Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
Two days before the beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Campaign – the largest and bloodiest battle in American history – the New York Times ran a letter from an Army infantry officer who was then serving in France: The troops that took Vaux An advertising agency is a good thing at times, but when the …
Continue reading "We Were There Too: the US Army at Belleau Wood"
By Eamon Hamilton Finally, the influence of the Angry Staff Officer Blog within the Star Wars community has been acknowledged - an anonymous source from Lucasfilm has sent this exclusive breakdown of some of the new characters we’ll see in future Star Wars films. We wont say how many Bothan Spies died to bring us …
Continue reading "An Angry Staff Officer Exclusive – a sneak peak at new Star Wars characters!"
“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.” - Sun Tzu In war, timing and will are two of the intangibles that are hard to train for. A battle can be all but won when suddenly the unforeseen takes place: Jackson arrives at Antietam; Sheridan rides back to Cedar Creek; the …
Continue reading "Warfighter: Battle of Endor"
By Jay Kirell One of the biggest misconceptions about the Army is that everyone in it is a hardened warrior. In reality most soldiers are more lapdog than sheepdog. They like their time off, relaxing, watching movies, playing games, finding forms of entertainment to escape into whatever fantasy world they find a connection with. For …
Continue reading "“What About Second Breakfast?” How “The Lord of the Rings” Mirrors Army Culture"
When someone mentions the "forgotten war" in the United States, they are usually referring to either the Korean War or World War I. Of all our large conflicts, these two seem to slip through the sieve of our collective national memory and fall into obscurity. Of our "big" wars, the Civil War and World War …
Continue reading "What Makes Us Forget Wars?"
There’s an interchange on I-185, right outside of Fort Benning. It’s a big, glorious waste of taxpayer money, featuring statues of eagles and Old Bill and Iron Mike, embodiments of Armor/Cavalry and the Infantry, respectively. Big fountains that must be hell to maintain in the soul-sucking Georgia summers. And twenty American flags; ten on each …
Continue reading "Guest Post: Hashtags are not Enough"
As some of you know, I don’t really do movie reviews on this site. But this spring I have had to break my own rule because of the animated film that combines two of my favorite things: dogs and the First World War. I am speaking of the movie “Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero.” For …
Continue reading "A Soldier and His Dog: Review of “Sgt Stubby: An American Hero”"
I don't remember much about the day we went to war with Iraq for the second time. A senior in high school, I recall feeling excited about the idea of war although I only knew of war from books. I was too young to remember much of the Persian Gulf War beyond some blurry images …
Continue reading "The Iraq War, 15 Years On"
It was Ben Franklin who wrote, "He who neglects his hair neglects his country." Well, all right, he never did say that but he would've had he thought of it, because Ben understood the importance of a well put together coiffe of hair. The military has undergone some variations on its way of thinking about …
Continue reading "Army Hair Throughout the Ages"
Over the past few months, I've been spending a lot of time reading over World War I rosters, both unit and casualty reports. As I was going over them, I began to wonder how someone like me in the future would read my name on some roster. And then this just sort of happened. Pages …
Continue reading "Thoughts While Reading World War I Rosters"
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