Millennium Challenge 2002
Just over two decades ago, the United States ran a major war game exercise called Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02). Millennium Challenge was a hybrid exercise that combined live troops, real ships, and aircraft. Massive computer simulations operated across more than two dozen locations. Overall, more than 13,500 service members participated. The cost reached roughly $250 million, making it the most ambitious and expensive war game in U.S. history.
The simulated combatants were the United States, referred to as “Blue”, and a fictitious state in the Persian Gulf, “Red”, often characterized as Iran or Iraq. US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper played the part of an enemy commander waging a bloody defensive campaign against a much more powerful US force. The Red force possessed a hodgepodge of troops, ships, and planes that was similar in organization and capability to Iran’s actual forces.
When the game began, the mighty Blue fleet steamed up to the Red fleet. The Blue Admiral issued an ultimatum demanding surrender. The enemy commander refused. Instead, Riper attacked and hit the larger Blue fleet hard. Missiles from land-based units, civilian boats, and low-flying planes tore through the Blue fleet. His order to initiate the attack was a coded message sent from the minarets of mosques at the call to prayer.
In a time when the US Navy seems incapable of designing and building ships that are not significantly over budget and behind schedule, it is good to remember 
Around 650 years ago, off the eastern tip of Singapore, a trading vessel slipped beneath the waves and vanished from history. It carried bowls painted with ducks and lotus flowers — porcelain so exquisite that even the Chinese emperor sought them for his own. This week, the world learned just how extraordinary that sunken cargo really was.
Donald Trump bragged that his administration would recruit “only the best people.” Instead, his regime is the very definition of a kakistocracy, a system of government run by the least qualified, most unprincipled, or worst citizens.
Last Sunday, on a frigid day on the Navesink River in Red Bank, NJ, the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (HRIYC) won back the 
Last Tuesday, the 3,080 passenger cruise ship, 
Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of both the day and Black History Month. Here is an updated repost about the social reformer, 
A 
Martin Luther King Jr. popularized the saying, “The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.” It would be pleasant to think that this is always the case. Given the recent political climate, the quote may be overly optimistic.
Robert Smalls is an American hero, well worth celebrating every day of the year, not only during Black History Month. An updated repost in honor of the remarkable story of Robert Smalls.
Updated: Several blog readers pointed out that in focusing on the history of Harriet Tubman and her leadership in the Great Combahee Ferry Raid, I failed to mention the bridge over the Combahee River named in her honor. (Thanks, Doug and Boca Jim.)