Author: Steve Balestrieri

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) rarely leaves its barracks in Hong Kong, so when they are seen out in the city it is a reminder that they have the numbers and the power to crush any opposition. So it was noteworthy to see hundreds of mainland Chinese troops clad in only OD t-shirts and […]

After going back and forth on this issue for several years, graduates of the military’s service academies can now delay their mandatory service and play professional sports instead, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced this week.  Esper released the guidelines for the graduates that want to play pro sports. They must get approval from the Secretary […]

Opinion For the families of former LT Clint Lorrance and Major Matthew Golsteyn, the nightmare is over and now they can try to piece together the rest of their lives. President Trump granted yesterday full pardons to both of these former Army soldiers. The President also ordered the Navy to restore the rank of Chief […]

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), finally decided enough was enough and took out Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata during an airstrike this week. They thus terminated the threat that more than anyone or anything else had disrupted cease-fire talks along Israel’s southern border. While Hamas, Egypt, and Israel were trying to broker a ceasefire […]

This article should start with the statement that this isn’t an attack on Major General Robert Scales at all. Scales recently wrote an intriguing piece on how to try to “bottle SOF” and make our United States infantry units in the Army and Marine Corps as good as our SOF operators.  Scales earned a Silver […]

Green Beret Misdiagnosed, Now Dying From Cancer The military medical profession may soon be operating under a different set of parameters. The Richard Stayskal Bill has passed the House and it has been forwarded to the U.S. Senate. It is part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is the annual Pentagon policy bill. This […]

It first must be said that when I heard that Roland Emmerich was directing “Midway” I definitely had a sense that he was going to go “full-blown CGI” on the audience, much like he did with his sci-fi flick “Independence Day”. Or that he would play with the facts like he did in the Revolutionary […]

One of the stranger missions to come about during World War II was the decision to infiltrate the Korean coastline, which was then held by the Japanese, and insert former Korean POWs into the country to set up agent networks, conduct sabotage and possibly begin a guerrilla war against the Japanese. Eventually, the plan was […]

Many of you will recognize the name, Heath Hansen. Hansen used to regularly submit some of his experiences to us; experiences which we gladly shared. He joined the Army in 2004 and became a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed in Afghanistan during 2005-2006 and in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. He was […]

President Evo Morales, the first indigenous President of Bolivia, has indicated that he will call for new elections after the Organization of American States (OAS), which carefully monitored the election, called for the results to be annulled.  Morales was facing an election, which took place on October 20, against Carlos Mesa, who was Bolivia’s vice […]

Reports out of Ft. Bragg say that there is a movement afoot to issue Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) soldiers assigned to Special Operations Forces (SOF) their own distinctive headgear, in this case, a grey beret. The Army Times reported that the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, (SWCS) and the Army were testing a […]

Every year on November 11, we as a country celebrate Veterans Day, which is a day to honor and show respect for everyone who ever wore a uniform in service to the United States.  Just as every person has different experiences, we respect the contributions and sacrifices that every service member made while in service […]