*All photos by author Thanks to the Marine Corps, I’ve got natural hearing protection — lol (moderate-to-severe hearing loss). So these days, I take ear pro seriously and rely on solid in-ear earplugs every time I hit the range. I’ve grown to prefer this style of hearing protection for its minimalist footprint. Yeah, there are some slick electronic in-ear options on the market, and they work great — but they also tend to be pretty damn expensive. I keep a set of electronic over-ear muffs in my range bag for when some guy decides to mag dump with a comp…
Author: Tommy Grant
Eligible active-duty U.S. Air Force aviators can receive up to $50,000 per year in bonuses for shorter contract lengths in an effort from the service to retain airmen with “critical skills that are highly sought after.”For fiscal year 2026’s aviation bonus program, the force is offering the monetary incentive to select aviators in exchange for an active-duty service commitment, according to a Wednesday Air Force release.The statement lists specific eligible pilots: remotely piloted aircraft pilots, air battle managers and combat systems officers among those the service wishes to “decisively shape and retain” with the bonus opportunity. “The aviation bonus is…
I love growing beans, but bean trellises can be cumbersome and difficult to build. Bean teepees, on the other hand, are a creative and efficient means of supporting your pole beans. And they’re easy to build! Pole beans need to twine some kind of a support or pole, so giving them a teepee to grow on will make a nice addition to your garden. Beans germinate and grow quickly, so it won’t take long to enjoy your work! In this article, we’ll talk about how to build a bean teepee for your pole beans. We’ll also talk about the best…
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter.On a serene Saturday afternoon, thousands of miles from conflict, soldiers with the California Air National Guard are scattered among stations, hunched over a buddy. Some apply tourniquets. Others practice life-saving skills, checking for breathing, tilting chins to clear airways, searching for blood loss and hidden wounds.This is how they learn to keep a soldier alive.“They’re getting ready to deploy,” said Dr. Dean Winslow, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and an instructor at the…
This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog. It is difficult to believe the pace at which global events are now moving. Apocalyptic threats are being thrown around recklessly, and severe damage is being done to the global economic system every single day. A lot of people still seem to think that economic conditions will snap back to normal once the war ends, and that is because they don’t understand the level of destruction that has already taken place. Even if the war ends tomorrow and commercial traffic starts flowing freely through the Strait of…
President Donald Trump on Thursday again chided NATO for its reluctance to support U.S. operations in Iran, just a day after a tense private meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.Rutte travelled to Washington to mollify the president, who remains incensed at the alliance for refusing to intervene in the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery that typically carries a quarter of the world’s oil and gas. The strait’s near-closure has prevented roughly ten million barrels of crude oil daily from reaching global markets. But Trump, following the face-to-face talks, was far…
Iran is accusing Israel of attacking Hezbollah even after the ceasefire was agreed upon. Iranian media outlets have reported that Tehran was suspending tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and was considering pulling out of the deal with Washington over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. The United States has denied that the vital waterway has been closed again. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump was aware of reports saying the strait had been closed, but said the reports “are false,” reported CBS News. It isn’t just Israel, either. Iran has also accused the U.S. of violating multiple…
The old phrase, “Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile,” is nowhere more apparent than in the modern gun control movement. Gun-rights groups have warned for decades about the incremental nature of gun bans, while those on the other side of the debate have always laughed the notion off as “conspiracy theory.” Today, we are seeing more proof of this truth in Rhode Island, where anti-gun lawmakers are trying to expand on a bad law they passed last year. Last June, Democrat Gov. Dan McKee signed into law a ban on the manufacture, purchase, sale, or transfer of…
The U.S. Army has advanced at least two bidders in its rotary-wing pilot training overhaul, moving closer to outsourcing how it trains new pilots. Some aviators are hopeful about the change. Bell and M1 Support Services this week announced advancement in the Army’s Flight School Next program, an initiative that would shift key parts of rotary-wing pilot training — including aircraft maintenance and both academic and flight instruction — to a contractor-owned, contractor-operated schoolhouse. The change would also include a new training aircraft.Under the plan, contractors would provide a full training curriculum to produce 900 to 1,500 pilots annually, replacing…
An Army doctor at a Texas base is now facing an expanded set of sexual assault and misconduct charges involving 73 victims.The Army on April 7 preferred more charges against Maj. Blaine McGraw, an obstetrician-gynocologist assigned to the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to a Wednesday statement from the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. He is now facing six charges and 146 specifications to sexual misconduct that the Army alleges occurred between October 2023 and December 2025. McGraw remains innocent until proven guilty, the office said. The charges include dozens of specifications of sexual…