The Aiming Circle
@aimingcircle.bsky.social
We illuminate markets, contests, & other resources for writers of military fiction, non-fiction, history, analysis, poetry & more. Patreon-supported community of practice. Admin: Charlie Sherpa. Visit: linktr.ee/aimingcircle
Teams of contractors now scour the internet using sophisticated surveillance tools to find commentary that the agency (DHS) regards as potentially dangerous. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics
The agency says its surveillance program searches for threats to agents, but critics see free-speech infringements.
wsj.com
Had some wonderful news yesterday - the WW1 Historical Association awarded Framing the First World War the Norman B. Tomlinson Prize for 2025! Very grateful to our wonderful contributors and their hard work, series editor Bill Allison and the team at @univpressofkansas.bsky.social -
Oh hell yes @ifbookspod.bsky.social did Three Cups of Tea, where we learned that “don’t be an asshole” was so much better tactical advice than the entire counterinsurgency manual that a conman figured it out before David Petraeus did.
Three Cups of Tea
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · August 5 · 1h 52m
podcasts.apple.com
The role of ChatGPT in the accused FSU shooter’s case goes beyond providing tips, our investigation reveals. In the 12 months before his attack, he messaged with ChatGPT more than 6,600 times—including conversations revealing he was aggrieved, focused on extremist violence, and suicidal.
Inside a mass shooter’s harrowing history with ChatGPT
A year of chats reveals glaring red flags—and disturbing ChatGPT replies—from long before a rampage at Florida State University.
motherjones.com
The A-10 "Warthog" took its final flight out of Arizona's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base last week, leaving the Air Force with just two active-duty squadrons of the venerable ground-attack aircraft. From Stars and Stripes' Gary Warner:
A-10 ‘Warthog’ takes final active-duty flight at Arizona air base
The July 29 “finale” at Davis-Monthan, near Tucson, leaves Moody Air Force Base in Georgia as the only Air Force base with active-duty A-10s.
stripes.com
An Army doctor will face a court-martial for more than 270 specifications of crimes he committed primarily against his female patients at Fort Hood, Texas, and Honolulu.
Army OB-GYN faces court-martial on sexual assault charges
Maj. Blaine McGraw is accused of crimes against 92 women. The Office of Special Trial Counsel referred nine charges with 272 specifications.
stripes.com
The Pentagon is using a new method of tallying the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in the Iran war that a U.S. government official said was “designed to obscure the count.”
Protecting our shores, saving lives, and answering the call whenever duty demands! 🎂🎁⛑ Celebrate the Coast Guard’s birthday with 25% off a Stripes digital subscription. 🔓Coupon code: COAST 🔗: www.stripes.com?view=registe...
The US military has exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon's munitions stockpile is "dangerously low," according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. cnn.it/4yZ1UWn
US military has used up nearly 80% of key missile interceptors as commanders warn stockpiles ‘dangerously low,’ sources say | CNN Politics
The US military has exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile is “dangerously low,”...
cnn.it
Navy Extends Saildrone USVs in SOUTHCOM — USNI News news.usni.org/2026/08/04/n...
Navy Extends Saildrone USVs in SOUTHCOM - USNI News
The Navy has awarded Saildrone a $16.3 million extension to continue assisting the U.S. 4th Fleet in its maritime drug interdiction operations, the company announced Tuesday. Saildrone received the aw...
news.usni.org
Hegseth's current Deputy Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security has advocated for people to carry weapons to attend church and referred to lax immigration policies as “suicidal empathy.”
Oh look, another far-right extremist at the Pentagon
He oversees defense intelligence and security agencies and helps shape military operations.
motherjones.com
On this day in 1943, a Hoosier private, Charles H. Kuhl, was admitted for evaluation into the Fifteenth Evacuation Hospital. Unfortunately for Kuhl, General George Patton visited the hospital the same day. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-...
The GI and the General: Charles H. Kuhl and George S. Patton
When Private Charles H. Kuhl of the Twenty-Sixth Infantry Regiment, First Infantry Division, checked himself into an aid station in Sicily, ...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
Today’s the day—join me tonight with the @guws.bsky.social to learn more about the educational design philosophy behind my #ManeuverWarfare #wargame from @thedietzfoundation.bsky.social: www.eventbrite.com/e/future-war...
Future War in Your (Cargo) Pocket)
Ian Brown will discuss how to design PME educational games that fit into your pocket.
eventbrite.com
I will be giving the keynote at the first Professional Military Education Symposium at the US Army War College - 11-13 August. The conference will focus on #wargaming and #PME. I look forward to engaging with colleagues and friends from across the Joint Force enterprise. See you there! 🎲 📚
⚡️ Russia hits another Ukrainian publisher warehouse as attacks on book industry mount.
