You know it’s bad when the President’s own national security adviser calls the Secretary of Defense over for a meeting at the White House to explain exactly how the administration is “pivoting” to Asia yet shrinking the Navy and the Air Force. But that’s what happened earlier this year. It is no surprise given the… Keep reading →

Should the U.S. military focus on China as its potential enemy number one? That argument that erupted on the first day of the Marine Corps’ annual wargame, Expeditionary Warrior 2012. At a panel to prep wargame participants – not just Marines but military officers and civilians from 15 countries – experts ran through an alarming… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has started to caveat its grand strategic mantra of a “pivot to Asia” – i.e. shifting from the land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to preparing for “AirSea Battle” against China. In the Defense Budget Priorities released yesterday and, most critically, in Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s press conference explaining them, the emphasis… Keep reading →

The two congressional defense policy committees may not have a clear path to avoid a punishing sequestration of defense funds — that big fat $600 billion cut triggered by the failure of the Supercommittee — but they do have a plan to get their work done early so they can do what really counts on… Keep reading →

The U.S. Army has always struggled with what the elder George Bush once called “the vision thing.” Now that struggle is boiling over. At the latest of a series of conferences on the future of the Army, junior officers openly debated with top generals over how to sell the service to the Congress, the country,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: As the Pentagon continues to build up its AirSea Battle strategy, the Marine Corps is working hard to make sure they are not left out of that plan. The amphibious capabilities the Marines bring “can’t be left out” of the ongoing AirSea battle debate, Lt. Gen Richard Mills, commander of Marine Corps Combat Development… Keep reading →

With budgets falling and China rising, the U.S. Army wants in on the one theater where President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have promised to keep investing: the Pacific. The world’s largest ocean is not an obvious fit for America’s land forces. So far, it is the Air Force and the Navy that have… Keep reading →

Pentagon: If you ever wanted to be left nonplussed, you would have been well advised to attend the press conference about Air-Sea Battle. We were told yesterday afternoon by three clearly intelligent defense officials that their new office — staffed by 15 people — would be a “focusing lens” for the services. Exactly what they… Keep reading →