Director of DEI at Tepper Aviation. Amateur Shawarma Enthusiast. Can quote the fights Historical. Found him in Mombasa in a bar room drinking gin. MZRA
Everyone hopes they will answer the test of fear and violence well, but you never know for certain. No one wants to be the coward but the line between hero and coward under fire is razor thin. Who takes what path often surprises you. Like K Troop at the Battle of the Greasy Grass
One night we were on an observation point, watching some route and some village and heard a bunch of small arms fire coming from an Iraqi Police outpost we worked with.
It had been kind of a wild month, so in the interest of teamwork I decided to go check it out. It was 4 am.
I’ve had a lot of my vet bros rightly point out that if they killed someone based on the same ROE in Afghanistan or Iraq (an active warzone), they’d be wasting away in Leavenworth
There is a difference between tactics and strategy: one that decides the fate of civilizations. Western war (the professional kind) is more than a collection of random battles won or lost. This is a thread on how Ukraine squandered it’s best chance to win the war in April 2022
This shit is hard. If your only answer is “well he felt fear he was justified” then the way of the gun isn’t for you
Try baking
Yes, cops get paid like shit and trained like shit. They don’t get a lot of decompression or therapy. I sympathize. And still expect better.
Fin
Midway into the hot part of Iraq when American troops had basically no defense against most IED's despite years of MDIC promises something was coming, a frustrated solitary troop bought a toaster from a local bazaar, broke it down, and stuck it on a long pole.
POV: you are a Chinese airborne troop dropped in the first wave of WW3. You missed your DZ and landed in some southern field: alone. It is night. Your Chinesium NVGs are dead. You only have 60 rounds… and from the dark you hear this.
I could have shot him right in the face and no one would ever have said anything.
I felt fear, I won’t lie. I felt the cold leemer run right into my heart.
But I was a professional. I pushed my fear and my self preservation down and did my job. And thankfully was right
…to put the weapon down. He dropped it, and ran up to hug me.
Some bad guys had rolled up to the checkpoint and shot it up. Everyone else had fled, or gone to the hospital, and he was left behind. Just one dude still at his post.
Happy someone came for him in the night.
What? Anti Drone missiles are more expensive than the drones, harder to make, and we are losing the war on the balance sheet???
Well, allow me to offer a solution:
Imagine enlisting to serve your country, growing up dreaming of mighty ships named Enterprise, Yorktown, Constitution, and Gambier Bay, and fictional ones Forward Unto Dawn, Galactica, and Prometheus only to be sent to fight the enemies of freedom on the USS Gaby fucking Giffords
#USNavy
Littoral Combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords conducted a FONOP operation today, Dec 4th near Second Thomas Shoal.
This according to a
#PLA
Southern Theater Command Spokesperson's statement today accusing the USS Giffords of trespassing into the waters adjacent to China's
Alright rag bags listen up, I hate this and boats and the water, so let’s get this over with.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding of why Battleships stopped being used after WW2. Blame the pre-Aliens History Channel.
I was wrong.
My rifle got about up to his waist. Maybe a second had elapsed. He hadn’t even moved his AK from his one hand grip, and then I recognized it.
He was happy to see me.
I stopped, blocking the door so the rest of the stack couldn’t get out, and yelled at him…
Stacked into the little hut, saw spent brass and blood all over the floor. No one. No IP, no bad guys, chai pot still cooking.
The desert is an eerie place at night, especially close to a city. You get the sense that something is always out there, especially after a clear fight
Left 2 of 4 vehicles on the OP, and drove the 4 miles down there. Got to the IP outpost, and it was clear something was up. Lights were out, the IP were not at the road checkpoint and there was a shot up empty car parked in front.
I got out, grabbed two dudes and went looking
I saw him, and he saw me. And as I switched my selector lever to pew I noticed something. He wasn’t reacting.
I had the rifle to my shoulder, and I saw him smile. In that second I put it all together. My gunner saw him, but couldn’t engage without hitting us. He was warning me.
Came out of the hut, first in line, and I see my gunner in the turret waving wildly. He was about 30 feet away, with a 50 cal.
I can still see him waving.
As I came out, I saw a man turn the corner between my truck and I, shirtless, carrying an AK47. So close I could smell him
By war's end the Army had fielded some 36,000 RHINO devices. Some of the lucky few even got to watch theirs get blown off...
Innovation is still real... the people who die with it aren't listened to, and the people "innovating" are selling a theory that may or may not work.
