Archive for June, 2013

To the Air Force for not yet getting it about sexual assault.

It would be easy enough to dock the air service for managing to appoint an officer to run its sexual-assault …

Lessons from the last time a superpower departed

Lt. Col. Shane A. Smith

Is Afghanistan’s government doomed to fall soon after most NATO forces leave in 2014, as many in the government, …

To the Navy for continuing its large-scale international mine countermeasures exercises in the Persian Gulf.

Nearly 40 allied and friendly navies joined U.S. warships in May for the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise, …

Proposed Army cuts go dangerously astray

In recent public remarks at the Brookings Institution and as detailed in their February paper, “National Defense in a Time of Change,” Retired Adm. Gary Roughead, …

I am normally not one to speak up about an article written by a fellow aviator, but felt it necessary in this case. Maj. Lee Robinson’s article, “COIN in the air” [April] …

Why retired officers shouldn’t lend their titles to political causes

On April 8, a letter titled “The Benghazi attacks on 9/11/2012” and signed by “a representative group of some 700 retired Military …

Mixed results will test U.S. policies for years to come

The war on terrorism as we know it is coming to an end. For the United States, the big campaigns in Iraq …

To the X-51A hypersonic vehicle program.

Looks like the fourth time’s the charm. After a trio of attempts at sustained air-breathing hypersonic flight, the DARPA/Air Force Research Lab/Boeing/Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne team …

The idea of merging the uniformed medical corps of the U.S. military’s service branches has come under serious discussion “about every 20 years” since 1880, as Air Force Col. John Kirk wrote …

The Army must commit to proper training and manning

There are several reasons the Army might place particular emphasis on providing useful battlefield intelligence to its aviators.

Helicopters cost a lot to …