Tag Archives: Featured

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in SOF on June 2, 2023. We are republishing it here for context in light of drones being reported over New Jersey in December 2024. All references are from 2023. The illustrations for this story are AI, but the events are real. ~SKK by …

Over the last year, U.S. officials have seized more illicit fentanyl at Arizona’s ports of entry than anywhere else on the US-Mexico border, suggesting a possible shift in synthetic drug trafficking routes. “We’re seeing shipments of all kinds coming in fast through new routes into Arizona,” one Border Patrol agent …

by Heath HansenIt’s a gray, cold, and windy autumn day as I arrive and step out of my vehicle. The snow is beginning to stick to the North Brabant earth under my feet as I approach the house. A man opens the door, shakes my hand, and welcomes me into …

by Susan Katz Keating In retrospect, it seems fitting that I met Viktor Belenko in Reno. He was a gambler hanging out in a gambling town, surrounded by pilots in their fast moving aircraft, barreling wildly around pylons. I went there many years back, looking for stories to be found …

by Bruce Pannier “Well guys, are we going, or are we going to sit here taking a piss?” It has been 25 years since the culmination of the so-called Russian constitutional crisis, when the country’s president, Boris Yeltsin, sought to dissolve the parliament and then ordered the military to crush …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating Amid the celebrations, looting, and horror stories that follow the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, a powerful force could emerge from the chaos – if it hasn’t already been destroyed. If Assad preserved his files, and left them behind when he fled Syria, the …

Updated as reports come in. Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have been granted asylum in Moscow, according to Russian media. The family arrived in Moscow Sunday, after a lightning rebel advance through Syria forced them to flee, the reports said. Russia has been a close ally of …

It began as a tank battalion exercise in 1991. Today, Exercise Steel Knight is an annual training event lead by the 1st Marine Division – one that spans the western United States and California coast. Focusing on ground fires, maneuver warfare tactics and command and control capabilities, this exercise tests …

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, …

By Royce de Melo Our correspondent has high hopes for his new sniper rifle, but finds that the knockoff Soviet-style Dragunov has a few surprises. As soon as we finished the club’s Saturday morning orientation for new members, I went out the main building’s door and headed to the 300-yard …