Note: Soldier of Fortune was a magazine published from 1975 to 2016, covering topics such as war, history, war stories, counter-insurgency, and counter-terrorism, among other topics. The following pictures were scanned from the six magazines above, the years ranging from December 1982 - September 1983. It's amazing that in the 1970s - 1980s you could become a mercenary in various wars around the world, although we see that happening again in the Ukrainie war, on both sides.

One of the most entertaining aspects of Soldier of Fortune was the personal ads and advertisements. The sheer number of illegal subjects advertised in one form or another is amazing. Compared to now, the 1980s were much freer. Below is a sample of material that you may find entertaining and/or interesting.

[Above: The only instructions I could find for this are below.]

[Above: It's strange that we aren't taught about any of this in school. WWI didn't exactly end in 1918, as discussed here for the USA, and for Germany the Freikorps fought into the lower half of the 1920s. All along the Baltic countries Germany fought an invading communist army, which Poland would eventually stop, but only delaying its invasion. When Germany was forced to invade Russia in 1941 the Soviets were preparing for an invasion of Europe. All along their border massive amounts of men and materiel were being prepared before Germany stopped them, catching Stalin by surprise. This was the reason Germany captured millions of Russian prisoners in the opening days of the invasion. Only with the massive help of the USA and the traitor president Roosevelt did Russia survive.]

[Above: Why would you want one of these weak beasts when you could have the one below! A real man's dog!]

[Above: 'A killing and mutilating art...', I've never heard a martial arts style bragging about mutilating people. Someone needs to learn this Chinese Black Cobra style and go mutilate some UFC fighters. And shouldn't this be Black Cobra Society instead of Green Dragon? Down from this gem of ancient Chinese secrets are some mercenaries looking for work. The first one brags about being specialized in 'unusual assignments'... and he's a 'photo expert'. I'm guessing this means gay porn? Below that is another merc, Jim, who is 43 and will take '...anything, anywhere...', yep, another guy talking about gay porn. You could write Chicago for instructions for building three different silencers, of course, you would be thrown in a federal prison if you built them, unless of course they are talking about pillows and potatoes, long tested to be great silencers.]

[Above: Combat tested garrotes? In combat where? I've read my share of special forces books and have never read anyone claiming they used garrotes on enemies, but I suppose it could have happened. Another ad from 'Rescue Unlimited' is looking for someone to rescue. You have to wonder who he expected to contact him about rescuing someone. Police: 'We have twenty people being held hostage in a foiled bank robbery. Let's contact Rescue Unlimited.' The merc ad below this one brags that he is no 'super spook', I have a feeling that many of these ads are put out by 'super spook' FBI agents looking to entrap people.]

[Above: Nightwatch will somehow protect your property with explosives! Next ad down is a self admitted super spook looking for CIA work. Those p-38 can openers are a great thing though.]

[Above: Wait I thought all these people were terrorists? As long as they are fighting the USA's enemies they are noble freedom fighters though. How about the current leader of Syria, who was a wanted Isis terrorist with a million dollar bounty on his head, but who Trump calls 'handsome' now. Hmmm... but it does get me thinking. If that ransom is still good, maybe we could hire one of these mercs to collect it? We could pay them like $100.00 and earn a cool million.]

[Above: Was it that easy to just donate money to Afgan groups fighting the Soviets? The way I understand it the CIA was supplying arms and ammunition to them, including to Osama bin Laden.]

[Above: 1993 newspaper article praising bin Laden.]

[Above: 'Coward to the end'... Make up your damn mind, CIA...]

[Above: What the hell? Can you imagine cops rolling up on some black people and pulling these weird devices out? 'Tyrone, put your hands up or we'll use the Iron Claw on you...' But seriously, were these really brought back by popular demand? I can't imagine law enforcement really using these like the article says, but who knows?]

[Above: These things are worth a pretty penny these days, usually well over $100.]

[Above: 3,000 BBs a minute!? And over 50 yards. Very odd this uses Freon or compressed air. Freon is now banned in the USA, but it was widely used in refrigerators and air conditioners.]

