February 2012 Issue
A new principle of war
Reflecting revered assumptions and long-standing paradigms, The Principles of War are a list of tenets enshrined since 1949 in the Army’s Field Manual 3-0 “Operations” and...
By FRANK HOFFMAN
Reflecting revered assumptions and long-standing paradigms, The Principles of War are a list of tenets enshrined since 1949 in the Army’s Field Manual 3-0 “Operations” and...
By FRANK HOFFMAN
In this issue
Students of military affairs have for centuries pondered whether there exist universal principles of war, or whether the uniqueness of each conflict renders such lists irrelevant....
Students of military affairs have for centuries pondered whether there exist universal principles of war, or whether the uniqueness of each conflict renders such lists irrelevant....
Truth, lies and Afghanistan
I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area...
By LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS
I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area...
By LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS
Logistical fratricide
he Air Force has been continuously at war for more than 20 years. From the opening minutes of Desert Storm in 1991 to the present, there has not been a time when the Air Force has not been...
By Col. Michael Pietrucha
he Air Force has been continuously at war for more than 20 years. From the opening minutes of Desert Storm in 1991 to the present, there has not been a time when the Air Force has not been...
By Col. Michael Pietrucha
Don’t waste a drawdown
In 1950, there were 563,000 soldiers on active duty in the U.S. Army — yet, as General of the Army Omar Bradley put it, “It was an Army that could not fight its way out of a...
By DOUGLAS MACGREGOR
In 1950, there were 563,000 soldiers on active duty in the U.S. Army — yet, as General of the Army Omar Bradley put it, “It was an Army that could not fight its way out of a...
By DOUGLAS MACGREGOR
Making tough choices tougher
The U.S. narrowly averted a debt crisis with the passage in August of the Budget Control Act of 2011. The last-minute drama and the wrangling of subsequent months sent the clear message that...
By Mark D. Troutman
The U.S. narrowly averted a debt crisis with the passage in August of the Budget Control Act of 2011. The last-minute drama and the wrangling of subsequent months sent the clear message that...
By Mark D. Troutman
The evolution of the IED
Will the weapon of choice of today’s insurgents also be the weapon of tomorrow? That is the question posed by new data on the proliferation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
By P.W. Singer
Will the weapon of choice of today’s insurgents also be the weapon of tomorrow? That is the question posed by new data on the proliferation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
By P.W. Singer
Send in the reserves
Like the active components of many European militaries, the size and capabilities of reserve forces have plummeted in the past two decades. Many nations’ reserve corps, particularly...
By John L. Clarke
Like the active components of many European militaries, the size and capabilities of reserve forces have plummeted in the past two decades. Many nations’ reserve corps, particularly...
By John L. Clarke
A better way to use red teams
The past decade has seen the concept of the red team gain acceptance as a commander’s tool to anticipate actions by nonblue forces, yet relatively little has been written on how to...
By Alan J. Petersen, malcolm s. burr and william f. mcgovern
The past decade has seen the concept of the red team gain acceptance as a commander’s tool to anticipate actions by nonblue forces, yet relatively little has been written on how to...
By Alan J. Petersen, malcolm s. burr and william f. mcgovern
The price of isolated thinking
“You should be giving us a single, coordinated input.” The senior staffer on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee showed his frustration when he reviewed...
By Kurt R. LaFrance
“You should be giving us a single, coordinated input.” The senior staffer on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee showed his frustration when he reviewed...
By Kurt R. LaFrance
Timely strategy TO DoD LEADERSHIP for rolling out the new military strategy a month before the 2013 budget proposal.
Combat cameras TO THE MARINES CAUGHT ON VIDEO while urinating on the corpses of three Afghan fighters. In dealing a self-inflicted wound to the war effort, the incident once again showed the downside to...