We need to ask ourselves which lessons are worth retaining versus which do we think we should retain but make us more vulnerable. Editor’s Note: This article is drawn from a talk given by the author to the Special Operations Medical Association Scientific Assembly in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 24, 2016. Question: Do the…
Category: Warfare
Modern War: Drone Choppers Help Hunt Top-Tier Terrorist in Africa
On Jan. 14, 2014, USS Elrod left her home port in Norfolk, Virginia for what, to outsiders, might have seemed like a routine six-month trip to the Mediterranean. Carrying a detachment of four MQ-8B Fire Scout drone helicopters, the nearly 30-year-old frigate would visit various ports and train with America’s allies, according to an official…
Modern War: Incendiary Munitions Appearing On Russian Jets In Syria
Earlier this week analysts found that RT, a government-funded Russian media company, edited out footage that initially showed Russian jets in Syria armed with incendiary munitions. The original clip was restored after RT said it had deleted the footage out of concerns for the pilot’s safety. The use of incendiary weapons in Syria is nothing new — they’ve been dropped by Syrian…
Guerilla Warfare History: The Ties That Bind… Chairman Mao, Che Guevera and Al-Qaeda
Mao Tse-tung borrowed the revolutionary vanguard from Vladimir Lenin, Ernesto “Che” Guevara liked Mao’s ideas about sanctuaries, and Al Qaeda valued Guevara’s focoist approach to global insurgency. At first glance, the revolutionary strategies of Mao, Guevara, and the intellectuals who devised Al Qaeda’s doctrine for jihad have much in common. They integrated violence into the…
World War II History: The Anniversary Of The Great Patriotic War: June 22, 1941
For all you Fellow WW2 Historians out there understand this video was put out by RT, Russia Today, which is the Propaganda Machine of the Russian Federation. Now I am not disputing the facts of the video but I do take issue with it’s arrogance. Although the Soviet Union did suffer during WW2, if it…
Obscure Military History: Tank Warfare in the Dominican Republic, 1965
Tanks have rarely been used in battle in the Western Hemisphere — and fights between tanks are even rarer. But the Dominican Republic in 1965 was one of the exceptions, when Constitutionalist rebels fought the armored vehicles of invading U.S. Marines in the streets of the capital city, Santo Domingo. Stranger yet, the Dominicans were using Swedish tanks….
World War II History: Barbarossa And It’s Lesson For The Living
75 years ago this morning at 0315 Central European Time, the valiant and ruthless German race was thrust into a war of annihilation against the Soviet empire, in what became the dominant theatre in the largest-scale conflict in world history, World War II. Named after Frederick I, the red-bearded King of Germany and Holy Roman…
Military History: 10 World Changing Invasions That Never Happened
Strategists say the first casualty of war is the plan. In a few cases, the plan never reached the war stage. And if these 10 invasions had happened, the world would be a dramatically different place. 1. War Plan Red: The U.S. Invasion of Canada In the post-WWI era, fresh from battlefield victory in Europe,…
Ancient Military History: The Romans Secret “Terror Weapon”
Archeologists have unearthed a set of Roman lead sling bullets which were used against the barbarian foes in Scotland. The bullets were found to make a piercing whistle noise when hurled through the air, a sound thought to have been used to strike terror in their enemies 1,800 years ago. According to an article…
Future Warfare: The Kremlin’s Football Hooligans
This year’s UEFA European Championship has been rocked by violence. While football hooliganism is nothing new, what happened this year appears organized as well as political. Moreover, the worst hooligans involved are Russian. Given the difficult relations at present between Moscow and the European Union, questions have arisen about what’s really going on. First, the…