Tactics

News, explainers, and analysis on military tactics.

Latest in Tactics

A U.S. Marine with Maritime Special Purpose Force, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, operates a drone during a simulated raid exercise as part of the Marine Expeditionary Unit Exercise at the Tier 1 Group compound near Memphis, Tennessee, Jan. 16, 2025. MEUEX is the 22nd MEU's first large-scale exercise as a composited Marine Air-Ground Task Force, focusing on split operations with consolidated command and control to enhance readiness for its upcoming deployment. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tanner Bernat)

AI in special operations will always have ‘a human in the loop,’ top officer says

By Matt White, Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 20, 2026

A US marine from Regimental Combat Team-8 walks between accommodation tents at Forward Operating Base Delaram in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan on April 4, 2011. Around 140,000 foreign troops are deployed in Afghanistan within the UN-mandated, NATO-led, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US-led coalition Operation Enduring Freedom, which overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS (Photo credit should read PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)

Drones could mean the end of sprawling bases seen during Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 19, 2026

A joint special forces team move together out of a U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey Feb. 26, 2018, at Melrose Training Range, New Mexico. At Emerald Warrior, the largest joint and combined special operations exercise, U.S. Special Operations Command forces train to respond to various threats across the spectrum of conflict. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Clayton Cupit)

Special operators need to be ‘lethal but also technically fluent,’ commander says

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 19, 2026

An Army Ranger assigned to 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, conducts a squad live fire exercise at Fort Benning, Georgia, May 13, 2025.

SOCOM wants to move fast on new tech: ‘We’re not building aircraft carriers here’

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 18, 2026

Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) steams through the Pacific Ocean, April 8, 2026. John P. Murtha is underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations supporting NASA’s Artemis II mission, retrieving the crew and spacecraft following their return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts on a flight around the moon in the Orion space capsule, marking the first time humans journeyed to deep space in over 50 years. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Melseth)

Amphibious Operations

The Marines may need 40 amphibious warfare ships, general says

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Apr 29, 2026

U.S. Army Private First Class Ajryan Scales , assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps Signal Detachment, trains and familiarizes with the 5.56mm L-variant Drone Round to defeat small unmanned aerial systems at Oak Grove Training Center, N.C., April 9, 2026. The training offered units the chance to build proficiency and familiarize Soldiers with techniques to engage and defeat sUAS while rapidly advancing operational capabilities. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Alexis Fischer)

Soldiers with the XVIII Airborne Corps are training with anti-drone rounds

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Apr 14, 2026

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron prepare to conduct combat search-and-rescue from an MH-6M Little Bird that was offloaded from a MC-130J Commando II during Exercise Agile Chariot near Riverton, Wyoming, May 2, 2023. Agile Chariot tested Agile Combat Employment capabilities, including using smaller, more dispersed locations and teams to rapidly move and support aircraft, pilots and other personnel wherever they’re needed. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phil Speck)

A 2023 special ops exercise in Wyoming was a preview of the Iran rescue mission

Posted on Apr 10, 2026

Marine Expeditionary Unit

Amphibious Operations

Here’s what Marine Expeditionary Units are designed to do

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Apr 1, 2026

A Vulcan rocket carrying the USSF-87 mission successfully launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Feb. 12, 2026. The USSF-87 payload includes the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) system that will improve our ability to rapidly detect, warn, characterize and attribute disturbances to space systems in the geosynchronous environment. (U.S. Space Force photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen)

Space Force to refine ‘orbital warfare’ maneuvers with new prototype

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Mar 2, 2026

Special operators conduct training in austere conditions near Pituffik Space Base, Greenland, on May 9, 2023, in support of exercise ARCTIC EDGE 2023. ARCTIC EDGE 2023 (AE23) is a U.S. Northern Command-led homeland defense exercise demonstrating the U.S. military's capabilities in extreme cold weather, joint force readiness, and U.S. military commitment to mutual strategic security interests in the Arctic region. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Andrew Adams)

A brief history of the US military’s presence in Greenland

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Feb 5, 2026

From left, Maj. Gen. Winston Brooks, Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Sartain, Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Augustin, and Maj. Benjamin Page shake the hands of soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery regiment as they board a plane at the Lawton Fort Sill Regional Airport on May 2, 2024.

The Army wants soldiers to travel less for training, do more in virtual reality

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 13, 2026

The vessels would allow the Marines to move small teams onto remote islands. Medium Landing Ship, or LSMs, can carry 200 Marines to shore.

Amphibious Operations

Marines may finally get landing ships for modern-day island hopping

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Dec 23, 2025

SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND, Alaska (Sept. 11, 2022) A West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare operator conducts security utilizing a SHIELD AI Nova I drone during Operation Noble Defender. Sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning software capabilities coupled with the development of layered denial, and defeat mechanisms capable of addressing current and emerging threats are fundamental to national defense. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Alex Smedegard)

Navy SEALs want to start a 10-day school to learn drone warfare

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 17, 2025

A U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle and Marines assigned to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, secure a beach during a simulated amphibious assault at Hwajin-ri, South Korea, Sept. 2, 2024, as part of exercise Ssang Yong 24. Exercise SY24 strengthens the Republic of Korea-U.S. Alliance through bilateral, joint training, contributing toward combined amphibious capability in defense of the Korean Peninsula. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Amelia Kang)

Amphibious Operations

This is how the Marine Corps storms a beach

Posted on Nov 10, 2025

Soldiers with the 34th Infantry Division receive instruction on the M250 automatic rifle during a New Equipment Training fielding at Camp Ripley, Minn. September 14, 2025. The M250, part of the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program, replaces the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hamlin)

National Guard units are getting the new M250 machine gun

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

A soldier uses the KnightFigher drone jamming device during Project Flytrap, July 28, 2025.

Project Flytrap and the Army’s answer to drone warfare

Posted on Aug 29, 2025