Mike Perry is a novelist and former special operations history writer for SOFREP. Here is his review of Steven Hunter's "Sniper's Honor." I first became aware of the fictional sniper Bob Lee Swagger when watching the movie "Shooter," starring Mark Wahlberg as Swagger. Over time, my interest grew; I wanted to know about this famous creation of author Stephen Hunter. So I … [Read more...] about ‘Sniper’s Honor’: The tale of two marksmen
(In Part One of the Last Stand At Lang Vei, the story ended just as the NVA began their secondary assault against the camp. This week the story is carried to its conclusion from that point using a narrative interweaved with after action reports written by Lieutenant Colonel Shungel and Captain Willoughby.) The tanks roared through the wire and continued depressing their guns … [Read more...] about Last Stand At Lang Vei (Part 2)
The PT-76 was an amphibious tank design developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1940s. Armed with a relatively small (for the era) 76 mm gun and intended to spearhead river crossings, it took up station with several units occupying the Warsaw Pact countries for a potential thrust into western Europe. Yet, against NATO and the Americans, thankfully, it would never be … [Read more...] about Last Stand At Lang Vei (Part One)
After Great Britain was driven from continental Europe in disgrace, it realized that the offensive capabilities it wanted to employ against Germany must be tried elsewhere. Thus, after winning the battle of Britain, it shifted its main weight of forces to fight in the deserts of North Africa. The ensuing struggle eventually caused some cheer for the politicians in WhiteHall and … [Read more...] about Operation Claymore: The Day The Empire Struck Back… Hard
The story of Italy's Decima MAS (Decima Mezzi d'Assalto, or 10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla), is a peculiar tale regarding Axis Special Forces in World War II. On one hand they were the best combat frogmen produced by any nation during the conflict. On the other, the courage and innovation they brought to the history of naval warfare became stained by an evil ideology that drove … [Read more...] about Decima MAS: The Most Successful Frogmen In History
During WWII, Italian frogmen successfully penetrated the harbor in Alexandria, Egypt riding manned torpedoes and damaging two Royal Navy battleships, HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth, using nothing more than handheld devices called limpet mines. After, an impressed and worried Winston Churchill ordered a similar capability to be developed as soon as possible. Unbeknownst … [Read more...] about Operation Frankton: Most Daring Raid Of All Time?
The Ruhr valley has long served as a primary base of heavy industry for the German nation. In World War II, for example, the region processed millions of tons of raw materials to make the steel used to conquer its neighbors. The area teemed with factories running round the clock, along with a canal and rail system providing efficient transport to receiving docks. And all … [Read more...] about Operation Chastise: An Idea, A Strange Bomb, And Lots Of Water
Using side-firing weapons on aircraft can be traced back to 1927, when a concept was demonstrated by fixing a .30 caliber machine gun to the side of a biplane and flying a simple maneuver known as a pylon turn. Named after the air racing term, it involved positioning an aircraft in a gentle bank and orbiting it around a fixed point as the gun fired continuously. Yet, when Army … [Read more...] about When Puff Ruled The Night: The Birth Of The Gunship
Oil is the lifeblood of nations. No substance has ever proven more beneficial to the world when it comes to sustaining day to day livelihoods and moving vast quantities of commerce across the globe. It's the one thing people, regardless of background, have to agree on if they want to be truthful. Oil is what makes the world work. And just like all resources provided by the … [Read more...] about Valor Was Their Victory
Few technologies played as vital a role in World War II as radar. From its famous early days as giant girdered masts dotting the eastern coastline of Great Britain, relaying information on inbound German aircraft, to tiny antennae on fighters seeking out bombers in the dead of night, it proved itself among the supreme innovations of the period. So much so that designers, friend … [Read more...] about Operation Biting: The Bruneval Raid
Team Room: You've been reading Mike Perry's excellent SOF history posts on SOFREP since he wrote about the British SAS and the Iranian Embassy siege. Mike's first book, Hammer of the Gods, is available now on Amazon. Recently, Mike has been pounding the keys on his next book, A Touch of War, and asked us to present the first chapter here to y'all. So, without further … [Read more...] about A Touch of War: A Novel by Mike Perry
Waves lapped in gentle rolls against the Tunisian shoreline on this night of April 15, 1988. The lookouts on the beaches only heard the engines in the final seconds before they rode the dying breaker to broach the wet sand. There were three of them, powered rubber dinghies being dragged up to the dunes by twenty dark clad figures slung with silenced automatic weapons. The … [Read more...] about Abu Jihad: Israel’s bin Laden-Style Takedown 25 Years Ago
