Announcements (December 2004)
Current developments in less lethal weapons include the directed energy weapon known as the Active Denial System. Basically, this is a microwave device that makes your skin feel as if it's being burned. For more information, see http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/factsheets/activedenial.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/magazine/25WEAPONS.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=0e7ad9a97b1e878f&ex=1100235600. According to the November 2004 Marine Corps Gazette, prototypes have been sent to Iraq for testing.
Meanwhile, the US Army tested M26 TASER weapons in Iraq, and the feedback led to the fielding of a rail device that allows the smaller X26 TASER to be mounted beneath the barrel of an M4 carbine. For a discussion, see http://www.wood.army.mil/MPBULLETIN/pdfs/April%2004%20pdfs/barbour-TASER.pdf. The idea of putting less-lethal capability on assault weapons sounds great to a generation that grew up hearing Captain Kirk ordering Spock to set the phasers on stun. However, flick the wrong switch, and Private Snuffy just shot a TASER at a barricaded sniper, or put a bullet into some drunk with an attitude. Therefore, I'm not sure if putting TASERS on assault weapons is truly a good idea, or whether it is instead simply another gee-whiz idea introduced by visiting Big Brains.
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The Iraq war is also spurring developments in body armor. Current body armor is generally made from Spectra, a material that is stronger and lighter than Kevlar, and fitted with pockets that hold bullet-resistant boron carbide plates. See, for example, http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/media/fact/individual/USMC_InterceptorOTV.htm, http://www.olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_gear_body_armor_interceptor.php, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/interceptor.htm, http://www.savvysurvivor.com/interceptor_controversy.htm, and http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_Armor,,00.html, and http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/media/fact/individual/USMC_InterceptorSAPI.htm. Research continues, and I suspect that eventually, most clothing issued to soldiers and industrial workers will have significant fire and impact resistance. For more on this, see http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1551.
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Finally, if you are curious about what man-portable tactical lasers are currently capable (and not capable) of doing, try Michael Naimark's "Using Lasers to Temporarily Neutralize Camera Sensors" at http://www.naimark.net/projects/zap/howto.html. As weapons, though, one still needs powerful vehicle-mounted lasers to achieve any significant battlefield advantage. See, for example, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/budget/fy1999/dot-e/accessories/99nonmjr.html. A photo of the Saber 203 weapon described in the latter article appears at http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/Factsheets/saber203.html.
A couple links of potential interest.
The first deals directly with non-lethal weapons. It's a bibliography, actually. See http://confidenz-depesche.com/download/stoa-bib.html. Sample citations include "Wargovitch, et al (1975) Evaluation of the Physiological Effects of a Rubber Bullet, A Baseball and a Flying Baton, US Army Engineering Laboratory, Technical Memo, Aberdeen Proving Ground, USA" and "Shimizu, T; Fujita, S; Izumi, K; Koja, T; Ohba, N; Fukuda, T (1984) Corneal lesions induced by the systemic administration of capsicum in neonatal mice and rats. Archives Pharmacology 326, pp. 347-51." The latter article is online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6482983&dopt=Abstract.
The other deals with the unpleasant aftermath of non-lethal violence. It's a link to music therapy as a tool in treating the survivors of domestic violence. http://www.enterthefreudianslip.com/music_therapy_and_domestic_violence.htm
"I never saw a single engagement where the skills provided by the
martial arts program assisted our efforts during the [recent Iraq] war.
Skills such as flex cuffing and body searching would have been handy,
but
I'd gladly have traded the 3 weeks of training time committed to
martial
arts for enhanced marksmanship training. I can't tell you how many
times
we had Marines firing on Marines, or Marines firing on Iraqis, only to
hit air and dirt. Neither did I see a man doing dead hang pullups or
any
women Marines doing flex arm hangs. No one stopped to knock out 100
crunchies
at any point, nor could you find anyone running 3 miles while engaged
in
combat. Perhaps it's time reevaluate how we measure our fitness levels,
by incorporating high-intensity, short-distance sprints under moderate
(50 lb.) loads, along with body manipulation events (such as getting
gear-equipped
body over obstacles and through windows)… The idea here is that we need
to better focus our efforts during peacetime to enhance our abilities
during
war. The martial arts program and the current physical fitness program
should be two starting points."
-- Chief Warrant Officer Jeffrey L. Eby, gunner for 7th Marine Regiment, writing in Marine Corps Gazette, October 2003, page 32.
At a more affordable level, check out the canes and batons at http://www.batoncanne.com.
***
The opposite of non-lethal operations is the Vietnam-era Phoenix program. See http://www.thememoryhole.org/phoenix/. Myself, I think that the Marines’ Combined Action Platoons a better chance of winning hearts and minds, but what do I know.
The weapon is 13.25" overall, with a blade length of 8". This is 1.5" longer than the current Ka-Bar knife or M-7 bayonet. The blade has been designed to penetrate standard Kevlar flak jackets, and the scabbard holds a sharpening stone. Total weight, with scabbard, is 21 ounces.
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It is possible that the incidence of violent death has something to do with living in densely populated areas. However, if that is the case, then why do Montana and Manitoba have higher homicide rates than Minneapolis/St. Paul? (See http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Gov/morrison2.html.) Likewise, why do Australia’s Northern Territories have a higher homicide rate than Sydney? (See http://www.aic.gov.au/media/990211.html.) As for it all involving easy access to handguns, then how does one explain Fargo, North Dakota, where there are firearms in most homes, yet both homicide and suicide rates are among the lowest on earth?
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We have all heard how body language delivers 60% of the meaning during face-to-face communication. Ever wondered where that datum originated? If so, check http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:FauHflvXfIAC:www.cob.sjsu.edu/oestreich_h/Communic%2520Article.doc+body+language+tone+words+spoken+communicate&hl=en&ie=UTF-8.
By the way, sadistic homicides are most likely to happen during mid-summer, in areas where there are high population densities. In peacetime, these areas are of course big cities, but during wartime, everywhere the military or naval unit went would be an area of relatively high population density. This in turn may represent a partial explanation of the collections of scalps, ears, and penises often reported during wartime.
Meanwhile, as long as we’re on the topic of homoerotic mayhem, see also the article on nudity in ancient Greek athletics at http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1985/JSH1203/jsh1203b.pdf. If the author is correct in his assertions, then is possible that the idea behind fighting nude, or nearly so, is so that everyone can see who gets an erection in the midst of mayhem, and who is peeing himself.
People interested in such things will definitely like Frank Trzasca’s site, http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/index1.htm.
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Colonel Carl Eifler died in 1992, aged 95. Eifler was involved in various hand-to-hand combat training programs in the Border Patrol before World War II, and in the OSS during the war. (Among other things, he was an early graduate of Camp X.) For some descriptions of the man and his contributions, see:
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If you have questions about what you can and cannot (or should not) say on cyberspace, try http://www.chillingeffects.org – it’s a site run by some law schools, and it’s dedicated to free speech on the Internet.
