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Soldier of Fortune Magazine

John M Del Vecchio’s New Novel, ‘August 2024’: An Excerpt

Publisher’s note: We are deeply honored to present this excerpt from August 2024, a new novel by John M. Del Vecchio, a must-read author in the genre of modern war literature. One Vietnam War combat veteran said this about Del Vecchio’s The 13th Valley: it was like “hearing from my …

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Chechen Separatists Fighting Russians in Ukraine: ‘The Bear Has to be Driven Out With a Stick’

by Lidia Mikhalchenko / Caucasus For many of the Chechen opposition members and separatists abroad who have come from across Europe to join a volunteer battalion in Ukraine, battling Russia has become a way of life. Decades — even centuries — of Moscow’s often-armed interference in Chechnya have made the …

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This Notorious Bandit Plundered the Old West – Until an Army Camel Driver Crossed His Path

It had to do with an effort to settle the west with camels.  A notorious bandit who plundered California for 20 years may owe his capture to a long forgotten military experiment and an Army camel driver. It had to do with an effort to settle the west with camels.  …

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Independence Day at War in Iraq: A Soldier’s Story

by Heath Hansen A flash of light lit up the sky ahead of me, and I heard an explosion. My adrenaline kicked in and I started searching for the source of the explosion. I clutched my weapon and prepared to defend the base. ANBAR, IRAQ – Even though it was …

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The Marine Who Saved Old Glory: July 4 With the British in Baghdad

by Kevin Cresswell Picture the scene: It was early hours on July 4, 2003, at Camp Slayer in Baghdad, Iraq. There were several hundred U.S. troops and a handful of odds and sods ‘Brits & Aussies.’ In the middle of the lake was a boathouse with a flagpole. During the …

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Deadly Venom: I Was Bitten by a Black Mamba Snake in Africa

by Gatimu Juma Publisher’s note: Gatimu Juma, who reports from the Horn of Africa, told me last June he was working on a story about the Al-Shabaab terror group. Nearly a year went by, and I couldn’t reach him. Finally he surfaced to tell me where he was all this …

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Marine Corps Jungle Medicine Course: ‘The Light in a Dark Time’

Instructors at the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center teach Navy corpsmen to be “the light in a dark time.” Here’s a look at the 10-day medical course that trains military personnel in survival skills, casualty evacuation techniques, and awareness of dangerous species in a jungle environment. (U.S. Marine Corps …

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Badass Pilot Wrestles Plane to a Landing When Canopy Shatters Mid-Flight

What do you do when your aircraft canopy shatters in flight? “Keep flying,” Dutch aerobat Narine Melkumjan says. She took to social media to share the video of herself doing just that during the “distressing” experience, hoping that her fellow pilots would take note. A couple of years ago during …

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Meet ‘Vanilla’: The Ultra-Long Endurance UAV That Flies for 10 Days, Launches 40 Micro Drones

The Pentagon call it the Vanilla ultra endurance land-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV. Some folks call it a drone on pick-em-up truck. The aircraft is going through trials in the Indo-Pacific region at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The new machine is being tested for its potential to supply …

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