Escalation: Royal Marines commandos deploy to Middle East amid Iranian aggressiveness

Britain’s premier maritime commando force is sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz for an exercise amid an international crisis triggered by Iranian aggression against two oil tankers last week. Royal Marines commandos from 42 Commando will be conducting visit, board, search and seizure drills, among other tasks, in close proximity to where the two tankers […]

Gun control: The case of the ‘smart gun’

Could so-called smart guns be the solution to gun control and fewer mass shooting incidents? A new study finds that while there is widespread support for smart guns, the considerable additional cost and questionable efficacy demotivates people from purchasing such weapons. According to the study by Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, smart […]

Belgian Commandos in Africa: Secretive and highly effective

The deadly ambush in Niger in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, revealed to a dumbfounded public the silent war that has been taking place in the Sahel. Aside from U.S. troops, several other countries have a strong presence in the area. Belgium is one of them. And its Special Forces Group […]

Adjust target: SOCOM prepares for war with China and Russia

During the 2019 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Florida, General Richard Clark, the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), offered an insight on the priorities and goals of America’s special operations forces (SOF). “Today, SOCOM is focused squarely on the implementation of the national defense strategy,” he said during an […]

SEAL teams to get new clandestine underwater craft

As the Pentagon shifts its gaze from low-intensity conflicts to nation-level adversaries, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is following suit, and the Navy SEAL teams are eager to prove their strategic utility in the rediscovered domain. SOCOM and the Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) are focusing their efforts on two underwater craft: a Shallow Water […]

Training the trainers: How drill sergeants hone their craft

Drill sergeants are the gatekeepers into the military. For any aspiring soldier, Marine, sailor or airman, drill sergeants embody the transition from the slow-paced civilian life to the rigors and discipline of the military. Throughout their first months in the military, recruits are shepherded by the drill sergeants who have a great responsibility on their […]

Surprise, surprise: Amazon Alexa’s eavesdropping worse than you thought

Since the inception of smart-speaker assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and others, consumers have to live with the fact that by using these products and services, their data is being collected. How much, though? This is a frequent topic of debate. Some experts say the sheer bandwidth and storage required would […]

More private security contractors are now in Afghanistan than ever before

As news breaks about businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince supposedly pitching yet another plan to send American contractors into yet another country (Venezuela), a new report indicates there are more contractors in Afghanistan than ever before, nearly 5,900. Since President Trump took office, Prince has proposed numerous plans to essentially withdraw the […]

Guantanamo Bay commander relieved due to “loss of confidence”

Rear Adm. John Ring, the commander in charge of the joint task force that operates the controversial detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was reportedly removed from his post on Saturday by Adm. Craig Faller of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). According to an official statement released Sunday, “Commander, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Navy Adm. […]