Future Military

In the near future, the United States has fought a short, bloody war with China in the Pacific. The fighting is over, but the US Navy maintains a blockade. Some call it the First Sino-American War. Others worry it is the start of World War III. In a prison cell in Beijing, Navy fighter pilot Jack Knapp tells his story about the victory in the Battle of Taiwan and how he ended up in a Chinese show trial, accused of crimes against humanity. With his life in the balance, Jack will have to choose between survival and participating in his captors’ lies.

Looking ahead to future airpower requirements, this engaging and ground-breaking book on the history and future of American combat airpower argues that the USAF must adapt to the changes that confront it or risk decline into irrelevance. To provide decision makers with the necessary analytical tools, Jeffrey J. Smith uses organizational modeling to help explain historical change in the USAF and to anticipate change in the future.

They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army's most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq. Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century.

How does the U.S. military train its soldiers for new forms of armed conflict, all within the constraints of diminished defense budgets? Increasingly, the answer is cutting-edge video game technology. Corey Mead shows us training sessions where soldiers undertake multiplayer “missions” that test combat skills, develop unit cohesion, and teach cultural awareness. He immerses himself in 3-D battle simulations so convincing that they leave his heart racing.

Rob Finn is joined by William Cody and Lonnie Walters as they begin their journey into the gold country of the west in 1862. Rob meets desperate and unscrupulous men such as Henry Plummer, as well as gentle and generous natives who heal and help the strangers in their land. We learn that the treasures of the earth are sought by greedy men on both sides of the Civil War, while lasting friendships are the goal of and reward for precious few hearty souls.

In One Hundred Victories, acclaimed military expert Linda Robinson shows how the special operations forces are - after a decade of intensive combat operations - evolving to become the go-to force for operations worldwide.

Sure, men fight for their beliefs, their country, and their ways of life. And often times the battles are hard fought and devastating. But more often than not, the outcome is decided by who has the better gear.

Gunnery Sergeant Jacob McCardle is the commander of the Marine Detachment at the US Embassy, New Delhi, when the president of the United States arrives on an official visit - the same man who, as a congressman, sponsored the bill that had decimated the Corps in a cost-cutting effort. As the president arrives, the embassy is attacked and isolated by a mob of nationalists. With the Indian government seemingly unwilling to take action to restore order and with an ambitious vice-president seizing this as an opportunity to move up to the White House, it is up to Gunny McCardle and his small band of Marines to keep the president alive.

Come si combatte e come si muore nella Grande Guerra? Artiglierie micidiali, mitragliatrici sterminatrici, bombardamenti aerei futuribili; ma anche trincee di fango, doline allagate, il secco terreno carsico appena scalfito. Ogni battaglia ha significato per decine di milioni di europei essere esposti al rischio di morire in modi opposti, ora modernissimi ora arcaici; colpiti da lontano e dall'alto da granate e bombe devastanti o in attacchi corpo a corpo, alla baionetta, al pugnale, con mazze quasi medievali.