In an uncharacteristic and incredibly coincidental revelation, the US government acknowledged it attempted to rescue the subsequently beheaded American journalist James Foley.  The government’s justification for acknowledging the raid is that it was about to be reported by several news organizations.  Huh?  Whatever happened to “neither can confirm nor deny”?   Instead of potentially vague …

Russia is going to invade Ukraine.  The only question is when.  Not that Russia needs it, but Russia has orchestrated a number of incidents designed to intimidate the US. Reuters reported that Russian news cited an unnamed Russian Navy Main Staff spokesman as stating a supposedly U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine, was detected in the Barents …

I read in FoxtrotAlpha.jalopnik.com an essay on Israel’s first combat employment of the Trophy active protection system (APS).  This immediately caught my eye because of my experience modeling the system in 2003.  The system is mounted on Israeli Merkava 4 tanks and Namer infantry carriers.  It consists of fixed array radar to pick up incoming …

Essay by Yankee Papa and published for him on GRUNTSandCo (All rights Reserved) Corporal Antonio Pessoa* stepped out of his bunker into the snow.  While the American uniforms were excellent, none of the men of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) ever felt really warm in the mountains.  When the Force was first discussed it was …

There’s been a flurry of news lately about the potential demise of the Army’s M9 9mm pistol.  It’s a bit premature.  The Army recently concluded the Individual Carbine Competition to evaluate potential replacements for the M4 carbine.  It concluded without a clear winner or Army decision to replace the M4 though the Army has decided …

CNN is reporting Bowe Bergdahl is returning to duty.  The investigation into his alleged desertion continues and while most will be drawn into a discussion of his reintegration into civilization or the correctness of Bergdahl being assigned duties (seems inefficient to have to assign two supervisors to a soldier returning to duty) or getting $350k …

Political cronyism seems to be the cause of much of the lost Iraqi combat capability as Prime Minister Maliki’s administration replaced many competent officers with politically reliable ones since US military force left Iraq.  Recent reports tell of soldiers finding themselves under attack by ISIS learn that commanders at higher headquarters have fled.  The immediate …

On June 14 1775  the Continental Congress called for the formation of ten companies of expert rifleman.   These riflemen came from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia and comprised the 1st Continental Regiment.  Their standard weapon was the rifled long rifle also known as the Kentucky rifle.   The longer range and marksmanship of the 1st Continental …

70 years ago today 150 thousand troops were flung across the English Channel in an extremely risky operation to land on the continent, open a second front and rid the world of Nazisim.  There are a myriad of great books and movies out there.  “The Longest Day”, the “Band of Brothers” miniseries and excerpts of …

As we enjoy our long weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer and some really great sales opportunities I just wanted to remind everyone to take a moment and meditate on what the holiday is really about. Memorial Day, is a specific United States federal holiday formerly known as Decoration Day. Unlike Veteran’s Day which celebrates …

Next month the Army will be testing potential vehicles at Ft. Bragg to fit the Ultra Light Combat Vehicle (ULCV) concept.  This is an old (and good) idea that is new again.  The concept is for a light vehicle that can be chopped to Airborne and Light Infantry units to enhance their mobility.  After a …

The Ukraine is lost.  It’s no longer a question of if the Ukraine will lose its sovereignty but when.  The West doesn’t have the military capability to halt Russian aggression and more importantly, the will is absent.  When the US can’t send more than MRE’s any discussion of Ukraine standing against Russia is a short …

Late last year I wrote extensively here and on SOFREP.com on the Air Force Academy using cadet informants to expose other cadets involved in drug usage and sexual assault.  In the process, cadets were instructed to violate the cadet honor code and academy regulations with the promise they would be protected.  The Air Force’s Office …

by Yankee Papa   The SOG team was in Laos, awaiting extraction.  NVA “headhunter” units were narrowing down their search… It was only a matter of time…and it was running out for the team.  They had requested extraction, but FAC pilot was radioing information to them… asking odd questions… and the general drift seemed to …

In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down along with much of our common sense on our relationship with Russia.  A relatively recent rush of military-to-military training exercises with the Russians has likely helped Russia become more effective and likely even facilitated the invasion of Crimea. When the Soviet Union died the Soviet military fell into …