Eye(s) in the Sky, Las Vegas Metro Style

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The Las Vegas Metro Police Department, with the help of donations, is building 13 UAV hive “Skyports,” each housing numerous docked and ready to deploy Skydio X-10 quadcopters (38 on hand, supplemented by 12 spare X-10s).

With a 40-minute flight endurance, weather resistance, and rapid deployment capabilities, the Skydio X10 enhances situational awareness. It empowers first responders to make informed, timely decisions during critical operations, making it a vital asset in DFR deployments.

The department has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), allowing for remote operation from a central command center.

Skyports are strategically located in areas of high crime or where they are needed most. These drones remain climate-controlled, fully charged, and mission-ready, and are equipped with built-in safety features such as parachutes in the event of an unplanned landing. Anyone who attempts to damage a police drone is subject to the same penalties as damaging a police vehicle.

Going past the Skyports, drone unit vehicles will be on call with 16 smaller Skydio X2s capable of flying out of the back of a marked SUV, presumably four units per shift. Each of these Mobile DFR (Drones as a First Responder) units consists of two officers, or an officer paired with an LVMPD drone pilot and a deployable drone.

“Similar to a traditional K9 unit that deploys trained dogs, the Mobile DFR program deploys drones to provide real-time overwatch and situational awareness from the sky, offering critical support to officers on the ground during high-priority incidents.”

You can bet that this will be policing in the future.

Add to that border security, base security, sovereignty protection, etc., et al.

Beretta M9 Still Riding the Seas with the Navy

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A recent photo series released by the U.S. Navy showcased the iconic Beretta M9, still in service with the country’s maritime forces.

The crew of the Pearl Harbor-based Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) was recently seen putting the M9 service pistol through its paces on a makeshift range set up on the ship’s helicopter deck.

Plus, you gotta love the old school “blue blob” silhouette transitional targets originally developed by the Treasury Department back in the 1990s.

250606-N-VM650-1158 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250606-N-VM650-1041 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1574 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) U.S. Sailors fire the M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1535 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1473 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1357 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor reloads an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1125 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo

250529-N-VM650-1303 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250606-N-VM650-1118 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

“Watchstanders must prepare for anything, including the use of force when necessary,” said the ship’s social media feed on Wednesday. “Wayne E. Meyer ensures its Sailors are ready with regular small arms training to ensure we can protect the ship and its crew from anyone at any time!”

Adopted to replace the M1911A1 .45 Government Issue in 1985, the Beretta M9 became the standard sidearm across the then-Department of Defense, with some exceptions for specialty units. The initial five-year $56.4 million contract, to produce 315,930 units for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, ended up running more than three decades, greatly surpassing those numbers.

In 2017, the SIG P320 won the Army’s Modular Handgun System contract to replace the Beretta, and the last military contract M9 left Beretta’s Gallatin, Tennessee factory in September 2021.

While the Navy has acquired 60,000 SIG M18s to replace its current M9s, as shown by the photos from Meyer, the ol’ “Italian Stallion” continues to ride with some units.

And it’s not just on the Meyer, as photos taken recently on the cruiser USS Princeton and the amphibious ship USS Iwo Jima show.

250717-N-BT947-1457 SOUTH CHINA SEA (July 17, 2025) U.S. Navy Chief Fire Control Toby Hughes, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, fires an M9 pistol during a small arms weapons qualification aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), July 17, 2025. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is underway, conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jacob I. Allison)

ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 11, 2025) Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Kaleb Jenkins, from Huntsville, Alabama, fires a Beretta M9 pistol at a target during a small arms firing exercise on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Andrew Eggert)

This shouldn’t be surprising, as most ships traditionally maintain the same small arms locker inventory they were originally outfitted with when commissioned into service, unless they go through a long-term multi-month/year overhaul/SLEP process. As a warship can be in service for 20 or 30 years or more, that can leave its small arms locker a bit…dated.

For instance, in the first couple of years of World War II, it was common for Navy ships to still have supplies of cutlasses in their inventory for boarding teams, items that ironically became useful as ersatz machetes for Marines fighting across the jungles of the Western Pacific. During Vietnam, some vessels still had Tommy guns and Garands in their armory. As Meyer commissioned in 2009, still having Berettas on board tracks.

