Julian Corbett (1854-1922) has long been hidden in the shadow of Clausewitz and by the baneful glare of modern think tanks. Renowned as a naval thinker, Corbett was far more—and ever adept at pointing out how absolute theories collapse when faced with reality. Of particular pertinence to the current befuddlement of U.S. policy toward…
Category: Military History
A Grunt’s Thoughts on the Loss of Kunduz
By Ryan Blum Best Defense guest columnist As I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed during my Monday morning commute I almost overlook a post from my old Company Commander: “Taliban Fighters Overrun Kunduz City as Afghan Forces Retreat” My mouth drops. Back in March of 2010 my unit took responsibility for Kunduz Province in northern…
Unsung Heroes: The Corpsman who Saved 5 Marines at Nasiriyah
Navy corpsman Luis Fonseca ran through hell to treat five wounded Marines, carrying one to safety himself. On March 23, 2003, in Nasiriyah, Iraq, Luis Fonseca, a seaman apprentice, was a Navy corpsman on his first deployment, assigned to the Marine Corps’ 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion. Fonseca’s unit was tasked with capturing and holding the…
HOW THE OSS SHAPED THE CIA AND AMERICAN SPECIAL OPS
Six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Office of Strategic Services to collect and analyze intelligence and conduct special operations. Its formal existence lasted just three years. But more than 70 years on, the U.S. organizations charged with these missions today remain indelibly influenced by the OSS…
The Battle of Salamis: Themistocles and the Birth of Strategy
The dichotomy of strategy and tactics in war did not solidify as a concept until the publication of Carl von Clausewitz’ On War in 1832. Since then the relationship between the two has been hotly debated, along with the subsequent interjection of the operational level of war. What is not debated are the concepts themselves….
UNSUNG HEROES: The Heroic Last Stand Of Two Marines In Ramadi
Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter bravely sacrificed themselves to stop a suicide bomber, saving the lives of 150 comrades. On April 22, 2008, in Ramadi, Iraq, two Marine infantrymen stood their ground and opened fire on a truck carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives as it barreled toward their post and the 150…
Bad-Ass of the Week: Douglas Bader
Tuesday September 15th was the 75th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day – the high point in an epic five-month campaign that ripped apart the skies above England during the early stages of World War II. With Hitler noscope teabagging all of Europe in 1939 and 1940 and celebrating like he’d just blindsided a QB…
How Chesty Puller Earned his 5 Navy Crosses
Chesty Puller is one of my all time favorite Marines in History. One look at this guy and immediately you know he is somebody not to be trifled with! This devil dog’s career spans decades of conflict over several continents. A Modern Day Spartan… A True Warrior, A True Marine. A Man built for the…
The Watermelon Patch: The Bad-Assness of the American Fighting Man!
As Warriors we assume the lineage of those who went before us and only in knowing our lineage can we honor them. This month we will focus on the Badassness of the American fighting man – along with a few other interesting military obscurities from our collective past. Let’s start by singing Happy 54th Birthday…
16 basic principles of Mass Indoctrination
1.Start While They are Young 2. Create the Illusion of Political Freedom 3. Use Simplistic Stereo-types to Sway Public Opinion Read the Remainder at Medium