Medal of Honor: Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a diver engaged in rescue operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945. Aware of the danger when two fellow divers were hopelessly trapped in a cave-in of steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud, Hammerberg unhesitatingly went overboard in a valiant attempt to effect their rescue despite the certain hazard of additional cave-ins and the risk of fouling his lifeline on jagged pieces of steel imbedded in the shifting mud. Washing a passage through the original excavation, he reached the first of the trapped men, freed him from the wreckage, and, working desperately in pitch-black darkness, finally effected his release from fouled lines, thereby enabling him to reach the surface. Wearied but undaunted after several hours of arduous labor, Hammerberg resolved to continue his struggle to wash through the oozing submarine, subterranean mud in a determined effort to save the second diver.
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https://tacticalanatomy.com/qbuddy-teamq-tactics/
There are a few interesting observations to be made of the tactics in use in Mumbai--it you as a private citizen find yourself in a similar incident, remember--there may be two or more attackers:
It appears the attackers were organized into buddy pairs, allowing one to shoot while the other moved, and so forth. Interestingly, the buddy pair has is a later innovation in small unit tactics and has only been slow to trickle through regular infantry formations. In World War I, the smallest element of maneuver (on paper) might have been a battalion or company.
The Germans, in developing “storm troop tactics” then innovated even smaller maneuver elements, which we might call squads today. The role of platoons and squads became only greater in WWII. After WWII, General S.L.A. Marshall conducted a massive study of the reactions of men in combat (See “Men Against Fire”) and the result of his work was the genesis of the Fire Team. The Fire Team is now the smallest doctrinal unit of maneuver in the US military. In the Marine Corps, it is led by a Corporal, includes an automatic rifleman with a Squad Automatic Weapon, and two more riflemen.
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It’s very common to see in news reports where Armed Citizens have pursued criminals after the criminal has broken off from the crime. Pursuit is fraught with hazards, both legal and tactical. Unconsciously closing with an adversary is something seen many times in Force on Force training. We need to train ourselves rigorously to hold position or to retreat unless there is a valid purpose for closing. Closing with an enemy needs to always be a conscious decision, never an unconscious one.
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It Was a Trap Last Time; It's a Trap This Time
So, amnesty for illegal aliens is back on the table — I say back on the table, because everyone pimping for amnesty tends to give the impression that amnesty has never been done in the United States before. Oh, but it has. Let us take a look at the Simpson-Mazzoli Act — also known as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 — that President Ronald Reagan signed into law in November of 1986.
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The Rise of Carlos the Jackal, the Most Feared Terrorist of the 1970s
To teasing classmates, he had been el Gordo or “the chubby one.” To fashionable friends in London’s nightclubs, he was Illy. To his girlfriends in France, he was Johnny. In the Middle East, he was Saleem Mohammed. To the customs officials who checked his documents at various international airports, he was usually José Adolfo Muller Bernal, a Chilean academic.
To British authorities, meanwhile, he was Carlos Martínez Torres, a Peruvian businessman whose passport photograph—clearly in need of updating—showed a nineteen-year-old with a round face, full lips, a prominent nose, sharp chin and eyes obscured by large oval sunglasses.
José, Johnny, Saleem, Adolfo or Carlos had spent the penultimate day of 1973 preparing to shoot dead Joseph Edward Sieff, the Jewish president of Marks & Spencer, a major retail chain whose upmarket shops were to be found on high streets across Britain, and a prominent supporter of Israel. To this end, the young man had travelled to a mock-Georgian mansion on a quiet, elegant street in north London, not far from Regent’s Park.
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HUB Mount Suppressors: The New Industry Standard
What exactly are HUB Mounts? Hybrid Universal Base, or HUB for short, is a section of 1.375x24 thread pitch machined into the body of a suppressor. The reason for HUB mounts' widespread use lies in the flexibility and modularity they provide end users. For example, if you have a .30-caliber suppressor with a 5/8x24 direct-thread mount, you are limited to the types of firearms you can mount it to. In every single case, it will be a screw-on, screw-off process.
Your options expand with HUB mounts, whether it's proprietary direct thread adapters or quick-detach mounts. These terms may sound confusing to someone new to these concepts, so let's dive deeper.
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A friend was flying medevac at a sprawling U.S. Army training base. These were the days before GPS and night vision goggles, so navigating a Huey helicopter over a blacked-out training area on a moonless night was a bit like driving a car down the Interstate with your eyes closed. Suffice to say, there’s a technique to it.