***
Interested in reading about those thrilling days of yesteryear, when police weren’t paid overtime for working 10 hours a day, 6-7 days per week, police cars did not have light bars, and drivers were not legally drunk unless their blood alcohol content exceeded .15? Try the Utah Highway Patrol website, http://highwaypatrol.utah.gov/history. See also http://www.vsp.state.va.us/history.htm: "Jiujitsu" training in the Virginia State Police dates to 1941, while eight-hour work schedules date to 1952. However, the Virginia State Police did not adopt a five-day work schedule, until 1959, which was several years ahead of most Southern US police forces.
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RealFighting.com is in the process of publishing its fourth issue. There’s good stuff; check it out if you haven’t seen it before.
***
A booklet by Matt Cheung on the topic of krav maga appears at http://www.angelfire.com/art/maa/site/library/books/kravmaga.pdf.
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To learn more about Israeli special forces, try http://www.isayeret.com/main/guide.htm.
1. War Department doctrine, 1914: http://www.pattonhq.com/saber.html (author: Lt. George S. Patton, Jr.). For photos and some additional explication by Lt. Patton, see also http://www.militaryhorse.org/studies/swords/patton_rpt.asp.
2. War Department doctrine, 1922: http://www.militaryhorse.org/studies/swords/tr50-70.asp
As to what happened to those horse cavalry sabers, well, in
1942,
they got sent to the Pacific, where they were cut down and used as
machetes.
According to General George S. Patton, "This individual heroic stuff
is pure horse shit." For more of the general’s thoughts on combat, see
http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html.
Parental guidance is suggested. Meanwhile, although it isn’t nearly as
colorful as Patton’s speech, an FBI publication called "Controlling
Subjects: Realistic Training vs. Magic Bullets," appears at http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1997/feb974.htm.
***
Does the fear of nuclear or biological terrorism keep you awake at night? If so, then check out the International Atomic Energy Agency’s articles on nuclear terrorism at http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/Focus/Nuclear_Terrorism and Bob Bogle’s "Timelines of Bioweaponry" at http://pw1.netcom.com/~aguldo/agga/bt/bw.htm.
At the other end of the threat spectrum, ever considered studying Underwater Jujitsu? Try http://www.pixi.com/~mcjitsu/mizujitsu/mizujitsu.html.
***
An excellent article about life in inner city Philadelphia appears at http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/race/streets.htm. Its relevance to self-defense is that crime rates are high in inner cities, and whether you live and work there, or simply visit them on occasion, an understanding of the reason might help you avoid problems.
***
Prisons are industries as well as services, and for an article about what Atlantic Monthly calls "The Prison-Industrial Complex," see http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98dec/prisons.htm.
***
If you use sleeper holds for control, see "On Chokes," by Wendy Gunther, MD, at http://www.judo.on.ca/articles/chokes.html.
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Control No: NWDNM(m)-111-TF-1634
Title: PERSONAL ENCOUNTER (JUDO) - BASIC PRINCIPLES - PART I.
Creating Org: U.S. Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer
Control No: NWDNM(m)-111-FB-74
Title: CLOSE COMBAT (BRITISH), 1943.
Creating Org: Signal Corps.
Control No: NWDNM(m)-65.54
Title: KILL OR BE KILLED, 1943.
Creating Org: Federal Bureau of Investigation
There are also boxes of archival materials that look interesting. For example:
Control No: NWCTM-331-UD1690-5702(6)
Title: 161: Investigation at Koryo University (Takushoku
University)
Regarding: Karate 1949, 1946-1950.
Creating Org: Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP).
Civil Information and Education Section. Education Division. Liaison
and
Investigation Branch. Box(es) 5702
For information about the National Archives, or to conduct additional online searches, visit the NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL) web site http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html.
***
For a look at what constituted state-of-the-art police stick work during the 1940s, see Frank Matsuyama’s How to Use the Yawara Stick, reprinted at http://www.yawara.com/Yawast1.html. Some things don’t change, either, as Matsuyama wrote, on page 37, "Many Police Departments make it a practice to hire outside Instructors in Self-Defense, but usually in a short time the Officers forget the training they have received, and actually the Police Department has spent its money for nothing."
***
Wearing body armor adds at least 5 degrees to the wet bulb temperature. Therefore, to reduce risk of heat injuries, you need to ingest at least one pint (1/2 liter) of water per hour if walking or sitting inside a warm office, and twice that if you’re engaged in physical activity on a warm day. Coffee and soda are not recommended, by the way, as they're diuretic. For details, see http://safety.army.mil/pages/media/pubs/cm/cmapr99.pdf.
***
FM 21-150, Combatives, 1992, was recently superseded, but it has since been posted at http://www.geocities.com/the_creepy_thin_man/links.html. Fairbairn’s Get Tough! and Applegate’s Kill or Be Killed are also linked here.
***
***
***
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According to http://www.crime-prevention.org/english/publications/children/profil.html, the average criminal is a male aged less than 30 years. His past includes family violence and may include sexual and substance abuse. He has anxiety disorders, began displaying criminal behavior by age 8, and although of average intelligence, he has less than average education levels. The average murderer presents a somewhat different profile. Education is not a factor, nor is ethnicity or wealth. Instead, according to http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/briefs/b12/b12e.shtml, murderers tend to be males under 35 years of age who "hold attitudes, values and beliefs favorable to the use of lethal and/or non-lethal violence." Most murderers knew (and were often related to) their victims, and as a result, the police solve most homicide cases.
Serial killers follow a different pattern. According to http://www.serialkillers.net/profiling/who_is.html, most serial killers are reasonably educated white males aged 25-35. Their victims are normally strangers. They are usually careful about their work, and as a result they are hard to catch.
Workplace violence follows still another model. Workplace violence is most often committed by a white male aged 30-50 who has an unstable family life, a fascination with weapons, and low self-esteem. See http://www.svn.net/mikekell/v3.html. Since this description fits so many North American martial art teachers, it may explain all the complaints about abusive instructors.
As for hate crimes (blowing up the World Trade Center undoubtedly counts as a hate crime), well, here's the kicker: "Most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise law-abiding young people who see little wrong with their actions. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant appears to be personal prejudice, a situation that colors people’s judgment, blinding the aggressors to the immorality of what they are doing." http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/hate. Furthermore, in the words of Ehud Sprinzak, writing at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_...1/sprinzak.html, "Although profiling suicide bombers may be a fascinating academic challenge, it is less relevant in the real-world struggle against them than understanding the modus operandi and mind-set of terrorist leaders who would never consider killing themselves, but opt for suicide terrorism as a result of cold reasoning." Still, one can try. See "The Terrorist's Mind: A Psychological Profile" at http://www.ulb.ac.be/bps/docs/activ.../BPS97-P36.html.
