War Stories: OSS to Navy Frogman

War Stories: OSS to Navy Frogman

One of our SOFREP readers passed this on to me via Facebook. Note: I haven’t personally verified John Spence’s biography with but he seems pretty legit, and it’s a great read.  Enjoy. Brandon OSS to First Frogman: John Spence  I was born in 1918 in Centerville, Tennessee.  My dad was the local sheriff so I […]

War Stories: 1970s Army or Jail

War Stories: 1970s Army or Jail

This story comes to us as an excerpt out of a book Chris Carter is working on. Great flashback, and thanks for sharing Chris. -Brandon I was one of the people who joined the military right after high school. This was considered pretty crazy in 1979. The Vietnam war had just ended in 1975. It […]

War Stories: Self-Righteous and Entitled

War Stories: Self-Righteous and Entitled

There has some controversy over SOFREP switching over to a subscription model last week.  Not as much as we expected, there was a possibility that it all could have turned into a Netflix-esque disaster, but certainly some push back.  I can understand where people are coming from, it is the principle of the thing more […]

War Stories: If You Don’t Have a Tab, Hit the Slab

War Stories: If You Don’t Have a Tab, Hit the Slab

Man, did I hate those words when I was a private in Ranger Battalion. Early mornings in formation waiting for the First Sergeant to come out and call the company to attention. Sometimes it was once, but more often than not, those words were shouted by some newly crowned tab spec-four–three, four, five times. That […]

War Stories: Fell Out of a Helicopter and Lived

War Stories: Fell Out of a Helicopter and Lived

I was at Air Assault school in ’86. Part of the graduation requirement was to rappel with pack from a helicopter 100’ in the air.  We were on a Huey as we rose to the required height for the test, and were told to assume our “L” positions on the helicopters skids before being commanded […]

War Stories: Hanging By A Cheek

War Stories: Hanging By A Cheek

When I went to my first rotary wing training exercise with the 160th SOAR, all I wanted to do was ride on a Little Bird (MH-6). The Little Bird is not the U.S. Military’s fastest helicopter, but it sure is the most maneuverable. I remember standing in awe watching the best pilots in the military […]

War Stories: Metallica Call to Prayer

War Stories: Metallica Call to Prayer

In the IDF, ‘Lone Soldier‘ is a term that describes soldiers serving on active duty who have no family in Israel. These are volunteers that came to serve for 3-5 years. They typically go back to their respective countries upon completion. Most commonly, these are people who immigrated to Israel by themselves. I was one of […]

War Stories: MC-12 and JTAC

War Stories: MC-12 and JTAC

SGG103 submitted this video to us the other day with no caption, no back story, just the title “MC-12 and JTAC” and a link to this video on YouTube. WOW! What we found in that US Air Force-produced video was a powerful story of  a very special team of people who overcame tremendous odds to […]

War Stories: Rangers Flying On AMBIEN

War Stories: Rangers Flying On AMBIEN

As many soldiers have experienced, a trip to Iraq or Afghanistan can seem quite exhausting. In Ranger Battalion, we at least had the benefit of flying in a C-17, and could sleep on the floor once we hit cruising altitude. I felt sorry for the rest of the military that had to fly in commercial jets – confined to […]

War Stories: Hallucinating on Patrol Phase

War Stories: Hallucinating on Patrol Phase

THE BASIC RECONNAISSANCE COURSE generally consists of four phases: Land Nav., Amphib., Recon Skills, and Patrolling.  Depending on the class, these can appear in just about any order.  My class, 1-05, had Patrolling as the final phase. While all four phases can be plenty brutal in their own right, Patrol takes it to a level […]

War Stories: Civil Affairs+The Congo+Hookers+Bacardi

By: Josh L. In the summer of 2010 I finally received the news that I had been waiting to hear since I first joined the Army nearly eight years earlier,  I finally got a mission to somewhere other than Iraq.  It was a Civil Affairs guy’s dream mission, the destination Kinshasa, Congo: “the heart of […]

War Stories: Baghdad, A Tropical Paradise

War Stories: Baghdad, A Tropical Paradise

There is a certain location in Iraq that many in the SOF community know. This particular place has a pool in every backyard and marble floors. The three story complex that housed up to 50 Rangers also had other amenities, such as a sand volleyball court, horseshoes, diving board, and yes, a zip-line that went from […]