Hot take: Lt Ring is the hero of Heartbreak Ridge and his relationship with Gunnery Sergeant Highway is the best young officer/experienced NCO depiction in cinema.
Memorial Day Thread- Paying tribute to those that died is an abstract thing for many, even amongst some who served. The randomness of death in GWOT brought through IED's and rockets made it in a way impersonal. So I wanted to share the story of the men who died at Bari Alai.
In case you believe the US Military was ALWAYS super professional, I will remind you in 1959 in celebration of the grand re-opening of the Ottawa Airport, an F104 did a flyby, broke the sound barrier, and shattered every window in the airport and delayed the opening a full year
One of the tragedies of this, and most wars, is that there are dudes absolutely hard as woodpecker lips on both sides, being led to their deaths by absolute pieces of shit in their governments
There is a vast disconnect between Americans and Europeans and their Global Euro Simps (think Yankees/ManU fans)
Americans have a blood memory of the frontier. A place and a time when they were forced to hack civilization from a deadly wild land. You needed a mate, not a doll.
1/ First, some ground rules. I don’t care about your globohomo conspiracy theories. I don’t care who is right or wrong. I don’t care that the illuminati and the lizard people are secretly controlling Zelensky. This is analysis. Do some peyote and tell your dog. They might like it
1/ The Battle of Hancock Airfield (Pt1)
As the Chinese General stood in a control tower and looked at the devastation of Fort Knox, still smoldering from the battle that raged across it less than a few days ago , he felt a sense of worry.
What this troop managed to do with his ghetto toaster and pole, was trick the IED sensors into thinking the toaster heat source was the engine, and trigger a premature initiation before the HMMWV entered the killzone.
1/ For centuries, sons followed their ancestors into armies, often at the recommendation of those ancestors. Nations are strong when this chain remains unbroken. What happens when that chain breaks? Let us talk for a minute about the U.S. and the Mutiny of Hyphasis in 326 BC.
Hot Take: even with modern resources, most people are not qualified to home school their kids past an Elementary level, and you are setting your child up for failure.
That being said, it is absolutely your right so I’m behind you and let’s do this!
Everyone hopes they will answer the test of fear and violence well, but you never know for certain. No one wants to be the coward but the line between hero and coward under fire is razor thin. Who takes what path often surprises you. Like K Troop at the Battle of the Greasy Grass
It is. This scene is the perfect example of why The Pacific is about what it is like to experience war, and Band of Brother, while true, isn’t. This scene right here is one of the best on leadership ever.
@OfAthenry
The attitude of “I said I was a cop so clearly he should have known I was telling the truth because I’m infallible and the world exists only from my POV” was the wildest part of this story
You see, the some insurgent groups had started to use passive infrared sensors as triggers, this made side attacks more deadly, especially with Shia EFPs which cut through the lightly armored HMMWV's like a hot knife through butter.
1/ In war, like life, the strong and rich generally overpower those who stand against them. Throughout history this has been the case, but every so often a group of citizens band together and topple Goliath. This is how Flying Columns twice defeated the greatest Empire on Earth.
If you have ever spent much time in Japan, you’ll know that despite being massive xenophobic racists, the Japanese also love to appropriate American culture where they want. After WW2, Japan was struggling with the cultural impacts of American occupation, so took a
When the Army wonders why they can’t retain people, it isn’t the woke shit, it’s this. The Army wants to charge this Captain who did an enlisted OIF tour in Anbar for a piece of gear that has been in the maintenance shop since before he took command and disappeared from there.
Alright troops, school circle.
We brought the IT nerds in to talk about TikTok, and how your criticism of a TikTok ban, while well intentioned and full of righteous suspicion, is probably misguided.
This isn't about the social evils of TikTok, or psyops, just security.
We have one rule here, if someone trusts you with their real identity you guard that with your life. We do not betray one another to the crazies out there because we are drunk or jealous of someone else. If you do you are a piece of shit. You wanted my attention… you’ve got it
People think the Irish made up a huge percentage of the Army during the Indian Wars because they had no skills, and were a net drain on society otherwise... but this isn't true.
It is because they were genetically resistant to the Army's main weapon against the Indians: Whiskey
2/ Secondly, you can disagree with the analysis all you want… that is how analysis works, you are likely wrong, but that’s ok: we are all learning. But “SLAVA UKRAINE FELLA” is not a rebuttal to “the UKR 72nd Mech should have enveloped the Moschun pocket”, you sound dumb.
If you are a conservative, or an American, or just love America, you need to read this.
