Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, hybrid warfare has become conversational short form in the West for describing Moscow’s sneaky ways of fighting war. If there’s one thing you’ve learned over the past two years about Russia, it’s that it uses hybrid warfare, a dangerous Kremlin innovation the West must learn to grapple with. In two…
Military History: How the IED Rocked the Modern Battlefield
Brian Castner’s new book offers unflinching testimony of how the IED devastated the EOD community in Iraq and Afghanistan. The face of the man who wanted to kill me wasn’t immediately visible — the photo of him required close examination. My company commander took the picture while deployed to Iraq in 2005. On a…
Espionage Files: Spy vs Spies: Why Deciphering Putin is So Hard for U.S. Intelligence
American intelligence officers are trained to tackle tough targets. But there are tough targets, and then there’s Russian President Vladimir Putin, who plays his cards so closely that it’s hard for his own advisers to divine what he’s thinking, says Gregory Treverton, chairman of the National Intelligence Council. “Putin is so isolated that the chances…
“Mind Shattering” WW2 Vet Recalls Terrifying Din of Battle
“That shrill sound is something I’ve never heard duplicated. It’s just mind-shattering.” BATTLEFIELDS are loud places – deafeningly loud. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, hearing damage is by far the most common disability reported by soldiers in combat. In fact, more than 400,000 Americans who served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan since…
Another Reason to be Armed: Mississippi Father and Mother Shoot and Kill Home Invader after Being Stabbed
A Happy Ending ONLY because the homeowners were armed and had the CHANCE to get to their GUN. This incident goes to show why you and your spouse should go out and shoot together REGULARLY and why you should go armed 24/7, even in your own home. A Gun does you NO GOOD if you…
Wounded Warrior Foundation: Here a Crook, There A Crook Everywhere A Crook Crook
It seems you cannot get away from Crooks lately…from the Political theater on TV 24/7 (The Bread and Circus Circuit) to Lying Corporate Assholes abusing their office and using money that was supposed to go to helping Wounded Veterans and their Families and instead using it to stay at Expensive resorts and God knows what…
Border Security: The Legacy of Pancho Villa’s Raid on America
Ever since “Black Jack” Pershing rode into Mexico to hunt for Pancho Villa, the United States started a pattern of personalizing Latin American security threats. In the words of one U.S. cavalry officer, Columbus, New Mexico in 1916 was little more than “a cluster of adobe houses, a hotel, a few stores and streets knee…
Crusader Corner: The ISIS Paradox, Strength in Weakness
ISIS is a terrorist group attempting to become a state. It inherited al Qaeda’s strengths, including international networks, battle tested military doctrine and strategy, and a radical religious ideology, Jihadi Salafism. The ISIS ideology has a proven record in recruiting foreign fighters worldwide to support jihadist insurgencies and terror cells. ISIS also has some competitive…
“Eyes in the Sky”: Pentagon Admits Conducting Spy Flights Over U.S. Soil
The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. soil for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have been rare and legal, the Pentagon inspector general says. The report, made public under a Freedom of Information Act request, said fewer than 20 flights occurred between 2006 and 2015, and all have been…
Cold War Files: 10 Dastardly Secret Operations of the KGB
Like the CIA, the Soviet (and now Russian) spy agency known as the KGB has engaged in decades of secret operations across the world, ranging from blackmail to kidnapping. Most of the secrets that we know about the KGB today are because of one man—Vasili Mitrokhin. Mitrokhin was an archivist for the KGB for 30…