Archive for March, 2009

The basic principles of war have not, nor will they ever, change. The reasons we go to war will change, the way we fight will change, the tools we use will change, …

When I taught at the National War College, an exercise required students to develop a national security strategy, then a national military strategy and finally a rough-cut at force-structure recommendations. Because the …

To the Marine Corps, the latest service to perform miserably at managing a complex, multibillion dollar program. The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, or EFV, went back to the drawing board after program costs …

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee in January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pointed out that since the end of World War II, there have been nearly 130 studies on problems …

Your two-part cover story, “Starting over,” [January] was right on target. Phillip S. Meilinger, in his article “New principles for new war,” has done a great job updating the 20th-century principles of …

Killing is a necessary precursor to successful counterinsurgency

The six years of Operation Iraqi Freedom have seen a fundamental shift in how the U.S. military fights. In early 2003, the Rumsfeldian doctrine …