Category: War Stories

(You can read part 9 here) (Dedicated to Sofrep family brother: WayTooMuchGear [WTMG]) The next two days went well enough well, boring actually. I had little to no money and had resigned to wandering the streets to avoid an inevitable seizure by the scoundrels who sent me here. ‘Play the game’ was the mantra that […]

(You can read part 8 here) Dedication of this essay falls to SOFREP’s own brother Ryan B; thank you for your generosity in my time of need. “Memorize this route” the driver of the temporary car I was in told me. Ol’ Jed was a millionaire first thing this morning and now I was being […]

Although it was introduced way back in 1966, and retired from service a whopping eighteen years ago, the SR-71 Blackbird remains among the most popular military aircraft of all time – and with good reason.  Despite its relative old age when compared to modern feats of aviation ingenuity like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or […]

(You can read part 7 here) (Dedicated with great respect and admiration to SOFREP sister Ms. Kristi B.) Peachy Atlanta had a long foot movement in store for me this eve. I groaned as I checked my map repeatedly hoping some correction would shorten the distance between A and B. No such luck; this adventure […]

(Read part six here) Dedicated to SOFREP family member Ms. Joni S The drive to FBI headquarters was short enough, but me and handcuffs just don’t see eye to eye. It’s just something about my arms at that angle behind my back, that’s totally disenchanting to my rotator cuffs. Yeah, you’re not likely to see […]

It was early 2016 and I was providing routine infantry training for the Peshmerga of 3rd Brigade at a base near the city of Sulaymania in Iraqi Kurdistan. I remember we had just finished out the day at the range with some fire and maneuver drills; I sat down with a cup of chai in […]

Having spent an enlistment in the Marine Corps, I understand the conventional side of the military. Like any Marine in a standardized unit: I participated in field day, worked my way up from the lower enlisted (as best I could) and adhered to regulations as required. Then, some years after I was discharged, I found […]

Reports of female war fighters, particularly snipers, participating in the ongoing fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria have made their rounds in the media since 2014.  Often, these reports contain pictures of a well made-up young woman posed like a swimsuit model with her rifle, and tend to originate in less-than-reputable media outlets like […]

“No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Sometimes having a reputation can work against you and then there are others when you just do your job and move on. And then there are those times you get treated like a rock […]

Read Part 4 here I had minutes to spare before the curfew getting back to my room this time. Yet again the lights were on and the door ajar as I approached. “So ok, let’s see what’s on the other side of this Let’s-Make-a-Deal curtain.” I pushed the door open and… termites! Thousands of them […]

Stories of ghost ships adrift in the vast expanses of ocean have survived since man first took to the sea.  Legends about ships like The Flying Dutchman, which was lost under the leadership of Van der Decken near the Cape of Good Hope as they traveled toward the East Indies, continue to spring up in […]

The Special Operations community lost a giant last week as Samuel V. Wilson passed away at the age of 93. Wilson rose from the rank of private in World War II to Lieutenant General at his retirement and served the Special Operations Forces both in and out of uniform. He was a member of the […]