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HASC Releases Interim Report on Benghazi

Friday, February 14th, 2014

I’ve essentially remained quiet on the events that transpired on Banghazi, Libya on September 11th, 2012. This is based on two issues. First, very soon after the event, I was privy to information that has just recently come to light. Second, I didn’t have all of the information regarding this tragedy and I still don’t. On one hand, I didn’t want to disclose who may or may not have been on the battlespace that night and on the other, there’s nothing that will make you look more like a fool than making declarative statements about situations you don’t have the facts on. However, I now have the House Armed Services Committee report entitled, “Majority Interim Report: Benghazi Investigation Update.” I’d say that’s a good point to start talking, armed with, you know, “facts”. Having said that, two caveats with this report. From the summary, “This report should be considered one component of continuing comprehensive Benghazi-related oversight underway in the U.S. House of Representatives. In keeping with the committee’s jurisdiction, however, this document addresses only the activities and actions of personnel in DOD.” By no means is the info the final word, but it does begin to allow us to peer deeper into what happened from DoD’s perspective.

It was a sad day for America and we lost some great folks. Many want to lay blame, but blame isn’t going to bring those men back. Generally, it isn’t one thing that goes wrong, but a whole chain of events with several issues coalescing into disaster. As far as I can tell, I’m the only guy who wants to take a serious look at what happened, for the sake of making sure it doesn’t happen again. It seems that everyone else talking about this has some agenda.

Since that day, the event has been politicized and I have watched countless armchair generals talk about things they don’t understand; Internet experts fueled by propaganda and spin doctors. I hate to lay it on most of you, but your sister-in-law’s nephew’s best friend who is a Spec-4 truck driver stationed at Fort Polk is not an authoritative source on US force projection. I could spend hours and hours talking about the subject but sufficed to say, when attempting to project force to the location of Benghazi, Libya, the United States is a victim of the tyranny of distance. You’ll see this issue come up over and over in this report. What’s more, while it does happen on a case-by-case basis, QRFs do not sit on strip alert just waiting for a crisis, despite what you might see in the movies. Even if they had, they would have been quite some distance from Benghazi (see ‘tyranny of distance’), as you will see in the report. You’ll read about three different groups dispatched to the region in the wake of the attacks and some of the challenges they faced to get there. Additionally, we don’t commit forces to ‘suicide’ missions and rarely, if ever attempt forced entry without a clear operational picture of the situation. As you will find in the report, this was not the case. DoD did not enjoy a clear operational picture. This hindered the military’s ability to respond.

Despite this, they did take action. Several, in fact.

The first step DOD took upon learning of the attack involved a U.S. drone that was overflying Darnah, a city in northeastern Libya. AFRICOM’s operations officer immediately redirected the unarmed Predator to Benghazi, which was about an hour’s flight time away. Separately, following the meeting in the White House, Secretary Panetta (in consultation with General Ham, General Dempsey, and others) verbally authorized three specific actions. First, two Marine FAST platoons in Rota, Spain were ordered to prepare to deploy; one bound for Benghazi and one destined for Tripoli. Second, a special operations unit assigned to the European Command, known as a Commander’s In-Extremis Force (CIF), which was training in Croatia was ordered to move to a U.S. Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy and await further instructions. Third, a special operations unit in the United States was also dispatched to the region. These orders were issued approximately two to four hours after the initial attack on the Special Mission Compound.

Of particular interest to me is that there is no indication of a cabal within DoD set to destroy America from within or a decision by senior leaders to ‘let Americans die’. Rather, we see the same problems we constantly face; the fog of war and interagency stovepipes. We may have gone a long way to mitigate those issues within the CENTCOM AOR but in the other theaters they remain.

The findings are the most significant issue at hand. While not exhaustive, and omitting certain operational factors such as the units of assignment for those personnel actually on the ground, it is clear about DoD issues at hand that day and during the immediate aftermath. It also indicates which issues are the responsibility of both State and the White House. In fact, it discusses State’s request to reduce the Tripoli-based DoD Security Support Team from 16 to 4. However, please remember that Tripoli is over 600 miles by land from Benghazi (see tyranny of distance). It remains unclear if a larger force would have changed the outcome of the attack.

