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Shaping a 21st Century U.S. Navy: The Perspective from Second Fleet

04/12/2021By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The advantage of visiting two startup commands – C2F and Allied JFC Norfolk – under one Vice Admiral is that one can see how the 21st century navy is being shaped. We started our March visit by meeting with VADM Lewis’s Chief of Staff for C2F, CAPT Hallock Mohler, who gave us a tour… Read more »

The Marines Work F-35B in Expeditionary Warfare Training

04/11/2021Multiple F-35B Lightning II's with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conduct vertical landings at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, April 6, 2021. 3rd MAW and I Marine Expeditionary Force continue to pave the road for the rest of the Marine Corps by providing relevant training with real-world applications to develop… Read more »

Danish Air Force Receives First F-35: A Key Building Block for Defense Transformation

04/11/2021On April 7, Denmark's first F-35A, L-001, was delivered to the Royal Danish Air Force. The Kingdom of Denmark commemorated the milestone with members of the Ministry of Defence, Danish Defence, the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization, the Royal Danish Air Force, U.S. Military Services, and industry partners at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas facility. "The roll-out ceremony of… Read more »

The Strategic Shift and the Role of Airpower: A Discussion with Ben Lambeth

04/10/2021By Robbin Laird I have been focused for several years on what I see as a clear and dramatic shift from how civilians and the military have looked at the land wars in the Middle East to now dealing with adversaries who have built forces for contested operations across the spectrum of operations. We have a generation of civilian and… Read more »

Allied Joint Forces Command Norfolk: The Uber Command

04/09/2021By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake As NATO continues to work its capabilities as an alliance going forward, the common operating procedure protocols, and communication systems provide a 21st Century information based framework for each individual nation to work more effectively together. This also will allow as well for non-NATO European states to become effective coalition partners. For example, Norway,… Read more »

The U.S. Navy Launches its Unmanned Campaign Framework: The Challenge of Leveraging the Low-Hanging Fruit

04/08/2021By Robbin Laird Recently, the Department of the Navy released, on March 16, 2021, its unmanned systems campaign framework. As Admiral Gilday, Chief of Navy Operations, commented in his forward to the document: As the Navy adapts to an increasingly complex security environment, it is imperative that we understand what our future force will need to operate both in day-to-day… Read more »

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Visiting 2nd Marine Air Wing, December 2020

01/11/2021I first visited 2nd MAW in 2007, at the beginning of the Osprey era. There I saw a small number of the aircraft on the tarmac and met with pilots and maintainers at the beginning of a long period of disruptive change, a period of change which delivered new capabilities, and new approaches for the USMC… Download PDF Now »

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Re-shaping North Atlantic Defense: JFC Norfolk as a Startup Command

04/07/2021By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake There has been public discussion of the state and fate of NATO over the past few years. One European leader energized the discussion by… Read more »

The Way Ahead for the CMV-22B: The Integratable Air Wing and the USS Carl Vinson

04/06/2021By Robbin Laird The CMV-22B is an essential part of the evolving air wing on the large deck carriers. The process of shaping this new capability is part of the… Read more »

The Alliance Aspect of Shaping the New Second Fleet: The Role of CJOS COE

04/04/2021By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake When 2nd Fleet was stood up in 2018, it was not the case of it being re-established. It was an older name but was… Read more »

An Update on Naval Group: April 2021

04/01/2021By Pierre Tran Paris – An early French order for a third frigate for defense and intervention helped Naval Group boost competitiveness on its offer of the FDI warship to… Read more »

Enhancing Coalition Combat Capability: The Role of Joint Force Command, Norfolk

03/31/2021By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The standup of both Second Fleet in 2018 and Joint Force Command, Norfolk in 2019 have had very similar goals: how to enhance the… Read more »

F-35 National Training Takes Off in Australia

03/30/2021By Flying Officer Bronwyn Marchant Four Air Force pilots on the first F-35A Lightning II operational conversion course to be run in Australia completed their first flights at RAAF Base… Read more »

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Cope North 21

https://vimeo.com/510214062 04/12/2021Fighter aircraft participating in Cope North 21 launch and take off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam Feb. 5, 2021. GUAM 02.05.2021 Video by Tech. Sgt. Jerilyn Quintanilla Pacific Air… Read more »

F35B Reverse Landing

https://vimeo.com/510214434 04/09/2021A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, demonstrates a reverse landing on the flight deck of the amphibious… Read more »

Training with French Forces

https://vimeo.com/510213092 04/07/2021U.S. Army Infantrymen assigned to the East African Response Force (EARF) perform a sniper exercise with French servicemen Feb. 02, 2021 at an indisclosed location in Djibouti, Africa. The EARF… Read more »

Training with Romanian Forces

https://vimeo.com/510212543 04/05/2021Sgt. 1st Class Derek Baker, combat medic, 432 Civil Affairs Battalion and Spc. Logan Rutledge, combat medic, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division reflect on a combat lifesaver… Read more »

UAS Video Feed Osego Harbor

https://vimeo.com/510211734 04/02/20214K Aerial footage taken via UAS of the Oswego Harbor in Oswego N.Y. Imagery also includes aerials of Lake Ontario. OSWEGO, NY, 10.22.2020 Video by Patrick Bloodgood U.S. Army Corps… Read more »

USCG in Strait of Hormuz

https://vimeo.com/510211335 03/31/2021Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC Adak (WPB 1333) conducts small boat maneuvering drills in the Strait of Hormuz, Jan. 18. Adak is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of… Read more »

VMM261

https://vimeo.com/502139071 03/29/2021Airmen with the 165th Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS) conduct a casualty evacuation exercise with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261) at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, Dec. 7-16.… Read more »

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The Second Line of Defense team provides high quality publications with regard to key global strategic developments. You can purchase these here or on a number of booksellers as well, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

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Tactical Innovations and the Next Phase of Viper Operational Development

03/27/2021The Viper is the expeditionary strike helicopter flown by the USMC. The US Navy is in the throes of a significant transition to fighting as a fleet, rather than operating… Read more »

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