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,…
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…
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…
12/21/2011 - Secretary Wynne was a key policy player fostering the Rover revolution. Rover as we discuss in a companion piece is part of a cultural revolution whereby the ground and air forces can operate differently than ever before. First, the downlink of video to the ground and the audio…
[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…
11/01/2011 The F-35 is the first significant build of new tactical aircraft in a long time. Correlated with the build is shaping a new infrastructure to support the new fleet. In many cases, the older infrastructure is outdated in and of itself and the new aircraft accompanies needed upgrades to…
09/30/2011 We have done several interviews and notes on the arrival of the F-35s at Eglin. With the arrival of the new aircraft, which are production, not test aircraft at Eglin, a new era has begun. The update from the Deputy Wing Commander on July 17 2011: AF9 arrived yesterday…
