Penguin: Doug Macgregor on Army Headed for Collapse — and How to Fix It

A sharper spear (good) pointed nowhere (bad). Our Army’s Headed for Collapse Here’s how to fix it. By DOUGLAS MACGREGOR Politico, June 02, 2014 Today, the Army of 550,000 has 11 active-duty four stars, each of which comes with massive amounts of overhead. This makes no sense. If the Army were a rowboat with nine …

Winslow Wheeler: Buck McKeon Sells Out the Troops and the A-10 — C/HASC Rolls Big Bucks Against Little People

Supporters of the A-10 “Warthog” close air support aircraft in Washington and US combat Soldiers and Marines who have seen, and are seeing, combat in Afghanistan were stunned Monday to read about a decision of the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA).  He is joining with the Air Force and …

Berto Jongman: Opportunity Cost of Peace $9.46 Trillion in 2012 –11% of Gross World Product Lost to War

How Much Is Peace Actually Worth? According to an emerging branch of economics, approximately $9.46 trillion. Talia Hagerty Pacific Standard, 22 April 2014 EXTRACT The most recent study published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) found that violence cost the world $9.46 trillion in 2012 alone. That’s 11 percent of gross world product. …

Marcus Aurelius: Ground Truth from an “Average” Lieutenant in Afghanistan

Below is one of the better pieces of its type that I’ve read.  While it refers several times to USMA, the majority of it is, IMHO, applicable to new officers from all commissioning sources. I think the most important point author makes comes at the end where he emphasizes the reality of a platoon leader’s …

Richard Clarke: 10 Observations on US Intelligence Gathering – Robert Steele on What Clarke Does Not Mention

Richard Clarke at RSA Conference: 10 Observations on US Intelligence Gathering A veteran counter-terrorism advisor and Presidential Review Group member on Intelligence gives his executive summary I’m in San Francisco this week to attend the RSA security conference, and to cover the Cloud Security Alliance summit for security professionals. The CSA is a terrific organization, …

Event: 1 Mar 14 Registration Closes 7 Mar 14 Amsterdam ‘Social Media Intelligence (SocMint): Intelligent? No Borders? The Egg of Columbus? Raising Expectations? Risks, Challenges and Opportunities?’

‘Social Media Intelligence (SocMint): Intelligent? No Borders? The Egg of Columbus? Raising Expectations? Risks, Challenges and Opportunities?’ Netherlands Intelligence Studies Association (NISA) Stichting Inlichtingenstudies Nederland http://www.nisa‐intelligence.nl/ Conference organised by the Netherlands Intelligence Studies Association on 7 March 2014 at the Royal Netherlands Navy Barracks Kattenburgerstraat 7 te 1000 BA Amsterdam. Note: at the entrance identification …

Graphic: SOF Global Legend Added + White SOF RECAP

Key to the Map of US Special Operations Forces around the world, 2012-2013 Red: Special Ops Forces deployed in 2013 Blue: Special Ops Forces working with/training/advising/conducting operations with indigenous troops in the US or a third country during 2013. Purple: Special Ops Forces deployed in 2012 Yellow: Special Operations Forces working with/training/advising/conducting operations with indigenous …