Category: Expert Analysis

While attending a conference hosted in Damascus by the British Syrian Society I met an interesting Syrian member of parliament from Aleppo named Fares Shehabi.  He was quite a firebrand on stage, yelling in genuine outrage at western journalists as he pointed to pictures of Al Qaeda commanders in Aleppo running al-Nusra operations centers.  “Would […]

About seven years ago, I found myself with a few days to kill in Cairo, Egypt. Before getting there, my understanding of the North African nation could probably be summed up in a single sentence: There are pyramids, a sphinx, and lots of sand. And I was right, for a change. It was the rest of […]

If you’ve read my review of Ryan Cleckner’s Long Range Shooting Handbook:  A Beginners Guide you will know how highly I thought of Ryan’s ability to translate complex knowledge into caveman speak.  Before he was a published author, he appeared as a guest instructor on tv’s Top Shot and put out a number of instructional YouTube videos […]

For many returning veterans, dealing with some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a way of life.  Often, it manifests as manageable depression or anxiety, but in some cases the symptoms can become too much to cope with, leaving veterans like C. J. Hardin, who served in three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, […]

You thought you would never see the day, a SOFREP article about Lindsay Lohan.  Believe me, I never thought I would be writing one.  While celebrity gossip is not exactly our purview, once in a while you catch of whiff of something that just doesn’t quite smell right.  Case in point: Lindsay Lohan becoming a staunch […]

As a professional shooter, it is important never to overestimate your skills, and even more unforgivable to misrepresent your skill level to commanding officers who will probably take those perceptions into account during mission planning. This is especially true of snipers preparing to conduct specialized tasks, like providing target interdiction from a helicopter based platform. […]

Wind impacts the horizontal plane along the bullet flight path while air density and gravity impacts elevation. In rare topographic cases wind may impact the vertical plane such as when shooting up into a narrow canyon. The first step is to determine the wind direction; the angle of the wind to the path of the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has promised to introduce comprehensive legislation to strengthen sanctions against Russia. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) told a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on transatlantic security Nov. 17 that he would press for new sanctions to punish Russia for its aggression towards Ukraine, […]

According to recent reports, President elect Donald Trump has been turning down the intelligence briefings that the intel community provides to incoming presidents to prepare them for the job.  Instead, Vice President elect Mike Pence is getting the intel briefings just about every day.  When questioned on the matter, Trump’s campaign manager said, “I can’t […]

Training: 1) 8 rounds for time: 5 x Power Clean #95/115 3 x Burpees 25 x Step ups 2) 3 rounds: 300m shuttle every 3:00  “Set cones 25m (82ft) apart.Run from cone to cone, touching the line at each turn around for 12 lengths or 6 laps = 300m total of running.We do this on as a density interval, […]

The United States is arguably the nation with the most to lose in space.  Our way of life has become dependent on satellites for everything from our televisions to navigation in our cars, and our nation’s potential enemies are not only aware of it, they’re planning for it. In March, a Russian military satellite called […]

Warm up: Loosen up and break a sweat. Training: 1) 8 rounds as fast as you can. 8 x Hinge Lift (Romanian deadlift but done briskly) @ 135 20 x Step ups @ 20″ (make sure your legs makes a 90 degree 30-second 30-second rest 2) 2 x 1-mile repeat. rest 10 minutes.