Archive for February, 2014

The Infantry, Olympics and Women?

The winter Olympics don’t particularly inspire me to think of similarities to the Infantry.  Sure the desire to win is there, there is the shooting in the biathlon and plenty of sports requiring high levels of physical fitness and endurance.  We really don’t train many troops to ski these days unlike WWII where we had …

Fort Hood Massacre Site Torn Down

Ft. Hood tore down the building where Nidal Hasan, an ex-Army officer and psychiatrist killed 14 and wounded 30 in 2009 while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.  Nidal used an FN Five Seven pistol to gun down unarmed soldiers in the former Soldier Readiness Processing Center.  Hasan fired 214 rounds and at least two soldiers and one …

The 0.45% and America’s Cultural Disdain for Soldiers

Below is an essay written by Nick Palmisciano co-owner/ founder of Ranger Up.  A friend (YP) forwarded it to me and it inspired me, caused me to reflect, do a little research and repost it with some of my thoughts.  It has been incorrectly attributed to Gen. David Petraeus, General Norman Schwarzkopf and even “A …

Frontier Infantry 1866-91

Essay by Yankee Papa (all rights reserved) In June of 1866 700 men of the 18th Infantry Regiment were marching out of Fort Laramie heading up the new “Bozeman Trail…” This would save hundreds of miles from the old route to the mines in Montana. The weather was splendid and the troops were marching towards …

The Outpost by Jake Tapper

The Outpost by Jake Tapper is a must read for the student of war, the doctrine of counterinsurgency, those wishing to understand Afghanistan and why ultimately success has been elusive.  It is also the sad and ultimately tragic tale of Combat Outpost (COP) Keating from when it was first established in 2006 to the final …