Rob Williams
@rfmwilliams
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Historian @USACAC @ArmyUPress , PhD from @osuhistorydept . Cascadia expat. #kcbaby forthcoming book on the #airbornemafia
Kansas, USA
Joined May 2017
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Very excited to share the amazing cover for my fothcoming book, The Airborne Mafia. Coming in Spring 2025 from
@CornellPress
Many early thanks to
@BethanyWasik
and
@silbey
#airborne
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Just a few of who I’m thinking of today on Memorial Day. These are the men that my battalion, Task Force Rock, lost in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2008
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Criticism IS patriotism. Wanting to improve by acknowledging, understanding, and examining the past is about as pro-American as it gets.
History that exalts a nation’s strengths without ever examining its shortcomings, that prefers feeling good rather than thinking hard, that seeks simplistic celebration over a full understanding — well, that’s not history; that’s propaganda.
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Luke was an incredible soldier, gifted at everything he did. He was in my platoon in Kunar in 2-503 in 2007-2008. Here he is with the M14 when we air assaulted east of the Kunar river near Pakistan. Not far from where he was KIA less than 2 years later. And in our truck with doc
Lucas Tyler Beachnaw
SGT Beachnaw was from Lowell, MI. He was 23 when he died in Afghanistan on Jan. 13, 2010 while serving in the U.S. Army with Task Force Mountain Warrior, Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, International Security
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Sergio was an adopted mortarman for 4th plt, D co. He used to bring cuban coffee when we got back from early morning patrols at the Korengal Outpost. Sparked my love for that type of coffee. Here he is coming to visit the plt from the mortar pit
Sergio Sagoni Abad
SPC Abad was from Morganfield, KY. He was 21 when he died in Afghanistan on July 13, 2008 while serving in the U.S. Army with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, Camp Ederle, Italy.
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In some professional news: Today I defended my dissertation “The Airborne Mafia: Organizational Culture and Institutional Change in the US Army, 1940–1965”
@osuhistorydept
.
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I am delighted to share that my first book, "The Airborne Mafia," is under contract with
@CornellPress
Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History series. Subtitle subject to revision. Look for it sometime in early 2025!
#AirborneMafia
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Lmao this dude is one of the least qualified people on the planet to design any sort of kit.
🔎 We asked Kyle Rittenhouse to build an armor kit. Here is his design.
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Dave Portnoy is a piece of shit, his and Barstool’s popularity are incredible examples of how much toxic masculinity exists in this world.
In a just world, this would be a New York Times feature story - the Dave Portnoy Effect.
I randomly came across a Portnoy pizza review and just so happened to be close by. So I made the trip to Ah-Beetz in Delray Beach, Florida. He had given it an 8.4, which is (apparently) an
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"Little Groups of Paratroopers" cannot be understated. With so many small teams of paratroopers roaming the Norman countryside, German defenders had no significant, worthwhile targets to attack—many prisoners reported hopelessness when defending against airborne attack.
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Proud to announce my new article on masculinity in WWII airborne units is out in
#JMH
.
We don’t work alone so big thanks to all who helped and/or provided inspiration —including
@lawlor_ruth
@NKFinney
@KaraDixonVuic
@mrfolse1
and
@GregoryDaddis
@osuhistorydept
@mershoncenter
I want to congratulation
@rfmwilliams
for his superb article in the latest JMH. I hope to see more articles there in the future that take gender in the military seriously.
@SMH_Historians
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I feel for those that died at the tail end of this 20 year war. I hope there aren’t any more. Casualties so close to going home hit a bit harder. I want to share a little about one man I knew who was KIA at Wanat on July 13, 2008. There were 9 KIA that day; I knew this guy best
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First day
@ArmyUPress
didn’t suck. Drinking from the fire hose but I’ll settle in before long. Even got my CAC on day one! Absolutely wild working on an army base again
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“Sleep is a crutch” has been a common refrain and every ranger tabbed dude I knew loved to tell stories about sleep walking in the mountains.