I was writing something the other day about the darkest period of my life, and realized it wasn’t the war itself, it was the endless doldrums of the soul between trips to the forever wars.
NEW: "Neocons have sacrificed the lives of young Americans and our wealth to advance the interests of a corrupt alliance between foreign powers and the domestic MIC. Any attempt to reclaim our country must begin with a strategy to stop them."—
@ClintEhrlich
@SLAVE2INK
@topherjk
@newt50
@ZacaMesaSix
It wouldn’t matter. Don’t you understand the military has technology that is so far advanced they would wipe out any “well regulated militia” in a matter of seconds. Us the people wouldn’t stand a chance. If you can’t wrap your head around that something is wrong.
Modern society and social media demand instant gratification, but history shows us that sometimes the best victories are won generation to generation, with each handing the next a brick in the wall. How a father saved Europe in the Second Mongolian Invasion of Hungary in 1285.
5/ “LeE wAs THE bETteR GenERAl!!!” Don’t care.
Strategy is “hey, we are going to island hop across these islands, we are going to cut off their resources, we are going to trade ground X for gain Y”. Strategy is how you intend to win the war.
One never knows how loyalty is born. We talk about the individual and how history on occasion will place a great test on one man. Those men have a decision: Do I sacrifice myself for my brothers, or do I save myself. History remembers the loyal, like at the Battle of Nimy in 1914
4/ Tactics vs Strategy:
Tactics win battles. Lee was a great tactician. Grant was a great strategist. Grant piled multiple tactics together (blockade, control of the Mississippi, multiple axis of constant advance) into a strategy tailor made to defeat the South.
The thing that fascinates me about Rome isn’t their military or politics or their roads… it is how they somehow devolved from masters of the world into Italians
Personally, I know that one of the sides sold us armor when we desperately needed it, and the other side sold Shia militias EFPs to cut my friends in half.
Loyalty is desired, but can be fleeting. People have competing loyalties, but true loyalty, one where you are willing to sacrifice everything, is rare. When it is in the interest of right against wrong, like during the Leinster War of 1208, it is humanity at its most powerful
Your mistake is thinking I criticize the Army because I hate America
I criticize because I want the Army that I grew up idolizing to be the most lethal thing to ever walk God’s green earth, one that makes enemies of the country I love tremble at its mere mention
And it isn’t
The conservative movement is divided into two groups, those who see this scene and say, "hell yeah" and those that go, "well.... if you think about it further..."
The conservative movement is divided into two groups, those who see these pictures and say, "hell yeah" and those that go, "well.... if you think about it further..."
In Iraq (year dependent) you could kill someone for
Carrying a shovel
Being out too late
Not stopping
Driving fast
Pointing a rifle
Pointing at you
It took us too long to figure out this was a losing strategy and how to do better which is a lesson cops seem to refuse to learn
6/ Sure, some wars are won by great battle tactics (Waterloo), and some wars are lost by thinking too strategically (the Stan). But in order to win a war, you need to sit down and put together a plan of how to get from A to B… how are we going to do this?
10/ They know Russia better than anyone. I forgive the Western intelligencia projection of “THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE WONT WITHSTAND LARGE LOSS OF LIFE!” because they are silly and ignorant. They wishcast they own weakness onto their opponent and take it as fact. Ukraine knows better.
47/ This was it… this was the decisive point of the war. Everything after has been kabuki and math. Simply murder while little is gained. Just whittling each other away while rich men get richer and US and China both watch.
We may hear some talk about securing objectives, counter attacks, and actions on objectives in the next couple of days…
A primer on the topic, and why it is so easily jacked up.
I am not a fan of pistol optics. I shoot well on a weapon of last resort without them (often better), and my pistol optics are more aesthetic and a response to peer pressure and I’m taking them off.
Daniel Perry was working as an Uber driver in Austin, TX when he found himself in the middle of a BLM mob.
A guy came up to his car and pointed an AK-47 at him and he fired back in self defense.
He was indicted for murder by a Soros-funded DA and was just found guilty.
8/ So, like Prussia, Ukraine needed to win early before the arithmetic of attrition became a thing… unless they were counting on direct NATO intervention. Maybe, I dunno. But despite the mewlings of NAFO meme lords, that bet too has failed.
What your Favorite WW2 Plane Says About You.
Buzzfeed bought the farm so I’m taking over. Plane had to have fought in WW2, and had to have over 500 in operation you autist nerds.
This is a totally objective assessment and as always: