The Mali Intervention : An Initial Assessment

02/03/2013
2013-02-03 By Lt. General (Retired) Gaviard In a recent interview with the French weekly, L’Express, Lt. General (Retired) Gaviard discussed the progress of the French intervention to date. At this stage in the Serval operation, what are the reasons for the French armed forces success in Mali? The first phase of…

Commander’s Perspectives on the Pacific Challenges: Shaping an Effective 21st Century Force

02/01/2013
2013-02-01 by Robbin Laird At Second Line of Defense, we have conducted a number of interviews with Commander’s with special roles in the Pacific.  In this article, we want to bring together some of those insights into a more comprehensive look at the challenges as seen by the Commander’s who are…

Russia’s Latest SSBN Goes to Sea: Highlighting the “Return” of the Russian Navy

02/01/2013
2013-02-01 By Richard Weitz Russia’s new (fourth) generation Project Mk 955 Borey-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), equipped with the new RSM-56 Bulava (NATO code name SS-NX-30) Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), officially entered service with the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet this month. Christened the Yuri Dolgoruky, the ship was under…

France, Europe and The Mali Challenge

02/01/2013
2013-02-01 In a recent interview with the weekly newsmagazine, L’Express, Lt. General (Retired) Gaviard discussed France, Europe and the Mali crisis. Why are the European states reticent to engage with the French forces in the Serval operation? Historically, France always had a hard time convincing European countries to commit at…

Leveraging Amphibious Capabilities to Shape More Effective Global Capabilities

01/31/2013
2013-01-31 By Col. Bradley Weisz, Deputy Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group TWO, United States Fleet Forces Command, Little Creek, Virginia “I believe that our nation needs fast, austere and lethal expeditionary naval forces that can execute missions across the spectrum of conflict.  The Navy-Marine Corps team is that key.” In 2008, the…