This is, like an inability think deeply about uncomfortable wars, a major cultural tenet of the modern U.S. Army
"The Army hates sleep."
I came up in a generation where many officers measured their leadership ability in terms of how little they slept. This only served to produce punch-drunk leaders who were too sleep-deprived to think straight.
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Regardless, the 101st’s drop pattern was 15 by 25 miles, yet more than 70% percent of the division landed within an eight-mile square. The 82nd landed mostly over a four-square mile area. The 505th fared best, and coincidentally they were the only regiment with combat experience
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While some units accomplished their objectives with minimum forces, the overall airborne missions wasn't fully successful until D+4. Link up with the 4th ID units coming off the beach occured by about noon on D-Day. St. Mere Eglise was the first town liberated (By 3-505)
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And I think it’s official enough to announce that today I’ve also accepted a position with
@ArmyUPress
as a research historian and look forward to starting there this summer.
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Happy to report that I passed comps today. Glad to get that out of the way
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@royCharlespark2
If you want to make an argument about signaling that “we have the bomb so don’t screw around Uncle Joe” fine. But it’s far bigger than just preventing a partitioned Japan
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The widespread dispersion is legendary. But landing dispersed was not desirable but not a surprise either. They anticipated this problem, saw it in action in Sicily, and were ready for that reality in Normandy. It was mitigated by a cultural emphasis on decentralization.
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But the La Fiere Bridge turned into an absolute brutal fight that required heavy artillery and tank support before the Americans firmly controlled that key terrain. Regardless, the relative success despite wide-spread dispersion reinforced airborne leaders’ belief in
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@AcademicChatter
Yep. Finished a BA at 36, now in the first year of a PhD program. Never too late
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the ability of well-trained and well-led decentralized small groups to accomplish objectives. Often, the groups securing these objectives were a fifth the size of the element planned. Casualties were high ~50-55 percent across the infantry regiments. But the effect of LGOPs or
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Sharing a rental car from ATL to Columbus with
@mrfolse1
and we are the living embodiment of this meme
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the airborne mission, that of screeing against enemy reinforcements and protecting the flanks of the landing, was a cavalry mission. General James M. Gavin saw that and used that to inform many of his concepts on Sky Cavalry which became the air assault concept we know today.
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The ideal of dispersed groups fighting in what turned out to be "islands of resistance" informed how army leaders conceptualized fighting on an atomic battlefield.
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At any rate, time for my shameless plug! I write about all of this and so much more in my forthcoming book The Airborne Mafia, which you can pre-order now on Amazon!
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He made everything fun and he was a hell of a driver and mechanic. Once he disconnected the drive shaft of a Humvee under fire in the Korengal to get it moving again. Here’s he and I Christmas 2007.
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Drop the most iconic photo of you
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This belief in the efficacy of small groups to accomplish their mission informs everything airborne units do to this day. "The Rule of the LGOP" and trust is alive and well in North Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska, Vicenza or wherever US paratroops can be found.
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“A whole new level of nerd”—
@marjoriegalelli
just now. Just us
@SMH_Historians
fellows at the
@WWIImuseum
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News of Wanat was rough where we were out at camp Joyce. Without being told the boys had the trucks ready to move as soon as we heard it on the radio. Hearing Sergio’s battle roster number hit us super hard. We still miss you brother.
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What if I told you…
*maps existed* and “avenues” run east/west and “streets”run north/south and house numbers are based on the cross street.
Of course this made more sense before the random winding roads and cul de sac’s of the modern unsustainable neighborhood, but I digress
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Last weekend in Ohio, so of course we took the kids out for local delicacy
@buckeyedonuts
and ate them on the oval.
Gonna miss this place
@osuhistorydept
@OhioState
@mershoncenter
but looking forward to getting our lives going in Kansas.
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The Airborne Mafia is available for preorder!
Well this is an awesome Memorial Day surprise considering the first people in the acknowledgments are those I’ve known who have fallen overseas.
