This won't be the first time politics has endangered our professional military. What can we learn from the past?

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Sparta’s enemies ... A state run by an inflexible military regime, whose people existed almost ...

American WWII aces who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, died after a storied 37-year career in the United States Army, ...

Sometimes when combat gets a little too close to comfort, a rifle or carbine no longer does the trick and a soldier is forced ...

Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history. Allied troops were involved in the combat. Over 8 Allied armored ...

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Frank Blazich, Jr. is a curator of Military History at the National Museum of American History. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he holds a doctorate in modern ...