The Roman empire span for almost 700 years from the time of its founding to the fall in 476 AD. You can bet that there were significant changes in the design of the entire roman soldier outfit, from the type of armor they wore to the helmet they used to protect their head.The Roman Empire started to show its beginnings sometime in the 3rd century BC.

However, it started out just in the Italian peninsula, and there were three major powerful families: the Julii, Scipii, and Brutii. During this time soldiers of these three inner factions of Rome wore armor and helmets quite different from what you might think of on a legionnaire. They wore a chainmail armor called Lorica Hamata, and their helmets were more rounded and did not have the neck protection seen in later times. Also, most soldiers wore a single red feather/plume that jetted out from the back of the helmet.

After the Marius Reforms in 106 BC, the dress of the Roman soldier began to change. The Imperial Roman armies were formed and Lorica Segmentata came into being. Also, the recognizable Roman trooper helmet and Centurion helmet was used in the armies at this time. It was after the reforms that the biggest changes came into effect. The Scutum rectangular shield was solidified as a shield of the legionairres, and the Gladius short stabbing sword was used as the sole short range weapon on the battle field.Various other changes in Roman helmets came into being as the centuries wore on.

These included the Gallic ‘H’ and Gallic ‘G’ roman helmets, as well the imperial roman helmets. They still maintained the general design of the standard trooper helmet, but they had wider and different sized neck guards and cheek guards. Some may have had more ornamental brass plating. A later article will explore the later period Roman army attire and helmets.

1977, I left SFC Charles T. Hightower at the 545th Ordnance Company, Munster by Dieburg, West Germany; I was on my way to Fort Rucker, Alabama, my new duty station in the Army. We worked together for, four-years: when I left he was Acting First Sergeant.

When I first met him, he walked into the Surety Room at the hidden site, nuclear site in the backwoods of Munster by Dieburg (I was the clerk for the office then), said: “I’m your new Staff Sergeant in charge of this here office,” he was a little taller than me, thin, smoothly shaved, army fatigues stretched to the tip of its seams, his boots shined like a persons teeth just buffed clean.

I was a Corporal then, and we’d work the next 44-months together. He would insure I became the person in charge of the office, after he left and became First Sergeant. I got awarded the ACM for my services before I left because of him; he was always looking out for me. He would assist in my making Buck Sergeant, he was more like a big brother than a Staff Sergeant in charge of me, and he’d be SFC and Acting First Sergeant in less than two-years (that is, up one pay grade). We both grew back then, through and between 1974-77.

There are those special few people you learn a lot from within a short period of your life, that you carry on into other fields and your future achievements are due indirectly, if not directly, because of their teachings, and Charles T. Hightower was one of those few to me.

He died at 41-years old, one year before he could retire with twenty-years in the Service. He died in 1983, six years after I left our unit there at Munster by Dieburg, and he died off-duty, a civilian vehicle struck him, in Friedberg, Germany. Perhaps one thing we had in common, we were both Vietnam War Veterans.

By SSG Dennis L. Siluk, US Army

West Point is looking for well rounded young men and women who are good students, good athletes, and good leaders. The balance is very important as it demonstrates that the candidate can achieve success in multiple areas.

While that balance is important, not every candidate is equally balanced. Some are stronger in some areas than others. The point is that if you are weak in an area, to be competitive you need to make up for that weakness somewhere else, or work to reduce that weakness.

In your case I would suggest that some level of participation in sports and activities would certainly help your ability to compete. It is definitely NOT too late, but you need to act sooner than later. Find a winter sport and spring sport to participate in. Join school clubs; participate in church activities; get that job and show that you can achieve in school while holding down a part-time job.

Again, gaining a better balance in the three areas will go a long way towards making you a competitive candidate.

You should take the toughest course load you can handle. Do well and that will put you in the most competitive position. The issue of “credit” for college courses at West Point is often a point of confusion. You will certainly get “credit” in the sense that success in college level courses certainly helps your academic evaluation.

That doesn’t mean, though, that your course load at West Point will be diminished. It’s a 47 month program for everyone with a prescribed 32 course “core” curriculum plus 10 to 14 courses for your major. If you have taken a college level course, you won’t have to repeated it, but you will have to take either a more advanced version of the course or a different course.

Holding down a job while doing well in everything else certainly helps in your leadership evaluation, so don’t hesitate to proceed in that direction. In a sense that involves “making time” but the point is that you demonstrate balance in your accomplishments.

Enlisting in the Army or National Guard is certainly a viable alternative path to West Point. It is also, I will note, a path less often taken and there is much less competition in the military admissions category.
If you are concerned about athletic participation (not to be confused with your athletic capabilities) and you are SERIOUS about getting in to West Point, this is an excellent path.

If you enlisted in the National Guard, for example, and completed basic training next summer, you can apply to West Point and be treated in an entirely different category. You will have to demonstrate leadership and athletic ability to get good recommendations from your military chain of command, but this may be an excellent option for you.

The question is not what percentage of enlisted members gets in to West Point, but rather what percentage of an incoming West Point class comes from the enlisted ranks. The answer is that about 200 soldiers from the Prep School, Army and National Guard are admitted in each class. That, today, represents about 15% of the incoming class.

I certainly know of who you are talking about he is a legend in the Army. Being related to such a figure will reinforce your admission in that your motivation to attend West Point will be more clearly understood. You still need to be fully qualified academically, medically and physically, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to be related to him.

Keep at it, you might get in and you might not. Check out your Army and National Guard options and consider them seriously. I would also contact your Admissions Commander at West Point and discuss all this directly with him. That way you will know ahead of time what you might be able to do if you there is something that you do not have or need.

Military unit patches help to establish the identity of military personnel. Unit patches can contain symbols or numerals that relate to the specific unit or the special mission. The patches contain the number of a unit embroidered on them. For instance, if there is a big “1” embroidered, it means that the unit is the First Division. Unit patches also contain symbols that can be something like the black horse head or a fish.

During World War I, the British Army used several complex sleeve patches. These patches were used at all the battalion, brigade and divisional levels. The badges were known as “battle badges” and were geometric shaped with solid colors and specific numbers. Their colors shape and number helped to identify the units within a formation.

Military unit patches are not designed blindly. They are designed by experts and usually carry a wealth of information that may not be apparent to the casual viewer. As an example, consider the patch of the Forty-ninth Military Police Brigade. The elements of design of this brigade’s patch symbolize the discovery of gold in California since this brigade was formed in California. The yellow background refers to California’s popular nickname, the Golden State. The red disc stands for California’s sunny climate and makes a disguised reference to Sutter’s Mill, a saw mill, on the American river where the first gold nuggets were discovered in the year 1849.

Unit patches also undergo changes, from time to time, in the way they are worn and used. During the Iraq war, the Army launched a new combat uniform where, apart from changes in the design, there were changes in patches. Patches in the new uniform were to be affixed by Velcro so as to give the wearer the flexibility to save money by talking patches off from uniforms before laundering.
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Anjem Choudarys Islam4UK traitors march through Wootton Bassett was stopped by police on the grounds that if it went ahead there could be serious public disorder.

Thailand’s long-running anti-government protests have again broken out in violence. Security forces opened fire with rubber-coated steel bullets on demonstrators, as they tried to charge a barricade on the outskirts of the capital. One soldier was killed, reportedly from “friendly fire” by a member of government security forces. Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay reports from Bangkok (29 April 2010).
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