Category: Military History

Greg “Ironhead” Birch, is a legendary operator known for his unwavering courage and mentorship. Read more about his extraordinary life and impact.

It was a bit like Bigfoot; lots of rumors and claims of sightings, but spotting a Soviet troop in Southeast Asia was a rare event. Throughout the 69-year existence of the Soviet Union (1922-1991), it was acceptable in most realms to use Russia as a synonym for the Soviet Union. Likewise, Russians for Soviets. True, the Russian republic comprised […]

The Battle of Fallujah, Iraq is destined to go down in Marine Corps history. Marine Recruits will soon be learning about this battle along with the other historic battles of the Corps. The battle began with an aerial bombardment on November 8, 2004. A Force Recon team was inside the city limits calling targets and […]

The last man to walk on the moon, retired Navy Captain Eugene Cernan died today, January 16, 2017 at the age of 82. Not only remembered as the last man on the moon, Cernan may very well have been the most colorful man on the moon. On his Apollo 17 mission he did not want to […]

We’ve done several pieces on women in Special Ops and it’s obviously still a hotbed for debate.  I like that the SOFREP community can hold a healthy debate and look at things objectively (for the most part). In the past we’ve seen military capabilities come and go and get re-invented quite a few times (e.g. […]

Sometime around 1757, during the French and Indian War in the North America, Major Robert Rogers wrote a set of guidelines for his Rangers to follow when out scouting enemy territory. These “Rules of Ranging,” as they came to be known, were a set of common-sense combat tactics that he learned through personal experience. They served […]

As you stand there looking at it, as I did in June 2010, it is difficult to grasp the fact that for a brief period in time, it was the most important man-made structure in the world. A tiny drawbridge that spanned a narrow body of water in France. One that was subject to a […]

For a long time now, I have been a subscriber to the YouTube channel called Forgotten Weapons. There, the host Ian McCollum presents a wide variety of obscure and rare firearms. What I find interesting is that Mr. McCollum aside from production details, history and anecdotes for each weapon, field strips them (when is not a […]

Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne typified those individuals who seemed to exist on this planet for one thing: to fight wars, and fight them well. To possess a heroism envied by many, yet lack the needed traits in peacetime that so often led to trouble. The following story is about such a man, one who made […]

Recently, Senator McCain commented during a Sunday talk show that we might be seeing the beginning of a great unraveling of the world order put in place after World War II. But, if anything, it’s probably scaling back to that very world order he mentioned. The one where Russia and the U.S. are in a great […]

Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays on earth. But that doesn’t mean that conflicts simply freeze every December 25th. Here’s a look at some of the major military events that have fallen on Christmas, a date with a surprisingly rich history. 1776 — George Washington Crosses The Delaware River Important events in both […]

This guest post is an excerpt from “Across the Fence” by John Stryker Meyer. Christmas Day 1968 was just another day for Spike Team Idaho. Early that morning ST Idaho was loaded onto Kingbees and flown to the Quang Tri launch site. The early morning rush came to a halt at Quang Tri, as there […]