Russia hits another Ukrainian publisher warehouse as attacks on book industry mount
The strike sparked a fire at the publishing house’s warehouse, engulfing around 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet), Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. One man was report...
kyivindependent.com
"Hernández’s return, both astonishing and chilling, underscores Trump’s ability to use his pardon power to undermine the rule of law both at home and abroad — intervening in a sovereign nation to push it further to the right."
Trump's Pardon Power Undermines the Law at Home and Abroad
US President Donald Trump's pardon power is being used to undermine the rule of law at home in the United States and abroad.
inkstickmedia.com
It's precisely *because* of the enormous risks of such outcomes that the Constitution precludes the President from unilaterally taking the U.S. into such a war in the first place. Your daily reminder: Even the Trump Administration itself hasn't defended its legality. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/w...
In Iran, the U.S. Appears Headed for a Strategic Defeat, Allies Fear
With none of President Trump’s aims accomplished and the Strait of Hormuz closed, U.S. allies see dysfunction and vulnerability from the war.
nytimes.com
"Five decades later, he would acknowledge that the Sunrise Colony had shown him that 'no other human organization on earth … respects the rights of an individual more than an anarchist commune.'"
The ‘American Orwell’ Who Fought in the Spanish Civil War
After turning to fiction later in his life, William Herrick's chronicles of leftist betrayal earned him the nickname the 'American Orwell.'
inkstickmedia.com
I think that I once opined that there isn't anything analogous in U.S. history to the inter service rivalries in Japan. But I've also said that the current administration is more comparable to Imperial Japan than other Quasi-Totalitarian States. cc: @sharonk.bsky.social @aelkus.bsky.social
The B-36 is (arguably) the star of Jimmy Stewart's 1955 propaganda film, "Strategic Air Command". I chat with @theaviation.show about the movie, SAC, and Curtis LeMay. youtu.be/ZGlRCnaF4pI And in case you were wondering what the inside of the B-36 looks like, here is the flight engineer console:
The Aviation Show@theaviation.show · 7d agoStrategic Air Command is a curiosity of a propaganda film. With the biggest star and biggest bomber all shot in VistaVision, the 1955 film shines a light on a very specific point in US history. @coldwarhost.bsky.social joins us to discuss the film and more. 📺 youtu.be/ZGlRCnaF4pI 🎧 pod.fo/e/4db5c7
Highly recommend
Eric Chandler@shmof16.bsky.social · 5d ago5 years ago, 20 years after I started publishing things, I came the closest I had ever come to saying what I meant to say in this piece. This only existed in print until now, so I thought I'd try to help it find new readers online. ericchandler.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/t...
Remembering Third Ypres: which began #OTD in 1917. An episode of @oldfrontline.bsky.social from 2021: oldfrontline.co.uk/2021/07/31/t...
Third Ypres Remembered
On 31st July 1917 the Third Battle of Ypres – or the Battle of Passchendaele as it is often called – began with an attack on a forteen mile front near the city of Ypres. In this Anniver…
oldfrontline.co.uk
another in the continuing series of "despite what you might see on social media, ukraine is not putting all its eggs in one basket" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Ukraine Aims to Extend the ‘Kill Zone’ and Turn Up Heat on Putin
Ukrainian artillery crews are on track to have access to extended-range shells by the end of the summer — a high-tech tool Kyiv hopes will drastically expand the frontline “kill zone.”
bloomberg.com
Kirjoitin arvion @alanallport.bsky.social kirjasta Advance Britannia: How the Second World War Was Won, 1942–1945. skeptinenalkemisti.blogspot.com/2026/07/brit...
South Korea nearly shot down a U.S. Marine drone near the inter-Korean border after misidentifying it as a threat, triggering civilian shelter alerts. www.stripes.com/theaters/asi...
South Korean troops prepare to shoot down US military drone during border scare
South Korea nearly shot down a U.S. Marine drone near the inter-Korean border after misidentifying it as a threat, triggering civilian shelter alerts.
stripes.com
ICYMI: OUR LATEST MONTHLY SALVO! (Slide 1 of 4) Here’s our latest salvo of RESOURCES, TIPS, and MARKETS for writers of military- and war-themed fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scholarship, and more! Find all these stories here: www.aimingcircle.com/2026/07/a-ro...
With the war showing no end in sight, @taskandpurpose.com created a living timeline linking to our and others' coverage of major events, to better track how the war unfolded and continues to unfold.
Task & Purpose@taskandpurpose.com · 6d agoTracking America’s latest conflict: The Iran war timeline trib.al/idrHYKR
