Stringer Dan

Stringer Dan

About the author

Trailer Parks, Mortar Rounds, and Dead Bodies

The entire country went to shit soon after the riot my buddy and I survived in Mosul in early May of 2004. In discussion with the senior intelligence officer in Mosul, a decision was made to limit my team’s adventures outside the wire to only mission-essential travel until things calmed down. Attacks by “Anti-Iraqi Forces […]

Southpark Characters, Doritos, and PTSD

I truly believe the military medical system was ordered to limit the number of PTSD diagnoses they gave out for fear of the massive cost ramifications to the government and the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Health System after all the folks got out of the service. I know this exact scenario was taking place in the […]

WiFi is a Hacker’s Wet Dream

Everything you thought you knew about WiFi is flawed. Operational and personal use of 802.11/WiFi is a weak link in terms of OPSEC and being able to keep yourself safe from identity theft. It is the gateway to collection, exploitation, and attacks that may not have been available had you been on a wired network. […]

Limp-Wristed Social Workers and Pretentious Army Officers

In August of 2007, I was finally given a consult to go see a psychiatrist. The nightmares were unbearable and I felt like I was cracking at the seams from the pressure of my impending separation from the military, the nightmares I was experiencing, and my inability to remember things. I guess the clinical social […]

Mosul, ISIS, and Nick Berg

Mosul, Iraq—The spring and summer of 2004 in Mosul was fucking terrible. The heat, the gnats, the mortars, and the jihadi hood rats were all out in full force. It made for a less-than-awesome vacation spot. One evening during a particularly vicious nine-day-long mortar and rocket party, the commo guy, Rodolfo, and I were hanging […]

So, You Wanna Be a Hacker: Part Two

So, you wanna be a hacker? First, buy lots of black t-shirts and start listening to Dub Step, as one of our SOFREP readers brought up. Once you have an entire closet full of black t-shirts and you are listening to mind-numbing electronica, the real work can begin. Obviously, there is no single path to […]

Torture House and Kids Candy (Part 2)

Diyaa jumped off the front of the Pander, and let’s just say he began briskly walking away, the fear showing on his face. He was scared shitless for some reason. If this was indeed an IIS safehouse, or a former secret residence of Saddam, it might still have some folks inside it if Saddam was […]

Torture House and Kids Candy (Part 1)

By late April, we had probably conducted at least 20 missions in and around Baghdad looking for WMDs and HVTs. Obviously, we never found any WMDs, but we did find a lot of weapons caches, bunkers, Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) safehouses, and torture chambers. I remember one IIS safehouse in particular. A kind Iraqi gentleman […]

WAR STORIES: Dump Truck Taxi at Saddam International Airport

It was an eery gray outside. The black of the metal and cinder block buildings contrasted with the light grey of the night sky. I was able to make out most of what was around because my eyes were accustomed to the near pitch black inside of the aircraft from the preceding 40 minute joyride […]

WAR STORIES: Like a Roller Coaster, But Not the Cool Kind

As the ground war continued to make huge gains in terms of defeating the remaining Republican Guard units of Saddam’s Army, we prepared to insert into Baghdad. As we sat on the tarmac of the desert airstrip, all I could think about was the fresh evening air and how it was all about to change. […]

Chapter X – Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore”

As soon as the insurgent pulled the trigger on his AK-47 and the first rounds hit me in the chest and side, I woke up. I immediately felt the adrenaline rushing through my body as I grabbed my chest in pain. I sat up in bed, drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. Trying to focus my […]

So You Wanna Be a Hacker?

The first image that most often comes to people’s minds when they hear the term “hacker” is some young, video-game-loving, Mountain Dew drinking, Doritos-eating guy with glasses living in his parents’ basement. Add to that your typical presumption of a lack of social skills, pussy-pulling ability and more, and one tends to think that becoming […]