Military Subjects & War Stories (Incldg the Cold War)

TFR 238 Saving Your Nostalgic History While Serving with Jeff Nichols​

Mar 25, 2024
Jeff Nichols (https://www.performancefirstus.com) and Stew Smith https://www.stewsmithfitness.com created a fun podcast with this topic and share many of there keepsakes from the Teams, Boot Camp, and the Naval Academy.

Check out other videos of combat swimmer stroke, workouts, and other spec ops related training. See http://www.stewsmithfitness.com for more information about military, law enforcement, special ops, fire fighting training programs.

43:30

WOTR podcast, nothing to see, can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

Iron Coffins - Part 32 | Commanding a German U-Boat during WW2 | Trench Diaries​

27:47

00:00 Intro
00:02 Intro & Community Appreciation
00:41 Member Shout-Out
01:06 Toulon
03:48 German Strategic Situation
05:16 Nightlife & Partying in France
07:26 Marseille
09:19 Frankfurt
10:58 At the Family Home
15:49 Neustadt & Command Course
18:37 Meeting Captain Wolfgang Lüth
18:54 Command Course
21:22 Receiving the first Command
22:06 Marika
25:22 After-Action-Report

Second Red Scare and McCarthyism - COLD WAR DOCUMENTARY​

Our series on the history of the Cold War period continues with a documentary on the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism, which was the period when the US was embroiled this video will describe the early part of the Nuclear race in the post-War period and how the USA managed to use the German scientists to gain upper hand.

12:06

Mining, gold, diamonds, political agendas in the third world sometimes means you'll see mercenary armies involved.

Executive Outcomes: A Mercenary Army For Hire In South Africa | The War Business (1997) | Full Film​

We uncover the bloody truth of the world's most successful private army, Executive Outcomes. Sent wherever mineral resources like diamonds or oil promise wealth, these mercenaries, trained as soldiers in apartheid-era South Africa and equipped with state-of-the-art weapons of war, sell their security services to the highest bidder and frequently leave a trail of destruction in their wake. And British interests are behind it all.

1:01:17

NATO - The largest military alliance in the world | DW Documentary​

Apr 4, 2024
Since 1949, NATO has shaped Europe‘s security policy like no other organization. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty outlines the principle of "collective defense”. But is the world's largest military alliance ready to defend itself?

Marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, this documentary looks at the past, present and future of NATO. Among other things, it sheds light on vulnerabilities. For example, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is anything but binding. Unanimity among the member states is a prerequisite -- but by no means a certainty. And there are only partial guarantees in place when it comes to the speed with which troops and supplies must be delivered in extreme situations.

The film embarks on a journey across the Alliance's territory. The filmmakers visit Tallinn, in Estonia, where NATO's Cyber Defence Centre is located. From here they travel on to Ulm, in Germany, where the deployment of troops and supplies is organized. The next stop is NATO headquarters in Brussels, where political decisions are made. The film hears from high-ranking current and former NATO generals and security experts along the way.

With the help of international historians, the documentary also looks back on the 75-year history of NATO. Founded after the devastating experiences of the Second World War, the alliance’s architects wanted to deter enemies. But even more importantly, they wanted to secure peace among the alliance partners - not least out of fears of Germany regaining strength.

The documentary draws on previously unseen archival film material: NATO portraits of member countries filmed in the 1950s to give soldiers a better understanding of one another’s countries and thus enhance cohesion.

Important eyewitnesses, including Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton and diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, are featured. They provide context for recent NATO developments: How close was the US to leaving NATO in 2018? And what would the consequences have been? Was a promise really made not to expand NATO eastwards after the collapse of the Soviet Union? The film seeks an answer to this question, which continues to shape Russia's relationship with NATO to this day.

1:29:18

How the Soviet Union Opened to the World - Cold War DOCUMENTARY​

Apr 7, 2024
Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video in on the Moscow Youth Festival of 1957 - the event that opened the Soviet Union to the world and allowed the leadership of the USSR to present a new side of the country to a wider public.