[Above: Wow! Look at that monster on the bottom! An AR15 with a 12 gauge shotgun fitted under it. I've never seen such an evil amalgamation, but it seems like this wouldn't work very well. It reminds me of the movie Phantasm, where they bolt two sawed off double barrel shotguns together.]

[Above: Nightstalker, you say?]

[Above: Here, I fixed it. Ironically 'Gemini' is also the name of the serial killer in Exorcist III, but the book was written in 1983, so it was a coincidence.]

[Above: Expert in submachine gun and 'will do anything'. And he is from Italy, the only merc not in the USA that I've seen.]

[Above: Four mercs competing for your dollar. The ex-mortar NCO is a strange field to seek work. Didn't they mortar the White House in Pierce's The Turner Diaries? Oh another 'rescue force', and boasting anytime, anyplace, and any country. But somehow I wouldn't trust a guy named Mad Dog with someone's life. He would probably kill the hostages too. How about the next guy, who is a Vietnam vet, Navy SEAL, ex-Chief of Police and SWAT instructor. Sounds like this guy just made things up as he wrote it. Oh I almost forgot 'retail security'.]

[Above: Mike is gonna get a call from Don Shipley for larping as a Navy SEAL.]

[Above: Combat sandals? I guess they were probably inspired by the Vietcong, but somehow this seems wrong. 'World's finest guerrilla sandals'? Probably the world's ONLY too. And I doubt any martial arts fighters would wear these things. Anyway, further down Michael's Place is selling L.A.W. rocket parts, that's an anti-tank weapon. Only in the USA. He also sells karate weapons to go with your new L.A.W. rocket launcher.]

[Above: Okay, more mercs. N.G. can bring two of his friends, while an 'intelligent young man' boasts of having a military aptitude GT (General Technical) score of of 155. 120+ is considered excellent. 155 might be like Rambo.]

[Above: Okay but what happens when that enemy you let live goes on to kill your comrades? At least take him prisoner. Those tunnel rat guys were crazy, being the most dangerous job of the war.]

[Above: This probably looked even more horrible in color.]

[Above: Honoring Mad Dog for his service in retail security.]

[Above: This is the only time you will see laboratory supplies next to a combat ax! And what is it for in the first place. Drugs? Bombs? This is very suspicious.]

[Above: Ex-Ranger Stringer might be the real deal, but there are many fake special forces guys. Just look at Don Shipley's YouTube channel, he calls out oceans of them. 'Doctor trained in general anesthesia, facial trauma...' and interrogation? What an odd group of skills. A doctor that tortures people. Dave promises that whatever you tell him he will never tell anyone. But I don't know, Dave, I bet the doctor above could make you talk...]

[Above: Do you notice that many of these mercs say they are looking for high risk jobs? Maybe they are adrenaline junkies? This Don fellow is honest, dependable and FEARLESS. The group of guys below him promise to take care of your enemies. 'No reds' or homosexuals. Damn, that leaves you out. I think a lot of these guys are playing this role playing game advertised here. Holy shit, the next guy has a reaction time of TWO HOURS!!! This Rambo can do it all and even describes his work as 'eclat' which means glowing. Next there is an ad for professionals who specialize in lost or abducted children. The Clinton empire better watch outDamn, this Spotter guy is probably watching us right now!] ]

[Above: This BEAR guy reminds me of the horrible things the CIA used to, and probably still does, in South America. Cutting off genitals and tying women's legs shut while they are giving birth. Ever seen the movie Harsh Times? It's a crazy film that brushes the subject. Damn I want TIGER STRENGTH! I guess I'm about 45 years too late...]

[Above: Harsh Times was released in 2005.]

[Above: I wonder why some of these guys offer courier services? What exactly did this mean? With ordinary tools and materials Entium will teach you how to make a .22 pen gun!]

