09/22/2011 - During our annual visit to New River to get caught up on Osprey developments, Second Line of Defense sat down with Lt. Col. Boniface who was the XO for the Aviation Combat Element (ACE) for the 26th MEU. We have published recently an interview with Col. Desens, the…
An Interview With Colonel Mark Desens, Commander of the 26th MEU 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. Earlier we had discussed, with Col. “Ozzie” Osborn, the 15th MEU, the evolution…
08/27/2011 By Richard Weitz Although the insurgents look to have secured control of Tripoli, Muammar el-Qaddafi’s threat to the international community has not ended. Dangers still persist from the dictator’s dabbling in weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that the…
[caption id="attachment_23125" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Italian Carrier Guiseppe Garibaldi Credit: Italian Navy[/caption] 08/27/2011 The Libyan operation has highlighted the use of maritime bases for conducting air operations. In a recent interview with Col. Mark Desens, the Commanding officer of 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit involved in the initial Libyan operations, the…
08/17/2011 by Ed Timperlake Ejecting out of a fireball from a two engine fire in my Navy jet below 500 feet at night showed me the difficulty of extracting a pilot surround by fire on the ground for a Search and Rescue Helo team. The weight of the seat pan…
07/03/2011: During the Paris Air Show, MBDA provided a venue for a presentation by RAF Tornado pilots on their operations in the Libyan theater. Two RAF pilots presented findings on the Tornado and use of precision weapons in the Libyan case. Both were from 9 Squadron: RAF Marham. The first…
Preliminary Lessons Learned By General Jean-Patrick Gaviard Photo Credit: Libya: Operation Harmattan, EMA / Armée de l’Air – Marine Nationale, March 2011 04/20/2011 - In the aftermath of several weeks of bombings above Libya, it might be of interest to attempt to decrypt two key events which happened as this…
How Amphibious Forces Create Strategic Options By Vince Martinez 03/06/2011 - The world is changing. For many who have studied the subject over the last decade, the Arc of Instability is coming to fruition. Old powers are beginning to falter under the pressures of collapsing economies, the lack of resources,…
