Pihu Babu 1

05/03/2026

The Marine Corps is rebooting how it trains Reconnaissance Marines, with an overhaul of the program’s notoriously tough training curriculum.

Marines who wish to serve as part of a scout or reconnaissance team will no longer go to a 12-week Basic Recon Course, instead will need to complete two new courses: the Ground Reconnaissance Course and the Amphibious Reconnaissance Course. The first now serves as the initial part of the training curriculum, and its first class reported on Monday, April 27.

The new initial course replacing it will cover land navigation, water survival, surveillance and supporting arms, among other topics, with lectures and hands-on training. According to Marine Corps Training Command, the new course “formalizes scout training” to provide enhanced capabilities for Light Armored Reconnaissance and infantry battalions.

Marine officials said more information on the two new schools, like the length of each course, would be released next week.

05/02/2026

"Innovation meets compassion. 🤝 Watch as high-tech gear assists in a daring rescue during a natural disaster. 🌧️✨"

04/30/2026

In 2022, U.S. Air Force Captain Rhea McFarland made history as the first Black woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, the nation’s highest award for heroism or extraordinary achievement in aerial flight.

On November 21, 2022, at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, Capt. McFarland accepted the award for her actions during the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation. As a C-17 Globemaster III pilot with the 14th Airlift Squadron, she flew two missions into Kabul as part of Operation Allies Refuge.

Her crew piloted the second-to-last aircraft to depart Kabul, carrying final personnel that included soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division. McFarland stated, “I’m honored to have received the Distinguished Flying Cross alongside my crew, and to have played a role in a team of service members and allies to evacuate over 124,000 people.” Her achievement recognizes the extraordinary efforts of many during one of the largest air evacuations in history.

(Photo: Captain Rhea McFarland)

04/28/2026

04/22/2026

This shield can stop everything

04/17/2026

Alarm,Let’s go the big boy

04/16/2026

Calling by lightning ゚viralシ

04/14/2026

9 APRIL 2003 – FALL OF BAGHDAD - OIF

The climax of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM began on 3 April as U.S. forces fought their way into Iraq’s capital, gaining control over the ancient city by 9 April and shattering Saddam Hussein’s despotic regime.

U.S. Army forces under V Corps command, spearheaded by the 3rd Infantry Division, reached the outskirts of Baghdad after breaking through Republican Guard resistance at the Karbala Gap. 3rd Infantry Division forces approached the city from the southeast, while Marine Corps forces approached from the southwest.

In one of the war’s hardest fought engagements, 3rd Infantry Division elements attacked well-entrenched defenders at Baghdad International Airport (then called Saddam International Airport), capturing the facility on 3 April.

On 5 April, an armored reconnaissance task force conducted a Thunder Run into Baghdad, surveying the enemy’s defenses in preparation for a larger offensive into the city center. That offensive came on 7 April, when a whole brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division conducted the second and most famous Thunder Run, bowling over Iraqi opposition and seizing the government quarter (which would become the Green Zone).

Even as Army and Marine Corps forces charged into Baghdad, Iraqi media continued to insist that Iraq was winning the war and inflicting heavy casualties on coalition forces; the most prominent of these propagandists, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, was nicknamed “Baghdad Bob” and became famous in the West for his outlandish proclamations.

U.S. forces continued to spread through the city in the days that followed, capturing Hussein’s palaces and government buildings and effectively toppling the political machinery of his despotic state. On 9 April Baghdad came fully under U.S. control, leading to widespread celebrations among the city’s civilian population.

U.S. Army

04/13/2026

Through storms, deserts, mountains and contested airspaces, every C-130J mission is unique, and every challenge is an opportunity for success.

With 560+ aircraft across 26 ‘Super Hercules’ nations and more than 3 million flight hours, the Super Hercules fleet has seen it all. Every mission delivers lessons only real-world experience can teach. These lessons build readiness, capability and confidence for the warfighter that comes from proven, trusted and mission-tested experience.

04/12/2026

While the West spends millions on missile defense, Japan just built a $2,500 interceptor drone — and tested it in actual combat

Japan just sent its engineers into an active war zone.

Not as observers. Not as consultants. As builders.

Terra Drone, one of Japan's top drone companies, is now manufacturing and testing interceptor drones directly on Ukraine's frontline.

Their target? Iran's Shahed drones — the same ones Russia has been using to terrorize Ukrainian cities for years.

The cost of their interceptor? $2,500.

For context, a single US-made Patriot missile costs around $4 million.

That means Japan's solution is roughly 1,600 times cheaper — and it's being refined in real combat, not a lab.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are already watching closely, because they're tired of burning through American missile stockpiles every time Iran launches an attack.

Terra Drone has invested directly in a Ukrainian defense startup called Amazing Drones — the first Japanese investment in Ukraine's weapons industry ever.

Japan's pacifist constitution limits what it can export. So instead, it's innovating from inside the battlefield itself.

04/11/2026

That Others May Live.

Shot on various assignments for . I’d have posted an A-10 but the only time I’ve seen one is from the back of Pave Hawk as I watched it fly right on by.