Random News and Notes 14 March
Its Pi day.
The CSM brings up an interesting point about battle drills. It may be time to dust off ATP* 3-21.8, Infantry Platoon and Squad.
* ATP = Army Technical Publication. Some of you will know this specific document as FM 3-21.
There is a quick sports note to pass along. The World Baseball Classic pool play just ended and Team USA has advanced to the semis after beating – and eliminating – Canada.
It has not really been a good year or so for America’s Hat in the major sports.
Team USA faces the Dominican Republic tomorrow in Miami.
There’s an odd story coming out of Texas. A couple of days ago, a member of Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s security detail was shot dead by Dallas SWAT. Dallas police tracked Mike King, publicly identified as a member of Crockett’s security detail, to Children’s Medical Center Dallas on March 12. He barricaded himself in a vehicle, emerged with a gun after being tear-gassed, and was fatally shot by SWAT officers.
Sources say King faced a warrant for impersonating a law enforcement officer, running a platform for off-duty police jobs while using aliases, a replica police vehicle, and stolen plates.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a new task force Thursday to review curricula and faculty at top military schools like the Army War College and Naval War College. He aims to remove what he calls ‘woke’ influences and a ‘radical hate-America agenda,’ refocusing on warfighting, strategy, history, and meritocracy.
The taskforce, headed by Undersecretary Anthony Tata, has 90 days to report and make recommendations.
A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted nine defendants Friday for their roles in a violent July 4, 2025, assault on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado.The group—described by prosecutors as a North Texas Antifa cell—arrived armed with firearms, body armor, and fireworks used as explosives, vandalizing property and firing shots at responding officers.
Benjamin Hanil Song, a leader who distributed guns, was convicted of attempted murder after shooting Lt. Thomas Gross; the others face charges like providing material support to terrorists and rioting. A sentencing date has not been set.
Epic Fury News
President Trump announced a large strike on the Iranian facilities on Kharg island.
The strike targeted military sites on Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub handling nearly 90% of its exports and 2% of global supply, as part of Operation Epic Fury that began around February 28.