Losing sleep
(December 2011)
At the U.S. Army Ranger School, one of the military’s most renowned courses for combat arms and special operations forces, soldiers are trained and tested on individual and small-unit...
By Maj. Stephen C. Flanagan
At the U.S. Army Ranger School, one of the military’s most renowned courses for combat arms and special operations forces, soldiers are trained and tested on individual and small-unit...
By Maj. Stephen C. Flanagan
Cutbacks and crises
(December 2011)
The subject of the hour in defense circles is guessing how deeply the defense budget is going to be cut as the U.S. economy retrenches, and which services will be winners and losers. There...
By Robert Killebrew
The subject of the hour in defense circles is guessing how deeply the defense budget is going to be cut as the U.S. economy retrenches, and which services will be winners and losers. There...
By Robert Killebrew
The 7,000
(December 2011)
Here we go again. As active participation in Iraq and Afghanistan fizzle out, the defense intellectual community casts about looking for the next enemy. Picking tomorrow’s enemy is big...
BY ROBERT H. SCALES
Here we go again. As active participation in Iraq and Afghanistan fizzle out, the defense intellectual community casts about looking for the next enemy. Picking tomorrow’s enemy is big...
BY ROBERT H. SCALES
Perspectives: A French idea worth stealing
(December 2011)
The U.S. would do well to emulate France in at least one way: by creating an American version of the French military’s coopérant officer.Such officers would serve a tour in...
By Lt. Col. Jean-Philippe Peltier
The U.S. would do well to emulate France in at least one way: by creating an American version of the French military’s coopérant officer.Such officers would serve a tour in...
By Lt. Col. Jean-Philippe Peltier
Perspectives: Looped back in
(December 2011)
The October 2011 AFJ article “Goodbye, OODA Loop” should have set off alarm bells across the U.S. defense community. In their well-written article, Kevin Benson and Steven...
BY LT. COL. DAVID J. LYLE
The October 2011 AFJ article “Goodbye, OODA Loop” should have set off alarm bells across the U.S. defense community. In their well-written article, Kevin Benson and Steven...
BY LT. COL. DAVID J. LYLE
Unready to stop UAVs
(December 2011)
America’s wars of the last decade have vaulted the UAV from novelty to workhorse. Yet too little is being done to prepare for the inevitable day when our enemies turn these weapons,...
BY MAJ. DARIN L. GAUB
America’s wars of the last decade have vaulted the UAV from novelty to workhorse. Yet too little is being done to prepare for the inevitable day when our enemies turn these weapons,...
BY MAJ. DARIN L. GAUB
Perspectives: A better way to buy IT security
(December 2011)
By the time the federal government buys an IT security product, it is several generations obsolete.It takes the Pentagon an average of 81 months to buy commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)...
BY DAVID HOLLIS
By the time the federal government buys an IT security product, it is several generations obsolete.It takes the Pentagon an average of 81 months to buy commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)...
BY DAVID HOLLIS
Lessons from Rhino LZ
(November 2011)
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2001, machine-gun fire erupted on the perimeter of Camp Rhino, Afghanistan. Capt. Mike Flatten, an Air Force officer from the 21st Special Tactics Squadron,...
BY MAJ. JAMES G. YOUNG
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2001, machine-gun fire erupted on the perimeter of Camp Rhino, Afghanistan. Capt. Mike Flatten, an Air Force officer from the 21st Special Tactics Squadron,...
BY MAJ. JAMES G. YOUNG
Slow learners
(November 2011)
John Nagl, with his book “Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife,” seemed to be ahead of his time in contrasting the British and American approaches to counterinsurgency (COIN). His...
BY CAPT. ANDREW P. BETSON
John Nagl, with his book “Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife,” seemed to be ahead of his time in contrasting the British and American approaches to counterinsurgency (COIN). His...
BY CAPT. ANDREW P. BETSON
What academia can do for DoD
(November 2011)
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about the challenges faced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as he works to manage the shrinking of the U.S. defense budget without severely...
By Chris Rohlfs
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about the challenges faced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as he works to manage the shrinking of the U.S. defense budget without severely...
By Chris Rohlfs
Disjointed
(November 2011)
Active-duty officers have long been required to earn their joint qualifications before pinning on a flag officer’s stars; it’s time to help more reservists and guardsmen do...
By Brig. Gen. Scott D. Legwold and Lt. Col. David W. May
Active-duty officers have long been required to earn their joint qualifications before pinning on a flag officer’s stars; it’s time to help more reservists and guardsmen do...
By Brig. Gen. Scott D. Legwold and Lt. Col. David W. May
Sleeping tigers
(November 2011)
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Princeton Professor Aaron L. Friedberg focused on China’s asymmetric “anti-access/area-denial” strategies, operations and weapons that...
By Scott C. Truver
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Princeton Professor Aaron L. Friedberg focused on China’s asymmetric “anti-access/area-denial” strategies, operations and weapons that...
By Scott C. Truver
NATO after Libya
(November 2011)
A year ago, in an article published at the Center for European Policy Analysis, we argued that “some voices increasingly insist that the age of Homo Atlanticus is declining. Though the...
BY DOMINIK P. JANKOWSKI AND COL. TOMASZ K. KOWALIK
A year ago, in an article published at the Center for European Policy Analysis, we argued that “some voices increasingly insist that the age of Homo Atlanticus is declining. Though the...
BY DOMINIK P. JANKOWSKI AND COL. TOMASZ K. KOWALIK