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My take: Well, of course, for any number of modern troops, armed with whatever modern weapons you want to arm them with, there is a theoretical huge number of primitive sword swingers who could overwhelm them in a battle. So what? Fun though.

Americans bought a record number of firearms in 2020 amid a year that challenged our conventional wisdom about civil liberties, showed us the delicate balance between law and order and even strained the country’s supply chains. While gun sales generally increase in presidential election years, 2020 has been one for the record books, and it still isn’t over. President Donald Trump has vowed to continue fighting to challenge the Nov. 3 election results that show he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in a number of key swing states. Additionally, many states still have their residents under the thumb of some...

3/11/2010 - CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AFNS) -- Most U.S. Airmen know the "sound of freedom" when they hear the unmistakable sound of a fighter jet soaring above. Now Iraqi air force airmen have cause to feel that same pride when they hear their helicopters. The Iraqi air force, founded in 1931 and once considered one of the largest air forces in the region, has come a long way, and due in part to the training and advisory mission of the 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron staff here. The Iraqis are on their way to an independent air force capable of...

BAGHDAD — Thanks to a trio of American Airmen here, members of the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) are learning to provide their own air power for their own missions. The three Airmen are part of the 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, whose mission is to "train, advise and assist" the Iraqis at the helicopter squadrons here. The Iraqi gunners' PKC machine guns are mounted to makeshift metal platforms, and the gunners are trained to defend their crew and cargo against threats. "The Iraqi gunners are as integral a part of the crew for their helicopter as we are for ours...

The Israel Defense Forces released a video on Sunday evening showing militants in the Gaza Strip in the process of firing rockets at Israel. The video was released just hours after Israel Air Force troops killed four Palestinian gunners at a launching pad in northerern Gaza. The video shows militants positioning a rocket launcher and distancing themselves from it before opening fire.

An AS90 returning fire on Tallil's insurgents. Photoby Cpl. Rob Nyffenegger, Australian Defence Force.An AS90 returning fire on Tallil's insurgents. Photoby Cpl. Rob Nyffenegger, Australian Defence Force. BASRA — When Coalition forces came under heavy attacks from insurgents in Iraq, the flames of the British Army gunners' 155mm AS90s proved to be the showstopper. Packed off from the gun lines on the Contingency Operating Base (COB) in Basra, a team from D Battery, 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, deployed north to Tallil. As well as delivering munitions back at the insurgents' door, the Gunners' 155mm self-propelled weapon,capable of firing 96lb...

Iron Gunners Lend Firepower U.S., Iraqi soldiers work together to weed out more than 2,000 terrorists. By Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Malec Fires Brigade PAO, 4th Infantry Division CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Sept. 28, 2006 -- Soldiers of Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, deployed to Forward Operating Base Scania in support of Operation Constant Solidarity, Sept. 1. The operation was a combined effort between the 8th Iraqi Army Division and MND-B soldiers to weed out more than 2,000 terrorists in and around the city of Diwaniyah. The brigade received its marching orders to deploy Guided Multiple...

U.S. Army Sgt. Ben Smith Soldier's Invention Aids Gunners By Spc. Anna-Marie Hizer133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KIRKUK, Iraq, July 5, 2006 -- Soldiers are issued and use thousands of dollars worth of equipment every day. They depend on this gear to keep them safe and to make their jobs and lives easier. Sometimes, however, modifications need to be made to certain items. Enter innovation. When something does not work, or does not work exactly as it should, soldiers often use their own ingenuity to make it work better. Sgt. Ben Smith, Forward Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry...

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Chapman makes sure his M-2 .50-caliber machine gun is mounted correctly in the new Marine Corps Armored Turret System. The new turret offers gunners greater protection and visibility with ballistic glass shielding. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva Marine Gunners Safer, See Better With New Turrets The new armored turret systems are being installed on seven-ton trucks, the first in an upgrade to give gunners greater visibility and beefed-up protection for convoy operations. By U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva Regimental Combat Team 5 CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, May...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (May 9, 2006) -- Duty in the turret of Regimental Combat Team 5’s seven-ton trucks just got clearer with new ballistic-glass and steel encased firing positions. The new turrets, called Marine Corps Armored Turret Systems, are being installed on seven-ton trucks, the first in an upgrade to give gunners greater visibility and beefed-up protection for convoy operations. “The advantage of these turrets is the protection it provides the gunner,” said Master Sgt. Adam Lyttle, the 42-year-old Motor Transport chief for the regiment. “The most noticeable change is the ballistic glass. They also have higher turrets and they...

ELGIN ¡ª The federal government took to the air to kill 200 coyotes in Southeast Arizona over the past three weeks, in response to ranchers' concerns they were eating calves. Wildlife Services, a federal program formerly known as Animal Damage Control, wrapped up aerial gunning Friday. It hunted on private and public land, including national forest land, used by 10 to 15 ranchers in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program. A rancher from the Elgin area said every calf lost to a coyote ultimately costs him $500 to...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 17, 2006) – A new virtual helicopter door-gunner simulator, used to train deploying Soldiers and capable of interacting with its ground-convoy counterpart, is now being demonstrated at military installations. The simulator -- which was on display Jan. 11-13 at the Institute of Land Warfare Aviation Symposium and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. – is providing the first door-gunner training since Vietnam, said Raydon Corporation reps who were demonstrating it. The simulator provides a safe, cost-effective environment to practice helicopter door-gunner training by engaging assorted targets in settings based on a “virtual Baghdad,” said Raydon’s director of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2005 – Duty in densely populated Baghdad doesn't call for the need for firing a lot of 155 mm shells. In fact, Army Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division and Task Force Baghdad, said the division has not fired an artillery round or dropped ordnance in Baghdad during its deployment. Though the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, were not trained for counterinsurgency operations, a year in Iraq has made them experts. So the school-trained artillerymen have transformed into a counterinsurgency unit. This does not mean the...

‘Gunners’ Recognize Heroes Past and PresentBy Cpl. Benjamin Cossel, 122nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – Wounded warriors from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, and the healers who cared for them were honored at a ceremony April 5. In addition to honoring individual soldiers for the heroism, the “Gunners” battalion was recognized for its service during Operation Iraqi Freedom with a Presidential Unit Citation. With the battalion assembled in front of its headquarters building, a former palace of Uday Hussein, Col. Peter R. Mansoor, 1st Brigade Combat Team commander, 1st Armored Division presented 16 Purple Heart Medals, nine Combat...