Glow worms, bats, and sea lions, oh my. Here are some of some of the strangest uses of animals in warfare. When you talk about animals in war, most people immediately think of military working dogs, who continue to serve with U.S. troops in support of the Global War on Terror. However, horses, camels, elephants,…
Category: Military History
How the Reagan-Era CIA Predicted Our Drone Dystopia
It is mind numbing how an agency with the resources and manpower like the CIA has can predict things like this but yet miss earth shaking Geo-Political events like the Soviets Invading Afghanistan in 1979 or the Soviet Union Collapse in 1991 or my favorite: being blindsided on 9/11. As a person who understands the…
Military History: Armies Used to Hate Snipers
A brief history of armed conflict’s most controversial job Snipers play a key role in the world’s armies. They’re excellent scouts and can target commanders on the opposing side with an outsize impact. Working by themselves, they can pin down a group, creating fear and confusion. Thanks to movies such as Enemy at the Gates and…
Military Defense News: U.S. Navy Sinks Frigate with Anti-Aircraft Missile
A modified SM-6 destroyed USS ‘Reuben James,’ and that’s a big deal For more than 28 years, the frigate USS Reuben James served out a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy. Then two years after she retired, the former Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate ate an American missile and sank off the Hawaiian coast. It was no accident. In…
Military History: How the IED Rocked the Modern Battlefield
Brian Castner’s new book offers unflinching testimony of how the IED devastated the EOD community in Iraq and Afghanistan. The face of the man who wanted to kill me wasn’t immediately visible — the photo of him required close examination. My company commander took the picture while deployed to Iraq in 2005. On a…
“Mind Shattering” WW2 Vet Recalls Terrifying Din of Battle
“That shrill sound is something I’ve never heard duplicated. It’s just mind-shattering.” BATTLEFIELDS are loud places – deafeningly loud. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, hearing damage is by far the most common disability reported by soldiers in combat. In fact, more than 400,000 Americans who served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan since…
Border Security: The Legacy of Pancho Villa’s Raid on America
Ever since “Black Jack” Pershing rode into Mexico to hunt for Pancho Villa, the United States started a pattern of personalizing Latin American security threats. In the words of one U.S. cavalry officer, Columbus, New Mexico in 1916 was little more than “a cluster of adobe houses, a hotel, a few stores and streets knee…
Military History: The Lost Doughboys of World War I
The Hunt Continues for American MIAs from WW1 “Organizers hope that Doughboy MIA will help raise awareness of the sacrifices made a century ago by U.S. soldiers, sailors and marines during during the so called War to End All Wars.” AS MANY AS 4 million American military personnel served in the First World War. More than 110,000 of…
The Rise of the Russian PMC (Private Military Contractor)
On Jan. 28, the Duma began discussing the possibility of legalizing private military companies in Russia. The law, which counts influential vice prime minister Dmitry Rogozin as a supporter, has one major goal — to ensure that Iraqi oil fields where Russian firms Rosneft and Gazprom operate no longer come under the protection of British…
Military Weapons from the Past: The ‘Hotchkiss Type Universal’ was a TINY Submachine Gun
The odd-looking Hotchkiss Type Universal represented an extraordinary attempt at creating an extremely compact submachine gun. The need was obvious. In World War II, soldiers found themselves getting in and out of vehicles, jumping from planes and fighting in close quarters. They needed a weapon that wouldn’t get in the way. Submachine guns had become…