SMOKE & SPICE

From theatrics to tactics, smoke has many uses other than perfecting roasted meat and getting in our eyes around a campfire. Whether to obscure movement or to signal allies, the use of smoke long predates firearms, harkening back to the days of large-scale maneuver warfare. In the 21st century, as both technology and industry have permanently changed the appearance of war and conflict, so too have combat units in the military adapted to smaller unit structures. While the concept of a whole army in conflict once dominated the scope of war, we now live in the age of small unit tactics.

And that both translates to — and is enabled by — the increased abilities of the individual. Infrastructure has adapted to accommodate small teams of highly capable individuals, providing vast resources to a smaller and smaller roster of combatants, further augmented by more extensive training as well as technology such as drones, global positioning systems, and night vision. Yet at the same time, operators are