The Impact of the Osprey On Con-Ops: The Challenge of Disaggregated Operations

09/09/2012
2012-09-09 In a wide-ranging discussion with Lt. Col. Thomas “Ryder” Mitalski, Commanding Officer of VMM-263, we discussed the impact of the Osprey on the reshaping of USN-USMC operations.  And we discussed as well the challenges of such change in con-ops upon the fleet and operational approaches. Lt. Col. Mitalski is an…

The Coming of the AMERICA Class Warship to the USN-USMC Blue-Green Team

09/07/2012
2012-09-07 By Robbin Laird When Ed Timperlake and I were commenting on the CNO’s recent piece in the USN Institute Proceedings on platforms and payloads, we underscored how some of the new assets fit into the CNO’s approach. The CNO's approach is reinforced by the kinds of platforms starting to come…

An Australian Perspective on the Way Ahead for a Pacific Strategy

09/06/2012
2012-09-06 In a wide-ranging discussion with Air Vice-Marshal (Ret.) John Blackburn, now the Chairman of the influential Australian think tank, the Kokoda Foundation, the key challenges and contributions, which Australia can bring to an evolving Pacific challenge, were highlighted. John Blackburn Biography A key opportunity for getting it right is…

Evolving the Life Support System for the F-35

09/06/2012
By Robbin Laird During my visit to the 33rd Fighter Wing, I had a chance to talk with a couple of the folks involved in shaping the evolution of the life support system. Sargent Baskin and Sargent Velasquez discussed with me the challenge of evolving from the legacy to the…

Iraq and the Syrian Civil War

09/05/2012
2012-09-05 By Richard Weitz Despite the widespread civil disorders that began in Syria in March 2011, the Iraqi government has pressed on with its policy of rapprochement with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Maliki initially refrained from taking a position on the violence in Syria, saying only that Iraqis want…

Spain’s Capital Flight Is Now Bigger Than Asian Financial Crisis

09/05/2012
By D.K. Matai Spain is emerging as the center of the battlefield for the survival of the Eurozone as the probability for further fragmentation and exits increases dramatically. The flight of capital from Spain is now bigger than what Indonesia, one of the hardest hit countries during the Asian financial…