Findings

I. In assessing military posture in anticipation of the September 11 anniversary, White House officials failed to comprehend or ignored the dramatically deteriorating security situation in Libya and the growing threat to U.S. interests in the region. Official public statements seem to have exaggerated the extent and rigor of the security assessment conducted at the time.

II. U.S. personnel in Benghazi were woefully vulnerable in September 2012 because
a.) the administration did not direct a change in military force posture,
b.) there was no intelligence of a specific “imminent” threat in Libya, and
c.) the Department of State, which has primary responsibility for diplomatic security, favored a reduction of Department of Defense security personnel in Libya before the attack.

III. Defense Department officials believed nearly from the outset of violence in Benghazi that it was a terrorist attack rather than a protest gone awry, and the President subsequently permitted the military to respond with minimal direction.

IV. The U.S. military’s response to the Benghazi attack was severely degraded because of the location and readiness posture of U.S. forces, and because of lack of clarity about how the terrorist action was unfolding. However, given the uncertainty about the prospective length and scope of the attack, military commanders did not take all possible steps to prepare for a more extended operation.

V. There was no “stand down” order issued to U.S. military personnel in Tripoli who sought to join the fight in Benghazi. However, because official reviews after the attack were not sufficiently comprehensive, there was confusion about the roles and responsibilities of these individuals.

VI. The Department of Defense is working to correct many weaknesses revealed by the Benghazi attack, but the global security situation is still deteriorating and military resources continue to decline.

I know, I know, this is Soldier Systems Daily and I rarely comment on operational issues but this has been something I have been following for some time. As the old adage goes, “Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.” It is my assertion that the events in Beghazi are just as much a function of logistics as they are bad, pre-crisis decision making. While Nathan Bedford Forrest (Lt Gen, CSA) was misquoted with “Git thar fustest with the most mostest,” the sentiment is apropos. That is certainly what transpired in this case. The bad guys got there first and were gone before we could project any serious combat power to the area.

Feel free to read the whole thing and then comment. All I ask is this, keep it on point. There are loads of websites out there where inappropriate and off topic comments are the norm. If you feel the need to express yourself that way, please go there.

(Click cover to view report)

Posted in Congress, History | 48 Comments »

The Winkler Knives Story

Monday, February 10th, 2014

We are fortunate enough to be able to share this bio of Master Bladesmith Daniel Winkler. I’ve written about him multiple times and he does awesome work. But it’s his traditional designs that really interest me and how they’ve influenced the modern stuff he does for SOF. Believe me, you’ll get to see plenty of his more primitive/native/early American work in this post. Afterwards, I think you’ll have a better understanding of where he’s coming from. If you can’t tell, Daniel Winkler is a man I admire. Although he’s told me his story in person, it’s always fascinating to hear it again, and, some of it’s pretty darn funny, especially if you know Daniel and Karen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

For those that are familiar with Winkler Knives and those that are not, I thought it might be important to tell a little about where Winkler Knives all got started.

My Name is Daniel Winkler. I was born in 1956 in Boone North Carolina. I have never lived anywhere else.

Gunstock War Club patterned after some features from original 18th and 19th century originals.
I made the Club and the blade and Karen did the decoration and painting

Stage #1 (Hobby/Business)

Back in High School in Boone North Carolina in the late 1970’s I started shooting Black Powder guns to extend my hunting season. I really liked the feel of the more primitive guns so I got more involved with the hobby. I wanted to outfit myself with the historic accessories that were correct with the guns so I started making Shooting Pouches, Powder Horns and Knives. I went to events and Black Powder shooting matches where folks saw the items I had made and were interested so I made a few more and either used them as blanket prizes or to sell to make a little money for gas and food for the events. It was a lot of fun and as I got more involved I made more trips and started to make a little extra money. The knives in this early stage of my career were forged.

