August 16, 2021 Almost from the moment the Wright brothers proved that powered, heavier-than-air machine flight was possible, people have wanted to jump. On August 16, 1940, 48 volunteers from the “Parachute Test Platoon” clambered aboard a Douglas C-33 at Lawson Air Field, Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia, and took off for

by Pete Mecca At age 6, Jim Lawrence would get dropped off at Hawkins Field in Jackson, Mississippi, to watch airplanes land and take off all day. By age 9, Jim was getting paid to wash the planes. Soon, he was flying them, and on his 16th birthday, he soloed for

As we mourn the recent deaths of 13 US Service Members and witness the ongoing disaster in Afghanistan, it is good to read this thoughtful letter sent by the Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and Sergeant Major Troy Black to their fellow Marines: ATTEND AN EVENT SUBSCRIBE TO

Last week, a Command Sergeant Major (CSM) at Fort Hood noticed something wrong with the new 1st Cavalry Division patches distributed to troops to wear on their sleeves. Seems like the patch manufacturer had failed to put a VERY slight bow in the diagonal stripe, a bow I’m guessing only the CSM

If you served in the Navy or Coast Guard since 1973, you’ve watched Trial by Fire, a harrowing 18-minute, 44-second film of the USS Forrestal (CV-59) disaster of July 29, 1967. Trial by Fire is a training film shown to all recruits, but it’s so well-written and the footage so raw

One morning in 1971 in a village in Binh Phuoc province, South Vietnam, Jim Roberts’ Mobile Advisory Team received a call about an incoming helicopter. Jim and two team members set out for the helipad and watched as the pilot flared his descent and settled gently on the pad’s painted white “H.”