2014-03-22 During a visit to PACAF, Second Line of Defense had a chance to sit down and talk with Navy Captain Pat Connelly. Captain Connelly is currently the liaison from PACFLT to PACAF. This puts him in an interesting spot to live through some of the major changes occurring with…
2014-03-21 Recently, the Williams Foundation in Australia held a seminar in Canberra on the future of air combat. In particular, the seminar focused on the impact of fifth generation technologies and was built around a central set of presentations by operators of the impact of fifth generation aircraft on the evolution…
2014-03-21 by Robbin Laird After The Williams Foundation seminar, I sat down to discuss with one of the organizers of the seminar, Vice Air Marshall (Retired) John Blackburn his take on the questions, which posed to the seminar and how he thought those answers, were generated. The core questions, which…
2014-03-21 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Hawaii I had a chance to talk with senior PACAF staff working in the exercise and international affairs arenas. The command is in a good position as they’ve focused on working out approaches in the disposition of forces, and shaping effective working…
2014-03-21 During the visit of the Second Line of Defense team to New River on February 10, 2014, we had a chance to sit down with Lt. Col. Spaid to discuss his experience with the Osprey, the MEU, and the way ahead. Lt. Col. Spaid is taking over at the…
2014-03-19 By Robbin Laird Harald Malmgren has recently underscored that any focus on the Crimea without looking at the global context makes no strategic sense. And indeed, the day to day focus on events the days before is exactly what leads to missing the context of what the Crimean dynamic…
2014-03-18 During a visit to PACAF at the end of February, Second Line of Defense had a chance to talk with General Hawk Carlisle and members of the PACAF staff about the evolving approach to the Pacific Area of Operations. Lift and tanking assets are key elements of the flying…
2014-03-18 By Ed Timperlake A recent news event triggered some thinking about the challenges of working within constrained waters. The news event was that the USS Tuxtun was crossing the Dardanelles en route to the Black Sea. According to a Russian news source (with a video contained within of the…
