Your Responsibility to be Fit

...Sandy Hook edition from PT365:

I do know that if I was in that school that day, and if I didn’t have my own CCW on hand, I would have put every second of physical training that I’ve ever done in my life, into a single life or death focus to get my hands on the shooter. Now I’m not stupid, I’ve see what a 5.56 round can do to a human body. I know that one hit in a vital area, and it wouldn’t matter what level of physical condition I’m in, it’s over for me and anyone else for that matter. However, I like to think that just maybe, because I’m in good condition that I could have weathered it, at least to let me survive till I could do something. Could there ever be a better reason to keep yourself in top condition? To maybe save the life of a innocent child? I think not.

MGunz - Core Strength

Muzzle Devices 101

Military Times

I promise you’d be shocked to learn about all the technology that goes into designing and producing a rifle barrel. If you are a student of the gun, then you’re familiar with the advances in barrel material, coatings, rifling profile, twist rates that have been made to produce accurate and durable rifle barrels.

TAOM: Flashlights

How to Use a Flashlight in a Tactical Situation:

It’s late Friday night and you’re walking to your car after a fun evening with your friends downtown. As you turn the corner down an unlit side street, you see a shadow dart across the wall and hear footsteps. The hairs on your neck stand straight up. You quicken your pace, but the other footsteps speed up as well. You look around trying to make out shapes in the dark, when out of nowhere a fist connects with your cheekbone. The sucker punch takes you to the ground and you can feel your wallet being taken from your back pocket.
Before you have time to react, your assailant has disappeared back into the cover of darkness.
You really could have used a flashlight.

Gun Control in NYC

I thought this was good.

David Petzal: NY Gun Control: The Mad Hatter Would Understand

One of the most frequent bleats I hear from people who don’t like guns and the people who own them is: “How can you object to any kind of reasonable controls? Why do you fight every law tooth and nail even if it makes sense?” 

Because when you talk about most controls placed on anything by government at any level, “sense” and “reasonable” die agonizing deaths somewhere between the proposal of a law and its actual enforcement. It seemed reasonable after 9/11 to have a more or less efficient group of people keeping terrorists off airplanes. What we got instead was the TSA yanking adult diapers off granny ladies and copping feels from 6-year-olds. 

Finally, a realistic notion of body armor--from the top

How does this guy move or fight back?

The deputy chief researcher from the Navy recently voiced his opinion on the extreme state of armor:

"A real warrior would like to go to combat with a weapon, a loin cloth and a light coat of oil.”

Here's the rest from Gear Scout:

Soldier's Poem

We only want to take our wounds away 

To some shy village where the tumult ends, 

And drowsing in the sunshine many a day, 

Forget our aches, forget that we had friends.

By a lieutenant in WWI

Wilderness Tracking

Greenside Tracking and Target Science

Tracking school

Damon Hart-Davis

A Bloodhound has 4 billion olfactory receptor cells which help make it very good at picking up and tracking a scent. We humans have about 5 million, which is why we are no good at picking up and tracking a scent.

ITS Tactical has an overview of tracking skills for those of you who don't have a bloodhound handy.

Editor's note: If there are some things that are impossible to learn to do by reading about them, wilderness tracking has got to be one of them. You need to get outside and do it if you want to learn.

Small Arms Collimator

tnvc.com/

This is another they-took-my-idea-and-commercialized-it-and-will-make-a-lot-of-money (TTMICWMLM) moment. A device to confirm your zero without live rounds or a range!

The TNVC Small Arms Collimator

I wish I had one in 2004--check that--I wish I had one everyday before now.

Small Unit Firefights

From TBD: "Small unit firefights in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: Results of a DARPA review"

We own the night

Small Wars Journal paper: "The Role of Night Direct Action Missions in the Afghan Counterinsurgency Campaign, 2008-2011"

Book: inside JSOC

wikipedia.org

Wired's Danger Room has a post from the author of a new ebook about JSOC: The Command

Netherlands Defence Chief Remarks

This video is worth the 18 minutes. Very well put together argument. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHX5lAslnTc

SOF's Secret Weapon: F3EAD

The Army has known for a while now that "regular" units need to learn SOF-like skills in order to be successful at twenty-first century warfare. Advanced targeting will continue to be a major topic for cross-training. Here is a primer from SWJ.

War Story: Iraq, Jan 2007

SOC.mil

When I was in Iraq in 2005, Gina Cavallaro and her photographer spent about a week with my unit. She recently co-wrote a book about some of her stories from her embeds. And now this pretty good war story:

The fighting that erupted Jan. 28, 2007, turned out to be some of the fiercest of the Iraq war. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers killed 373 enemy fighters, and more than 400 surrendered. The U.S. Army awarded more than 100 combat decorations for bravery that day, including at least eight Silver Stars and a Distinguished Flying Cross.

No one knew about it. 

Finding a vein in the dark

There are many stories about skilled medics who were able to find a vein and insert a catheter for an IV amid outrageous circumstances--darkness, dirt, grime, wind, rain, bumpy rides, and interference for example. Apparently, thanks to BattleView soon veins will glow in the dark through NVGs. I suspect there will be many more amazing stories.

A Narco-Criminal-insurgency primer

Small Wars Journal has been covering this topic for a while and here is a good roll-up. 
This post is focused on one document that I found particularly useful, Criminal Insurgencies in Mexico and the Americas, by Dr. Robert J. Bunker. It is a report to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere about the current threat in the Americas. It is a useful primer for understanding the current issues and arguments associated with narco-organizations.


The author summarizes the threat categories and the government policies to counter them. His central argument is that the countering efforts are not coordinated and the strategic situation has worsened over the last 30 years. In response, he recommends the Merida Initiative be replaced by a "more encompassing Western Hemispheric Strategy".

I don't agree with his claim that drug cartels and narco-gangs are the "#1 strategic threat to the United States", but next to global malign-Iranian influence, I do think they will pose the most  significant asymmetric problem for US forces in the future. At a minimum AWG should stay connected to the community of interest associated with this threat and maintain currency.


If the US military is asked to play a larger role in the countering effort (probable considering the expansion of the problem set, the militarization of the criminal organizations, the proximity to the homeland, and the political implications) AWG will likely be asked to support.

New Trigger

An interesting development in Glock accessories. If this new trigger catches on, it will make the Wishlist.

Wanted: new gear

It seems there is a new addition to the tactical gear industry every couple of seconds. I wonder how close the market is to being over saturated. All the competition makes for some great products and so it is a great time to be a consumer of such goods. Here are a few companies and items I'm keeping an eye on:

Mega Admin pouch  Compact dump pouch  Hill People Gear  Mayflower 24 hr pack  Guide Glove

 P.S. items are selected only if they have everyday or recreational uses in addition to their tactical purpose

The future of body armor?

The new S&S Precision Plate Frame. Will this prove to be the standard?