Arsenal: F-117 Nighthawk over Baghdad, Operation Desert Storm follows the world’s first operational stealth attack aircraft from secret Nevada test flights into the heart of Iraq’s air defense network in nineteen ninety one, as lone pilots slip through radar belts to cut command centers, bunkers, and communications hubs out from under a heavily defended capital. Listeners hear how fear of modern surface to air missiles drove engineers toward low observability, how the Nighthawk’s faceted shape and precision weapons changed deep strike planning, and how its combat record, vulnerabilities, and retirement shaped later stealth fleets. Arsenal is the Friday feature of Dispatch: U.S. Military History Magazine, and the podcast is developed by Trackpads.com.

Headline Wednesday: The Battle of Tarawa, Second World War, drops you onto the blood-soaked reef where the 2nd Marine Division fought its way toward Betio’s seawall under withering fire. This episode walks through the short, savage struggle for a tiny atoll that carried enormous stakes for America’s Central Pacific drive, from stalled landing craft on the coral to bunker-by-bunker fighting across the airfield. Headline Wednesday is the Wednesday feature of Dispatch: U.S. Military History Magazine, built for curious civilians, veterans, and history-minded professionals who want clear, concrete storytelling. The series is developed by Trackpads.com, with each episode turning one headline moment into a full narrative of decisions, courage, and consequences.

Across this discussion, you will hear how earlier lessons from the Solomons shaped the plan for Tarawa, why the tide and reef almost wrecked that plan on the first day, and how improvisation, amtracs, tanks, and sheer willpower slowly turned the battle. We follow the Marines from that fragile foothold at the seawall through three days of close-quarters combat, then trace how the victory on Betio opened the road to the Marshalls and reshaped amphibious doctrine for Saipan, Iwo Jima, and beyond. Use this episode as a sharp refresher for your own reading, study, or staff-ride preparation, and as a reminder of how much can hinge on a few hundred yards of sand.

This Week in U.S. Military History: January 6th, 2026–January 12th, 2026 follows a winter week where pamphlets, plantations, harbor channels, and Pacific beaches all share the same dates. You move from the fiery words of “Common Sense” and the gun-smoke at New Orleans to the warning shots at Charleston, Alabama’s secession vote, and Theodore Roosevelt’s passing. The narrative then carries you through Lend-Lease, the Lingayen Gulf landings, an early helicopter assault in Vietnam, and the congressional green light for the Gulf War, showing how American power keeps changing shape.

You hear how each moment fits into its wider war or era, tracing themes of leadership, adaptation, technology, and the hard decisions that send service members into harm’s way. The episode connects muddy earthworks, armored decks, and helicopter landing zones into one continuous story of a nation learning how to fight and how to choose when to fight. “This Week in U.S. Military History” is the Tuesday feature of Dispatch: U.S. Military History Magazine, developed by Trackpads.com, and this week’s journey invites you to listen closely to the echoes of these winter anniversaries.