Military History

SOFREP’s own George E. Hand IV has collected some incredible photographs throughout his legendary career as a Green Beret and Delta Operator, and he’s been generous enough to share some of them with us. Being selected to serve in one of the world’s most elite fighting institutions, Delta, comes at a tremendous physical and emotional […]

On this day: October 12th 1961 — Long before President John F. Kennedy’s vision of the “soldier statesmen” concept that came to be embodied by the American Special Forces soldier was solidified with his authorization of the distinctive Green Beret, Special Forces soldiers had sought headgear that would instantly set them apart from other soldiers. […]

It’s tough being the little guy on the block, especially when the guy picking on you looks like Drago from Rocky IV. Finland experienced a similar scenario in 1939 when the Soviet Union—partnering up with our favorite bad guys, the Nazis—faked an attack on one of their own villages to give them an excuse to invade […]

The Rohingya crisis in the east rages on.  The number of Syrian refugees is still absolutely staggering.  Afghani displacement remains commonplace as the war with the Taliban continues. What do these crises have in common?  Stateless people. It’s true, they may or may not be generally recognized as citizens by their governments, but in a world […]

SOFREP’s own George E. Hand IV has collected some incredible photographs throughout his legendary career as a Green Beret and Delta Operator, and he’s been generous enough to share some of them with us. The old axiom, “there are no atheists in foxholes,” may not hold true, but among those who often face death, either […]

“I always had good ideas – at least I thought they were very good ideas. And one day, walking out of my operations officer’s office, I noticed ‘chaos’ written on this whiteboard. I said, ‘What’s this about?’” James Mattis said before attendees at a recent conference. America’s Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, is perhaps the […]

Imagine an urban counterinsurgency in a sectarian setting.  Probably your bottom pick of conflict, as the Iraq adventure continues to show. Now imagine an army on the ropes and devoid of actionable intelligence. The ancient Sun Tzu might have been the first to wed intel and victory, but his concept still rang true in Northern […]

SOFREP’s own George E. Hand IV has collected some incredible photographs throughout his legendary career as a Green Beret and Delta Operator, and he’s been generous enough to share some of them with us. Being an elite special operations war fighter means having to work beyond your limits, keep your head about you, and make […]

Many people like to scroll through the books of their favorite author, knocking them off the list one by one.  Are you a Faulkner fan?  Start reading “Go Down,” “Moses,” “The Sound and the Fury,” and “As I Lay Dying.”  Does Mark Twain spark your enthusiasm?  Dive into the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” followed by “Life […]

October 9, 1967: Che Guevara is hurled into a hut, shot in the arms and legs with a rifle, then quickly dispatched by rounds to the chest. The man’s face is plastered across t-shirts in universities, painted on walls in Cuba and associated with Marxist images all over the internet.  He is a symbol, no […]

Burma and Myanmar are often referred to together, words used interchangeably to describe what sounds like the same country.  And that’s just it–it is the same country.  So why the two names? The government of Myanmar is known for the ongoing conflicts within its borders, dating all the way back to World War II.  It […]

On October 8, 1895, Empress Myeongseong was killed in her palace by assassins at the age of 43.  She was the empress to Emperor Gwangmu, ruler of the Kingdom of Joseon in modern-day Korea.  The empress had encouraged and fostered a relationship with the Russians, thereby stunting Japanese influence within Korea.  This was highly controversial, and […]