Zero Foxtrot | Particl Company Profile

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This cartoon was published in 1914, before America entered the First World War. Before Normandy, Vietnam, Fallujah, and Helmand. Before more than a century of speeches promising that this war would be necessary, this one would be different, and couldn't be avoided. The drawing is brutal because it doesn't waste time pretending. A soldier, blown apart and dragging himself forward with his hands, leaves his intestines behind him as he crawls toward a comfortable businessman seated in an oversized chair. The businessman leans forward with a medal in one hand and the possibility of a job in the other. "After the War... A Medal and Maybe a Job." John Sloan wasn't mocking the soldier. He was asking a question that has survived every war in history. Who benefits when nations go to war, and who gets left with the bill? For all the progress we've made over the last hundred years, that question still seems to make people uncomfortable. We've revolutionized the machinery of war. We can watch a battlefield from space, strike a target from another continent, and deliver enough firepower to erase a city before breakfast. Yet somehow the burden of proof for going to war still feels lighter than the burden carried by the people expected to fight it. The men who go are almost always told they are defending freedom, protecting democracy, stopping the next threat before it reaches home. Maybe those claims are true. Maybe they aren't. But if history has taught us anything, it should be that those explanations deserve relentless scrutiny before the first convoy rolls out. Not decades later when the archives finally open and everyone admits the story was all bullshit to justify a far more nefarious plot. The remarkable thing isn't that this cartoon existed in 1914. It's that after more than a century of war, technological progress, and promises that we've learned our lesson, the question it asks is still unanswered. If there is one lesson worth carrying forward, it isn't that every soldier deserves another ribbon. It's that every government should face impossible questions before asking another generation to come home wearing one.

In 2007, 2nd Battalion 7th Marines had an unique way of rewarding the snipers for a successful mission. Instead of another challenge coin, they handed out a Battalion Commander's 72-hour Liberty Passes. This first one came after the first mission of the deployment. A leaders recon to get oriented to the area that turned into an opportunity. As the sun rose they identified three insurgents placing an IED south of Saqlawiyah. Watching for 3 hours in the reeds along the rivers edge, finally 2 of them sat down 400m away, pulled AK's out of their jackets, and the green light was given. The certificate documented the engagement, then rewarded the Marines with three extra days of leave when they got home. It sounded like a good idea at the time and the snipers certainly weren't complaining. The funny part is these were handed out several times during the opening weeks of the deployment. Then someone higher up apparently realized the battalion might be giving away a lot of 72-hour passes if things kept pace. The incentive quietly disappeared. Every unit had its own traditions. Some gave coins, handed out beers, but 2/7 decided combat effectiveness was worth a three-day weekend. Curious what incentives or attaboys the rest of you got. Did your unit have any strange traditions, or memorable ways of recognizing a successful mission?

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Operation Fishbowl JULY 8-9, 1962 Cold War Johnston Atoll The United States did not nuke the sky by accident. It put a thermonuclear warhead on a Thor missile, launched it from Johnston Island, and detonated it roughly 400 kilometers above the Pacific. The shot was Starfish Prime, part of Operation Fishbowl, and the yield was about 1.4 megatons. The Cold War logic was clean enough on paper. If the Soviets were building missiles, America needed to know what nuclear explosions would do above the atmosphere. Could a high-altitude burst blind radar? Kill incoming warheads? Break communications? Fry electronics? Turn the upper atmosphere into a weapon? So they tested it. The blast lit the Pacific and produced an electromagnetic pulse stronger than expected. Some instruments failed because the event outran the measurement plan. In Hawaii, about 900 miles away, streetlights went out, burglar alarms started screaming, and the telephone systems was damaged. Nobody dropped a bomb on Honolulu, the wiring got fried from space. Then came the interesting part, the unintended consequences. Starfish Prime injected charged particles into Earth’s magnetic field and helped create an artificial radiation belt. Satellites started dying early. NASA was learning how to operate inside the natural Van Allen belts. Washington had just unintentionally built a dirty training field overhead. This is where the conspiracy version gets lazy. The CIA did not secretly launch the shot. The test belonged to the geniuses at the weapons and defense establishment and approved by JFK. But the intelligence world lived inside the consequences. It watched Soviet nuclear tests, measured foreign capabilities, and read signatures. We’re all lucky that nuking the sky “only” burned out satellites and blacked out cities. If they’d kept going, I wonder how many nukes would it take to destroy the atmosphere and humanity with it.

