Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks’ daily take on national security.
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Flag_of_the_Passamakoddy A WWI soldier named Moses Neptune
In World War I, six members of the Passamaqoddy tribe, the easternmost Native American group in the United States, enlisted in the Army.
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1915_Aerial_torpedo An old salt picks his 4 favorite American admirals—and explains why (III): Fiske
I could talk endlessly about Bradley A. Fiske.
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Edouard_Manet_022 Reviewing the reviewers
In the past I’ve praised the toughness of the book reviews in the Journal of Military History, so I want to note here a couple of lapses in the reviews running in the April issue.
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A U.S. Soldier with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment walks to a joint district community center after securing combat outpost Rajankala in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan Nov. 26, 2009. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II, U.S. Air Force/Released) I was a U.S. Army officer, but nowadays, America feels like a foreign country to me
My family had fled the war in Vietnam. Yet here I was in Afghanistan, in a war in which I saw strong similarities.
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WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: U.S. President Donald Trump and King Abdullah II of Jordan shake hands before participating in a joint news conference at the Rose Garden of the White House April 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump held talks on Middle East peace process and other bilateral issues with King Abdullah II. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Did Trump get played by the king of Jordan like someone new to the region?
King Abdullah II’s apparent clout should raise concerns about the president’s foreign policy inconstancy.
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170407-N-FQ994-135 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (April 7, 2017) USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile April 7, 2017. USS Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robert S. Price/Released) War with Syria?: A Best Defense primer
None of the options are good, I am sure Defense Secretary James Mattis told President Trump at their meeting in Palm Beach.
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Meade-Headquarters_Gettysburg Why Gen. Meade was right to stop after Gettysburg and not pursue Gen. Lee
The real issue here is leadership.
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MWD retires, reunited with wingman A nice retired war dog
Photo credit: Department of Defense
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170404-D-PB383-054 No, it was smart to take Kushner to Iraq
At the very least, Dunford got to know Kushner a bit, and Kushner likely learned a bit about the U.S. military.
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Fa18_hook Looking back on my Navy career: From the Tailhook scandal to Marines United
It has taken less than a month for the “Marines United” revenge porn story to fade.
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1024px-Gettysburg_Campaign_Retreat Meade’s missed opportunity to end the Civil War after the battle of Gettysburg
I was reading a Civil War history the other day and was struck by the opportunity that General George Meade had — and blew — after Gettysburg to end the war.
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160517-M-NI439-099 TRAINING AREA 1, JORDAN (May 17, 2016) – U.S. Marine Cpl. X Cerrato, an infantryman with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, shifts his fires in response to a friendly smoke signal during an integrated company assault with the Jordanian Armed Forces as part of a simulated integrated company assault during Exercise Eager Lion 2016. Exercise Eager Lion 2016 is a U.S. bilateral, scenario based exercise with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, designed to exchange military expertise and improve interoperability among partner nations. During the sixth iteration of the exercise, both joint and combined military responses to conventional and unconventional threats will be explored. Participating troops will also train across their respective mission sets including border security, inter-ministerial command and control, cyber defense and battlespace management. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Paris Capers/ RELEASED) The falsity of ‘owning the battlespace’
For years I have heard commanders in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan talk about “their area of operations” or “owning the battle space.”
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31st MEU Recon Marines Rappel for Practice Hey MC Gazette! Pointing out a problem is a different exercise than fixing a problem — but still a valuable contribution
The people who run the organization may be in a position to fix problems — but first they need to know there is a problem.
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23782987349_dd0409538f_o Active duty at greater risk than reserves for post-deployment alcohol abuse
So reports an article I read recently in an old issue of Military Medicine.
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Admiral_Mitscher_and_Arliegh_Burke An old salt picks his four favorite American admirals — and explains why (II): Burke
My admirations for Admiral Arleigh Burke are twofold and they were acquired early.
