title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to medium-range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and ground attack in both the European and Pacific theaters. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered two U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. An advanced turbosupercharger system ensured the aircraft's eventual dominance at high altitudes, while also influencing its size and design.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and also served with other Allied air forces, including those of France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the USAAF also flew the P-47.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable and the bubble canopy introduced on the P-47D offered good visibility. Nicknamed the "Jug" owing to its appearance if stood on its nose, the P-47 was noted for its firepower as well as its ability to resist battle damage and remain airworthy. A present-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 Thunderbolt was designed by Alexander Kartveli, a man of Georgian descent. It was to replace the Seversky P-35 developed earlier by a Russian immigrant named Alexander P. de Seversky. Both had fled from their homeland, Tbilisi, Georgia, to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. A small number of Republic P-43 Lancers was built, but Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a more powerful engine, as well as on the AP-10 fighter design. The latter was a lightweight aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine and armed with two .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns mounted in the nose and four .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns mounted in the wings. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: In the spring of 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to "Luftwaffe" fighters. Republic tried to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, but this failed. Kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September as the XP-47B. The XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of all-metal construction (except for the fabric-covered tail control surfaces) with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy, and the pilot's seat was comfortable—"like a lounge chair", as one pilot later put it. The canopy doors hinged upward. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, giving a total fuel capacity of .


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Power came from a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine producing — the same engine that powered the prototype Vought XF4U-1 fighter to just over in October 1940—with the Double Wasp on the XP-47B turning a four-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed propeller of in diameter. The loss of the AP-4 prototype to an engine fire ended Kartveli's experiments with tight-fitting cowlings, so the engine was placed in a broad cowling that opened at the front in a "horse collar"-shaped ellipse. The cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. The engine exhaust gases were routed into a pair of wastegate-equipped pipes that ran along each side of the cockpit to drive the turbosupercharger turbine at the bottom of the fuselage, about halfway between cockpit and tail. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends and the turbine spun at 21,300 rpm. The complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was difficult, since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide ground clearance for the enormous propeller. To reduce the size and weight of the undercarriage struts, and so wing-mounted machine guns could be fitted, each strut was fitted with a mechanism by which it telescoped out while it extended.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The XP-47B was very heavy compared with contemporary single-engined fighters, with an empty weight of , or 65% more than the YP-43. Kartveli said, "It will be a dinosaur, but it will be a dinosaur with good proportions". The armament was eight .50-caliber (12.7 mm) "light-barrel" Browning AN/M2 machine guns, four in each wing. The guns were staggered to allow feeding from side-by-side ammunition boxes, each with 350 rounds. All eight guns gave the fighter a combined rate of fire around 100 rounds per second.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The XP-47B first flew on 6 May 1941 with Lowry P. Brabham at the controls. Although minor problems arose, such as some cockpit smoke that turned out to be due to an oil drip, the aircraft proved impressive in its early trials. It was lost in an accident on 8 August 1942, but before that mishap, the prototype had achieved a level speed of at altitude and had demonstrated a climb from sea level to in five minutes.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Though the XP-47B had its share of teething troubles, the newly reorganized United States Army Air Forces placed an order for 171 production aircraft, the first being delivered in December 1941.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: By the end of 1942, P-47Cs were sent to England for combat operations. The initial Thunderbolt flyers, 56th Fighter Group, was sent overseas to join the 8th Air Force. As the P-47 Thunderbolt worked up to operational status, it gained a nickname: "Jug" (because its profile was similar to that of a common milk jug of the time). Two fighter groups (FGs) already stationed in England began introducing the Jugs in January 1943 - the Spitfire-flying 4th Fighter Group, a unit built around a core of experienced American pilots who had flown in the RAF Eagle Squadrons prior to the US entry in the war; and the 78th Fighter Group, formerly flying P-38 Lightnings.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Beginning in January 1943, Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the joint Army Air Forces – civilian Millville Airport in Millville, New Jersey, to train civilian and military pilots.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The first P-47 combat mission took place 10 March 1943 when the 4th FG took their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. The mission was a failure due to radio malfunctions. All P-47s were refitted with British radios, and missions resumed 8 April. The first P-47 air combat took place 15 April with Major Don Blakeslee of the 4th FG scoring the Thunderbolt's first air victory (against a Focke-Wulf Fw 190).