Further, the service tends to keep older small arms on hand much longer than is typical for Army and Marine units. After all, the M14 is still often seen in service afloat. 

Nonetheless, the cool and classy Beretta 92 remains a thing of beauty and a great shooter, so we don’t blame the Navy at all for keeping it around.

A dictated meeting with Oley

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80 years ago today, VADM Jesse Barrett “Oley” Oldendorf (USNA 1909), left, “dictates the terms of surrender” to RADM Tomomatsu Nakazawa (often incorrectly cited as “Vice Admiral Hoka”) and RADM Yoichi Fujii (often incorrectly cited as “Rear Admiral Yofai”) on 22 September 1945 at Wakayama, Honshu, Japan. Oldendorf, commander of Battleship Squadron One, had arrived offshore in the old dreadnought USS Tennessee (BB-43), a Pearl Harbor vet, the morning prior.

The forces in the region had long before laid down their arms and were simply providing Oldendorf the most current charts of the area, lists of naval vessels and merchant shipping in the Osaka, Kobe, and Wakayama areas, and up-to-date information on navigational aids in Southern Honshu waters in preparation for an upcoming landing by the U.S. Sixth Army’s well-traveled 33rd “Prairie” and green 98th “Iroquois” Infantry Divisions in the area scheduled for the 25th. The two divisions would remain on occupation duties in Honshu until they were deactivated in early 1946.

It turned out that a lot of the fierce defenses overlooking Wakayama beach were faux, with numerous “Quaker Guns” photographed in the region.

Close-up of a dummy AA gun that the Japanese constructed around a fish oil and acid-producing factory off the beach at Wakayama, Honshu, Japan. Photo by: T/5 Eisman, 111-SC-213311

Close-up of a dummy AA gun that the Japanese constructed around a fish oil and acid-producing factory off the beach at Wakayama, Honshu, Japan. Photo by: T/5 Eisman, 111-SC-213310

American troops of Major General Innis P. Swift’s I Corps had arrived in the Wakayama area on 7 September, and the Navy had used the port as a rally and evac point under a Beachmaster Shore Patrol for Allied POWs in the area. Between 11 to 18 September, the hospital ships USS Consolation (AH 15) and Sanctuary (AH 17), augmented by the ‘phibs USS Cabildo (LSD 16) and Hopping (APD 51), operating under the control of RADM Ralph S. Riggs with his flag on the cruiser Montpelier (CL-57), rescued 2,568 POWs including 167 were litter cases and 281 injured ambulatory personnel.

The 2,568 Allied POWs were recovered from the beach by 18 LCMs and 18 LCVPs from USS Cabildo (LSD 16) due to the clogged/mined port facilities. Note the LSD-16 hull numbers on her craft. 

These men, many of whom had been imprisoned since 1941, came from POW and civilian internment camps at Obe, Zentsuji, Nii hamа (Hiroshima no. 2), Tamano (Hiroshima no. 3), Omine (Hiroshima no. 4), Motoyami (Hiroshima no. 6), and Ohama (Hiroshima no. 7). They included U.S. Sailors from Guam, U.S. Marines from Wake, U. S. Soldiers from Corregidor and Bataan, Australians captured in Java, Dutch officers from Sumatra, and British taken at Singapore and Hong Kong. Even an Armenian civilian was found.

No wonder “Oley” looked so stern.

 

Just when you thought cruisers were gone, they pop back up

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Modern steel warships dubbed “cruisers” have been around since the 1870s and 1880s starting with the Tsarist Imperial Navy’s 5,000-ton 8-inch gunned General-Admiral (1874), the first armored cruiser, followed a few years later by the Royal Navy’s 5,600-ton 10-inch gunned HMS Shannon and what could be described as the first second class or light cruiser, the 3,700-ton 6.3-inch gunned HMS Mercury, in 1879.

Since then, hundreds of cruisers have come and gone, with the last few remaining being the nine still-active (but scheduled to retire by 2029) 9,800-ton Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers (122 VLS cells, 2×5″/62s) and the two equally old Russian 25,000-ton nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruisers, the latter the largest non-aviation surface warships in the world since USS Missouri retired for the last time in 1992. The Russians also have two 11,000-ton Slavas in service.

