Germany

US Army R&D is testing out a wool-based fabric for new combat uniforms

The U.S. Army has begun field testing a new wool-based fabric that consists of of 50 percent wool, 42 percent Nomex, a small percentage of Kevlar, and a small percentage of P140 antistatic fiber. The idea behind the new fabric is to produce a flame-resistant fabric that can be domestically produced without using additional topical treatments. The new uniform […]

Marine retraces his grandfather’s World War II spy mission

Army Maj. William Colby, with the Office of the Strategic Services, parachuted into Norway in March 1945 to lead the Norwegian Special Operations Group. Their job was to prevent 150,000 German troops from returning home to fight the Allies. “At about this time, the Battle of the Bulge had been liquidated, but there was fear […]

Germany’s new military recruitment strategy for the Trump era? A reality show.

Advertising Germany’s military as a success story is hardly an easy task — even if one ignores its troubled history. Abroad, it is often perceived as a lightweight army, restricted by stringent rules and a decades-old political consensus that post-World War II Germany should exert its influence by diplomacy rather than force. Two years ago, the lack of […]

German cabinet backs continued military mission in Afghanistan

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of Germany’s deployment of up to 980 soldiers to Afghanistan through the end of 2017, a government spokesman said. The decision, which must still be approved by parliament, came less than a week after armed Taliban militants stormed the German consulate in the northern Afghan city […]

Trump hates the nuclear pact with Iran, but the rest of the world is busy cutting deals

Judging from Donald Trump’s campaign posturing, his Big Three foreign policy views go something like this: Russia can be wooed, Iran needs to be slammed, and China’s economic and strategic reach must be tamed. But what happens when they all start to overlap? A series of initiatives and announcements Monday pointed to the deepening interplay […]

27th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Even though the Cold War is in our rear view mirror, oppression of people in many parts of the world is still real. A quarter century later we have witnessed the atrocities in Iraq (Saddam Hussein), Balkan Region (Slobodan Milosevic), 9/11 attacks, Afghanistan (Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban), and now Syria/Iraq Daesh (ISIL), and a resurgent Russia seeks to instigate a Cold War 2.0.

The biggest ammo shipment in 20 years arrives in Germany

The largest single Army-run shipment of ammunition to Europe in more than two decades, more than 600 shipping containers worth, arrived in Germany Oct. 29. The Army and Air Force ammunition arrived at the port in Nordenham, Germany, where it was loaded onto trains and shipped to Miesau Army Depot, Germany, for storage and distribution. […]

Germany arrests five men suspected of recruiting for Islamic State

German police on Tuesday arrested five suspected Islamist militants accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria, the federal prosecution office said in a statement. The five men – an Iraqi, a Turk, a German, a Serbian-German dual citizen and a national of Cameroon – face charges of setting up a “jihadist network” that […]

German defence minister wants EU military to match NATO

Germany’s defence minister said on Monday the European Union must modernise its military defence and security to match NATO’s drive to beef up its own security forces in the wake of a major Russian build-up. France, Germany, Italy and Spain are calling for a common European defence policy after Britain’s vote to quit the bloc, […]

3 Syrians Aid German Police in Alleged Bomb Plot Suspect

A Syrian man wanted for allegedly preparing a bombing attack was apprehended by three of his countrymen, who overpowered him, tied him up in their apartment, and then alerted police, authorities said Monday. The overnight arrest of Jaber Albakr ended a nearly two-day nationwide search for the 22-year-old that German authorities launched after finding several […]

Manhunt for German bomb plot suspect; 1 man in custody

German police searched nationwide Sunday for a 22-year-old Syrian man believed to have been preparing a bombing attack, who slipped through their fingers as they were closing in on him, and were questioning a second Syrian man on suspicion he was involved in the plot. The man in custody was one of three apprehended in […]

The socialite spy who played so dumb she outsmarted the Nazis

If you’re going to have an obit in the New York Times, it would be hard have a more intriguing headline than this one from March 2000 : “Gertrude Sanford Legendre, 97, Socialite Turned Hunter and Prisoner of War,” unless they’d added, as they should have done, “Spy.” One might also have said she was spoiled and impetuous […]