2014-08-08 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird To listen to many of the talking heads after the President’s decision to engage in Iraq, they immediately went to mission creep and ways to avoid the mistakes of the past. Although interesting, except for a Presidential speech and so far a combat…
2014-08-07 By Robbin Laird An insertion force is characterized by strike, defense, lift, tanking and air battle management that can be effectively integrated to get to an objective area, and then to operate over and within until mission success. Sustainable reach is a fundamental operational objective. This means that lift…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird Vladimir Putin has returned Russia to the world stage in rather dramatic fashion. The seizure of Crimea from Ukraine is the most obvious statement of Russian power, yet this seizure could obscure the broader strategy and focus of attention. Putin is really an energy czar, running…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Iraq 2014 is not Iraq 2003. Following the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the US started on the path of the reconstruction of the country. A key approach followed, notably in the surge and thereafter, a counter-insurgency or COIN…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Major Greenwood is one of the two MAWTS-1 officers involved with the F-35 and standing up the initial division within MAWTS to develop tactics and implement training for the new platform in order to integrate it into the MAGTF. The other is Major…
2014-08-04 Some years ago, the former head of the F-35 program and then director of the USAF Air Armaments Center at Eglin Air Force Base, General “CR” Davis highlighted the importance of new weaponry. In this case he focused on a legacy weapon, the AMRAAM. Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, director…
2014-08-08 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird We have focused from the outset on the maintainability of the F-35 and the roll out of real world experience in shaping the maintenance regime. We argued earlier that letting the operators shape the operational path for the F-35 makes a lot of…
2014-08-04 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird During our recent visit to Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, we talked with officers from both the VFMA-121 Squadron and MAWTS-1. VFM-121 brought us up to speed on the rollout of the F-35B to IOC next year; MAWTS-1 provided us a perspective on…