This is one of my personal Powder Horns. The Wampum strap was made
by the same maker that did the strap for Daniel Day-Lewis in “Last of the Mohicans”

My first shop was a car wheel I had made into a forge using an old vacuum cleaner as a blower, a group of files and a hand drill. Later I traded for an old hand crank forge and added a small 1” X 48” belt sander to my collection of files and sanding blocks. Using mostly Bone, antler and wood handles I made knives and sold them at Rendezvous across the Eastern US. This was a fun time and I had a full time job in the manufacturing industry as a supervisor and worked in product development. These jobs paid the bills and provided insurance so I could use all the money I made from knives to buy equipment and materials to improve my knife making abilities. I met a few other knife makers at the Black Powder gatherings and they were very encouraging and helpful. I also saw some really nice work on knives and guns and decided if I was going to continue I had to improve both my skills and knowledge of how to do things right.

A wrapped tang small Cowboy Bowie with an Elk bone handle. Forged from 5160.

I made a lot of knives, a few Tomahawks and about 10 Muzzle loading guns, mostly Flint lock. I became a member of the American Mountain Men and the Backwoodsmen. These were both very strict Historical re-enactment groups. I worked on developing my primitive survival skills and made primitive treks into the wilderness both alone and with these groups. It was a lot of fun and quite an eye opening experience and I went hungry and got wet and cold often on these trips. But I learned a lot about survival and what it took to make equipment that would hold up to really hard use.

This is a Primitive Neck Knife. The sheath can be worn on a belt or around the neck.
Quilled wheel decoration by Karen.

It only took one trip to realize that a nice looking knife with a slick round handle did not serve well when chopping wood for a fire or shaving fuzz sticks as it tended to slip during use. I also learned a really hard knife was impossible to sharpen in the field and if your sheath was not secure you might have to spend a weekend with nothing but a patch Knife. For quite a long time I was happy making knives and learning wilderness survival. I paid for my hobby with money I made from making knives and started building a customer following which would prove important in the future.

A Primitive Damascus Belt Knife. The steel is a Braided pattern Damascus.
Another great painted sheath by Karen.

I made a lot of lifelong friends and learned a lot about making knives and life for about 13 years before I went to the next stage. This first stage went on until 1988.

Next, the move to a “FullTime Knife Maker”.

The next stage actually started a couple of years before I went full time as a Knife maker. This was when Winkler Knives really started to take off and the driving force was Karen Shook. I went to work for Karen in the mid 1980’s in product development in the giftware industry. She had been with the company for several years and had knowledge and experience in Marketing and manufacturing processes. As our friendship developed she became interested in my hobby business of knife making. Since each knife I made needed a sheath and I hated making sheaths. I asked her if she would like to make sheaths for me in her spare time. I taught her everything I knew about making knife sheaths which took about 10 minutes. In those days I would put the knives on the table for people to see and only after money was handed over did they get to see the sheath. However when Karen took over making the sheaths we could put them right out with the knives without losing sales.One important encounter we had was when a well-known knife collector took an interest in one of my knives. He asked if there was a sheath to go with it so I reached under the table and handed it to him. It was one of my designs that Karen had reluctantly made. He looked over the sad piece of leather and said that this time he would buy the knife but unless the quality of the sheath matched the quality of the knife he would not be buying any more. This comment was one of the most important learning experiences in Winkler Knives history. We took this to heart and would go to museums in our travels and look at early American and American Indian displays of weapons, tools and clothing. Karen would study the construction and materials and implement a lot of what we saw in the new and improved sheaths.After a short while Karen’s sheaths became as, if not more, sought after than my knives.

I worked for Karen for a while and although I felt I was the best employee a company could have Karen had the opinion I was the worst.

Walrus Ivory and Primitive Damascus with a forged copper overlay.
Fringed sheath with Quilled Wheel and hammered copper feathers.

