Category: Expert Analysis

Earlier this month, the United States Special Operations Command gathered a group of experts in New York City to discuss a significant threat facing the nation. SOCOM has a storied history of staying at the forefront of the warfighting endeavor; taking the fight to places Americans don’t always expect and operating beyond the confines of […]

The Makarov pistol was Russia’s solution to the need for a modern military side arm and caliber after World War 2. It was a replacement for the TT33 Tokarev, a pistol that was deemed too large and over powered for practical use any more; it also lacked a manual safety, something that most military’s desire […]

The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program has been the basic hand-to-hand combat system employed by the United States Marine Corps since 2002, and as I’ve written about in the past, it tends to get dragged through the mud by young guys with limited experience and a lot of bravado. In order to complete recruit training, […]

Since becoming a dad last November, there’s been a running joke among my friends and family about how fatherhood is making me soft. It’s a fair observation to make: I do spend a lot more time watching animated animals sing nursery rhymes now, and words like “cute” and “adorable” are now a part of my […]

A well made AK variant can be incredibly reliable and accurate believe it or not. It still requires routine maintenance to stay at this level of overall quality though. Sure, you can neglect the rifle or run it dry (unlubricated) but it’s not the most ideal state of operation; for any weapon system for that […]

In last week’s edition of Old Man Fitness, we discussed a number of myths associated with working out that have become so ingrained in the popular consciousness that many of us mistake them for facts. This week, we’re diving right back into that same pile of wives tales, marketing gimmicks and misconceptions about fitness that […]

For the first time, a federal agency recognized that exposure to burn pits used at a US military forward operating base may cause lung disease. This January an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) in the Department of Labor (“DOL”) found that burn pit exposure caused lung disease in a government contractor working in Iraq. Ever since, […]

Dedication of this writing goes to SOFREP’s Mr. Henri Smith, 82nd Airborne Division. “The Poor We Shall Always Have Among Us, but Why the Hungry? And why the child molesters? Who are the child defilers among us and why are there so many of them yet nobody seems to be one? I am put in […]

The last few years have seen a significant increase in the use of hand grenades for violent crimes in Sweden. The police have responded to several gang-related incidents involving grenades, including two grenades thrown into a nightclub in May, 2015 and a grenade exploding inside a restaurant in April, 2016. In January of this year, […]

For decades now, the fitness industry has propped itself up on the idea that average people lack the know-how, the equipment, and access to the right nutrition to achieve their fitness goals on their own. If you want to lose weight or gain muscle, you’ll need our trainers, our gym, and our supplements to get […]

As tensions between global powers once again come to the forefront of the national security discussion, the United States finds itself facing not only traditional threats, but entirely new kinds of warfare borne out of rapidly advancing social technologies. Perception management, manipulation and propaganda have always played a vital role in warfare, but the advent […]

On Thanksgiving Day this past November, something incredible happened: my wife gave birth to my beloved baby girl. It had been a long road, much longer than 9 months, and far more difficult a journey than most people realize. The birth of my daughter was more than a momentous occasion for my wife and I, […]