by Mitch “Taco” Bell Sometimes you never know who your neighbors are and I don’t mean that in the ax murderer scenario way, but in the sense that you have true heros hiding out in plain sight. Take Tommy King, for instance. One weekend we had a giant wind storm and …
Read More »Inside the Circle of Death, We Got Hit by An IED – And Garrison Bullshit From ‘Old Stinkeye’
by Greg Chabot Note from the author: The following is all from my perspective and how I remember it. Any inaccuracies are on me. Overview I often get asked, “What was the most dangerous mission you went on?” My reply: “Logpack to FOB Warhorse.” Baqubah in 2004-05 was not a …
Read More »On Desperate Ground: Mad Dog Platoon and the Battle of OP Nevada
by Susan Katz Keating The Ninth Situation of War, when you must fight without delay, is Desperate Ground – Sun Tzu “Watson. Wake up. Woods. Everyone. Wake the hell up.” The sentinels raced through the lean-to, alerting the team with urgent news: the Taliban were at the wire. Hours earlier, Sgt. …
Read More »How I Saved My Unit From Death-by-Trackers
On this particular day, I was feeling quite fed up with all the fucking trackers. I went on a rant. And then… by Cliff Wade Back in Garrison, 2015 The Army is big on trackers. They track unit’s training requirements, numerous administrative actions, leave dates, fire extinguisher expiration dates, duty exemptions, …
Read More »Deadly Assault on Special Forces in Vietnam Left ‘Drag Marks and Blood Trails Throughout the Camp’
by Gene Pugh One of the darkest days in Special Forces history occurred on a summer morning in 1968 in Vietnam. In the early hours of Aug. 23, the Da Nang MACVSOG camp known as FOB4 was attacked by approximately 167 soldiers from the combined units of the 22nd VC …
Read More »Plastic Paramilitaries: Irish Insurgents Print Their Own 3D Guns
by James Parker Northern Ireland’s paramilitary underworld is learning to fight with the tools of the digital age, and these tools are becoming more sophisticated and accessible. As a crowd gathered in Belfast to commemorate Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising, something new made an appearance in the arsenal of Northern Ireland’s …
Read More »Texas Floods: We Searched for Survivors When Tropical Storm Charley Battered Del Rio
by Martin Kufus Author Martin Kufus was a volunteer firefighter in Texas, and participated in disaster ops there. He embarked on a tense mission in 1998, after flash floods wreaked havoc along the southern border. The following is based on a chapter from his book, Plow the Dirt but Watch the …
Read More »The Phantom F-14: When ‘Pyro’ Lit Us Up Over the North Atlantic
by Mitch “Taco” Bell We called him “Pyro” after he ran around the Charleston O’Club, drunk as hell, butt-naked with a rolled-up newspaper stuck in the crack of his rear, on fire, and a green tee shirt over his head with two eyes cut out. Tonight, his in-flight emergency was …
Read More »‘They Were a Brotherhood’: Working With Mercs in the Congo
Former American diplomat William Boudreau encountered mercenaries during his career with the Foreign Service. Here are his recollections and observations about them. by William Boudreau I will not advocate for a humanitarian award for any mercenary I have known. However, they embrace humanity. My point is they were …
Read More »The Barely Told Story of America’s Greatest Half-Assed Heroes
by Susan Katz Keating Why did Soviet forces abandon Afghanistan in 1989 after nearly 10 years of war? Western analysts have burned through terabytes trying to explain it. What else besides the fierce Mujahideen drove the Red Army to retreat with nothing to show but shattered pride? Some credit the …
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