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: By mid-1943, the Jug was also in service with the 12th Air Force in Italy and against the Japanese in the Pacific, with the 348th Fighter Group flying missions out of Port Moresby, New Guinea. By 1944, the Thunderbolt was in combat with the USAAF in all its operational theaters except Alaska.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: "Luftwaffe" ace Heinz Bär said that the P-47 "could absorb an astounding amount of lead [from shooting at it] and had to be handled very carefully". Although the North American P-51 Mustang replaced the P-47 in the long-range escort role in Europe, the Thunderbolt still ended the war with an aerial kill ratio of 4.6:1 in over 746,000 sorties of all types, at the cost of 3,499 P-47s to all causes in combat. By the end of the war, the 56th FG was the only 8th Air Force unit still flying the P-47, by preference, instead of the P-51. The unit claimed 677-1/2 air victories and 311 ground kills, at the cost of 128 aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski scored 28 victories, Captain Robert S. Johnson scored 27 (with one unconfirmed probable kill leading to some giving his tally as 28), and 56th FG Commanding Officer Colonel Hubert Zemke scored 17.75 kills. Despite being the sole remaining P-47 group in the 8th Air Force, the 56th FG remained its top-scoring group in aerial victories throughout the war.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: With increases in fuel capacity as the type was refined, the range of escort missions over Europe steadily increased until the P-47 was able to accompany bombers in raids all the way into Germany. On the way back from the raids, pilots shot up ground targets of opportunity, and also used belly shackles to carry bombs on short-range missions, which led to the realization that the P-47 could perform a dual function on escort missions as a fighter-bomber. Even with its complicated turbosupercharger system, its sturdy airframe and tough radial engine could absorb significant damage and still return home.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 gradually became the USAAF's primary fighter-bomber; by late 1943, early versions of the P-47D carried bombs underneath their bellies, midproduction versions of the P-47D could carry bombs and M8 4.5 in (115 mm) rockets under their wings or from the last version of the P-47D in 1944, High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVARs, also known as "Holy Moses"). From D-Day until VE day, Thunderbolt pilots claimed to have destroyed 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks. During Operation Cobra, in the vicinity of Roncey, P-47 Thunderbolts of the 405th Fighter group destroyed a German column of 122 tanks, 259 other vehicles, and 11 artillery pieces.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: With the end of World War II, orders for 5,934 were cancelled. The P-47 continued serving with the USAAF through 1947, the USAAF Strategic Air Command from 1946 through 1947, the active-duty United States Air Force (USAF) until 1949, and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1953, receiving the designation F-47 in 1948. F-47s served as spotters for rescue aircraft such as the OA-10 Catalina and Boeing B-17H. In 1950, F-47 Thunderbolts were used to suppress the declaration of independence in Puerto Rico by nationalists during the Jayuya Uprising.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The F-47 was not deployed to Korea for the Korean War. The North American F-51 Mustang was used by the USAF, mainly in the close air-support role. Since the Mustang was more vulnerable to being shot down, (and many were lost to antiaircraft fire), some World War II P-47 pilots suggested the more durable Thunderbolt should have been sent to Korea in the Mustang's place. The F-51D was available in greater numbers, though, in the USAF and ANG inventories. Due to continued postwar service with U.S. military and foreign operators, a number of Thunderbolts have survived to the present day, and a few are still flying. The Cuban Air Force took delivery of 29 ex-USAF airframes and spares. By the late 1950s, the F-47 was considered obsolete, but was well suited for counter-insurgency tasks.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: P-47s were operated by several Allied air arms during World War II. The RAF received 240 razorback P-47Ds, which they designated Thunderbolt Mark I, and 590 bubbletop P-47D-25s, designated Thunderbolt Mark IIs. With no need for another high-altitude fighter, the RAF adapted their Thunderbolts for ground attack, a task for which the type was well suited. Once the Thunderbolts were cleared for use in 1944, they were used against the Japanese in Burma by 16 RAF squadrons of the South East Asia Command from India. Operations with army support (operating as "cab ranks" to be called in when needed), attacks on enemy airfields and lines of communication, and escort sorties. They proved devastating in tandem with Spitfires during the Japanese breakout attempt at the Sittang Bend in the final months of the war. The Thunderbolts were armed with three bombs or, in some cases, British "" RP-3 rocket projectiles. Long-range fuel tanks gave five hours of endurance. Thunderbolts flew escort for RAF Liberators in the bombing of Rangoon. Thunderbolts remained in RAF service until October 1946. Postwar RAF Thunderbolts were used in support of the Dutch attempts to reassert control of Batavia. Those squadrons not disbanded outright after the war re-equipped with British-built aircraft such as the Hawker Tempest.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: During the Italian campaign, the "1º Grupo de Caça da Força Aérea Brasileira" (Brazilian Air Force 1st Fighter Squadron) flew a total of 48 P-47Ds in combat (of a total of 67 received, 19 of which were backup aircraft). This unit flew a total of 445 missions from November 1944 to May 1945 over northern Italy and Central Europe, with 15 P-47s lost to German flak and five pilots being killed in action. In the early 1980s, this unit was awarded the "Presidential Unit Citation" by the American government in recognition for its achievements in World War II.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: From March 1945 to the end of the war in the Pacific—as Mexico had declared war on the Axis on May 22, 1942—the Mexican Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 (201st Fighter Squadron) operated P-47Ds as part of the U.S. 5th Air Force in the Philippines. In 791 sorties against Japanese forces, the 201st lost no pilots or aircraft to enemy action.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The Free French Air Forces received 446 P-47Ds from 1943. These aircraft saw extensive action in France and Germany and again in the 1950s during the Algerian War of Independence.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: After World War II, the Italian Air Force (AMI) received 75 P-47D-25s sent to 5˚ "Stormo", and 99 to the 51˚. These machines were delivered between 1947 and 1950. However, they were not well liked, as the Italian pilots were used to much lighter aircraft and found the controls too heavy. Nevertheless, the stability, payload, and high speed were appreciated. Most importantly, the P-47 served as an excellent transition platform to heavier jet fighters, including the F-84 Thunderjet, starting in 1953.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The type was provided to many Latin American air forces, some of which operated it into the 1960s. Small numbers of P-47s were also provided to China, Iran, Turkey, and Yugoslavia.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The U.S. sent 203 P-47Ds to the Soviet Union. In mid-1943, the Soviet high command showed an interest in the P-47B. Three P-47D-10-REs were ferried to the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) via Alaska in March 1944. Two of them were tested in April–May 1944. Test pilot Aleksey N. Grinchik noted the spacious cockpit with good ventilation and a good all-around view. He found it easy to fly and stable upon take-off and landing, but it showed excessive rolling stability and poor directional stability. Soviet engineers disassembled the third aircraft to examine its construction. They appreciated the high production standards and rational design well-suited to mass production, and the high reliability of the hard-hitting Browning machine guns. With its high service ceiling, the P-47 was superior to fighters operating on the Eastern front, yielding a higher speed above . The Yakovlev Yak-9, Lavochkin La-5FN, Messerschmitt Bf 109G, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A outperformed the early model P-47 at low and medium altitude, where the P-47 had poor acceleration and performed aerobatics rather reluctantly. In mid-1944, 200 P-47D-22-REs and P-47D-27-REs were ferried to the USSR via Iraq and Iran. Many were sent to training units. Less than half reached operational units, and they were rarely used in combat. The fighters were assigned to high-altitude air defense over major cities in rear areas. Unlike their Western counterparts, the VVS made little use of the P-47 as a ground-attack aircraft, depending, instead, on their own widely produced—with 36,183 examples built during the war—special-purpose, armored ground-attack aircraft, the Ilyushin Il-2. At the end of the war, Soviet units held 188 P-47s.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The "Luftwaffe" operated at least one captured P-47. In poor weather on 7 November 1943, while flying a P-47D-2-RA on a bomber escort mission, 2nd Lt. William E. Roach of 358th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group made an emergency landing on a German airfield. Roach was imprisoned at Stalag Luft I. The Thunderbolt was given German markings.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: After World War II, the Chinese Nationalist Air Force received 102 P-47Ds used during the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Communists captured five P-47Ds from the Chinese Nationalist forces. In 1948, the Chinese Nationalists employed 70 P-47Ds and 42 P-47Ns brought to Taiwan in 1952. P-47s were used extensively in aerial clashes over the Taiwan Strait between Nationalist and Communist aircraft.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Initial response to the P-47 praised its dive speed and high-altitude performance, while criticizing its turning performance and rate of climb (particularly at low to medium altitudes). The turbosupercharger in the P-47 gave the powerplant its maximum power at , and in the thin air above , the Thunderbolt remained fast and nimble compared to other aircraft.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 first saw action with the 4th Fighter Group, whose pilots were mainly drawn from the three British Eagle Squadrons, who had previously flown the British Spitfire Mark V, a much smaller and much more slender aircraft. At first, they viewed their new fighter with misgivings. It was huge; the British pilots joked that a Thunderbolt pilot could defend himself from a "Luftwaffe" fighter by running around and hiding in the fuselage. Optimized for high-altitude work, the Thunderbolt had more wingspan, a quarter more wing area, about four times the fuselage volume, and nearly twice the weight of a Spitfire V. One Thunderbolt pilot compared it to flying a bathtub around the sky. When his unit (4th Fighter Group) was equipped with Thunderbolts, ace Don Blakeslee said, referring to the P-47's vaunted ability to dive on its prey, "It ought to be able to dive. It certainly can't climb." (Blakeslee's early-model P-47C had not been fitted with the new paddle blade propeller). The 4th Fighter Group's commander hated the P-47, and his prejudices filtered down to the group's pilots; the 4th had the fewest kills of any of the first three P-47 squadrons in Europe.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: U.S. ace Jim Goodson, who had flown Spitfires with the RAF and flew a P-47 in 1943, at first shared the skepticism of other pilots for their "seven-ton milk bottles", but Goodson learned to appreciate the P-47's potential: There were many U.S. pilots who preferred the P-47 to anything else; they do not agree that the (Fw) 190 held an overall edge against it.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47's initial success in combat was primarily due to tactics, using rolls (the P-47 had an excellent roll rate) and energy-saving dive and zoom climbs from high altitude to outmaneuver German fighters. Both the Bf 109 and Fw 190 could, like the Spitfire, out-turn and out-climb the early model P-47s at low to medium altitudes, since these early P-47s had mediocre climb performance due to the lack of paddle-blade propellers. The arrival of the new Curtiss paddle-blade propeller in early 1944 significantly increased climb rate at lower altitudes and came as a surprise to German pilots, who had resorted to steep climbs to evade pursuit by the P-47. Some P-47 pilots claimed to have broken the sound barrier in steep dives, but later research revealed that because of the pressure buildup inside the pitot tube at high speeds, airspeed readings became unpredictably exaggerated. As P-47s were able to out-dive enemy fighter planes attempting to escape by such a maneuver, German pilots gradually learned to avoid diving away from a P-47. Kurt Bühligen, a high-scoring German fighter ace with 112 victories, recalled:


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 was very heavy, too heavy for some maneuvers. We would see it coming from behind, and pull up fast, and the P-47 couldn't follow and we came around and got on its tail in this way.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Other positive attributes included the P-47's ruggedness; its radial piston engine had a high tolerance for damage compared to liquid-cooled engines, while its large size meant it could sustain a large amount of damage and still be able to get its pilot back to base. With eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, the P-47 carried more firepower than other single-engined American fighters. P-47 pilots claimed 20 "Luftwaffe" Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters and four Arado Ar 234 jet bombers in aerial combat.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: In the Pacific, Colonel Neel E. Kearby of the Fifth Air Force claimed 22 Japanese aircraft and was awarded the Medal of Honor for an action in which he downed six enemy fighters on a single mission. He was shot down and killed over Wewak in March 1944.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The P-47 proved to be a formidable fighter-bomber due to its good armament, heavy bomb load, and ability to survive enemy fire. The P-47's survivability was due in part to its radial piston engine, which unlike comparable liquid-cooled engines, had a high tolerance for damage. The Thunderbolt's eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns were capable against lightly armored targets, although less so than cannon-armed aircraft of the day. In a ground-attack role, the armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary tracer ammunition proved useful in penetrating thin-skinned and lightly armored German vehicles and causing their fuel tanks to explode, as well as occasionally damaging some types of enemy armored fighting vehicles (AFVs).


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: P-47 pilots frequently carried two bombs, using skip bombing techniques for difficult targets (skipping bombs into railroad tunnels to destroy hidden enemy trains was a favorite tactic). The adoption of the triple-tube M10 rocket launcher with M8 high-explosive rockets (each with an explosive force similar to a 105 mm artillery shell)—much as the RAF's Hawker Typhoon gained when first fitted with its own two quartets of underwing RP-3 rockets for the same purposes—significantly increased the P-47's ground attack capability. Late in the war, the P-47 was retrofitted with more powerful HVAR rockets.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Broadcast radio interviews of several wartime P-47 pilots appear on the CD audiobook "USAAF at War 1942–45", including an account by Lieutenant J. K. Dowling of ground support operations around Cherbourg in June 1944, and a group of four pilots from the 362nd Fighter Wing (Ninth Air Force) in conversation at their mess in Rouvres, France on 24 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: "Laughter and Tears", by Captain George Rarey, a posthumous publication of letters and sketches from a pilot in the 379th Air group flying P-47s based in England.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: In the post-war era one Air National Guard Thunderbolt plowed into the second story of a factory, shearing off its wings, with the crumpled fuselage eventually coming to rest inside the building; the pilot walked away alive.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, while in residence in the US wrote an orchestral scherzo in 1945 entitled "P-47 Thunderbolt" (H 309) in tribute to the aircraft and its role in World War II.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Other media include "Thunderbolt", a 1947 color documentary film directed by John Sturges and William Wyler, featuring James Stewart and Lloyd Bridges and narrated by Robert Lowery. The film "Fighter Squadron" (1948) depicts a P-47 Thunderbolt unit.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: "Thunderbolts: The Conquest of the Reich", a 2001 television documentary presented by the History Channel. Director Lawrence Bond depicted the last months of World War II over Germany as told by four P-47 pilots of the 362nd Fighter Group using original, all color 1945 footage. The P-47 Thunderbolt was the subject of an episode of the "World's Deadliest Aircraft" series broadcast by the Military Channel.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

