Author: Braxton Taylor
This week on the show I’m joined by Ethan Tapper a Vermont based forester and author of the book “How To Love A Forest,” to discuss stewardship, managing our lands for healthy forests and ecosystems, and the impact that deer can have on the wider landscape. Read the full article here
A drumbeat of suspensions of top Pentagon officials continued into a second day on Wednesday with a defense official confirming that Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, was suspended.Carroll is the third top political appointee to be suspended from his job in connection with a leak probe — apparently into a news story about a proposed top secret China briefing to Elon Musk — that also ensnared Dan Caldwell, a top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff.The move has surprised and puzzled officials in the Pentagon since…
Whether you’re buying necessities or splurging on something fun, shopping is so much easier when great deals lower the totals on your receipts.That’s why military families love the following retailers that offer deals and discounts exclusively for them. Keep in mind that some stores offer military discounts online and require verification of your military status, while others are only in-store discounts redeemed by presenting a military ID. Happy shopping!CostcoThis membership warehouse club has just about everything you could possibly need. From groceries to furniture to pharmacy items, Costco is perfect for one-stop shopping. And if you’re an active-duty military member,…
Two Marines were killed after their civilian rental vehicle was involved in an incident Tuesday during a deployment to the southern U.S. border, according to a military news release and two defense officials who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity as an investigation remains ongoing.A third Marine was sent to a local medical facility in serious condition, according to the news release and the officials. The three service members were near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, just miles away from El Paso, Texas, and close to the border with Mexico when the incident occurred.The incident occurred at around 8:50…
A dozen students at Defense Department grade schools across the globe are suing the department after books were removed from libraries, school yearbooks were allegedly censored, and class curriculums were sanitized to implement President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders.Alleging First Amendment violations, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday evening against the Department of Defense Education Activity and the Pentagon on behalf of 12 students in pre-K through 11th grade from six military families who attend schools on bases in Virginia, Kentucky, Italy and Japan.”The implementation of these EOs, without any due process or parental…
<![CDATA[Lately, it has been fashionable to discuss the use of artificial intelligence as a component of wargaming, with reports, conferences, and journal editions dedicated to the topic. One of the authors recently participated in a discussion in which one panelist talked about using AI to create cognitive digital twins of real decision makers, another about using AI for course-of-action analysis, and a third about creating materials for their otherwise manual wargame. All are impressive technical feats, and surely worthy of further study. But while AI remains in the “glue on pizza” stage of its evolution, and perhaps for some time afterward,…
A former commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio was sentenced to 21 days in confinement and forfeiture of pay after he pleaded guilty to having an inappropriate relationship with a staff sergeant despite being ordered by superiors to stop.Col. Christopher Meeker, the former commander of Wright-Patterson’s 88th Air Base Wing, was sentenced Tuesday evening after entering a guilty plea to violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including Article 90, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and Article 134, fraternization.As part of his plea agreement, the government dismissed a specification of extramarital sexual conduct that he was…
Out of curiosity, I searched for maps and information that may reveal potential nuclear targets in the United States, and I’ve posted them here for your interest. (See below for more maps) The following map of nuclear targets in the USA (source file) is one that I put together based on several factors — looking at other maps and data including military installations, nuclear weapons storage and silo locations, bases, the larger cities, etc.. I aimed to capture as much as possible while representing each detonation (red blob) to a somewhat realistic size (diameter). The result would reveal a density…
The search is underway to fill two key leadership positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs: under secretary for benefits and under secretary for health.The jobs have been filled by acting leaders since the departures of Josh Jacobs, who led the Veterans Benefits Administration, and Dr. Shereef Elnahal, former head of the Veterans Health Administration, with the change in presidential administrations.The department announced Monday that Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence, who also served as under secretary for benefits from 2018 to 2021, will chair the commissions tasked with recommending candidates to President Donald Trump.Read Next: Military Families Sue over Defense Department…
Given current events and global risks, one might wonder about nuclear weapons/warheads per country… Who has them, and how many? Well, approximately 87% of all nuclear warheads are in the hands of the United States and Russia. Data sourced from the Arms Control Association and the Federation of American Scientists. As of 2025, there were approximately 12.331 nuclear warheads in the world. This includes stockpiled, retired, reserved, and deployed nuclear warheads. Deployed warheads include those on ballistic missiles, at bomber bases, and, in the case of the U.S., non-strategic bombs in Europe. Number Of Nuclear Weapons By Country “The exact…