By Robbin Laird On 30 April 2025, I had the chance to talk with Major White, the Operations Officer at VMGR-252. This is a KC-130J squadron based at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point and is part of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The last time I visited the…

By Robbin Laird In an increasingly complex and contested battlefield environment, the U.S. Marine Corps is adapting its aviation support strategy to meet emerging challenges. Captain Medlen, an eight-year Marine Corps veteran currently commanding the Engineers Company of Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 272, provided valuable insights into how distributed…

The Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) 2025 Symposium is going on this week from May 12 through the 15h in Dallas Texas. We are publishing a piece highlighting the role of one of the somewhat undervalued aviation capabilities which the Marine Corps operates today, namely the H-1 helicopters. By Allen…

By Robbin Laird V-22 modernization efforts are essential to enable the Osprey to remain in service for the next thirty years. One important ongoing effort is the Nacelle Improvement Program. In an earlier interview with David Albin, the Nacelle Readiness Program Manager at Bell, we discussed the key aspects of…

By Robbin Laird At the recent Navy League meetings held during the first week of April, I had a chance to talk with several companies and analysts about the evolution of maritime capabilities and what the U.S. and allies could do to ramp up the capabilities of the “fight tonight…

By Robbin Laird In my forthcoming book on the paradigm shift in maritime operations, I focus on the importance of pairing distributed capital ship operations with the capabilities that air vehicles and autonomous systems can provide to deliver maritime effects in a contested environment. To achieve competitive overmatch in the…

U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper pilots assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), are seen in the photo slide show below at the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 2-25 at Mesquite, California, April 14, 2025. WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1…

By Robbin Laird Recently the Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command presented testimony before the Congress. In this piece, I will deconstruct that testimony to highlight key elements for shaping a way ahead in the near to mid-term. Not only is this necessary to focus on what the force needs…