On Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, a U.S. airstrike in Iraq killed Quds Force Commander and Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani and Kata-ib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, sending a wave of uncertainty into an already volatile ...
Jan 04, 2020
Oct 29, 2019
That Time a Cow Blocked the Path of Two EOD Techs With 16 Pounds of C-4
U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician Griffin Trenbeath was north of Camp Taji, Iraq, when his team received a call from a unit on Highway 1 (MSR Tampa). Trenbeath had already dealt with multiple incidents on that winter day in 2005, ...
Aug 19, 2019
Protesters Waving American Flags in Hong Kong? Here’s What You Need to Know
For 11 weeks, protesters have been taking to the streets in Hong Kong, a region in Southern China with an estimated population of 7.4 million people. They wear masks to hide their faces and use laser pointers to fool surveillance systems while waving ...
Jul 29, 2019
‘True Believer’: Jack Carr’s latest novel is ‘violent redemption’
When former U.S. Navy SEAL Jack Carr transitioned from a rifle to the pen, he pursued the art of writing with the same kind of dedication he did in the SEAL teams. His first book, “The Terminal List,” which follows Navy SEAL protagonist James Reece ...
Jul 10, 2019
A Victim of Violent Crime Is Now Training Hundreds of Women How to Shoot
Fourteen years before Rick Ecktor taught hundreds of people how to safely handle and shoot firearms as the head of Legally Armed in Detroit (LAID), he was the victim of a violent crime. Ecktor had just finished working in his detached garage. ...
Jul 07, 2019
Five Officers Speak Out After Starbucks Barista Asks Cops to Leave
A Starbucks in Tempe, Arizona, is catching a lot of heat for how one of its baristas reportedly treated a group of police officers on Independence Day. The Tempe Officers Association took to Twitter to share details of the now-viral ...
Jun 24, 2019
How One Marine Lost His Limbs and Rebuilt His Life
In 2007, U.S. Marine Sergeant John Peck was on his first deployment to Iraq. He was manning a machine gun when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED). Peck was thrown from his seat, and his face slammed into the gun. He ...
Jun 16, 2019
Oil Tankers Attacked in Gulf of Oman: Here’s What We Know
Both Norwegian and Japanese oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, June 13, escalating maritime tensions in the Middle East. The Gulf of Oman connects to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel where an estimated 20 percent of the ...
Jun 05, 2019
Annual Memorial Day Murph Challenge Continues to Grow
Most people think of Memorial Day as a time when families visit the gravesites of the fallen. But there are other ways to pay tribute to those who didn’t make it home from the battlefield. The Murph Challenge is an intense CrossFit WOD (workout of ...
May 23, 2019
11 Questions & A Cup of Coffee: Author and Former Navy SEAL Jack Carr
Former U.S. Navy SEAL Jack Carr came out of the shadows after many years in the special operations community to release his debut novel “The Terminal List,” which features fictional former Navy SEAL James Reece going on the warpath after his family ...
Apr 21, 2019
One Easter Sunday in Iraq
U.S. Army Specialist Gregory Diacogiannis was on his second deployment to Iraq for Easter Sunday in 2007. He was stationed in South Baghdad at Camp Rustamiyah along the Tigris River as part of a dismount team on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in the 3rd ...
Apr 15, 2019
Security Guard Recalls Boston Marathon Bombing, Six Years Later
Massachusetts is one of the few states that recognizes and celebrates Patriots’ Day annually on the third Monday of April. The day honors the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. However, the most ...
Apr 08, 2019
How Israeli Spy Rafi Eitan Became a Legend
Rafi Eitan died on March 23, 2019, at age 92. He is a legend in Israel’s intelligence community — the type of spy that other espionage agents strive to become. From capturing Nazis to handling a U.S. agent who stole Israeli secrets, Eitan is an ...
Mar 27, 2019
Teammates Recall Heroic Actions of SSG Atkins, Posthumous Medal of Honor Recipient
On Wednesday, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins, who was killed in 2007 while shielding three of his soldiers from a suicide bomber in Iraq, will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in ...
Mar 16, 2019
The Patrol Officer Who Missed a Deadly Bullet by an Inch
Patrol Officer Richard Preim could see the sweat dripping down the front of his shoes. It was a hot July night in 1998 on the streets of Beaverton, Oregon. He was on a domestic disturbance call, working the graveyard shift until 6 AM — and the night ...
