Archive for April, 2013

Anti-access problems

Maj. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie clearly understands the anti-access problem, but then advances totally unconvincing solutions to it [“Naval Power & Assured Access,” January-February].

A “whole-of-government response”? How exactly will the State Department …

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Merge Guard and Reserve

Our reserve forces consist primarily of the National Guard and the reserve. The two separate organizations were created at different times to meet separate and distinct needs of the nation. As the …

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Beyond formality: A better way to negotiate in Afghanistan

As U.S. and Afghan officials negotiate the myriad details of their pledged strategic partnership, they will be pushed by war-weariness and political and economic pressures to settle for Band-Aid approaches to complex …

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Help others, help ourselves

A better strategy for security force assistance in the Pacific

The Army, with its long history of security force assistance to Pacific Rim nations and a wealth of new knowledge born of …

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Crisis and opportunity

At this writing, sequestration is in effect, thanks to a Congress that, in the words of Slate’s John Dickerson, couldn’t even design a sword of Damocles right.

The irony, of course, is …

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Go smaller: Time for the Navy to get serious about the littorals

The Navy has hung its quest for credible littoral warfare capabilities upon its planned fleet of 52 littoral combat ships, which — according to all the publicly discussed concepts — are to …

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COIN in the air

Army attack aviation must embrace irregular warfare

Classic COIN theory, as reiterated in the 2006 Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency field manual, teaches us that force must be employed much differently when …

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Let’s not try that again: Why you can’t win someone else’s counterinsurgency

The United States has had great success fighting conventional wars as a third party. In World Wars I and II, as well as the Korean War, the U.S. fought with coalitions, defeated …

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To Leon Panetta

For approving the new Distinguished Warfare Medal

During his last month as defense secretary. The award, meant to honor UAV operators and cyber warriors for extraordinary achievement, is set in precedence ahead …

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Unwritten rules: Along Israel’s flammable borders, infractions spark wars

In the perennial faceoff between Israel and various armed organizations, the distance between cyclical violence and full-on war can be measured by how well the players adhere to unwritten, yet clearly understood, …

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