From 1968 to 1998, Northern Ireland was the battleground of a guerrilla war known as The Troubles. On one side was the Protestant majority called the Unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. On the other side were the Nationalists, a Catholic minority who sought to become part of the…
Category: Warfare
Military Defense News: Latest Insights Into Chinese Military Tech
It’s that time of year again, and the end of an era. On Friday, the Obama Administration released the last annual Pentagon China report under its watch. Working the China military observers’ graveyard shift this weekend, I published analyses of the report’s overall content, and its key omissions — namely, any mention whatsoever of China’s maritime…
World War II History: Los Angeles Examiner Publishes a Map in 1937 Predicting How Japan Could Attack America
On November 7, 1937, the Los Angeles Examiner published a prescient map predicting how Imperial Japan could attack the US during World War II. Created by Howard A. Burke, the map imagined a Japanese attack on the US that closely predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four years later on December 7, 1941. Burke…
Soldier Superb: Australian Infantry Training in WW2
Outstanding article on a subject too many WW2 buffs no little about: How the Australian Army’s Trained for the Tough Pacific Campaign they fought.
War Machines: The M-60 Patton Tank Gets Re-Invented for the 21st Century Battlefield
Raytheon wants to upgrade U.S.-made tanks from the 1960s Raytheon is pitching a new upgrade for the venerable M-60A3 Patton main battle tank that would turn the elderly design into a competitive force on the modern battlefield — all at a fraction of the cost of a new vehicle. Named the Raytheon M-60A3 Service Life Extension Program…
War Books Worth a Damn: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Although I obviously have not seen the movie yet, I can vouch for this book as being one of the best stories I have ever read of a soldier trying to make sense of life after War. You should definitely put this one on your reading list and make plans to see the movie, as…
Military Naval History: The Last Battle of CPO 1st Class George Palmer Saunders
Offshore where sea and skyline blend In rain, the daylight dies; The sullen, shouldering swells attend Night and our sacrifice — The Destroyers, by Rudyard Kipling In 1988 I was invited to give a lecture on AIDS and surgery in the city of Örebro, Sweden. I knew that my grandfather, Chief Petty Officer 1st…
World War II History: Dutch Resistance Fighter Reminisces About Killing Nazi’s as a Teenager
Ninety-year-old Freddie Oversteegen was one of the few women who were active in the Dutch resistance during World War II—along with her sister Truus and Hannie Schaft, who was killed just before the end of the war. When Freddie was 14 years old, a gentleman visited her family home to ask her mother if she…
World War I History: The Battles That Remade Europe
From the Balkans to Britain, these battles 100 years ago transformed a continent The centenary commemorations of World War I will undoubtedly concentrate on a trio of well-known battles; Verdun, the Somme and Jutland. All three ended inconclusively, and all witnessed tremendous bloodshed. Verdun and the Somme etched themselves into the national consciousness of France…
Military History: 10 Shameful Civil Wars
Since 2011, one topic has consistently dominated headlines in the news: The war in Syria has now been going for over half a decade and is widely recognized as one of the most shameful and bloody civil conflicts in recent history. Yet, as horrible as it is, Syria is not unique. Since humans first devised…