A discussion of how profiles are built (and viewed by courts) appears at http://www.corpus-delicti.com/Profiling_law.html.
***
If looking for historical precedents for modern Islamic terrorism, try http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/secDoctrines.html and http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/cmrs/publications/comitatus/26/26babak.htm. If you’d prefer some more recent news, then also see http://planetarabia.com.
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Most potential biological weapons have mundane origins and most potential chemical weapons have peaceful uses. For some idea of these potential uses and abuses, see http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/factsheets/wmd/cw/auslist.html, http://www.alenafix.com/old-fbg/articles/huff-cw.html, http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/tech.htm, and http://whyfiles.org/141bioweapons2/biblio.html.
Researchers are proposing some interesting defenses, too. See, for example, http://www.infowar.com/wmd/99/wmd_041799a_j.shtml.
***
Of course, terrorism takes many forms, and not all of it is
foreign-based.
From http://www.suntimes.com/output/quicktakes/cst-nws-qt17.html:
"Marcher with American flag on why he was part of small mob threatening
a mosque and taunting Arab Americans, many of whom were born here, just
as he was: ‘I was born here more.’" One hopes this represents an
aberration
rather than a trend.
***
Doctrinal guidance includes Marine Corps Reference Publication (MCRP) 3-02B, 1999, "Close Combat," http://www.doctrine.quantico.usmc.mil/mcrp/htm/mcrp302B.htm. Password access is required, but a keyword search for MCRP 3-02B partially circumvents that minor obstacle. For example, a chapter on come-along techniques appears at http://www.handtohand22.freehomepage.com and a description of the bayonet program appears on the International Hoplological Society website, http://www.hoplology.com. See also Marine Corps Order 1510.122, "Individual Training Standards (ITS) System for the Marine Corps Martial Arts Training Program (MCMATP)," October 4, 2000, http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/stds/documents/ITS/matp-its.pdf. Related topics include sexual harassment and the values program.
Some Marine Corps Times articles describing the program appear at http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/TbsNew/Pages/Martial%20Arts/Default.htm. Additional articles and opinions concerning this program include:
Bristol, George. "Integrated Fighting System – The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program," Marine Corps Gazette, 85:7 (July 2001), 38-39
Figueroa, Joe A. "Guru’s Teaching Inspired Commandant’s Martial Arts Program," Semper Fi News, http://www.semperfinews.com/marinelink/2001329185251.htm
Gilmore, Gerry J. "Marines Graduate First in Martial Arts Instruction," militarylifestyle.com, http://www.militarylifestyle.com/home/1,1210,S:9126:1:972,00.html
Glasgow, John P. Jr. "Tip of the Spear," Marine Corps Gazette, 85:7 (July 2001), 2, http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/Jul01edt.html
Grdovich, Allan J. "New Fighting Technique Learned by Marines," Marine Corps News, October 2, 2000, http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/6D82167A195068448525696F005FF1BF?opendocument
Jaffe, Greg. "A Few Good Men Try the Marine Martial Art, and Take on Two Gurus," Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2000, reprinted at http://www.aikicommunications.net/heckler.html and http://www.ranchostrozzi.com/wsjarticle1.html
Powers, Rod. "Surviving Marine Corps Boot Camp," http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/aa060400d.htm
Stone, Andrea. "Martial Arts to Create New Breed of Marines," USA Today, March 8, 2001, 1A, 2A, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-03-08-marines.htm
VanOuse, Mike. "A Few Good Men," Layman’s Terms, August 4, 2001, http://www.citizyn.com/archive/mike/12-12.htm.
Veith, Gene Edward. "Looking for a Few Good Ninjas: Will the New Age Movement Overtake the Marine Corps?" World Magazine, October 28, 2000, http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39facb0b6bc4.htm
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On a more serious note, for discussions of US military Rules of Engagement, see http://www.rulesofengagement.com. Ignore the links to the movie and instead head straight to the case studies that include Beirut, Haiti, and Desert Storm.
***
For a transcript of a US military hand-to-hand combat film made in 1942, see http://www.handtohand22.freehomepage.com/Page2.htm.
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If you enjoyed our reprints of Vigny and Barton-Wright, then see Ralph Grasso’s article, "Quick Flick of the Wrist," at http://www.savateaustralia.com/quick.htm. Although not related to Vigny, also read Grasso’s tips on using an umbrella for self-defense at http://www.savateaustralia.com/theumbrella2.html.
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For a discussion of use-of-force tactics in a law enforcement environment, see http://www.aele.org/alert.html.
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If you were looking for a copy of Murphy’s law of combat, try http://www.accessorl.net/~cyberwar/murphy.htm.
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An interesting site is "War Times Journal" at http://www.wtj.com. See, for example, Manfred Freiherr von Richtofen’s memoirs, in which he wrote: "[In aerial combat,] the decisive factor does not lie in trick flying but solely in the personal ability and energy of the aviator. A flying man may be able to loop and do all the stunts imaginable and yet he may not succeed in shooting down a single enemy. In my opinion the aggressive spirit is everything." (http://www.richthofen.com/arcdocs/richt9.htm)
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Interested in reading the US Army’s doctrine on dealing with civil disturbances? Then see FM 19-15. The section on the use of riot batons is at http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/19-15/CH10.htm#s2. Also see http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/index.html, which provides links to sites related to Military Operations in Urban Terrain, or MOUT.
***
Recently a question was asked about the Gurkha knives known as khukuri. For links plus photos of art-quality pieces, see http://www.vikingsword.com/ethsword/khukuri. If interested in learning to use the knives as weapons, either use them to chop brush for a few months or check with the folks listed here: http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/bando/kachin.html. Note, however, that in Nepal khukuris are as much cultural artifact as tool. See, for example, http://www2.cs.uwindsor.ca/60-205/00F/sec3/shrest1/craft.html. And, in this role, they are included in dances attendant to Hindu festivals such as Durga Puja.
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"In preparation for Operation United Shield, the US-led evacuation of UN forces from Somalia, Lieutenant General A. C. Zinni, USMC, asked his staff to pursue ‘less lethal’ alternatives in dealing with unarmed hostile elements in Mogadishu," Colonel F.M. Lorenz wrote in Parameters (Autumn 1996), page 52. "The intent was to use every practical and available means to deal with hostile crowds, with the goal of saving lives and reducing confrontation." The remainder of the article goes on to discuss sticky-foam and similar weapons; it was the author’s conclusion that, "When properly employed, non-lethal weapons will save lives and avoid confrontations, and they will not lead us down the slippery slope to war." http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/96autumn/lorenz.htm
Meanwhile, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui are colonels in China’s People’s Liberation Army. To them, non-lethal warfare doesn’t mean sticky foam, but blinding lasers. An English-language translation of their 227-page book, Unrestricted Warfare: Thoughts on War and Strategy in a Global Era (Beijing, 1999), may be downloaded from http://cryptome.org/cuw.htm.
