Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks’ daily take on national security.
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Giles_Corey_restored Some thoughts and suggestions on how to decompress from Forever War tours
Among the different rules per country, the United States is arguably one of the most fiscally conservative in what we provide to our service members with regards to leave and pass entitlements.
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YPG_and_YPJ_machine_gun_Raqqa_(February_2017) A coherent approach to Raqqa
Iraq’s security forces are in operational pause.
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Sherman_sea_1868 What the railroad and Civil War might tell us about our military leadership today
Few senior military leaders sat down during the 1850s to look at how the railroad and telegraph might affect the conduct of a future war.
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AXAFA Lack of mission command: I see this so often it make me think the U.S. military simply is unable to do anything about it
Everyone knows there is a problem but no one really has a handle on how to effectively address the problem.
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Plunger_(SS2),_renamed_A1._Port_bow,_moored_beside_the_Shark_(SS8),_1902_-_NARA_-_512925 An old salt picks his 4 favorite American admirals — and explains why (IV): Nimitz
All my "greats" were deep into technology and its relation to tactics.
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Stephanie_smith_human_cannonball_-_melbourne_show_2005 Firings, ousters, scandals, and more
A very joint roundup.
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3527157206_f32631c34e_o Things I didn’t know (a continuing series)
The U.S. Army did the South a great favor at the end of the Civil War when it rebuilt Confederate railroads free of charge.
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6189923681_579653836e_o A leadership approach: Eyes on, hands off. Also, how to be a subordinate leader.
More here about that.
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13inMortarOnRailcarNearPetersburg What might the railroad and Civil War tell us about our networked nation today?
Just as the railroad reshaped the American economy in the 1840s and 1850s, so did the internet revamp it in the 1990s and 2010s.
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161116-M-CR240-0111E Marines in charge
Meantime, I have nothing to add about the GBU-43/B fuel-air bomb dropped near the Pakistani-Afghan border, except that it seems to me to be the right weapon to go after a tunnel complex in hard rock.
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170408-N-AC237-0622 PACIFIC OCEAN (April 8, 2017) Cpl. Garret Watkins, a native of Clinton, Ill., assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participates in a physical training along with his military working dog, Sgt. Linda, during resiliency training aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America is currently underway with more than 1,000 Sailors and 1,600 Marines conducting Amphibious Squadron/Marine Expeditionary Unit Integration operations in preparation for the ship's maiden deployment later this year. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Benjamin Wooddy/Released)¬¬¬ Dogs don’t do pushups
But they are happy to hang out and talk while you do.
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AH-1W_UH-1Y_take_off_from_Bastion_Afghanistan_2009 The Marines United scandal should be seen as a national security issue
The degradation of women in the military reflected by the Marines United scandal is not just a women’s rights issue but a national security concern.
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170101-N-KP948-093 3 studies say Navy needs to be bigger. But hey, are we focusing too much on China?
Three recent studies of the future of the U.S. Navy arrived at remarkably similar conclusions.
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Churchill_V_sign_HU_55521 ‘Theory of victory’: The more I think about it, the more I like this phrase
There is a kernel of wisdom in the phrase “theory of victory.”
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Wooden_hourglass_3 Annals of the Narrative: Who owns time?
The narrator owns the narrative. And who owns the narrative owns the time.
