In Memoriam: MSgt. John Davis, USMC
I wanted to take a moment and send out a Memorial to my friend Bobby who lost his dad, Master Sgt. John Davis, USMC this week to illness. Jut letting you know our thoughts and prayers are with you and your Family Bobby during this time. May the road rise up to meet you….
Security Corner: Never Forgetting Where You REALLY Are
As a Parent, yesterday’s news about the 2 Year old at Disney World Resort getting killed by an Alligator was gut wrenching for me. My family’s thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the child during this very hard time. Every time there is a tragedy like this, it is inedible that questions…
Military Weapons From the Past: The Soviet SVT-38 Rifle
A lot of people think that the US was the only country in World War II to mass-issue a semiautomatic infantry rifle, but that isn’t true. While the US was the only country to issue *everyone* a semi auto, both the Soviet Union and Germany produced large numbers of them. The Soviet rifle in particular…
Military History: The Waterloo They Remembered
By Bernard Cornwell Two hundred years ago, in a shallow valley south of Brussels, three armies fought the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had returned from exile on Elba to face a coalition of European enemies, who were now determined to oust him a second time. The closest opponents were the Prussian and British-Dutch armies to…
Inspirational: My Father Escaped the Nazi’s and Then Taught Me Everything I Know
Popular Mechanics senior home editor Roy Berendsohn sits down with his father Oscar to talk about the advice and inspiration he received from his dad, a veteran and satellite engineer. For three decades, Popular Mechanics readers have turned to senior home editor Roy Berendsohn, 56, for instruction on nearly any home project, along with advice…
World War II History: 8 Bad-Ass Women of WW2
Heroism — especially in times of war — tends to produce gendered associations. We think of men fighting (and dying) valiantly, while women wait passively at home for their spouses to return. The historical record produces a different picture, however. Among the many heroes of World War II are these bad-ass women. Spies, snipers, surgeons,…
Surveillance State: The Olympics are Turning Rio into a Police State
The air is electric in Rio right now, and not just because of the surveillance cameras scattered all around the city Rio’s hundreds of surveillance cameras are easy to view on the 85 square meter display in the panopticon-style Center for Integrated Command and Control or the equally huge screen in the Operations Center…
Military History: The MacArthur Revival
America’s rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region has had many consequences, including a revival of interest in, and appreciation for, the career and worldview of General Douglas MacArthur, whose military exploits spanned fifty years and three continents, and whose reputation for good or ill rests mostly on his campaigns in the Southwest Pacific and the Philippines,…
Espionage Files: Elite Hamas Commander Reportedly Defects to Israel
A senior member of the military wing of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, is believed to have defected to Israel. News of the rumored defection first appeared on the website of Al-Hayat al-Jadida, the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank. On Tuesday, Al-Hayat…