Whatever they are and however they are used, non-lethal weapons are subject to rules of engagement (ROE). "Overly restrictive and unsuitable rules of engagement handicap and endanger U.S. forces, especially ground troops on peace-support missions. Individual Marines, sailors, and soldiers need to know when they may resort to deadly force to protect their lives," says Colonel Hays W. Parks, in "Deadly Force Is Authorized," Proceedings, 126:1 (February 2001), 33-37, or online at http://www.usni.org/Proceedings/Articles01/PROparks1.html. The examples Parks gives include a soldier nearly court-martialed for shooting a man beating him on the back with a club, and another given a medal because he ordered his men not to shoot during a similar situation.
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It’s hard to talk about policing – whether of our selves or our societies -- without talking about Big Brother. Yet, in the words of the man who named Big Brother, "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." For an insightful essay into Eric Blair, who wrote as George Orwell, see http://www.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/lsf/bonsignore8.htm. Still, except in fiction, good and evil are rarely black and white. For a discussion of the shades of gray in everyday life, see Harold Schulweis’ "The Fear and Suspicion of Goodness," at http://www.holocaustcommission.org/educator_resources/fear.html.
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In the sad but true category, here are some articles about a man who pioneered a perfectly fine martial art and then went and embarrassed himself by claiming to be things he’s not: http://www.cyberseals.org/reportsb.htm, http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies.htm. But it can be worse. See, for example, the discussion of Frank Dux at http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/RightWay/yamato_damashii/dux.html.
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For the history of warfare, the New York Military History Symposium offers a number of articles of potential interest. See http://homepages.go.com/homepages/n/y/m/nymas1. For thoughts on its future, see the transcript of an Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s show on the so-called Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s226375.htm.
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For the US Army’s official "Lessons Learned" regarding light infantry combat, see http://call.army.mil/pdf/newsltrs/2-88/2-88bk.pdf. "Bayonet and hand-to-hand combat training build a spirit of aggressiveness, develop confidence, and instill the will to win," the authors note. (Page 7.) Continue down a bit, however, and you quickly learn that mechanized infantry are encouraged to use their anti-tank weapons instead.
Another article of potential interest is "Close Quarters Combat and Modern Warfare" by Ray O. Wood and Matthew T. Michaelson at http://www-cgsc.army.mil/MILREV/English/MayJun00/insights.htm. (Use your search feature; it’s down a ways.) The article originally appeared in Military Review, May-June 2000.
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Fairbairn and Sykes remain a popular research topic. So some bibliographic guidance:
The terms and conditions to which you agree by linking to http://www.dalitstan.org/mughalstan/jung/jung.html are classic. Some of the links are interesting, too. For an alternative political viewpoint, try also www.cops.aust.com, National Criminal Justice Reference Service, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, National Incident-Based Reporting System, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, and Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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A US Marine site that includes texts that you can download is http://www.doctrine.quantico.usmc.mil/history1.htm. Meanwhile, for descriptions of recent US Marine Corps hand-to-hand programs written by project managers George Bristol and Hunter Armstrong, see Hop-lite, 9 (Fall 2000). Ordering information is available on http://www.hoplology.com. Aikidoka Richard Strozzi Heckler was simultaneously teaching other Marines. For a description of his quite different viewpoint and methodology, see his book, In Search of the Warrior Spirit (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Press, 2nd edition, 1992).
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For links to articles about fighting with canes, see http://xcanegcis2.homestead.com/XCaneGCIS2.html.
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A WWII combatives page with potential is at http://www.geocities.com/thebristolbloke/index.html.
The first link is Isaac Bonewits' essay on warriors and soldiers; the second and third are point/counterpoint. After reading them, also see Ralph Peters' very different thoughts on the subject. (To find the links, use your search feature, as the URLs appear in earlier Journal of Non-lethal Combatives announcements.)
http://www.neopagan.net/Warriors.HTML
http://www.milpagan.org/articles/babykill.htm
http://www.milpagan.org/articles/isaac.htm
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For the US Marine Corps combatives program dated October 2000, see http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/stds/documents/ITS/matp-its.pdf. It's in PDF format so you need Acrobat, and runs 97 pages. The interesting parts start around page 23 ("tan belt"). The actual training manual is restricted access, so is not currently downloadable via the Internet.
At the other end of the military spectrum, there are some
interesting
reviews of recent articles on the so-called Revolution in Military
Affairs
(RMA) at http://www.lancaster-index.com/intro/db/RMA2.HTM.
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If interested in military intelligence, to include counter-terrorism, try http://www.tscm.com/intelsites.html and http://liun.hektik.org/cw/cl/icilinks.htm. If also interested in criminal justice, then see http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/crimjust/corp_sec.htm as well.
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For an outline of US criminal law, see http://law.upenn.edu/~jpyle/notes/crimout.
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Bowie-style knives have many fans, and Pete Kautz provides some useful links at http://www.alliancemartialarts.com/links.html, as does James Keating at http://www.homestead.com/maajakknives/maajak1.html.
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Another site for Richard Francis Burton fans: http://asa.bc.ca/home/rowena/srfb.html.
***
During and immediately following World War II, director John Huston made three documentaries for the US Army, and the third, Let There Be Light, dealt with how the Army treated its psychological casualties. (Freudian psychotherapy combined with sodium pentothal, hypnotism, and baseball, actually.) Although in the film everyone left the hospital happy, the film was still banned until 1981. Various reasons have been given why, but Richard Ledes, at http://www.apres-coup.org/archives/articles/ledes.pdf, provides the most plausible explanation that I've seen -- basically, the film's portrayals of successful institutional cures did not support postwar models of neurosis treated by community rather than institutional psychiatry, and were therefore suppressed.
Huston's second wartime documentary, the gritty Battle of San
Pietro,
is available online at http://www.liketelevision.com/web1/movies/sanpietro.
You
will need Real Player to view it, but the download is free. For a
description
of the filming, see http://www.utexas.edu/admin/opa/discovery/disc1997v14n2/disc-sanpietro.html;
for a review of the final cut, also see http://www.informatics.tuad.ac.jp/net-expo/ff/ff95/daily95/en/daily1-4.html.
A Journal of Non-Lethal Combatives article ("Legal Self-Defense," November 1999) was cited by historian Richard Slotkin in his recent (favorable) review of Michael A. Bellesiles, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture (New York: Knopf, 2000). See Atlantic Monthly, November 2000, pages 114-118 or http://www.theatlantic.com/cgi-bin/o/issues/2000/11/slotkin.htm.
