Hacksaw Ridge, a Story of Commitment, Principle & Courage

I watched Hacksaw Ridge tonight and left the theatre spent.  It’s an inspiring story that celebrates being true to one’s self in the cauldron of combat.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in movies with a strong moral theme.  It’s also a very well done action movie and has much to offer those that …

UNIFORMS: Towards The Practical Part One 1775-1915 by Yankee Papa

…Brisk April morning.  Roughly zero dark thirty.  Troops had been waiting forever, but the brass had insured “hurry up and wait” by trying to micro-manage an evolution that they had never seen fit to practice before.  They were late getting all the men into the boats and underway.  It would be long after dawn before …

TCM ROCK Standard FS HC Combo – 22TCM/9mm Review

When it comes to guns it’s hard to be innovative with the myriad of choices out there.  The task becomes near insurmountable when you tackle the venerable 1911 chassis and simultaneously create a brand new round.  You have to hand it to Rock Island and I applaud their daring.  I was given the opportunity to …

Maneuver Conf 2016 Most Impressive Display, Marathon Targets

Marathon Targets likely impressed me the most of all the displays at Ft. Benning’s 2016 Maneuver Conference.  It can potentially revolutionize our small arms ranges and small unit training up to company level while tremendously increasing our Soldiers and Marines marksmanship capabilities.  Today, unless our troops are given access to very limited and expensive range …

The Dawn of the Armored Fighting Vehicle

One hundred years ago combustion powered armored war machines first took to the battlefield. Startfor did an excellent article in commemorating this historic development. Besides describing that event the article discussed the evolution of armored platforms back to the Roman Army and hit on some dynamics that still are with us today e.g. speed, weight …

Army “Green Round”; the “Rest of the Story”

Get ready.  I’m about to overturn what a lot of knowledgeable “gun people” think they know about the Army’s M855A1 “Green Round”.  There will be gnashing of teeth as angry keyboarding hammers out responses that will most likely ignore the facts I’m about to share. What’s prompted me to cause this upheaval in “common knowledge” …

Gentex Helmet Developments from Maneuver Conference 2016

Gentex is commonly known as a helmet company but they are much more than that.  Their specialty is actually producing solutions that go far beyond just the shell of a helmet and ballistic protection.  They are very concerned with creating solutions that make the soldier’s ability to complete the mission safer and more efficient.  Their …

Initial Insights from Maneuver Conference 2016

Ft Benning, the home to the Army’s Maneuver Center and the Army’s Infantry and Armor branches hosts a yearly conference called the Maneuver Conference.  The conference is an opportunity for vendors to showcase equipment the Army may be interested in as well as an event where the Army’s primary maneuver branches assess themselves, the Army …

Fifteen 911’s Later

Every five years our country makes a special effort to remember 911.  I understand.  We tend to make a bigger deal when an anniversary falls on a multiple of five.  That said, 911 falls in a very unique category and we don’t do it justice.  It is an event that has impacted our lives daily …

Big Day Today!

Six battalions of Infantry were called for by the continental congress this day 241 years ago.  The Infantry throughout our history has been the American who had to dig out our enemies at face to face distance.  Happy Birthday, US Army Infantry!   Today is the Army’s Birthday, an organization that has borne 80% of …