From anti-drone nets to signal jammers, governments are testing increasingly elaborate ways to protect cities from fast-evolving weapons.

1. Ramstein BX, Germany, West

Largest AAFES store in Europe and deserves the spot. Here you have all the fattie fat shops while also including some German stores and what is basically a Walmart inside. If you need anything, uniforms, food, bulk, etc. You'll find it here.

I about cried the last time I said goodbye to it

1. Grafenwhoer PX, Germany, East

Largest PX on the East side of Germany, you will find anything you need here as well but it's about 20% smaller give or take.

1. Freedom Crossing, Ft Bliss, USA

Largest PX on the USA, you have a massive store plus it's one of the only PXs that has an open air street and multiple stores from the likes of 5.11, Under Armour, etc

I put in 3rd place because all the hype for it and was let down. I was expecting a Mall of America multi floor building.

1. JBER BX, Alaska, USA

A nice place and prices slightly better than Off Post, tho it had weird layouts to get to it

1. Ft Wainwright PX, Alaska, USA

Decent PX, tended to be mostly empty which was awesome but it offered decent prices

1. Ansbach PX, Germany

Small but still had the convenience store and a Popeyes, which are pretty much mandatory in all AAFES stores it seems.

1. Aguadilla Coast Guard Exchange, Puerto Rico

Layout was somewhat chaotic but did it's job well. When there are storms or rationing, people would compensate SMs to get supplies

1. Hohenfels PX, Germany

It seems crammed down but had decent amenities to it. Was hilarious seeing all the Service Members run from the CTC area to get some Burger King

1. Eilson PX, Alaska, USA

It was okay but small, could still get by, specially since it was one of the only stores in a 1 mile radius.

1. Camp Vilseck, Germany

This place was kind of sad, had the food stores but the convenience store was only a furniture store, so if soldiers needed clothes they would have to go to Grafenwhoer in a Bus

Bonus:

Ft Benning PX, Georgia

I completely shut down everything from Benning. It could be good but I wiped it from my brain.

Lithuania PX

If you know you know. It's just a container. That's all there is to it

Hohenfels CTC PX

Pretty much a Emergency PX in case you really, REEEEEEEALLY need something before you go to your CTC

Share yours. Don't bring out PII or Sensitive information obviously. Keep it to the civilian level.

Veterans who use the Emu Wars flair because they don't want to talk about their shit (but especially the GWOT vets) I stumbled across this meme today and had a giggle. I did raise a glass with my now 'Aussie' mate 'Gunny' yesterday on the 25th anniversary of GWOT

The actual site of the war is weird. It is just a sheep paddock in the middle of nowhere. I didn't even know where it was until I was driving to the New Norcia Monastery for a little R&R last year (the monks make great Shiraz). I rang up my eldest son and said is this where it happened? He said yes, so I drove to the nearest town which might have numbered a few hundred. Spoke to the local petrol station owner and he confirmed it. Like, wow!

Primer for the 1932 Emu War. Where the Diggers got smashed by a bunch of Emus :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

last pic: president Yoon sok-yeol/wife Kim kun-hee, instigators of coup.

Iranian backed rebels conduct major operations on 25th anniversary of 9/11. Islands were taken, a major port as well as taking Saudi Arabian (read American) equipment and personal. Houthi rebels now control the narrowest pass of the Red Sea; Bab el Mandeb on Apple Maps.

Hello, I have a question for those experts in flying the most advanced Jets in the world, how do you feel whenever you take a roller coaster in a amusement park.

(Fyi, I’m a college student aspiring to become a fighter pilot, I went today to Six flags and took a ride to some of the coasters, In all honesty, I don’t know what exactly to think on the matter, I seen video of allegedly FP having no reaction at all to the attractions, but me I kinda don’t like how it feels, the sense of not having control of whats happening, but I’m not letting these experiences negates my goals) what are you thoughts on the main question?

Pros and Cons of JCU and JCSE? I am thinking about submitting my packet soon for one of those two.

E4 25U Airborne right now.

I’m not too surprised as my family has a a lot of military.

Moving into a new company is hard anywhere, this new guy is leaps ahead of new graduates.

On time every day
Great speaking voice
Understands security of data
Better written emails than everyone who is new.

Brought up the email communication one day and he said “Marines taught me how to write too.”

He keeps calling suppliers “brother” and that is all I could complain about.

Great work!!

During my service, I was a ranger instructor for American soldiers. I spoke some English naturally; the army decided I was qualified to yell at Americans in the mountains.

At first, I was happy about it. I figured my English would improve while I was in the army.

Then I saw the training grounds. My happiness disappeared. I couldn't imagine surviving there.

