“To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, the Irish building supply company Chadwick’s is offering MilitaryHistoryNow.com this infographic exploring some of the O’Connell Street landmarks that were damaged and destroyed during the battle.” FOR MANY, Dublin’s famous O’Connell Street is considered ‘ground-zero’ for the Easter Rising of 1916. At the start of the five-day insurrection, which ran…
Category: Urban Warfare
The Three Faces of Russian Spetsnaz in Syria
As the Russian drawdown from Syria continues, more information continues to emerge about the forces Moscow had committed to shoring up the Assad regime. One telling aspect is how involved Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces were in the deployment. They were involved in two of their three core missions — reconnaissance and special security missions —…
Up Close and Personal in the Russian/Ukranian Conflict
Things have been various levels of blistering between the Ukraine and Russia over the Crimean Peninsula for a long time now. Recently we came across a compilation of front-line footage that was released late last year. Body cameras aren’t just popular for surfing and skydiving anymore. Inside you’ll gain some insights on some of the heavier…
“War is My Life”: A Journey Along The Front Line In Ukraine
SHCHASTYA, Ukraine—The late winter weather in Ukraine alternates among frigid, cool, snow, and rain—teasing the arrival of spring. The 2-year-old war, which has ravaged eastern Ukraine, killing more than 10,000 and displacing more than 1 million, is as fickle as the weather—teasing the possibility of peace without ever achieving it. Both sides of the conflict renewed…
What the 2016 Presidential Candidates Get Wrong About the Future of War
They fail, they lack, they misunderstand, they pander, they don’t get, and they just don’t know national security – not according to our Future of War roster of experts. “The President shall be Commander in Chief…” This clause that leads Article Two, Section II of the U.S. Constitution is without a doubt the most important of…
Military Weapons from the Past: Americas First Rolling Armored “Shotgun”
A weird little Marine Corps tank blasted North Vietnamese troops Designed and built in a farm tractor factory and armed with six 106-millimeter recoilless rifles, the M-50A1 Ontos was rejected by the Army and only purchased in small numbers by the Marine Corps. Years later in Vietnam, the USMC trained infantry riflemen to drive these…
Iranian Basij Fighting Forces Bolster the Assad Regime in Syria
This fanatical Para-Military Volunteer pipeline stretches from Tehran to Damascus Tehran downplays its presence in Syria, but its volunteers are hard to hide. The most obvious clue as to their presence is the fact that Iranian troops have died in the conflict, including high-profile commanders such as Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani of the Iranian Revolutionary…
Military History: The Most ‘Interesting’ War Tactics of All Time According to Ask Reddit
A recent Ask Reddit thread sought to explore the greatest war tactic ever performed. The history books are full of examples of unconventional and surprise military tactics. A recent Reddit thread entitled “What was the most interesting war tactic ever performed in history?” was full of unbelievable stories, so naturally, we wanted to share a…
Matthew Bracken Talks SHTF and Dirty Civil War
MATTHEW BRACKEN is a former Navy SEAL (BUD/S Class 105), a Constitutionalist, and a self-described “freedomista”. This interview was first published in the Fall 2014 issue of Forward Observer. You might think that the most courageous thing Matt Bracken’s ever done is taking a SEAL team to Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, the same year of…
Clash of the Titans: Will Syria be the beginning of WWIII?
Defense Secretary Ash Carter says a key Persian Gulf ally has agreed to send special forces soldiers to Syria to assist in the development of local Sunni Arab fighters focused on recapturing Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s capital. Carter made the comment after meeting Friday at his Brussels hotel with his counterpart from the United…