“We’ve got to wrestle with ship mix and their capacity; there’s a balancing act.” 

Concerns over a new Okinawa airfield, and how to get Marines across vast swaths of ocean, are complicating American plans to spread forces across the Pacific.

The Navy has created a new fleet, and is sending it straight into the Baltic Sea to test new ways of doing business.

The pivot to the Pacific started more than a century ago. The United States first became a Pacific power in 1898, the year the US first annexed Hawaii and then gained Guam and the Philippines (as well as Puerto Rico) from Spain after a “short, victorious war.” The United States is at a turning point… Keep reading →

After repeated delays, an industry team led by Textron Inc. has won a $212.7 million contract for the next-generation hovercraft transport to carry Marine forces from ship to shore, the Navy announced at 5:01 today. The blandly named “Ship to Shore Connector” (SSC) will replace the aging Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), also built by… Keep reading →

Libyan rebels, Somali pirates, Osprey tiltrotors, and a long, long time at sea: The future of the Marine Corps post-Afghanistan can be seen in what you might call “Yoda and Bart’s Great Adventure,” an extraordinary ocean journey that began a year ago Friday. This Yoda and Bart aren’t fictional characters, but the radio call signs… Keep reading →