Author: Braxton Taylor

Families are opting to homeschool or use private school choices, but there is no mandate for accountability. On January 29, 2025, the White House directed the Department of Education to provide guidance on how families can use federal funding formulas to support K-12 scholarship programs, support school choice and educational alternatives, and how military families can use Department of Defense (now Department of War) funds to send their children to their school of choice. Shortly, later in March 2025, another executive order was launched to begin the dismantling of the Department of Education, which requires congressional approval. Since then, significant…

Army veteran Jason Ayala had spent years in therapy, battling the effects of PTSD. Nothing seemed to click. So, when Ayala was encouraged to participate in Empowering the Spirit, an evidence-based program launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ayala was skeptical. “I thought, What are these guys going to tell me that I haven’t already heard?” Ayala told VA News. Empowering the Spirit combines care from chaplains and nurses to form a “spiritual care bundle,” providing a guiding light for veterans showing signs of suicidal ideation. Launching a 12-week pilot program in March, Empowering the Spirit encourages veterans to discover new ways to…

Lockheed Martin aims to fly a stealthy, autonomous, multipurpose drone by 2027, the company announced Sunday.Dubbed Vectis, the “category five” drone is intended for surveillance, air-to-air combat and airstrike missions, said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works research arm.“We’re in progress now on the Vectis prototype,” Sanchez told reporters ahead of the Air & Space Force Association’s defense conference near Washington, D.C. “Parts are ordered, the team is in work, and we intend to fly in the next two years.”Sanchez said that Vectis is not being designed to win any specific contract, but suggested…

SIG Sauer is coming out with two new complete, drop-in AR-15 upper-receiver assemblies. These complete kits include everything you need to upgrade your AR lower. MCX-SPEAR LT 9-inch Upper AR Conversion Kit 300BLK – FDE The MCX-SPEAR LT developed for the Special Forces community and allows you to convert any AR15 lower into either an SBR with a stock and the appropriate paperwork or a large-format pistol with a brace.   Features: Adapts with any M4/AR15-spec lower assembly Dual-rod recoil assembly eliminates buffer system M4 adapter allows for picatinny rail folding stock capabilities Adjustable gas system for suppressor optimization Quick-change…

I definitely pulled my first shot on the center mass of the Champion LE Green Silhouette  target, the nine 00 buckshot pellets striking high over center. High, but still a threat stopper. My next round, a slug and it drilled right into the center area, followed by a last blast of the Federal buckshot clustering to the left of the slug’s hole. Last, I fired off a three shot, migraine-producing group with the Fiocchi slug holes, the group measuring out at 2.2-inches center to center with two of the slugs holes touching, which told me my review optic and the…

Gritr Gear just launched a new multi-caliber, universal laser-boresighting kit that works in firearms with calibers ranging between .177 and .73. Laser boresighters are a practical option to eliminate some of the guesswork when a new optic and rifle are paired together. Using the laser boresighting kit is easy because all the end-user needs to do is to install the corresponding size muzzle mandrel into the muzzle of their firearm and then attach the boresighting laser body to it. On a rest or off the bench, the rifle is then pointed downrange at the zero distance, often 50 or 100…

Under certain circumstances, I sometimes carry small guns in small calibers, such as .380 ACP or .32 S&W. Upon learning this, people often express surprise and ask me how confident I am in successfully defending myself with a caliber smaller than 9mm. I take them down Memory Lane to 30 to 40 years ago, and tell them a story: I grew up in a time when everyone “knew” 9mm was weak and the only serious choice for self-defense was a .45 ACP. The gun culture of the ’80s and ’90s treated caliber as gospel: a bigger bullet meant better “stopping…

In November 2015, a Russian Su-24 bomber strayed into Turkish airspace along the Syrian border. Within minutes, a Turkish F-16 fired an air-to-air missile and sent the jet spiraling to the ground. One Russian pilot was killed by Syrian rebels after ejecting, while his wingman was rescued in a risky operation that left a Russian marine dead.The incident wasn’t just a border violation — it was a flashpoint that could have dragged NATO into direct conflict with Moscow. For the alliance, the shootdown became a vivid reminder of how one miscalculation could trigger a crisis with global consequences.Nearly a decade…

A Florida bowfishing guide has developed an unusual partnership with the aquatic life of the Gulf of Mexico. For more than a decade, Crystal Bay charter captain Justin Dymond has been attracting pods of dolphins with the underwater flood lights he uses to locate fish for his bowfishing clients. As soon as the fish are visible and stunned by the lights, the dolphins start snatching them.Lots of anglers know this dynamic all too well, especially in Florida, where one recent study showed that 43% of anglers had experienced depredation of their catch by sharks.But Dymond says that losing those few…

A Season of Pause and ColorEvery fall, when the mornings turn crisp and the light shifts golden, my family piles into the car and heads into the Cascades. It’s our tradition. We drive east from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, chasing maples, aspens, and firs lit up like fire. At Tipsoo Lake on the Chinook Scenic Byway, my youngest once asked, “Do the trees dress up just for us?” That question comes back to me every year as the seasons change.For military families and veterans, trips like this are more than a way to pass the weekend. They’re a pause button, a…