Beirut fire sergeant Wissam Bleik was killed by a stray bullet during the Beirut municipal elections in May. He was a victim of celebratory gunfire, which usually follows political speeches in Lebanon. Lebanese authorities are struggling to battle this dangerous ritual, which often happens at weddings, funerals and elections. Advocacy groups like Cheyef 7alak have…
Author: The Tactical Hermit
Armed Texan and Part-Time Bard.
Understanding 4th Generation Warfare: The Real Paranoia Inducing Purpose of Russian Hacks
For six months, starting in the fall of 2014, I investigated a shadowy online Russian propaganda operation called the Internet Research Agency. The agency has been widely reported in Russian media to be the brainchild of Evgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin. At the time, it employed hundreds of Russians in a…
World War II History: “Steel Versus Struts and Canvas”
In Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom, historian Iain Ballantyne lays out in an almost cinematic style how the German high-seas raider met her match during a contest of steel versus struts and canvas. It was the most unlikely of tales — fragile, supposedly obsolete Swordfish biplanes against the modern battle-wagon Bismarck, at the time the most powerful warship…
Military History: Kentucky Physician and Governor Was One of First Civilians to Attempt Biological Warfare in the Civil War
Dr. Luke Blackburn was a respected medical doctor and philanthropist until he allegedly attempted to create a yellow fever outbreak targeting Northern civilians and soldiers during the Civil War. Despite widespread outrage at the time, he later won a landslide victory to become the governor of Kentucky. Blackburn was a native Kentuckian who began working…
Armed Citizen Corner: British Pistol Use During World War I
Here’s an interesting piece of research, done in 2010 by one David Thomas as part of a degree in British First World War Studies: The Pistol in British Military Service During the Great War (pdf) This is a well-footnoted 38 pages, covering the British procurement of handguns, the different types of handguns use, and the training…
Military History: “Nobody Can Soldier Without Coffee…”
In April 1865, at the bloody, bitter end of the Civil War, Ebenezer Nelson Gilpin, a Union cavalryman, wrote in his diary, “Everything is chaos here. The suspense is almost unbearable.” “We are reduced to quarter rations and no coffee,” he continued. “And nobody can soldier without coffee.” If war is hell, then for many…
Military News: USMC Recruiting Stations to Buy Bulletproof Panels
This is goes to prove the old Military adage: “All Military Regulations are Written in BLOOD.” Or in other words, it will always take a TRAGEDY to change things. #1: Why were Bulletproof Windows and Doors not Standard in the First Place in ALL Recruiting Stations? #2: Why the LONG Delay in getting this done…
Military History: The Attack of the USS Stark by an Iraqi Warplane in 1987
On May 17, 1987, the U.S. Navy guided missile frigate USS Stark was on a patrol in the central Persian Gulf, about three kilometers outside the Iraq-declared war-zone off the coast of Iran. Around 22.00hrs local time, Stark came under attack from an Iraqi air force fighter jet. Radars on the U.S. warship tracked the…
World War II History: Rare One Man Nazi Sub Photograph
In the below 1944 photo, colorized by Marina Amaral, US Army troops examine a one-man submarine that washed up on the Anzio beachhead in Italy. According to The National World War II Museum, the submarine was converted from a torpedo, with the warhead chamber replaced with a cockpit. US troops captured the 17-year-old Nazi pilot…
Learning From Terrorist Tactics: Dump Truck VBIED’s?
With the Political Circuses (I mean Conventions) going on, you would be hard pressed right now to hear about anything worthwhile in the State Run media other than the latest lies some Politician told, but this little tidbit did catch my eyes and ears: Dump Truck Driver Says He Has Bomb, Smashes Through FBI Gate…