Jonathan Rue applauds Andrew Tilghman’s attempt to cast a critical eye on DoD leaders’ claims about “unsustainable personnel costs,” but says the article has several major flaws. (War On The Rocks)
On the subject of begging to differ, Thomas F. Lynch III disagrees with Adam Elkus’ recent characterization of al-Qaeda: “…it is more logical to conclude that it is the loosely coupled affiliations of ideologically similar, but objectively dissimilar, Salafi-jihadist regional groups that project the hologram of systematic control, not the group known as al-Qaeda that was self-chartered to make the whole of that movement far greater than the sum of its parts.” (War On The Rocks)
Paul McLeary, on the Army’s tough choices: At the annual senior-leader seminar, the brass “called for a look at cutting the size of the squad from nine soldiers to as low as six, while reminding subordinates that the service is shrinking and likely won’t be able to afford new leap-ahead technologies in the near future. And briefing slides referenced vehicles half the weight of the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV)…” (Defense News)
See also: Thom Shanker profiles the “Man Behind the MRAP,” Ash Carter, the DoD’s outgoing acquisition chief. (New York Times)
Warlord’s Quote
“Get the hell off the beach. Get up and get moving. Follow me.” — Gen. Willston B. Palmer
Contributed by Col. (ret.) Larry Reiman, a Special Forces, Military Intelligence, and Foreign Area Service Officer who was the Army’s longest serving director of Foreign Liaison. From a list compiled by the Warlord Loop, a private email forum for national security experts.
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