The Citadel slide by ZEV Technologies is the latest addition to its popular line of Glock aftermarket slides. Machined from 17-4 stainless steel billet, the Citadel is offered in Black DLC or Titanium Gray and comes pre-cut for a Trijicon RMR. Available in Gen 3, 4 and 5 for the Glock 17 and 19 models.
Unique features include angled serrations located at the front and rear of the slide to provide a positive grip by naturally moving your hand downward, whether gripping from the front or the back while manipulating the slide, performing press checks or during malfunction clearing drills.
The top of the slide is finished with micro-channels to reduce glare while aiming down the sights. The Citadel is windowless, making it perfect for duty or conceal carry.
ZEV Citadel Slide features:
• Machined from 17-4 Stainless steel billet
• Lowered ejection port to aid in ejection of brass
• Match grade, precision milled tolerances that are tighter than factory
• Improved accuracy and grouping performance upon installation
• DLC or PVD coatings offered have a Rockwell hardness rating above that of factory coatings
• RMR adapter plate included
ZEV PRO Barrel
ZEV Technologies PRO Barrels offer a smooth exterior and a streamlined hood design that incorporates the ZEV logo slashes and caliber marking. Offered in Black DLC or Burnt Bronze, threaded and non-threaded for Glock 17 (Gen 1-4) and Glock 19 (Gen 1-5) models. The PRO barrel line features extremely tight tolerances and are manufactured with pre-hardened chromium stainless steel (416R) that was originally designed for use in Match Grade rifle barrels. This material provides high tensile strength and toughness to withstand typical chamber pressures while still being highly corrosion resistant.
ZEV PRO barrel bores are some of the most precise in the industry. Every barrel is double honed (rough and finish) until a minimum surface finish of 16 RA is reached. During this process the barrels are held to a final dimension of +/- 0.003″ for consistency and accuracy.
The barrels are cut rifled and 100% inspected for groove dimensions and broach finish. Available standard and threaded with ½ x 28 suppressor threading.
ZEV PRO Barrel specs:
• 416R Rifle Barrel Quality Stainless Steel
• Match grade drop in barrel
• Final dimension of +/- 0.003? for consistency and accuracy
This interesting one came from a reader. He calls it his “Retro Postmodern Franken “ARRR” Pistol,” further describing it as “Incorporating modern functionality with kitschy classic accoutrements selectively supercharged.”
Build details:
Spikes Tactical Lower Registered as Pistol
Noveske Short Throw Trigger
KNS Anti-Rotation Pins
Geissele SSA Trigger
Norgon Ambi-Mag Catch
MAGPUL K2 Grip
MAGPUL Enhanced Trigger Guard
MAGPUL ASAP End Plate
SB Tactical SBA3 PIstol Brace
USGI Standard Capacity Magazine with MAGPUL Anti-Tilt Follower & Ranger Floor Plate.
FORT SILL, Okla. — With the growing threat of cyberattacks, the U.S. Army Field Artillery School has placed a renewed emphasis on learning manual methods of fire direction and gunnery.
“Bringing back the charts is a big deal,” said Staff Sgt. Chad Payne, an instructor for the 13J fire control specialist course. “If you don’t understand the chart, you won’t actually understand what the automated system is doing for you.”
About a decade ago, the school began reducing its emphasis on teaching manual methods, said Col. Samuel Saine, assistant commandant. That’s because improvements to the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System enabled AFATADS to be used effectively in all situations, he said, and it dramatically sped up the firing process.
Then electronic warfare in Crimea and Ukraine shut systems down there, and at the same time, cyberattacks began disabling automation systems at civilian firms. These attacks “woke some people up,” Saine said.
Over the past year, the Field Artillery School commandant has made it a priority to reinsert manual or degraded operations back into the program of instruction for all courses, Saine said.
BASIC TO BRIGADE COMMAND
The renewed emphasis is not only in advanced individual training for new Soldiers, he said, but also in all of the officer courses from basic up to the pre-command course for colonels.
Now students begin AIT using maps to plot and they learn the math behind firing solutions.
“They’ll do manual operations until we know they fully understand the basics,” Payne said, explaining only then do students move on to the automated system.
This method provides students with a better appreciation of the concepts, he said, enabling them to “hit the ground running” at their first units.
They are also better prepared when electronic warfare takes the AFATADS system offline, he said, and degraded operations are now part of the scenario during AIT field exercises.
