Category Archives: Readiness

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Rate of Fire Against Men

A Quantitative Assessment of Fire Team Lethality

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Live fire ranges must deliberately measure marksmanship if they are to achieve their purpose of training soldiers and junior leaders in the skills needed to win close combat engagements.  Training Circular 7-9 describes marksmanship as “one of the most important” areas that live fire exercises (LFXs) train; we argue that it is the most important, full stop.[1] Nothing else in a LFX matters, no other training objectives have any validity, if the rounds soldiers fire do not eliminate their intended targets.

5-20 IN conducts a grueling 36-hour exercise designed to test soldier readiness and war-fighting skills. (US Army Photo retrieved from 1-2 SBCT Facebook Page)
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PS Magazine Roll-up

April 2022

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Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, conducts table six tank crew qualification Feb. 4, 2019, Orchard Combat Training Center. The Idaho Army National Guard Soldiers are preparation for the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team’s upcoming rotation at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif.
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On Technology, Military History and the “Actualities of War”

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War, by its very nature, pits one society’s – one culture’s – mechanical machinery against another in a contest of wills. In 2022, we are told that this is happening at an ever-accelerating pace with the coming of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For warfare, this age has brought about the harnessing of cutting-edge technology for the purpose of making war; most prevalent today are the utilization of drones and other unmanned systems, with more innovation on the horizon.

Soldiers don the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) technology while mounted in a Stryker in Joint Base Lewis-McCord, WA. (Photo Credit: Courtney Bacon)
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Successful Sustainment

Logistics 101

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It’s Summer 2019 at the 25th Infantry Division’s Lightning Academy. I report to the 40-foot tower for my hollywood-style rappel. A Staff Sergeant affectionately known as “Air Assault Sergeant,” calls me forward to his line atop the tower. I sound off with a loud and thunderous “right hand brake hand,” and step forward. He inspects the stitching on my gloves and my rappel seat, finishing with the instructions of “hook in.” I get into position and while assessing me, he asks what I do. “I’m a logistician Air Assault Sergeant,” I say. He turns to the other instructor shouting, “this kid says he only eats vegetables.” They both laugh. From that day forward, I have continued to reflect on the unique relationship between logisticians and our customers of whom we support.

The United States Army and Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI-AD Indonesia Armed Forces) conduct a two-week joint exercise, Garuda Shield 21.