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 »Wilderness Tracking in Arizona: A Mission Along the Border
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 …
Read More »Threatening Skies: Countering the Drone Swarm Apocalypse
by Austin Lee Picture this: A swarm of cheap drones, hundreds strong, blotting out the Texas sun like a biblical plague of locusts. Each carries enough explosive to ruin your day, buzzing low over a sleepy border town. No radar pings, no warning; just chaos. This isn’t a Hollywood blockbuster. …
Read More »We Attacked the Jungle With Flamethrowers and Explosives
by Marvin J. Wolf 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. “Gentlemen, I give …
Read More »“IED! IED! IED!” Hearts and Minds In the War On Terror
By Heath Hansen I opened my eyes. It was still dark, but I could see the night was ending and another day in some village in Afghanistan was beginning. The smell of dip-spit and cigarette smoke betrayed the fact that the platoon was awake and breaking down the patrol base. “Get …
Read More »A Swedish Mercenary in Iraq: A Ghostwriter’s Ode to Axel Stal
by Jonas Vesterberg It was back in 2016. I was at home in Los Angeles when I got a call from my agent in Stockholm. “I have a project but nobody here in Sweden wants to touch it. Maybe you could take a look?” I suppose I was known as …
Read More »‘Day of Infamy’ Commemorations Include Ceremony of the Blackened Canteen
It is an annual toast to peace. American and Japanese representatives extend the offering each year at the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii, gently pouring bourbon from a World War II-era canteen into the hallowed waters below. The ceremonies for decades have been a mainstay on the island of Oahu, …
Read More »Loose Inside a Plummeting Huey: My Feet Were In the Slipstream; My M60 Was Going Out the Door
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 …
Read More »The Battle of Bayonet Hill: Lewis Millett and the ‘Wolfhounds’ at War in Korea
The last major bayonet charge in American military history took place in Korea on February 7, 1951. The charge was carried out by the men of Easy Company, 27th Infantry “Wolfhounds,” during the Battle of Bayonet Hill. The soldiers were led by Cpt. Lewis Millett, who had been awarded the …
Read More »American Soldiers Brought Thanksgiving to Luxembourg in World War II
When American forces liberated the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from Germany in September 1944, the GIs found an unexpected home away from home. Thousands remained in Luxembourg to rest, and restore their morale – and in the process, brought decades of Thanksgiving to their newfound friends. It all started in …
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