I last commented on the Russian-Ukrainian war about eight months ago. In that article I speculated on whether or not a breakthrough of the first Ukrainian defensive line in the Donbas would lead to a Russian breakout.
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Steve Mercatante
on: Jan 12 2023 - 4:05pm
Review Type: AFU, Donetsk, Gerasimov, Luhansk, Russia, Soledar, Special Military Operation, Steve Mercatante, Surovikin, Ukraine, War in the Ukraine
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Steve Mercatante
on: Jan 4 2023 - 6:26pm
This month we take a look at the Korean War. More specifically, the struggle for survival the U.S.1st Marine Division engaged in at the Chosin Reservoir during the winter of 1950. The full review can be found here.
Review Type: 1950, 1st Marine Division, 7th Army Division, China, Chosin, Eric Hammel, Korean War, North Korea, Steve Mercatante
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Steve Mercatante
on: Dec 18 2022 - 8:31pm
In Battlegroup professor and former British Infantry Officer Jim Storr takes his considerable, training, knowledge, and experience and condenses it down toward assessing the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the NATO and Warsaw Pact armies that faced off across the East/West German border during the 1980s. I enjoyed this book and think you will too. Check out my review here.
Review Type: Abrams, Armor, British Army of the Rhine, Bundeswehr, Cold War, French Army, Fulda Gap, Jim Storr, M60, Marder, Mechanized Warfare, NATO, Red Army, Steve Mercatante, T-72, US Army, Warsaw Pact
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Steve Mercatante
on: Nov 7 2022 - 7:10pm
The Desert Air Force In World War II offers readers an interesting first-person perspective on what it was like to fight with the Allies in the skies of the Mediterranean theater of operations during 1940-1942. For my review please see here.
Review Type: Axis, Egypt, Hurricane, Ken Delve, Libya, Luftwaffe, Malta, Me-109, North Africa, RAAF, RAF, Spitfire, Steve Mercatante, The Desert Air Force, World War II
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Steve Mercatante
on: May 24 2022 - 3:51pm
One month ago, I wrote of the Battle for the Donbas becoming the focal point of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. I speculated as to Russian capabilties, intentions, and what might occur. It appears that the Ukrainian position in the Donbas is in big trouble. The question is when will that position collapse, and the answer there is as much a product of Russian decision-making as to how it conducts its war as much as it might be a result of any other factors.
Review Type: Artillery, Attrition, Bakhmut, BTG, Deep Operations, Donbas, Izyum, Luhansk, MLRS, OMG, Popansa, Russian Armed Forces, Severodonetsk, Steve Mercatante, Ukrainian Army, War in the Ukraine
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Steve Mercatante
on: May 9 2022 - 2:56pm
Lend-Lease is certainly in the news given the ongoing shipment of weapons from NATO countries into the Ukraine. This isn't the first time this was done. Author Vladimir Kotelnikov's Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War offers a superb look into the delivering, modifying, and employing in combat of the various Allied aircraft shipped to the Soviet Union.
Given current events it is hard to find a more timely look at how much effort is involved in arming another country with
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Steve Mercatante
on: Apr 19 2022 - 6:52pm
Russian artillery fire and air attacks have intensified in the Donbas region. It appears the next phase of the war has begun. This will be the most important battle of the war.
By all accounts, the bulk of the Ukrainian army's best troops are located in the east (at least 40,000 men if not more of the most experienced, best equipped, and best led soldiers). If the Russians can encircle these forces, then most of the Ukraine east of the Dniepr will be open for the taking.
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 6 2022 - 12:43am
The footage coming out of the Ukraine is truly overwhelming. The ubiquity of smart phones and social media have enabled all of us to see things happening in real-time that previous generations couldn't imagine. However, that is not to say the information we are being presented is as consistently accurate. In fact, from the perspective of trying to understand in an operational military sense what is happening on the ground...well, let's just say that's another story.
There are alot of agendas
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Steve Mercatante
on: Feb 16 2022 - 4:00pm
This month's book review delves into StuG Abteilung 191. The book provides rich insight into the German usage of assault guns during the Second World War, all while paying attention to the kind of details that other works may overlook.
Review Type: Assault Gun, Balkans, Bruno Bork, Crimea, Eastern Front, Kuban, Operation Barbarossa, Operation Blue, Steve Mercatante, StuG Abteilung 191, Sturmgeschütz III, teacher, Ukraine, Voronezh, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Jan 31 2022 - 9:02pm
This month I reviewed Special Forces and Vietnam Veteran Ed Wolcoff's book Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling. This is a great book, providing an invaluable look at what it means to have to fight and survive in some of the most lethal circumstances imaginable - something anyone with even a passing interest in these matters should understand. You can check out the full review here.
Review Type: MACV-SOG, Mercatante, Procedures, Special Forces, Special Reconnaissance, Tactics, Techniques, Vietnam, Wolcoff