text: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Samuel Johnson collaborated with aviation author Martin Caidin to write his autobiographical story of the 56th Fighter Group, "Thunderbolt!," in 1958. Johnson scored 27 kills in the P-47 while flying with the 56th Fighter Group.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Love and Monsters is a 2020 American post-apocalyptic monster romantic action adventure film directed by Michael Matthews, with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen serving as producers. The film stars Dylan O'Brien, Jessica Henwick, Dan Ewing, Michael Rooker, and Ariana Greenblatt.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Development began in 2012 as "Monster Problems"; the project lingered for several years until October 2018 when O'Brien and then Matthews joined the film. The rest of the cast joined over the next few months, and filming took place in Australia from March to May 2019.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: "Love and Monsters" was originally going to receive a wide theatrical release by Paramount Pictures in March 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the studio opted to release the film digitally via video on demand, and in select theatres, on October 16, 2020; the film's international release was handled by Netflix, which released the film on its service on April 14, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 93rd Academy Awards.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: The destruction of an asteroid headed for Earth releases chemical fallout, causing cold-blooded animals to mutate into large monsters and kill off most of humanity. During the evacuation of Fairfield, Joel Dawson is separated from his girlfriend Aimee but promises to find her, shortly before his parents are killed.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Seven years later, Joel lives in one of many bunkers underground called "colonies", where all other survivors have romantically paired up while fighting monsters and seeking supplies. Joel instead is left behind in the kitchen, as he freezes in dangerous situations. When a giant ant breaches his colony, killing Connor, Joel sets off on a quest to reunite with Aimee so he doesn't end up alone.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Passing through the suburbs, Joel is attacked by a giant toad-monster but is saved by a stray dog named "Boy", who follows Joel on his journey, warning him against poisonous berries and other dangers. Joel falls into a nest of worm-monsters called "Sand-Gobblers", when two survivors, Clyde Dutton and Minnow, rescue him. They are heading north to the mountains, where fewer monsters live due to the colder weather and higher elevation. They teach Joel some basic survival skills, and that not all monsters are hostile, demonstrating how "You can always tell in their eyes". They invite Joel to join them, but he insists he must find Aimee. As they part ways, Clyde gives Joel a grenade.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Continuing west, Boy becomes trapped by a giant centipede-monster. Joel freezes, but eventually saves Boy with his crossbow. Sheltering in an abandoned motel, they meet a robot named Mav1s. Before her battery dies, Mav1s powers his radio long enough to briefly contact Aimee. Other survivors have reached her colony, promising to lead them to safety. The next day Joel and Boy are attacked by a queen Sand-Gobbler. They hide, but Boy barks, giving away their position. Joel kills the queen with the grenade. He yells at Boy for putting them in danger, causing Boy to run away. After swimming across a pond, Joel is covered in poisonous leeches and hallucinates, but is rescued before he collapses.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Joel wakes to finally see Aimee. She leads a beach colony of elderly survivors who depend on her. He is introduced to the survivors, as well as Cap, a ship captain, and his crew. As everyone celebrates their imminent departure, Aimee confesses she is glad to see Joel, but has become a different person and is still mourning someone she was in love with. Joel decides to return to his colony, contacting them on the radio and learning that it has become unsafe and that they too must leave. Cap sends Joel some berries, which he recognizes as poisonous. Realizing Cap is not to be trusted, he rushes to warn Aimee but is knocked unconscious.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Joel, Aimee, and the rest of her colony awaken tied-up on the beach. Cap reveals that his group is there to steal supplies and that their yacht is towed by a crab-monster controlled with an electrified chain. Cap sets the crab to feed on the colonists, but Joel and Aimee escape and are able to fight for their lives, and Boy returns to help. After a lengthy battle, Joel has the opportunity to kill the crab, but he realizes it is not hostile by looking into its eyes, and shoots the electrified chain, freeing it. The crab leaves Joel unharmed and instead kills Cap and his crew, sinking the yacht in the process.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Joel recommends Aimee and her colony head north. They share a romantic goodbye kiss, and Aimee promises she will find him. Joel treks all the way back to his colony, and they too decide to head to the mountains. On the radio, Joel inspires other colonies to take to the surface. As the colonies head north, Clyde and Minnow, already in the mountains, wonder if Joel will survive the next journey.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: In June 2012, it was announced that Paramount Pictures was developing the film "Monster Problems", with Shawn Levy producing, based on a spec script by Brian Duffield. It was described as a post-apocalyptic road movie in the vein of "Mad Max" and "Zombieland" with a John Hughes-esque love story.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: In October 2018, it was announced that Dylan O'Brien was in talks to star, and that Michael Matthews was directing the film. By March 2019, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt had joined O'Brien. In April 2019, it was announced that Jessica Henwick had joined the cast. Also in April, Australian actor Dan Ewing joined the film in a supporting role. Principal photography started on the Gold Coast on March 25, 2019, and ended in May 2019.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Producer Shawn Levy said the film "benefited immensely" from the work of cinematographer Lachlan Milne, with whom he had previous worked on "Stranger Things".


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Stunts were coordinated by Glenn Suter who had worked with O'Brien when he returned to complete the third "Maze Runner" film, after having experienced a serious accident during a stunt. The stunts were a challenge for Henwick because she had to work to look less competent, despite years of training for the Marvel television shows.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: The dogs were trained by Zelie Bullen, the main dog was called Hero, and his double was called Dodge.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: The visual effects for the film were completed and managed by Mill Film Adelaide, in collaboration with MPC Bangalore and MPC LA.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: The film was originally slated for release on March 6, 2020, but in October 2019, the release date was moved to April 17, 2020. In February 2020, it was pushed back again, to February 12, 2021.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: In August 2020, Paramount announced that due to COVID-19 pandemic the film would be released via video on demand on October 16, 2020. The film's title was changed from "Monster Problems" to "Love and Monsters". The film also played in 387 theaters for the weekend of October 16–18, 2020. Netflix released the film on their service outside the US on April 14, 2021.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: In its debut weekend, "Love and Monsters" was the number one most rented film on FandangoNow and Apple TV. The film also played in 387 theaters alongside its VOD release, and grossed $255,000 in its opening weekend. In its second weekend, the film finished second at Apple TV, third at Fandango, and eighth at Spectrum, then placed second at Spectrum, fifth at Fandango, and seventh at Google in its third weekend.


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Led by a charming star turn from Dylan O'Brien, "Love and Monsters" peers into the apocalypse and finds an action-adventure with surprising emotional depth." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: Jessica Kiang of "Variety" called it: "A fun if forgettable family-friendly adventure comedy set in a 'monsterpocalypse'" and a "silly but satisfying hero's journey entirely unencumbered by importance." Kiang notes that the film is based on an original script but feels familiar as if it was adapted from existing material because it fits into the coming-of-age genre and references various other films such as "I Am Legend", "A Boy and His Dog", "Zombieland", "Tremors" and "Stand by Me".


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: John DeFore of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote: "The movie's last act offers complications both expected and surprising. For the most part, it satisfies, especially in what proves to be the pic's most elaborate action sequence." Indiewire's David Ehrlich wrote: ""Love and Monsters" is the rarest kind of movie these days: A fun, imaginative, genre-mashing adventure that was made with a modest amount of big studio money."


title: Love and Monsters (film)

text: The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Visual Effects category, but lost to "Tenet". The nomination was given to Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt, and Brian Cox. It was also nominated at the Critics' Choice Super Awards in the Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie category.


title: DK Metcalf

text: DeKaylin Zecharius "DK" Metcalf (born December 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss. He is the son of former NFL guard Terrence Metcalf.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi, where he played football both at Oxford High School and at the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss. He played at Ole Miss for three seasons before declaring for the 2019 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Seahawks in the second round.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf was born on December 14, 1997, in Oxford, Mississippi. He attended Oxford High School in Oxford, Mississippi. During his high school football career, he had 224 receptions for 3,302 yards and 49 touchdowns. Regarded as a four-star prospect, Metcalf was ranked the No. 14 wide receiver prospect by Rivals.com. He committed to play college football at the University of Mississippi.


