Marine

Training with the Ukrainian army’s elite snipers

It’s an early morning in Eastern Ukraine, we stand outside, My friend and I, smoking cigarettes in a gazebo next to the parade grounds of an unknown Regiment; our field packs, battle rattle, and rifles in tow. I felt a little awkward showing up for a sniper course carrying an AK74 but also figured we’d […]

A volunteer’s perspective on training foreign soldiers

During my time embedded with Kurdish Peshmerga forces, I spent the majority of it in a training and advising role when not conducting combat operations. With this position I have come to acquire a vast amount of experience in what it requires to train soldiers to specific standards. There are basically two routes when it […]

CCW fail: Former Marine opens fire on shoplifters

A 10 year veteran and former Marine sergeant, James Newman, confronted a pair of shoplifters in a parking lot outside of the Rimrock Mall in Billings, Montana early this year. When confronting the shoplifters, Newman produced his concealed handgun and attempted a citizen’s arrest stating, “You are all under arrest,” he said. “This is a citizen’s […]

Ukrainian Army Recon train in CQB

CQB (Close Quarters Battle) is like religion, guys get very passionate about it and everyone thinks their way is the one true way, aside from a few agnostics. CQB refers to a type of fighting that typically occurs inside of buildings and extremely tight spaces considering a gunfight is what may go down. The Eastern […]

The Glock 17, a pistol for fighting

As always, I am a huge proponent of carrying and using whatever you have at your disposal. However depending on how you’re trained or how your brain works, because we are all different, certain firearms can be more conducive to your shooting skills than others. That being said I have my own personal standards for […]

SilencerCo Osprey 45 Suppressor

SilencerCo has come out with some pretty innovative stuff lately; the Maxim9 was a hot topic when it was revealed. Despite all the hype around it I still feel that the Osprey was probably the most practical and unique thing to come out of the suppressor community in a long time. It’s probably the best […]

The Recce Rifle

Reconnaissance teams of all different origins have always been centered around the ability to be a minimalist,  highly maneuverable element that can discreetly observe and report on the enemy, providing valuable intelligence for command elements that often dictates when and where the fight takes place. With this mission comes the desire for lightweight and versatile […]

SilencerCo Spectre II Suppressor

The .22 LR caliber firearms aren’t very loud to begin with—add a suppressor to that and you’ve got a very quiet shooter that is perfect for plinking or hunting small game. SilencerCo has yet again produced a quality AND affordable suppressor with the SpectreII. With an MSRP of around $400, what’s not to love? The Spectre […]

Marines buy the Glock 19M for CID agents and Helicopter Squadron One

The Federal Bureau of Investigation made big news selecting the Glock 19M as their new duty weapon. The Marines have performed acquisition magic and jumped on the FBI contract to buy Glocks for 400 lucky Marines. This is a separate purchase from last year’s Glock 19s for MARSOC. The GLOCK 19M features over 20 design […]

Why I’ve gone back to leather holsters

With all the kydex and appendix carry rage going on, everybody is repping their favorite blaster carrier. Over the years I’ve owned, trained and carried various kydex brands. Most of them I really enjoyed and found met my needs adequately, some were terrible bulky masses of hard plastic that just didn’t cut it. Recently I’ve […]