Free Republic

Audio interview 39:32

The ancient Romans had a saying. Si vis pacem, para bellum—“If you want peace, prepare for war.” George Luger took that statement seriously. The result was a pistol known for its accuracy, the ammunition it introduced to the militaries of the world and the evil reputation it later gained. The P08 nine-millimeter Parabellum—or Luger—pistol was the brainchild of its namesake inventor, and it served Germany faithfully during both world wars. Often associated with the Nazi regime, it was the handgun of the Kaiser’s Soldaten before Hitler took power. Yet it’s more closely associated with the latter. If you watch a...

This is possibly a dumb suggestion, but why can't the Ukrainians use small drones flying at night to drop thermite grenades on Russian tanks? Would the thermite be able to burn through the armor and into the engine or fuel compartment?

Buckybomb shows potential power of nanoscale explosives Mar 05, 2015 by Lisa Zyga Enlarge Molecular configuration of an exploding buckybomb. Credit: ACS (Phys.org)—Scientists have simulated the explosion of a modified buckminsterfullerene molecule (C60), better known as a buckyball, and shown that the reaction produces a tremendous increase in temperature and pressure within a fraction of a second. The nanoscale explosive, which the scientists nickname a "buckybomb," belongs to the emerging field of high-energy nanomaterials that could have a variety of military and industrial applications. The researchers, Vitaly V. Chaban, Eudes Eterno Fileti, and Oleg V. Prezhdo at the University of...

In this episode, Uncommon Knowledge is honored to have retired four-star General James Mattis. General Mattis retired from the Marine Corps as a full general in 2013, where he served as the eleventh commander of the United States Central Command. He also served as the commander for NATO supreme allied transformation, and as commander of the United States Joint Forces Command. Mattis is now an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow fellow at the Hoover Institution.

I was driving and listening to the radio when I heard it, so any misstatements are unintentional. A caller, identifying himself as "Commander Fred," told Rush a story about Brian Williams under fire in the Middle east. According to Commander Fred, he was a C-130 pilot in the Middle East, with Brian Williams on board one day, when his aircraft came under fire. The first problem is that Commander is a Navy and Coast Guard rank, not one of the Army or Air Force, which would be what would have been flying Williams anywhere. Well, Commander Fred told a scary...

Dozens of soldiers from a battalion famous for using the emblem of a vicious comic book avenger to strike fear into the enemy in Afghanistan are heading to Iraq with ISIS in their sights. The Telemark Battalion is an elite mechanised infantry unit of the Norwegian Army which has been involved in the fight against the Taliban as part of the NATO-led security mission since 2003. Around 50 soldiers from Telemark will be heading to the city of Irbil in northern Iraq to train Kurdish forces to help them in their fight against Islamic State, the Norwegian ministry of defence...

The story of one of the truly epic events in the history of naval warfare. The survival of Malta was the vital hinge upon which turned the whole Allied strategy in the Mediterranean Theatre of war. This film describes how a vital convoy was forced through to relieve the valiant island of Malta, despite appalling losses.

Subject: Why the Marine Hymn Contain Shores of Tripoli"... Interesting bit of history. This may be one of the more informative history lessons you ever read. Why the Marine Hymn Contains the Verse "To the Shores of Tripoli" Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago the United States had declared war on Islam and Thomas Jefferson led the charge! At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic. They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant...

When the Cold War escalated in the 1950s, the United States and its European allies knew that the Warsaw Pact far outnumbered the alliance’s own tanks, artillery and infantry. Should the Soviets launch an invasion of Western Europe, the NATO armies expected — and planned—to use tactical nuclear weapons to make up for their inferior numbers.

BREMERTON, Wash. -- Naval Sea Systems Command says the mothballed aircraft carrier USS Ranger will be towed out of Puget Sound on Thursday on its way to be scrapped in Texas. Robert Johnson sees more than a relic of gray steel and worn rivets when he looks across the Sinclair Inlet. He sees home. "It gave me a piece of my soul I think," the Navy Vietnam veteran said. It is the same ship that is on his hat, the USS Ranger, a massive aircraft carrier. "A lot of people served on it. A lot of people worked on it,...

Sunk without trace in what some historians consider the greatest naval battle ever fought, the mightiest battleship ever built has been found off the Philippines by one of the world’s wealthiest men. Paul Allen, the multibillionaire Microsoft co-founder, on Tuesday posted photographs of the wreck of the Musashi, a second world war Japanese battleship that, with its sister-ship the Yamato, was the largest and most heavily-armed warship ever launched. “WW2 Battleship Musashi sank 1944 is FOUND,” Allen announced on Twitter, beneath a ghostly underwater photograph of the mammoth vessel’s rusting, coral-encrusted bow clearly bearing the chrysanthemum crest of the Japanese...

Brief Synopsis Untruthfulness is surprisingly common in the U.S. military even though members of the profession are loath to admit it. Further, much of the deception and dishonesty that occurs in the profession of arms is actually encouraged and sanctioned by the military institution. The end result is a profession whose members often hold and propagate a false sense of integrity that prevents the profession from addressing—or even acknowledging—the duplicity and deceit throughout the formation. It takes remarkable courage and candor for leaders to admit the gritty shortcomings and embarrassing frailties of the military as an organization in order to...

Happy Hump Day, here are somethings that you can do to make it look like you're a Special Op Operator. First one is you can customize your favorite AR15 with these accessories, see picture below. If you want to see more of the girl in the bikini, you can see the rest of this on "how to be a Special Ops Operator" here.

I'm so confused now... (video at link)

The NPT was signed in 1968 and became affective in 1970. Concerning non signatories for the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), Pakistan, India, Israel and South Sudan fall into this list. North Korea withdrew from it, and the rest of the world is either a recognized nuclear weapon state ratifier, a recognized nuclear weapon state acceder, and so on. There are five nuclear weapons states from the NPT (the U.S., Russia, China, France and Great Britain), other states known and/or highly suspect for possessing nuclear weapons (Israel) and states suspected of developing nuclear weapons (Saudi Arabia, Iran and others). There are...

Microsoft's co-founder has used his own submarine to find the wreck of the Japanese Navy's biggest warship - which has lain undiscovered at the bottom of the ocean for the past 70 years. Paul Allen revealed his amazing discovery to the world on Tuesday, by posting a photo to Twitter of the World War II battleship Musashi's rusty bow, which bore the Japanese empire's Chrysanthemum seal. The Musashi - which, along with its sister ship Yamato, was the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleship ever constructed - was sunk by the U.S. Navy in 1944, taking with it more than...

In the popular imagination, American GIs in postwar Germany were well-liked and well-behaved. But a new book claims that US soldiers raped up to 190,000 women at the end of World War II. Is there any truth to the controversial claim? […] … German historian Miriam Gebhardt, well known in Germany for her book about leading feminist Alice Schwarzer and the feminist movement, has now published a new volume casting doubt on the accepted version of America’s role in German postwar history. The work, which came out in German on Monday, takes a closer look at the rape of German...

An interview with John Parow – St. Lucie County Sheriffs Department D Breteau) Why did you become a Law Enforcement Officer? John Parow) It sounds like a cliché answer but I actually got into law enforcement because I truly like helping people. In this field, many people don’t like us overall but if I can help one person then that is what I am looking for. DB) Worst day as a cop? JP) February 28th 2013. On this day a fellow sergeant and friend was murdered while doing his job. During a traffic stop, the suspect exited his vehicle and...

This is a quick down and dirty of the main sniper rifles that was significant from past to present and had made huge contribution to the U.S. war campaigns. View the evolution of sniper rifle infograph here.