Weapons, Wars, Preparation and Security from a recovering gun nut turned bad writer
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Denman (WPC 1149) returned to her homeport at Coast Guard Base Ketchikan on Saturday, following a 41-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific. Douglas Denman conducted 42 investigative boardings and queries in support of Operation Border Trident along the sea frontier south of San Diego. That s a lot of time underway on a
The animated film Heavy Metal premiered in the United States and Canada on August 7, 1981, making it 45 years young this month. As any Gen Xer can vouch, HM and the magazine that went along with it were transformative. Besides perhaps the Harry Canyon segment, the most affective, at least to me, was the B-17 Pacific Pearl segment, and
Some 60 years ago this week. A well-traveled paratrooper with good reason to wonder why. Official caption: 14 August 1966. SP4 Ruediger Richter (Columbus, Georgia), 4th Bn., 503 Inf., 173 Abn Bde (Separate), lifts his battle-weary eyes to the heavens, as if to ask why? SGT. Daniel E. Spencer (Bend, Oregon) stares down at their fallen comrade. The day s battle
From the February 1959 issue of Navy Aviation News comes this article about the month-long deployment of the Checkerboards of Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 312 to Cuba. Sent down south during the height of the Cuban Revolution, their 24 FJ-2 Furies flew 1,300 flight hours of diplomacy and fired over 110,743 rounds in air-to-air target quals from their Colt Mk
While the Vortex M1157 Fire Control System is the electro-optic of record for the Army s 250,000 Next Generation Squad Weapons in rifle (M7), carbine (XM8), and LMG (M250) variants to the tune of a fantastical $2.7 billion, Big Green is also looking at other, more modular, options under what is being termed the M7 Surrogate Fire Control Program. EOTECH just
On the road in Utah for an industry event this week, so I didn t have the 10-20 hours needed to pull off a Warship Wednesday. In its place, let us talk about one of Uncle Elmo s pet projects. Back in the 1970s, CNO Elmo Zumwalt’s “Sea Control Ship” concept that would provide a Cold War-era evolution to the escort carrier
Florida-based KelTec announced last week that a major Pacific Rim maritime agency has once again selected the company s tactical bullpup shotgun for use on patrol. The South Korean Coast Guard has long used the well-reviewed (once you get used to it) KelTec KSG, with some 200 of the shotguns already in service, dating back to 2015. A new contract, signed
With the sunsetting of the AV-8B in USMC service in May, it is refreshing to see these images from the recently concluded Neptune Strike 26-3 of Spanish AV-8Bs (the world s youngest Harriers) of Novena Escuadrilla (9th Squadron, the Spanish Navy s sole fixed-wing fighter aircraft unit), doing their thing in the Atlantic aboard the 26,000-ton carrier SPS Juan Carlos I (L
The British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is roughly akin to the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC) in that they man naval auxiliaries with civilian mariners on contract. While the MSC s CIVMARs kinda go native, the RFA wears a very RN-like blueberry coverall complete with badges and patches, and they run their own ship s defense. All RFA ships have a small
We see a great shot of a Montgomery-class cruiser (USS Montgomery C-9, Detroit C-10, or Marblehead C-11) conducting an arm and away landing party boat drill in Hampton Roads circa 1901. Note the five whale boats are carrying about 100~ Bluejackets, complete with visible cartridge belts and canteens, which amount to nearly half the authorized complement. Official caption: The naval