Yankee Papa’s Uniforms series… UNIFORMS: Towards The Practical Part One 1775-1915 UNIFORMS: Towards the Practical Part 2 1914-1975 UNIFORMS: Towards the Practical Part 3. 1917-2017 Camouflage, Conflict, and Chaos “…General requirements for military textiles:  Future soldier requirements:  Dealing with complexity; Non-woven fabrics for military applications; Mechanical failure criteria for textiles and textile damage resistance; The …

With a broken heart and significant physical difficulty (it’s hard to type constantly wiping away one’s tears and blowing one’s nose) that I report the passing of our oldest, wisest and most loving four-legged friend. I adopted “Sabot” as a gift to my wife a month after our wedding on Valentine’s Day almost 15 years …

The General sat at his desk and fumed.  Thirty-five years in the Army and he was used to getting his way.  But this damned “Second Land Army”, as he always insisted on calling it (except in public) was being more arrogant than usual.  He never saw any reason for it existing in the first place.  …

If you’re a “gun guy” you’ve read a flurry of articles on the Army considering fielding a 7.62mm rifle to replace the 5.56mm M4 as an interim step to eventually adopting a new caliber next decade.  The driving force is a perceived overmatch by our current and future potential enemies. It’s an effort fraught with …

 …August 22, 1914.  The day started with heavy fog and no idea where the German army might be.  At least the French knew where *they* were… spread out from Northern France into Southern Belgium.  As the fog began to burn off, most of the men found themselves in forest country… and the Germans were immediately …

Round counters were once a dream or concept for science fiction movies.  They may have finally become a real world practicality facilitating a huge leap in weapons maintenance.  ADS and Secubit will be showcasing their paradigm changing approach WeaponLogic, at Shot Show 2017. Since the advent of large capacity magazines, soldiers have searched for ways …

Rock Island’s TCM TAC Ultra Full Size (FS) is the third pistol in my series of reviews on the company’s innovative new 1911’s chambered in 9mm AND 22TCM.  When I opened the box the movie Robocop came to mind.  I learned the passing similarity to the Desert Eagle wasn’t the only thing the guns have …

The Washington Free beacon reported a disturbing incident.  A joint U.S.-Russia Commission on POW/MIAs met in May.  Despite over a 1000 pages of documentation citing Russian and Chinese officers eyewitness accounts, Michael Linnington, former director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) told the Russians there was “no evidence” US POW’s captured in Korea were …

Every November 10th, Majrod has me address some Birthday comments to the Marines that prowl around this site from time to time.  Every year I remind them that the Marine Corps is so besotted with glory that it is as well to remember that other services… especially the Army… have played their own part in …

I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to sit through BAT Defense’s Aerial Target Interdiction Course last Saturday given at Altair in the Florida everglades.  I probably won’t be able to do justice to the event.  From top to bottom it was awesome.  If you’ve “done everything” when it comes to shooting, put this …

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 …

…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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …