By Robbin Laird In March 2020, I was visiting Western Australia including HMAS Sterling. I was there to visit the HMAS Rankin, one of the Collins class submarines homeported at HMAS Sterling on Garden Island. When I informed a senior U.S. Navy Admiral that I was going to visit the…
By Robbin Laird At the recent Sir Richard Williams Foundation Seminar held on 30 March 2023, Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, the Deputy Commander Operations, presented a UK perspective of the challenges facing the UK and her allies in the contentious 2020’s. I first met Smyth when he was the head…
With the Australian Army having been heavily invested in the Middle East land wars and working closely with the U.S. Army in those endeavours, what is role in the enhanced emphasis on the direct defense of Australia? Of course, each of the services and the joint force itself is facing…
Description of the concept of Agile Combat Employment using a simulated scenario with illustrative phases. 12.15.2022 Video by James Self Air University Public Affairs
By Robbin Laird At the 30 March 2023 Williams Foundation seminar which focused on the way ahead for deterrence, one of the most significant of the presentations was General Wilsbach, the PACAF commander. He has come to Williams seminars since he was the 11th USAF Commander. And as PACAF Commander,…
By Robbin Laird I have followed the progress of Triton in the coming of the 21st century U.S. Navy kill web enterprise for some time. The first interview I did focusing on Triton was during a 2011 visit to San Diego. In an interview with Commander Johansson, the P-3 commander…
By Robbin Laird Recently I visited NAVAIR at Pax River Naval Air Station and met with the H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters Program Manager (PMA-261), Colonel Kate Fleeger, U.S. Marine Corps. This officer has a very distinguished and interesting background, which intersects well with the coming of the CH-53K to the…
By Robbin Laird In an interview I did earlier this year with Vice Admiral Whitesell, the U.S. Navy air boss, he underscored that the shift to distributed maritime operations was a work in progress. As he noted: “We are in an experimentation phase. We are working force distribution and integration.…