*Still not out until March 15, 2025
@silbey
@BethanyWasik
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Cops buying MRAPs is such big “I totally would’ve joined but…” energy
Also incredibly stupid over militarization of police that does more to intimidate than to protect and serve
The Pullman Police Department is proud to improve public safety response through the deployment of an urban rescue vehicle!
Learn more:
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Yes! And much like Active defense and later AirLand battle of the 70s and 80s, the army today is developing a doctrine for the war it wants rather than processing the recent non LSCO war and preparing for the next.
Remember kids, irregular warfare is the norm in army history
While I’ve enjoyed our Futures block, something has gnawing in the back of mind. Is the Army’s Multidomain Operations… the new Active Defense?
Hear me out. 1/
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Missed it last night, but on this day 79 years ago Jim Gavin's 505th PIR (+) of the fledgling
@82ndABNDiv
spearheaded the Allied invasion of Sicily during Operation HUSKY. Rube Tucker's 504th (-) was scheduled to drop the next night. It was the first major American airborne op 1/
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Excited for the
@SMH_Historians
and
@WWIImuseum
Summer Seminar with some awesome colleagues in this cohort like
@HayleyHasik
@RyTheHistoryGuy
@Cgzinsou
@GALLIFRAEAN
@marjoriegalelli
@keahubooth
@DrN1958
@arielwilks
@prof_sandy
and many others.
@GregoryDaddis
@sdhinnershitz
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Terribly sad news, Vince was the most charismatic para I'd ever had the pleasure of singing Blood Upon the Risers with. He served in 3-501 in the Bulge and was the guest speaker at a 1-501 ball in Alaska circa 2013 and we managed to get him up in a UH-60 during an jump.
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Happy
#NationalAirborneDay
to my fellow salty paras out there
#TBThursday
(early) to my last jump in 2017
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Phenomenal conference
@barnes_club
and everyone at
@TempleUniv
history. Deeply honored to come away with the runner up Russell F. Weigley award from
@ArmyHeritage
and
@SMH_Historians
#jabconference22
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His name is on a block at the infantry museum. Dedicated around the time the 173rd memorial went up there just outside of post.
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In Jan 2010 on an op near the Pakistan border he and his spotter came under intense fire. Rumor has it he was hit 3 times and still fighting. Even saying some ridiculous shit on the radio.
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From October 2001 til now all these men and women are doing the best they can in a damn near impossible situation. I’ve got no agenda or lesson here. It just is. It’s just terribly sad.
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@AlexHortonTX
The prosaic needs of the foot soldier often take a back seat to fancy-Dan (albeit effective, see: Javelin) technology
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The smell of diesel exhaust always takes me back to A-Stan and Iraq. Fascinating how smells trigger memory more than almost anything.
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And direct from the publisher:
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We gave him the m14 cause he was an helluva shot too. After we got back he was one of the few members of the platoon to stay in Italy for the next tour. He moved up to the scout platoon—a big move for a young paratrooper.
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He went to sniper and pathfinder schools. Earned Top Shot at sniper and honor grad at pathfinder. Made sergeant. Deployed again with the Rock.
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I almost forgot. If you want to learn more about Wanat, the Pech, or Chosen Company, you could do worse than
@wesleysmorgan
THE HARDEST PLACE or
@greggzoroya
THE CHOSEN FEW
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@TroopsinContact
-long pants and sleeves in summer
-the most uncomfortable straps so that by mile 8 you feel like the ruck is trying to pull your shoulders apart
-only have an old camelbak bladder with sand on it from your last tour
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The entire platoon reunited in Grand Rapids to attend his funeral. It was amazing seeing everyone back together but a terrible way to do so.
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Very much enjoying
@jdbratten
bust through some marine corps myth making concerning Belleau Wood at the
#WW1Sympsoium
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Happy birthday to all my marine homies out there
Remember you crazy grunts:
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Im thinking of Sergio and the other 25 members of Task Force Rock we lost that tour today. But especially Sergio and the Chosen Few destined to be forever young mere days before going home.
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Damn proud to be part of this superstar panel.
