U.S. Army

Military Weapons: The Davy Crockett Mobile Missile Launcher

Design work for a minimum-size atomic warhead called the XW-51 began at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in the mid 1950s. Read more

U.S. Army

The Korean War’s Counterfire Platoons

In March 1953, a battle-scarred United Nations outpost called “Old Baldy” was attacked by elements of the Chinese Army and captured from the Colombian soldiers occupying it. Read more

U.S. Army

Saipan: A Crucial Foothold in the Marianas

On June 10, 1944, as his troop transport churned through the Pacific toward the Japanese-held island of Saipan, Pharmacist’s Mate First Class Stan Bowen wrote a letter to his sweetheart, Marge McCann. Read more

U.S. Army

The Rockets’ Red Glare: The Story of Fort McHenry

By the late summer of 1814, the invading British Army had routed the entire American Army—both federal and state troops—on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Read more

U.S. Army

Closing the Falaise Pocket

After almost two months of bloody and desperate fighting, the Allies had failed to break through the German defenses that had been limiting their hold on Normandy since D-Day. Read more

U.S. Army

Bloody Fight for Hill 351: Skirmish in the Colmar Pocket

On a cold, dark December morning in 1944, B Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Regiment began the slow ascent up Hill 351. Read more

U.S. Army

The Krag Jorgensen Rifle: How it Defined the Future of American Warfare

During the era in which the Krag Jorgensen rifle came into its own, an arms race was in effect among the nations of Europe. Read more

U.S. Army

The Multiple Launch Rocket System

On February 24, 1991, the ground phase of Operation Desert Storm began. Over the next four days, the soldiers of an international coalition, formed to eject the Iraqi army of Saddam Hussein from the neighboring nation of Kuwait, carried out a whirlwind offensive that quickly overwhelmed their foe. Read more

U.S. Army

Locating Enemies on the Western Front

All wars give rise to change and innovation. In the early years of the 20th century, a short but nasty territorial war erupted between Russia and Japan. Read more

U.S. Army

The M60 Machine Gun in the Vietnam War

The time was early 1967, the place a crowded square over a body of water on a narrow bridge in downtown Saigon. Read more

U.S. Army

Raining Dogs! U.S. Army Parachute Animals in World War II

The U.S. Army trained dogs for a number of tasks during World War II. From checking for mines to guarding prisoners of war, the dogs performed admirably, but a few special dogs actually earned jump wings. Read more

U.S. Army

Captured Weapons of the Reich: A Photo Essay

U.S. Army

Savage Model 1907: Rival of the Colt M1911

In the 1939 movie The Real Glory, elite U.S. Army officers arrive in the southern Philippines to mold the Filipinos into a military force to defend their villages against marauding Moro tribesmen. Read more

U.S. Army

Tank Destroyers in Action! Photos of the 809th on the Front

The 809th Tank Destroyer Battalion was an independently attached unit of the U.S. Army. The battalion was activated on March 18, 1942, at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, and remained in the United States through most of the war. Read more

U.S. Army

The 1903 Springfield Rifle’s Storied Military History

On November 17, 1915, Major Smedley Butler and a small force of U.S. Marines approached the old French bastion of Fort Riviere in Haiti. Read more

U.S. Army

Alvan Gillem’s Invasion of Germany

The United States had not yet entered World War II when Time magazine noted that the Army had created two new armored divisions. Read more

U.S. Army

Robert E. Lee: Confederate Icon

When the Civil War broke out, Robert E. Lee of Virginia was offered command of the Union army. Read more

U.S. Army

Ulysses S. Grant: Union War Hero

Born in Ohio in 1822, Ulysses S. Grant graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1843. Read more

U.S. Army

Guadalcanal: Victory in the Pacific Theater

On August 7, 1942, American Marines landed unopposed on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons chain. The island was the key to future offensive operations in the South Pacific for either side, and the Marines were determined to defeat the Japanese in their first significant ground assault of the Pacific War. Read more

U.S. Army

George S. Patton: World War II As He Saw It

Everywhere General George S. Patton, Jr., went, from North Africa to Sicily to continental Europe, his camera swayed from his neck, ready to capture images that interested him. Read more