***
As I track how people came to EJMAS, I find that our reprints of how-to manuals are very popular. Which is nice, as scanning and typing takes more time than most people probably think. However, a warning -- how-to is not the same as knowing why. If you know why you fight, then typically the answer of how-to becomes fairly obvious. On the other hand, if you do not know why, then you can be as technically proficient as, well, as anyone in the world, yet still be clueless about when or when not to use those skills. The bottom line? The key to self-defense is not owning a gun or knowing how to punch someone in the nose, but knowing in advance what you are willing to kill for, die for, and live with afterwards.
***
If interested in the history of dueling, follow the links at http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/dueling/3.html.
Serial killers tend to be males aged 20-30. Their killings fulfill sexual fantasies, and in general the killers are members of the majority rather than minority population. Therefore in the Americas and Europe they tend to be white. If interested in details, note that there are many lurid websites -- try the keywords "serial killer."
At a less lurid level, Puerto Rico averages 2-3 homicides per day. This is a rate of 12 per hundred thousand, and is about double the rate of New York, Texas, or Illinois. For details, see http://www.onepaper.com/prdn/ (editorial, November 21, 2000). Puerto Rican homicide rates are therefore approaching nineteenth century levels of violence. For example, in Southern Greece during the 1860s, the homicide rate was 12.4 per hundred thousand, and there are similar estimates for nineteenth century Chicago and San Francisco. On the other hand, the Wild West cow town of Dodge City, Kansas was a quiet place, reporting just six homicides between 1878 and 1887 -- and those six killings occurred in a span of a few months in 1878, and were related.
Still, none of these are truly violent cultures. For that, you need to visit New Guinea, where some traditional warrior societies have homicide rates that average 2 per thousand.
At the other end of the spectrum, Osaka is about as violent as Hamburg, and on a per capita basis, Tokyo is about twice as violent as is Bismarck, North Dakota or Dublin, Ireland. The Bismarck and Dublin police have a higher clearance rate, too.
***
British law relating to self-defense is discussed at http://www.bsdgb.co.uk. The London Metropolitan Police add their tuppence at http://www.met.police.uk/police/mps/mps/youth/you-004.htm.
***
Obviously, blows with the hands and feet to the neck and throat can be lethal. For details, see http://www.llcc.cc.il.us/justice/forensic/asphyxiation.htm. But most folks prefer other methods.
***
From http://www.nineoclock.ro/TR3/1951pol.html: "According to an agreement signed last February [2000] between the Romanian Gendarmerie and the Armed Police Troops of the People's Republic of China, three Chinese officers and experts in Kung-fu (wushu) have been in Romania training over 150 Romanian gendarmes for the past two months in techniques of self-defense at three centres established in Brasov, Oradea and Bucharest. The training course organized in Bucharest concludes today with a demonstration led by the Chinese experts, at the training base of the Commandment of the National Gendarmerie."
***
For information about military law around the world, try http://uppmlj.freeyellow.com/june2k.html. For an essay in which a serving military officer says it is the duty of the officer to convince the enlisted soldiers to kill during war, see http://www.usafa.af.mil/jscope/JSCOPE00/Kilner00.html.
***
Some historical background to US Army commissioned officer training and development appears at http://www.infowar.com/iwftp/cspinney/c206.txt. Equivalent noncommissioned officer training programs are described at http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/2982/Articles/ncoed.html.
***
Want to be a cyber warrior? Try http://www.infowar.com/mil_c4i/mil_c4i.shtml. On the other hand, if you prefer fighting with cast metal miniatures, try http://www.dnai.com/~soongliu/SavageAndSoldier/articles.html.
***
For a cynical view of Britain's Special Air Service (an organization whose purpose is said to be to "defend and uphold the power, privilege and interests of the ruling class"), see http://www.afmltd.demon.co.uk/meltzer/articles/sas.html. For more favorable views, see instead http://home.att.net/~governmentdrone/wwii-specialops.html. Some reasonably dispassionate views appear at http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/SAS.shtml.
***
Current US Army doctrine on non-lethal technologies appears at http://call.army.mil/call/newsltrs/00-7/00-7toc.htm. Air Force thoughts meanwhile appear at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/mcgowan.html. As for the Marines, well, here are the "Views of a Marine Gunner," (CWO2 Jeffrey L. Eby), as they appeared in Marine Corps Gazette, September 2000, page 63:
***
Last month we mentioned a website that described Jerry Peterson's SCARS program. For a less breathless second opinion, try http://www.altinet.net/~karate/scars2.htm.
***
For an online museum's exhibit called "The Geometry of War,
1500-1750,"
see http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/geometry/content.htm.
Topics include "Troop formations and the telescope" and "Gunnery".
Announcements (September 2000)
The attached link takes you to an article that discusses current US Army plans to make sure that military ball ammunition contains less lead, thereby making it less of a health risk to people: http://www.mpif.org/meetings/tungsten_abstracts.html. I am not making this up. For additional US military activities, see http://www.marinetimes.com/index.html. Included are links to online images, and all US service newspapers can be accessed through there, not just Marine Times. And if your interests are more historical than current, also visit the US Army's Center for Military History at http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/default.htm.
***
For links to US laws relating to the carrying of concealed firearms, check http://www.webcom.com/gun_guy/page8.htm. For comparable Canadian laws, try http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html.
***
Awhile back we reprinted Richard Burton's Sentiment of the Sword. For more information about Burton, see http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/burton/2.html.
***
For a glowing look at Jerry Peterson's SCARS system (http://www.scars.com), see Herb Borkland's article at http://fightingarts.com/magazine/borklandscars.shtml. Unfortunately, the people who most require SCARS training are not middle-aged men who have $5,000 a week to pay for training, but gay, lesbian, and transgender youth in high school -- one 1999 study reported 69% of these youth had been targets of verbal, physical, or sexual harassment.
***
If interested in US military combatives as taught by Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate, and Styers, see http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum35/HTML/000301.html.
***
For an introduction to the subject of combative training in the US Navy during World War II, see Bruce Bennett, "Physical Education and Sport at Its Best – The Naval Aviation V-5 Pre-Flight Program," Canadian Journal of History of Sport, 21:2 (December 1990) and Donald W. Romminger, Jr., "From Playing Field to Battleground: The United States Navy V-5 Preflight Program in World War II," Journal of Sport History, 12:5 (Winter 1985).
***
For links to the role that culture plays in American violence, see,
for example, the Institute for Violence, Culture, and Survival site at
http://www.virginia.edu/vfh/vcs.
Likewise, for China, Turkey, or Israel, see, for example, http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/bth/index.html,
http://www.discoverturkey.freeserve.co.uk/Violence.htm,
and http://www.sptimes.com/News/60699/Perspective/Israel_s_schools_mirr.shtml.
