Fixing the Machine: Rear Admiral McCoy on Rebuilding Naval Aviation’s Training Pipeline

09/20/2026 By Robbin Laird I published an overview piece, "Street to Fleet: How CNATRA Is Working Naval Aviation Training," ahead of this interview deliberately. That article was built entirely from public sources: CNATRA's own releases, Proceedings essays going back to 2002, the "Warrior Ethos" letter to incoming students, DVIDS features on the FITU/HITU instructor pipeline. The point of publishing it first… Read more »

AI Agents Need Rules of Engagement Before They Get Credentials

09/19/2026 By Gleb Tsipursky Defense organizations already understand that authority should track mission, role, and risk. An intelligence analyst, a weapons officer, a contractor, and a system administrator do not receive the same access simply because each can perform useful work. Artificial intelligence agents need the same discipline before they become routine participants in national-security operations. That need is visible in… Read more »

The Village That Roared: The Principality of Piddington

09/17/2026 By Kenneth Maxwell Piddington is a small village and civil parish in Oxfordshire. Its population is 358. The British government proposed to house 1,250 male asylum seekers at a disused Ministry of Defence base nearby. The village voted yesterday (15 September 2026) in a referendum, with 89% participation, to leave the United Kingdom. The vote was 285 to leave and… Read more »

Mastering Chaos: A Leadership Framework for Homeland Defense

09/16/2026 Remarks to the Nevada National Guard Pre-Command Course, September 15, 2026 By Robbin F. Laird On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was sitting in the waiting area outside the Secretary of Defense's office at the Pentagon, watching a small television, when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. As a New Yorker, my reaction was immediate —… Read more »

Bringing Broken Aircraft Home: Inside the 2026 Advanced CDDAR Course at Volk Field

09/13/2026 By Robbin Laird A photograph taken on July 14, 2026 at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, shows a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion helicopter hoisting a recovered F-15 Eagle into the air. The image, credited to Paul Gorman of the Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office, is a still from a much larger and… Read more »

The Department of the Navy’s Science and Technology Board: Building on 250 Years of Naval Innovation

09/13/2026 By George Galdorisi In September 1776 an enormous British armada lay anchored in New York Harbor. A month earlier, British forces under General William Howe had defeated the Continental Army and gained control of New York City and Long Island. Now this fleet of 400 ships, including 10 ships-of-the-line, 20 frigates, 170 transports and numerous other ships under the command… Read more »