Author: Braxton Taylor
DOGE won’t get unfettered access to service members’ personal data, the Trump administration’s pick to lead defense personnel vowed Tuesday at a confirmation hearing where questions largely concerned his history of inflammatory comments.“If I’m confirmed, before DOGE is able to access anything with regard to personnel and personal protected information, there will be some kind of contract that prevents them from doing certain things,” Anthony Tata, the retired general and Fox commentator nominated to be defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I haven’t worked with DOGE. I don’t know DOGE, but what I do…
Heckler & Koch launched the next iteration of its primary striker fired pistol, the HK VP9, with the new HK VP9A1 series earlier this year. Now Arizona-based Langdon Tactical Technologies is selling a customized version of the new HK VP9A1 series with signature touches and modifications, not unlike what the company already offers for other HK models like the P30 or the flagship Beretta 92 pistols. “The LTT VP9A1 combines the reliability, durability, and engineering that you expect from H&K with the custom touch of Langdon Tactical in a striker fired platform. Starting with the optics-ready HK VP9A1, which includes…
You’ve been slinging lead at the range for a while now, and you’re pretty handy with a firearm. Now you’re sitting on the sideline, or YouTube, stuck being competition curious? Firearms competition is a training ground for shooters like you, and the options are as varied as the guns in your safe. AmmoSquared has a great selection of calibers, grain weights, and shot shells no matter the competition format you choose to tackle first. Whether you’re into shotguns, pistols, rifles, or mixing it up, there’s a match out there calling your name. Let’s walk through some of the coolest formats…
Magpul is expanding the Hunter Lite line of backcountry outdoors stocks with a third version for the Ruger American rifle in short-action cartridges. Designed around most of the same stand-out features as the other Hunter Lite variants, like a V-bedding block, adjustable length-of-pull (LOP) and comb height and the ability to use AICS-pattern magazines, the Hunter Lite Stock can be configured for both left- and right-handed shooters. All these features come in a stock that weighs only 2.5 pounds and has a narrower fore-end to support maneuverability and ease of carry. On top of this, the stock fits both Gen…
Hegseth orders elimination of 10% of general, admiral jobs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the first step to turn his rhetoric about bloated senior military ranks into policy on Monday with a memo ordering the services to eliminate at least 20 percent of active-duty four-star general and flag officer billets, at least 20 percent of all general officer jobs in the National Guard, and another 10% of general and flag officer billets across the entire military, Defense One’s Meghann Myers reported Monday. Hegseth’s order likely amounts to hundreds of positions being eliminated or reduced in rank, including more than 100 generals…
The Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) has selected the Heckler & Koch USA VP9 for issue to its sworn officers. The 1,100-officer department is currently in the process of transitioning to the 9mm-chambered HK VP9 as its official sidearm. OKCPD previously issued a combination of several different handguns. This purchase represents a consolidation of those various products to a single model. As of late April, the gun manufacturer has already shipped more than 500 VP9s to the department and all new recruits are being issued VP9s as they graduate from the academy. “I’ve gotta hand it to these guys, they…
Life used to be simple. If you wanted a long gun in a pistol caliber, you were either looking at a semi-custom AR-15 build, an entry-level polymer gun or a lever-action rifle chambered in a caliber most commonly found in revolvers. Then, about 12 years ago, the pistol-caliber carbine revolution sparked new interest in lower-recoiling long guns that used the same ammunition as a defensive carry gun. Now the circle is closing in on itself, and we are seeing more and more lever-action firearms chambered not only in perennial favorites like .38 Spl and .44 Mag, but 9mm and .45…
In the first 100 days of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to lean on airpower when his administration decides that military force is necessary abroad. So far, the second Trump administration has launched limited airstrikes in Somalia and carried out a weekslong air campaign against the Iranian-aligned Houthis who rule most of Yemen. The president has also threatened direct strikes against Iran itself should talks on a new nuclear deal collapse.This turn to airpower for Trump makes sense to me. Airpower is cheap when compared with ground wars, and it usually comes with fewer casualties for those conducting the strikes. This helps explain why U.S. leaders, including…
This week Reid and Dan host Georgia Trio, The Castellows, out in God’s Country. Lily, Powell, and Ellie share their love for bow hunting whitetail, fishing, and turkey hunting. There is a contentious conversation on who kills the biggest deer and other pressing questions that will have you laughing out loud as you are listening. They share what growing up on their farm in Georgia looked like and how they had to drag one sister to Nashville because she never wanted to leave. All five of them discuss the musical dynamic of siblings and how the harmonies of siblings are…
The American West fascinates people from around the world, but there are many different kinds of iconic western stories. Author Dan Flores has spent a career writing about what he calls the Natural West, stories about nature, animals, and people that span thousands of years of time in the western half of America. Although we reflexively think of history in America as new, this first episode emphasizes the West’s true age by focusing on the great Chacoan Empire of a thousand years ago and what happened among its refugees in the Southwest in the wake of Chaco’s collapse from environmental…