(HINT: Add whatever topic or country you are interested to the keyword
search "culture violence" on Google or other good browser, and then
follow
the links.) From what I read in these and related articles, it appears
that regardless of who is doing the study, researchers tend to perceive
violence done by people "like us" sympathetically and violence done by
other people unsympathetically.
For another US Army site describing the use of Gracie jujitsu in modern training cycles, see http://www.armytimes.com/stories/army14.htm. The SFC Matt Larsen mentioned in the article appears in the recent Pacific Street Films documentary, Martial Arts: The Real Story.
***
If you're interested in Old European martial arts and combatives, there is to be a hands-on conference in Toronto in October 2000. For details, see http://www.aemma.org/misc/news/wma2000/toronto.html.
***
For an aikido-based defensive tactics program based in Washington State, visit George Ledyard's Aikido Eastside site http://www.aikieast.com; the recommended reading list is quite good. Meanwhile, for a more rambunctious look at defensive tactics, visit Marc "The Animal" MacYoung's site at http://www.diac.com/~dgordon/MA.html. Some sample text:
Building on the previous statement that having a black belt doesn't instill a law degree, it is literally your ass if you don't look into the legal issues surrounding self-defense training. Every day, people accept what their sensei told them as gospel truth regarding not only what works as self-defense, but that the cops and the courts will immediately dismiss as such! BULL! I have seen everything from breaking a man's neck from behind, to multiple stab wounds, to kicking a man while he is down and countless other "guaranteed prison-time" moves taught as self-defense. On the slim chance that you can use such a move in a real fight, they will get you in deep legal trouble if you do.
***
Thinking of traveling into harm's way? Then start with a visit to Fieldings' Danger Finder, the Travel Guide for the Mentally Unstable at http://www.fieldingtravel.com/df/index.htm.
Where, pray tell, is harm's way? For street crime, Florida is clearly deep in the Third World, but North Africa, Kenya, Turkey, and California are pretty bad, too. And no matter where you go, leading causes of death include riding in minivans or on motorcycles.
As for hand-to-hand fighting in combat zones (an estimated four
million
people, mostly civilians, killed during armed conflict since 1990),
note
that rocket-propelled grenades are the 21st century streetfighter's
weapon
of choice. Kung-fu that, Rambo.
***
A few years ago some people sued Paladin Press because they found Paladin's book Hit Man prejudicial to good order and discipline. Paladin's lawyers argued that what law-abiding citizens read in the privacy of their own homes was a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. However, the US Supreme Court refused to hear Paladin's case, and as a result various titles have been discontinued. For details, see the legal statement and company history at http://www.paladin-press.com. While there also go to "Interesting Links" and read the related article from the Christian Science Monitor.
Why mention that here? Well, disregarding the ripples of horror that decision sent down the spines of horror filmmakers, when Paladin owned the copyright to those books, readers had to pay money for the information (and sometimes misinformation) that Paladin books contained. This in turn meant that book sales were potentially traceable by law enforcement agencies looking for information about specific individuals charged with specific crimes. But now that Paladin has dropped copyright, the books have entered the public domain and as a result the texts are now freely available via the Internet. See, for example, http://www.overthrow.com/hitmanonline.html.
Isn't it grand how the law protects us?
The June 2000 issue of Marine Corps Gazette contains three separate articles discussing the use of non-lethal weapons during Low Intensity Conflict/Operations Other Than War, plus two additional articles discussing related issues such as ethics and preventing atrocities. Personally, I especially liked the article on ethics, where Major Gary Lehmann noted that in many cases "senior officers knew about these leadership failures and chose not to deal with them, or they failed to properly supervise their subordinates and remained ignorant of reality."
Single issues of Gazette cost $3.00 and annual subscriptions cost $23 (civilians and officers) or $17 (enlisted). Copies of back issues are also available, and I strongly encourage you to request a copy of the non-lethal weapons insert that was included in the June 1999 issue. For further information, visit http://www.mca-marines.org/Gazette/gaz.html
While on that site, also check out the Tactical Decision Games, which change monthly. While most games describe company and platoon activities during wartime, increasing numbers relate to squad and platoon activities during Low Intensity Conflict/Operations Other Than War.
Finally, don't overlook the Commandant's Reading List.
***
The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State has an Institute for Non-lethal Defense Technologies. The URL is http://www.arl.psu.edu/. Unfortunately, there isn't much posted save mission statements.
***
In March 1993, several Canadian paratroopers serving on peacekeeping duty in Somalia beat to death a sixteen-year old Somali they had caught stealing. The resulting scandal led to the disbanding of the Airborne Regiment and the establishment of the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Halifax. Courses last between one to four weeks, and academic credit is available. The website is http://www.cdnpeacekeeping.ns.ca.
UPDATE Jan 2003: Thank you for including a link to the Pearson
Peacekeeping
Centre on your website. We thought you would like to know that we have
created a new website at the following address: http://www.peaceoperations.org.
We hope you will update our link accordingly. The website's new
user-friendly
format and content reflects the positive changes that have occurred at
the PPC during the past year. For example, the Centre's programmes are
increasingly oriented to organizations involved in civilian deployment.
We have also added two new programme areas: Capacity Building and
Support
to Missions in the Field.
We welcome your comments on these ideas, our new website and any other
ways that the PPC can be of assistance to you. Please feel free to
contact
us at advancement@peaceoperations.org. Also, please watch for the
French
version of the website, which will be available early in the New Year.
On behalf of the staff of the PPC,
Sandra Dunsmore
President
Pearson Peacekeeping Centre
***
If you train using wooden sticks, you should enjoy visiting Kim Taylor's site http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido and Ken Pfrenger's site http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4933/shillelagh.html. On the other hand, if you train using rattan sticks, then the following are some additional resources to investigate.
Ready Made Rattan Sticks
http://www.bloodsport.com/product.htm
http://www.ltspecpro.com/specpro/sticks.html
http://www.stickman-escrima.com
http://www.aloha-enterprises.com/ntb.html
Raw Rattan
http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo.html
http://www.2cowherd.net/cabasu/rattanpole.htm
Here's a nice British site about less-lethal police technologies
-- http://www.keme.net/~mack.
***
If designing or considering a self-defense class, first visit the Center for Disease Control's excellent "Safe at Home" site, http://www.cdc.gov/safeusa/home/safehome.htm, as the information contained there may surprise you. For example, according to the "Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet" at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm, 40% of all visits to US emergency rooms are by women who have been physically victimized by intimate partners, and 92% of victims of sexual assault know their attackers. The group at greatest risk of intimate partner violence is women aged 19-29 whose family income is below US $10,000.
***
For an article about the problems faced by the families of homicide survivors, see Eric Schlosser, "A Grief like No Other," http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97sep/grief.htm; for survivor problems, start with the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder site at http://www.ncptsd.org/Overview.html.
