Pete Nealen

About the author

is a former Reconnaissance Marine and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006, and again in 2007, with 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Recon Bn. After two years of schools and workups, including Scout/Sniper Basic and Team Leader's Courses, he deployed to Afghanistan with 4th Platoon, Force Reconnaissance Company, I MEF. He is now the author of the military thrillers Task Force Desperate, Hunting in the Shadows, and Alone and Unafraid. His latest American Praetorians thriller, The Devil You Don't Know, is now available on Amazon.

The State of Marine Recon

The Marine Reconnaissance community has been through a lot in the last ten years.  Some of it has gone for the better.  A lot of it has not. At the beginning of the war in Iraq, 1st Recon Bn was pushed into a mechanized role it wasn’t prepared for.  The men took the mission and […]

A Brief, Recent History of Force Recon and MARSOC

There have been some questions lately as to what exactly the difference is between Force Recon and MARSOC.  Aside from the fact that Special Operations Marines now have their own MOS, a lot of it comes down to recent history. In 2003, MCSOCOM Detachment One was stood up, commanded by a former commanding officer of […]

RIP, Brother

It is with a heavy heart that I report the death yesterday of Sgt. Caleb Medley, Force Recon Co, I MEF.  Caleb was training at Perris County Airport, and fell to his death during a parachute jump.  The exact cause is still unknown. I crossed paths with Caleb twice at the Force Company, once as […]

The Beginning of the Stingray Patrols

In the early days of Marine involvement in Vietnam, it quickly became apparent that doctrines drawn from fighting the Japanese and the North Koreans were insufficient for fighting the Vietcong. The Japanese, North Koreans, and Chinese had used defined front lines, something the VC explicitly did not. Stopping small, mobile units of guerrillas with conventional […]