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Asian bases save the day | Haqqani shooting reverberates | Iran playing us?

It’s no secret that Asian nations often have mixed feelings — and that’s putting it kindly — about the presence of US military bases on their territory, Dan Lamothe writes. But when …

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Veterans’ Day thoughts

As we remember those who served and continue to serve, let’s think hard about when and why we go to war.…

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1948: Predicting the future of air warfare

In 1948, the USAF was flight-testing Northrop's YB-49, but the head of the company believes guided missiles would reign supreme within a dozen years. (U.S. Air Force photo)

From the archive: November 6, 1948

Editor’s note: Jack Northrop, who had founded his eponymous company in 1939, would go on to purchase an early manufacturer of drones in 1952.

Future Air …

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War with China? | A2/AD In the Pacific | Pentagon Warns the Hill

It’s no secret that US strategy in the Pacific is focused heavily on the possibility of a war with China. While neither country is looking for a fight, Scott Cheney-Peters argues that …

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Cuts Make Military More Strategic? | A Near Casualty of the Shutdown | Mountain Combat

Could defense cuts actually help the US military by improving strategy? Melvyn Leffler argues as much, saying that the cuts are focusing military planners on important strategic decisions and forcing them to …

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Hagel’s plan | UAVs stay with CIA | Building Libya’s military

Yesterday Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel laid out his plan for how to manage the Defense Department through the downturn, including six points largely focused on force sizing and the touchy subject of …

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Letting Afghans make mistakes | Spec Ops plan in doubt | UAV politics in Pakistan

For a time the prevailing logic was to put as many US troops in the field with their Afghan counterparts as possible, like a constant parental presence monitoring for the slightest mistake.  …

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Focusing fuzzy land-warfare visions | Taking an all-volunteer force to war | Luck during wartime

Peter W. Singer says it’s time to start putting shape to the fuzzy visions for America’s land forces, and offers a list of questions to help do it. (Armed Forces Journal)

Maj. …

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1962: Crowing over Cuba

Soviet truck convoy deploying missiles near San Cristobal, Cuba, on Oct. 14, 1962. This image, taken by Maj. Steve Heyser in a USAF U-2, is the first picture that proved Russian missiles were being emplaced in Cuba. (U.S. Air Force photo)

From the archive: November 3, 1962

Editor’s note: Here’s how AFJ reacted to the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, 13 October days when the world lived on a knife’s edge.

The

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‘Get it right quickly’ | What is al Qaeda? | Navy, space leader

Daniel P. Bolger, a retired Army lieutenant general, writes about a military’s duty during times of uncertain peace. “The best the U.S. Army — or any military — can do is try …

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