***
EJMAS was recently asked what kind of swords should be used to outfit the Thai court in the play "The King and I." The answer appears to be European military swords. From http://www.vikingsword.com/ethforum//messages/381.html (The basic site, http://www.vikingsword.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi, is great; check it out):
***
Speaking of Japanese swords, a new site worth checking is Colin Hyakutake's site at http://www.bunbun.ne.jp/~sword. He says his goal is to update monthly, so he'd probably appreciate suggestions.
Announcements (May 2000)
If you find informative sites, drop me a line at jrsvinth@juno.com. Of course, if your recommendation is spam or an advertisement, it may not get posted until after your check clears the bank. Our ad rates are listed in the navigation bar at http://ejmas.com/ejmasframe.htm. Note that prices are listed in Canadian dollars. If you need a currency converter, then visit http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic.
On an equally crass note, if you decide to order a book you discovered using an EJMAS site from a major bookseller, please consider ordering through Barnes and Noble at http://ejmas.com/bandnbookstore.html or Chapters Canada at http://ejmas.com/chaptersbookstore.html. The reason is that EJMAS is an affiliate bookstore, so if you order through them, we get some money.
Speaking of books, readers interested in obtaining copies of Burton’s Sentiment of the Sword, his 1853 bayonet manual, or other historical sword texts should check out http://www.latourdulac.com/fencing/patri.html. The listed prices are very reasonable -- indeed, some are cheaper than making your own copies at Office Depot or Kinko's -- so probably you want to e-mail the fellow before ordering, as maybe prices have gone up since he posted them.
***
Starting this month we'll be posting Tactical Decision Games (TDG); related sites are listed on the TDG home page. Please let us know what you think. Meanwhile, if you're simply looking for a defensive tactics lesson plan, try this one, at George Arrington's Danzan Ryu site: http://www.danzanryu.com/police.html. For handouts, also see the University of Oklahoma site at http://www.ou.edu/oupd/selfdef.htm.
***
If you carry a pocketknife or practice with a sword, nunchaku, throwing stars, or batons, I suggest that you check your local weapon laws. In the US, see http://knifeart.com/knifeart/kniflawbysta.html. While onsite, also follow the links to your local statutes. Why? Well, to take one example, California, nunchaku are legal only inside licensed martial art schools while sticks and batons are legal only if you have passed state certified training and possess a license. Federal and city ordinances are separate matters altogether, but I don't have easy links there.
***
There are lots of sites out there offering to write your term paper for $10-$20 a page. But if you are into doing your own research using current military publications, then visit http://www.comw.org/pda/milbkmrk.html.
While researching, don't overlook the official sites, either. For example, visit the US Army's official technology site, http://www.army-technology.com/projects/index.html. By reading between the lines, one learns, for example, that the US Army has finally admitted that wheeled armored vehicles are better than tracked vehicles for Military Operations Other Than War. Unsurprisingly, the Army opted for a different family of vehicles than the Marine Corps chose; to do otherwise would be un-American.
Another US Army official site of potential interest is this one, outlining the history of the Military Intelligence branch: http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/miotc/mihist.htm.
***
A University of Kansas site that should interest to people researching military training during World War I: http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/docs/statistics/statstc.htm. One reason for training with bayonets during that war was that the US Army still didn't have enough pistols and machine guns to meet its needs. John Moses Browning solved that problem all the way around: the M1911A1 .45 caliber pistol, the Browning automatic rifle, the Browning .30 caliber machine gun, and the still-in-service M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun. A lot of people like bayonets, but me, I still think Ma Deuce is the finest close-combat weapon ever made. (Vulcan is wonderful, too, mind you, but it isn't as good for firing single shots at sniping ranges; meanwhile flamethrowers have the drawback of requiring their carriers to engage the bayonet fighters while carrying cans of napalm on their backs. Ma, though, you give her and her crew a tripod and a water jacket, a couple 5-gallon cans filled with antifreeze, and a couple hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, and after that you're off to the races.) Another interesting document, this time Emmett J. Scott's book about African American soldiers in the World War: http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~libsite/wwi-www/Scott/ScottTC.htm.
So, you say, how does this apply to non-lethal combat? Well, to quote from Scott:
"What are you thinking about, Buddy? Making your will? Are you wondering why you were nut enough to enlist?"
"No," said the doughboy gloomily, "I was wondering how I was ever nut enough to let a man hold me up in Chicago last spring. He only had a thirty-two."
***
Now, if American history is starting to bore you, then how about
South
African? Here's the site for a South African Military History Society:
http://rapidttp.com/milhist/index.html.
While it is mostly (but not entirely) white South African military
history,
the site still contains items of potential interest to both general and
specialist readers.
Announcements (April 2000)
Interested in true crime? Then try http://www.uncjin.org/Statistics/statistics.html, which is the United Nation's crime and justice website, and http://www.crime.org/homepage.html, which is Regina Schekall's "Crime Statistics" site.
Remember the film Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme? According to the credits, it was based in part on the exploits of Frank Dux, who among other things said he spent the early 1970s working as a covert operative for Operation Phoenix in Vietnam. Well, using the Freedom of Information Act, researcher B.G. Burkett obtained a copy of Dux's Marine Corps records, and thereby discovered that Dux served in the Marine Corps Reserve in the US from 1975 to 1981. So, you say? Well, the US left Vietnam in 1972 and the North took it over in 1975. So if Dux's story is true, then it means he worked for Colby before joining the Marines, which seems a little odd. Furthermore, the Marines have no record of Dux ever attending jump school, infantry training, or rating a single decoration for gallantry. For details, see B.G. Burkett's book Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History (Verity Press, 1998), ISBN 096670360X; see also the scores of reader reviews at Amazon.com. Still, be careful saying this too loudly -- when Soldier of Fortune praised Burkett's book and published a photo of Lance Corporal Dux wearing Navy jump wings and four rows of ribbons headed by a Navy Cross, the outraged war hero promptly sued the magazine for defamation of character. For details, see Soldier of Fortune, March 1999, page 98. Earlier, Dux also unsuccessfully sued Jean-Claude Van Damme. For details of that, see http://www.courttv.com/trials/vandam/110698.html.
By the end of 2001, the US military expects to replace its existing Winchester, Remington, and Mossberg pump shotguns with Heckler & Koch/Benelli semi-automatic shotguns. The new weapon holds six 12-gauge shells (2-3/4 or 3 inch) and is termed the M1014. It weighs 8.4 pounds unloaded, and its features include a mounting rail for night vision devices, a telescoping stock, a three-point sling, andno bayonet lug. (This latter is somewhat surprising, as I am routinely told how bayonets are a key part of an infantry weapon system.) Advantages attributed to the new weapons include standardized maintenance and a higher rate of fire, especially when fired one-handed or prone. The contract requires the delivery of 3,977 guns at a cost of $3.9 million. Unit cost delivered is therefore $980.64. As a point of interest, the telescoping buttstock and the night vision rails add about two pounds of weight and $300 in cost to the final weapon, and decrease magazine capacity by one round. (The equivalent Benelli Super 90 weighs 6.5 pounds and retails for about $675, and carries seven rather than six rounds.) For additional weapon specifications, see http://www.moreammo.com/xm1014.html.
