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.
American SOF kick off Operation Flintlock in the Sahel

American SOF kick off Operation Flintlock in the Sahel

Operation Flintlock: American special operators have teamed up with Special Operations Forces from 30 other countries to hone their tactics and intelligence-gathering capabilities in the Sahel region. This exercise, which has been ongoing since 2005, has been designed to bring special operators together so they can talk, communicate and build better cohesion among the units […]

Hamas attacks Israel, Israeli Air Force responds, ceasefire breaks

Hamas attacks Israel, Israeli Air Force responds, ceasefire breaks

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel didn’t last long. Hamas members launched rockets into southern Israel on Saturday. Israel responded late Saturday night with airstrikes from fighter jets and helicopters in the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis. The IDF said that it targeted the terror group’s military capabilities. “The […]

Special Operations base in Syria attacked by rogue Iranian militias

Special Operations base in Syria attacked by rogue Iranian militias

What has been described as a “rogue Iranian-led militia” has breached the 55 km deconfliction zone around the U.S Special Operations base at al-Tanf and attacked MAT, an anti-ISIS unit trained by the U.S. Maghaweir al-Thowra (MAT) is a group that has been trained, equipped and led by American and coalition SOF operators in the […]

‘Unidentified’ aircraft strike Iranian proxies inside Syria

‘Unidentified’ aircraft strike Iranian proxies inside Syria

The Syrian capital of Damascus was rocked by airstrikes near the international airport, on early Friday morning, as Iranian-led proxy militias were hit by airstrikes.  The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that seven members of the militia were killed. On the Jordanian, Al-Hadath news, the attack was reported as having originated from the […]

The White Mouse: Remembering Nancy Wake, covert ops operative

The White Mouse: Remembering Nancy Wake, covert ops operative

Nancy Wake was given the moniker, “the White Mouse” by the Germans during World War II, for her uncanny ability to escape out of any trap. However, the glamorous female agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), was deadly; in one instance she killed an SS guard, taking him out with her bare hands to […]

Iran threatens to strike America and Israel if they make ‘the slightest error’

Iran threatens to strike America and Israel if they make ‘the slightest error’

The Iranian military marked the 40-day anniversary of the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani by rattling their saber and threatening both the United States and Israel.  Major General Hossein Salami, head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Iran is prepared to attack both the U.S.and Israel if either makes the […]

What a sh!t show: Russians go after U.S., Israel and Turkey over Syria

What a sh!t show: Russians go after U.S., Israel and Turkey over Syria

It seems like everyone has been trying to exact a pound of flesh in Syria during the long civil war that has lasted nine years. With the Islamic State making inroads into establishing a caliphate in the power vacuum as well as rebels trying to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the entire situation […]

Turkish, Syrian and Russian Forces about to clash in Syria

Turkish, Syrian and Russian Forces about to clash in Syria

The fighting in Syria is threatening to draw the forces of Turkey, Syria, and Russia into open conflict, making an already volatile situation even worse. Syrian troops, backed by Russian fighter jets, have recaptured the al-Nairab village in Idlib province from Syrian opposition rebels as the fighting in northwestern Syria teeters back and forth. Meanwhile, […]

Chuck Yeager: The Air Force’s world record-breaker turns 97 today

Chuck Yeager: The Air Force’s world record-breaker turns 97 today

Chuck Yeager always had the “Right Stuff” regardless if NASA never selected him for the space program. Yeager was a decorated fighter pilot in World War II and became a test pilot and was the first man to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager was born to a farming family on February […]

Filipino president threatens to kick out American troops

Filipino president threatens to kick out American troops

In a move that should surprise no one, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has announced on Tuesday that he would scrap a security pact that allows American forces to train there without the usual visa or passport control. Duterte has been very vocal about his anti-American feelings since being elected back in 2017, despite the United […]

Breaking: American troops in Syria clash with locals in a village

Breaking: American troops in Syria clash with locals in a village

American troops were fired upon in northeastern Syria after civilians attempted to block them at a crossroads. They returned fire and at least one Syrian was killed and another wounded, Syrian state television reported. U.S. military spokesman Myles Caggins said American-led coalition forces were conducting a patrol of eight vehicles near Qamishli and encountered a […]

Doing the good work: French troops kill more than 30 Jihadists

Doing the good work: French troops kill more than 30 Jihadists

On Friday, the French announced that they killed more than 30 jihadists in three separate operations over the previous two days in the Sahel. These operations come in the wake of three raids on terrorist camps earlier this year.  These operations took place in the Liptako-Gourma zone in the Sahel region where the borders of […]