The 2021 defense budget included four names that had been granted a waiver, enabling them to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor under fire. Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe was of those four men. But halfway into the year, his family has still to receive the medal. Cashe deserves the […]
About Stavros Atlamazoglou
How US special operators use Artificial Intelligence to get an edge over China
FeaturedArtificial Intelligence is everywhere today. From Amazon’s Alexa to unmanned aerial vehicles to space crafts to health care; Artificial Intelligence enables faster and better decisions if employed properly. The U.S. military and intelligence community have been using this technology for decades now and it’s becoming increasingly more prevalent. With the apparent return of Great Power […]
How a SEAL earned a Medal of Honor saving another SEAL with a Medal of Honor
FeaturedReceiving the Medal of Honor is an exceptional and rare honor that very few Americans have earned. Most Medals of Honor are posthumous, reflecting the near-impossible odds one has to surmount to earn the nation’s highest award for bravery under fire. Usually, living recipients of the Medal are so incapacitated from their wounds that they […]
SDV: The secret weapon of the Navy SEAL Teams
FeaturedThe Navy SEAL community is arguably the best-known special operations organization in the U.S. military, if not the world. But there is a smaller community within the SEAL Teams you may have never heard of that specializes in some old-school commando-style missions: the SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Teams. Inspired by the Italian frogmen of World […]
CSM: Kenneth “Rock” Merritt, a legendary paratrooper
HistoryIf you ever visit Fort Brag and the headquarters of the 18th Airborne Corps, you’re bound to hear someone talk or see something about Command Sergeant Major Kenneth “Rock” Merritt, a legendary paratrooper who dedicated 35 years of his life to service for America. CSM Merritt fought in World War Two as a paratrooper and […]
Exclusive: Special Operators sound off about SOCOM’s Armed Overwatch Program
Military AffairsClose air support has been a key part of American warfighting for the last 50 years. In Vietnam, close air support was pivotal in the survival and effectiveness of conventional and special operations units. During the invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, close air support for CIA and special operations teams and their […]
The three Navy SEAL astronauts you don’t know
Military AffairsThere have been three Navy SEAL astronauts to this day. Captain William Shepherd, Captain Chris Cassidy, and Lieutenant Johnny Kim. In 2020, NASA’s recruitment call for astronauts attracted more than 12,000 applications, making it the second-largest group of applicants in the agency’s history, with the first one being the previous recruitment call in 2017, which […]
Destroyer of Worlds: The state of the world’s nuclear arsenals
Military AffairsEver since the Enola Gay and Bockscar opened their bomb hatches and annihilated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a nation’s ultimate military power and deterrence capability have been measured in nuclear terms. Today, a nation’s might is often quantified by how large its nuclear arsenals are and how advanced and destructive these weapons systems are. Gone are […]
William Pitsenbarger: The commando who died so that others could live
HistoryEvery military branch, community, or unit takes great pride in its history and the men and women who shaped it. There are few better ways to build esprit de corps than by immersing a freshly arrived troop or candidate in the history of the unit. Some communities and units have more history than they can […]
C-RAM: The Star Wars-looking weapon protecting US troops overseas
TechDrone attacks in U.S. facilities abroad are becoming increasingly frequent, raising questions about anti-drone, anti-aircraft, and anti-missile security and bringing to the fore systems like the C-RAM. It was only last month when the issue of air defense was highlighted by tensions in Israel and Gaza between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Hamas […]
