May 2008 Issue
From our online discussion boards
LT. COL. HARRY FOSTER, MAXWELL-GUNTER AIR FORCE BASE, ALA., RESPONDS TO LT. COL. EDITH DISLER’S “FLYBOYS” ARTICLE, APRIL AFJ...
LT. COL. HARRY FOSTER, MAXWELL-GUNTER AIR FORCE BASE, ALA., RESPONDS TO LT. COL. EDITH DISLER’S “FLYBOYS” ARTICLE, APRIL AFJ...
Not so fast
As dissatisfaction with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has grown, the policy of “stop-lossing,” or the involuntary extension of a service member’s duty commitment, has...
BY CHRISTOPHER GRIFFIN
As dissatisfaction with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has grown, the policy of “stop-lossing,” or the involuntary extension of a service member’s duty commitment, has...
BY CHRISTOPHER GRIFFIN
Flunked again TO THE PENTAGON, for scoring a D-minus after the latest examination of its weapons program acquisition practices. When major development programs from ships to satellites to aircraft each...
Fuel for thought TO THE AIR FORCE, for its pioneering work in developing synthetic fuel for aircraft. The fuel, a 50-50 blend of JP-8 and a synthetic fuel derived from natural gas, was created by an Air...
No honor in politics TO PRESIDENT BUSH, for mixing politics with military honor. Bush presented a posthumous Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on the same day that Congress was getting its latest Iraq...
Warfighter in chief
If he’d shown signs of being interview-weary, it would have been understandable. It was late afternoon on the Friday that capped a week of congressional hearings during which...
BY KAREN WALKER
If he’d shown signs of being interview-weary, it would have been understandable. It was late afternoon on the Friday that capped a week of congressional hearings during which...
BY KAREN WALKER
Lies, damned lies and counterinsurgency
It has become a matter of conventional wisdom that insurgencies last an average of 10 years and that the insurgents win about 40 percent of the time. These statistics have appeared in USA...
BY CAPT. ROBERT M. CHAMBERLAIN
It has become a matter of conventional wisdom that insurgencies last an average of 10 years and that the insurgents win about 40 percent of the time. These statistics have appeared in USA...
BY CAPT. ROBERT M. CHAMBERLAIN
The nonlinear future
The network metaphor dominates current thinking about national security. Network centricity carried to its logical conclusion, however, portends an environment that becomes increasingly...
BY CLEMENT C. CHEN
The network metaphor dominates current thinking about national security. Network centricity carried to its logical conclusion, however, portends an environment that becomes increasingly...
BY CLEMENT C. CHEN
The other enemy
Can we win in Afghanistan? It’s an odd question, considering that we’ve already won, by historical standards. Yet unrealistic metrics of success continue to pile up, fabricated...
BY RALPH PETERS
Can we win in Afghanistan? It’s an odd question, considering that we’ve already won, by historical standards. Yet unrealistic metrics of success continue to pile up, fabricated...
BY RALPH PETERS
Obsessed with tactics
The Navy today is overly focused on the tactical employment of its combat forces, in its doctrine and practice. This might not be a problem in case of a conflict with numerically and...
BY MILAN VEGO
The Navy today is overly focused on the tactical employment of its combat forces, in its doctrine and practice. This might not be a problem in case of a conflict with numerically and...
BY MILAN VEGO
Carpet bombing in cyberspace
The world has abandoned a fortress mentality in the real world, and we need to move beyond it in cyberspace. America needs a network that can project power by building an af.mil robot...
BY COL. CHARLES W. WILLIAMSON III
The world has abandoned a fortress mentality in the real world, and we need to move beyond it in cyberspace. America needs a network that can project power by building an af.mil robot...
BY COL. CHARLES W. WILLIAMSON III
Ending our oil dependency
Oil, and our reliance on it, is a catalyst for terrorism. Yet the U.S. military is powered, fueled and transported by it. Cmdr. Jeff Eggers urges a major research and development effort to...
Oil, and our reliance on it, is a catalyst for terrorism. Yet the U.S. military is powered, fueled and transported by it. Cmdr. Jeff Eggers urges a major research and development effort to...
The fuel gauge of national security
Military doctrine favors the indirect and unexpected path to decisive results, hence the prevalence of the flanking maneuver. As we are reminded nearly daily, the seemingly intractable...
BY CMDR. JEFFREY W. EGGERS
Military doctrine favors the indirect and unexpected path to decisive results, hence the prevalence of the flanking maneuver. As we are reminded nearly daily, the seemingly intractable...
BY CMDR. JEFFREY W. EGGERS
Fueling alternatives
Air Force Capt. Rick Fournier made history March 19 when he flew a B-1B Lancer over Texas and New Mexico — marking the first time an Air Force aircraft had flown at supersonic speed...
Air Force Capt. Rick Fournier made history March 19 when he flew a B-1B Lancer over Texas and New Mexico — marking the first time an Air Force aircraft had flown at supersonic speed...
Running on empty
We are likely standing today on the precipice of a radical shift. The U.S. must therefore prepare to endure — or to survive — the arrival of the event that will signal this...
BY MAJ. DANIEL L. DAVIS
We are likely standing today on the precipice of a radical shift. The U.S. must therefore prepare to endure — or to survive — the arrival of the event that will signal this...
BY MAJ. DANIEL L. DAVIS
In this issue
With national gasoline prices predicted to pierce the four bucks per gallon mark this year — and diesel prices already past that threshold — most of us can relate...
By Karen Walker
With national gasoline prices predicted to pierce the four bucks per gallon mark this year — and diesel prices already past that threshold — most of us can relate...
By Karen Walker
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From our online discussion boards
Posted 5/14/2008 by Administrator
Posted 5/14/2008 by Administrator
The nonlinear future
Posted 5/5/2008 by Administrator
Posted 5/5/2008 by Administrator