A simple glance at a map would tell you all you need to know. Camp Pendleton is on the southern California coast with San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County just a short drive away. By contrast, Twentynine Palms is in a remote desert location akin to being stuck on Tattooine.
But there’s more to like about Camp Pendleton than fun outside the base.
Basic Training can be incredibly challenging for new recruits, and nothing tests a future soldier’s resolve like the gas chamber.
The U.S. Army recently released a video of one cadet’s valiant endurance during gas chamber training as a #TBT to last year’s Cadet Basic Training.
The video shows Class of 2018 Cadet Bradley Gibson not only powering through the tear gas like a champ, but reciting the Soldier’s Creed as he does it. Talk about dedication.
Every time Don Brittain plays “Taps” at sunset his neighbors stand at attention.
One resident told CBSN, “When you hear the first note, everything in our house comes to a complete halt.”
Tacoma residents have made it part of their daily ritual. For Brittain, it’s his way of showing appreciation for our military.
“I want to support our guys who are over there fighting,” Brittain told CBSN. “I had polio as a kid, so I couldn’t serve. I would have served in a heartbeat.”
Watch Brittain move his neighbors with his beautiful rendition of “Taps”:
Late night host Conan O’Brien visited with Air Force working dog handlers and got into all sorts of shenanigans. He joked with the handlers, watched the dog chase down a suspect, and even tried to out-dog the Air Force’s canines.
You read that right. He tried to compete with the dog in an obstacle course.
Special operations raids into enemy territory are about to get faster and quieter.
In 2014, DARPA (the Pentagon’s research development arm) granted Logos Technologies a small business innovation research grant to develop a military-use hybrid-electric motorcycle with near-silent capability. During this phase, Logos teamed up with Alta Motors to test their RedShift MX dirt bike in multiple terrains and riding conditions to understand troop requirements.
In January 2015, Logos announced that the company was issued a second grant to develop a prototype in partnership with Alta. The Logos-Alta team named their concept dirt bike SilentHawk and plan to have an operational prototype in 18 months. Here’s a concept rendering of what it looks like:
According to War Is Boring, the SilentHawk runs on a hybrid-electric drone engine and can use three different fuels – gasoline, diesel, and JP-8, a type of jet fuel. Since the combustion side isn’t silent, operators will have to switch to the electric battery when they want to be stealthy.
DARPA has been interested in silenced motorcycles as stealthy, quick, insertion and extraction vehicles for quite some time. According to Defense Industry Daily, Air Force teams have been shoving dirt bikes out of planes since 2010, and the Marine Corps has been training troops on third party vendors since 2012.
Zero Motorcycles toyed with the idea and developed the Zero MMX, but it didn’t work out. DARPA pulled their funding because the battery only lasted two hours.
A masked ISIS fighter speaking perfect Hebrew threatened to “eradicate this disease [of Jews] from the world” last month, so a group of Israeli comedians have responded — with mockery.
“You ran to Syria because you couldn’t find work,” one comic says in a YouTube video response, which is shot much like a rap battle.
The comedians were responding to a video released by ISIS (also known as ISIL, Islamic State, or Daesh), in which a fighter addresses the Jewish state speaking in what The Washington Post referred to as “impeccable Hebrew.”
The real war between ISIS and Israel, the militant claimed, “hasn’t started yet, and what has happened to you in the past is child’s play in comparison with what will happen to you in the near future, God willing.”
In the response video titled “Escalation 2015 – Battle Daesh (ISIS), five Israeli comics dress in the uniforms of the Israeli Defense Forces and poke fun at the amateur way he holds his AK-47, and that he is threatening the powerful Israeli army “with a knife you stole from your mother’s kitchen.”
“You ran to Syria because you couldn’t find work,” one raps. “You want to be Abu Ali? Don’t speak behind our backs, tell it to the faces of five border police,” he continues, referring to the impressive record of border police officers in dispatching terrorists.
“Don’t come with your jihad – a year ago you served me hummus!” he adds.
You can watch the video below (it’s all in Hebrew):
The ‘Frozen Chosin’ is one of the most revered campaigns in the U.S. Marine Corps’ proud history. Outnumbered 10 to 1 behind enemy lines and nearly overwhelmed by wave after wave of fierce attacks, the Marines fought their way to victory.