title: DK Metcalf

text: As a freshman at Ole Miss in 2016, Metcalf appeared in the first two games of the season before suffering a foot injury which ended his season. He was granted a redshirt following his injury. He had two receptions for 13 yards with both of the receptions going for touchdowns. In 2017, he had 39 receptions for 646 yards and seven touchdowns. During the 2018 season, Metcalf had 26 receptions for 569 yards before sustaining a season-ending neck injury against Arkansas. After his 2018 season, Metcalf declared for the 2019 NFL Draft, forgoing his last two years of college football. He finished his career with 67 receptions for 1,228 yards and 14 touchdowns.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round as the 64th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the ninth of 28 wide receivers. On May 22, 2019, Metcalf signed a four-year deal with the Seahawks worth $4.6 million.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf played his first regular season game on September 8, 2019, against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he made four receptions for 89 receiving yards as the Seahawks won 21–20. This set a franchise record for total receiving yards by a player making his NFL debut, eclipsing Hall of Famer Steve Largent's previous record of 86 yards. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Metcalf caught three passes for 61 yards, including his first career touchdown, as the Seahawks won 28–26. In Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons, Metcalf recorded three catches for 13 yards and two touchdowns in the 27–20 win, Metcalf's first career game with multiple touchdowns. The following week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Metcalf set new career highs in receptions and receiving yards, with six catches for 124 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and a 29-yard catch on 3rd down in overtime that set up a game winning touchdown a few plays later. It was his first career 100-yard game. He also caught a two-point conversion that tied the game at 21 in the third quarter. Metcalf finished the regular season with 900 receiving yards (third among NFL rookies) on 58 receptions with seven receiving touchdowns, second on the team in all three categories to Tyler Lockett. Metcalf was ranked 81st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In the against the Philadelphia Eagles, Metcalf recorded seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks' 17–9 victory. This set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie in a playoff game.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, Metcalf caught 4 passes for 95 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown reception, during the 38–25 win. In the following week's game against the New England Patriots, Metcalf caught four passes for 92 yards and a 54-yard touchdown during the 35–30 win.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In the first quarter of the Week 3 game against the Dallas Cowboys, after catching a 61-yard pass, Metcalf slowed to a jog and held the ball out with one hand, seemingly unaware that a defender was behind him. Trevon Diggs knocked the ball free of Metcalf's grasp before he broke the plane of the endzone, and the fumble traveled out of bounds for a touchback. The gaffe was compared to Leon Lett's infamous fumble in Super Bowl XXVII. Despite the blunder, the Seahawks won the game 38–31. Metcalf finished with 110 receiving yards, including the 29-yard game-winning touchdown. In Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, he had four receptions for 106 yards in the 31–23 victory.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on "Sunday Night Football", Metcalf recorded six catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown reception with 15 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Cardinals' safety Budda Baker intercepted a Russell Wilson pass inside the Cardinals' 5-yard-line, and with a clear path ahead and no Seahawk with comparable speed near him, Baker appeared destined for a pick six. However, even though the 195 lb Baker had a 4-yard running head-start halfway across the field, the 229 lb. Metcalf chased down Baker and tackled him at the Seattle 8-yard line, preventing a touchdown. On their ensuing possession, Arizona failed to score, turning the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass from the 3-yard line. Metcalf reached a top speed of 22.64 mph (36.43 km/h), making it the second-fastest in pursuit in the NFL to that point in the season. Ironically, the play was also compared to Leon Lett's Super Bowl XXVII gaffe, yet this time in a far more favorable light. The play was met with awe by fans and athletes alike, and became the basis for a popular meme on social media.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, Metcalf caught 12 receptions on 15 targets for 161 yards and two touchdowns, including a 46-yard touchdown catch-and-run during the 37–27 win. In Week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles on "Monday Night Football", he had ten receptions for a career-high 177 receiving yards during the 23–17 win.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf finished the season with 1,303 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. With 1,303 receiving yards, Metcalf set the franchise record for the Seahawks, surpassing Steve Largent's record from 35 years prior. He was named a second-team All-Pro in 2020 alongside Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams as the other Seahawk All-Pros.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In the of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams, Metcalf recorded five receptions for 96 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard touchdown reception, during the 30–20 loss.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Metcalf was ranked 22nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021 for his performance during the 2020 season.


title: DK Metcalf

text: Earlier in the year before the start of the NFL season, he participated in the 100 meter part of the USATF Golden Games and Distance Open in Walnut, California. He hoped to qualify for the Olympic trials with this performance. Though he indeed didn't qualify, he had a "respectable" time of 10.37 seconds, beating out 2 of the 17 other competitors.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 3 of the 2021 season, Metcalf hauled in 6 receptions for 107 yards in a 17–30 loss against the Minnesota Vikings. Two weeks later, he recorded 5 catches and 98 receiving yards for 2 touchdowns against the Seattle Seahawks' division rival Los Angeles Rams. Despite his efforts, the Seahawks lost 17–26 in the “Thursday Night Football” matchup.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In another primetime matchup with Week 7's Sunday Night Football game against the New Orleans Saints, Metcalf caught 2 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. On one of these catches, Metcalf connected with quarterback Geno Smith for an 84-yard touchdown catch-and-run, with 57 yards coming after the catch. The play was the longest in both Smith and Metcalf's careers. In addition, Metcalf clocked in at a top speed of 21.21 mph, making it the second-fastest play of his career as a ball-carrier. The Seahawks lost the game, 10–13. In the following week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Metcalf finished with 6 receptions for 43 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Seahawks won 31–7.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In the Seahawks’ Week 10 game at Green Bay, Metcalf grabbed the face masks of Green Bay Packers safety Henry Black and cornerback Eric Stokes in a frustrated response to Seattle's inability to score points in the game. He was ejected and tried to enter back into the game, but to no avail. In a shutout, the Seahawks lost 0–17.


title: DK Metcalf

text: In Week 16, Metcalf caught six receptions for 63 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, contributing 18 points in a blowout 51–29 win against the Detroit Lions.


title: DK Metcalf

text: With a final record of 7–10, the Seahawks failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in Metcalf's career. Metcalf finished the season just 33 yards shy of the 1,000 receiving yards mark, with 967 yards. He recorded a total of 75 receptions and 12 touchdowns, the latter of which was a career-high. He led the Seahawks in receptions and receiving touchdowns, while his receiving yards were second to Tyler Lockett. The season was also his last with quarterback Russell Wilson, who was traded to the Denver Broncos the following offseason.


title: DK Metcalf

text: On July 28, 2022, Metcalf and the Seahawks agreed to terms on a three-year, $72 million extension with $58.2 million guaranteed and a $30 million signing bonus. In Week 4, against the Detroit Lions, he had seven receptions for 149 receiving yards in the 48–45 victory.


title: DK Metcalf

text: After ESPN announcer Joe Tessitore mistakenly called him "Decaf Metcalf", Metcalf partnered with Volcanica Coffee. Beginning in December 2019, 16-ounce bags of coffee labeled "Decaf Metcalf" began selling on the company's website. Part of the proceeds from the coffee sales will be donated to Prison Fellowship, an organization Metcalf has a long-standing relationship with.


title: Military

text: A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats.


title: Military

text: In broad usage, the terms "armed forces" and "military" are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply "military".


title: Military

text: A nation's military may function as a discrete social subculture, with dedicated infrastructure such as military housing, schools, utilities, logistics, hospitals, legal services, food production, finance, and banking services. Beyond warfare, the military may be employed in additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions within the state, including internal security threats, population control, the promotion of a political agenda, emergency services and reconstruction, protecting corporate economic interests, social ceremonies and national honour guards.


title: Military

text: The profession of soldiering as part of a military is older than recorded history itself. Some of the most enduring images of classical antiquity portray the power and feats of its military leaders. The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC was one of the defining points of Pharaoh Ramses II's reign, and his monuments commemorate it in bas-relief. A thousand years later, the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang, was so determined to impress the gods with his military might that he had himself buried with an army of terracotta soldiers.


title: Military

text: The Romans paid considerable attention to military matters, leaving to posterity many treatises and writings on the subject, as well as many lavishly carved triumphal arches and victory columns.


title: Military

text: The first recorded use of the word military in English, spelled , was in 1582. It comes from the Latin "militaris" (from Latin "miles", meaning "soldier") through French, but is of uncertain etymology, one suggestion being derived from "*mil-it-" – going in a body or mass.


title: Military

text: As a noun, the military usually refers generally to a country's armed forces, or sometimes, more specifically, to the senior officers who command them. In general, it refers to the physicality of armed forces, their personnel, equipment, and the physical area which they occupy.


title: Military

text: As an adjective, military originally referred only to soldiers and soldiering, but it soon broadened to apply to land forces in general, and anything to do with their profession. The names of both the Royal Military Academy (1741) and United States Military Academy (1802) reflect this. However, at about the time of the Napoleonic Wars, 'military' began to be used in reference to armed forces as a whole, such as 'military service', 'military intelligence', and 'military history'. As such, it now connotes any activity performed by armed force personnel.


title: Military

text: Military history is often considered to be the history of all conflicts, not just the history of the state militaries. It differs somewhat from the history of war, with military history focusing on the people and institutions of war-making, while the history of war focuses on the evolution of war itself in the face of changing technology, governments, and geography.


