Author: Michael

great nations can just do things

If you didn’t get a chance to listen to Sunday’s Midrats Podcast with Mark and me, give it a listen to hear a broader discussion with some additional detail thrown in. Today is going to be a bit different.
We are still just ~72-hours from the events, so there is an order of magnitude more of what we don’t know than we do, but some items are breaking out from the fog.
On yesterday’s podcast, I briefly mentioned a framework for discussion that I think is helpful to flesh out here—an addendum to my comments on the podcast, so to speak.

Commentary from a bystander relates that EW aircraft diverted the seeker head on the ManPad missile. In reality, EW aircraft don’t defend against ManPad seeker heads. The missile was likely diverted by EW infrared devices on the aircraft itself.
A surface-to-air missile is launched from a 9K338 Igla-S man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) against a helicopter of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers) during the attacks on the Fuerte Tiuna military complex, south of Caracas, Venezuela, during the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Few would argue that the special operations raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was a major tactical success, but in the aftermath of the “Forever Wars” of the 21st Century, veterans are left wondering if the operation marks a clean end to the Maduro regime, or if it is the start of another prolonged conflict.
Task & Purpose reached out to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars to gauge their reactions to the operation President Donald Trump announced on Jan. 3.
They included former U.S.

As a member of the Pentagon Press Corps, we have raised this issue with USAF management and look forward to their response on measures taken to address this serious threat.
If I was a domestic airbase commander, or overseas theater commander, this would give me nightmares — an 18-wheeler pulls up a click from an airbase, the top opens, and scores of armed drones fly out, targeting your aircraft lined up on the ramp. Think billions in American force projection capability destroyed in a few minutes…at home, or abroad…irreplaceable.

Early in the morning of January 3rd, 2025, Vene

Lithuania is one of the three Baltic states now

On Oct. 3, 1993, Army Rangers, crew members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Delta Force operators, and Navy SEALs, along with Air Force pararescuemen and combat controllers, collectively known as “Task Force Ranger,” engaged Somali militia fighters in the Battle of Mogadishu. It was part of Operation Gothic Serpent, the effort to capture warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in response to his attacks on U.N. peacekeepers during the Somali Civil War.

Posted Zero Hedge
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that he will issue a letter of censure to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) over the senator’s participation in a video released in November urging U.S. troops to resist “unlawful orders” made by the president. Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan, and Jason Crow, all veterans of the military and intelligence community, also participated in the video.
“We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community,” Sen.

The crew of HMS Oardacious enjoy the sunset as

These five American generals and admirals did things that played with the thin line between cunning and crazy, but they were awesome at their jobs, so most everyone looked the other way.
1. An admiral dressed up in a ninja suit to test security.
(U.S. Navy)
Vice Adm. John D. Bulkeley was an American hero; let’s get that straight right out of the gate. He fought to attend Annapolis and graduated in 1933, but was passed over for a Naval commission due to budget constraints. So he joined the Army Air Corps for a while until the Navy was allowed to commission additional officers.