''Soldier of Fortune'' (''SOF''), subtitled ''The Journal of Professional Adventurers'', is a daily web magazine published by Susan Katz Keating. It began as a monthly U.S.

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...

published from 1975 to 2016 as a magazine devoted to worldwide reporting of wars, including

conventional warfare Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined and fight by using weapons that target primari ...

, low-intensity warfare,

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

, and

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

. It was published by Omega Group Ltd., based in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. In May 2022, founder Robert K. Brown announced that the publication had been sold to a longtime contributor, author and security journalist Susan Katz Keating, who grew up around conflict during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

History

''Soldier of Fortune'' magazine was founded in 1975, by

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 20 ...

, (Ret.) Robert K. Brown, a

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...

who served with Special Forces in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. After retiring from active duty, Brown began publishing a “circular”, magazine-type publication with few pages which contained information on

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

employment in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, where the Sultan

Qaboos Qaboos bin Said Al Said ( ar, قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said ...

had recently

deposed Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch.
ORB: The Online Reference for Med ...

his father and was battling a communist insurgency. Brown's small circular soon evolved into a glossy, large-format, full-color magazine. In 1970, Brown co-founded ''

Paladin Press Paladin Press was a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown. The company published non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including personal and financial freedom, survivalism and p ...

'' in conjunction with Peder Lund. The company published non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including personal and financial freedom,

survivalism Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disor ...

and preparedness,

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

, various

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

and

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and police tactics, investigation techniques, spying, lockpicking, sabotage, revenge,

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

and knife fighting,

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

, and other "action topics". After five years, he left in 1975 to start ''SOF'' magazine. Significant to the early development of ''SOF'' was its recruitment of foreign nationals to serve in the

Rhodesian Security Forces The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel a ...

, during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

(1964–79). During the late 1970s and the 1980s, the success and popularity of a military magazine such as ''SOF'' led to the proliferation of like magazines such as ''Survive'', ''Gung Ho!'', ''New Breed'', ''Eagle'', ''Combat Illustrated'', ''Special Weapons and Tactics'', and ''Combat Ready''. ''SOF'' was published by the Omega Group Ltd., in Boulder, Colorado. It currently is published by Soldier of Fortune LLC, and is based in Tampa, Florida. At the height of its circulation in the early 1980s the magazine had 190,000 subscribers. The April 2016 issue of ''Soldier of Fortune'' was the final print edition; further editions have been published online.

"Gun for Hire" lawsuits

Grievous injury

During the late 1980s, ''Soldier of Fortune'' was sued in civil court several times for having published classified advertisements of services by private mercenaries. In 1987, Norman Norwood, of Arkansas, sued ''SOF'' magazine, because of injuries he suffered during a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

attempt by two men hired via a "Gun for Hire" advertisement in the magazine. The US District Court denied the magazine's motion for

summary judgment In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes ...

based upon the Constitutional right of free speech under the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. The Court said, "reasonable jurors could find that the advertisement posed a substantial risk of harm" and that "gun for hire" ads were not the type of speech intended for protection under the First Amendment. In the end, Norwood and ''Soldier of Fortune'' magazine settled his lawsuit out of court.Smothers, Ronald
''Soldier of Fortune Magazine Held Liable for Killer's Ad''
New York Times, August 19, 1992

Wrongful death

In February 1985, John Wayne Hearn, a Vietnam veteran, shot and killed Sandra Black for a $10,000 payment from her husband, Robert Black. Black communicated with Hearn through a classified advertisement published in ''Soldier of Fortune'', wherein Hearn solicited "high-risk assignments. U.S. or overseas". In 1989, Sandra Black's son Gary and her mother Marjorie Eimann filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against ''SOF'' magazine and its parent publishing company Omega Group Ltd., seeking $21 million in redress of their grievance. The jury found ''Soldier of Fortune'' grossly negligent in publishing Hearn's classified ad for implicit illegal activity (murder) and awarded the plaintiffs $9.5 million in damages. However, in 1990 the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

reversed the verdict, saying that the standard of conduct imposed upon the magazine was too high, because the advertisement was ambiguously worded.

Contract killing

In 1989, four men were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in the 1985 contract killing of Richard Braun, of Atlanta, Georgia. The killers were hired through a classified services advertisement published in ''SOF'' magazine that read: "GUN FOR HIRE". Braun's sons filed a civil lawsuit against the magazine and a jury found in their favor, awarding them $12.37 million in damages, which the judge later reduced to $4.37 million. Nonetheless, in 1992 the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

upheld the judgement of the jury, saying "the publisher could recognize the offer of criminal activity as readily as its readers, obviously, did". The Brauns and ''SOF'' magazine settled the wrongful-death lawsuit for $200,000.Moscou, Jim
''Soldier of Fortune Toughs Out Changing Times''
New York Times, October 16, 2000 One consequence of the lost lawsuits was that the magazine suspended publication of classified advertisements for mercenary or related work, either in the U.S. or overseas.

Editors

* Jim Graves, former managing editor and columnist.Clausing, Jeri (Mar. 2, 1988)
"Jurors trying to decide whether Soldier of Fortune should..."
''

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

''. * Susan Katz Keating, editor and publisher (as of March 30, 2022).

Notable contributors

* Col. David "Hack" Hackworth, US Army (ret./deceased) * Ltc.

Robert C. MacKenzie Robert Callen MacKenzie SCR BCR (30 November 1948 – 24 February 1995) was an American professional soldier whose career included service as an infantryman in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, the C Squadron 22 (Rhodesian) SAS, ...

, US Army (ret./deceased) * Ltc.

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

, US Marine Corps (ret.) *

Dale Dye Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializ ...

, US Marine Corps (ret.) * Al J Venter *

Michael Echanis Michael Dick Echanis (November 16, 1950 – September 8, 1978) was an American enlisted soldier and self-styled " soldier of fortune". In 1970, he served briefly in "C" Company, 75th Ranger Regiment Infantry in Vietnam. Echanis then made his li ...

(1950–1978), Vietnam veteran,

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

recipient – martial-arts editor *

John Plaster John L. Plaster (born 1949) is a former United States Army Special Forces officer regarded as one of the leading sniper experts in the world. A decorated Vietnam War veteran who served in the covert Studies and Observations Group (SOG), Plaster ...

, US Army (ret.) * David Isby, expert on Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and Russia * Greg Walker, Special Forces (ret.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soldier of Fortune (Magazine) 1975 establishments in Colorado Online magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1975 Magazines published in Colorado Mercenaries Military magazines published in the United States Magazines disestablished in 2016 Defunct magazines published in the United States Online magazines with defunct print editions Mass media in Boulder, Colorado