by Heath Hansen Everything became eerily still, until… it blinked. “ENEMY!” Fils screamed. Then all hell broke loose.  The sun was just setting on the thick canopy of trees and bushes surrounding their position. It was a long day of humping through the dense growth; but it had been productive. …

by Jose Campos It started under cover of darkness. In the early hours of an August morning in 1980, three men in white jumpsuits rolled a steel box into Harvey’s Resort Hotel and Casino in Stateline, Nevada. They told casino staff it was an IBM copy machine. It wasn’t. Inside …

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. …

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 Greg Chabot You didn’t plan to be there. Most people don’t. But one wrong turn, one blocked exit, or one unexpected surge — and suddenly, you’re in your car in the middle of a riot. Don’t panic. As riot season heats up, here’s what to do if you find …

by Jose Campos TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — The desert air trembled as Marines unleashed the first rounds from a M777 Howitzer during Service Level Training Exercise this month. Dust plumes curled in the heat, smoke trailing each shell as it streaked toward a distant target. The SLTE is more than …

by Jose Campos Before the term guerrilla warfare entered the American military lexicon, a wiry, cunning officer in the Carolina backcountry was already running the playbook. His name was Francis Marion – better known to the British as the Swamp Fox. From 1780 to 1782, Marion and his ragged militia bled the King’s …

by Heath Hansen Happy National Airborne Day to all you servicemen and servicewomen who volunteered to serve your country at a “higher” level! Created in 2002, by then President George W. Bush, National Airborne Day honors all the Nation’s airborne armed forces. READ MORE from Heath Hansen in Soldier of …

by Hooligan My logbook called it a routine troop lift. My gut told me otherwise. I was still green – a “Peter Pilot” in Army slang – flying right seat in a Huey. The Aircraft Commander sat to my left, cool and unshakable, though his name has long been lost …

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 …