Norfolk, Va. (January 20, 2025) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), departs from Naval Station Norfolk to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (USSOUTHCOM AOR) to support maritime operations with partners in the region, conduct Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) port visits, and support Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) to deter illicit activity along Caribbean and Central American shipping routes. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Evan Thompson/Released)

Of note, the Russian Admiral Nakhimov (080), which commissioned as Kalinin back in the old Soviet Red Banner Fleet in 1988 the year before the Wall came down, was recently on sea trials and is slated to return to service after being laid up since 1997 (not a misprint) with two new reactors and now packs a massive 176 VLS tubes (80 for anti-surface and 96 for anti-air warfare) and the ability to fire Kalibr-NK and/or Oniks cruise missiles as well as the Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile. Whether or not she actually gets back in realistic service, with Moscow’s cash-strapped defense budget, is anybody’s guess, but it looks very possible.

I mean, she looks good after 27 years in ordinary/overhaul/mothballs.

Every NATO submarine skipper’s wet dream! (On August 18, 2025, the Admiral Nakhimov was assisted by tugs out to open water in the White Sea for the first set of sea trials)

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) 13,000-ton 112-VLS Type 055 Renhai-class guided-missile destroyers, which are rated as “cruisers” by NATO, are among the most formidable warships afloat. While eight have been commissioned since 2020, another eight are on the schedule.

PLAN’s Nanchang (DDG-101) Type 055, from a Japanese MOD intel picture/press release earlier this year. Look at all those VLS cells…

It then should come as no surprise that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has now re-rated its ludicrously designated 25,000-ton, soon to be F-35B carrying, Izumo-class “helicopter destroyers” (DDHs) to CVMs, or basically a “aircraft-carrying multi-role cruiser.” While CV or CVL is probably more appropriate, it is at least a call back to the 1970s concept of the 20,000-ton British Invincible class “through deck” cruisers, which were later re-rated as aircraft carriers.

SOUTH CHINA SEA (June 11, 2019) The Navy's forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), left, operates with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), June 11, 2019. The ships, along with the JMSDF destroyers JS Murasame (DD 101) and JS Akebono (DD 108) conducted communication checks, tactical maneuvering drills and liaison officer exchanges, June 10-12, designed to address common maritime security priorities and enhance interoperability at sea. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of JMSDF/Released)

190611-N-AB123-0002 SOUTH CHINA SEA (June 11, 2019) The Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) operates with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), June 11, 2019. The ships, along with the JMSDF destroyers JS Murasame (DD 101) and JS Akebono (DD 108) conducted communication checks, tactical maneuvering drills, and liaison officer exchanges, June 10-12, designed to address common maritime security priorities and enhance interoperability at sea. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of JMSDF/Released)

Further, the Japanese will be designating their planned 14,000-ton 128-VLS celled SPY-7 Aegis system equipped vessel (ASEV) super destroyer as a “CG.”

The Japanese Aegis system-equipped vessels (ASEV) super destroyer will be classed as a “CG” and will be geared towards ballistic missile defense

With that in mind, maybe it is time to just go ahead and call the three 15,000-ton Zumwalt DDGs as CGs, which is what they really are, especially after they get their planned LRHW tubes.

Zumwalt undocking, 6 December 2024, Pascagoula, HII photo

Heck, let’s even revisit the circa 1980s nuclear-powered strike cruiser (CGVN) and CGHN concepts, with tons of room and spare electrical capacity or growth.

They looked at 180~ VLSs, twin 5-inch (or even 8-inch Mk 71) guns as well as room for 4-10 MH60/AV-8 platforms in a 15,000-20,000 ton package.

The U.S. “strike cruiser” concept of the 1970s which never grew beyond the model phase.

An artist’s concept of a VLS-carrying battle cruiser (CGH-67) with the SWATH (small waterplane area twin hulls) configuration. May 1986. DN-SC-86-04714

In today’s terms, that could translate to a lot of drones as well. You could build one heck of a surface action group around one of these, and using one as the AAW Boss in a CVBG is ideal.

Making memories and earning blisters

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Some 100 years ago, caught in time.