When systems go down, Soldiers are now trained on how to transition between the automated and manual methods, confirmed Pvt. Cynthia Antaya, a 13J student at the school.
EW can affect communications, automated systems and access to GPS. So 13J Soldiers break out their charts, pencils, plotting pins and protractors for degraded operations.
“It’s going to be important to know your charts and darts and how to go manual and still be able to continue on with your job, even when everything’s down,” Antaya said.
CANNON CREWS
It’s essential that artillery sections “never sway from our No. 1 task,” Saine emphasized, “and that No. 1 task is to provide uninterrupted fires to the maneuver elements of our Army — the infantry and armor.”
Manual or degraded operations for firing howitzers are actually a 20-level task for the gunner and primarily only 10-level tasks are taught at AIT, said Staff Sgt. Rodrick Stone, an instructor for the 13B cannon crewmember course.
Some instructors, however, still demonstrate manual sighting for the students, Stone said.
“I believe it’s very important that they learn both ways, because in the event that the digital goes down, you have to have a failsafe — a backup plan,” he said.
The Field Artillery School has helped work degraded operations into the program of instruction for the Advanced Leadership Course, Saine said. Since howitzer gunners are by doctrine sergeants, learning how to manually sight howitzers is emphasized in ALC, he said.
With degraded operations, the gunner switches to a panoramic telescopic sight, Stone said. Aiming poles and firing stakes are used. “We already have an additional primary aiming reference that’s set up; he instantly sights in off of that,” Stone said.
Then the traverse hand wheel is spun manually to raise or lower elevation of the howitzer tube, he explained.
“When I was coming in, degraded operations was the only thing that was going on,” Stone said. “There was no digital systems at the time.”
Now the threat of cyber warfare once again makes degraded operations of paramount importance, he said.
“We have more capacity and capability than they do,” Saine said of the enemy, “so they’re going to try to find creative ways to degrade and deny some of our systems.”
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
The emphasis on degraded operations is not only happening in the schoolhouse, it’s in the field as well, Saine said. Doctrine has been updated and so have performance standards.
Training Circular 3-09.8 for fire support was recently updated with increased performance standards for manual gunnery and degraded operations.
The chief of field artillery emphasizes degraded operations at fires conferences and at quarterly meetings with division artillery commanders, Saine said.
“It’s not just a Fort Sill thing,” Saine said. “He believes very strongly it needs to be informed by the operational force.”
Preparing for EW is not only practical, he said, but it also creates a more well-rounded force.
“What we found along the way is that we actually were increasing the proficiency of our Soldiers and our leaders,” Saine said, “because it helped them understand to a higher degree how everything worked together.”
As this week marks the 50th anniversary of the first man on the moon. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about how the UDT/SEALS teams have contributed to this effort. The Navy, as a whole, had a large part in the space race. From using Navy aviators as astronauts. The first American in space, Alan Shepard, was a Navy officer. The USS Lake Champlain was the ship that plucked him out of the water and brought him home. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, was a naval aviator during the Korean War. When NASA Langley invented things to test how far they could push the new astronauts, they would test them out on team guys. From pilots to Frogmen to researchers and engineers, the Navy was heavily involved in the space program.
There have also been SEALS that have gone on to the space program. Capt. William Shepherd, Capt. Christopher Cassidy and LT Jonny Kim. LT Kim entered the Navy as an enlisted guy right out of high school, went to BUD/S then SEALS team 3 later became an “O” then NASA. I want to mention one other person that was at his last command before he was going to astronaut training. CDR Pete Oswald was the C.O. of Unit 4 in Puerto Rico. He died in a training accident in EL Salvador in 2002. There is no dough in my mind that he would have been a great astronaut.
Here are a couple of articles about the SEALS in the space program.
Girls With Guns is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, offering affordable, quality hunting gear for anything that Mother Nature may throw at you.
Apricity means the warmth of the sun in winter; that feeling of the sun shining on your face no matter how cold it is in the woods, and we think that’s a pretty fitting description for how the Apricity collection makes us feel. Not only is Apricity our most affordable hunting collection yet, it’s also one of our lightest, making it perfect for early season hunts in warm weather climates (like our beautiful Northern California hometown of Red Bluff). This collection features our signature layering system so you will always be able to customize your fit and your function.
The Apricity line is cotton, but it’s designed for comfort in warm weather and affordability.
