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You must forgive me. It is hard for me to write. You see, I am a slave, and my chains make it hard for me to write. You ask, "How did such a big, strong man come to be a slave in this the land of the free?" There was no frantic flight followed by a dozen men holding me down. My Masters slipped my chains on me without a struggle. It was quite easy for them. "You should help your neighbor! Don't you want to help your neighbor? Have you no sympathy?", my Masters said to me. I blushed...

Donald Trump's concept of the federal government's proper role ought to make any conservative cringe. Last week, the GOP's leading candidate answered a question from an Afghanistan veteran named Robert Kitelinger who asked, "In your opinion, what are the top three functions of the United States government?" Trump listed security, healthcare, and education. He said something a little different in August 2015 when he listed his top priorities as the military, veterans and jobs. These two statements are not necessarily irreconcilable of course. In August 2015 he was speaking about what his own priorities as president would be, while in...

First Female Recruits Issued 'Dixie Cup' Covers at RTC

Junior female sailors are not the only women to get new uniforms. Female officers and senior enlisted sailors will wear updated styles, such as new combination covers. By the fall of 2016, both enlisted men and women will receive new service dress blues, what the Navy calls “crackerjacks.” ... The “Dixie cup” style dates back to 1886 when it was first incorporated into Navy uniform regulations, according to the Navy’s historical site. “It can be squared, rolled, crushed, fitted with ‘gull wings’ or simply worn as it comes from small stores. It can be used as a flotation device or...

Battle for Syria | April 3rd 2016 | Aleppo

Tell your FNG story! I just saw a locked thread so couldn't post there-- wherin one FReeper calls another NOOB. How young must one be on FR to be a NOOB? So I looked... 2010!! I figured it was a joke as the accuser's account was a 2016 sign-up. SO.... At my first squadron as an ensign, fresh outta Electronic Warefare school (se habla espanol.. any guesses where? Second hint, ground-based naval aircraft...) I showed up at the O-club for lunch. I'm a normal guy, not too much attitude for a typical JO. When allofa sudden, another fella I recognized...

The Swedish Stridsvagn 103 (or "S-Tank") was one of the most unusual tanks ever built. Designed to give good defensive firepower to enforce Sweden's armed neutrality, it's unique design came at a cost: it is absolutely no good on offense. During the Cold War Sweden maintained a position of armed neutrality. Sandwiched between NATO powers and members of the Warsaw Pact, it took neither side and prepared to defend its territory from all comers. The trick with armed neutrality is to appear strong enough to deter an enemy from attacking, while appearing weak enough to not look threatening. In other...

A heroic U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd that lost a leg sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the world's highest honor for service dogs during a special ceremony Tuesday. Lucca, who served U.S. troops during more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan over a six-year span, received the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal at the Wellington Barracks in London. She is the first Marine Corps dog to receive the medal, considered the top honor for war animals around the world.

The F-35 program that emerged proposed to build a dual-role tactical aircraft capable of both air-to-ground (strike) and air-to-air (fighter) combat operations. It is a fifth-generation aircraft designed to incorporate the most modern technology such as thrust vectoring, composite materials, stealth technology, advanced radar and sensors, and integrated avionics to greatly improve pilot situational awareness. The operational requirements of the F-35 program required 70% to 90% commonality between three versions of the aircraft—one for each of the air force (F-35A), marine corps (F-35B), and navy (F-35C). As a result, many of the high-cost parts—including the basic engine design, avionics, and...

The United States Navy is paradoxically the most traditional and innovative of America’s armed services. It is also by far and away the most diverse in terms of missions and capabilities. In addition to its fleet of cutting-edge surface ships and submarines, the Navy possesses its own ground force—the Marines—and an air force, both land and carrier-based, which has greater strike capability than the air forces of most developed nations. The Navy’s supercarrier battle groups function as mobile military cities, extending American power and influence across the entire globe.

The U.S. Army has chosen Heckler & Koch to make its new Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System. The March 31 contract award to Heckler & Koch Defense Inc. – worth up to $44,500,000.00 – allows the Army to purchase a maximum total of 3,643 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) units, according to an announcement on FedBizOpps.gov.

In the early 1940s, the U.S. Navy still expected to need huge, first rate battleships to fight the best that Japan and Germany had to offer. The North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa-class battleships all involved design compromises. The Montanas, the last battleships designed by the U.S. Navy, would not.

The U.S. Department of Defense has released the first footage of its prototype unmanned anti-submarine ship being developed to track quiet diesel-electric submarines over long distances. The new vessel was launched in January at Vigor’s shipyard in Portland, Oregon, where it has quietly been under construction for the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). During a speed tests in February, the vessel reached a top speed of 27 knots.... (snip)

Fun Gun Reviews Presents: Ford F-150 vs CMMG Mutant... the Ford didn't do so well.CMMG Mutant: https://www.cmmginc.com/ Thanks to Brian C. for a great range day in spite of me tearing up the hood of my F-150. Hit the Like Button & Subscribe for more Fun Gun Reviews. Thanks for watching~ Sootch00 Instagram: Sootch_00 FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Sootch00FunGunReviews Music is from Jingle Punks Royalty Free Music through the Fullscreen Network. Used with permission.

In the summer of 1920, Russia seemed poised to take over Europe. Newly victorious in the Russian Civil War, but convinced that the capitalists were bent on strangling the cradle of Communism, the Bolsheviks looked for salvation. Their gaze fell on Germany, exhausted and embittered by defeat in the First World War, and now engulfed in civil strife between Communist revolutionaries and protofascist freikorps paramilitaries. If only the Red Army's bayonets could install a Bolshevik regime in Berlin, then the two most powerful states in Central and Eastern Europe would be united in a Communist monolith. And from there, perhaps...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on Friday.The comments, carried by the North's official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the isolated state for its nuclear programme. North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the United States....

Larry Vaincourt's classic poem was first published in his 1987 Remembrance Day newspaper column. There are several incorrect versions of this poem circulating the web; below you'll find the original text. JUST A COMMON SOLDIER (A Soldier Died Today) He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast, And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past. Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done, In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one. And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke, All...

Army Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta has received notification from the VA that his benefits for a caregiver are ending in 90 days, at the end of May. The letter he received from the VA states “he is no longer appropriate for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.” They say they are pleased to inform him of this. According to the VA, even though Acosta, blinded by a mortar attack in Iraq, is still blind, they are excited (with an exclamation point to prove it) to let him know they have determined he’s “graduated,” and no longer needs a...

Video map The Syrian Arab Army’s engineering units have started repairing and reconstructing of Palmyra military airport in order to resume its routine activities and operations. The airport will likely become an important air base for the Syrian army’s military choppers and fighter jets, especially, in case of advances on Deir Ezzor and Raqqa. Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian warplanes continued air raids against ISIS positions at Al-Sukhnah and along the Palmyra-Deir Ezzor road. The oil reach town Al-Sukhnah is a logistical point of the ISIS oil smuggling business. The SAA and its allies continue attempts to liberate the town of...

Russia is doubling the number of its strategic nuclear warheads on new missles by deploying multiple reentry vehicles that have put Moscow over the limit set by the new START arms treaty,according to pentagon officials.