US Marines Aboard the French Warship FNS Tonnerre

09/05/2011
09/05/2011 A recent French Navy video highlights the USMC landing on a French BPC.  The French and the USN-USMC team demonstrated in the Libyan operations the value of flexible basing, using land and sea to project power.  This is a core lesson learned going forward. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgbspu_us-marines-onboard-fns-tonnerre_news [caption id="attachment_23675" align="aligncenter" width="300"…

Better Homeland Defenses Needed Against EMP Threat

09/04/2011
By Dr. Richard Weitz 09/04/2011 - An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by the rapid acceleration of charged particles. Once the pulse reaches electronic devices, it disables, damages, or destroys them. An electromagnetic bomb (E-bomb), the deliberate creation of EMP for attacking targets, represents…

Remembering the Lessons of Billy Mitchell

09/03/2011
09/03/2011 by Robbin Laird In a recent piece, Ed Timperlake discussed the strategic significance of moving on from older paradigms to ensure US national security.  He argued that One of the great plot devices in suspense and horror movies is the surprise ending, just name the threat; zombies, aliens, vampires…

Killing the Brain Dead Zombies: The “Debate” on F-35 Testing

09/02/2011
09/02/2011 by Ed Timperlake One of the great plot devices in suspense and horror movies is the surprise ending, just name the threat; zombies, aliens, vampires or the bunny boiling Glenn Close, whatever the threat is, it comes back to attack after being vanquished. Sadly it is over used and…

The F-35, Eglin and the Maintenance Revolution

09/01/2011
09/01/2011 by Robbin Laird Second Line of Defense sat down with Col. Laura Sampsel shortly after her departure from Eglin and retirement from the USMC. During her time at Eglin, Col. Laura Sampsel, 33rd Maintenance Group commander, was responsible for the bed-down and operational readiness of the three variants of the Joint…