The comeback of Austria’s Right Wing

Sunday’s election in Austria has proven to be a success for former chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖPP) following a corruption scandal that rocked the government. A path back to creating a governing coalition, however, is not clear-cut. In May, snap elections were called following a no-confidence vote that resulted in Kurz being ousted […]

Russia gets into a Twitter beef with Poland over WWII invasion

On September 1, 1939, Nazi troops stormed through Poland’s western border, capturing territory as they defeated Polish forces right up to around the nation’s midpoint. On the 17th of the same month, troops from the neighboring USSR poured into Poland from the East — but not with the intention of engaging the Nazi occupiers as […]

The Pic of the Day: Airborne touchdown

German Paratrooper dives an objective in order to get the least amount of time on target while competing in Leapfest 2019 at West Kingston, RI., August 3, 2019. Leapfest is the largest, longest-standing, international static line parachute training event and competition hosted by the 56th Troop Command, Rhode Island Army National Guard to promote high-level […]

The Pic of the Day: NATO’s best snipers

July 21, 2019 – U.S. Army Spc. Kristofer Encinas, a sniper, and Alex Stoyonovich, a sniper team spotter, with 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, engage a target prior to clearing a building during the European Best Sniper Team Competition at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. The European Best Sniper Team Competition is a U.S. […]

American and EU commandos assess the regional SOF command concept

Frequent and realistic exercises that test war-fighters on symmetric and asymmetric war scenarios are the best way to prepare a force for a possible conflict. Force preparedness is crucial with the near-peer threats of China and Russia becoming ever more pronounced as the American military and its NATO allies shift their gaze from counterterrorism and […]

Victory for Trump as UK and France pledge to increase troops in Syria

The magazine Foreign Policy (FP) is reporting the United Kingdom, France and some Baltic and Balkan states have agreed to increase special forces elements in Syria. It comes as a major victory for the Trump administration after it decided to pull troops out of Syria. Officially, the U.K. and France do not acknowledge having any […]

WW2-era bomb explodes in German corn field

German citizens in Ahlbach were unpleasantly surprised at 4 AM one day earlier this week as they were awakened by an explosion. Police were called to inspect the crater. Fox News reports: …It “almost certainly” was a 550-pound dud. “With the former railway depot, we were quite a bomb target at the end of the […]

When seconds matter: American and European SOF medics hone their craft

Treating a wounded comrade while under fire is one of the tougher aspects of war-fighting. Enemy fire and adverse battlefield conditions add to the existing stress of a medical emergency. The wounded’s life is in the balance and there’s no room for error. That is the reason why medics undergo long intellectually, emotionally, and mentally […]

One’s weapons embargo is another’s gain: How a German arms embargo benefits the US

The German parliament has passed a motion that extends an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia until September. German lawmakers cited the ongoing civil war in Yemen and the murder of U.S-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi for the decision. The previous embargo, which was activated last October after the vicious murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate […]

Political leaders propose the adoption of a shared European Union aircraft carrier

In an unanticipated development, Germany has proposed that the European Union (EU) adopt a shared EU aircraft carrier. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the successor of Angela Merkel in the leadership of the governing Christian Democratic Union and the next chancellor of Germany, said that, concerning European defense, “The next step could be to start on the symbolic […]

Political leaders propose the adoption of a shared European Union aircraft carrier

In an unanticipated development, Germany has proposed that the European Union (EU) adopt a shared EU aircraft carrier. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the successor of Angela Merkel in the leadership of the governing Christian Democratic Union and the next chancellor of Germany, said that, concerning European defense, “The next step could be to start on the symbolic […]

Special operations gone wrong: Watch this year’s ugliest parachute jump

Bad exits or landings during parachute operations aren’t uncommon. Throwing people, often laden with dozens of pounds of equipment, out of an aircraft inevitably invites trouble. Parachuting is inherently dangerous, whether the jump is static line (the parachute opens automatically as the paratrooper exits the aircraft) or free fall. Naturally, parachute training is complex and […]