[Above: Another courier. Free Kung Fu lessons! McLisa you must teach me the ancient art of the Chinese Black Cobra. Rhodesian veteran reunion. Those Rhodesian guys from the Rhodesian Bush War crushed their enemies, but politically lost the war. They killed their enemies about 10 to 1 (1361 commanded by mostly white guys vs. 10,000 mostly black guerrillas). Ah, too bad Alpha Military Industries doesn't have Rhodesian short shorts. Another guy wanting to do courier work... Protect yourself from your poisonous house plants! Yeah sure, or learn what you can poison people with. Jim Dallas is the first to offer scuba work. And... courier work. What were these guys delivering? Drugs? Lastly, THE ANT is seeking short term work, nothing too dirty.]

[Above: Rhodesian warriors. Nothing like being killed by guys wearing tight shorts.]

[Above: How absolutely degenerate and barbaric, marketing a blowgun to shoot dogs with. Just look at that poor German Shepherd dog... I seriously doubt a blowgun dart has killed a mountain lion! Maybe if you rub them down with your houseplants.]

[Above: Vietnam catalog with free 'Vietnam photos", whatever that means. Maybe of beautiful tropical sunsets? $100,000 for the first communist pilot to defect with samples of chemical and/or biological agents? Very odd. Simple instructions to make plastic explosives? No thanks FBI. Instructions for making napalm and an 'extremely devastating' thermite incendiary? I think I'll study this escapeology and get off this planet. I'll hire THORN to come with me in case there are any CIA spaceships or moon bases.]

[Above: Discount military explosive? Silencer or machinegun making books? The FBI was very busy. "Lazerstun" shoots rays that blind!? It bleaches the pigments in eyes? As seen on C.H.I.P.S.? Damn, I was too busy watching The Brady Bunch. But seriously, what the hell was this thing?]

[Above: More offers for illegal machine guns. A 'laser site' for $2,000 dollars, which would be like eighty million in today's money. I'm guessing they accidently put 'site' instead of 'sight'. The female adventurer sounds very suspicious. The more I read these the more paranoid I'm starting to get. I couldn't find anything on the plane disappearance of the cargo of Ngo dinh Diem, but I did learn that he was assassinated by the CIA.]

[Above: One ounce ring... wow, that is a heavy ring. But you can't put a price on 'revenge' though. Here is a contract mercenary 'Avaialable'! This guy can do it all... except... COURIER! And you call yourself a professional? The next guy can be your 'emmissary'. Adventurer wishes to join a group looking for BIGFOOT! I wonder if he ever found it? Or did the bigfoot just shift dimensions or time travel? Okay, maybe not time travel, but somehow people actually believe bigfoot(s) shift dimensions. The plural is sometimes bigfeet called BIGFEET.]

[Above: Is that a woman's head being stepped on? I wonder if anyone ever learned something from these books and actually killed someone? William Pierce's books The Turner Diaries and Hunter used to be sold beside these kind of crazy books, that's how dangerous the system thought they were.]

[Above: Oh sure, just like the ones being sold today... are people really this stupid?]

[Above: The kind of silver advertised here.]

[Above: Someone actually seeking mercenaries for a change. RAVEN wants to know who wants a job, so send him all of your records. 'Ah, yes, Mr. Raven, I am a courier specialized in couriering'...]

[Above: An elderly man wants to be used as a decoy, whether police or private. Any risk acceptable. What the hell is this guy thinking? Our first British mercenary. I hope he accepts American pesos... Authors wants to interview female mercenaries. Do couriers count...?]

[Above: A full page ad for chemical/biological samples. $100,000 in 1982 would be a TON today... In 1982 gold was $375 to $420 per ounce, it's now over $4,500!]

[Above: The American government abandoned them if there were any P.O.W.s in Vietnam.]

[Above: A 'super spook' card. SOLD AS A WAR RELIC ONLY! What the hell else would it be good for?! A discount at Walmart?.]

[Above: Fireworks... yeah, sure. Just a patriotic American celebrating Independence Day, officer. Wait, build your own silencer next to divorce dirty tricks?!]

[Above: Lunch Bunch wonders? What the heck is this talking about? Here is a merc for the 'elite and well-to-do only!!!' Laser weapons again. I wonder if this is the type that can change your eye color like the one mentioned above? 'Doggy Interrogator of Da Nang'? Is it too late to write the last guy and address it to: Smith c/o Bronson?]