In honor of National Airborne Day yesterday, and to give credit where it's due to these other pioneers and unsung heroes... The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was nicknamed “Triple Nickles” because of its numerical designation and because 17 of its original 24 “colored test platoon” were from the 92nd Infantry...
President George W. Bush created National Airborne Day in 2002. It was created to honor all current U.S. Airborne Forces, and to commemorate the first parachute jump of 48 volunteer members of the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon on August 16, 1940. After months of restriction due to Covid-19, U.S....
Heckler & Koch became famous and successful with a range of roller-delayed blowback small arms they manufactured from the early 1960's up to the early 1990's. So successful were these firearms that the name HK basically became synonymous with the roller-delayed blowback system. It may surprise some folks however to...
General Douglas MacArthur signing Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri, 2 September 1945. Photo Credit: US National Archives. ********************************** With the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed by atomic weapons, the will of the Japanese leadership was tested. Then it came the news that the Soviet Union declared war on...
Like a lot of old Ground-Pounders I'm very fond of the A-10 Thunderbolt and the OV-10 Bronco close air support / ground attack aircraft - they truly were the infantryman's friend. And both still soldier on despite the repeated attempts by the air superiority fighter jocks to kill them off....
Look out at the end of this week for the release of Issue 117 of Airsoft Action magazine, featuring the first part of an in-depth review of the LCT LK-33 that I helped out with. In the meantime, LCT Airsoft has released a short video about the LK-33 series that...
Mask up, hook up! Last week Canadian Army members completed the Static Line Square Canopy course with COVID-19 protocols in place at the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre in Trenton, Ontario. Canada entered the airborne world with the creation of two airborne battalions in 1942 that were initially trained at...
Most European countries usually develop a desert / arid regions camouflage pattern after they've developed their homeland / woodland pattern, and it's usually a recolored variant of the homeland / woodland pattern. However, when Finland set out to develop a new digital camouflage pattern to go with the upgraded modern...
Marines with 5th Marine Regiment, assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command 20.2, change firing position during a live-fire range in Jordan. The training stressed the fundamentals of maneuverability and tested various engagement responses in a simulated combat environment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by...
Way back in 2008 the Netherlands Ministry of Defence announced that it was working on the development of a new national camouflage pattern, to be used in conjunction with a full set of redesigned and modernized combat clothing and equipment. In 2011 the new "Netherlands Fractal Pattern" was revealed, and...