Luke Ryan

About the author

Luke Ryan is a SOFREP journalist in Tampa, FL. He is a former Team Leader from 3rd Ranger Battalion, having served four deployments to Afghanistan. He grew up overseas, the son of foreign aid workers, and lived in Pakistan for nine years and Thailand for five. He has a degree in English Literature and loves to write on his own as well, working on several personal projects.

FBI’s undercover informant to testify regarding Russian nuclear scheme within the US

An undercover informant, who was under contract with Tenex, has been giving information to the FBI for around eight years now.  His efforts largely helped indict Vadim Mikerin’s illegal activities involving bribery and money laundering, and exposed the illicit dealings of Russia’s state-owned nuclear enterprise, Rosatom, within U.S. borders. This comes as controversy surrounds the […]

The ivory trade and terrorism: al-Shabaab’s potential diversionary source of income

This idea has been floating around the internet for a while now–documents and reports, articles and social media posts–referring to the the ivory trade as a source of funding for terrorism. Al-Shabaab has allegedly been using the ivory trade to finance their terrorist organization, some reports claiming up to 40% of their operations. This is […]

Money that moves off the grid: ‘hawala’

Allegations of crooked politicians taking money from questionable sources seem like everyday news now. For example, in recent days developments have arisen in regards to whether or not the Clinton Foundation took money via a complex scheme involving Russia’s Rosatom and Vadim Mikerin. Terrorist and criminal organizations move money around in huge amounts, and they have […]

Frames of war: A timeline of war movies

If you watch “Casablanca” and “Fury,” you’ll have two very different pictures of World War II. On top of the vastly different settings, everything from technology of filmmaking, to the tone of the film, to the style of acting, to the overall messages and themes–they’re all different. Much of this is simply due to different […]

The death toll in Madagascar climbs as plague spreads

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 20 October, 2017, plague in Madagascar has claimed 102 lives. It has 1,297 documented cases, and a CFR (case fatality rate) of 7.9%.  To be clear: that means that of everyone who has contracted plague there, 7.9% of them have died. Madagascar is split […]

Marginalized Medicine: when you have to carry them out

Imagine carrying a struggling pregnant woman through the bowels of the jungle, pushing your body and straining your spirit just to get her somewhere where she might have a shot at surviving. This kind of thing happens every day. The jungles of Burma (Myanmar) have suffered through a devastating civil war for over 70 years. While […]

On this day in history: The United Nations is born

Today is United Nations day. 1945 brought about the close of WWII and the dawn of the United Nations. They hoped that such an alliance would prevent a war like that from ever happening again. After WWI, a group called the League of Nations was born.  Like the United Nations, its purpose was to stop […]

South of Pyongyang: an American English teacher in South Korea

The news rarely reports the comings and goings of ordinary people living regular lives, and yet it’s those people who make up the mass majority of the earth.  The farmer in north the northern Thai countryside, the truck driver in Cairo or the gas station attendant in Arizona–they are the fabric of society, subject to […]

American dynasties

The rumors that Chelsea Clinton is being groomed for political office, possibly congress, are not completely unfounded.  For most of her life, she has stayed out of the public’s eye and remained relatively unassuming and flown under the radar. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, her social media exploded into the spotlight.  Some would argue that […]

On this day in history: explosion in Beirut kills 220 US Marines

On October 23rd, 1983, an explosion ripped through an American barracks in Beirut, killing 220 U. S. Marines, 18 Navy sailors, and 3 Army soldiers.  58 French peacekeepers and 6 civilians were also killed in the blast. Beirut is the capital of Lebanon, and the country’s largest city.  Lebanon lies sandwiched between Syria to the […]

Marginalized Medicine: surgery in the sticks

“It’s a lot of make it up as you go.” Dr. Jack Chamberlain has been practicing medicine in rural areas around the world since 1993.  A U. S. based physician turned humanitarian aid worker, he has practiced medicine everywhere from the ER of Detroit to the war-torn jungles of Burma. “Marginalized medicine” is a term […]