#Afghanistan

Photo Of The Day and we’re back in Afghanistan, towards the end of 2009. Above you see U.S. Marine Sgt. John Hollingsworth, where he is zeroing his weapon at the shooting range in Forward Operation Base Airborne, Afghanistan.

TFB’s Photo Of The Day. We go back in time, to Afghanistan in 2013. Above we see Spc. Daniel S. Kennedy, from Tuttle, Oklahoma, with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, as he provides security as Afghan Border Police (ABP) break ground on a new checkpoint, in the Spin Boldak district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The ABP moved to the new location to block an insurgent infiltration route. He’s using the Remington MSR bolt-action rifle. The MSR came out as a winner in the USSOCOM Precision Sniper Rifle competition but was later excluded due to non-compliance.

Photo Of The Day: It’s been over a year, so we hear very few things from Afghanistan. These images were taken in 2014, in the Helmand province, and we see U.S. Marines 3/7 in a shooting competition with various firearms. Above you see U.S. Marine Corps Capt. James Covey, commanding officer, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (3/7), as his M500 12 gauge shotgun spits fire. The pump-action Mossberg 500 (M500) is made by O.F. Mossberg & Sons and has been in service since 1987. It was designed in 1961 by Carl Benson.

In our Photo Of The Day, we see an Afghan soldier providing overwatch security with a Romanian PSL rifle on an observation post while U.S. and Afghan soldiers observe rounds fired from Afghan artillery. These pictures are from 2012, almost 10 years ago. The bottom image is even older.

POTD, short for Photo Of The Day, is TFB’s daily article series where we try to find the most interesting pictures out there. Did you know that credit for the first-ever color photograph taken goes to the mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell? Back in 1861, he unveiled what is to be considered the first durable color photograph.

As the situation in Afghanistan continues to unfold, some people refuse to leave anyone behind. Operation Recovery aims to continue helping at-risk individuals get out of Afghanistan. With requests for aid numbering in the 4,000s, the recovery effort needs funding. Thanks to a large donation from EOTech, the mission is $50,000 closer to accomplishing its goal.

Photo Of The Day: A variety of photos from Afghanistan, from a time which now seems like a long while ago. This happened in the Maiwand district in 2014. We have a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier assigned to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan providing security during an advising mission. It looks like they are using ELCAN Specter optics for their suppressed carbines.

Photo Of The Day and yet another great series of photos by Hille James Combat Photographer. Today we have pictures of the Dutch Commandos in Afghanistan, the Korps Commandotroepen (KCT). The Korps Commandotroepen is the Special Forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army.

Photo Of The Day: Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, August 26, 2021, just a few days before the evacuation ended. You can imagine the pressure of working there, day and night with just a few hours of sleep between the shifts. Above we see a paratrooper assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He’s armed with the M110A1 CSASS, a contract awarded to Heckler and Koch. The setup is similar to the HK G28. It would be interesting to know if HK could deliver a solution in 6.5 Creedmoor if the U.S. Army wanted.

Photo Of The Day: Modern history in action as we take a look at Swedish Special Forces (SOG) at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are working in collaboration with other nations’ units on the site. The soldiers live inside the airport and have the opportunity to sleep about two to four hours a day according to a SwdishSwedish Armed Forces article. These are official photos from the Swedish Armed Forces and as such, they are pixelated not to reveal certain “abilities” and other details that are considered secret.

Photo Of The Day:  The world’s first photograph, made by a camera, goes back to the year 1826. It was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Here we are today looking at a picture taken with the help of Night Vision as the last American soldier leaves Afghanistan. This is history in the writing whether we like it or not.

The recent and hasty withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from the country of Afghanistan has been somewhat of a controversy. Many say that the withdrawal of US forces was irresponsible while others are lauding the decision as a step towards a more peaceful world. No matter what side you fall on, if you’re a serious gun aficionado then you are probably curious about all the shiny new hardware the Taliban has found themselves now owning. Today we’ll take a brief look at some of the new weapons of the Taliban and how they are already starting to integrate some US and European weaponry into their arsenal.

Pen guns are unusual creatures in the menagerie of firearms designs. And no, that’s not a reference to the horror show “PEN-15” rifle assembled by TFB TV’s James “Questionably Frequent Phallic Jokes” Reeves with his motley crew of Mailroom series viewers and Discord members. Actual pen guns are firearms that are considered to be disguised to look like innocuous simple tubes like writing pens, hence the name. They are classified in the “Any Other Weapon”, or AOW category under the NFA (National Firearms Act of 1934) along with other such oddities like knife guns or umbrella guns. They are understandably uncommon, and most regular people who have production versions, like TFB’s own Nick C with his Braverman Stinger, consider them to just be “range toy” novelties. However, pen guns have a fascinating deeper history rooted in espionage, intrigue, and assassination.

The AKS74U is perhaps one of the more interesting Kalashnikov variants that has spawned a following all over the world due to its compact size and effects as a status symbol in the United States, Middle East, and Central Asia. The name itself is one such example of that following that continues today. Coming from Pashtu origins in the midst of the Soviet-Afghan War, Krinkov has been turned into Krink in the US context and is still just as popular as ever.

Photo Of The Day and we take off to an exciting place called Kabul, in Afghanistan. We’re looking at the Afghan Special Police and their Crisis Response Unit 222 (CRU222) being trained and monitored by Norwegian Naval Special Operation Commandos.