Like any campaign, my first deployment to Afghanistan was marked by moments of sheer thrill, terror and ecstasy and also with moments of boredom, doubt, and drudgery. During one of this slower moments, I pulled out a paperback copy of The Iliad. Not wanting to delve into anything new or too deep, I picked the The Iliad because …
Continue reading Connections of Combat: Military History and War Through the Ages
November 11th has always been a special day for me. As a kid growing up in the city, I looked forward to the yearly parades. But it also holds some personal significance as well; On my first deployment, November 11th was also the first time I was in a serious, lengthy and sustained firefight and …
No one likes the new guy. And, if you're the new guy, you always want to avoid the first couple of dudes to talk to you. They are looking for an easy friend because no one likes them. In one way or another, you have to prove yourself to be accepted by the new tribe …
World War One is frequently seen as a watershed time in warfare. We had seen modern war start to develop as far back as the Crimean War, really develop a brutalist, Total War aspect during the Civil War, and come into it's own during WWI. One of the themes we hear all the time is …
Continue reading Early Tank Warfare: Armies fight for allocation not Victory
With Donald Trump giving an implied blessing for Turkey to conduct operations in the Kurdish region of Syria, many of the usual talking heads were in shock, outrage or disbelief. How could this happen and how could we let our allies suffer like this? Well, anyone who spent some "boots on the ground" time in …
Continue reading Quick Hits: Power Moves and Power Vacuums, Syria, Kurds and Turkey Edition
Occasionally we will review books here. Sometimes it's a non-fiction book, other times it's a Science Fiction novel. Lately though, in my own personal reading I've tended to read the "classics" more than anything else. Whether it's a SciFi novel from the "Golden Age" or the 70's and 80's, or Livy's account of the War …
As we develop and field new technology in conflicts across the globe, we wrestle with the question of who to equip with the latest technology and how to ethically incorporate these added layers of lethality onto the battlefield. Like we said in an earlier article, commanders and leaders have a duty to make sure that …
In our most recent article I talked about how technology and the Rules of Engagement can make warfighting perplexing on the tactical level. Honestly speaking, I never felt encumbered or threatened by the Rules of Engagement, but they definitely limited our movement and use of supporting elements that could have, in at least one or two …
War can be a messy affair, and not just in the traditional sense of carnage and blood. The Law of War is a complex set of rules for engaging the enemy, when to engage the enemy and even dictates if a war or combat action is legal at all. It's easy to perfect laws and …
Continue reading Rules of Engagement and New Technology: Limiting Factors
After a bit of a layaway, we are back! I had to take some time off and devote to a new job for the past year or so. During this time I still wrote, I just couldn't maintain a regular writing/publishing schedule. Now that I've got my "sea legs" under me, I have been writing …
Steel and Stylus 