Steve Balestrieri

Steve Balestrieri

Steve is a SOFREP Senior Editor. He has served as a Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. He writes for SOFREP and covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers.

Celebrating 4th of July the Special Forces way

Ah, life in the military is very rarely boring. You get to travel to some exotic — well, different — places and meet some of the most interesting types of people. But one time-honored tradition was celebrating the 4th of July, our Independence Day, while deployed outside of the United States. For me, there are […]

Top 10 films to watch on the 4th of July

What a better way to relax after a weekend of eating, drinking, and fireworks than by watching some great war films? I’ve compiled a list of the favorite films in our household. They’re listed in no particular order, and this list could easily have been tripled. I had no idea I had so many war […]

VET TV: Laughter is the best medicine

Servicemen and women being wounded, many times severely so, is normally no laughing matter but what many civilians don’t understand is that sometimes humor, even the dark, impertinent kind is how many of our wounded warriors cope with themselves and each other.  Starting next week, (July 8) a new show, “Veterans Laughing Together” is breaking […]

Iraqi government held hostage by Iranian proxies

After talks between Washington and Baghdad on resetting the relationship between the two countries, the Iraqis finally took action against Iranian proxy militias that have been launching mortar and rocket fire attacks at bases housing U.S. troops. Iraqi inaction had been a major thorn in the U.S.’s side for months. As a result, the Iraqi […]

Australian Special Operations commander admits war crimes

Some SAS members acted like “self-righteous, entitled pricks.” After a long-running investigation looking into war crimes reportedly committed by Australian troops, Major-General Adam Findlay, the commander of Australia’s Special Forces, has admitted that some members of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) indeed committed war crimes in Afghanistan. He blamed these atrocities on “poor moral […]

Italian security services bust a $1 billion ISIS drug shipment

Italian police made a huge drug bust when they impounded three suspicious container ships on Wednesday that contained 15.4 tons (14 metric tons) of amphetamines, manufactured by ISIS in Syria. Law enforcement officials said the haul is the world’s largest drug bust in terms of both value and quantity. Authorities were tipped off about the […]

From UH-1 Huey pilot to State Farm

Chuck Laubach transitioned from being an Army pilot to the civilian world and he found the right place to work. “I think State Farm is very friendly to veterans,” he said. “They have a lot of respect for the veterans… I always get a letter in the mail from Phil Hawkins, our Senior Vice President, […]

Political clash over Russian Bounties heats up

Nothing gets the blood boiling faster in Washington than political infighting. The most recent case concerns the alleged Russian practice of paying the Taliban for killing American soldiers. According to a report by the New York Times, U.S. intelligence officials had determined that a Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) had offered militants allied to the […]

G5 Sahel summit needs to address terrorism and instability in West Africa

Despite some modest military gains by the governments in the past few months, the political instability in many West African nations, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali, could risk all of that and plunge the entire region into chaos. The members of the G5 Sahel are holding a summit in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott […]

Israeli airstrikes target and kill six Iranian-backed militiamen in Syria

The Iranians keep pushing Quds Force troops into Syria and supplying their proxy forces with arms, ammunition, and missiles… and someone, supposedly Israel, keeps hitting them hard with airstrikes. According to reports coming out of Syria, at least six Iranian-led militia members were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on Saturday night. The strike hit […]

The baffling decisions that led to 76 deaths at a Soldier’s Home in Massachusetts

The leadership at the Soldier’s Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts made some decisions that were “utterly baffling from an infection-control perspective,” according to a probe that was ordered by Governor Charlie Baker and led by former Federal prosecutor Mark Pearlstein. The poor planning and decision-making led to 76 deaths earlier this year. Another 84 veterans and […]

Disabled veterans now allowed free access to all national parks

The Senate has approved legislation that will allow veterans with service-connected disabilities free lifetime entry to all 419 national parks in the United States.  The Wounded Veterans Recreation Act was authored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and passed by the Senate. It now needs approval from the House of Representatives before […]