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‘Mayday! Clear All Airspace Below Us!’ When Our Plane Lost Pressure in Flight: A Pilot’s Story

We were leaning over the throttles, breaking the seals on our masks, and yelling at each other. by Mitchell “Taco” Bell To all my passenger friends out there who always text me with the crazy pilot questions, I can assure you as pilots we train for this stuff all the …

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Last of the Breed: P-520 Crash Boat Rescued WWII Airmen Before the Sea Could Claim Them

by Mr. Wolf She was built for one job: find downed American airmen before the sea claimed them. Today, the boat known as P-520 is the last surviving 85-foot World War II Army Air Forces crash-rescue boat still afloat in her original configuration. Built in Wilmington, California, in 1944, she belonged …

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Death in the Desert: A Texas Cowboy’s Gruesome Encounter

by Bobby Dee Editor’s note: Bobby Dee first made his appearance in SKK’s previous story about Bodies and Gunfire in the Texas Wilderness. Now Bobby writes about his encounter with a bad scene at sunrise. The sun wasn’t even high yet, but the heat was already pressing down on me. …

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At the Eastern Front: Inside Ukraine’s 49th Infantry Battalion

by Jonathan Stumpf “At what range can a tank engage targets with reasonable accuracy?” I asked. “About six kilometers,” the captain said. The Russian tank was two kilometers away. Lozova is a godforsaken place in eastern Ukraine. Since the city was partially evacuated as a result of the war, its …

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Marine Corps Jungle Medicine Course: ‘The Light in a Dark Time’

Deep in the jungle, there’s no medevac, no backup, and no room for mistakes. At the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center, instructors teach Navy corpsmen to be the light in a dark time. For 10 relentless days, they learn to survive, treat the wounded, and move through terrain that wants …

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‘I Wanna Jump From a Big Iron Bird’: Following in Dad’s Boot-Steps to Become a Paratrooper

by Heath Hansen I looked up into the big, blue sky. Far in the distance, I spotted a C-130 Hercules headed towards the open grass field I waited in. For a few moments, I watched as the plane continued in my direction. Suddenly, from the tail-end of the aircraft, paratroopers …

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Apache Down in the Strait of Hormuz: Combat Search and Rescue Enters the Drone Age

by Dan O’Shea Two pilots in the water, a tight rescue window, and a craft with no one aboard showed how unmanned systems are adding new options for bringing Americans home. On a half-moon lit night, flying above the northernmost point of the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. Army Apache …

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So You Want to Be a War Correspondent

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The work has been called the most dangerous form of journalism. Amid my daily influx of emails, text messages, and phone calls, I frequently am hit up by people who want to go downrange under my name. They approach me with variants on the following requests. …

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Beyond Dirty Harry: Five Shoulder Holsters That Earn Their Place

by Susan Katz Keating The first time I gave serious thought to shoulder holsters was not at a gun counter or on a range. It was when I spotted the ones worn by the men following me. That story is for another day. I was working on an investigative story, …

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