Luke Ryan

From clunky steel suits to lightweight plate carriers, the evolution of body armor has been a relentless race to balance protection with the need for speed and maneuverability on the battlefield.

A collection of American Independence Day celebrations in our history.

Pass Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and that’s it. But it’s easier said than done.

Nature is a great and indifferent beast — it doesn’t care if you live or die. And we live in her house.

This article was written by Luke Ryan and originally published on Sandboxx. Ranger School is one of the most demanding courses the U.S. Army has to offer. It’s a rite of passage for Army Rangers as they progress in their careers, and it’s a proving ground for other soldiers from other units. The school is […]

April 2, 1979 — Anthrax began to spread through the town of Sverdlovsk (now called Yekaterinburg) in the Ural Mountains, beginning an epidemic that some would call the “biological Chernobyl.” By April 4, one died from exposure to anthrax and it was initially claimed as pneumonia — in reality, spores were beginning to wreak havoc […]

The holidays can be stressful as you try to complete Christmas shopping for friends and family in-between work hours.  That’s why NEWSREP put together a quick gift guide which should prove applicable for the man in your life, the veteran, the outdoorsman, or really anyone else who enjoys reading, travel, adventure, and even a few […]

Iran is notorious for the opium flowing within its borders. A significant portion of their population is plagued with addictions to opiates, and their meth problem is pretty severe as well. Some estimates in 2015 put the number of those addicted to illegal drugs at 2.2 million — 2.75% of the overall population. It has […]

Until now, the Bangladesh government has been labeling Rohingya refugees out of Myanmar as “forcibly displaced” since October of last year. At that point in time, approximately 500,000 people had fled from the military violence in Myanmar across the border and into Bangladesh. Since then, an additional 200,000 has made for a total of 700,000 […]

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said recently that a Navy hospital ship would be deployed to Colombia in an aid mission set to help the Venezuelan migrants there. According to the U.N., 2.3 million migrants are flooding away from Venezuela to places like Colombia (also to Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru) — that’s approximately 7% of […]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered yet another temporary peace agreement on a religious holiday, akin to the agreement honored by both sides in mid-June. This cease fire will revolve around Eid al-Adha, and the despite the heavy fighting between NATO forces and the Afghan government against the Taliban in Ghazni recently, the Taliban have agreed. ….we […]

Monsoons around the world have been particularly devastating this year — from the refugee camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh to south India to the trapped kids in Thailand, the heavy rainy season has been brutal and unrelenting. In south India, BBC has reported that approximately 324 people have died due to the rains — many […]