Glad to hear he is alright.  His buddies will give him a rough time about that for the rest of his life. hehe

EDIT: The skydiver is not a Ranger, he’s a Golden Knight (Thanks for the correction Molon Labe)

This combination photograph shows portraits of Afghan National Army soldiers following a patrol made on Sunday, July 11, 2010, at the United States Army’s Combat Outpost Ware, in the volatile Arghandab Valley, near Kandahar City, southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Check out the full Afghanistan July photoset – HERE

Some especially graphic pictures in this month’s set.

Hilarious. I wouldn’t want to be on patrol with those ANP jokers though.

I gotta hand it to Al Jazeera for getting these exclusives.

If I was one of the guys from the 82nd Airborne it would take all my restraint to not pull out my rifle and put a few rounds through that bong.

This blog is no stranger to the Tactical Kilt… I posted some pictures about a year ago and my thoughts still remain the same.

I actually forgot they existed until last Sunday’s episode of Top Shot (S01E06 – Wild Wild West) where former British Army Captain Iain Harrison had one on for the first half of the show:

It was both surprising and disappointing that no on camera kilt jokes were made.

At least they didn’t have to watch him shoot prone.  LOL

A soldier shields himself from rotor wash as a U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter from Charlie Co. Sixth Battalion, 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Shadow takes off from a field after picking up wounded Afghan National Army soldiers June 22, 2010 near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Full photo set – HERE

Retired Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio, the former head of the Rhode Island National Guard, gave 8-year-old David Morales a medal called a challenge coin during an appearance on WPRO-AM’s John DePetro show.

Centracchio said the second-grader should be thanked for recognizing veterans and soldiers.

“You did nothing wrong, and you did an outstanding job,” he said. “We can only hope that kids of your caliber will continue to defend this country.”

Centracchio also gave David a certificate that allows him to call himself a brigadier general.

Full Story – HERE

Nice!  Glad to see someone stepped up to the plate and thanked this kid.

Too bad David will probably be expelled from school now though because he now officially holds a high ranking position in the military according to the certificate he was given. I wonder if the O-7 pay comes with it?  That would buy a lot of toys.

Original post on the school’s ban of his hat – HERE

Hat Tip: PP

Providence, RI – Christan Morales said her son David just wanted to honor American troops when he wore a hat to school decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures.

But the school banned the hat because it ran afoul of the district’s zero-tolerance weapons policy. Why? The toy soldiers were carrying tiny guns.

Full Story – HERE

Stories like this just give me a headache. I can’t believe the collective amount of time this incident seems to have already wasted for everyone involved.

Why do some people feel it is alright to make kids feel like crap over something so trivial. Poor guy.

The pictures are not as captivating as usual, but still worth looking at.

Full Set – HERE

With a little discipline and practice with a rifle, this bear could hold his own in a U.S. Army drill team.

Animals are sure amazing.

A few days ago I blogged about the British Army sniper that set a new kill distance record with an Accuracy International L115A3.

Well it looks like the British are breeding Universal soldier types, because today some more impressive shooting was in the UK news:

A British sniper shot dead five Taliban gunmen in just 28 seconds to save the lives of comrades walking into an ambush.

The marksman felled the rebels from more than a mile away as they prepared to attack troops on foot patrol in Afghanistan.

The corporal  -  whose identity cannot be revealed for security reasons  -  has killed a record 37 enemy fighters during a four-month tour of duty.

Full Story – HERE

The phones at Accuracy International are likely ringing off the hook lately.

If I were British I’d  have done this in reaction to the article:

Very talented guy,  I wouldn’t even know where to start.

Pretty neat that he made it in parts just like the real rifle.  I was pretty impressed to see the detachable ELCAN optic, magazine, and working bolt too.

Reminds me of the Wood Glock 19 I posted about a long time ago.

More info on the C7 at Colt Canada – HERE

Background of C7 wiki – HERE

A British Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than a mile away.

Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.

The distance to Harrison’s two targets was measured by a GPS system at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. The previous record for a sniper kill is 7,972ft, set by a Canadian soldier who shot dead an Al-Qaeda gunman in March 2002.

Full Story – HERE

Very impressive kills.  I couldn’t even imagine the adjustments you would have to make at that range, and even the mirage that he must have seen looking through the scope.