25:41

Sources
- Peacock, Margaret, “The perils of building Cold War consensus at the 1957 Moscow World Festival of Youth and Students,” Cold War History, Vol.12, No.3 (2012)
- Koivunen, Pia, Performing Peace and Friendship: The World Youth Festivals and Soviet Cultural Diplomacy (Oldenbourg, De Gruyter: 2022)Tsipursky, Gleb, Socialist Fun: Youth, Consumption, & State-Sponsored Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1945-70 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016)
- https://www.rbth.com/history/335295-w...
- https://www.rbth.com/history/330727-h...
- https://vestnik-mgou.ru/Articles/View... (Russian)
- https://soviet-art.ru/6th-world-festi...
- https://www.academia.edu/19007478/MOS...
- https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/...

Corsair Pilot | USMC VMF-213 in the South Pacific (1943)​

A narrated propaganda film presenting the life of Marine Corsair fighter pilots of VMF-213 deployed in the South Pacific during 1943.
It offers a glimpse of the life of pilots, mechanics and ground crews as they maintain and fly their machines, while also going about their daily lives on the Russell Islands (central Solomon Islands) during World War II.
Marine aviators featured in this film are George Defabio [De Fabio], Mr. Greg, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Garrison, Mr. Leary, Mr. McCleary, Mr. Votaw, and Mr. Winnia.

10:22

The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?​

In which a small force of escorts and small carriers face off against the biggest battleship the world has ever seen, plus all its friends.

And win.

Ukraine’s Experience in Developing Lethal Drones Should Be Lesson for NATO, Says Panel​

Kyiv’s ability to rapidly create and field software to a homegrown community of unmanned aerial vehicles specialists is a lesson every NATO nation should take away from the war in Ukraine, the coauthor of a UAV effectiveness study said.

Speaking Tuesday at the Wilson Center, Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said Ukraine, using specialists from its tech sector, has been able to make adaptations “to keep [combat UAVs] effective.”

This time frame can be as short as two weeks, especially if the Russians have downed the UAV and began to adapt their countermeasures to the technology, he added. But the Ukrainians have airframes that allow “rapid insertion of modular [software] change,” he said.

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The Debrief Episode 14: Always Above: Space Force & the New Frontiers​

Apr 3, 2024

Nothing to see, can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

The Debrief Episode 14: Always Above: Space Force and the New Frontiers of an Increasingly Contested Warfighting Domain

The Space Force is the United States' newest military service branch, established in 2019 to secure the nation’s interests in space. Organized within the Department of the Air Force, the Space Force joins a number of organizations within the Department of Defense operating within what is an increasingly contested warfighting domain. Joining The Debrief to help navigate the changes to the United States’s posture toward this new frontier is Dr. David Burbach, associate professor of national security affairs and the inaugural director of the Space Studies Group at the U.S. Naval War College.

26:54

A Nautical Knife Fight​

In one of the more dramatic duels at sea during the Battle of the Atlantic, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spencer attacked, boarded, and sank a convoy-stalking U-boat.

During World War II, the U.S. Coast Guard played a key role in the Battle of the Atlantic. In concert with the U.S. Navy and Allied forces including the British, Canadian, Free French, and Polish navies, Coast Guard cutters escorted thousands of merchant ships carrying war matériel crucial for victory in Europe. One of the Coast Guard’s most dramatic engagements during the long Atlantic struggle was the duel between the USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) and German submarine U-175 on 17 April 1943.

The Opponents​

Service in a German U-boat was arduous. Conditions were extremely cramped; the sub was essentially a long tube containing torpedoes, engines, motors, bunks, radios, a control room, and a very small galley divided by watertight doors. No one showered for entire patrols. There was no refrigeration and food quickly spoiled; crewmen gave moldy loafs of bread nicknames like Kaninchen because they looked furry, like rabbits. Submarines in World War II spent significant amounts of time on the surface, leaving the crews exposed to bad weather and air attack; the standard time for a U-boat emergency dive was 35 seconds. Even leaving aside the threat of enemy action, operating an undersea vessel was inherently hazardous, especially as crew and equipment quality diminished throughout the war.

