Archive for October, 2013

Underqualified undersecretary

Underqualified undersecretary

DART to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for nominating Jo Ann Rooney to be his undersecretary.

Perhaps there have been Navy undersecretaries with less naval experience than Ms. Rooney, who is less than …

Read more ›

Spying goes “insane” | Iron Triangle, bending? | Revisiting a strategy for peace

Spying goes “insane” | Iron Triangle, bending? | Revisiting a strategy for peace

NSA slide (Washington Post)

Yesterday was the day “global spying allegations” went “insane,” according to Foreign Policy. The biggest news was the Washington Post blockbuster that NSA is hoovering up user data …

Read more ›

From director to actor | Can-kicking. Face-saving? | Caliphate progress report

From director to actor | Can-kicking. Face-saving? | Caliphate progress report

The last combat brigade to leave Iraq. (Army)

Gordon Adams says the U.S. is no longer the undisputed director of the global play: “The most disconcerting part of this accelerating movement on …

Read more ›

ISO Mideast strategy | SOF hunts Kony | Flipflop over NSA

ISO Mideast strategy | SOF hunts Kony | Flipflop over NSA

FSA rebels cleaning their AK-47s in Aleppo, Syria. (VOA News)

Dan Drezner tries to discern a grand-strategy approach to the Middle East, and lays out a few things he hopes the administration …

Read more ›

Willfully blind | Poor strategic planning | 4th-gen war

Willfully blind | Poor strategic planning | 4th-gen war

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Pfc. Michael W. Daley Jr.
(right) and Pfc. Travis B. Woolwine, both Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division …

Read more ›

1979: Saudis top U.S. arms-sales lists

In 1978, the U.S. agreed to sell F-15s to Saudi Arabia.(USAF photo)

From the archive: October 1979

Editor’s note: The “change in Iranian government” mentioned below was, of course, the Ruhollah Khomeini-led revolution that ejected the U.S.-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi.

Saudis Now Biggest U.S.

Read more ›

1957: Nuclear artillery is ‘near at hand’

This 1953 test of an 11-inch nuclear shell, among other developments, led Army leaders to believe that the day of atomic artillery was coming. (National Nuclear Security Administration)

From the archive: October 26, 1957

Dual-Purpose Artillery Missiles

The Armed Forces are on the threshold of a new era in artillery firepower. Dual-purpose missiles with atomic warheads make possible the use …

Read more ›

How to think about DoD’s budget choices | Split NSA/CyberCom? | CBO on USN

How to think about DoD’s budget choices | Split NSA/CyberCom? | CBO on USN

CSBA’s Harrison: Budget proposals on the table ignore BCA caps — and history.

CSBA’s Todd Harrison crunched the numbers and found that, if history is any guide, the budget levels prescribed under …

Read more ›

1982: A final Falklands lesson

Read more ›

Extreme tiered readiness | Regionally focused training | Do maritime security right

Extreme tiered readiness | Regionally focused training | Do maritime security right

The Army will have to move into an ‘extreme tiered readiness model’ as it struggles to train and equip soldiers amid the ongoing fiscal crisis, the service’s top officer said Chief of …

Read more ›