Angry Staff Officer

I love hims

Or any theory whatsoever

NATO brought an unparalleled level of European peace, not marred by the usual territorial wars of the preceding 400 years which caused massive death, destruction, and carnage across the world but sure, let’s throw it all away to make a political point, why not

This is why I drink

lol yes when you tell Europe to rearm, this is what happens, you absolute muppets

Can’t wait for the hand wringing that happens when they rediscover stupid nationalistic tendencies and get another arms race going followed by a fucking massive war

Which was all preventable

Bluesky Wrapped and it's how many times your own joke was explained to you

One of my faves

Another from that era

“Amish give up: ‘this is bullshit,’ elders say”

Peter Lang Verlag - Pilgrimages to the Western Front of World War I The book introduces a multidisciplinary exploration of battlefield pilgrimages and situates these pilgrimages within the broader field of pilgrimage ...

A book which I recently contributed to was just released, and you can order it with 30% off using code PWF30. The chapters here deal with visiting battlefields of #WWI. Mine is on Jewish veterans of the French Army in the interwar years, be sure to check it out!

www.peterlang.com/document/144...

There are some wild field grade papers in DTIC written in the late ‘70s that show a real disconnect between ASLs and junior field grades in that era

For more on this, please see the excellent 3 volumes from the Army Center of Military History on “The Role of Federal Forces in Domestic Disorders” and keep an eye out for a forthcoming book on the topic from Army University Press 👀

After Kent State, the Army once again revised its field manuals - putting the rifle and bayonet into the “extreme force options” and fielding more less than lethal equipment

Until 1968, the rifle and bayonet were the staple for US troops dealing with civil unrest - the Civil Rights era changed that

CS canisters replaced 5.56mm rifle rounds or the .50 cal MG rounds tank crews sprayed in Detroit in ‘67. ARNG units trained annually and were certified for riot control

People see Kent State as an example of NG indiscipline. In a sad irony, those troops were properly trained-but still armed

The long hot summers of Civil Rights unrest in ‘66-‘67 brought massive changes - states were provided non lethal riot gear, NG units underwent training, DOD issued new field manuals for dealing with “civil disturbances” - so in DC in ‘68, despite 9k troops, 500 rounds were fired. Progress.

A lot of people expressing shock that bayonets were being used for crowd control in 1966

A little background

Until the late ‘60s, soldiers were not equipped or trained for riot duty. They used weapons of war for policing

In Detroit alone in ‘67, troops fired 156,000 rounds of ammunition

Amazingly, cops killed more people in that era than the Regulars or National Guard

Like, a lot more people

For reference, the usual response to civil unrest in 1966 was firing into random buildings, shooting streetlights out, etc. Detroit had something like 55,000 rounds fired.

We have made progress in some things

“Guardsman killed at weekend drill” - 1966 news story about a NG soldier killed by an accidental bayonet thrust during riot control training

“Hey, why do we do risk analysis for home station unit training?”

Exhibit A:

And here I was, just starting to forget that whole sordid affair…

The Soldier in the Illiberal State is a Professional Dead End The American political system today is indeed in crisis. Government function is in doubt, the administration has politicized and weaponized a previously

Thank you, @carriealee.bsky.social

Jesus

I am sorta kinda. That’s a very cool letter

Maaaaaaybe

NOT NOW, I MEANT SOMEDAY

You sure you don’t want the far less dangerous but far more drama-filled account of James Garfield on the Fitz John Porter court martial board?

I KNOW BUT STILL

I didn’t know you were from the northeast

Maybe don’t name a thing for a sword that breaks, I dunno

That would be Massachusetts thanksgiving, sorry

Vibe is an officer who firmly believes that they’re “one of the joes”

Far east

I don’t wanna make anyone jealous but

It’s lightly snowing here in Ohio and the smell of woodsmoke on the crisp breeze is causing something heartening in my midwestern soul to unlock