Archive for January, 2009

To serve in the armed forces of the United States of America is an honor, whether it be active or reserve duty. Let us all not worry about the title of “active” …

I was disappointed and saddened by the opinion expressed by Cmdr. Richard M. Berg, a retired Navy Reserve officer who takes offense at the designation “reserve” and is desperately seeking some way …

Afghanistan: Faltered but not fallen

Recent assessments of the war in Afghanistan are awash in pessimism. Reports have the Taliban setting up courts and shadow governments in some areas in southern Afghanistan. …

Among defense intelligentsia, there are few mantras more chic than that which claims the U.S. military “forgot the lessons of Vietnam.” Had it not done so, received wisdom insists, America’s armed forces …

Georgia’s cyberstrategy disproves cyberspace carpet-bombing theory

In May, Col. Charles Williamson proposed that the U.S. project power by building a military botnet “to target computers [so] that they can no longer communicate,” …

First, it is a joy to see discussion on military botnets. Hard thinking about cyberspace will improve our capabilities. I hoped that warriors in my sister services would say, “The heck with …

To the U.S. government over its handling of the Blackwater case in which security guards are charged with voluntary manslaughter over the Sept. 17, 2007, shooting at Nisur Square in Baghdad. The …

After 25 years’ service in active and reserve capacity, I am quite fine with “reserve” in my title. I never considered my service to be second-class, and I don’t give credence to …

New Year; new president; same war. This duo of articles by two of the military’s most nonconformist thinkers argues for turning current warfare wisdom on its head. Charles Dunlap Jr. proposes we …