Delta Force Plank Owner SGM Mike Vining

Sgt. 1st Class Mike Vining joined the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment (Delta) at Fort Bragg in 1978. His first commander was Col. Charlie Beckwith, who started putting together Delta Force the previous year.

 

First Mission With Delta Force

Dale retired from the U.S. Army in August of 2001, after serving 5 years in the 3rd Special Forces Group (Green Beret) as the Senior NCO on an A-Team; 10 years with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta (The Delta Force) as an assault Team Leader and Explosives Expert; he served 4 years with the 82nd Airborne Division as an Airborne Infantryman in a Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon; and he served 9 years as a Security Advisor in Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

 

One of history’s longest sniper kills happened during the Civil War

Fort Sumter, South Carolina was famous for having suffered the first shots of the Civil War in April 1861. Over three years later, the two sides were still fighting over it. Confederate troops held the badly damaged fort while Union soldiers fired on it with artillery from batteries on nearby islands.

Streamlight – Do you own one?

Streamlight! Is the name you need to remember?  Streamlight flashlight is the flashlight I got when I became a Sheriff’s Deputy. Streamlight flashlight is what I got from the Military when I left for deployment serving in Operation Enduring Freedom!  So what does this all mean?  Well Streamlight makes one of the

Intro to the Bulletproof jacket in style – with videos

What the!! Every time I turn on the news, I hear of another active shoot!  I do EDC my pistol, but do I need more?  I think I do – Read below!

One thing is on my mind, and I am sure what’s

America’s deadliest sharpshooters reveal how they disappear in plain sight

U.S. Army Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), fire the M24 Sniper Weapon System during weapons density at Fort Campbell, Ky. Jan. 9, 2019. 

U.S. Army Photo by Capt. Justin Wright

The only rescinded Medal of Honor

The military rescinded the only Medal of Honor awarded to a woman

During Women’s History Month, it’s important that we remember the women who have paved the way for others and accomplished great feats in times where women were considered less-than-equal. It might be shocking to hear, but the Medal of Honor has only been awarded to one woman out of 3,517 recipients. That’s right. To this day, only one woman has earned the citation.

 

 

 

Left, an original design of the Medal of Honor. Navy (on the left and Army on the right)

The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious military award given to those that exhibit exemplary courage in combat, dedication to country, and unquestionable valor during wartime. The Medal of Honor was created in 1862 after President Abraham Lincoln approved provisions for the Navy Medal of Valor.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was one of those honored with the highly coveted medal. She came from a family of abolitionists who believed in equal pay and equal rights for all. Education was first and foremost in her life, and she became a teacher to pay her way through her schooling at Syracuse Medical College in New York. Her aim was to help mankind — and she didn’t let her sex get in the way of accomplishments.

Dr. Mary Walker also continually challenged gender norms by wearing pants under her dresses.

Walker graduated, with honors, in 1855 and was the only woman in her class. When the Civil War broke out, she decided to try and sign up for the Union Army as a commissioned medical officer. Unfortunately, she was denied because of her sex. However, this did not dissuade her convictions. Instead, she worked as an unpaid volunteer and nurse in the U.S. Patent Office Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Later, she was able to secure a position as a field surgeon on the front lines. Walker worked for the Union for two years, performing surgery and tending to the casualties of war. It wasn’t until 1863 that she was awarded a commission as a “Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian).”

Surprisingly, Walker was allowed to wear the officer’s uniform and was known to carry two pistols on her hip, just in case. On April 10, 1864, Walker accidentally crossed enemy lines and was captured by Rebel soldiers and held captive in Richmond, VA. After four months of captivity, she was traded back to the Union, man-for-man, for a Confederate officer.

She continued to serve as a surgeon in Louisville, KY until the end of the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson presented Walker with the Medal of Honor in 1865 for her selfless service. In 1917, when the eligibility requirements were changed to include “actual combat,” Walker’s medal was rescinded.

The government called for her to give the medal back, but Walker wouldn’t take it laying down! She continued to wear it on her lapel until her death in 1919. President Jimmy Carter and an Army board re-assessed the situation in 1977 and reinstated her Medal of Honor, during which they acknowledged her “distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication, and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex.”

First enlisted Airman to receive Medal of Honor

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — Picture the scene: a group of 30 young men in the small town of Caro, Mich., getting their picture taken on the courthouse steps before leaving to serve their country. As they line up, the sheriff calls across the steps to say he had one more for the picture: Maynard Harrison Smith in handcuffs, fresh from his trial.

Meet the first Medal of Honor recipient: Army Pvt. Jacob Parrott

ARMY PVT. JACOB PARROTT

Parrott was born on July 17, 1843, in Fairfield County, Ohio. He enlisted in the Army as part of Company K, 33rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry, during the Civil War.

Double tap that! – Sparrow Locks

Have you heard of the Double tap Snap Gun?  Sparrow Locks are up to no good.  Check out below and Read that Double Tap!