Free Republic

The GOP has a race problem. White people. Working class whites, who make up half of the Republican voters, are rebelling against the Republican orthodoxies of free trade and trickle down economics that have turned their communities into ghost towns. Shocked by their support of Donald Trump, some elitist conservative thinkers are calling places like Garbutt, NY pockets of misery, welfare fraud and dope addiction. They say let these towns die. Turns out Garbutt is not like that at all.

In 1929, German gun-maker Waffenfabrik Walther began developing a new nine-millimeter pistol for military use. The development violated the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, so Walther kept it secret. Early Walther attempts focused on scaling up its “PP” line of pistols to chamber the larger nine-mil round. This pistol, the Militarpistole, wasn’t strong enough to withstand the pressures and recoil of the nine-by-19-millimeter round. Walther began work on a new design in 1935 following a request from the Heereswaffenamt, the German army’s weapons-technology agency. The Heereswaffenamt wanted a pistol to replace the Luger P08 — one that...

This is mainly for the military retirees who access this site. I don't know whether to be happy or sad with this, but two weeks ago I ordered a pair of eyeglasses from NOSTA via email. I thought something was strange when I got two replies that they had received my order. Ten days later I received a new pair of bi-focal eyeglasses. Not the same BCGs that we had in the military but close. A day later I received a second pair of glasses. Now I have two pair of shooting glasses. While I don't mind having two pair...

In a rather dramatic video recently posted online, an armor-piercing bullet is shown essentially disintegrating as it impacts the armor. Check it out:

The former Navy SEAL who says he fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden was arrested Friday on a drunken driving charge after police found him asleep in a car parked at a convenience store in his Montana hometown. Customers at the store in Butte called police to report a sleeping man behind the wheel of the running car around 2:30 a.m., Butte-Silver Bow County Undersheriff George Skuletich said. The officer who responded woke the man up, identified him as Robert O'Neill and noticed odd behavior. "He was confused. His actions were consistent with somebody who might be under...

The recently announced Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B or B-21) is moving forward with one hidden feature that doesn’t make a lot of sense—its actual price tag. Despite requests by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), the Air Force has decided against releasing the final contract value to taxpayers and it stands by its decision only to release estimates. Unfortunately, with a cost plus contract, the widely varied estimates that have already been publically released, and the Department of Defense’s long history of drastically underestimating final program costs, Chairman McCain is right to ask the Air Force to...

It is thought that some of the weapons being resold — including a component of an anti-aircraft defense system — were looted from Libyan state custody after the death of the country’s ruler Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011

World War I is supposed to be about men stuck in the mud of trench warfare, a static stalemate with little movement. Yet there were numerous patrols and attacks along the Western Front, the kind of action where portable automatic firepower could give soldiers a tremendous advantage. The Maxim and Vickers machine guns of the time were effective but heavy. Those weapons were for infantry support from fixed positions.

The San Francisco native's flag-draped casket was carried off a plane at San Francisco International Airport late Wednesday.Cpl. Robert Perry Graham was declared missing in action 65 years ago. The San Francisco native's flag-draped casket was carried off a plane at San Francisco International Airport late Wednesday. "It's something that my aunts, uncles and mother had always dreamed about," nephew James George said. "Having this closure." Closure the family thought would never happen. Graham, a 21-year-old member of the United States Army, was sent to fight in the Korean War and never returned. His family said the official report...

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.