title: Military

text: Military history has a number of facets. One main facet is to learn from past accomplishments and mistakes, so as to more effectively wage war in the future. Another is to create a sense of military tradition, which is used to create cohesive military forces. Still, another may be to learn to prevent wars more effectively. Human knowledge about the military is largely based on both recorded and oral history of military conflicts (war), their participating armies and navies and, more recently, air forces.


title: Military

text: Despite the growing importance of military technology, military activity depends above all on people. For example, in 2000 the British Army declared: "Man is still the first weapon of war."


title: Military

text: The military organization is characterized by a strict command hierarchy divided by military rank, with ranks normally grouped (in descending order of authority) as officers (e.g. Colonel), non-commissioned officers (e.g. Sergeant), and personnel at the lowest rank (e.g. Private Soldier). While senior officers make strategic decisions, subordinated military personnel (soldiers, sailors, marines, or airmen) fulfil them. Although rank titles vary by military branch and country, the rank hierarchy is common to all state armed forces worldwide.


title: Military

text: In addition to their rank, personnel occupy one of many trade roles, which are often grouped according to the nature of the role's military tasks on combat operations: combat roles (e.g. infantry), combat support roles (e.g. combat engineers), and combat service support roles (e.g. logistical support).


title: Military

text: In the past, the armed forces of some Communist states, such as the Soviet Union, China and Albania, have attempted to abolish military ranks, but they were later reintroduced due to operational difficulties relating to command and control.


title: Military

text: Personnel may be recruited or conscripted, depending on the system chosen by the state. Most military personnel are males; the minority proportion of female personnel varies internationally (approximately 3% in India, 10% in the UK, 13% in Sweden, 16% in the US, and 27% in South Africa). While two-thirds of states now recruit or conscript only adults, as of 2017 50 states still relied partly on children under the age of 18 (usually aged 16 or 17) to staff their armed forces.


title: Military

text: Whereas recruits who join as officers tend to be upwardly-mobile, most enlisted personnel have a childhood background of relative socio-economic deprivation. For example, after the US suspended conscription in 1973, "the military disproportionately attracted African American men, men from lower-status socioeconomic backgrounds, men who had been in nonacademic high school programs, and men whose high school grades tended to be low". However, a study released in 2020 on the socio-economic backgrounds of U.S. Armed Forces personnel suggests that they are at parity or slightly higher than the civilian population with respect to socio-economic indicators such as parental income, parental wealth and cognitive abilities. The study found that technological, tactical, operational and doctrinal changes have led to a change in the demand for personnel. Furthermore, the study suggests that the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups are less likely to meet the requirements of the modern U.S. military.


title: Military

text: The obligations of military employment are many. Full-time military employment normally requires a minimum period of service of several years; between two and six years is typical of armed forces in Australia, the UK and the US, for example, depending on role, branch, and rank. Some armed forces allow a short discharge window, normally during training, when recruits may leave the armed force as of right. Alternatively, part-time military employment, known as reserve service, allows a recruit to maintain a civilian job while training under military discipline at weekends; he or she may be called out to deploy on operations to supplement the full-time personnel complement. After leaving the armed forces, recruits may remain liable for compulsory return to full-time military employment in order to train or deploy on operations.


title: Military

text: Military law introduces offences not recognised by civilian courts, such as absence without leave (AWOL), desertion, political acts, malingering, behaving disrespectfully, and disobedience (see, for example, offences against military law in the United Kingdom). Penalties range from a summary reprimand to imprisonment for several years following a court martial. Certain fundamental rights are also restricted or suspended, including the freedom of association (e.g. union organizing) and freedom of speech (speaking to the media). Military personnel in some countries have a right of conscientious objection if they believe an order is immoral or unlawful, or cannot in good conscience carry it out.


title: Military

text: Personnel may be posted to bases in their home country or overseas, according to operational need, and may be deployed from those bases on exercises or operations anywhere in the world. During peacetime, when military personnel are generally stationed in garrisons or other permanent military facilities, they mostly conduct administrative tasks, training and education activities, technology maintenance, and recruitment.


title: Military

text: Initial training conditions recruits for the demands of military life, including preparedness to injure and kill other people, and to face mortal danger without fleeing. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process which resocializes recruits for the unique nature of military demands. For example:


title: Military

text: The next requirement comes as a fairly basic need for the military to identify possible threats it may be called upon to face. For this purpose, some of the commanding forces and other military, as well as often civilian personnel participate in identification of these threats. This is at once an organization, a system and a process collectively called military intelligence (MI).


title: Military

text: The difficulty in using military intelligence concepts and military intelligence methods is in the nature of the secrecy of the information they seek, and the clandestine nature that intelligence operatives work in obtaining what may be plans for a conflict escalation, initiation of combat, or an invasion.


title: Military

text: An important part of the military intelligence role is the military analysis performed to assess military capability of potential future aggressors, and provide combat modelling that helps to understand factors on which comparison of forces can be made. This helps to quantify and qualify such statements as: "China and India maintain the largest armed forces in the World" or that "the U.S. Military is considered to be the world's strongest".


title: Military

text: Although some groups engaged in combat, such as militants or resistance movements, refer to themselves using military terminology, notably 'Army' or 'Front', none have had the structure of a national military to justify the reference, and usually have had to rely on support of outside national militaries. They also use these terms to conceal from the MI their true capabilities, and to impress potential ideological recruits.


title: Military

text: Having military intelligence representatives participate in the execution of the national defence policy is important, because it becomes the first respondent and commentator on the policy expected strategic goal, compared to the realities of identified threats. When the intelligence reporting is compared to the policy, it becomes possible for the national leadership to consider allocating resources over and above the officers and their subordinates military pay, and the expense of maintaining military facilities and military support services for them.


title: Military

text: Defense economics is the financial and monetary efforts made to resource and sustain militaries, and to finance military operations, including war.


title: Military

text: The process of allocating resources is conducted by determining a military budget, which is administered by a military finance organization within the military. Military procurement is then authorized to purchase or contract provision of goods and services to the military, whether in peacetime at a permanent base, or in a combat zone from local population.


title: Military

text: Capability development, which is often referred to as the military 'strength', is arguably one of the most complex activities known to humanity; because it requires determining: strategic, operational, and tactical capability requirements to counter the identified threats; strategic, operational, and tactical doctrines by which the acquired capabilities will be used; identifying concepts, methods, and systems involved in executing the doctrines; creating design specifications for the manufacturers who would produce these in adequate quantity and quality for their use in combat; purchase the concepts, methods, and systems; create a forces structure that would use the concepts, methods, and systems most effectively and efficiently; integrate these concepts, methods, and systems into the force structure by providing military education, training, and practice that preferably resembles combat environment of intended use; create military logistics systems to allow continued and uninterrupted performance of military organizations under combat conditions, including provision of health services to the personnel, and maintenance for the equipment; the services to assist recovery of wounded personnel, and repair of damaged equipment; and finally, post-conflict demobilization, and disposal of war stocks surplus to peacetime requirements.


title: Military

text: Development of military doctrine is perhaps the most important of all capability development activities, because it determines how military forces are used in conflicts, the concepts and methods used by the command to employ appropriately military skilled, armed and equipped personnel in achievement of the tangible goals and objectives of the war, campaign, battle, engagement, and action. The line between strategy and tactics is not easily blurred, although deciding which is being discussed had sometimes been a matter of personal judgement by some commentators, and military historians. The use of forces at the level of organization between strategic and tactical is called operational mobility.


title: Military

text: Because most of the concepts and methods used by the military, and many of its systems are not found in commercial branches, much of the material is researched, designed, developed, and offered for inclusion in arsenals by military science organizations within the overall structure of the military. Military scientists are therefore found to interact with all Arms and Services of the armed forces, and at all levels of the military hierarchy of command.


title: Military

text: Although concerned with research into military psychology, particularly combat stress and how it affect troop morale, often the bulk of military science activities is directed at military intelligence technology, military communications, and improving military capability through research. The design, development, and prototyping of weapons, military support equipment, and military technology in general, is also an area in which much effort is invested – it includes everything from global communication networks and aircraft carriers to paint and food.


title: Military

text: Possessing military capability is not sufficient if this capability cannot be deployed for, and employed in combat operations. To achieve this, military logistics are used for the logistics management and logistics planning of the forces military supply chain management, the consumables, and capital equipment of the troops.


title: Military

text: Although mostly concerned with the military transport, as a means of delivery using different modes of transport; from military trucks, to container ships operating from permanent military base, it also involves creating field supply dumps at the rear of the combat zone, and even forward supply points in specific unit's Tactical Area of Responsibility.


title: Military

text: These supply points are also used to provide military engineering services, such as the recovery of defective and derelict vehicles and weapons, maintenance of weapons in the field, the repair and field modification of weapons and equipment; and in peacetime, the life-extension programmes undertaken to allow continued use of equipment. One of the most important role of logistics is the supply of munitions as a primary type of consumable, their storage, and disposal.