U-175 was a Type IXC U-boat, with a length of 251 feet and about 50 crewmen. She was powered by a combination of diesel engines and electric batteries and armed with torpedoes, two deck guns, and smaller antiaircraft guns. U-175 was commissioned in December 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Bruns, a career officer who had previously enjoyed sailing on board the Horst Wessel (now the training vessel USCGC Eagle [WIX-327]) and been seriously wounded while serving in torpedo boats. (Those ranked Kapitänleutnant—literally, “Captain-Lieutenant”—traditionally were addressed in the World War II era as Herr Kaleun. The U.S. naval equivalent rank would be lieutenant.) Bruns’ crew regarded him as ambitious but fair; he normally operated with a requisite level of caution but on the hunt could be more daring than many of them would have preferred. In port he would deal with the extreme stress of commanding a wartime U-boat by getting very drunk with his engineer officer, Oberleutnant Leopold Nowroth.

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Laos Combat Operations: Raven 25 Story​

Apr 26, 2024

U.S. Air Force Pilot Darrel Whitcomb flew combat missions over Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Whitcomb volunteered along with a very small, select, group of volunteer U.S. Air Force pilots to fly Forward Air Control (FAC) operations in a highly secret U.S. government program (The Ravens) in the Secret War in Laos. Wearing civilian clothes, piloting small, unarmed prop-driven aircraft, taking life-and-death risks on every hazardous mission and given little to no guidance other than to direct deadly fires on the enemy. The Ravens had one of the highest casualty rates of any group of allied combatants during the entire Vietnam War. As Ravens, these Airborne FACs guided fast-mover U.S. fixed wing fighters and bombers onto enemy targets in an effort to stop the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, and assist Hmong, Royal Laos, and Thai allies. This is Whitcomb’s story as a Raven is his own words.

Raven pilots at 01:42 are left to right, Darrel Whitcomb, Chuck 'Buddha' Hines, Craig Dunn. Terry Pfaff, and “H” Ownby

34:16

WOTR podcast, nothing to see, can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD​

APRIL 26, 2024

Nick sat down with Eric Brewer, Dana Stroul, and Gavin Clough to discuss how the conventional, proxy, and nuclear threats Iran poses are evolving. Who was deterred and who wasn’t by the latest Iranian and Israeli strikes? What did we learn about Iranian capabilities? And how will this affect Iran’s thinking about a bomb?

THE FORGOTTEN PART OF THE CONTEST: ARMY LOGISTICS IN THE PACIFIC​

APRIL 29, 2024

As Gen. Omar Bradley is credited as saying, “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” Indeed, from the American Revolution to modern-day conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine, the U.S. Army’s ability to effectively manage resources, transport troops and supplies, and adapt to changing circumstances has been not just instrumental, but a core allied advantage over its foes that proved to be the difference between defeat and victory.

Unfortunately, when it comes to how the American defense community plans for and talks about the future of competition and conflict in the Pacific, it isn’t measuring up to Bradley’s metric. For instance, at the Army’s annual meeting, the secretary of the Army gave a powerful speech on how “we have got to ask the tough questions and make the hard decisions on what our force needs to fight in the future.” Yet, there was no mention of “logistics,” and the only discussion of “sustainment” was of barracks repair.

This is no anomaly, but the norm of the literally thousands of leader speeches, congressional testimonies, vision statements, and interviews on the future of war and competition and conflict with China. If logistics is mentioned at all, which is rare, it is a toss-off line.

488. Revolutionizing 21st Century Warfighting: UAVs and C-UAS​

[Editor’s Note: This decade has witnessed a revolution in warfighting with the proliferation of battlefield automation and the concurrent race to develop effective countermeasures. Constellations of inexpensive, expendable, small armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the hands of dismounted infantry are penetrating the airspace above fixed defensive lines and attriting exquisite, expensive, and finite combat systems (i.e., Main Battle Tanks [MBTs], air defense complexes, artillery, and counter-battery radar systems).

These UAVs are constantly evolving, forcing rapid innovation across small windows of time, yielding fleeting opportunities of advantage. According to Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, “What is flying today won’t be able to fly tomorrow.”

In today post, Army Mad Scientist explores how this UAV/Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) fight continues to transform Twenty-first century warfighting and wrestles with the associated implications for the U.S. Army by posing five challenging questions — Read on!]

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Coding over Conditioning: Reimagining Physical Standards in a Digital Age​

To meet the demands of a digital age, the U.S. military must recruit and train new cyber warriors. Traditional physical standards excessively and avoidably restrict the pool of qualified candidates for cyber warfare roles. Information warriors operating in the cyber domain are a distinct class of warfighter. Recruiting requirements should reflect this reality.

