“Democratizing the Battlefield”: The Rover Experience

01/03/2012
01/03/2012: The Second Line of Defense team in looking to the future of defense and key tools for the 21st century believes that the last decade is not prologue to the next.  Many important experiences and con-ops have emerged in the past decade, which provide key elements, which need to…

Coast Guard Stakes Its Future on National Security Cutters

01/03/2012
01/03/2012 - by Dr. Scott Truver The focal point of U.S. Coast Guard acquisition reform and recapitalization remains the National Security Cutter. The NSC is one of the Coast Guard’s major contributions to the nation’s fleet. As such, the Navy may want to look at the Legend-class cutters as a…

Bold Alligator 2012: Charting the Future

12/12/2011
12/12/2011 In early 2012, the USN-USMC team will have the largest Amphibious exercise in many years.  This is the largest Amphibious exercise since before 9/11 had such a major impact on military operations. The exercise is being conducted as several USN and USMC assets prepare for deployments.  This means that…

Augmenting the Seabase: 21st Century Efficiencies

12/09/2011
12/09/2011 by Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird Enhanced Efficiencies in Use of Ship Deck Space: The USN-USMC Team Shows the Way As assets are diminished for U.S. defense forces, it is important to enhance the combat value of the assets which remain. Important  modernization and upgrades are the essential points. …

Presidential Visit to Australia: A Strategic Opportunity for Darwin and Australia?

12/02/2011
11/16/2011 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake President Obama is focusing on the Pacific this week and he will go to Australia.  The President is scheduled to visit with the Australian Prime Minister, and Darwin, a port city, in the Northern Territories.  Darwin is the home of many things; among…

LM Global Vision Center: A SLD Site Visit

12/02/2011
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 12/02/2011 - Second Line of Defense was recently invited to participate in an open house for Lockheed Martin’s Affordable Innovation Technology Demonstration at the LM Global Vision Center in Arlington, Virginia. The demonstrations from the Lockheed Martin Global Training and…

Extending the Honeycomb: Transformation Re-visited

11/10/2011
11/10/2011 By Michael Wynne If one recalls the history of the transformation movement, it became embraced by then candidate Bush in his speech at the Citadel and then he followed through on the speech as president. The calls for a revolution in military affairs now became defense transformation. In all…