Masculinity and its Discontents was a success! The presentations were fascinating and the audience had great questions. Thanks
@KaraDixonVuic
@Heather_at_ACTS
@rfmwilliams
and Tom Scovel for being apart of such a great (and well attended) panel.
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Today!
Join us for the conference I helped put together with the help of our fantastic people at the
@mershoncenter
and
@AWConsortium
Sign up for the zoom link or join in person if you’re in Columbus
@OhioState
Join us this Friday for the 2023 Military Frontiers Graduate Symposium, which showcases the scholarship of a dozen graduate students, all of whom study topics broadly related to national security, warfare, and force and power in international affairs.
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Love and miss you James. That grill you gave me before you PCSd to Hawaii served me well—even learned to smoke meat on it.
James Michael Christen
SSG Christen was from Loomis, CA. He was 29 when he died in Afghanistan on July 19, 2011 while serving in the U.S. Army with Task Force Bronco (3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division), Company B, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, CJTF-1.
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Best allied twitter account 👇
#ohcanada
✅ Mond-eh
✅ Tuesd-eh
✅ Happy Wednesd-eh! 🇨🇦
🔳 Thursd-eh
🔳 Frid-eh
🔳 Saturd-eh
🔳 Sund-eh
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James Gavin is one of the most influential figures in the history of the army during the Cold War. Just a fascinating American who I’ve had the privilege of “getting to know” thru his papers during my research.
On Jun. 5, Paratroopers, invited guests, and community members of Normandy gathered to attend the unveiling of the statue of then-Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin.
To the 82nd Airborne Division, he will remain one of the most influential figures in our storied legacy!
#WWII80inEurope
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He was of Cuban descent. Made some killer coffee with his percolator. Always spent time with our platoon. We (and he) were sort of the bastard attachments and he bonded with the boys well.
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Hard disagree. For veterans to reintegrate into society, on campus experiences are vital. By retreating into the safety and comfort of online only learning veterans will absolutely run the risk of further isolation from society which will then exacerbate anxiety or PTSD
#veterans
Read how online education benefits gives Soldiers with PTSD safe and flexible environments, and ultimately the power over their education and process to meet their goals, says Sgt. Maj. David C. Cox. Read it here:
@ArmyUniversity
@usacac
@TRADOC
@USArmy
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Excited to hear
@GregoryDaddis
talk about pulps today at the fantastic
@mershoncenter
#ComicsInNatSec
conference.
@SMH_Historians
@RJParrott_
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“Defense is the strongest form of football”—Clausewitz, probably.
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He died alongside 8 other Rock paratrooper at Wanat, protecting his brothers on July 13, 2008. He died doing his damndest to get his 120-mm mortar tube into action because he knew they needed him.
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Crush the VA. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their fax machine.
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A masterclass. An example of why I look up to
@GregoryDaddis
so much.
Thanks for this response and showing us how it’s done
Hi
@herandrews
, Vietnam-era historian here. Thought I might continue the dialogue you began on
@BethLynnBailey
's really fantastic book,
#anarmyafire
.
First, I appreciate that you are writing for your audience. They're attuned to be angry at the "libs."
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So excited to dive into this from
@mrfolse1
and
@Kansas_Press
Seriously if you don’t have a copy, don’t delay and pick one up now!
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Excellent
#SMH2022
conference this weekend. Made many new excellent connections and saw some great old friends. The
@SMH_Historians
community is vibrant and diversifying more and more each year. On to San Diego!
#SMH2023
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I’ve found another one of those accounts that I’m convinced is the reason the internet exists
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Now is as good a time as any to announce that my family and I will soon be moving to Columbus, Ohio where I will continue my studies as a PhD student at
@osuhistorydept
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Everything is gonna be okay.
#TopGun
is on
@AMC_TV
right now. I trust Maverick to handle the
#coronapocalypse
@theycallmeFogel
@Benst90
@benjaminjlyman
@MotherofMrTitus
@Platypus9068
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Received my copy this last week. First thing I’m diving into after my book is complete.
