Category: Featured

My first (and only) combat deployment was one with a unique mission. I was an Army infantry officer, and at the time a platoon leader of about 40 men, and our battalion had just got tagged with the Village Stability Operations SOF uplift mission. For one year, we would all be farmed out to ODAs […]

For those of you like me that take a break from running in the winter months; it’s time to dust off the running shoes and get back into the swing of things. Spring is right around the corner. For the last two years I’ve used my iPhone with some type of running app to track […]

I met someone recently who spent twenty years in SOF and was more or less kicked out. He was an asset than and still is today. He’s just not normal. I was in for eight years of active duty, total. No that’s not as long as some. But longer than most. However, in SF and […]

When putting together a disaster plan, it’s important to prioritize human needs in the way that you prepare.  To put together a solid short-term survival plan, you need only to address the most basic of human necessities: water, shelter, food, and security, but as short-term survival transitions into “well I guess this is what’s left […]

On November 30, 2012, I was officially transferred to the Temporary Disabled Retired List, which is the Navy and Marine Corps’ incredible awkward way of saying that they were tired of trying to stick me back together.  I had been on medical hold at that point for almost a year and had only recently gotten […]

Was it ever going to be normal. Can you ever replace the buzz that is the best job in the world? Can you ever fit into Civvy street outright or will you always have one foot in the forces? A small piece on how I felt once I left the regiment. It was a day […]

We have shown several different wallet styles here on the Loadout Room. These two options are what work best for me. I’ve reviewed both the Blue Force Gear Wallet and the Chums Surf Wallet. Both are great options in my opinion depending on what your preferences are. I’ve tried a few other wallet designs in […]

I’m sure everyone here knows that a bullet is most effective when it’s traveling through the air at its prescribed velocity. After all, that’s what the bullet is designed to do. The cartridge holds the powder, and once the powder ignites, initiated by the primer, the projectile unseats from the casing, travels the length of the […]

James Erwin, an encyclopedia writer and two-time Jeopardy Champ from Des Moines, Iowa, was browsing Reddit on his lunch break one day when he spotted a thread that peaked his interest: “Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry […]

The terror threat in Italy is very high, although it is a different kind of danger, one that’s not necessarily tied to direct actions against the population. In recent years, we noticed how our country has become a transit point rather than a real target. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel – the Nice promenade attacker – and Anis […]

Winston Churchill, an officer in the British Army, Nobel laureate, and two-time UK Prime Minister solidified his place in history as the leader of the British people throughout the majority of World War II.  His unrelenting refusal to give in to the enemy and storied wit (accompanied with occasional drunken antics) have long been the […]

Government jobs are going to suffer huge vacancies in light of an aging workforce that inhabits its senior leadership. The next generation must step up. It’s estimated that a large portion of government workers are set to retire within the next ten years. Baby boomers are exiting the building, Generation X will take senior leadership […]