PAST ISSUES
September 2008
Operational reserve
America’s all-volunteer force is a precious, and heavily worked, asset. The challenge lies in how to preserve it through long conflicts. Part of the answer lies in a blended active and reserve force.
Operational reserve
America’s all-volunteer force is a precious, and heavily worked, asset. The challenge lies in how to preserve it through long conflicts. Part of the answer lies in a blended active and reserve force.
August 2008
Read different
Since the early 1990s, the defense industry has been talking about the revolutionary technological changes taking place across society. It has worked hard to ensure we know what those changes are and how they are affecting national security. Yet, the industry rarely talks about the fundamental requirement to change the way we think in order to understand the implications of the technological and social changes we face.
Read different
Since the early 1990s, the defense industry has been talking about the revolutionary technological changes taking place across society. It has worked hard to ensure we know what those changes are and how they are affecting national security. Yet, the industry rarely talks about the fundamental requirement to change the way we think in order to understand the implications of the technological and social changes we face.
June 2008
Cause for relief
We are now more than six years into a war that spans the globe. American forces are engaged on the land, from the sea and from the air, around the planet. More than 1.6 million service members have deployed into the Central Command area of responsibility, and perhaps 35 percent of them have been there more than once.
Cause for relief
We are now more than six years into a war that spans the globe. American forces are engaged on the land, from the sea and from the air, around the planet. More than 1.6 million service members have deployed into the Central Command area of responsibility, and perhaps 35 percent of them have been there more than once.
May 2008
The fuel gauge of national security
Military doctrine favors the indirect and unexpected path to decisive results, hence the prevalence of the flanking maneuver. As we are reminded nearly daily, the seemingly intractable problem of U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a pre-eminent national security threat and should warrant such a tangential military solution. Just as the military provides for the common defense, it is incumbent on Pentagon leadership to...
The fuel gauge of national security
Military doctrine favors the indirect and unexpected path to decisive results, hence the prevalence of the flanking maneuver. As we are reminded nearly daily, the seemingly intractable problem of U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a pre-eminent national security threat and should warrant such a tangential military solution. Just as the military provides for the common defense, it is incumbent on Pentagon leadership to...
April 2008
Contending with CHINA
The Defense Department’s new China Military Power Report, released in March, portrays China as a rising military power, but one whose intentions are unclear. Uncertainty over China’s future course and how that military power might be used is driving the U.S. to hedge against the unknown.
Contending with CHINA
The Defense Department’s new China Military Power Report, released in March, portrays China as a rising military power, but one whose intentions are unclear. Uncertainty over China’s future course and how that military power might be used is driving the U.S. to hedge against the unknown.
February 2008
The Air Force we want
In August, the Air Force issued a new doctrinal publication, Irregular Warfare. Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley said in his foreword to the document that air power produces asymmetric advantages which could be used in virtually every aspect of irregular warfare and the Air Force must articulate those capabilities.
The Air Force we want
In August, the Air Force issued a new doctrinal publication, Irregular Warfare. Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley said in his foreword to the document that air power produces asymmetric advantages which could be used in virtually every aspect of irregular warfare and the Air Force must articulate those capabilities.
November 2007
Robots on the battlefield
In Afghanistan and Iraq, “battle bots” are spying, patrolling, securing and even “dying” in combat. Soldiers give their scout robots names, honorary “promotions” and “Purple Hearts.”
Robots on the battlefield
In Afghanistan and Iraq, “battle bots” are spying, patrolling, securing and even “dying” in combat. Soldiers give their scout robots names, honorary “promotions” and “Purple Hearts.”
October 2007
The Army after Bush
George W. Bush’s 2000 election campaign promise to the military was “help is on the way.” But a prickly White House-Pentagon relationship and a war in which the civilian leadership too often has meddled with war-fighting opera¬tions has injured the promise. For the 44th president, there is the challenge of restoring the civil-military balance, invigorating a force brought perilously close to...
