Tag Archives: Featured

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 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 …

Perfume, purloined jewelry and a millionaire’s son form the complex story of Herbert Repsold, a Navy deserter who also was known as the Perfumed Burglar. In the early 1900s, Repsold was a troublesome youth. Growing tired of his son’s antics, the elder Repsold cut off his son’s cash and forced …

by Katie Lange  Editor’s note: SOF publisher Susan Katz Keating knew Col. Pappy Boyington in the 1980’s when he frequented the Nut Tree airport in Vacaville, California. Here is a story of his life in uniform. Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington was one of the service’s greatest and most legendary pilots. …

Just making contact with a submarine carries an extra measure of danger for a smuggler. by Susan Katz Keating Smugglers for the Chapitos branch of the Sinaloa Cartel balk when ordered to pull “submarine duty” along the group’s fentanyl trafficking routes, a security official told Soldier of Fortune. “They hate …