The Solomons Campaign: Ground Action – The New Georgia Campaign, June 20-November 3, 1943

The next offering comes via CINCLAX – and is a truly detailed review of the ground action in New Georgia as we begin to move – slowly, hesitantly and with great inefficiency (at first) from the precarious foothold established at Guadalcanal. The Japanese will come to learn, as did the Germans on the other side…

The Solomons Campaign: Cactus Air Force and the Bismarck Sea

Thus far, and not surprisingly so, the conversation has focused on the naval forces – afloat and ashore, at work in the Solomons. Today we go a wee bit joint and talk about land-based air and its contribution. We are all (or should be) pretty familiar with the inter-service rivalry that sprung up pre-war between…

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The Solomons Campaign: THE BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL, Part II

Guest writer Chuck Hill joins us this week with Part II of his detailed write-up on the surface action off Guadalcanal in November 1942.  Lots of lessons to be applied to today (see the roll-up at the end).  BTW – whilst composing this submission he became a grandfather, so we lift a major league ‘mazal…

The Solomons Campaign: THE BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL, Part I

Guest blogger Chuck Hill checks in with the first of two parts of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12-13 November).  We are less than a month out from the attack at Pearl Harbor and Allied forces are on the move – in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  But so too are…

The Solomons Campaign: Strategic Pause and Review – Japan’s Last Chance for Victory?

CINCLAX checks in with a strategic summary of where the players stand at this point in the Solomons Campaign. As we will see here and in detail later ths week with the Battles of Santa Cruz and Guadalcanal I & II, this is still a very close run deal with either the Japanese or Allied…

August 25, 1944 – Black Friday and the 474th FG

Sixty-five years ago today, over the fields of France, 23 P-38s of the 474th Fighter Group engaged what could loosely be described as a gaggle of German Bf-109’s and FW-190’s in a frenetic, hard fought, swirling dogfight.  Initially engaged in a fight were the odds were 2:1 against them, the 12 427th Fighter Squadron and…

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One Second After – Of EMP and Post-Apocolypse America (Part 2)

With the previous article as prologue, we turn to the review of the work at hand – One Second After, by William R. Forstchen (forward by Newt Gingrich). The premise for One Second After lies in the devastating effects of an EMP attack carried out by employing a few nukes launched in an asymmetric strike. …

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One Second After – Of EMP and Post-Apocolypse America (Part 1)

9 July 1962.  At Johnston Atoll, a scrap of coral in a remote part of the Pacific, a Thor IRBM stands on the pad as launch preparations are carried out.  Loaded with test equipment, its prime payload is a W-49/Mk-4 RV payload.  The target, however, is not to be found on a map or chart….