Steve Balestrieri

About the author

Steve is a SOFREP Senior Editor. He has served as a Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. He writes for SOFREP and covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers.
SF legend & Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins dies from COVID-19

SF legend & Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins dies from COVID-19

Command Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam, passed away from complications due to the coronavirus at the age of 86. He contracted the virus in late March and was admitted to the East Alabama Medical Center and then moved into the intensive care unit […]

Israeli drone targets Jeep carrying a senior member of Hezbollah

Israeli drone targets Jeep carrying a senior member of Hezbollah

On Wednesday, an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) drone blasted a Jeep carrying four Hezbollah members, among them a senior officer. The vehicle was reportedly shuttling arms from Syria into Lebanon.  Initial reports were conflicting as the IDF first reported that some of the terrorists from Hezbollah were killed in the strike but then changed to […]

Venezuelan dictator clings to power by buying off his generals

Venezuelan dictator clings to power by buying off his generals

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” ― Socrates The United States’ sanctions against the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro as well as rampant mismanagement and corruption have crippled the once-thriving Venezuelan economy. Now the country faces critical shortages of food and […]

Iranian gunboats harass US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf

Iranian gunboats harass US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf

Iranian navy gunboats harassed U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday. The Iranian vessels repeatedly approached U.S. ships very closely in an aggressive manner in the international waters of the northern Persian Gulf. This is just the latest incident in the tension between the two countries. In the past year, Iranian-led militias had […]

A religious war: Jihadists in the Sahel target Christians

A religious war: Jihadists in the Sahel target Christians

One of the underreported aspects of the violence in the Sahel is the ongoing targeting of Christians and their churches, which threatens to drive them out of the area for good. According to an annual report by the Christian charity organization, Open Doors, 27 Islamist groups repeatedly target Christians in the Sahel.  Climate change played […]

Taliban cry foul play and demand that the US stops bombing them

Taliban cry foul play and demand that the US stops bombing them

The Taliban are accusing the Americans of breaking the peace agreement struck between the two sides at the end of February by continuing to bomb Taliban targets. The two sides met to discuss how to resolve the situation. The meetings took place in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. The Taliban’s chief […]

Fort Pillow: A massacre of black troops during the Civil War

Fort Pillow: A massacre of black troops during the Civil War

One of the most controversial actions that took place during the American Civil War was the massacre of Union troops at Ft. Pillow, Tennessee. On April 12, 1864, Confederate troops under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked an isolated Union base on the Mississippi River and killed scores of troops attempting to surrender […]

American F-35s overfly Special Operations bases in Syria

American F-35s overfly Special Operations bases in Syria

In the past few days, the United States did a bit of saber-rattling by flying its newest stealth fighter, the F-35, over its Special Operations bases in Syria. This is the American version of daring the bully in the schoolyard to test him one more time. It was probably no coincidence that the F-35 flew […]

Truckers Final Mile: The community that keeps America rolling

Truckers Final Mile: The community that keeps America rolling

Robert Palm, a veteran who served in the 101st Airborne, has been in the trucking industry since 1981 and he’s seen it all. As his career is winding down, he’s been looking for a way to give back to the community that has given him a living for nearly the past 40 years. He’s had […]

Situation in Syria remains tense as militias block Turkish patrols

Situation in Syria remains tense as militias block Turkish patrols

Tensions continue to rise in Syria as all the warring parties jockey for advantage. And a number of recent events demonstrate the fragility of the situation. Yesterday, the Turkish military in Idlib broke up a protest along the all-important M4 highway on Monday after members of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a militia group, and civilians […]

April 14, 1865: President Lincoln is shot by an assassin in Washington

April 14, 1865: President Lincoln is shot by an assassin in Washington

By mid-April 1865, the American Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in our nation’s history, was nearly over. Richmond, the Confederate capital had fallen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, the bane of the Union Army for nearly four years, had surrendered the week before. President Abraham Lincoln had already visited the former […]

‘We see you…Consider this a warning,’ Israel threatens to take out Syrian General

‘We see you…Consider this a warning,’ Israel threatens to take out Syrian General

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are not subtle when it comes to their archenemy Hezbollah. And when they saw a high-ranking Syrian officer touring Hezbollah units in the Golan Heights region, they didn’t pull any punches. The IDF released on Twitter a short, although somewhat grainy, video which they claimed depicted a visit by General […]