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This is why 'silencers' don't really exist — suppressors do
There's a common idea among people who get their gun education from movies and video games that all you need to make a firearm completely silent (or at least barely as loud as someone whispering, "pew") is to attach a silencer to the front of it. For the record, they are sometimes called "silencers," but they are still far from silent. The more accurate term is "suppressors."
This is why no one uses water-cooled machine guns anymore
It was a common sight in World War I – the image of a machine gun spewing bullets from a barrel protruding from what looks like a giant canister. That canister is a healthy indication that the barrel of the machine gun in question is being cooled by water in the canister and that the water will soon be as hot as the barrel.
Why did the US military switch from 7.62 to 5.56 rounds?
In the modern era, the M-16 style rifle chambered in 5.56x45mm has become ubiquitous in imagery of the U.S. military, but that wasn't always the case. America's adoption of the 5.56mm round and the service rifle that fires it both came about as recently as the 1960s, as the U.S. and its allies set about looking for a more reliable, accurate, and lighter general issue weapon and cartridge.
This is what became of the Army's futuristic M-16 replacement rifle
The US military has long explored the idea of replacing its M-16 assault rifle with something newer and deadlier. From the 1990s onward, German arms giant, Heckler & Koch, was heavily involved in helping the US Army attempt to reach that objective, creating newfangled firearms that bear considerable resemblances to the guns you'd find in futuristic, sci-fi movies and TV shows.
Is the new Space Force logo a Star Trek rip off?
President Trump unveiled the Space Force logo today via social media and Star Trek fans everywhere are thinking the "coincidence" in appearance to the Starfleet Command logo is "highly illogical," "clearly copied," and our personal favorite: "a blatant f****** ripoff." - The great people of Twitter
The other half of Twitter is furious at the accusation that the logo was copied, citing the 1982 design of the United States Air Force Space Command logo, and saying it's just an update of that and to blame not Trump but Reagan and #journalism for not researching the history of the logos. Still others are saying it all started with NASA and Big Brother always wins.
So what came first: the chicken, the egg or the alien?
The 13 funniest military memes for the week of January 24th
It seems the Army is planning a system for evaluating the effectiveness of potential battalion commanders with a new five-day program at Fort Knox. That's good news for the staff officers worth their weight in salt, and it's fantastic that they're finally doing away with the all-around ass-kissing that goes on around OER season. It'll also bring the hammer down on commanders who fail height and weight, give them a "leadership test," and bring them in front of a board of officers and non-commissioned officers.
I know my opinion on the matter probably means nothing, but if I may make a suggestion...randomly select NCOs in their unit to give honest feedback - you know, the soldiers most affected by their actions.
You could ask them things like: Are they the type to step on the toes of the sergeant major? Would the candidate for battalion commander literally throw their troops under an actual bus if it meant a bronze star? How many times has Private Snuffy become a heat cat during the speeches they said would be quick yet they kept talking about themselves? You know, the actual things that separate the toxic CO's from the ones that stick with their troops forever.
The Space Force can learn from this NASA spacecraft mutiny
Just before New Year's Eve 1973, NASA's mission control center in Houston lost contact with the crew of Skylab 4. For 90 minutes, no one on the ground knew anything about what was happening in Earth's orbit. The three crew members had been in space longer than any other humans before them. The astronauts were all in orbit for the first time.
All NASA knew is that the rookie astronauts had a tremendous workload but roughly similar to that of previous Skylab missions. They didn't know that the crew had announced a strike and had stopped working altogether.
10 Instagram accounts every military spouse should follow
10 accounts to break up the monotony of cats and plane wings.
Instagram has fully dominated the zeitgeist. The "can I get your number?" of years' past has mutated into the "what's your IG handle?" of the new era. But you don't have any need for that anymore. You're married to a member of the United States armed forces. So here's a handful of accounts to bring your carpal-tunnel thumb scrolling into the new age with a bit of inspiration for the loved ones of military members.
The 2016 Canadian military battle against... Pokémon?
Dearest mother, if you're reading this... send rare candies...
