Brits in Iraq - Challenger Gunnery in Basra, written 2 days ago, A British Royal Scots Dragon Guards, Challenger II, Main Battle Tank, fires its main gun on a target, during a training exercise, on Nov. 17, in Basra, Iraq. Photographer: Sgt. Gustavo Olgiati, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq.

What Students Need to Know About the American Civil War, written 5 days ago, Reprinted from Footnotes:  The Newsletter of the Foreign Policy Research Institute This post is based on my presentation at the FPRI Wachman Center’s July 26-27 history institute, What Students Need To Know About Americ...

A new chapter, written 1 week ago, I haven't talked to you guys for three days. I've never gone that long without posting before, except when Mark came home last winter and we went on vacation for two weeks. I just haven't been able to bring myself...

A writer and army officer's experiences in OIF III. From the heart of Al Anbar province.

The True Meaning of Loyalty: Bouhammer Remembers, written 2 days ago, This is why I love the troops so much. Above all, they are loyal. Read this beautiful tribute from Bouhammer on the anniversary of losing a fellow soldier. My heart goes out to Troy and to the family of Sgt. Dave Roustom.

Syria: US choppers attack village near Iraq border, written 3 weeks ago, Syria: US choppers attack village near Iraq border Oct 26 05:12 PM US/Eastern By ALBERT AJI Associated Press Writer DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. military helicopters attacked territory inside Syria close to its border with...

Iraqi soldiers help California wildfire victims, written 2 days ago, Photo Credit: Afton Almaraz/AP A group of Iraqi Soldiers stepped up to help California residents victimized by recent wildfires raging throughout the state. Iraqi Army Col. Abbas Fadhil, Besmaya Range Complex commander, and his ...

The Off Base Blues, written 4 days ago, I haven’t lived on a military base since I was nine years old. My Coast Guard dad was always stationed places without housing, plus with at least 3 years at each station my mother preferred to buy homes instead. The only exception was the 2 years in Monterre...

New Veteran Owned Business Directory online, written 6 days ago, Why we can’t rely on www.vetbiz.gov to do this job, I don’t know, but some enterprising vet has created a new site which gives you at least 5 listings for free (for now). Their claim of being seen by hundreds of thousands is kind o...

Hind sight is 20/20, written 4 days ago, Last night I spent most of my evening transfering files to an external hard drive from my laptop.  Recently I started to notice the hard drive of my laptop making a clicking noise occasionally.  It’s been happening for at least a week now so I checked my ...

Networking site focuses in on troops, written 4 days ago, Often I find it hard, as a parent, to talk to my children about concerns or worries I have for them without getting the “automatic defense.” I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill parental concerns, like what are they eating, and are th...

Professional interests covered on this blog are: combat engineering, GIS, and security. Inevitably, this blog will touch on business, general tech, history, and doctrine.

Back in the USA, written 2 days ago, Just arrived back in the USA after living abroad for four and a half years (minus a nine-month stay in DC). As I was getting off the plane in Charlotte -- where I am sitting in the airport, waiting on my connecting flight -- a guy ahead of me was talking loudly o...

Asymmetric thoughts for Veteran's Day, written 1 week ago, 1. American veterans have participated in both the defense of the nation and, in some cases, wars of aggression (open a page of Howard Zinn at random).** Without both types of actions, the United States, quite literally, wouldn't exist. ...

Podcast 36 - Port and Harbor Security System Innovation, written 1 month ago, Download port_and_harbor_security_system_innovation3520081017.mp3 Finmeccanica interviews the chief designer of the Archimede Harbor Protection System, Luca Izzotti. The Archimede System has been deployed in three NATO tri...

Fiddle blogging, written 1 week ago, 12-year old Charlotte Salouste-Bridoux. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go turn five-dollar tricks in the Pilot station truck lot until I get my self-esteem back. Geez. Splash, out Jason

Today's 1,000 words, written 2 days ago,

Challenge yourself and communicate without using profanity.

The Face of Grace ~, written 2 days ago, Go read this. A news person (I can’t remember who at this moment) did concede that the news they report is mainly “conflict”.   It is only rarely that one hears anything that doesn’t show the baser aspects of humankind.  But we all know many storie...

911 CALL!, written 3 days ago,