The following is an excerpt from chapter “L is for Lebanon” of his nonfiction book. Despite …