The Army after Bush
George W. Bush’s 2000 election campaign promise to the military was “help is on the way.” But a prickly White House-Pentagon relationship and a war in which the civilian leadership too often has meddled with war-fighting opera¬tions has injured the promise. For the 44th president, there is the challenge of restoring the civil-military balance, invigorating a force brought perilously close to...
September 2007
Two decades of decay
The Air Force begins its sixth decade in circumstances that aviators elsewhere might consider enviable: unrivaled for global air dominance. But that is not the way Air Force leaders view their situation. They see a decrepit air fleet in which the average aircraft is older than the average Navy warship and which is rapidly approaching a breaking point as a result of continuous use in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Two decades of decay
The Air Force begins its sixth decade in circumstances that aviators elsewhere might consider enviable: unrivaled for global air dominance. But that is not the way Air Force leaders view their situation. They see a decrepit air fleet in which the average aircraft is older than the average Navy warship and which is rapidly approaching a breaking point as a result of continuous use in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
August 2007
America’s security puzzle
Is America safer today than it was on Sept. 10, 2001? Is there a grand security strategy? To better understand these questions, AFJ assembled a round table of analysts from across the political spectrum. Richard Danzig, a Navy secretary in the Clinton administration, gives low marks to Bush-era security thinking, concluding it has made us less safe today. Johns Hopkins professor Francis Fukuyama criticizes overreactions...
America’s security puzzle
Is America safer today than it was on Sept. 10, 2001? Is there a grand security strategy? To better understand these questions, AFJ assembled a round table of analysts from across the political spectrum. Richard Danzig, a Navy secretary in the Clinton administration, gives low marks to Bush-era security thinking, concluding it has made us less safe today. Johns Hopkins professor Francis Fukuyama criticizes overreactions...
July 2007
The digital battlefield
The ever-growing access to information up and down the chain of command is changing leadership models. If information means power, then the soldier has never been more empowered. On the other hand, the digital battleground gives commanders huge scope to micromanage from afar with the tactics of the soldier, sailor or airman.
The digital battlefield
The ever-growing access to information up and down the chain of command is changing leadership models. If information means power, then the soldier has never been more empowered. On the other hand, the digital battleground gives commanders huge scope to micromanage from afar with the tactics of the soldier, sailor or airman.
June 2007
Shootdown solution
Helicopter pilots flying in the lethal environment of Iraq are faced with a dilemma — one that may prevent them from seeing the world as it is and instead lead them to see it as they’ve been told it would be.
Shootdown solution
Helicopter pilots flying in the lethal environment of Iraq are faced with a dilemma — one that may prevent them from seeing the world as it is and instead lead them to see it as they’ve been told it would be.
May 2007
Our cover story
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being part of the team that created the “new AFJ” is seeing the ever-growing and enthusiastic response to the mission we set: to make this a journal for discussion and debate on the great issues of war and military operations shaping our forces.
Our cover story
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being part of the team that created the “new AFJ” is seeing the ever-growing and enthusiastic response to the mission we set: to make this a journal for discussion and debate on the great issues of war and military operations shaping our forces.
April 2007
Sea Power
As the Navy fine-tunes its new maritime strategy, scheduled for public release this summer, the temptation is to make Sea Power 21 its foundation. But Naval War College professor Milan Vego shows why Sea Power 21 is a tactical tome, not a strategic vision. He offers instead a guide for Navy strategic thinking that would lead to total sea control.
Sea Power
As the Navy fine-tunes its new maritime strategy, scheduled for public release this summer, the temptation is to make Sea Power 21 its foundation. But Naval War College professor Milan Vego shows why Sea Power 21 is a tactical tome, not a strategic vision. He offers instead a guide for Navy strategic thinking that would lead to total sea control.
March 2007
Growing the Army
Administration proposals for end-strength increases for the Army and Marine Corps were welcome, if overdue, news for a force that is at its smallest size since the mid-1990s and that is fighting a two-front war.
Growing the Army
Administration proposals for end-strength increases for the Army and Marine Corps were welcome, if overdue, news for a force that is at its smallest size since the mid-1990s and that is fighting a two-front war.
