The last few months have been very interesting for me, as well as for all of you I am sure. The first sign that things were going to go awry came around 13 March, when I was informed that the following week we'd be staggering out work schedules. The week that followed that we went to almost a complete telecommunications structure. We're still in that, and I expect it to continue for at least the remainder of April. Secondly, it also included some modifications to my school schedule which basically doubled the length of the class and stretched out deadline priorities. Ultimately, it just made things go slower as more and more obstacles were thrown into everyone's path. With all that being said, I have added a few features, have a few features planned, and have a few other research priorities and articles coming that I wanted to tell you all about.
Research Priorities
As with the previous news update, I indicated that I was shifting focus to a broader range of artillery systems. I have been in frequent communication with Mr. Berliner regarding the atomic artillery systems, and with one of our volunteers at work regarding non-atomic elements. In the meantime, I've also been talking with people at White Sands Missile Range, and Yuma Proving Grounds. This all culminates an anthology of research that will turn one year old in July - that started with Dr. Richard Bull's HARP (though the seed had been sewn as early as June of 2017 for this research project). The onset of the COVID-19 situation, however, has admittedly slowed down forward motion on many of these fronts. But, please note I said it has slowed not stopped.
I was scheduled to present a lecture on the Atomic Annie Family and the Age of Nuclear Artillery at a local venue here in August. That is currently still on schedule and will coincide with two other lectures I will be giving on the Bombings of Japan, and the Surrender of the Japanese in World War II. It also coincides with the one year anniversary of the research initiating. This presentation will be available here sometime in the next week or two for registered users and historians. More on those updates shortly.
Another research topic that will be getting posted soon will be the close of hostilities with the Third Reich in May of 1945. That is an item that will be in the publications section of the repository for registered users soon. The article will be posted closer to May for the remainder of the site. We will also be examining the suite of post-May-45 German surrenders (all the way up through September of 1945) ahead of that.
Lastly, the elephant in the room. I had considered composing an article on COVID-19 and it's relationship with other outbreaks and pandemics. Particularly, I have been referencing the Spanish Flu of 1918 with COVID-19. However, after careful consideration and acknowledgement that many of my peers are already publishing such material, I decided to forego any publication of such content. The Center of Military History has effectively composed my thought process on COVID-19 and pandemics, and if you are interested in those thoughts, I suggest you check them out.
Feature Updates
Registered users will note that the repository has been updated and has now broken out categories onto their own pages. I expect to keep things that way as it helps with organization and makes it easier for me to update information as time goes on. They also may notice that there is now a "Resources" tab which includes much more technical information. I have posted incomplete (deliberately) technical manuals, reports, and drawings there that will be available for those users. Some of these are very high quality - so make sure that you have a decent internet connection before trying to retrieve them.
The Library section will be updated before too long with some digitized articles. I have a couple that will be shared that are available for use. I know many students that might benefit from these resources, so I wanted to make sure they weren't behind the membership wall (even though membership is free). In all likelihood, however, if the articles are posted here, they are probably also located elsewhere. The only reason I will have them here is to simplify and centralize as much information as I can.
Facebook continues to be a thing that's easy. I understand that many individuals may not use Facebook, so I will make a habit of posting monthly roundups for the content that actually has substance. I'm relatively satisfied with the current layout of periodical "on this day" and "random history" posts, so I'm not going to switch to the schedule I laid out in a previous post just yet. That'll happen eventually, but not right now.
Lastly, I'm looking at getting my gallery posted sometime in the next few weeks. My photography itch hasn't been too bad lately, so there won't be much there to see - but at least it'll be something that's actually there that is different.
What's more, Tumblr has fallen to a low priority, and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future.
A Note
To those of you who have visited the site and/or Facebook, I greatly appreciate your time. I've started to get an item or two of fan-mail and it is awesome. I look forward to those of you who find this site interesting or useful to continue using it, sharing it, and sending interesting tidbits my way. Research is a never ending thing, and that's one of the things that I use to pass my time - especially in these weird COVID-19 days.
To all of my visitors, please stay well, stay safe, wash your hands, listen to your law enforcement and government agencies, and continue to learn!
We'll see you soon!