Seventeen Medals of Honor, 70 Navy Crosses, and over 20 Distinguished Service Crosses were bestowed to the troops of this campaign, making it one of the most decorated battles in American history.
Marine veterans turned entrepreneurs Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler have made it their mission to bring attention to this harrowing true story through the cartoon medium. The animated short Chosin: Baptized by Fire is an adaptation of the graphic novel Hold the Line, which was inspired by the true story of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines during the Korean War.
The story follows 17-year-old Private First Class Billy French delivering mail to the grunts of Fox Company when he becomes trapped in a massive surprise attack launched by the Chinese.
Trust for Brian Williams, the most popular news anchor in America, has plummeted in one week after he admitted to embellishing a story from his war coverage.
Williams, who anchors “NBC Nightly News,” went from being the 23rd-most-trusted person in America a little over a week ago to falling to the 835th spot, The New York Times reports.
The list comes from the Marketing Arm, a research firm that creates a celebrity index for advertisers and media and marketing executives.
Before Williams admitted that he misrepresented an incident in which a helicopter ahead of his was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while he was in Iraq covering the invasion in 2003, his trustworthiness was on par with that of Denzel Washington, Warren Buffett, and Robin Roberts, according to The Times.
Williams has recounted the Iraq story several times over the past 12 years and has embellished his role in the incident over time. His coverage of Hurricane Katrina has also been called into question. In fact, NBC executives were reportedly warned that Williams was known to embellish stories.
Earlier this month, Williams said on NBC that the helicopter he was flying in was “was forced down after being hit by an RPG.” Crew members who were on the helicopter that was actually hit by a rocket-propelled grenade then came forward to say Williams was on another helicopter that arrived at the site later.
Whether Williams’ helicopter was hit with small-arms fire (as opposed to an RPG) is in some dispute.
Williams announced over the weekend that he would step down from anchoring “NBC Nightly News” for “several days” in light of the fallout over this story. NBC is now conducting an internal investigation into what happened.
Air Force Special Operations Command is taking the mantra of “you can never have too much firepower” to heart.
The AC-130 — a modified cargo plane-turned-close air support platform outfitted with a deadly array of weaponry — is about to get a big weapons upgrade, to include another 105mm cannon added to the rear of the plane.
“I want to have two guns,” AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold said at a recent Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla, while also calling it “the ultimate battle plane,” according to the Air Force Times.
AFSOC plans to add a 105mm cannon to the rear of the plane. That is in addition to the weapons the aircraft is already slated to carry — dual electro-optical infrared sensors, a 30mm cannon, AGM-176A Griffin missiles, all-weather synthetic aperture radar and GBU-30 small diameter bombs. The package was developed to let the gunship identify friendlies and targets at night and in adverse weather.
The upgraded AC-130J “Ghostrider” is currently in the test phase and is slated to replace the AC-130H “Spectre,” AC-130U “Spooky,” and the AC-130W “Stinger II.”
With sophisticated sensors and electronics, the plane is a favorite among ground troops in need of close air support. The AC-130 was used extensively over the skies of Fallujah in 2004, where a reporter embedded with the Marines there remarked: “It’s the air power that really [tipped] the balance towards the Marines.”
But you may not know that Stewart has been an advocate for troops throughout his tenure, and has used his show on occasion to advocate for veterans and veteran-related causes. Here are five times in recent years he tried to make a difference:
When he brought on Eric Greitens, CEO and Founder of The Mission Continues, to discuss how returning veterans could transition into service and leadership roles in the civilian world.
When he sent out Samantha Bee to investigate an Iraq war veteran’s benefit claim — stuck in the 900,000 case backlog at the VA — in a segment called Zero Dark 900,000.
When he spoke with war correspondent Sebastian Junger about his film “Korengal,” and how soldiers could positively impact society after they return from war.
When Jason Jones was sent out to speak with Vietnam veterans who were dishonorably discharged due to PTSD who can’t get treatment because they were dishonorably discharged due to PTSD.
On the flight deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, different colored jerseys mean different responsibilities. Certain personality types are best suited for certain jobs. What color best matches yours? Take this quiz and find out!
Al Qaeda behind the scenes is both crazier and more mundane than most would expect. On the one hand, they fill out expense reports and submit job applications. On the other hand, they’re terrorists who use video games to train. This video from AllTime10s lists some of lesser known and surprising details of Al Qaeda.
