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84 years ago

Back in 2007, I did a Battle of Midway FbF that featured one of my favorite aircraft, the Brewster Buffalo. In the post, I focused on then 2LT William “Bill” Brooks, USMCR.
In the mid-60’s Mr. Brooks helped found Bellevue University, among other things. Back in 2010, I was notified by the President of Bellevue University that Mr. Brooks passed away. In his honor, I would like to repost that FbF from 2007 and 2010.
You could spend a lifetime on Battle of Midway posts – that is what I like about it.

The Army wants you…to leave nicotine pouches behind when traveling through France. Seriously, the Army says don’t take Zyn or any other brand with you inside French borders.
On Friday, the 21st Theater Sustainment Command and Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz issued a formal travel advisory, calling on soldiers to not bring any kind of nicotine pouches into or through France, after the country criminalized them.
“France has criminalized the possession, importation, and use of non-medically approved nicotine pouches (such as Zyn and Velo),” the joint message from the command garrison said.

Jason Hanson, HansonWriter
Pressure and a Permanent Riddle

The post The Greatest Generation: 82 Years Ago And The Longest Day appeared first on Armed Forces Press.

Before World War II, Kathleen McCarthy Summersby (Kay for short) was an Irish fashion model. Once the Germans started dropping bombs on Britain, she stepped up and showed her grit, driving an ambulance during the Blitz to pick up dead bodies and deliver them to the morgue. Later, she became Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s right hand man, helping to make D-Day a success. 
Also Read: ‘Pressure’ is a D-Day film unlike any other before it
She was 33 years old and a civilian volunteer with the British Motor Transport Corps when she was assigned to be Eisenhower’s driver in London.

Ankara, Turkey – After years of rumors, the state-controlled Chinese Central Television (CCTV) broadcaster has confirmed reports that the Chengdu J-10CE fighter aircraft operated by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) won a series of victories in simulated air-to-air engagements against the Qatar Emiri Air Force. The Qataris were operating their export versions of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in these exercises.

These combat drills, now being revealed, reportedly took place in January 2024 and resulted in a 9-0 score for the Chinese-made single-engine jet.

The Department of Defense is drastically reducing the number of religious faiths and belief systems it recognizes in its personnel records, from 211 to just 31. 
The military’s revised list of religious affiliation codes removed 180 previously accepted ones, according to a May 20 memo signed by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata. The codes are used to identify troops’ faith and help plan religious support services for them. The memo notes that the changes will not impact what religion is marked on troops’ dog tags.

Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg’s story of a group of World War II soldiers venturing behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France to rescue a single soldier, has been named to various lists of the best war movies ever produced.

Hollywood has been churning out movies about World War II since the war was still underway in the 1940s, and it hasn’t really stopped since. Made near the end of the 20th century, Private Ryan was one of the best of them.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses American paratroopers prior to D-Day. “Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the Day.

Ankara, Turkey – The London Financial Times reports that the UK Treasury is preparing to seize control of spending on the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) from the Ministry of Defense (MoD). The aircraft, which is supposed to be a 6th-generation fighter jet, is projected to cost in the billions of pounds Sterling, which is what prompts the Treasury’s move to take over the financial reins of the effort “before it is too late,” said one long-time UK defense analyst who spoke to National Security Journal.

The GCAP Fighter Problem: All About the Money 

GCAP 6th Generation Fighter.

Last July, I spent two days at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force outside Dayton, Ohio, walking among the aircraft that represent the roads American airpower chose not to take. I literally took almost 4,000 pictures, yes, I am serious. I stood close to the Boeing X-32, the Northrop YF-23, and the strange little YF-118G Bird of Prey — you can get right up next to most of these machines, even if you can’t quite stand beneath all of them — and the photographs I shot that day run throughout this piece.