Last of the Kiowas: historic aircraft makes final flight with US Army at Fort Polk
Chuck CannonFort Polk Public Affairs Office FORT POLK, La. — On July 9 at 1 p.m., eight pilots with the 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, flew OH-58C Kiowa helicopters in a double “V” formation over the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk for the aircrafts’ final flight at... Read more
Ranger Things

Ranger Things

WIB politics October 25, 2018

A recent article on Military.com claims that the Pentagon’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force wants to make sure infantry squads approach training like the 75th Ranger Regiment does. “Rangers are doing Ranger things,” stated Joe L’Etoile, the task force’s director. “Infantrymen in the Marine Corps need to be doing infantrymen... Read more
Luck and Friendly Strangers Gave Martin Grier’s High-Tech New Rifle Its Chance
Colorado gunsmith Martin Grier has invented a new kind of rifle — one that can fire up to five rounds at a time through five carefully-aligned barrels, and also ditches traditional metal-encased ammunition for electronically-triggered caseless rounds. The L4 and L5 — respectively, the four- and five-barrel version of... Read more
In 1905, a Former U.S. Army Officer Added Moving Maps to Cars
Before satellite navigation, people found their way using paper maps. Which, of course, can be cumbersome — and ill-suited to the confines of any vehicle, let alone an early open-top automobile. In 1905, Henry Metcalfe, a 58-year-old retired U.S. Army ordnance officer and firearms inventor, filed a patent for... Read more
This Rocket Launcher Was the U.S. Army’s Last Flamethrower
This story originally appeared on April 27, 2015. To be on the receiving end of a flamethrower is surely terrifying, but man-portable versions have their limitations. The big one is that they essentially turn their users into vulnerable, lumbering gas tanks. Besides, the fire-spitting weapons have very short ranges,... Read more
American Hand Grenades Have Some Odd Connections to Sports
This story originally appeared on Dec. 29, 2014. Most people would probably agree that playing catch with a hand grenade is a bad idea. On one occasion in 2005, three young people died in Bosnia while horsing around with one of these small bombs, according to Reuters. But throwing... Read more
The U.S. Army Had a Whole Unit of Psychic Spies
This story originally appeared on Aug. 27, 2016. On Sept. 15, 1995, Army chief of staff Gen. Gordon Sullivan held a meeting with a colonel from the service’s top watchdog agency as well as with another colonel who had served as a psychologist at Army Intelligence and Security Command. The... Read more
The U.S. Army Is Preparing to Send Anti-Aircraft Strykers to Europe
The U.S. Army is fast-tracking newly configured Stryker armored vehicles with helicopter and drone-killing weapons to counter Russia in Europe and provide more support to brigade combat teams. “We are looking for a rapid solution for the near-term fight,” Maj. Gen. John Ferarri told Warrior Maven in an interview.... Read more
The U.S. Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle Might Get Even Bigger
The M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is nominally used to carry infantry into battle, but is frequently misidentified by journalists as a tank. This is understandable, as the tracked vehicle currently tips the scales at 33 tons from all the add-on armor it has received, and bristles with both... Read more
The U.S. Army Needs More Anti-Aircraft Weapons — and Fast
Recent conflicts in Armenia, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine have demonstrated the widespread adoption of drones by state actors — as well as rebel and terrorist groups — for reconnaissance purposes and as improvised attack platforms carrying grenades or explosive charges. Most recently, Russian air-defense vehicles and electronic-warfare assets in Syria reportedly defeated a simultaneous... Read more