It seems I had a free spirit and took my hobby business more serious than perhaps the owners of the company we worked for thought was reasonable. Anyway we both left the company in 1988. We had developed a pretty good customer base for Winkler Knives, had learned a lot about how to conduct business from our time in the gift industry and were ready for a change. I went straight into making knives, guns and Hawks full time. Karen did some free-lance marketing for a short time then joined me in Winkler Knives full time making sheaths and taking care of the business end of the operation.

Elk Bone handled Belt Knife. This one went to Germany to a member of an old German Knife family, Nohl.
They still have a Cutlery Store there and some of the family were gun builders.

Our specialty was knives and sheaths with a strong Early American/Native American influence. We attended Knife Shows and juried Craft Shows across the country and continued to grow and enhance our following and sales. During this time we did some projects that were “News Worthy” and got a good bit of magazine coverage. One of the most important was our work with the movie “Last of the Mohicans”. We did pieces that were carried by the principal characters in the film. This was a real eye opening experience and we got to goon location and see how the movie was made- pretty exciting stuff but it makes you realize why movies cost so much to make. From a full size waterfall inside an old warehouse to the spread on the caterer’s table, everything was first rate. From this we got the cover of Blade magazine. To this day we never go to a show that we don’t get asked about our work with “Last of the Mohicans”.

This is a Drum we made to go with one of our Tribute sets.
A section of a hollow log covered with Painted Elk Rawhide and a decorative Drum Stick.

Making one-of-a-kind, one-at-a-time, knives and tomahawks continued on and still does, but on a more limited basis. We have stopped taking orders for the forged pieces and only make a very limited number these days, filling old orders and an occasional piece for sale or as a presentation honoring a fallen or retiring Military person. Our roots are reflected in our current Tactical designs, both in appearance and function.

This is a Powder Horn I made for Ricky Skaggs. It was part of a complete shooting bag set.
Karen and I got to deliver it personally to his Recording Studio. Then he took us to the Grand Old Opry as his guests.

An important segment in the evolution of Winkler Knives was my involvement in Cutting Competitions. For a while I was an active competitor in events put on by the ABS, ICCT and BladeSports International. I learned more about steel selection, blade geometry, heat treating, handle material, and balance in the three years I actively competed than I did in the previous 20+years of knife making. A knife that is not perfect in all aspects will not perform in competitions. While I was never a great cutter I did place 3rd in the last ABS World Championship in Atlanta. I suggest that any knife maker that wants to make true working knives get involved with competitive cutting.It is a tremendous learning experience and proving grounds.

A very large Rifleman’s Knife and matching Tomahawk made from Damascus with the copper overlay.
It is part of the “Tribute to the Sun” display set that Karen and I made.

The next phase of Winkler Knives started as a result of our involvement with the Movie “Last of the Mohicans”. In the early 1990’s a Navy SEAL attending a primitive skills class in New Jersey was asking around as to who made Magua’s Tomahawk in the film. He had been looking for someone to make a compact yet strong Combat/Breaching hatchet. He got in contact with me and after several discussions I adapted a full tang belt axe I was already making into a tool that suited his needs. He took it to his Command and the Team approved the design. Funding was not available for the project so he carried the only prototype with him on missions throughout the first Gulf War. After that conflict he retired from the Navy and went to work as a Game Warden. He kept his axe under the seat of his car during his time with the State of North Carolina. Then 9-11 happened. This former SEAL re-enlisted but this time with Army Special Operations. He was assigned to a Tier 1 Team and still carried his axe. Other members of his Team saw his axe and how effective it could be in the field. They contacted me about making more.

One of the few non-primitive pieces I have made.

