Why was “Star Wars” still a thing? Because you can’t just tell a defense contractor that his “Space Laser” money is being redirected to “Peacekeeping… Read More »1996 Vintage: The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) “Zombies”

Why did the Russian Army leave Chechnya in 1996? Because they learned that a million-dollar T-80 tank is easily defeated by a teenager with an… Read More »1996 Vintage: The Grozny Withdrawal

Why couldn’t the NATO allies talk to each other? Because the Americans were using encrypted digital SATCOM, the British were using VHF, and the local… Read More »1996 Vintage: The “Interoperability” Myth

Why was it the year of the “Digital Fog”? Because we had more data than ever, but still had no idea what was going to… Read More »1996 Classic: The 1996 Final Vibe

Why did the JSF program start winning every budget battle? Because Lockheed promised a plane that could hide from radar, hover like a bird, and… Read More »1996 Archive: The Joint Strike Fighter (X-35) Hype

Why was the Army “Digitizing the Force”? So a General in Washington could watch a Private in a foxhole get confused in real-time. Part of… Read More »1996 Classic: The Tactical Internet

Why was the “Peace Dividend” so quiet? Because it was the sound of thousands of career officers realizing their “Early Retirement” was mandatory and their… Read More »1996 Archive: The Clinton Defense Cuts

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”