Celerant’s ATF-compliant retail software integrates with Chattanooga, enabling firearm dealers to better manage and grow their business in store and online
Staten Island, NY (July 16, 2019) – Celerant Technology, a leading provider of innovative retail solutions for the firearms industry, and Chattanooga Shooting Supplies, a leading distributor of firearms and outdoor hunting equipment, jointly announce a strategic partnership to help firearms dealers streamline inventory, improve fulfillment and offer an ‘endless aisle’. Through Celerant’s integration with Chattanooga, firearms dealers can import products, automatically reorder inventory, access in store kiosks, display products online and drop ship orders. In Store: Ensure shelves are stocked without overspending
Celerant’s ATF-compliant retail software- Cumulus Retail™, an affordable and powerful point of sale and eCommerce solution for small business; and Stratus Enterprise™; a comprehensive retail commerce software with high-end capabilities- both integrate with Chattanooga Shooting Supplies. The integration offers firearm dealers a point of sale, pre-populated with Chattanooga’s products, including firearms, gun cases, ammunition, crossbows, knives, military gear, apparel and much more. Dealers can also browse and import additional products from Chattanooga’s catalog, and reorder inventory with automated purchases orders based on predefined min/max levels, ensuring the right amount of stock throughout the year without overspending. Dealers can also access in store kiosks, leveraging Chattanooga’s live inventory, to offer products to customers that they might not carry in their store.
Online: Display a wide-variety of products online with drop shipping
Celerant’s integrated eCommerce allows firearm dealers to manage their store and website as one. With online ‘data feeds’, Chattanooga’s products, along with product descriptions, images and stock levels, can be displayed directly on the dealer’s website in, virtually, real-time. When an order is placed, Chattanooga is automatically alerted and drop ships the order from their warehouse directly to the dealer’s customer. That way, dealers can display and sell Chattanooga’s merchandise online, without investing in, or stocking, the inventory.
“As our business continues to grow, Celerant is a logical step for us to provide dealers more tools to ensure their success,” said Ron Staffieri, President and CEO of Marketing of Chattanooga Shooting Supplies. “This partnership will provide CSSI dealers of any size, the technology to help them grow their business. We are excited to introduce Celerant to our dealers as part of the CSSI Family.”
“We are excited to partner with Chattanooga Shooting Supplies, and offer retail technology that seamlessly integrates with their products and services,” said Ian Goldman, CEO of Celerant Technology. “Chattanooga Shooting Supplies and Celerant have always supported the outdoor hunting industry; and together we make it easier for both large and smaller dealers to manage and expand their business in store and online, compete, and remain compliant with the ATF.”
Learn more about Celerant’s partnership with Chattanooga: https://www.celerant.com/partner/chattanooga-shooting-supplies/.
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This past weekend I spent some time on the road with our Anti-Terrorism/Anti-Piracy class. During all our courses we build time into the schedule to make trips outside of Pensacola to attend training from other bases/agencies and to enjoy some liberty together. I often learn more about my students and their countries on these trips than I do in the classroom, as things are always different (and more open), when you get away from the flag pole. In any case, during this recent trip I was accompanied by an active duty U.S. Navy Senior Chief. He’s currently dealing with some foot injuries and from that, weight gain. During the trip we discussed diet and PT quite a bit. He told me while his foot injury has made maintaining weight standards extra tough, he admitted that he’s struggled with weight for his entire Navy career. However, while speaking to him it was obvious that he had a lot of knowledge about diet and exercise. While it may seem counter-intuitive that a person who is overweight and out of shape would have good knowledge on this, but I’ve found this to be a very common thing.
As we all know, many people struggle with their weight and in our present age of 24/7 cable TV, social media and the internet the world is awash with diet and weight loss information (good and bad). There is also no doubt that people who struggle with their weight spend a lot of time and money trying all kinds of different plans. It’s a multi-billion dollar business and I personally know a lot of people who’ve attempted dozens of different diets and workout plans over the years. Sadly, the vast majority yielded very poor long term results. Why is this? You would think that with more information out there, the more success people would have. However, in most cases the opposite is true. The sad fact is, as more information and options have become available, obesity rates have skyrocketed?
The reasons for the rise in obesity rates are many: People are less physically active in both their jobs and recreation is one reason. The greater availability of processed/fast food is another. There are many more. However, putting aside the causes for now, I want to focus in on why with all the good info out their, most people (despite their obvious knowledge) can’t get a handle on this? Based on my own experience and observation, I have a simple theory.