title: Military

text: The primary reason for the existence of the military is to engage in combat, should it be required to do so by the national defence policy, and to win. This represents an organisational goal of any military, and the primary focus for military thought through military history. How victory is achieved, and what shape it assumes, is studied by most, if not all, military groups on three levels.


title: Military

text: Military strategy is the management of forces in wars and military campaigns by a commander-in-chief, employing large military forces, either national and allied as a whole, or the component elements of armies, navies and air forces; such as army groups, naval fleets, and large numbers of aircraft. Military strategy is a long-term projection of belligerents' policy, with a broad view of outcome implications, including outside the concerns of military command. Military strategy is more concerned with the supply of war and planning, than management of field forces and combat between them. The scope of strategic military planning can span weeks, but is more often months or even years.


title: Military

text: Operational mobility is, within warfare and military doctrine, the level of command which coordinates the minute details of tactics with the overarching goals of strategy. A common synonym is operational art.


title: Military

text: The operational level is at a scale bigger than one where line of sight and the time of day are important, and smaller than the strategic level, where production and politics are considerations. Formations are of the operational level if they are able to conduct operations on their own, and are of sufficient size to be directly handled or have a significant impact at the strategic level. This concept was pioneered by the German army prior to and during the Second World War. At this level, planning and duration of activities takes from one week to a month, and are executed by Field Armies and Army Corps and their naval and air equivalents.


title: Military

text: Military tactics concerns itself with the methods for engaging and defeating the enemy in direct combat. Military tactics are usually used by units over hours or days, and are focused on the specific tasks and objectives of squadrons, companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions, and their naval and air force equivalents.


title: Military

text: One of the oldest military publications is "The Art of War", by the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu. Written in the 6th century BCE, the 13-chapter book is intended as military instruction, and not as military theory, but has had a huge influence on Asian military doctrine, and from the late 19th century, on European and United States military planning. It has even been used to formulate business tactics, and can even be applied in social and political areas.


title: Military

text: The Classical Greeks and the Romans wrote prolifically on military campaigning. Among the best-known Roman works are Julius Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic Wars, and the Roman Civil war – written about 50 BC.


title: Military

text: Two major works on tactics come from the late Roman period: "Taktike Theoria" by Aelianus Tacticus, and "De Re Militari" ('On military matters') by Vegetius. "Taktike Theoria" examined Greek military tactics, and was most influential in the Byzantine world and during the Golden Age of Islam.


title: Military

text: "De Re Militari" formed the basis of European military tactics until the late 17th century. Perhaps its most enduring maxim is "Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum" (let he who desires peace prepare for war).


title: Military

text: Due to the changing nature of combat with the introduction of artillery in the European Middle Ages, and infantry firearms in the Renaissance, attempts were made to define and identify those strategies, grand tactics, and tactics that would produce a victory more often than that achieved by the Romans in praying to the gods before the battle.


title: Military

text: Later this became known as military science, and later still, would adopt the scientific method approach to the conduct of military operations under the influence of the Industrial Revolution thinking. In his seminal book "On War", the Prussian Major-General and leading expert on modern military strategy, Carl von Clausewitz defined military strategy as 'the employment of battles to gain the end of war'. According to Clausewitz:


title: Military

text: strategy forms the plan of the War, and to this end it links together the series of acts which are to lead to the final decision, that is to say, it makes the plans for the separate campaigns and regulates the combats to be fought in each.


title: Military

text: Hence, Clausewitz placed political aims above military goals, ensuring civilian control of the military. Military strategy was one of a triumvirate of 'arts' or 'sciences' that governed the conduct of warfare, the others being: military tactics, the execution of plans and manoeuvring of forces in battle, and maintenance of an army.


title: Military

text: The meaning of military tactics has changed over time; from the deployment and manoeuvring of entire land armies on the fields of ancient battles, and galley fleets; to modern use of small unit ambushes, encirclements, bombardment attacks, frontal assaults, air assaults, hit-and-run tactics used mainly by guerrilla forces, and, in some cases, suicide attacks on land and at sea. Evolution of aerial warfare introduced its own air combat tactics. Often, military deception, in the form of military camouflage or misdirection using decoys, is used to confuse the enemy as a tactic.


title: Military

text: A major development in infantry tactics came with the increased use of trench warfare in the 19th and 20th centuries. This was mainly employed in World War I in the Gallipoli campaign, and the Western Front. Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, only broken by a large loss of life, because, in order to attack an enemy entrenchment, soldiers had to run through an exposed 'no man's land' under heavy fire from their opposing entrenched enemy.


title: Military

text: As with any occupation, since the ancient times, the military has been distinguished from other members of the society by their tools, the military weapons, and military equipment used in combat. When Stone Age humans first took a sliver of flint to tip the spear, it was the first example of applying technology to improve the weapon.


title: Military

text: Since then, the advances made by human societies, and that of weapons, has been irretrievably linked. Stone weapons gave way to Bronze Age weapons, and later, the Iron Age weapons. With each technological change, was realized some tangible increase in military capability, such as through greater effectiveness of a sharper edge in defeating leather armour, or improved density of materials used in manufacture of weapons.


title: Military

text: On land, the first really significant technological advance in warfare was the development of the ranged weapons, and notably, the sling. The next significant advance came with the domestication of the horses and mastering of equestrianism.


title: Military

text: Arguably, the greatest invention that affected not just the military, but all society, after adoption of fire, was the wheel, and its use in the construction of the chariot. There were no advances in military technology, until, from the mechanical arm action of a slinger, the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Persians, Chinese, etc., developed the siege engines. The bow was manufactured in increasingly larger and more powerful versions, to increase both the weapon range, and armour penetration performance. These developed into the powerful composite and recurve bows, and crossbows of Ancient China. These proved particularly useful during the rise of cavalry, as horsemen encased in ever-more sophisticated armour came to dominate the battlefield.


title: Military

text: Somewhat earlier, in medieval China, gunpowder had been invented, and was increasingly used by the military in combat. The use of gunpowder in the early vase-like mortars in Europe, and advanced versions of the long bow and cross bow, which all had armour-piercing arrowheads, that put an end to the dominance of the armoured knight. After the long bow, which required great skill and strength to use, the next most significant technological advance was the musket, which could be used effectively, with little training. In time, the successors to muskets and cannon, in the form of rifles and artillery, would become core battlefield technology.


title: Military

text: As the speed of technological advances accelerated in civilian applications, so too warfare became more industrialized. The newly invented machine gun and repeating rifle redefined firepower on the battlefield, and, in part, explains the high casualty rates of the American Civil War. The next breakthrough was the conversion of artillery parks from the muzzle loading guns, to the quicker loading breech loading guns with recoiling barrel that allowed quicker aimed fire and use of a shield. The widespread introduction of low smoke (smokeless) propellant powders since the 1880s also allowed for a great improvement of artillery ranges.


title: Military

text: The development of breech loading had the greatest effect on naval warfare, for the first time since the Middle Ages, altering the way weapons are mounted on warships, and therefore naval tactics, now divorced from the reliance on sails with the invention of the internal combustion. A further advance in military naval technology was the design of the submarine, and its weapon, the torpedo.


title: Military

text: Main battle tanks, and other heavy equipment such as armoured fighting vehicles, military aircraft, and ships, are characteristic to organized military forces.


title: Military

text: During World War I, the need to break the deadlock of trench warfare saw the rapid development of many new technologies, particularly tanks. Military aviation was extensively used, and bombers became decisive in many battles of World War II, which marked the most frantic period of weapons development in history. Many new designs, and concepts were used in combat, and all existing technologies of warfare were improved between 1939 and 1945.


title: Military

text: During the war, significant advances were made in military communications through increased use of radio, military intelligence through use of the radar, and in military medicine through use of penicillin, while in the air, the guided missile, jet aircraft, and helicopters were seen for the first time. Perhaps the most infamous of all military technologies was the creation of the atomic bomb, although the exact effects of its radiation were unknown until the early 1950s. Far greater use of military vehicles had finally eliminated the cavalry from the military force structure.


title: Military

text: After World War II, with the onset of the Cold War, the constant technological development of new weapons was institutionalized, as participants engaged in a constant 'arms race' in capability development. This constant state of weapons development continues into the present, and remains a constant drain on national resources, which some blame on the military–industrial complex.


title: Military

text: The most significant technological developments that influenced combat have been the guided missiles, which can be used by all branches of the armed services. More recently, information technology, and its use in surveillance, including space-based reconnaissance systems, have played an increasing role in military operations.


title: Military

text: The impact of information warfare that focuses on attacking command communication systems, and military databases, has been coupled with the new development in military technology, has been the use of robotic systems in intelligence combat, both in hardware and software applications.


title: Military

text: Recently, there has also been a particular focus towards the use of renewable fuels for running military vehicles on. Unlike fossil fuels, renewable fuels can be produced in any country, creating a strategic advantage. The US military has committed itself to have 50% of its energy consumption come from alternative sources.


title: Military

text: For much of military history, the armed forces were considered to be for use by the heads of their societies, until recently, the crowned heads of states. In a democracy or other political system run in the public interest, it is a public force.