It was hot this time of year, like Africa hot, and heat casualties were a problem. Some unfortunate schmuck had died of heatstroke a few weeks before, and the chain of command was serious about ensuring that didn’t happen again. As a result, the drill instructors were especially mindful of heat exhaustion among their enthusiastic, bald-headed charges.
My comrade got the call that a trainee had keeled over from the heat at about 0100 in the morning. When your core temperature climbs to dangerous levels, time is brain. It is critical to get the patient cooled down quickly. That meant ice packs and a chilled saline IV. The Dustoff crew loaded all of this stuff onboard the aircraft and was turning and burning in no time.
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Not a housefire, but a bonfire, cookfire, and campfire? There’s no easier way or ignition source than a lighter—except, of course, for a flamethrower. But how did we get from primitive sparks to the reliable gadgets we carry today? The modern lighter didn’t appear overnight. It emerged from the age of flintlock guns, where sparks met powder with stubborn charm.
Those early ignition systems inspired the first “strike lighters” in the 1820s. They were bulky and finicky—gadgets Q might hand Bond before a mission. Brass tubes hid crude flints. Spring-loaded parts snapped with unpredictable enthusiasm. Patience and steady hands were required, and a backup plan never hurt. Despite their quirks, they delivered portable fire on command.
As metallurgy improved, these odd contraptions became dependable tools. By the early 20th century, lighters moved from novelty shelves to pockets worldwide. Soldiers carried them into trenches. Explorers trusted them in remote corners. Every day, people used them for pipes, candles, and small daily rituals. The lighter became a symbol of readiness and mechanical confidence. One spark changed how humans carried fire.
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Spohr .44 Magnum: High Dollar Revolver with Zero Shortcuts
The Spohr N670 is what happens when you take Smith & Wesson’s flagship classic magnum design, give it to an obsessive German gunsmith and say “make this, but do it your way.” That quality comes at a price. And that price is $4200. That is well outside my personal budget for a new wheel gun and I suspect the same is true for many of you. But that’s okay. Even if I can’t afford this gun, it brings me great joy that someone cares enough to produce a shooting machine as fine as this one. And by the time we’re done here, I hope you feel the same way.
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338 ARC? A Closer Look At Hornady’s Large Bore Subsonic
The 338 ARC was, remarkably, the first ARC cartridge the company designed … all the way back in 2017. It’s a subsonic-centric cartridge designed for use on medium game at medium range. Hornady was exceedingly clever in releasing this cartridge at the right time, which is something that has tripped up many other cartridge launches. The market can support a subsonic .338 bore rifle easily right now, where even a few years ago this would have struggled to gain traction.
The 338 ARC is part of the venerable Advanced Rifle Cartridge (ARC) family that originated from the 6.5 Grendel/.220 Russian parent case. The 6.5 Grendel has enjoyed steady popularity over the past couple decades after it showed serious potential for fighting use early in the War on Terror era. It was proposed as something of a replacement for 7.62 NATO in long-range use, but it never truly caught on beyond its initial concept, with most military interest today being in Eastern Europe, though it’s yet to be seen if even this will ever come to fruition.
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Legendary Marine Scout Sniper Chuck Mawhinney dies at age 75
Legendary U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney died at the age of 75 after an incredible life, both in the military and after. Mawhinney is famous for over 100 confirmed kills as a sniper in Vietnam.
“I’m just a simple person, and in Vietnam, I was just doing my job.” Mawhinney once said. His famous quote represents just how humble he was. Mawhinney worked for the U.S. Forest Service after his time in the Marines, retiring after 27 years, and for most of his life, no one knew just how legendary he was.
The general public never would have known about Mawhinney if it weren’t for one of his former spotters writing a memoir. Joseph Ward detailed his military exploits in the book, “Dear Mom: A Sniper’s Vietnam.” He ended up using the same rifle Mawhinney had, and in his book, he mentioned that Mawhinney had a whopping 101 confirmed kills.
Though Ward’s book didn’t initially sell very well, other authors and historians eventually stumbled across the book where they found out about Mawhinney’s record-smashing confirmed kills during the Vietnam War. Though it was later confirmed that the claim of 101 kills was low, that number was questioned because it exceeded the legendary Marine Scout Sniper Carlos Hathcock, who had 93 confirmed kills.
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