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WELCOME TO NEVADASTAN. This isn't another flat-range shooting match. This is an intelligence operation. On October 3rd, you'll use @spartan.forge to navigate to a hidden intelligence cache before the clock runs out. From there, you'll tackle two mission-based live-fire scenarios where precision, communication, and teamwork matter more than speed. The Nevadastan Initiative blends the hard lessons of past conflicts with modern technology and plausible future scenarios. Every mission is designed to make you think, adapt, communicate, and perform under pressure. This will be FUN. You will LEARN. And the shooter prizes are absolutely worth fighting for. More importantly, every piece of intelligence you recover represents something real. The Nevadastan Initiative supports the Bright Light Continuum, bringing awareness and direct action to the search for Americans still unaccounted for in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This event is open to anyone who believes America's promise to its warriors doesn't end when the war does. Veterans, first responders, competitive shooters, and patriotic citizens are all welcome. If you believe in bringing our warriors home, you've got a place here. Teams are encouraged, but not required. Only 20 shooter slots are available. Details and registration: taskforcegarrison.org/events Train with purpose. Honor the missing. FOR THE FEW. #veteran #legacy #history #2a #support

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Tinian, Mariana Islands 24 July 1944. WWII U.S. V Amphibious Corps 2ND and 4TH Marine Divisions vs. Japanese Army Tinian sat three miles from Saipan, flat, hot, and valuable. The Marine Corps wanted it, and the Japanese knew it. The obvious beaches were near Tinian Town and Sunharon Harbor. It was wider, cleaner, and exactly where Japan focused their defenses to slaughter the Americans. But the strategy was predictable, so they put the Recon teams to work. White Beach 1 and White Beach 2 were barely beaches. One was only 60 yards long with coral, reefs, tight lanes, and almost no room for men, vehicles, or mistakes. On paper, they were terrible ideas, but that was the point. Recon Marines and Underwater Demolition Teams went in at night and checked whether infantry and vehicles could get ashore without everybody drowning. The answer was yes, barely, if they left the swim waivers in the motor pool, but it was doable. On July 24, 1944, about 15,600 Marines landed and the plan worked. The Japanese had built their attention around the convenient beaches. By 0800, three battalions were ashore in about 20 minutes with bulldozers and tanks shortly after. The fight was still ugly as the Japanese counter attack hit that night. Mines, caves, heat, and close terrain still had to be paid for in blood. The Americans lost 389 killed and 1,816 wounded. More than 5,000 Japanese troops were killed. Thousands of civilians died or were interned. By August 1, Tinian was secured. Then Seabees turned it into one of the busiest airfields of the war. B-29s launched from there against Japan, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sometimes when you know you're in a fight, and you know that they know, you know what they know, you know they know. You can catch em with their kimono down.

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PTSD is real. The "22 a day" conversation is real. And for a lot of us, the war doesn't end when the deployment does. At Task Force Garrison, we aren't pretending there's a magic cure. Trauma doesn't simply disappear. For many combat veterans, it's something you learn to carry for the rest of your life. What we can do is shoulder that weight together. No suits. No speeches. No pretending people who haven't lived it somehow have all the answers. We get veterans together. We shoot. We hunt. We fish. We climb hills that make our lungs burn. We stand around a tailgate after a long day with people who have seen the same darkness, and somehow the load gets a little lighter. Nature has a way of stripping away the noise. A covey rise, a good dog on point, miles behind your boots, and brothers and sisters beside you. That's therapy you can't package in a brochure. If you've always wanted to experience upland bird hunting, join us November 7 for the Task Force Garrison Upland Academy. No experience required. Just show up ready to learn, laugh, walk some country, and leave with something that's bigger than a successful hunt. As our friends @chukarchasers say: "Hunt Chukar. Live Longer." We believe that. For the Few. And Stay Zero @zulufucxs DM us if you want a spot. #hunting #veterans #outdoors #ptsd #22

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Medic! Your libo brief was simple. Do not turn your hand inside out because you want to impress people who drink Truly's. Fireworks are not toys. They are tiny bombs, sold next to folding tables and beef jerky by a guy without enough teeth to eat beef jerky. Respect the math. Do not hold them. Do not relight duds. Do not lean over them like you are negotiating with a drunk woman. Do not mix booze, lighters, and confidence. Do not let your buddy named Kyle “just see what happens.” Put the fireworks on the ground. Back up. Keep water nearby. Watch your kids. Keep your dog inside unless you want him to experience Fallujah in the laundry room. Enjoy you all enjoyed the weekend. Its hard to fight without fingers... Stay capable.

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America entered the Great War late. Our last major international conflict had been the War of 1812. Europe knew war. America, in their eyes, did not. France welcomed us. Britain welcomed us. But few believed the United States had been tested on the world's stage. Then came Belleau Wood. A patch of woods with little strategic value, yet immense symbolic importance. Hidden inside were seemingly impregnable German machine gun positions. Traditional tactics failed. So the Marines adapted. Small assault teams. Relentless aggression. American ingenuity under fire. The didn't just win a battle. They proved that America belonged. Belleau Wood became the first great American victory of the war and helped ignite the reputation that would eventually grow into a global superpower. This Fourth of July, celebrate more than fireworks. Remember the Marines who stood up when it mattered most. Belleau Wood. The 5th Marines. The beginning of an American legacy. Semper Fidelis and Happy Birthday America. #veteran #usmc #america250 #legends #history