title: Military

text: The relationship between the military and the society it serves is a complicated and ever-evolving one. Much depends on the nature of the society itself, and whether it sees the military as important, as for example in time of threat or war, or a burdensome expense typified by defence cuts in time of peace.


title: Military

text: One difficult matter in the relation between military and society is control and transparency. In some countries, limited information on military operations and budgeting is accessible for the public. However transparency in the military sector is crucial to fight corruption. This showed the Government Defence Anti-corruption Index Transparency International UK published in 2013.


title: Military

text: Militaries often function as societies within societies, by having their own military communities, economies, education, medicine, and other aspects of a functioning civilian society. Although a 'military' is not limited to nations in of itself as many private military companies (or PMC's) can be used or 'hired' by organizations and figures as security, escort, or other means of protection; where police, agencies, or militaries are absent or not trusted.


title: Military

text: Militarist ideology is the society's social attitude of being best served, or being a beneficiary of a government, or guided by concepts embodied in the military "culture, doctrine, system", or "leaders".


title: Military

text: Either because of the cultural memory, national history, or the potentiality of a military threat, the militarist argument asserts that a civilian population is dependent upon, and thereby subservient to the needs and goals of its military for continued independence. Militarism is sometimes contrasted with the concepts of comprehensive national power, soft power and hard power.


title: Military

text: Most nations have separate military laws which regulate conduct in war and during peacetime. An early exponent was Hugo Grotius, whose "On the Law of War and Peace" (1625) had a major impact of the humanitarian approach to warfare development. His theme was echoed by Gustavus Adolphus.


title: Military

text: Ethics of warfare have developed since 1945, to create constraints on the military treatment of prisoners and civilians, primarily by the Geneva Conventions; but rarely apply to use of the military forces as internal security troops during times of political conflict that results in popular protests and incitement to popular uprising.


title: Military

text: International protocols restrict the use, or have even created international bans on some types of weapons, notably weapons of mass destruction (WMD). International conventions define what constitutes a war crime, and provides for war crimes prosecution. Individual countries also have elaborate codes of military justice, an example being the United States' Uniform Code of Military Justice that can lead to court martial for military personnel found guilty of war crimes.


title: Military

text: Military actions are sometimes argued to be justified by furthering a humanitarian cause, such as disaster relief operations, or in defence of refugees. The term military humanism is used to refer to such actions.


title: Anthony Head

text: Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, which led to major roles in several television series. He is best known for his roles as Rupert Giles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997–2003), the Prime Minister in "Little Britain" (2003–2006), and Uther Pendragon in "Merlin" (2008–2012), as well as voicing Herc Shipwright in BBC Radio 4's "Cabin Pressure".


title: Anthony Head

text: Head was born in Camden Town, London. His father was Seafield Laurence Stewart Murray Head (20 August 1919 – 22 March 2009), a documentary filmmaker and a founder of Verity Films, and his mother was actress Helen Shingler (29 August 1919 – 8 October 2019); they married in 1944 in Watford. His older brother is actor/singer Murray Head. Both brothers have played the part of Freddie Trumper in the musical "Chess" at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, with Murray a part of the original cast in 1986, while Anthony was in the final cast in 1989.


title: Anthony Head

text: Head was educated at Sunbury Grammar School and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). In discussing why he chose acting as a career, in an interview in 2013 he said that "When it's in your family, it's a choice, it's there. It's not a jump to say: 'I want to act.' When I was six I was in a little show my mother's friends organised, playing the Emperor in "The Emperor's New Clothes". I remember thinking: 'This is the business, this is what I want to do.'"


title: Anthony Head

text: His first role was in the musical "Godspell"; this led to roles in television on both BBC and ITV, one of his earliest being an appearance in the series "Enemy at the Door" (ITV, 1978–1980). In the early 1980s he provided backing vocals for the band Red Box. In the late 1980s, he appeared in a storyline series of twelve coffee commercials with Sharon Maughan for Nescafé Gold Blend. (A version made for North America featured the American brand name Taster's Choice.) The soap opera nature of the commercials brought him wider recognition, along with a part in the Children's ITV comedy drama "Woof!"


title: Anthony Head

text: Head played Frank N. Furter in the 1990–91 West End revival of "The Rocky Horror Show" at London's Piccadilly Theatre, with Craig Ferguson as Brad Majors. In 1991 Head's rendition of "Sweet Transvestite" was released as a single by Chrysalis Records. Head played the role again in the summer of 1995 at London's Duke of York's Theatre, a 3 May 2006 tribute show at London's Royal Court Theatre, and a 14 October 2000 production at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Anthony Head

text: Success on the stage and a number of brief appearances on American television, such as in the short-lived "VR.5", led to accepting the role of Rupert Giles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 1997. For this role he lived full-time in the United States during the late 1990s and early 2000s, although his family continued to live in the UK. Head left the regular cast of "Buffy" during the show's sixth season and subsequently appeared several times as a guest star through the conclusion of the series. In many interviews at the time, Head said he left the show to spend more time with his family, having realised that he had spent most of the year outside Britain, which added up to more than half his youngest daughter's life.


title: Anthony Head

text: In 2002, he co-starred in the BBC Two television series "Manchild", a show revolving around four friends approaching their fifties who try to recapture their fading youth and vitality while dealing with life as 'mature' men. He also appeared in guest roles in various other dramas, such as "Silent Witness", "Murder Investigation Team", and "Spooks". He appeared in the 4th series of the British hit sitcom "My Family" in 2003 playing one of the main characters' (Abi's) father in the episode "May the Best Man Win". He was featured as the Prime Minister in the popular BBC comedy sketch show "Little Britain" from 2003 to 2005, and guest starred in several episodes of the 2004 series of popular drama "Monarch of the Glen".


title: Anthony Head

text: Outside television work, he has released an album of songs with musician George Sarah entitled "Music for Elevators". Early in his career he provided vocals for some of the tracks on the Chris de Burgh album "The Getaway" and the reading from "The Tempest" on "Don't Pay the Ferryman".


title: Anthony Head

text: In 2001, he appeared in a special webcast version of "Doctor Who", a story called "Death Comes to Time", in which he played the Time Lord Valentine. He also guest starred in the "Excelis Trilogy", a series of "Doctor Who" audio adventures produced by Big Finish Productions, and in 2005 narrated the two-part documentary "Project: WHO?", detailing the television revival of the series, for BBC Radio 2 (and released to CD in 2006 by BBC Audio). In April 2006 he appeared as a school's alien headmaster, Mr. Finch, in an episode of the second series entitled "School Reunion". Soon after, he recorded an abridged audio book of the "Doctor Who" novel "The Nightmare of Black Island" by Mike Tucker. He narrated the third and fourth series of "Doctor Who Confidential". He also voiced the character Baltazar, Scourge of the Universe (an evil space pirate searching for the Infinite) in the first ever animated "Doctor Who" special, "The Infinite Quest". Head had previously auditioned for the role of the Eighth Doctor for the 1996 television film, but lost out to Paul McGann.


title: Anthony Head

text: In early 2006, he appeared in an episode of "Hotel Babylon", a BBC One drama set in a hotel, in which he played a suicidal man who recovers and lands a music deal. The same year he filmed a pilot for a new show entitled "Him and Us", loosely based on the life of openly gay rock star Elton John, for American TV channel ABC, co-starring Kim Cattrall. In July he appeared as Captain Hook at the "Children's Party at the Palace", a live pantomime staged in the grounds of Buckingham Palace as part of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday celebrations. In October 2006, he voiced Ponsonby, leader of MI6, in "Destroy All Humans! 2".


title: Anthony Head

text: At Comic-Con International in 2007, Joss Whedon said talks were almost completed for a 90-minute "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off, "Ripper", as a BBC special, with both Head and the BBC on board. In 2007, he portrayed Stockard Channing's gay brother in the English film "Sparkle" and appeared as Mr. Colubrine in the ITV1 comedy drama "Sold". Head also appeared as Sir Walter Elliot in "Persuasion". Head also narrated a BBC behind-the-scenes programme for the American television series "Heroes", "Heroes Unmasked". He has also been seen as Maurice Riley in the BBC drama "The Invisibles" alongside Warren Clarke.


title: Anthony Head

text: After seeing Anthony Head in the "Buffy" musical episode, "Once More With Feeling", "Saw" director Darren Lynn Bousman cast him in his 21st century rock opera, "Repo! The Genetic Opera". Head portrays an organ repossessor, employed by a fictional dystopian medical firm; "Anthony Head was my number one choice for Repo Man from the very beginning", said Bousman in an interview shortly before the film's release on 7 November 2008. The film also stars Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton.


title: Anthony Head

text: Head has also performed for radio, taking two of the lead roles—arch-villain Mr. Gently Benevolent, and his descendant, journalist Jeremy Sourquill—in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series, "Bleak Expectations" (five series, 2007–12). He also had a significant recurring role in the last two series (2011–13) of the Radio 4 sitcom "Cabin Pressure" as Hercules Shipwright, a romantic interest for the airline CEO played by Stephanie Cole, and returned for show's two-part finale in 2014.


