Bowe Bergdahl returns to duty. That’s not the shocking part.

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 …

Current assessment of the state of the Iraqi Army

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 …

Happy Birthday US Army & Infantry

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 …

D-Day 70 years ago

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 …

Memorial Day, Remember?

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 …

Wheels for the Airborne & Light Infantry?

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 …

Ukraine is lost, what next?

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 …

Air Force IG fails Cadet Informant

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 …

Bicycles: Infantry and More

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 …

Did we help invade Crimea?

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 …