From December 7, 1941 through the spring of 1942 the armed forces of Japan enjoyed overwhelming success in not only locking up control over much of Southeast Asia and the Central and Southwest Pacific, but also defeating Allied military forces at nearly every turn. That said, this did not mean that, at times, these victories were not hard earned.
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Steve Mercatante
on: Apr 9 2012 - 2:23pm
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Steve Mercatante
on: Apr 4 2012 - 11:39pm
On February 6, 1941 Adolf Hitler ordered Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel to Africa in command of Germany’s nascent Afrika Corps. Consisting of the 15th Panzer Division, and a motorized division, the 5th Light Division, the Afrika Corps was meant to stabilize the Axis position in North Africa against British Commonwealth forces that had spent the winter of 1940-41 decimating Italian forces in the region.
Rommel wasted little time upon his arrival at Tripoli on February 11, 1941. On February
Review Type: 15th Panzer Division, 5th Light Division, 9th Australian Division, Afrika Corps, Benghazi, Erwin Rommel, Tobruk, Tripoli, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Apr 1 2012 - 4:21pm
On April 1, 1939 the Spanish Civil War finally ended after three bloody years that had left the idea of post World War I European peace, such as it was, in tatters and only further destabilized a continent that had never really put the ghosts of the First World War behind it.
The Spanish Civil War had begun on July 17, 1936, when rebels in Spanish Morocco, calling themselves The Nationalists and led by Francisco Franco, initiated an insurgency designed to overthrow the Popular Front government
Review Type: Basque, Condor Legion, Francisco Franco, Guernica, Hitler, Mussolini, Nationalists, Pablo Picasso, Republicans, Spain, Spanish Civil War
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 27 2012 - 8:51pm
The sweeping naval, air, and ground battles that define World War II continue to get the lion's share of our attention. However, the Second World War was also a war featuring a use of special forces on a scale almost unimaginable today. This war within the war was so unique it oftentimes was at odds with the reputation's earned by various nation's conventional forces.
For instance, the Italian military establishment's war effort has been much maligned, though the Italian Navy fought much
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 23 2012 - 5:58pm
Two different news items - but each frustratingly related to the other. In both we are reminded yet again how fundamentally bankrupt the process is by which this nation produces and procures weapons systems for its armed forces.
In one article we find yet again that the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces is out to lunch and failing dismally in its oversight role.
Review Type: F-22, F-35, House Armed Forces Committee, JSF, US Navy, Virginia Class Attack Submarine, Weapons Procurement
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 20 2012 - 6:54pm
Just over one week ago construction workers found a one ton bomb at the port of Marseille, France. The bomb dates back to the Second World War and is believed to be German. On Sunday, March 18, 2012 the bomb was removed as can be seen in this picture.
The bomb is not thought to have been air delivered, but, instead have been left behind by German soldiers who, prior to retreating, sought to demolish the excellent port facilties at Marseille.
Review Type: Demolition, France, German, Logistics, Marseille, One-Ton Bomb, Port, Second World War, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 16 2012 - 2:58pm
On March 16, 1802 Congress signed off on legislation establishing the United States Military Adademy at West Point. Located on the Hudson River north of New York City , West Point had been a military post created with the help of Polish General Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1778.
One of the most prestigious universities in the world, West Point is known not only for preparing officer candidates for the United States Armed Forces but also is known for holding high standards of scholarship and learning.
Review Type: cadet, General Kosciuszko, United States Military Academy at West Point
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 12 2012 - 9:12pm
Austria, nestled between Germany and Italy, possessed a long history as a dominant European power. However, after the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been dissolved with Austria remaining as a small, central European state; a shadow of its former imposing Imperial greatness. Austria therefore represented a ripe target for a predator such as Hitler.
In February 1938, Hitler coerced Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg into placing Nazi sympathizers in important government
Review Type: Adolf Eichmann, Anschluss, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austria, Germany, Hitler, Kurt Schuschnigg, lebensraum, Third Reich
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 7 2012 - 12:39am
The Center For Strategic and Budgetary Assessments(CSBA) gave a presentation on Tuesday detailing major trends in ground combat that will impact ground vehicle modernization. Buried in the slides was an interesting info-graphic on the accelerated cost of force protection - meaning the price paid to equip the average combat rifleman in the U.S. Military. These costs have risen dramatically. According to the CSBA the average cost of clothing and equipping:
A WWII era G.I. Review Type: CSBA, Force Protection, G.I., Kit, Vietnam War, War in Afghanistan, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 4 2012 - 8:39pm
Holocaust survivor Ernie Gross, age 83, and U.S. Army WWII veteran Don Greenbaum, age 87, were able to meet late last year in Philadelphia some 66 years after they unwittingly shared a day at a place and time in history that few people would ever want to be; Dachau concentration camp in April of 1945.
On April 29, 1945 Greenbaum was a G.I. in U.S. General George S. Patton's Third Army when the Third Army reached Dachau and its surviving victims.