Mar 12, 2019
The Daring (and Secret) Exploits of a CIA Protective Agent
Dave Austin, a police officer on-site at the Central Intelligence Agency, had heard about the protective operations training course from a few buddies at work. At the time, his image of the job was someone in a suit with an earpiece — basically a ...
Mar 07, 2019
A $2,500 Victory Bonus? 5 Afghan Vets Weigh In
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) wants to close out the war in Afghanistan and give troops who fought in the theater a bonus for their service. The Military Times reported that Paul and Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced a bill titled the American Forces ...
Mar 02, 2019
Talking to the Taliban: 4 Afghans Weigh In
On Dec. 17, 2018, U.S. diplomats met with Taliban officials in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report from the Washington Post. The topic of discussion: ending the war in Afghanistan. On Feb. 25, 2019, "[t]he highest-level negotiations yet ...
Mar 01, 2019
EXCLUSIVE: What Iran’s Military Training is Like, According to an Iranian
Author’s note: The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t have diplomatic relations with the United States. In Iran, the media and the internet are closely monitored by the government. However, it’s impossible to keep track of everyone. And sometimes, ...
Feb 22, 2019
The Harrowing True Story of a US Soldier Who Was Shot 13 Times
U.S. Army Specialist Jay Strobino was with his team in Rushdi Mullah, a small farming village in Iraq’s infamous Triangle of Death, on Feb. 1, 2006. They were there on a mission to grab a suspected enemy insurgent. Everything was going according to ...
Feb 18, 2019
Navy SEAL Who Shot Bin Laden Lands Movie Deal
The killing of Usama Bin Laden — Operation Neptune Spear — remains one of the biggest stories of the 21st century. Since UBL’s death in May 2011, various books, documentaries, and movies have attempted to paint a picture of what happened to the ...
Feb 15, 2019
On the Ground With an Emergency Response Team in Haiti
Haiti is the 16th poorest country in the world. It’s rife with crime, poverty, and corruption. However, despite all that, it’s also a place where HERO — an organization founded by Stacy Librandi Bourne and composed of veterans, EMTs, and firefighters ...
Feb 14, 2019
Special Forces, Murder, & Stolen Valor: 9 Details You Need to Know About the Army’s Case Against a Green Beret
On Dec. 13, 2018, U.S. Army Major and former Green Beret Matthew Golsteyn was charged with murder for killing an alleged Taliban bomb maker. The case against Golsteyn has been a hot-button issue, sparking controversy and debate across the country — ...
Dec 07, 2018
Diffusing a House Full of Bombs, ATF style
It was August 2006, and the ranch-style home was surrounded by Denver police, the bomb squad, and special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, as well as the FBI. Helicopters circled the property from above. The ...
Dec 07, 2018
Green on Blue in Afghanistan: When the Enemy is Inside the Stronghold
The U.S. Army Special Forces team at Camp Shaheen near Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province, Afghanistan, was rehearsing for a mission the following day. Once they were finished, they began staging their vehicles in preparation to head back to ...
Dec 06, 2018
The Quick Ascent of a World Champion Knife Thrower
The forest of mostly dead trees sits near the highway in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Syringes and broken bottles litter the landscape. On occasion, you might catch a vagrant cooking some food or a junkie getting his fix. You might also see master ...
Nov 10, 2018
How A Former Navy SEAL Fought ISIS to Preserve Life in Iraq
Three years after ISIS declared a caliphate in Raqqa, Syria, its ability to take more territory had crumbled. With constant coalition airstrikes and special operations forces weakening the jihadist group, its capability to effectively fight back was ...
Nov 10, 2018
The Life of A Mormon Missionary in Russia
At 6-foot-3, 19-year-old Elder Ostler stood a head taller than most of the people he saw walking down the street in Krasnodar, Russia. He wore a white dress shirt with a black name tag, a paisley tie, and a pair of slacks. His companion, Elder Dance, ...
Nov 10, 2018
An NYPD Officer Recalls His First Hostage Negotiation
José Castellanos was in his mid-30s and had served in the New York Police Department (NYPD) for 15 years, both as a patrol officer and a detective. He was a seasoned officer but was now stepping into new shoes that were much more challenging to walk ...
Nov 10, 2018
A Firefighter Shares His Most Daring Rescue Missions During Hurricane Harvey
Fire Captain Trevor Pool has worked on some of the harshest rescue operations in America. He has seen the devastation wreaked by major hurricanes first-hand and has spent twenty years in the fire service. So, when Hurricane Harvey came slamming ...
