Why did they keep saying the Osprey was safe? Because in 1996, the definition of “safe” was “it didn’t crash this week.” Part of the… Read More »1996 Vintage: The V-22 Osprey “It’s Fixed” Phase

Why did NATO change the name of the Bosnian mission? Because “Implementation” sounds like you’re done, but “Stabilization” sounds like you’re going to be there… Read More »1996 Vintage: The IFOR to SFOR Transition

Why was every helicopter pilot nervous? Because after Black Hawk Down, everyone in 1996 assumed that if you flew over a city, you were five… Read More »1996 Vintage: The Black Hawk “Urban Myth”

Why were soldiers still annoyed with GPS in 1996? Because the government kept the “Civilian” signal fuzzy, ensuring that while you knew which country you… Read More »1996 Classic: The GPS “Selective Availability”

Why did the IT departments start sweating in ’96? Because they realized their missile silos were running on code written by people who thought the… Read More »1996 Vintage: The Military’s “Year 2000” (Y2K) Panic

Why did the military start hiring “Hackers” in 1996? Because they realized that a 14-year-old with a 28.8k modem could do more damage to a… Read More »1996 Classic: The Rise of Cyber Command

Why did the U.S. send two carriers? Because nothing says “Please stop firing missiles near Taiwan” like 100,000 tons of American sovereign territory parked in… Read More »1996 Vintage: The South China Sea Crisis

Why were recruits disappointed in 1996? Because the graphics on their brand-new N64 at home were better than the multi-million dollar flight simulators the Air… Read More »1996 Legacy: The Nintendo 64 vs. Simulators

Why were we researching “Sticky Foam”? Because the military wanted a way to stop an enemy without killing them, or at least a way to… Read More »1996 Legacy: The “Non-Lethal Weapons” Trend

Why did we stop testing nukes? Because after 50 years, we figured if we don’t know how to blow up the world by now, a… Read More »1996 Vintage: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty