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.
Israelis Finish Investigation on Gunship Attack that took out Sniper Team

Israelis Finish Investigation on Gunship Attack that took out Sniper Team

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completed an investigation on a suspected attack on their troops from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.   They published photos of Hezbollah operatives working with Syrian soldiers to carry out this attack. IDF investigators said the planned attack was to take place near the village of Hader in […]

Another Coalition base in Iraq attacked with rockets

Another Coalition base in Iraq attacked with rockets

Two rockets struck a training base south of Baghdad where U.S.-led coalition troops and NATO trainers are present, Iraq’s military said in a statement on Tuesday. The rockets hit the Basmaya base outside of Baghdad on Monday evening. They impacted near a factory and what was described as agricultural land, but not where any troops […]

Russian and Turkish troops begin joint patrols in Syria

Russian and Turkish troops begin joint patrols in Syria

In one of the first, albeit small signs of the de-escalation of violence in the Idlib province of Syria, Russian and Turkish troops carried out joint patrols along the all-important M4 highway. The northwestern part of Syria has been a bloody, violent place since late last year.  “Within the framework of the Moscow agreement, the […]

Propaganda at its best: Chinese claim US Army started the Coronavirus

Propaganda at its best: Chinese claim US Army started the Coronavirus

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, posted on Twitter that the U.S. Army could have brought the COVID-19, or coronavirus, to China and that the virus may not have originated in Wuhan as previously thought.  Zhao, who has over 300,000 followers on Twitter, which is surprising considering China has banned the social network. He has […]

Coronavirus: We’re in trouble, folks, but not in the way you think

Coronavirus: We’re in trouble, folks, but not in the way you think

The coronavirus has our country in some serious trouble, folks. The cause isn’t the virus itself, which can be deadly for sure, but the hysteria, which has approached near panic, in too many aspects of our lives.  There is a pandemic of fear permeating the world and it leaves one with the impression that if […]

US base in Iraq comes under yet another rocket attack, several wounded

US base in Iraq comes under yet another rocket attack, several wounded

The Iraqi base that houses American and Coalition troops in Taji was rocked with another rocket attack on Saturday morning. Just three days ago, on Wednesday, another attack at the same base killed two Americans and a British soldier at Taji. Three coalition troops and two Iraqis were wounded in the rocket attack, Coalition spokesperson […]

US airstrikes against Kara’ib Hizbollah are well-warranted

US airstrikes against Kara’ib Hizbollah are well-warranted

The United States launched multiple airstrikes against Iranian-led Shia militias across Iraq in response to the latest rocket attack on the base at Taji that houses coalition troops. In the Taji attack, two U.S. and one U.K medical specialist were killed, with 12 wounded, five of them seriously.  The American airstrikes began at 1:00 a.m. […]

Kenyan SOF kill 6 terrorists in disputed border region

Kenyan SOF kill 6 terrorists in disputed border region

Kenyan Special Operations soldiers, operating near the Somalian border, have killed six al-Shabaab fighters while capturing another early on Friday, officials reported.  North Eastern Regional Commissioner, Nick Dalana, confirmed that the terrorists were killed by a Kenya Army (KDF) Special Operations Team (SOT) at Jirole in Ijara Sub-County. British Special Air Service (SAS) and U.S. […]

Hollywood and Celebrities: Special Forces bodyguards in action

Hollywood and Celebrities: Special Forces bodyguards in action

Several years ago, I had just gotten out of the hospital after having my knee scoped — another wonderful reminder of the joys of carrying a rucksack with 100 lbs of “lightweight gear” around for years. A torn meniscus, all kinds of loose cartilage and junk floating around in there made Steve a very unhappy […]

Chelsea Manning tried to hang herself in jail

Chelsea Manning tried to hang herself in jail

Former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is recovering in a hospital after attempting to take her own life inside her jail cell in Virginia, her lawyers said in a statement. Manning has been jailed on contempt of court charges for refusing to testify to a grand jury in the investigation on Wikileaks and its founder Julian […]

UK honors World War II Special Operations operative

UK honors World War II Special Operations operative

During World War II, many of the best operatives of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), and the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), were women. They worked undercover, putting their lives at risk in occupied France, and running agent networks, conducting sabotage, and training the French Maquis.  Many lost their lives or went sent […]

Two Americans, one British soldier killed in Iraq by rocket attack

Two Americans, one British soldier killed in Iraq by rocket attack

The American military has confirmed, in a released statement, that a rocket attack on an Iraqi base, where U.S. and coalition troops are based, has killed an American and a British soldier and an American contractor. The three men were killed on Camp Taji base as 18 Katyusha rockets slammed into the base on Wednesday […]