Tom Irwin, a director of Accuracy International, the British manufacturer of the L115A3 rifle, said: “It is still fairly accurate beyond 4,921ft, but at that distance luck plays as much of a part as anything.”

If he took shot after shot and EVENTUALLY hit the insurgents I would call it luck. According to the article though, Harrison fired 3 shots.  The first 2 hit and killed the insurgents, then the 3rd and final shot he used to disable the machine gun they were using.  If that is luck, and not skill, then Harrison is pretty damn lucky.

Anyone know why it took so long for this story to reach the news? According to the article, the record breaking kills happened in November 2009.

I think it’s interesting that the article refers to the caliber of the L115A3 as 8.59 mm , and the caliber of the previous record holder, Canadian Sniper Rob Furlong’s rifle as 12.7 mm.  I suppose most of the rest of the world is on the metric system, and they might be familiar with those numbers, but referring to them as .338 Lapua Magnum and .50 BMG in addition would likely have avoided some confusion (here in the U.S. anyway).

More information on the L115A3 – HERE

Accuracy International Website (one of the worst websites I have ever seen) – HERE

The New York Times has a heartbreaking report on the Army Warrior Transition Units:

For many soldiers, they have become warehouses of despair, where damaged men and women are kept out of sight, fed a diet of powerful prescription pills and treated harshly by noncommissioned officers. Because of their wounds, soldiers in Warrior Transition Units are particularly vulnerable to depression and addiction, but many soldiers from Fort Carson’s unit say their treatment there has made their suffering worse.

Full Story – HERE

Army WTU website – HERE

National security is threatened by the sharp rise in obesity rates for young people over the last 15 years, the group Mission: Readiness contends. Weight problems are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected, the group says, and thus jeopardize the military’s ability to fill its ranks.

The solution? To throw some money at it of course…

The school lunch bill, currently awaiting a Senate vote, would establish healthier options for all foods in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs.

Full Story – HERE

There are going to be a bunch of cranky kids in the school system if they are going to have to eat celery and baby carrots rather than Twinkies and Dunk-a-roos.

<tinfoil> I wonder if this pending bill is evidence of a planned draft? </tinfoil>

I talked about a similar story in November 2009 from the Military perspective – HERE

Hat Tip: JP

Sleeping on the job AUG:

Darwin called… Pretty much the stupidest thing you can do. Loaded or not, it is not good practice.

The rifle is a Steyr AUG.

I can’t tell what country those guys are from by the patch and uniform.. anyone know?

Hat Tip: JP

Since we are on the topic of the Afghans…

Some jumping jacks:

Looks like they are having a good time.

Push ups:

The push ups video is especially priceless… “That was the worm man…. he was doing the worm” LOL

Hat Tip: moi

Another very well written article from Vanity Fair.  I started keeping an eye on their website ever since their article on Erik Prince of Xe (Blackwater) back in December of last year.

You shoot one man, you terrify a thousand. That was the theory outside of Afghanistan. Through generations of warfare, it’s what sniping was largely about. By hiding in open sight and shooting precisely, snipers killed enemy officers, sowed fear in enemy ranks, and covered their own army’s retreats. Sometimes they went out to kill opposing snipers, because artillery was an ineffectual response, but rarely did they go off on assassination missions or do Hollywood things, as is generally thought.

Full Article – HERE

In coordinated attacks, gunmen in armored cars and equipped with grenade launchers fought army troops this week and attempted to trap some of them in two military bases by cutting off access and blocking highways, a new tactic by Mexico’s organized criminals.

At least 18 alleged attackers were killed and one soldier wounded in the fighting that erupted Tuesday in half a dozen towns and cities in the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, the army said, topping off one of the deadliest months yet in a drug war that has raged for nearly 3 1/2 years.

Full Story at the LA Times – HERE

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18 Mexican gang members killed – one soldier wounded? Works for me… that means that either the Mexican soldiers are really good, or the gang members are comparable to the Afghan Army.  Regardless of the outcome, it’s frightening that the gangs have the audacity to attack their own country’s Army.

U.S. Army Ranger from the 4th Infantry Division:

Stay out of the deep end, and don’t pee in the pool.