Reflections on the Greatest Generation: Shaping the Future
02/06/2013
Are we living up to the challenge posed by the Greatest Generation?
The Iranian Sanctions Game: A Means or an End?
11/22/2012
Sanctions are tools for pressure; not a guarantee of a desired outcome
The Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and Libya: Shrinking “The Average Commute”
09/13/2011
09/05/2011 - In July 2011, Second Line of Defense sat down with Colonel Mark Desens to discuss the recent deployment of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
General Bansard on the Evolution of Logistics and Sustainment in France (Part One)
02/08/2010
The reform of the French armed forces, which is now taking place is at least as thorough as the professionalization reform initiated in 1996. This reform is twofold as it results from the convergence of two distinct reviews: on the one hand it stems from the White Paper on defense…
Robert Johnson on: Why are there no heavy US Army units in Afghanistan?
01/25/2010
There is a debate simmering “under the radar” between different camps, mostly within the U.S. Army, concerning which is best suited to meet the demands of combat operations in Afghanistan: tracked or wheeled combat vehicles.(...) The debate between Strykers and HBCT vehicles tends to cloud the more relevant and important…
Eglin Air Force Base: Building Synergy for the Future
01/24/2010
Eglin is the home to the Air Armament Center where Major General CR Davis (formerly PEO of the F-35 program) functions as both the AAC Commander as well as the USAF PEO for Weapons. Given the size of the base, and the collocation of all elements of the weapons development…
Crafting Cyber Operations: A Terms of Reference for Facing 21st Century Challenges
01/11/2010
Former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, John Wheeler provides a very helpful overview to a very confusing and conflictual problem: what is the nature of the cyber security challenge and what concepts of operations do the US and allied governments need to shape to effectively meet…
Speaking from Experience: Ken Miller on FFP Contracts
01/09/2010
The Obama Administration seeks to apply firm-fixed price contracting in a number of sectors, including defense. The past is often a good predictor of the future so we may learn valuable lessons from it. As a young government employee working in several program offices in the late 80's I got…