February 2007
New strategic partners
The Bush administration’s 2004 Global Posture Review was primarily about reshaping America’s global military footprint for easier deployment in the changed geopolitical environment.
New strategic partners
The Bush administration’s 2004 Global Posture Review was primarily about reshaping America’s global military footprint for easier deployment in the changed geopolitical environment.
January 2007
Big nations, small wars
Pitch large, powerful armies against substantially smaller, weaker enemies and the result can be the David vs. Goliath effect.
Big nations, small wars
Pitch large, powerful armies against substantially smaller, weaker enemies and the result can be the David vs. Goliath effect.
November 2006
Afghanistan: What Next?
Afghanistan’s winter of discontent will throw NATO daunting challenges that extend far beyond skirmishes with the Taliban. In their thoughtful essay, Greg Mills and Terence McNamee conclude that answering the thorny question of “what to do?” in Afghanistan means tackling the challenges of nation-building head-on. For NATO, this may be a mission too far, but it’s critical nonetheless. Max Boot,...
Afghanistan: What Next?
Afghanistan’s winter of discontent will throw NATO daunting challenges that extend far beyond skirmishes with the Taliban. In their thoughtful essay, Greg Mills and Terence McNamee conclude that answering the thorny question of “what to do?” in Afghanistan means tackling the challenges of nation-building head-on. For NATO, this may be a mission too far, but it’s critical nonetheless. Max Boot,...
October 2006
The spec ops stretch
The impending expansion of Army special operations forces laid out in this year’s Quadrennial Defense Review is spreading waves of unease throughout the Special Forces community.
The spec ops stretch
The impending expansion of Army special operations forces laid out in this year’s Quadrennial Defense Review is spreading waves of unease throughout the Special Forces community.
September 2006
Air power
It is a quintessentially American way of war. Over the past decade, new technologies have seemed to further fulfill the visions of air power theorists. Yet, new adversaries have adapted. As Lt. Col. Brian Newberry writes, the service must face up to the realities of urban warfare. Loren Thompson argues that the Air Force is increasingly ill-equipped to project power at long range. Nonetheless, says Air Force Maj....
Air power
It is a quintessentially American way of war. Over the past decade, new technologies have seemed to further fulfill the visions of air power theorists. Yet, new adversaries have adapted. As Lt. Col. Brian Newberry writes, the service must face up to the realities of urban warfare. Loren Thompson argues that the Air Force is increasingly ill-equipped to project power at long range. Nonetheless, says Air Force Maj....
August 2006
America’s adventure
The struggle for Iraq is, even as the fighting continues, a struggle to shape history; how Iraq is understood and remembered may be as strategically important as any other facet of the war. The pen surely can be mightier than the sword.
America’s adventure
The struggle for Iraq is, even as the fighting continues, a struggle to shape history; how Iraq is understood and remembered may be as strategically important as any other facet of the war. The pen surely can be mightier than the sword.
July 2006
Clausewitz: Right or wrong?
It’s not an entirely egregious bit of hyperbole to say that, since the publication of Vom Kriege in 1832, all writings on the way of war have been nothing more than commentaries on Clausewitz. But it is astonishing that a single soldier’s writings — a model of both clear Kantian logic but also convoluted Kantian prose — should remain so influential for so long.
Clausewitz: Right or wrong?
It’s not an entirely egregious bit of hyperbole to say that, since the publication of Vom Kriege in 1832, all writings on the way of war have been nothing more than commentaries on Clausewitz. But it is astonishing that a single soldier’s writings — a model of both clear Kantian logic but also convoluted Kantian prose — should remain so influential for so long.
June 2006
Rummy & his generals
In early April, a number of retired U.S. general officers stepped forward to call for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Although the immediate bone of contention was the war in Iraq, the controversy revealed a level of anger and mistrust of the Pentagon’s civilian leadership that has been simmering for some time.