Landing party, USS Arizona (Battleship No. 39), resting during a required 5-mile forced march with full pack near Bremerton, Washington, in 1925. The junior officer in the center leading the drill is newly minted Ensign (future CNO) Arleigh Albert “31 Knot” Burke (USNA 1923).

Collection of Admiral A.A. Burke, USN(Ret), NHHC Catalog #: NH 100270

Landing party drill marches such as these were an annual requirement.

The battlewagon’s man crew was expected to provide a 201-man light infantry company reinforced with a machine gun detachment for service ashore if needed. Three such companies would form a battalion, such as in the Navy’s actions in Vera Cruz in 1914.

Navy Landing Party, 1914. Their uniforms are stained khaki with the use of coffee grounds. Courtesy of Carter Rila, 1986. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 100832

  • A Naval Landing Party Battalion consisted of 28 officers and 636 men.
  • A company, 6 officers, 195 men.
  • A rifle platoon, 1 officer, 44 men.
  • A machine gun platoon, 1 officer, 55 men.
  • A rifle squad had one petty officer squad leader and 12 men divided into three fire teams.

According to her 1924 book of plans, seen below, Arizona’s small arms locker at the time included two .30 caliber machine guns (likely Lewis guns), 350 M1903 Springfield rifles with bayonets, 100 M1911 .45 ACP pistols, and 10 cutlasses, as well as an undefined quantity of older Krag rifles.

Most ships of the era also carried a few shotguns and rimfire pistols for recreational purposes. The battleship likewise stored full marching order sets of web gear, canteens, knapsacks, blanket rolls, and button-up canvas gaiters to gather the bellbottoms.

Atlantic Fleet sailors in formation, landing force drill, circa 1909. Collection of CQM John Harold. Catalog #: NH 101534

While few large naval landing parties were sent ashore after WWII, the Navy continued to issue a manual (OPNAV P 34-03) to cover such evolutions into 1960. Under its guidelines, even destroyers and destroyer escorts were expected to cough up a trained and properly equipped 13-man rifle squad for service ashore.

Greyhound and pups

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How about this great, and very diverse, image released this week as part of Operation Pacific Viper, a joint DOW/DHS operation run through Southern Command that has bagged a reported 75,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since early August, averaging over 1,800 pounds interdicted daily.

You have one Navy and three different Coast Guard blue water classes represented in profile. A rare shot.

(U.S. Navy Photo by Naval Aircrewman (Tactical Helicopter) 2nd Class Teague Bullard)

The include, from left to right, the 270-foot Legend (Bear) class USCGC Seneca (WMEC 906), the ancient 210-foot Reliance-class USCGC Venturous (WMEC 625), the 509-foot Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102), and the frigate-sized 418-foot National Security Cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758).

While Sampson was commissioned in 2007, and Stone in 2021, Seneca dates to 1987, while the Ohio-born Venturous, one of just eight of her 16 sisters still in active service, was commissioned in 1968.

Another head-on shot, with an HC-130J overhead, but in a different formation with Sampson and Stone on the outside and the smaller boys in the middle. While they look high speed, the group can’t be going over 16 knots, which is the 210’s top speed these days.

Coast Guard and partner agencies support Operation Pacific Viper in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in August 2025. Operation Pacific Viper is a counter-drug operation focused on interdicting, seizing, and disrupting transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Nonetheless, they have all been very busy, across 20 interdictions that also netted 59 individuals suspected of narco-trafficking. And you know what happens to narco boats in the Eastern Pacific once the evidence has been documented and suspects removed.

They get deep-sixed.

USCG photo 250918-G-IV660-1003

CZ Nocturne P-09 C Extended Review after a year

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The CZ Nocturne series builds on the company’s well-received P-07/09 line, which puts a DA/SA CZ-75-ish pistol with a polymer frame in the gun case for a price that compared well to competitors. The upside is better ergonomics and the ability to add a direct-mounted (no plate) red dot in a super common pattern. Sounds like a love story told in polymer and steel, right?

Well, once we got our test pistol running, it was.

Sure, every romance has its bumpy phase. We made it.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Ruger goes walnut for a throwback Mini

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Ruger has gone full walnut on an anniversary model of the company’s famed Mini-14carbine to celebrate more than half a century of the rifle’s production.

Designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Bill Ruger and L. James Sullivan, the latter one of the engineers behind the AR-15, the Mini-14 took visual and naming cues from the Army’s 7.62 NATO M14 battle rifle (albeit with mechanical cues from the M1 Garand), but was scaled down to fire a .223 Remington/5.56 NATO round.

Since its introduction in 1974, the gun has captured the public’s imagination and chalked up over 200 film and TV credits, making it an icon.

I mean, who can forget Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith and his khaki tuxedo?

The new 50th anniversary model remains a modern variant of the Mini when it comes to its 580-series Ranch Rifle gas system and internals, while sporting a laser-engraved anniversary logo on the bolt, polished stainless steel accents, and full walnut furniture, including a wood handguard rather than the plastic one that was introduced in 1978. In an ode to the old and highly collectible “GB” models, it sports a bayonet lug and a birdcage style flash suppressor.

​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
Note that the full-size walnut stock includes a wood top cover and has a slot cut to utilize an M1 carbine sling/oiler. Meanwhile, the gas block features a left-side sling swivel. (Photos: Ruger) 
​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
The 18-inch cold hammer-forged has a 6-groove 1:9-inch RH twist (rather than the old 1:7 twist) and ends in a 1/2″-28TPI threaded muzzle under the flash hider. 
​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
Sights include a ghost ring rear aperture and a non-glare protected blade front sight on the GI-pattern bayonet lug. Meanwhile, the receiver is drilled and tapped for mounting an included Picatinny rail.

​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14 ships with a hard case, two 20-round magazines, and scope rings with an MSRP of $1,399. For comparison, the standard sans bayonet lugged blued model with a simpler walnut stock and plastic top cover has an ask of $1,339 and ships with a 5-round mag.

Hanging out with the gals

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Via the Oklahoma National Guard Museum: two members of the 45th Infantry “Thunderbird” Division show off their sweetheart-named select-fire M2 Carbines somewhere in Korea.

The Thunderbirds were one of just two National Guard divisions-– along with the California-based 40th Infantry– sent to fight in Korea. Activated in September 1950, by the end of the following year, they were deployed to Korea as a unit and spent 429 days in combat until the end of the conflict in 1953.

They saw hell at Yonchon-Chorwon, Old Baldy, Pork Chop Hill, Heartbreak Ridge, and Luke’s Castle, suffering 4,004 casualties, including 834 killed in action.

Valley Forge Military Academy Closing after 97 Years

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When I was a kid, despite the common trope of “we’ll send you to a military academy” in TV shows and movies, I actually did, really, want to be sent to a military academy. Alas, I had to settle for Scouts and JROTC.

Oh, and watching and rewatching (we taped it off HBO on the Betamax) the 1981 classic, Taps.

That’s why finding out this week that VFMA, founded in 1928 with the motto “Courage, Honor, Conquer,” is closing its doors left me with a pang of nostalgia. Another aspect of my Gen X childhood was erased from existence.

This is because much of Taps was filmed on its campus, and the teen actors, including Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring), and Tom Cruise, spent 45 days of orientation with the students of the academy to learn to drill properly as cadets.

I mean, what military nerd can forget the hallway scene?

Anyway, the real-life academy, which held its 97th Commencement in June for just 21 cadets, will complete the current academic year. Its final Commencement will take place as scheduled on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

“For nearly 100 years, we have maintained a strong tradition of developing resilient young men of character,” said Gray Beck, Board Chairman, Valley Forge Military Academy. “Despite today’s announcement, the legacy of Valley Forge Military Academy will live on in the thousands of graduates, faculty and staff members, and supporters.”

The reasons for closure:

After a thorough review of VFMA’s long-term sustainability, the trustees determined that the Academy is no longer viable for several reasons. First, rising costs have made a boarding school education less affordable for many families. In turn, this has driven sharp declines in enrollment. In addition, changes in Pennsylvania law increased the Academy’s liability exposure, driving steep insurance premium increases and narrowing the number of insurers willing to provide coverage. Together, these factors made the Academy’s future unsustainable.

The related but separate Valley Forge Military College, formerly the Valley Forge Military Academy Junior College, which was founded in 1935, is still going strong and has no plans to close, although it is rebranding as the Military College of Pennsylvania.

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