From the dawn of the 20th century, across two world wars, and a number of other conflicts plus, secret operations, the majority of the US Armed Forces and Federal Law Enforcement used two sidearms: the Colt M1911 .45ACP and the S&W .38 Special revolver. However, that changed dramatically in 1985 after the 9mm pistol trials to select the next combat sidearm for the US Armed Forces. The "winner" of that contest was the Beretta 92 9x19mm pistol and it was the replacement for the bulk of pistols in service across the US military and armed Federal agencies...and not everyone was happy ab ..read more

  Sometimes we do not know what promises are made to us by a TV show or film...we just watch and wait for the story to unfold. Then there are the works that are planned to be a multi-stage story arc were Luke becomes a Jedi Knight and takes on Darth Vader, or the Master Chief defends the Earth from the Covenant, or Frodo and Sam are on the quest to destroy the One Ring. Often, TV shows embark on a single storyline that webs through the show's run and ties it together. We saw this with the Dominion War in DS9, the quest for Earth in both BSG shows, and the last great war with the Shadows ..read more

Here we are my brothers and sisters of FWS: the end of the Forgotten MSF Video Games Top 10 lists. It has been years on this journey. For the last of this series of Top 10s, we have some interesting picks that span all of the gaming generations and some that I played and some I did not...but wanted to. As we close out this series, I am left with a feeling of what will appear on lists like this in the future. What current military science fiction games will be lost to the sands of time and someone like me will look back on to explore and explain in the future? Only time will tell, but the san ..read more

As 2023 ends and we look to the soon-to-be-eventful year of 2024, I want to wish everyone a peaceful season of holiday celebration. I hope that 2024 will be one of peace...but I am not holding my breath on that one. As we close the year, I thinking back to what 2023 had been and want it wasn't. It has been the year I got new job that seems to a real gift and one that returned me to the medical field. It was the year I lost my gallbladder, but gained more medical bills. Fun. It is the year that I had to give up DESTINY and turn to Skyrim, to save me the endless grind of the game. It was the y ..read more

  Recently, I have been a guest a few times on the JURS podcast and the most recent was the show about the TERMINATOR franchise with a number of other talented guests. Check out to hear my bad Arnold impression and how much I hate the majority of TERMINATOR films! I was also recently a guest on for a show about B5! Stay tuned for that one!  LINKS: @youtube  https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCIyMawFPgvOpOUhKcQo4eQQ @iHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/.../269-the-jacked-up-review-show.../ @Podbean https://jackedupreviewshow.podbean.com @Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7Eg8w0D ..read more

A Long Time Ago in the 90s, in a gaming landscape far, far away was this little software company that established itself with a clone of Pong, Just eleven years later, this little Washington-based software company would released one of the most successful, celebrated, and beloved video games of all time: HALO: Combat Evolved. After selling over 6 million copies, the HALO franchise was born and it would be a juggernaut that rose to generating sales of 5 Billion dollars. In 2010, the last Bungie made HALO game would be released: Reach and after that, Bungie became all about the n ..read more

  On a hot day in 2010, I published my first blogpost on this site, giving birth to Future War Stories. For half of the operational life of FWS, big topics were researched, articles published, and I even got a book deal (and it died)…and then my life changed when I started teaching. For the second half of FWS, the articles got better, but the pace slowed and my mental health crumbled as my jobs came and went. Some of the darkest years of my life were there and I nearly did not survive them as I battled with thoughts of a grim nature. In the last 18 months, the pace of FWS publishing has ..read more

  Two days ago, the gaming public was gifted with the latest offering from the magic makers at Bungie: MARATHON. The trailer dropped while I was recovering from oral surgery (fun times) and it was shocking and damned interesting. My mind, such has it was, lit up with pleasure. Then I watched the Bungie Vid-Doc on MARATHON and my heart was sad. This resurrection of the title that founded Bungie allowed for the world to be given the gift of HALO is now a fucking online only, no first-person experience, extraction shooter. *Sigh*. Let us spill the Hot Tea on this old Military SF title that ..read more

I have been wanting to do this list for some time now because the vast array of starship design is so very interesting and compelling to me given the rocket and UFO roots of science fiction spacecraft. For this snack-sized article, I am listing ten space vehicle that made me think how odd their designs are. These are not joke entries, these were designed starships and so, you will not see an entry from Spaceballs or some sort of space-themed Hentai or entries from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  1. Slave-1 from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back When SW:TESB was released in 198 ..read more

In the pantheon of combat starships, naval ships, and ancient sailing vessels, the bulk of attention has been paid more on the combat vessels in both the real world and the fictional one. However, one of the most important vessels in any navy, either in on the ocean or in space, is the ones that bring the troops, the coffee, the bullets, the mail, and the fuel. In one of the final installments of The Ships of the Line articles, we will be focusing on the troop transports, medical ships, and the assault ships of the logistical end of most navies and fleets.  The Troopship Then and the ..read more