01/17/12 During Second Line of Defense visits in mid-January 2012 to the participants in Bold Alligator, we were able to focus on the meaning of the arrival of the new USMC F-35Bs to Eglin AFB. Col. Arthur TOMASSETTI, vice commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, Air Education and Training Command,…
By Dr. Harald Malmgren 01/23/2012 - Iran is threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz. Newly tightening financial sanctions on Iran’s banks and its central bank are suffocating credit for Iran’s fuel imports and oil exports. Inside Iran there are widespread frantic efforts by businesses and people in the streets…
01/22/12 In a recent Inside the Navy report from Jason Sherman, it was reported that LRIPs 7 and 8 are to increase their orders by 40%. (Jason Sherman, “LRIPs 7, 8 to jump 40%,” Inside the Navy (1/09/12). The key driver in this upsurge is foreign orders. Mentioned in the…
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/20/2012 There is widespread international support for reintegrating lower-level Taliban foot soldiers who may have joined the insurgency for money or other non-ideological reasons. Inducing many of these “accidental guerrillas” to leave the insurgency is a reasonable goal since neither…
01/19/2011 by Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The Second Line of Defense team spent the week of January 8th talking with USN and USMC planners and operators involved in Bold Alligator 2012. Visits to USMC Forces Command and to 2nd US Fleet Forces in Norfolk were combined with a visit…
01/17/2011 by Vince Martinez Defense reform is both possible and necessary as the force is restructured. Indeed, NOT doing so will lead to a hollow force. Now that the cards have been played relative to the defense budget cuts and service level downsizing, it is time for government and industry alike…
By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/16/2011 - Limited international backing contributed to the failure of the past Afghan-led reintegration and reconciliation initiatives. Until recently, these processes encountered strong opposition in many Western countries. Meanwhile, reconciliation confronted the issue of previous Taliban misrule and the organization’s ties to the al-Qaeda perpetrators of…
01/16/2012 by Ed Timperlake Every Midshipman in the US Navy has learned in the "Miracle at Midway" that in just four minutes on June 4th 1942 the Pacific war changed in favor of America. In just those four minutes, with a tremendous sacrifice of US carrier pilots, three Japanese fleet carriers…
