Blake Stilwell

Blake Stilwell is a former Air Force combat photographer with degrees and experience in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations and Middle Eastern Affairs. Instead of using any of that, he (eventually) became a writer. His work has appeared in Recoil Magazine, Military Times, Coffee or Die, Skillset Magazine, and more. Blake is based in Ohio but is often found elsewhere.

Email: Blake.Stilwell@Military.com

Latest Articles

U.S. Air Force missileers from the 90th Missile Wing perform their duties in a remote, underground Launch Control Center. (Newsweek/Unconventional)

What It's Like to Live and Work with the World's Deadliest Weapon: the Minuteman III ICBM

Some parts of North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska are home to some 400 nuclear-tipped ICBMs and the 10,000...

Part of the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma is seen at right as the battleship USS West Virginia, center, begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor. (National Archives)

A US Sailor Showed Japan How to Attack Pearl Harbor

American admirals first showed how vulnerable Pearl Harbor was, nine years before the United States entered World War II.

The Best Military Books We Read in 2024

Just like last year, 2024 was a banner year for military books. They captured our attention, and who knows? They may just do...

The Ultimate Military Gift Guide 2024

If you're looking to support veteran-owned businesses, there's no better way than buying from them. That's why we put...

Smells like ... victory. (National Archives)

Boiled Eagles, US Military Victories and the Real History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has never been what your fifth-grade teacher made it out to be.

Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)

How Cher's 'Turn Back Time' Music Video Made Even the Navy Blush

A video featuring Cher singing to a rowdy group of American sailors would have been no trouble for anyone involved -- if it...

There Will Be Only One Army-Navy Game This Year as Usual, Thanks to Tulane

The now-No. 20 Green Wave defeated the Midshipmen in a 35-0 shutout, dashing Navy’s hopes for an AAC Championship Game berth.

Russell Crowe's Gen. Maximus Decimus Meridius wasn't real, which is a shame because someone needs to lead Rome. (DreamWorks)

The Best Real-Life Military Leaders in the ‘Gladiator’ Movies, Ranked

Ridley Scott’s two “Gladiator” movies aren’t exactly real history, but they are based on real history.

Chairman Frank Church, D- Idaho., the Senate Intelligence Committee, holds up a poison daft gun as co-chairman John G. Tower, R-Texas looks at the weapon during a session the panel's probe of the Central Intelligence Agency Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1975 in Washington.

The CIA's 'Heart Attack Gun': A Cold War Weapon for Targeted Assassinations

Of all the Central Intelligence Agency secrets revealed to the world by the so-called Church Committee of the 1970s, perhaps...

Evan Thompson and his flag at his home in Beatty, Nevada, in the new film "The Real American." (I.F. Productions)

The Air Force's Biggest Supporter Gets a Spotlight from Gary Sinise in 'The Real American'

There aren't a lot of folk legends in America anymore, but pilots at Nellis Air Force Base who flew missions for the past...

Major Gen. Kamal Abdul-Sattar Barzanjy, Iraqi Air Force commander, presents the Iraq flag to Gen. and Mrs. Hussam Abass Ali, the parents of Capt. Ali Hussam Abass Alrubaeye, during a funeral held at Arlington National Cemetery for the captain and four U.S. Airmen who died May 30 in an aircraft accident in Iraq. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Amber K. Whittington)

Why a British Field Marshal and 74 Other Foreign Nationals Are Buried in Arlington National Cemetery

When John Dill died on Nov. 4, 1944, it shook the upper echelons of the United States military, right up through Army Chief...

The History Channel's 'The American Soldier' Documents the Evolution of the US Army

From the earliest settlers and the Revolutionary War, American soldiers have been a transformative force shaping history.

A sailor competes in a wing eating contest.

Here's How to Maximize Your Free Veterans Day Food Deals

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Danny Pudi and Denis Leary in "Going Dutch." (Fox Entertainment)

Denis Leary Plays an 'Arrogant Loudmouth' Combat Officer Exiled to a Peacetime Command in Fox's 'Going Dutch'

Denis Leary will portray “arrogant loudmouth” Quinn, a highly decorated combat commander who has served in every recent...

Sketch of Tun Tavern during the Revolutionary War. (National Archives)

What Happened to the Original Tun Tavern, Birthplace of the Marine Corps

The original Tun Tavern in Philadelphia was the birthplace of the Marine Corps and was almost as old as the city itself.

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President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk

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A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak delivers parts to the oil exploration support vessel Aiviq

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Diversity Day march on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.

Military Diversity Is Not the Problem

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Privately owned vehicles wait to enter through the Dale Mabry gate at MacDill Air Force Base.

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Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., smiles as he speaks to supporters during an election night rally at the Elks Lodge in Murphysboro, Ill.

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Latest Military Videos

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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to...

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Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

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A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

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Army News

A soldier fires a SIG Sauer M17 striker-fired pistol during a weapons qualification at Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

Army Offers $15,000 Reward for Info on Missing Guns and Other Gear at Fort Moore

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Navy News

Malaysian fugitive Francis Leonard Glenn, known as Fat Leonard

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Air Force News

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Space Force News

Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, right, Space Force and Command senior enlisted leader, with Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, present President Donald Trump with the official flag of the United States Space Force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.

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Traffic drives past the entrance sign of Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Va.

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U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Lam fires an MK 22 bolt-action sniper rifle during a battlesight zero range at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia, May 1, 2024.

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Coast Guard News

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sean Regan, commander, District Fourteen, salutes during a ceremony at Kalani High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 21, 2024. The Coast Guard established its first Hawaii-based JROTC unit, also the 14th Coast Guard JROTC in the U.S.

Coast Guard Establishes First Hawaii-Based JROTC Program

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