Neal Rauhauser: US Aircraft Carriers — Way Too Many, Irresponsibly Drawing Resources Away from a Long-Haul Air Force and an Air-Mobile Army

Global Aircraft Carrier Infographic Some weeks ago I wrote Carriers Of The Pacific, a comparison of the U.S. fleet vs. other countries, prompted by the U.S. “pivot to the east”. One Chart Shows The Magnitude Of U.S. Naval Dominance provides an infographic that makes things crystal clear. Two thirds of all carriers belong to the U.S. …

Marcus Aurelius: Pentagon Fiscal Chief “Nervous” + DoD Transformation RECAP

Pentagon fiscal chief Robert Hale: ‘I am nervous’ “Frankly, I am nervous,” says Robert Hale, the Pentagon’s comptroller. And with reason. A month and half into the new fiscal year, Congress can’t seem to decide between what are three, wildly different scenarios for Hale’s world in 2014. The House endorsed most of President Barack Obama’s …

Marcus Aurelius: Five Takeaways from a Decade of War [Defense One] Plus Blistering Alternative View from Phi Beta Iota Editors

Five Takeaways from a Decade of War Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in a keynote address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this week, signaled to military commanders that they should assume the across-the-board, automatic spending cuts imposed by sequester over the next decade will remain in place indefinitely. “We do not have …

Del Spurlock: Call to Arms — The People’s Army

The Objective force is one which maximizes the SECURITY of the American people. The American Security regime is a con and has been since Korea. All players–including Zion and Saud–have an interest in maximizing the INsecurity of the American people. DHS was the last imperial structure to be put in place. PRISM,et.al. was designed and …

Patrick Meier: Social Media, Disaster Response, and the Streetlight Effect

Social Media, Disaster Response and the Streetlight Effect Posted on November 7, 2013 | 2 Comments A police officer sees a man searching for his coin under a streetlight. After helping for several minutes, the exasperated officer asks if the man is sure that he lost his coin there. The man says “No, I lost them …

Patrick Meier: Mining Mainstream Media for Emergency Management 2.0

Mining Mainstream Media for Emergency Management 2.0 by Patrick Meier There is so much attention (and hype) around the use of social media for emergency management (SMEM) that we often forget about mainstream media when it comes to next generation humanitarian technologies. The news media across the globe has become increasingly digital in recent years—and thus analyzable …

Marcus Aurelius: Can Military Learn From Its Mistakes?

1.  Ricks fails to understand that military strategy and policy do not exist in a vacuum.  The White House and Congress both have votes that can be decisive.  Shinseki and Franks were closer to right w/r/t force requirements for Iraq than was Rumsfeld.  Further, Jerry Bremer unbelievably complicated Iraq by de-Baathification and dissolutionn of the …