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DeM Banter: Maybe after we get the F-35, the KC-46, the next gen bomber, the space fence back up, fix out nuclear problem, etc.... Omaha World-Herald August 13, 2013 Pg. 1 But budget hawks could shoot down next-generation spy plane Nearly 50 years after its first flight — and 15 years after its last — …
Continue reading "A New Blackbird For Air Force? By Steve Liewer"
It's been about three months now that I have been pondering the concept of Heroic Engagement. If we (as leaders) heroically engage high potential individuals, we can advance and develop leadership and eventually improve the world. We exist in an age that is very familiar with what has been deemed a crisis in leadership. What …
DeM Banter: One thing we are hearing from DC is that recruitment and retention are fine for the US Armed Forces--I am sure the Brits thought the same thing. If we continue down the line of cutting equipment, benefits, and funding for the US DoD...I wonder what we will look like in the coming years. …
Continue reading "Panic over army recruitment By David Leppard"
DeM Banter: wondering how this will end...and where we will be in 5-10 years... Hanford (CA) Sentinel August 10, 2013 Military Update In late 1970s, the U.S. military was almost a “hollow force,” the Joint Chiefs said at the time, in part because of low pay, housing allowances set far below off-base rents and anemic …
Continue reading "Defense To Hill: Slow Comp Or Watch Readiness Fall By Tom Philpott"
DeM Banter: I'm a simple man...but there are a couple big things at play here--first there is this internal issue in the US where we want it all to just go away... so we keep saying it has. The enemy always has a say in any conflict, just because WE say the war is over--doesn't …
Continue reading "How Al Qaeda Made Its Comeback By Ali Soufan (w/DeMarco Banter)"
DeM Banter: not being anything close to an expert...but wouldn't it seem this is cyclical? Didn't Al Qaeda attempt and fail at a NYC bombing in 1993 and then proceed with bombings on Khobar Towers (June 1996)(Although Al-Qaeda has been described by some sources as the likely culprit, the official June 25, 1996 statement by …
Continue reading "Have The Terrorists Won? By Doyle McManus"
DeM Banter: Spot on... we are trying to apply old Industrial Age Warfare paradigms and rules to a new Information Age Enemy--we are better than that. This enemy does not rely on the old style of C2--they are patient and will morph as only a "leaderless organization" can. Many experts feel we are on AQ 4.0 at …
Continue reading "Adapting To Terrorism 2.0 By Juan Zarate and Thomas Sanderson"
DeM Banter: This from the same author of "Military Entitlements Are Killing Readiness"...yes, I can see the difference, but we have serious issues due to a lack of thought, strategy, and now funding...but we have been caught in a strategic drift for quite some time now...this is nothing new, but now the funding has caught …
DeM Banter: similar thoughts on the blog at the link below...it's all about Blood and Treasure. Wall Street Journal August 5, 2013 Pg. 12 Military "entitlements" aren't what's hurting military readiness; military pay and benefits are hardly generous. Regarding Mackenzie Eaglen and Michael O'Hanlon's "Military Entitlements Are Killing Readiness" (op-ed, July 26): We veterans, who …
Continue reading "It Isn’t Military ‘Entitlements’ That Kill Readiness: Letters to the Editors"
DeM Banter: Interesting we say..."The deaths of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda officials in Pakistan has fueled U.S. confidence that al Qaeda's core leadership can't mount attacks on the U.S. and that U.S. drone strikes there could be phased out over time. " I wonder what model of leadership we are using …
