dcockrell.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Happy birthday to Joe Johnston! He designed a lot of great ships, then directed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Jumanji (1995), October Sky (1999), Jurassic Park III (2001), and Captain America (2011).

submitted 10 days ago • 13 comments

Hell yeah

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

“What Russian leadership initially anticipated would be a swift campaign has become a protracted conflict, transforming the battlefield into a real-world laboratory for new military tech, doctrines, and operational adaptations.” More from the CSIS Defense and Security Department:

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Two aircraft carriers, 21 warships, three submarines, 41 fast jets, 19 helicopters, ten patrol aircraft and more than 8,000 personnel "sends a strong message" says the Royal Navy's Commodore Blackmore. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/?p=59248

submitted 20 days ago • 2 comments

Damn straight

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

#OTD in 1945, Zeppelinfeld in Nürnberg, Germany. The powerful destruction of the Swastika would symbolise the end of Hitler's "Third Reich". #WW2 #HISTORY

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

WATCH: The U.S. and South Korean air forces are conducting the Freedom Flag exercise, large-scale airpower drills designed to test the countries' ability to operate as a unified force by simulating a realistic, tactical warfare deployment.

submitted 29 days ago • 4 comments

Modern deception relies less on visual tricks and more on manipulating the electromagnetic spectrum. warontherocks.com/20...

submitted 30 days ago • 1 comment

47 years ago today, the same day Steve Martin debuted King Tut, the Blues Brothers made their first official appearance.

submitted 31 days ago • 38 comments

First Enlisted Royal Australian Navy Sailors Graduate U.S. Navy Nuke School - USNI News news.usni.org/2025/04/22/f...

submitted 31 days ago • 4 comments

As the annual Balikatan military exercises began this week, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn said that after years of the joint combat drills, U.S. and Philippine force have built up the capability to address any major act of aggression in the Taiwan Straits or the South China Sea.

submitted 31 days ago • 2 comments

Modern deception relies less on visual tricks and more on manipulating the electromagnetic spectrum. warontherocks.com/2025/04/thin...

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

#OTD 1943, U.S. Naval Intelligence decrypted a message that revealed the travel schedule for ADM Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet. Four days later, P-38s flew 600 miles and shot down the plane carrying the man who had planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

submitted 39 days ago • 1 comment

As HMS Prince of Wales prepares to lead Carrier Strike Group 25 on a historic deployment to the Pacific, one word dominates the mood on board: excited. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/royal-navy-c...

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

It's National Winston Churchill Day to commemorate when the British Prime Minister became an honorary U.S. citizen. USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) flies the Royal Navy White Ensign on special occasions and always has a Royal Navy officer as a member of the ship's company.

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

A good article with useful insights about the development and likely proliferation of mini-cruise missiles. open.substack.com/pub/missilem...

submitted 46 days ago • 7 comments

Retired Sgt. Joe Harris, who served as a smokejumper for the secretive mission, Operation Firefly, was believed to be the oldest paratrooper veteran when he died March 15. He was 108.

submitted 47 days ago • 3 comments

This week, China conducted Exercise Strait Thunder 2025A. I have published a special assessment of this military exercise, exploring what the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sought to achieve and what we might learn from it. Read my full assessment here: mickryan.substack.com/p/chinas-lig...

submitted 48 days ago • 6 comments

The Marine Corps is looking to expand its use of first-person view drones, which have emerged as a critical weapon of war on the battlefield in Ukraine. Learn more here:

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Ukraine has developed a capable strategic strike system which we should learn from. Its recent unveiling of new long-range strike weapons, successful targeting of oil & ammo depots & insights from my March visit to Ukraine have informed this special assessment. mickryan.substack.com/p/ukraine-st...

submitted 56 days ago • 6 comments

Sgt. Joe Harris, believed to be the oldest surviving World War II paratrooper and a member of the U.S. Army’s first all-Black parachute infantry battalion, has died. He was 108. He will be honored with a full military funeral on April 5. Read about his legacy here:

submitted 56 days ago • 3 comments

Military deception matters.

submitted 58 days ago • 2 comments

#OTD in 1945, Winston Churchill crossed the Rhine into the heartland of Germany on a U.S. Navy landing craft. The American coxswain reported that the prime minister did not say anything notable on the journey. Churchill only took the cigar out of his mouth to spit in the Rhine.

submitted 59 days ago • 0 comments

A good day

submitted 58 days ago • 0 comments

An excellent long read about the development of the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Force 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment, and how it plans and conducts integrated long-range range strike operations. Many lessons for western military organisations here! www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles...

submitted 61 days ago • 11 comments

Forbidden Planet is 69! Nice. United Planets Cruiser C-57D, art by Mentor Huebner

submitted 61 days ago • 7 comments

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

Ken Stevens, who as a 19-year-old sailor aboard the USS Whitney saw the first bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor during the Japanese surprise attack in 1941, died this week in Powers, Ore. He was 102. With Stevens' death, only 13 veterans who survived the attack are known to be living.

submitted 62 days ago • 5 comments

#OTD in 2007, Queen Elizabeth II presented U.S. Marine Maj. William D. Chesarek Jr. with the UK's Distinguished Flying Cross. Chesarek had saved lives in Iraq while flying a British helicopter as an exchange officer. He was the first American to receive the award since WWII.

submitted 62 days ago • 5 comments

Current status

submitted 63 days ago • 0 comments

I wrote this week on the PLA's new barge-bridge vessels, which could unlock significant new capacity for China to sustain & support any invasion of Taiwan, allowing it to deliver a greater quantity of follow-on forces to the island without seizing a port. www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

submitted 63 days ago • 9 comments

USS Carl Vinson Drills with Japanese, South Korean Forces; Moscow Draws Complaint from Seoul Over Military Flights - USNI News news.usni.org/2025/03/20/u...

submitted 64 days ago • 0 comments

When torpedoes struck his battleship, Neil Frye was just 20 years old — a country boy halfway around the world from his tiny hometown of Vass, North Carolina, caught off-guard on an infamous day. Killed in the attack 84 years ago, he's finally coming home:

submitted 65 days ago • 3 comments

In my latest article, I explore how learning and adaptation has accelerated in the Ukraine war, and examine how this has manifested in drone, and counter drone, warfare. open.substack.com/pub/mickryan...

submitted 65 days ago • 1 comment

@jaylyall.bsky.social - just arrived - been on my list for a while

submitted 69 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 73 days ago • 0 comments

Army Pfc. Arthur W. Crossland Jr., who was killed during World War II, is coming home. His remains will be interred Friday at Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia, S.C. www.stripes.com/history/2025...

submitted 75 days ago • 5 comments

(Rare footage. 😊) Italian chicken, having fled German positions under heavy fire, reaching safety.

submitted 76 days ago • 2 comments

Missile launches and small-arms fire are integral to Cobra Gold, the largest joint military exercise in mainland Asia, but a quieter form of warfare has steadily evolved during the annual event. (from @alexmwilson.bsky.social)

submitted 76 days ago • 0 comments

6 Ways To Divide England Linguistically More detailed versions of the maps here: brilliantmaps.com/6-ways-to...

submitted 78 days ago • 0 comments

A Thousand Snipers in the Sky: The New War in Ukraine - 70% of Ukrainian and Russian casualties now inflicted by drones, replacing artillery - drones now kill more armored vehicles than all other weapons combined - Ukraine built more than 1 million drones in 2024, aiming for 3-4 million thus year

submitted 81 days ago • 12 comments