Washington: The Marine Corps does not know how it will replace ground equipment worn out by over a decade of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, or how much it will cost, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. The service has a plan to replace its fighters and helicopters lost in battle, but “a… Keep reading →

Washington: For the first time, the Navy’s MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter is heading to a foreign military. The two helos delivered to the Thai navy today will give those forces the same combat search and rescue to troop transport capabilities as their U.S. Navy counterparts, said Michael Sears, the Navy’s international deputy program manager for the… Keep reading →

Washington: Iraqi hand wringing on whether to keep American troops in country could force U.S. military commanders to take on the difficult task of readjusting the massive wave of men and materiel currently flowing out of Iraq. American forces have already “stepped over” nearly 60 percent of DOD weapons and equipment to Iraqi security forces,… Keep reading →

Washington: The rules have changed for the hired guns who work on the Defense Department’s payroll. The rules governing private security contracting firms working in war zones will now cover contractors working in all U.S.-led missions overseas, including humanitarian, peacekeeping or “other military operations” where DoD has boots on the ground, according to an Aug.… Keep reading →

Washington: American troops are preparing to leaving Iraq by the end of this year, and military officials worry that Iran will get credit for that withdrawal, Gen. Martin Dempsey told lawmakers. Dempsey, the White House’s pick to replace Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Tehran is… Keep reading →

John Kenneth Galbraith, the noted economist, presidential advisor and ambassador, explored the origins of American financial crises and why many leading personalities in finance and government were unequal to mastering financial disasters they confronted. Large institutions, he found, treasure predictability over all other considerations in picking senior leaders. Their mission is stability, not change. Until… Keep reading →

Washington: With Gen. Martin Dempsey the Pentagon may have gotten just who it wanted for its new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but he may not be the man who is really needed right now. The four-star general is set to go before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning to make his case to… Keep reading →

The U.S. military faces a readiness crisis. A recent Congressional hearing generated headlines about the Navy’s surface fleet falling into disrepair. But that was news four years ago. Across all the services, long-standing readiness problems are worsening; breakdowns are happening more frequently. Several years ago, an Air Force F-15C literally broke in half during flight.… Keep reading →

U.S. troops will start pulling out of Afghanistan this summer. This raises the basic question — is the Afghan military ready to take over and would it survive the departure of much of the U.S. military. The plan is still to end the “combat mission,” whatever that means, in 2014, leaving behind trainers, advisers and… Keep reading →

The Pentagon is set to unveil its new strategy for dealing with cyber attacks. Because the cyber world now touches every aspect of our lives, the debate on what our cyber strategy should be has become one of the most important debates of its kind in our history. We must develop a cyber strategy that… Keep reading →