I hand forged and finished about 18 over the next year or so. I honored the 10 year old price I originally quoted for the axe as a way of helping these men acquire what they needed to best do their job. Within the Special Operations community there are times when a member from one Team will deploy with another SOF Team. This happened and a SEAL from another Team deployed with the Army Team that were carrying my axes. The SEAL was given one of the axes which he took back to his Team after his deployment.It happened to be the same Team the now Army Operator had been on when he was a SEAL back in the 90’s. The SEAL Team again approved the axe design for their use but this time had some money to outfit the Squadron. The funds, however,were limited and it was going to take a long time to outfit the men. (This is a whole new story that I will get into in a separate thread.) Regardless we were now faced with an order for a lot more axes than we could make by forging and grinding one at a time. Concurrently, we began design work on a new standard issue Belt Knife for the Navy Team. Business was about to change drastically!

A full Tribute set that currently resides in a collection in Florida.

Next the beginning of “Winkler Knives II”.

Now we were faced with making much larger orders than we had done in the past. We still wanted to use the years of knowledge and success we had making forged working knives and axes. These new products were knives and axes with some similar design features and a lot of totally new stuff. Just a lot more at one time. Now we had to figure out how to do it. First we thought we could just go to an established knife manufacturer and give them our specs and they would make the knives like I wanted them made. You know, those guy’s all had their own ideas of how they wanted to make our designs, regardless of how I specified they needed to be done. It was like they thought they knew what they were doing, go figure! Well that didn’t work so on to plan “B”. Now we tried to farm out specific operations to contractors. This showed promise but when you are working on other people schedules with numbers that are considered kind of low, your place in line seems to get longer and longer despite any deadlines we needed to reach to get product out before a deployment date. This wasn’t going really well so when I got the chance to buy a couple of old Nicholas grinding machines I got them. Now we were in the production business but unfortunately these machines that were made in the 1960’s did not come with an instruction manual. After a lot of trial and a lot of error we finally got them “kind of” figured out. (This is a continual leaning process.) We were ableto have blanks water jet cut by a contractor then make tooling for the Nicholas grinders and remove about 80 percent of the material on blade bevels and tapered tangs. From here all the blanks are hand ground to finished dimensions using standard machines from KMG, Bader, Weurtz and Wilmont grinders. We also set up Milling machines, Drum sanders, Drill presses, Sand Blaster, a Co2Laser, assorted other machines and a Salt Pot Heat Treating set up. We hired some help and off we went into the world of Limited Production Knife and Axe production. We spend a lot of time and effort training the guy’s to do a variety of jobs in the shop so they can move from station to station and keep the product carts moving without much backup in one area. Most of our guy’s will specialize in one area but are capable of moving around the shop. Winkler Knives went from Karen and me to 10 people in less than 3 years. We have been very fortunate to have strong business growth during the slowest economy I can remember.

As word of mouth passed through the Special Operations community we started getting quite a following with the SOF Teams. We started getting orders for DOD contracts, Unit purchases and sales to individuals. Besides the Military community we have set up several dealers as well as accepting orders from individuals. The products we have offered in the Winkler Knives II line are either the same as we developed for the Military or variations from these tested designs. Besides the knives and axes the sheaths and axe carriers had to go through extensive design changes to get them to work with the equipment kits the men were wearing. Access, secure carry and comfort are all top considerations and if one of these areas is wrong you might as well figure on the tool being left at camp instead of being carried on missions. No matter how great you think your knife or axe is if the front line guy’s don’t wear it you are just making expensive wall and shelf decor. We now have a lot of different products with a lot of handle and finish options.

For a long time folks in the knife community have speculated on whose knives and axes are carried in the field by our Military. There have been many pictures and first hand reports about the same topics. There has been a lot of stuff written and discussions about what the equipment Tier 1 Teams carry and use, including cutlery. There are many fine makers out there and so many want the recognition afforded by association with those that protect our American way of life. There have been countless makers that have sold and/or given equipment to these men and women and they should all be given credit for what they do. However there are also a lot of bad guy’s in this country as has been proven in recent tragic events. Getting too specific in “who” and “what”can be a really bad idea when there is a chance of compromising the very people that we should be protecting. On our web site and advertising you won’t see any specifics. Only some general reference to our history and influence from the professionals we have the opportunity to work with.