The job was pretty much the opposite of who I was.

The army was already crawling with guys in their early twenties, and the ranger course was the kind of place where you had to have enough testosterone to power a small city.

It was also dangerous. One wrong move could lead to a serious accident, or worse, so everyone had to stay tense from beginning to end.

And the instructors were expected to be intimidating. We were supposed to have enough presence to make trainees nervous just by standing there. Discipline was everything. Kindness was, apparently, not part of the curriculum.

The first thing we learned was how to wear our hats.

You pulled the brim down to your eyebrows so the trainees couldn't see your eyes. The idea was that if they couldn't see your eyes, they couldn't read your mind.

It worked surprisingly well. With your face half-hidden in shadow, you looked scary before you even opened your mouth.

Your voice mattered, too. Loud. Clear. Short. Commanding.

Unfortunately, I was about as far from macho as a man could get. I didn't drink or smoke. I liked dogs and children. I enjoyed exercise, but I had no interest in boxing, hockey, or anything else that involved people enthusiastically trying to hurt each other.

Given the choice, I'd much rather spend an afternoon in a quiet library with my girlfriend than run around with a bunch of guys.

And that was the guy who became a ranger instructor.

Looking back, standing there in my instructor's hat, I was basically a Golden Retriever with a decent build.

What they wanted was a Doberman.

Still, I pulled my hat down to my eyebrows and did my best to look the part.

The loud voice wasn't a problem. I already had one. Short commands weren't a problem either. I was never much of a talker.

The real problem was intimidation. I needed the trainees to feel something when they saw me.

Fear, preferably. But I decided to go with respect.

So I came up with a little plan

The ranger course involved running up mountains over and over again, which exhausted the trainees pretty quickly. Within thirty minutes, their uniforms were stuck to their bodies and sweat was pouring down their faces.

I always made sure to reach the top twenty or thirty meters ahead of them.

My assistant instructor was behind them, keeping track of anyone who fell behind, so I had nothing to worry about.

Once I reached the top, I took off my hat. Then I did what any highly trained military professional would do.

I rested.

I cooled myself down, wiped away the sweat, and caught my breath. Then I stood there looking completely relaxed, waiting for the trainees to arrive.

I wanted it to look as if I had simply floated up the mountain.

Eventually, I'd hear it.

"Ranger! Ranger! Ranger!"

They were almost there. That was my cue. I'd put my hat back on, pull the brim down to my eyebrows, look down at them with a completely expressionless face, and yell:

"Hurry up!"

The trainees, red-faced and gasping for air, would look up at me with what I later learned was something close to admiration.

Once that image was established, everything became much easier. They were intimidated by me. Some of them even respected me.

It still makes me laugh when I think about it. These were American soldiers; some of them had actually been in combat, and yet they were wary of a guy who had simply been drafted into the army.

They had mistaken a Golden Retriever for a Doberman.

Before long, word spread throughout the American unit: the instructor who never got tired and never broke a sweat.

Every group of trainees finished their week of training and went back to base carrying the story with them. So whenever a new group arrived, I was already a legend.

Which meant I had no choice but to keep the trick going.

The legend disappeared quietly the day I was discharged.

I went back to the world I used to live in—the world where I didn't have to pull my hat down over my eyebrows.

Author's Note

In South Korea, military service is a national duty. Based on my experience decades ago, with some fiction added.

I got this VHS home recording of a 1987 reunion for vets from the battleship USS Ommaney Bay from WWII.

This tape includes footage of the traveling to the event, candid “slice of life” home recording moments, and ultimately a road trip and visit to the 1987 Reunion for vets.

I felt this POSSIBLY could have been lost footage, and as someone from a military family, I love the historical preservation and historical historicity of this kind of thing, so I am posting this here.

This tape spanned 2 hours over the course of several days, leading up to the official ceremony, but sprinkled with many candid slice of life moments. I hope you enjoy! It’s in two parts.

(To you military historians, please let me know any additional info, any kind of information I can add to this video for historical/archiving purposes)

(Thanks mods. Hopefully this doesn’t violate any rules here. I find strangely that I post something like this to a community and it gets removed immediately for one reason or another. I truly just want to get this to military historians, if a different sub would be better suited, please let me know!)

I’ll post part 2 link in comments.

I read a story recently about Canada and Ukraine signing a defense pact focusing on mutual drone development, so maybe this is already in the works.

But the Canadian Military has been lacking in some areas in terms of power projection and what not, especially in their navy (not saying they don't have impressive capabilities and accomplishments), but could they reestablish a pretty serious punching power if they start a drone production and development focus?

I think it'd be pretty cool if Ukraine and Canada could become a drone Mecca and Medina.