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
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
Through sheer military might, pragmatism and some good stoic thinking, Rome managed to dominate the Mediterranean for centuries. The Greeks were an amalgamation of city states and philosophers that could campaign and do battle quite good, but were too fractured to be a complete and dominating power. Compare this to some of the dynasties in …
Fighting a war in the mountains can be vastly different than fighting a war in a jungle. Some of the principles remain the same, like superior firepower, maneuvering into advantageous positions, and securing your resources, but the terrain and geography an Army fights in can dictate how a leader goes about establishing and maintaining certain advantages …
Continue reading Terrain and War: Terrain as an “equalizer” and constant of war throughout history
Allegory is as popular as ever. Unfortunately, I think it is overused. In the latest article I talk about two authors who successfully wrote allegorical works, and why I think it resonated so well. Nowadays, most allegory is low hanging fruit. It's all "Drumpf is just like Voldermort!!" or "Muslim refugees are just like the Orcs …
One of my favorite books is The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It's an allegorical tale of his time in Vietnam, set in the "future" of 1996 (the book was published in the 1970's). A soldier goes on a journey through multiple planets, engagements and thousands of years to finally reach the conclusion of the war. …
Continue reading Criticism Through Literature: Science Fiction and a Combat Veteran Writer
Roman History is one of my favorite subjects. I have read about the Roman Legions, Caesar and the Republic since I was a boy. In college, I never really took any Ancient History courses, or studied Rome formally, but it is one of my favorite subjects to read up on and to write on. I …
In a previous article we looked at the Civil War and how The Union Army may have stacked the odds a bit in their favor by organizing their Army in a way that took distinct advantage of their superior numbers (both in men and material). This article will look at how the Roman Army kept …
Augusto Pinochet Ugarte led the country of Chile for 17 years (1973-1990) and used torture, repression, and even political killings to keep a firm hold on power. His tactics show a clear example of state sponsored terrorism. Pinochet’s rule is a highly interesting one because of his outright use of terrorism to maintain control and …
Continue reading Augusto Pinochet: The Rise and Fall of a Right Wing Warrior
Throughout history there has been a focus on various campaigns, battles and wars. Each of these has their definition and place within military history. A campaign is a long term, large scale military operation that incorporates multiple battles and is usually a part of a larger scale conflict (a war). Campaigns have an end goal, …
Continue reading Campaigning to Victory: The End of An Era? A bit on the “theory” of campaigns
Steel and Stylus 