Rummy & his generals
In early April, a number of retired U.S. general officers stepped forward to call for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Although the immediate bone of contention was the war in Iraq, the controversy revealed a level of anger and mistrust of the Pentagon’s civilian leadership that has been simmering for some time.
April 2006
Who is Steve Cambone?
On a Tuesday afternoon in January, Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, sat in his spacious but Spartan E-ring office in the Pentagon, contemplating very carefully his answer to my question: Is it true he drives a beat-up car?
Who is Steve Cambone?
On a Tuesday afternoon in January, Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, sat in his spacious but Spartan E-ring office in the Pentagon, contemplating very carefully his answer to my question: Is it true he drives a beat-up car?
March 2006
Beyond the 3-block war
Traditional amphibious warfare remains the focus of Marine Corps planning and drives its spending priorities. But the service is more likely to engage in stability operations, says Max Boot, and should re-embrace its role as an imperial constabulary. Frank Hoffman cautions, however, against choosing between bi- and small-war strategies. Future conflicts will be hybrid wars.
Beyond the 3-block war
Traditional amphibious warfare remains the focus of Marine Corps planning and drives its spending priorities. But the service is more likely to engage in stability operations, says Max Boot, and should re-embrace its role as an imperial constabulary. Frank Hoffman cautions, however, against choosing between bi- and small-war strategies. Future conflicts will be hybrid wars.
February 2006
What the QDR should say
The report summarizing the work of the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review will be sent to Congress on Feb. 6. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort contributing to this process over the past year, and although I can’t leak what’s in the report — I write before the release date — I can suggest what I thought the report should say, based on the underlying strategic logic. In other words,...
What the QDR should say
The report summarizing the work of the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review will be sent to Congress on Feb. 6. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort contributing to this process over the past year, and although I can’t leak what’s in the report — I write before the release date — I can suggest what I thought the report should say, based on the underlying strategic logic. In other words,...
January 2006
Tipping period
American soldiers and strategists in the Vietnam War were forever in search of a “tipping point” that would tilt the balance of forces in Southeast Asia away from the North Vietnamese communists and toward the United States and its South Vietnamese allies. As it happened, and as Vietnam is remembered and mythologized, it was the Tet offensive of 1968 that appeared as a tipping point, but a tipping point that...
Tipping period
American soldiers and strategists in the Vietnam War were forever in search of a “tipping point” that would tilt the balance of forces in Southeast Asia away from the North Vietnamese communists and toward the United States and its South Vietnamese allies. As it happened, and as Vietnam is remembered and mythologized, it was the Tet offensive of 1968 that appeared as a tipping point, but a tipping point that...
December 2005
The sun also rises
Until recently, the U.S.-Japan alliance has been little more than a Cold War relic. The main issue of discussion — other than economic and trade — has been how rapidly and completely the Marines would withdraw from Okinawa.
The sun also rises
Until recently, the U.S.-Japan alliance has been little more than a Cold War relic. The main issue of discussion — other than economic and trade — has been how rapidly and completely the Marines would withdraw from Okinawa.
November 2005
The War We’re Winning
Even the New York Times, no friend to the Bush administration, has noticed “the Afghan difference.” After the recent legislative elections, the Times editorialists allowed that “no one can fail to see the many signs of progress there.” They concluded that Afghanistan “is one American-led intervention that could wind up actually making people’s lives better.”
The War We’re Winning
Even the New York Times, no friend to the Bush administration, has noticed “the Afghan difference.” After the recent legislative elections, the Times editorialists allowed that “no one can fail to see the many signs of progress there.” They concluded that Afghanistan “is one American-led intervention that could wind up actually making people’s lives better.”
JOIN THE DEBATE
Take part in discussions about the articles in the current issue of Armed Forces Journal, or other defense-related topics, in AFJ Forums.
Destroyer flip-flop
Posted 9/2/2008 by Administrator
Posted 9/2/2008 by Administrator
Audacious blueprint
Posted 9/2/2008 by Administrator
Posted 9/2/2008 by Administrator