One of the ruggers from the class of 2002, Clint Olearnick, helped introduce me to the sport with the Columbus/Ft Benning Cruise-a-Matics n 2009. RIP my dude
#brotherhood
@ArmyWP_MRugby
It's publication day for my first book – BROTHERHOOD: WHEN WEST POINT RUGBY WENT TO WAR.
Order:
cc
@robkitson
@hughgodwin_
@PaulMorganMedia
@PeterEBurns
@TEnglishSport
@owen_g
@AlanDymock
@gginwales
@mattgatward
@FoyChris
@martinkelner
@paulross
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It hit our platoon hard. We were all ready to leave soon and Sergio was our boy. I still remember delivering the news from our company CP.
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Big congrats to Dr. Carroll
@The_Irish_Texan
on joining me in defending our dissertations this week. Looking forward to a celebratory pint in San Diego at
@SMH_Historians
After a long 5 years, I am humbled to say that I successfully defended my dissertation today for my PhD in Military History at
@TAMU
under Prof Brian Linn. I'm also honored to announce I'll be joining
@RMASandhurst
later this year as a Senior Lecturer in their War Studies Dept.
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Really enjoyed my first
@SMH_Historians
presentation with
@marjoriegalelli
and Cavender Sutton. Thanks to
@NKFinney
for commenting and
@mewalters101
for chairing! Some really great scholarship and excellent questions.
#SMH2021
#EthosOfWar
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The draft has only been used to what “amounts to 15 percent of the country’s existence.”
Great stuff here from
@rwpallas
putting the draft in historical perspective
The Allure of Conscription - War on the Rocks
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Look. I love rooting for the buckeyes but a football game is not even close to war and I’m sick and tired of the war iconography
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Fantastic stuff from
@doctrinatrix_C2
on this history and meaning of prosthetics, especially for veterans and since the end of World War I.
@TheWWImuseum
#ww1symposium
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This is Sergio Abad. A mortarman in
@Jaylikestohike
battalion mortar section, attached to Battle Company out in the Korengal Valley for much of our tour. He was beloved by my platoon, 4th platoon, D co. Also attached.
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Excellent piece from
@BretDevereaux
I distinctly remember the army renamed the Primary Leadership Development Course to the Warrior Leader Course round about 2005(?).
I thought it odd. Cheesy, even. But never considered the broader implication
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I think the digitized online archive of Military Review from
@ArmyUPress
might be my favorite resource. Everything. Since 1922. Right there...and searchable.
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And on top of that just because you served in the armed forces doesn’t make you a superior human being than other Americans either
Just because you were an 11B, infantryman, or an 18 series Special Forces MOS in the Army…..that
doesn’t make you a superior human being than other soldiers in other career fields.
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We were the heavy weapons platoon, the only trucks in the valley. I arrived and took over as section leader after the previous guy was WIA. On cold winter mornings after our pre-Dawn counter IED patrols, Sergio would come by “hey sergeant Williams, want some Cuban coffee!”
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Tune in tomorrow to see me talk about masculinity and culture in the airborne units in World War II
Tune in or come on down to the Eisenhower Library for the WWII Emerging Scholars Symposium! We have a great schedule lined up!
#DDay
#WWII
@FDRLibrary
@TrumanLibrary
@OurPresidents
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Great movie and great tweeting. Thanks alot
@HerbertHistory
and
@DrRobThompson
it’s rare to have a
#hatm
so close to my dissertation research. That was a lot of fun!
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@TroopsinContact
As a friend of mine said buncha “high school bullies trying to cosplay a navy seal night raid”
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Is there anything more pleasant than a piping hot cup of coffee and a book on rainy Saturday mornings?
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Happy to share my new Online Exclusive article with Military Review
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Excellent review of Gladwell’s problematic BOMBER MAFIA
Appreciated
@Brian_Castner
's thoughts on this subject and book, as I am myself actively engaged in reading/writing/researching on morality and the "bomber poets" of WW2. "Tally ho!"
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