The following are three articles from the Cipher Brief I collated into one big article for the convenience of reading it in one sitting. These are good, relevant and succinct articles with little fluff.-SF Ground Warfare After the United States emerged from the Vietnam War, it witnessed the events of the 1973 Yom…
Category: Historical Study
Military History: What the 173rd Airborne Looked Like Two Centuries Ago
Historic reoccurrence is a controversial concept. However, events, especially in military history, often take place in similar sites. The reason for this phenomenon is simple. Throughout centuries logistics, weaponry and technology change, but terrain and strategic points continue to shape military campaigns. Consequently, soldiers’ accounts share similarities in impressions, discomforts and adventures, even if they happen…
Wingate’s Way: Leadership Lessons from Britain’s Maverick General
I highly recommend Anglin’s book Orde Wingate: Unconventional Warrior for those of you who have an interest in learning about Counter-Insurgency Warfare and it’s timeless principles.-SF “Orde Wingate’s experiences from World War Two offer lessons for 21st Century military planners, particularly in the areas of counter-insurgency, covert and special operations and proxy wars.” By Dr. Simon Anglin MAJOR GENERAL Orde…
WWII History: Uncovering Holocaust Perpetrators Where Few Have Looked
Muslim Nazis, women in the SS, and Dutch ‘bounty hunters’ are coming out of the archival closet, even as fewer Shoah eyewitnesses remain alive to testify BOSTON — With new access to archives and other primary sources, historians are supplanting archetypal images of Aryan Nazi men as the Holocaust’s sole perpetrators. Previously obscured perpetrator “sub-groups”…
ISIS vs Al-Qaeda: The War Within the Jihadist Movement
Understanding your enemy and more importantly your enemies weaknesses is key to dismantling their infrastructure and eventually their organization and then plnating them in the ground where they belong.-SF The post-Arab Spring period has seen extraordinary growth in the global jihadist movement. In addition to theIslamic State seizing a vast swathe of territory spanning Syria…
Texas News: Convention of the States, Part 1
For those of you following this, here is the link to Governor Abbotts 92 page “Texas Plan” which I am currently reading. For all of you out there who are fans of both Constitutional history and it’s inherent application, I urge you to read this. What I find amazing is Gov. Abbott is actually following…
Is Europe Choosing to Self-Destruct?
I know some of you may be asking “Why is he posting articles on Europe? Hasn’t the U.S. got enough of it’s own problems?” The answer is YES, the U.S. has a ton of our own issues, but what is happening in Europe right now is a blueprint for what COULD happen here in America…
Cold War Files: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet ‘Death Star’
The ambitions of the United States and the Soviet Union, late in the Cold War, to launch massive weapons into outer space sounds like a fever dream today. Few however know just how serious it got, with the USSR making impressive progress on plans for a so-called “Red Death Star” to be launched into orbit….
Crusader Corner: PROVENCE’S BLOODY PAST, SIX LESSONS FROM A FORGOTTEN CRUSADE
For many, Provence immediately conjures up images of crisp blue skies, gently swaying lavender fields, and picturesque village markets. Immortalized by figures such as Marcel Pagnol, Jean Giono, and Lawrence Durrell — and more recently by the writings of Peter Mayle and Julia Child — southern France continues to be viewed as something of a…
Historical Study: The Jolt of Electricity that Forever Altered Warfare
On Jan. 6, 1838, a current ran along two miles of wire, forever changing how we wage war. In the wake of the Civil War, there were many legacies left by Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, with the abolition of slavery and the foundation of a national American identity at the front of most people’s lists. But…