Yes, the U.S. Army Still Needs Paratroopers
Once again, Army Times, in an apparent desperate bid for clicks, dragged up and flogged a dead horse — this time, questioning whether the Army still need its airborne forces, including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade and a brigade of the 25th Infantry Division. The paratroop-skepticism... Read more
The U.S. Army Lost Track of 27 Ballistic Missiles
For 30 years starting in 1962, the U.S. Army deployed Lance ballistic missiles in Europe to deter Soviet attack. Twenty feet long and weighing a ton and a half, an atomic-tipped Lance could zoom 75 miles at Mach 3 and explode with a force of up to 100 kilotons... Read more
Hand-to-Hand Combat Still Matters
Pvt. 1st Class Marcus Jones threw a flurry of punches at his opponent. The two fighters dodged and kicked with speed and precision. Jones is a soldier assigned to a combat support hospital and his opponent is a member of the U.S. Army’s elite 1st Special Forces Group. The two... Read more
American Helicopter Gunships Attack Insurgents in Iraq
On Oct. 4, American helicopter gunships swooped down on Sunni militants near Iraq’s capital city. The strikes near the cities of Fallujah and Hit—which also involved fighter jets and bombers—destroyed two captured Humvees and killed numerous enemy fighters, according to an official statement. U.S. Central Command did not say... Read more
That Time an Air Force F-16 and an Army Missile Battery Fought Each Other
During the spring 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and allied forces, U.S. Army Patriot air-defense missile batteries were so dangerously unreliable—and prone to firing on friendly planes—that they provoked a brief, and today largely forgotten, civil war between missileers and fighter pilots. “Many allied pilots believed that the... Read more
The U.S. Army Had an M-16 Comic Book
It was supposed to be a wonder weapon—a light, lethal rifle to help the United States win the war in Vietnam. Weighing less than the enemy’s AK-47, it was less fatiguing for soldiers to carry than older, heavier American rifles. It also fired a new type of ammunition that... Read more