By W. Thomas Smith Jr. FORT JACKSON, S.C. – Members of the Gateway to the Army Association gathered, Tues, Jan. 7, on the site of Centennial Park at Fort Jackson to inspect and discuss the ongoing $2.7-million pavilion-amphitheater project. Construction has begun…
Story by W. Thomas Smith Jr. Photographs by Joye King COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Richland County Sheriff’s Department (aka “America’s Law Enforcement Agency”) won several awards during last week’s S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Association 2019 Police Olympics, including the coveted “Top Cop”…
By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, S.C. – Twenty-seven deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD) joined other Midlands-area runners in the EIGHTH ANNUAL QUARRY CRUSHER RUN at the Vulcan Materials Quarry off Georgia Street in Columbia’s Olympia neighborhood, Sat., Mar….
By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, S.C. – Candidates for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Response Team (RCSD-SRT) are being put through the paces this week as they master the finer points of close-quarters-battle (CQB) techniques and other special tactics at both…
COMMEMORATING NATIONAL AIRBORNE DAY, AUGUST 16, 1940-2018 By W. Thomas Smith Jr. When I attended jump school nearly 40 years ago, there was a saying among non-paratroopers that ground week separated the men from the boys. Tower week separated the fools from…
By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, S.C. – A report of “active shooter” at a local elementary school kicked off a major active-shooter response exercise for the Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD), earlier today, with scores of RCSD deputies and other officers…
By SHERIFF LEON LOTT The world has changed. Nowhere is this more evident than in this modern culture which has given rise to mass-shootings like the recent horrific attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As is always predictable,…
By Sheriff Leon Lott A recent article my department had written and published in POLICEONE.com again reiterated the absolute necessity of front-of-the-pipeline conditioning training for those who are the most-susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); what the military services had in previous…
By COL Bill Connor The top enlisted member of the U.S. Army, Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxel, recently posted on Facebook that remaining members of ISIS had two options: “Surrender or die.” He further explained: “If they surrender, we will safeguard them to their…
By NATIONSDEFENSE editorial staff Retired U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Jocko Willink wakes up every morning at 4:30 a.m. He PTs, skips breakfast, eats a low-carb lunch, fasts for 24 hours every two weeks and fasts again for 72 hours each quarter. For…
