I attended the Maneuver Conference 2015 at Ft. Benning this 14-17 September.  As usual, it was a great event and if you are ever in Columbus Ga when the conference is being held it would be well worth your time to attend.  I always leave informed impressed and foot weary from all there is to …

The facts are still coming in.  Next of Kin are still being notified.  Thankfully the “T” word isn’t being avoided. I have some sad predictions.  As soon as the authorities announce the type of rifle Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez used to murder four unarmed Marines the anti-gun community will revisit their attempts to limit American’s right …

The NYT reported the story of Lt. Col. Kate Germano, a commander of an all women Marine basic training unit.  Besides increasing female Marine physical performance and a three-fold increase in rifle qualification Germano made enemies and was recently relieved.   Statements like “telling them (female Marines) their male counterparts will never respect them if they …

The House Armed Services Committee asked the Pentagon in late April why the Army and the Marines use different primary ammunition types in their most common small arms caliber 5.56mm.  It’s a curious contradiction since the Army and Marines are fighting the same enemy in the same regions of the world.  Now that the worldwide …

35 years ago I celebrated my first 4th of July in uniform.  My memory might be a bit hazy but I remember it as follows.  Three days after arriving at West Point and surviving R-Day I found myself on the “Plain” participating in the Cadet Basic Training Regiment 4th of July Review.  R-Day stands for …

Stars and Stripes reported last week on the three remaining women attempting Ranger school again after failing the first phase twice.  (Not unheard of for male students but it is uncommon.)  My biggest take away from the article was a fundamental misunderstanding about patrols, how we train our leaders and Ranger school. The article put …

Below is the first story I ever had published which was in the Fall 2003 issue of Infantry Magazine. I wanted to include it here and rescue it from its pretty ignominious existence buried in the bowls of internet. The title pretty much describes the subject.  Warning, this was written for a professional journal and …

The Army celebrates 14 June, 1775 as its birthday.  On that day, the Continental Congress called for ten companies of expert rifleman to be formed.  The day is also in effect, the birth of America’s first Infantry.   These men came from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia comprising the 1st Continental Regiment.  Within two months they …

Today is the 71st anniversary of D-Day, one of the largest amphibious invasions in history.  Besides being a prime number, there’s nothing special about the number 71 so you won’t see the wider coverage we enjoyed last year except for some stuff maybe on the History Channel.  It’s admittedly a tough subject.  In the 71 …

For some reason this Memorial Day Weekend is hitting me exceptionally harder than normal.  I’m having a mental block but like on all Memorial Days I try to make it a point to remember and meditate on the 11 men I knew that lost their lives in the service of this nation.  I’m not the …