Thanks for reading and if there are any questions I’ll do what I can to answer.

Daniel Winkler
www.winklerknives.com

Tags: Daniel Winkler, Winkler Knives II
Posted in Design, History, Industry, Knives | 8 Comments »

Objective Force Warrior? What’s That?

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

I just realized that many of my readers have no idea what Objective Force Warrior or its follow-on, Future Force Warrior are all about and I’m afraid some may think it’s something new. Objective Force Warrior was one of many Soldier Modernization Programs going back to Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble in the early 90s to 21st Century Land Warrior to simply Land Warrior and then OFW in the early 00s. You could go on for days talking about what they wanted it to do. If you want to really delve into it, download a vision document below.

Click to view .pdf

For our purposes, the system was intended to integrate with the conceptual Objective Force that would have provided the Army with a new family of ground and air vehicles under Future Combat System. Like FCS, it wasn’t fielded.

What’s important to you is that it’s where Crye Associates made their bones and many staples of modern Soldier Systems spun out from that program. Working in conjunction with other firms such as Juggernaut Defense and Artisent (which spun off Ops-Core) as well as large contract system integrators, Crye was responsible for the clothing, load bearing and armor components of this Soldier Digitization effort.

As with most of these programs, lots of money is poured into the software and comms portion and relatively little effort and funding is put towed the clothing and individual equipment components. With many of these programs, actual development of the system’s digital operating environment becomes virtual and during program reviews and Congressional dog and pony shows, Crye’s efforts became the face of the program. They produced prototypes that a Soldier could wear and that looked unlike anything else out there. I’d say that they kept that program moving for as long as it did. The clothing and armor developed by Crye was something you could actually see and lay your hands on, Eventually, after a name change to Future Force Warrior and facing actual combat in multiple theaters, the Army let the project drift away with the C4I component transitioning over time to Nett Warrior.

Industrial Design house Crye Associates founded Crye Precision based on the success of their work on FFW and after commercialization, caught the eye of the Special Operations community. The rest you should know.

Ultimately, four critical Soldier Systems technologies find their roots in FFW and with Crye:

MultiCam Camouflage Pattern – It began life as Scorpion for use with FFW but Crye Precision refined the pattern for commercial use and later provided modified variants of the pattern for both the UK (Multi Terrain Pattern) and Australia (Australian MultiCam Pattern). In 2009, the US Army selected MultiCam for use in Afghanistan as the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP). In 2010, Crye Precision developed Woodland and Arid patterns for the US Army’s Camouflage Improvement Effort. They were selected as finalists along with three other companies. In late 2013, Crye Precision introduced four new patterns to complement the decade old Transitional pattern: Alpine, Arid, Black and Tropical.

Combat Uniforms – The concept of producing a shirt that combines a moisture wicking torso with heavy duty sleeves for wear with armor systems was unheard of prior to OFW. The same goes for garments with integrated knee and elbow protection. Now, these concepts are accepted as state of the art.

Crye Armor Chassis – Crye Precision’s armor chassis took an entirely fresh approach to body armor, combining special, ergonomically shaped armor plates in such a way that allowed movement. It has been adopted for use by niche forces and up has influenced armor design.

Close Fitting Modular Combat Helmets – While the material science wasn’t quite there yet when the OFW/FFW helmet demonstrators were built, several companies produced enhanced combat helmets over the years including Crye Precision’s AirFrame that fits very close to the contour of the head.

ID Magazine did a great article on Crye’s participation in the project which we offer here for historical purposes.

(Click image to view the article.)

Tags: Crye Precision, FFW, OFW
Posted in Design, History | 31 Comments »

Dale Comstock – “American Badass”

Monday, January 6th, 2014

This is a trailer for Former Delta Force Operator Dale Comstock‘s book, “American Badass: The true story of a modern day Spartan“. Although I’ve never met Comstock, we have several mutual friends who speak very highly of him.