Back in February I noted the following: "On http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/index.htm, at a site called "Inside - Camp X," Lynn-Philip Hodgson provides an online image of W.E. Fairbairn -- it's the one from David Stafford's Camp X (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1987), ISBN 0-396-09096-6, only without attribution to the National Archives and Record Administration." To which Mr. Hodgson replies:
I visited Bob at his museum before publishing my book and asked him if he had supplied David Stafford with the some of the pictures in his book. He then proceeded to show me the pictures which he had given David. These pictures were given to Bob by Harry Smith the Camp X photographer.
I then asked him, and received permission to use some of the photos including this one.
I would very much appreciate you posting a retraction. I will be watching for same.
P.S. I am mentioned in the 'Credits' in Stafford's book for contributing to his story.
Yours truly,
Regards, Lynn-Philip Hodgson, Vice President, Camp X Historical Society and author of 'Inside - Camp X', http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/campx.htm, http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/consulting.htm , and http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/home.htm
Announcements (March 2000)
Ralph Peters is a writer and futurist for whom I have great respect. So, for more recent articles by the man, see "Our New Old Enemies," Parameters, 29:2 (Summer, 1999), 22-37, http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/99summer/peters1.htm and "Hucksters in Uniform," The Washington Monthly, May 1999, 9-12. I mean, how can you not like the latter article, which starts: "We have entered the age of the impassioned butcher, with a crude weapon in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and hatred in his soul," and concludes, "We [the people of the United States] have an Army run by a 'Board of Directors' that is a combination mafia conference and small-town business club, a Navy intent on fighting the future rather than against our nation's likely enemies, and an Air Force whose only strategy is budgetary gluttony. Something must be done. We are about to spend that trillion dollars (perhaps less, but don't count on it) on an arsenal of mediocrity. If no one rises to lead our military by example, our next significant expenditure may be in lives."
Since 1991 suicide has ranked as the US Marine Corps' second-leading cause of death. (Accidents are Number One. For the past decade, the USMC has averaged about 28 deaths due to suicide per year. That is a rate of about 15.9 per 100,000, and is the highest in the US armed forces.) The statistical average Marine suicide is a white male lance corporal (E-3). He is stationed in the Continental United States, it's about even odds that he is married, and a privately owned firearm is his weapon of choice. Outwardly identifiable risk factors include failing personal relationships (64%), legal problems (40%), financial problems (38%) and alcohol abuse (33%). Peer and leader involvement is the critical suicide prevention tool. This isn't directive pressure, either, but ensuring that the person at risk knows -- not believes, knows -- that he will not lose face within his group by seeking help. For more on the subject, see David E. Jones, "Suicide Prevention in the Marine Corps: A Leader's Guide," Marine Corps Gazette, February 2000, 16-20.
People interested in reading a history of covert operations in
Vietnam
might want to check out Richard H. Shultz, Jr., The Secret War
Against
Hanoi: Kennedy's and Johnson's Use of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert
Warriors
in Vietnam (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999). By the way,
William Colby of the CIA testified that "most of the estimated 20,000
Vietnamese
killed in Phoenix operations died in combat situations and not through
assassination." If a CIA director says so, it must be true, right?
A book I will endorse though, that provides some background on both Fairbairn and Dermot O'Neill (think The Devil's Brigade; O'Neill was the bespectacled close-combat instructor) is Robert W. Smith, Martial Musings (Erie, PA: Via Media Publishing, 1999), ISBN 1-893765-008. You can order copies through the publisher (e-mail info@goviamedia.com) or through Amazon.com. It is available in hardback only, but has over 300 illustrations. Cost is $39.95 plus S&H.
Other websites to check for information about Camp X and related OSS training include http://home.att.net/~governmentdrone/wwii-specialops.htmland http://web.idirect.com/~nfhome/spies.htm. Textually, both Soldier of Fortune and Journal of Asian Martial Arts have published articles about Fairbairn, and several of his books are still in print. Also see Fred Wakeman, Jr. Policing Shanghai 1927-37 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995; first edition 1955).
Unrelated to Fairbairn, but for an account of Kuwaiti Special Forces training, see http://overseasdigest.com/kajukenbo/intro.htm. The guy sounds plausible, as he says that for training these people, any martial art can work, you just have to make your program fit their rather unusual requirements. But there are many phonies.
People interested in pre-World War II Japanese military swordsmanship and bayonet fighting are advised to check this site: http://www.trifox.com/aux/kenshinkan/toyama02.html. For equivalent US naval training, check out http://www.navyfrogmen.com/.
And yes, if you were wondering, your editor agrees with Navy SEAL
Darryl
Young, who writes at http://www.navyfrogmen.com/
that "I've always figured when all other weapons systems have been
expended,
it's time to turn and run. As I was always a much better runner than
knife
fighter, it seemed smarter to simply come back later with enough
ordnance
to take care of the situation. That's what Navy SEALs are trained to
do;
break contact using fire superiority."
For an insightful unofficial articles on urban warfare, "Our Soldiers, Their Cities" by Ralph Peters, in Parameters, at http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/parameters/96spring/peters.htm. For the enemy most likely found in those cities, see also Peter's "The New Warrior Class" at http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/parameters/1994/peters.htm.
For an unofficial article on the use and problems of sticky foam, "What Price Sticky Foam," by Martin N. Stanton, at http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/parameters/96autumn/stanton.htm. For additional discussion of non-lethal weapons, see Robert J. Bunker, "Non-lethal Weapons: Terms and References," http://www.usafa.af.mil/inss/ocp15.htm; contributors include the late Rex Applegate and the paper contains an extensive bibliography.
To download the US Army's Infantry Branch School doctrine on tactical nonlethal capabilities, see http://www.benning.army.mil/dcd. You will need Word 6.0 or later. Marine Corps doctrine is at http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/poswebpage.nsf/852564750060e4c88525645d006f6979/529bac6bf7fa02d685256667005c3c98?OpenDocument .
If interested in the Canadian military, check the Naval Museum of
Alberta
website http://www.navalmuseum.ab.ca/links.html
and the Canadian War Museum at http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/cwmeng/cwmeng.html.
For the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, go to http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/rcmp2.htm.
RCMP officers are currently on peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, East
Timor,
Haiti, and Guatamala.
The homepage for Marine Security Guard Battalion, which is tasked with providing internal security for US embassies and consulates, is http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/.
The Los Angeles Police Department website is http://www.lapdonline.org/index.htm. From there you can follow links to sites about terrorism and other items of potential professional interest.