Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 1 held an end-of-mission ceremony in the southern Iraqi province of Basrah, Oct. 30.

The event marked the conclusion of operations that included more than 250 security missions and training of more than 300 Iraqis to continue providing maritime security on the rivers and lakes of Iraq.

Video by Regimental Combat Team-2, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs

An oil company says gunmen in Nigeria's troubled Niger Delta region have attacked an offshore rig, kidnapping five people and wounding two others.

The company that runs the rig, Afren, has not confirmed the nationalities of those kidnapped. But security sources say they are two Americans, two French and one Canadian.

Gunmen in speedboats late Sunday attacked the oil rig, located about 12 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state.

The company said the two wounded employees have leg injuries and were flown by helicopter to a clinic on shore.

Thousands of people in eastern Burma have fled into neighboring Thailand to escape fighting between an ethnic militia and the Burmese military that erupted just one day after the military-ruled country's first elections in 20 years - dismissed by critics as a sham.
At least 3,000 people poured over Burma's eastern border into Mae Sot, Thailand, on Monday, after members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and Burma's military clashed in the town of Myawaddy, just across from Mae Sot.

An Eighth Army officer was awarded the Soldier's Medal Nov. 5 during a ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas, for his actions during the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting incident there that left 13 Soldiers dead and 32 wounded.

Maj. Steven J. Richter, chief of medical logistics for Eighth Army, was assigned as the chief of operations and deployment medicine at Fort Hood when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of opening fire at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center.

Richter testified during Hasan's Article 32 hearing Oct. 20 via tele-conference about his actions that day.

Thunder roared and lightning ripped through the sky while ordinance burst across an insurgent logistics trafficking hub as coalition forces conducted one of the largest raid operations since the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The city of Barham Chah, which lies on the southern border of Afghanistan, was identified as a trafficking hub through which insurgents were receiving supplies to distribute throughout the country. Operation Steel Dawn II put a swift end to enemy activity within southern Afghanistan Oct. 28-31.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed the capture of a Haqqani Network facilitator for the movement of vehicles and narcotics in support of the network, during an overnight operation in Paktika province Friday.

Acting on intelligence reports, the security force targeted a compound in Orgun city to search for the facilitator. Afghan forces used a loudspeaker to call for all occupants to exit the compounds peacefully and then the joint security force cleared and secured the area.

In southern Afghanistan, Afghan and coalition forces completed a multi-day deliberate clearing operation aimed at disrupting the Taliban’s freedom of movement in Helmand province. The operation began Saturday and ended Monday.

The joint security force is continuing their efforts to disrupt enemy safe havens in Helmand province, where Taliban leaders use villages throughout the area to conduct operational planning and prepare for attacks. This operation focused on an area near the village Kajaki Sofla in Kajaki district.

I always thought that if I wrote what went on behind the scenes of Soldier of Fortune magazine, it would, without a doubt, be a best seller. It would provide any adventurer, scam artist, drama queen, scandal addict and mad man the read of their lives, and I could retire in comfort. But, not now. Not yet.

For now, I will just relate what was no doubt the most tempestuous and threatening battle that Soldier of Fortune and its notorious publisher faced for decades and how I was dragged unwittingly into that bizarre world.