title: Anthony Head

text: Head was part of the regular cast of the BBC drama series "Merlin", about the mythical wizard Merlin. Head played King Uther Pendragon, the father of Prince Arthur.


title: Anthony Head

text: Head also provided voice-over work for the Nintendo Wii video game "Flip's Twisted World", developed by Frozen North Productions. For his acting in the film "Despite the Falling Snow" he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2016 Prague Independent Film Festival. In July 2018 Head was added to the cast of long-running BBC radio soap-opera "The Archers", playing Robin Fairbrother, member of a family with several past and current connections to the Archers themselves.


title: Anthony Head

text: Head lives in Bath, Somerset with his partner, Sarah Fisher. They have two daughters, Emily and Daisy, both of whom are actresses.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards ("the flop"), later an additional single card ("the turn" or "fourth street"), and a final card ("the river" or "fifth street"). Each player seeks the best five card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards; the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split-pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called a "chop-pot". "Texas hold 'em" is also the "H" game featured in HORSE and in HOSE.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: In Texas hold 'em, as in all variants of poker, individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hand they are holding,


title: Texas hold 'em

text: The game is divided into a series of hands (deals); at the conclusion of each hand, the pot is typically awarded to one player (an exception in which the pot is divided between two or more is discussed below). A hand may end at the showdown, in which case the remaining players compare their hands and the highest hand is awarded the pot; that highest hand is usually held by only one player, but can be held by more in the case of a tie. The other possibility for the conclusion of a hand occurs when all but one player have folded and have thereby abandoned any claim to the pot, in which case the pot is awarded to the player who has not folded.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: The objective of winning players is not to win every individual hand, but rather to win over the longer term by making mathematically and psychologically better decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. Winning poker players work to enhance their opponents' betting and maximize their own expected gain on each round of betting, to thereby increase their long-term winnings.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Although little is known about the invention of Texas hold 'em, the Texas Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas, as the game's birthplace, dating it to the early 20th century.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: After the game spread throughout Texas, hold 'em was introduced to Las Vegas in 1963 at the California Club by Corky McCorquodale. The game became popular and quickly spread to the Golden Nugget, Stardust and Dunes. In 1967, a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim were playing in Las Vegas. This is when "ace high" was changed from the original form in which aces were low. Addington said the first time he saw the game was in 1959. "They didn't call it Texas hold 'em at the time, they just called it hold 'em.… I thought then that if it were to catch on, it would become the game. Draw poker, you bet only twice; hold 'em, you bet four times. That meant you could play strategically. This was more of a thinking man's game."


title: Texas hold 'em

text: For several years the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas was the only casino in Las Vegas to offer the game. At that time, the Golden Nugget's poker room was "truly a 'sawdust joint,' with…oiled sawdust covering the floors." Because of its location and decor, this poker room did not receive many rich drop-in clients, and as a result, professional players sought a more prominent location. In 1969, the Las Vegas professionals were invited to play Texas hold 'em at the entrance of the now-demolished Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. This prominent location, and the relative inexperience of poker players with Texas hold 'em, resulted in a very remunerative game for professional players.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: After a failed attempt to establish a "Gambling Fraternity Convention", Tom Moore added the first ever poker tournament to the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention held in 1969. This tournament featured several games including Texas hold 'em. In 1970, Benny and Jack Binion acquired the rights to this convention, renamed it the World Series of Poker, and moved it to their casino, Binion's Horseshoe, in Las Vegas. After its first year, a journalist, Tom Thackrey, suggested that the main event of this tournament should be no-limit Texas hold 'em. The Binions agreed and ever since no-limit Texas hold 'em has been played as the main event. Interest in the main event continued to grow steadily over the next two decades. After receiving only eight entrants in 1972, the numbers grew to over one hundred entrants in 1982, and over two hundred in 1991.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: During this time, B & G Publishing Co., Inc. published Doyle Brunson's revolutionary poker strategy guide, "Super/System". Despite being self-published and priced at $100 in 1978, the book revolutionized the way poker was played. It was one of the first books to discuss Texas hold 'em, and is today cited as one of the most important books on this game. In 1983, Al Alvarez published "The Biggest Game in Town", a book detailing a 1981 World Series of Poker event. The first book of its kind, it described the world of professional poker players and the World Series of Poker. Alvarez's book is credited with beginning the genre of poker literature and with bringing Texas hold 'em (and poker generally) to a wider audience.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Alvarez's book was not the first book about poker. "The Education of a Poker Player" by Herbert Yardley, a former U.S. government code breaker, was published in 1957.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Interest in hold 'em outside of Nevada began to grow in the 1980s as well. Although California had legal card rooms offering draw poker, Texas hold 'em was deemed to be prohibited under a statute that made illegal the (now unheard of) game "stud-horse". But in 1988 Texas hold 'em was declared legally distinct from stud-horse in "Tibbetts v. Van De Kamp", and declared to be a game of skill. Almost immediately card rooms across the state offered Texas hold 'em. It is often presumed that this decision ruled that hold 'em was a game of skill, but the distinction between skill and chance has never entered into California jurisprudence regarding poker.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: After a trip to Las Vegas, bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood introduced the game to European card players in the early 1980s.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Texas hold 'em is now one of the most popular forms of poker. Texas hold 'em's popularity surged in the 2000s due to exposure on television, the Internet and popular literature. During this time hold 'em replaced seven-card stud as the most common game in U.S. casinos. The no-limit betting form is used in the widely televised main event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT).


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Hold 'em's simplicity and popularity have inspired a wide variety of strategy books that provide recommendations for proper play. Most of these books recommend a strategy that involves playing relatively few hands but betting and raising often with the hands one plays.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Texas hold 'em experienced a surge in popularity worldwide. Many observers attribute this growth to the synergy of five factors: the invention of online poker, the game's appearance in film and on television, invention and usage of the "hole card cam" (which allowed viewers to see hole cards played in the hand as a means of determining strategy and decision-making during gameplay), the appearance of television commercials advertising online cardrooms, and the 2003 World Series of Poker championship victory by online qualifier Chris Moneymaker.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Prior to poker becoming widely televised, the movie "Rounders" (1998), starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, gave moviegoers a romantic view of the game as a way of life despite the poker portrayed being often criticized by more serious players. Texas hold 'em was the main game played during the movie and the no-limit variety was described, following Doyle Brunson, as the "Cadillac of Poker". A clip of the classic showdown between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel from the 1988 World Series of Poker was also incorporated into the film. More recently, a high-stakes Texas hold 'em game was central to the plot of the 2006 James Bond film "Casino Royale", in place of baccarat, the casino game central to the novel on which the film was based. In 2008, an acclaimed short film called "Shark Out of Water" was released on DVD. This film is unique in that it deals with the darker, more addictive elements of the game, and features Phil Hellmuth and Brad Booth.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Hold 'em tournaments had been televised since the late 1970s, but they did not become popular until 1999, when hidden lipstick cameras were first used to show players' private hole cards on the "Late Night Poker" TV show in the United Kingdom. Hold 'em exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in the United States and Canada in early 2003, when the World Poker Tour adopted the lipstick cameras idea. A few months later, ESPN's coverage of the 2003 World Series of Poker featured the unexpected victory of Internet player Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player who gained admission to the tournament by winning a series of online tournaments. Moneymaker's victory initiated a sudden surge of interest in the series (along with internet poker), based on the egalitarian idea that anyone—even a rank novice—could become a world champion.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: In 2003, there were 839 entrants in the WSOP main event, and triple that number in 2004. The crowning of the 2004 WSOP champion, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, a patent attorney from Connecticut, further fueled the popularity of the event among amateur (and particularly Internet) players. In the 2005 main event, an unprecedented 5,619 entrants vied for a first prize of $7,500,000. The winner, Joe Hachem of Australia, was a semi-professional player. This growth continued in 2006, with 8,773 entrants and a first place prize of $12,000,000 (won by Jamie Gold).


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Beyond the series, other television shows—including the long running "World Poker Tour"—are credited with increasing the popularity of Texas hold 'em. In addition to its presence on network and general audience cable television, poker has now become a regular part of sports networks' programming in the United States.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: The English journalist and biographer Anthony Holden spent a year on the professional poker circuit from 1988–1989 and wrote about his experiences in "". The follow-up book, "Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom" covers the period 2005–2006 and describes a poker world "changed beyond recognition".


title: Texas hold 'em

text: published a semi-autobiographical book, "Positively Fifth Street" (2003), which simultaneously describes the trial surrounding the murder of Ted Binion and McManus's own entry into the 2000 World Series of Poker. McManus, a poker amateur, finished fifth in the no-limit Texas hold 'em main event, winning over $200,000. In the book McManus discusses events surrounding the series, the trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, poker strategy, and some history of poker and the world series.


title: Texas hold 'em

text: Michael Craig's 2005 book "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King" details a series of high-stakes Texas hold 'em one-on-one games between Texas banker Andy Beal and a rotating group of poker professionals. As of 2006, these games were the highest stakes ever played, reaching $100,000–$200,000 fixed limit.