In the past, battles were started with a “bang” and by “bang” I mean cannons, muskets, rifles, etc. As battle and war evolves we have learned to work under the stars and live under the darkness. What’s the point of working under the darkness if you can’t be quiet? Be as quick and as quiet […]
Downtime
Photo of the Day | Vortex UH-1 Holographic Optic
Photo of the Day – Scanning the woods of an undisclosed location in Virginia while in the middle of pre-deployment workups. Everybody says EOTech is far superior to any optic out there. “Operators use EOTech so it must be the best” and so on and so forth. The fact of the matter is, EOTech isn’t […]
“The Catcher Was a Spy” Moe Berg, OSS, A Swing, and a Miss
Like most Special Forces guys, especially of my generation, I can’t get enough of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) from World War II. OSS was the “Greatest Generation” version of both CIA and the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) as both sprang forth from the extraordinary organization that General William “Wild Bill” Donovan built […]
A Private Military Contractor’s Workout/Pre-Op Music Playlist
Pictured above: Waiting for a workup to deployment exercise at an undisclosed location in Virginia. I’ve been told I work a “cool guy” job – it’s tactical, its fast paced, I’m always traveling (sorry to my editor Scott Witner for never getting articles in on time), but most importantly I get to live what seems […]
Constructing urban breaching charges
Marine Assaultmen and Engineers conduct urban breaching in Integrated Training Exercise 3-18 on Range 220 MOUT in 29 Palms California. The Marines used detonation cord (det cord) to construct a variety of urban breaching charges that are standard for urban shot and experimented with some newer charges including the “Copenhagen charge” developed to defeat deadbolted […]
Marine becomes chew toy for military working dog
Corporal Nick Coffman (USMC) keeping a military working dog’s skills sharp while near the Syrian border in Waleed, Iraq circa 2009. At the remote forward operating base, the Marine dog handler was appreciative of any person willing to put on the cumbersome bite suit under the hot Iraqi summer sun to keep his canine weapon in shape. […]
Loadout Room Photo of the day | USMC EOD likes their libraries to be quiet
The featured photo shows a small portion of the ordnance “library” at 2nd EOD Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The men and women of Explosive Ordnance Disposal units across the military are skilled and valuable resources that are willing and able to put their lives on the line […]
Loadout Room photo of the day | Confidence gained through SERE combat survival training
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, WA, UNITED STATES S-V-80-A combat survival students gather water from a stream June 13, 2015, in the Colville National Forest, Wash. To prevent water-borne illness from occurring, the students learned to add iodine tablets or bleach to purify the gathered water. The students also learned that leaving a bottle of water […]
How to Make Sh*t Happen, by Sean Whalen
We all hit times when we stall out whether at home, work, family, fitness, or just life in general. We can’t seem to get motivated and moving in the right direction. We make excuses that sound legit accept them and sell them to others. The truth is we lost the drive we once had and […]
Loadout Room Photo of the day | Frogman tools of the trade
You really can’t beat a photo of the Stars and Stripes along with an MP7 and elk handle Karambit. Tools for delivering death to those that threaten our way of life. “Nothing like getting pics from war zones from my Frogmen brothers. Mp7, elk handle karambit and in the shadow of those beautiful colors we […]