The National Defense Medal, which had been issued to service members of all branches during designated periods of war, will no longer be issued after December 31st, 2022. The Department of Defense made the decision after the U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, ending America’s longest conflict. The National Defense Medal was automatically awarded
Read on »Posts By: Jeff Woodward
JANUS: A Wargame Simulation Code and the Effects of Nuclear Artillery Yields
In the decades before the wonderful website Nukemap helped us with determining the effects of nuclear weapons when used against any target on the globe, The United States used a Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory program called JANUS. JANUS1 was an interactive wargame simulation code, in which the military could input various yield options on battlefield nuclear weapons,
Read on »Turkey and the Cyprian Crises of 1974..Official vs. Non-Official Reports concerning Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons history, a la official reports, and the situation that was told to me by older nuke techs who were in Turkey during the Cyprian Crises of 1974 are a little different. When I was a young nuclear weapons specialist, I would hear stories from the older NCOs who had been around for a
Read on »The U.S. has the Wrong Type of Nuclear Weapons? According to The Hill, It Does
In a recent article in The Hill by columnist Gordon G. Chang Do we have the wrong nuclear weapons to deter Russia and China?, it is suggested by Mr. Chang that the United States nuclear arsenal, and the lack of low-yield short and medium range nuclear missiles in the U.S. Navy, are a reason that
Read on »Nuclear Weapons Tech..55G Advanced Individual Training
A question I frequently get asked is “what did the training consist as a nuclear weapons technician?” In my book Last of the Glow Worms, I tried to explain some of the training we went through. Here, I will share some of that training with those interested in historical U.S. Army nuclear weapons maintenance training,
Read on »Presentation about the 59th Ordnance Brigade and Nuclear Artillery
Nuclear artillery. These words are reminiscent of the Cold War Era, when both the Soviet Union and United States developed what were termed as “tactical nuclear weapons”; in short, battlefield nuclear weapons used by artillery units with a short range, and possible short lifespan for the soldiers who fired these weapons. The 59th Ordnance Brigade
Read on »The M422CA1E1 Nuclear Artillery Round and the Reality of an 18 Year Old Nuke Tech
The M422CA1 and it’s variant, the M422CA1E1 were the mainstay of United States nuclear artillery throughout Europe and South Korea from the beginning of the Cold War until their removal in 1991. Also known as the Old 8″, the M422 was deployed by the United States in Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey as part of
Read on »As Biden Abandons Afghan Allies, We Must Remember Trump and His Betrayal of the Kurds
With the catastrophe of the American pull-out of Afghanistan in full force, there are many reports of Taliban fighters resuming their 20 year hiatus assault on women, and the murders of people who worked with the Americans during their involvement in Afghanistan. The accounts are horrific, as one article written in an August 18th, 2021
Read on »Adam Toledo Killed by CPD: When Does it Stop?
The recent shooting in Minnesota of Daunte Wright by a 26 year veteran of the Brooklyn Center P.D. when she believed she had a taser in her hand, accidently shooting and killing Daunte was hard to watch. I first asked myself, “Did he have a gun? Why was he resisting and trying to flee? Why
Read on »Soviet Army Divisions Amongst Soldiers During the Cold War
During my research of other aspects of the Cold War I was not directly involved with, I began to speak with customers that I visit frequently, most of whom are from former Soviet republics. Weekly visits to them to try and sell products has allowed a level of familiarity that has opened the door to
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