A Brief History of Military Physical Readiness Standards ​

The U.S. armed forces have always emphasized physical readiness. While early standards were informal, physical fitness was never ignored. The revolutionary minutemen were hand-picked for the “enthusiasm, reliability, and physical strength” necessary for the Continental Army’s guerrilla tactics. Similarly, the U.S. military academies have always emphasized physical training, and 19th-century generals prioritized the ability of infantrymen to march, build fortifications, attack, and evade enemy combatants.

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Guns, Girls, and Greed I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq By Morgan Lerette #6054​

May 2, 2024

Kerry Lutz and Morgan Lerette discussed various topics related to the challenges and complexities of military engagements in Iraq. They explored Lerette's experiences as a mercenary, the difficulties of nation-building, the challenges of providing support in a self-interested environment, and the historical and contemporary role of private military contractors. The conversation shed light on the lack of coordination between different agencies, the limitations of General Petraeus' strategy, and the difficulties of instilling democratic values in societies where tribal loyalty takes precedence. They also discussed the potential impact of private military contractors on political decision-making and the need for greater scrutiny and regulation in this area.

19:03

There and Back and There Again: U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines​

The durability of military basing agreements with security partners depends on a shared sense of threat and a stable domestic ruling regime, as demonstrated in the history of U.S. military bases in the Philippines.

Partnership with the Philippines remains vital for the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. Because of its geographic location as a southern anchor of the first island chain and eastern rim of the South China Sea and as a geographic link between Japan and Australia, the Philippines is second only to Japan in strategic importance for that region. Furthermore, because of the deep historical U.S.-Philippine association and close personal ties, the security and prosperity of the Philippines is important to U.S. national prestige and credibility as a global power. This history, however, is fraught with controversy over U.S. military bases.

Locating U.S. military bases in allied nations depends primarily on two factors: 1) a shared sense of threat, and 2) a consolidated ruling government that has the legitimacy to conclude and enforce basing agreements. So long as these two factors remain, U.S. military bases are secure. But when the sense of threat diminishes or the ruling regime that supports the bases becomes weak or collapses, the presence of U.S. military bases can become politicized and their future put in doubt. Such has been the history of U.S. bases in the Philippines.

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This one is 43 minutes long and I'm halfway through it. If you enjoy nonfiction with political intrigue, mercenaries, neat scenery and cool twists and turns.........this has it all.

The fighter pilot, the mercenary boss, and the warlord: a modern Libyan war story | Four Corners​

Sep 14, 2020

In conflict zones around the world, battles are increasingly being fought not just by armies, but by private military contractors operating as guns for hire.
These mercenaries live in a shadowy world away from the public eye where the normal rules of combat don’t apply.
In 2019, a group of private military contractors allegedly made a failed attempt to overthrow a Middle Eastern government.
The operation fell through when the warlord they were working for accused the mercenaries of failing to deliver on a contract worth tens of millions of dollars.
The team’s hasty escape lifted the lid on a plot worthy of a blockbuster novel.
Four Corners investigates this murky world and the Australian military man accused of being at the heart of it.

Read more here: https://ab.co/3kiZJWD.
Shortly before broadcast, Christiaan Durrant provided Four Corners a statement regarding our story. You can read it here: https://bit.ly/2FCz3RG.

Halfway through this, while there is really nothing to see, I'm actually watching instead of just listening. Interesting character, very articulate and a dam good storyteller.

Fighting Men of Rhodesia ep253 | S/Sgt Greg Ashton - Part 1 | D Squadron (Rhodesian) SAS, SADF RECCE​

Apr 23, 2024 UNITED KINGDOM

1:04:08

There is a part 2 and a lot of other vids that can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/@fightingmenofrhodesia/videos

NATO Military Chief on How Countries Can Prepare for War, a Second Trump Presidency and More | WSJ​

May 9, 2024 #Trump #NATO #WSJ

Adm. Rob Bauer, NATO's top military officer, discusses what business and government can do to defend themselves, what he sees as the need for increased defense spending and how a second Trump presidency could affect the alliance.

35:09