Travis Allen

About the author

is a former US Army Infantry Officer. While a Platoon Leader in Afghanistan, he was part of a joint Special Forces/Infantry team conducting Village Stability Operations in Kandahar Province. Travis graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 2010.

Report: Kuwait still issuing visas for North Koreans working under slave-like conditions

Despite protests from the U.S. State Department, Kuwait has signaled that they will continue to welcome North Korean workers into their country. In a report from the Associated Press, Kuwait did not dispute they are still issuing visas to North Korean workers. According to Kuwait’s Public Authority of Manpower there are 6,064 North Korean laborers […]

‘Telegram’ app linked to failed jihadist plot against U.S. air base

A Russian man named Renad Bakiev was arrested by Turkish police after allegedly plotting to use a drone to attack an American military base, the Associated Press reports. Bakiev is accused by police of taking steps to procure a drone to be used to attack the Incirlik Air Base, a prominent base used by the […]

Crystal meth: Performance enhancing drug for the German Wehrmacht of WWII

The topic of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and the debate surrounding them has come up frequently over the course of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The era of perpetual conflict we find ourselves in has led to an unprecedented and rapid growth of military technology and tactics. But the urge to make the warfighter […]

American aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam as part of growing defense relationship

An American aircraft carrier will visit Vietnam in 2018, the first such visit since the end of the Vietnam War, the Pentagon announced this week. The announcement coincided with a visit between Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and his Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich in Washington D.C. The historic visit of a U.S. warship is […]

War ‘imminent’ after North Korea threatens Guam. Really?

President Trump’s promise on Tuesday to show North Korea “fire and fury” if the rogue nation continues to issue threats against the United States added a bit of theatrics to increasingly tense relations between the two countries. The imagery the president offered seemed to add a sense of urgency of the situation, and underscored the […]

U.S. looking to World War II-era technology to address future cyberwarfare threats

The U.S. military will be looking to a once-outdated technology as a possible response to modern cyber threats. The technology, formally called LORAN, or long-range navigation, is a radio signal-based navigation system first developed during World War II. Nearly all of modern military and commercial navigation is done through the use of Global Positioning System […]

Turkey prepared for possible fight with YPG in Syria

Set amid an increasingly violent environment of confrontation between Syrian Kurds and the Turkish government, Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan has been upping the rhetoric against his Kurdish enemies in Syria, much to the delight of his political base at home. Speaking at a rally over the weekend, Erdogan said “We will take important steps to […]

China: Addiction to video game is affecting combat readiness of PLA soldiers

A popular video game in China has been identified by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as a potential threat to combat readiness. Excerpts from the Chinese-language article from the People’s Liberation Army Daily, a state-run media outlet for the military, were posted in the South China Morning Post. The game has already infiltrated … […]

Officers at Ranger School: Get rich or die tryin’ (Part II)

This is part two of two of “Officers at Ranger School.” Read Part I here. 4. Be prepared Contrary to popular belief, Ranger School is not much of a “school” at all. It’s more of an assessment. Yes, you do receive classes in how to do most every task that you are graded on. The […]

Officers at Ranger School: How not to suck (Part I)

Ranger School. “The School of all Schools.” “Not For the Weak or Fainthearted.” “But what about Special Forces? FUCK SPECIAL FORCES!” There are so many articles, listicles, memes, ridiculous videos, and social media rants over the subject that it has essentially been beaten and stabbed to death, resurrected by the Red Woman, involved in an […]

Polish lawmakers seek German reparations for WWII

Lawmakers in Poland are considering making a formal demand for reparations from Germany for the actions of the Nazi government during WWII. The reparations, likely to be in the form of millions of Euros, are being researched and the specifics will be presented in a report at the request of Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a conservative Polish […]

In response to U.S. sanctions, Russia issues threat with bizarre LARP video

In response to the new round of sanctions placed on Russia by the United States, Russia has responded with a bellicose statement from their Prime Minister and a bizarre renaissance-fair-set-to-metal music hype video on Twitter. Following President Trump’s decision to sign the sanctions bill sent to him from Congress, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took […]