by Greg Chabot For the first test I left the weapon outside in -12 F weather overnight with a full mag and chambered round. I like to review products that working people can afford. There seems to be a trend in publications to review overpriced firearms that work no better …
Read More »The Bomb That Couldn’t Be Disarmed: The Harvey’s Casino Extortion Plot
by Jose Campos It started under cover of darkness. In the early hours of an August morning in 1980, three men in white jumpsuits rolled a steel box into Harvey’s Resort Hotel and Casino in Stateline, Nevada. They told casino staff it was an IBM copy machine. It wasn’t. Inside …
Read More »Threatening Skies: Countering the Drone Swarm Apocalypse
by Austin Lee Picture this: A swarm of cheap drones, hundreds strong, blotting out the Texas sun like a biblical plague of locusts. Each carries enough explosive to ruin your day, buzzing low over a sleepy border town. No radar pings, no warning; just chaos. This isn’t a Hollywood blockbuster. …
Read More »In Iraq, We Rolled In to Feed the Village – and Everything Was Oddly Quiet
by Cliff Wade It was the kind of place where a man earned his name on a bracelet for all eternity. Iraq, September 2007 In an attempt to win over hearts and minds, we would sometimes be tasked with delivering humanitarian assistance (HA) to local villages or neighborhoods. We would …
Read More »Wrong Turn, Right Tactics: Surviving a Riot From Behind the Wheel
by Greg Chabot You didn’t plan to be there. Most people don’t. But one wrong turn, one blocked exit, or one unexpected surge — and suddenly, you’re in your car in the middle of a riot. Don’t panic. As riot season heats up, here’s what to do if you find …
Read More »Howitzer Thunder: Marines Bring the Fire at Twentynine Palms
by Jose Campos TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — The desert air trembled as Marines unleashed the first rounds from a M777 Howitzer during Service Level Training Exercise this month. Dust plumes curled in the heat, smoke trailing each shell as it streaked toward a distant target. The SLTE is more than …
Read More »Francis Marion: How the ‘Swamp Fox’ Mastered Guerrilla Warfare
by Jose Campos Before the term guerrilla warfare entered the American military lexicon, a wiry, cunning officer in the Carolina backcountry was already running the playbook. His name was Francis Marion – better known to the British as the Swamp Fox. From 1780 to 1782, Marion and his ragged militia bled the King’s …
Read More »To Those Who Jump Out of Perfectly Good Airplanes: Raise a Glass
by Heath Hansen Happy National Airborne Day to all you servicemen and servicewomen who volunteered to serve your country at a “higher” level! Created in 2002, by then President George W. Bush, National Airborne Day honors all the Nation’s airborne armed forces. READ MORE from Heath Hansen in Soldier of …
Read More »The AK-12K Rifle: Kalashnikov’s Compact Powerhouse for the Modern Battlefield
by Austin Lee In the hallowed workshops of Kalashnikov Concern, Russia’s premier firearms manufacturer, the legacy of Mikhail Kalashnikov’s designs, from the AK-47 to its later derivatives, continues to evolve as combat reports stream in from the battlefield. The latest offering, the AK-12K, a short-barreled variant of the AK-12 assault …
Read More »Death in the Delta: The Viet Cong Shot Us Down With a Stolen American Minigun
by Hooligan My logbook called it a routine troop lift. My gut told me otherwise. I was still green – a “Peter Pilot” in Army slang – flying right seat in a Huey. The Aircraft Commander sat to my left, cool and unshakable, though his name has long been lost …
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