I’ve read the book and purchased it a couple of months ago. It’s a quick read and I really enjoyed it. I will tell you a couple of things up front. It is from a small publisher and we are seeing lots of these from former military personnel hitting the shelves. Unfortunately, that means I ran across some typos. It also means that it’s not what I would consider a traditional biography. It’s really more of a collection of short chapters describing various events in his life without any consistent arc structure linking them together. One chapter doesn’t necessarily segue to the next and at times they kind of jump around. Instead, there are what I consider several sections that are chained by periods in Comstock’s life. But, this structure also allow you to pick the book up and knock out a few chapters at a whack. You can easily put it down and come back to it without losing your place.

While the book may feature an unconventional structure, I liked it and I highly suggest you pick up a copy. It’s fascinating and can be quite motivating. For example, the info on his combat experience during Urgent Fury as well as the Modelo Prison raid is great and I enjoyed reading it. And in the OTC section Comstock discusses a visualization technique he discovered as a kid which we learn about in an earlier chapter. There’s also a section I can relate to having been a single father on active duty. Finally, I’d like to thank him for teaching me that the term “butt-pirate” is hyphenated.

“American Baddass” is a great read that will take you into the life of a guy you may have seen on TV or mentioned on FaceBook. But I don’t think the tale of Dale Comstock is anywhere near its final chapter and I don’t think he shared everything about his life that he should have. Perhaps one day, he’ll publish a sequel. When he does, I can assure you, I’ll read it.

Tags: Dale Comstock
Posted in History, Media | 7 Comments »

Silent Night

Wednesday, December 25th, 2013

This is a copy of the Christmas card that “Bright Light” author Stephen Perry sent from Nha Trang to his family the week before Christmas 1967. It definitely takes my thoughts to the thousands of men and women defending the great land and her allies who won’t be home this Christmas. America’s thoughts and prayers are with them.

Merry Christmas!

Posted in History, Morale | 2 Comments »

Ain’t Inflation A Mother?

Thursday, December 12th, 2013

Check out this photo (with associated prices) of Golden Age USMC kit.

Posted in History | 15 Comments »

Hodge Defense Educates Us On The Texas Revolution

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

Hodge Defense Systems offered a cool post on their Facebook page. Their marketing usually gives me a chuckle but this one caught my full attention. I’m a big fan of history. We’ve all heard about The Alamo but few outside of Texas know of the Battle of Gonzales.

Hodge Defense Random History Moment: The Siege of Béxar was first major campaign of the Texas Revolution, in which a volunteer Texan army defeated Mexican forces at San Antonio de Béxar (now known as “San Antonio, TX, God Bless The USA”). Texians had become pretty down on the Mexican government as General Santa Anna’s became lamely dictatorial. In early October, Texas settlers gathered in Gonzales to stop Mexican troops from taking their arms (a small cannon). The resulting skirmish kicked off the Texas Revolution. Men continued to assemble in Gonzales and soon established the Texian Army.

Santa Anna then sent his brother-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, (which is, admittedly, a pretty kick-butt name) to Béxar with reinforcements. The Texians initiated a siege of the city, a battle ensued, long-story-short, Cos surrendered after retreating to and holing up at the Alamo somewhere in the wee hours of 2 a.m. on December 10, 1835.

So, we’ve got some sort of a HDSI/Bill & Ted “This Day In History” vibe going on here. Relevancy? Nothing really, ‘cept that you shouldn’t ever give up civilian small arms to the government, and that Hodge Defense is based in San Antonio, Texas – so we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for these little historical-stars all aligning.

Tags: Hodge Defense Systems
Posted in History | 6 Comments »

Check Out These Old School Scout Uniforms

Sunday, December 8th, 2013

Can you imagine if Boy Scout uniforms looked like that now?

Charles Evans Hughes with Scouts, probably during the time he was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He ran for president in 1916 and later was appointed Chief Justice of the Court.

(Source: Men of Schiff)

Tags: BSA
Posted in History | 6 Comments »