This problem is what I call; “Transitional Disconnect”. Now, don’t get mental, this isn’t just some high brow physco babble. I’ve actually seen this occurrence in many areas of training. What it simply means (Master Gunny speak here), is an in ability to transition what you know, into successful action.
In this case the knowledge of diet and exercise into successful weight and fitness maintenance. Why do many people have this problem? It’s not a lack of will or motivation, nor is a lack of time or funds. I think the disconnect is much simpler and more practical; Road blocks. With the vast majority of these being self imposed.
When someone makes a decision to get in shape and lose some weight they normally seek out some advice. Which like we said before, isn’t hard to find. Yes, they could get some poor advice, true. But most of the time it’s easy enough to find enough of the tried and true basic stuff, at least enough to get them started. After that it’s time to transition that knowledge into action, this is obviously the hard part and to be successful you need a clear path going forward. But this is exactly where people will unknowingly insert roadblocks that will in short order derail their plan. There are many of these roadblocks, but there are three are the most common and biggest.
1. Attempting a too strict and/or complicated program: Any eating plan that requires a lot of special foods, restrictions and supplements is doomed from the start. I could give you dozens of examples and reasons why this is true. Just trust me, it’s true for 99.9% of the real world. Real foods, in the right amounts, is the only thing that works long term. The same goes for a PT program, try to get too fancy, too intense or just too much and you will injure yourself, or burn out.
2. Losing the balance: Success in anything is really a balancing act. Work vs. Play, Family vs. Career, etc, etc. Eating and working out is no different. To work long term, eating and PT must be a part of your life, support for your life, not your life. People who are trying to lose weight and get in shape very often get this out of balance. They spend way too much time and effort (which is mostly mental) on it. It just becomes too much and then, like trying to balance on a slack line with a 50lb kettlebell in one hand, they will surely fall. Not being negative here, just realistic.
3. Expecting instant results: This a big one. The overall world of today is about instant gratification. Cell phones and the internet allow us to stay connected anywhere and almost instantly obtain the information we want. We have become spoiled in that expectation and think that it should apply to everything, including physical conditioning and weight loss. The sad fact is the human body has not kept up (nor will it ever keep up) with technology. You can’t hit a button and lose 20lbs, or download the conditioning needed to run a marathon. Sorry, the human body doesn’t work in WiFi. But, people tend to give up pretty quick if they don’t see quick improvements.
The bottom line here is that you have to change your thinking first and from that remove the roadblocks to make this work. To expect success without these changes is what I call Magical Thinking; Meaning I’ll just go into this half ass, with a half ass plan and Shazam, it will work great, like magic? Yeah, ok let me know how that works out. Then again you don’t have to tell me, I already know. Getting and keeping your self in good shape isn’t magic, it’s a combination of basic knowledge, sound planning and consistent action. Look at your lifestyle, your routine, the way you eat. From that come up with a eating and PT program that fits into your life. The most successful plans start with small improvements around the edges, not drastic changes. For example, just replacing regular soda with diet (water is better), can make losing weight a lot easier. Consistently going for a walk after dinner is another. These things may seem way too easy, but it’s the small things that you consistently do long term, that always beat out the huge changes that you do for the short term. Now, before you say it, your life is no busier than the rest of us. Mine is balls out, with family, work, travel and play going 24/7. Ask any of my exhausted family and friends that hang out with me. But that’s my life style and while everyone is different, just about anyone can make this work. In my book Corps Strength I lay out in detail how to make good eating and exercise part of your life, not your life. These things aren’t really that hard. Certainly not as hard as people make them. The key here is to remove the roadblocks to your success and that starts (like everything), with the right thinking. Think about it. Till next month.
Three officers from three different countries (USA, Russia, Italy) united by a mission to space and a duty to serve humanity will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday July 20 at 12:25 p.m. EDT. Unlike the Apollo 11 astronauts who were heading to the moon for the first manned landing on the lunar surface, the crew of Expedition 60 will be heading to the International Space Station.
NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan of the U.S. Army has been teamed with Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano, an Italian astronaut from the European Space Agency.
Of all the uniforms we’ve ever made, we can’t help but feel especially proud of the one we made for Col. Morgan. It has been a distinct pleasure to have seen Col. Morgan wearing his Army Green Service Uniform in numerous photos leading up to the big launch – when he will swap his AGSU for something a bit more suitable for space travel.
We wish Col. Morgan and his fellow crew-mates a safe launch, a successful mission, and happy landings upon their return to Earth.
Where will you go in your Army Green Service Uniform? www.GoAGSU.com
