Category: Strategy/Policy

DeM Banter: I thought it was just me... good to see David gets it as well... Washingtonpost.com June 21, 2013 For people (like me) who worry that the U.S. government is becoming dysfunctional, it's worth studying the subtle and largely hidden effects of sequestration on the military and other agencies. What's happening is the slow-motion …

Continue reading "THE SEQUESTER’S BITE By David Ignatius"

DeM Banter: surprised we are not hearing more about this...my gut, it's going to haunt us... ForeignPolicy.com June 20, 2013 It's time to found a U.S. Cyber Force. Throughout the long decades of my military career, the backbone of U.S. national security was the "strategic triad" of delivery systems for nuclear weapons: ballistic-missile submarines and …

Continue reading "The New Triad: By Adm. James Stavridis"

DeM Banter: After recently speaking with several NASA Astronauts here at OTS... it was sad to realize we now rely on the Russians to get our astronauts into space. Now the Russians dominate tech at the Paris Airshow... all I can think is... HEY, that used to be us...(great book by Friedman but the way) …

Continue reading "Russian Air Power Makes A Splash At Paris Air Show By Daniel Michaels"

DeM Banter: Any article that mentions Samuel Huntington, Maj. Gen. H.R. McMaster, and Machiavelli in the same piece... must be good. Interesting take and I really would like to believe the last paragraph, but my fear is reality lies in the first couple of paragraphs. This is indeed a Ends-Means Gap... but what about the …

Continue reading "An Ends-Means Gap By Fareed Zakaria"

DeM Banter: This falls in the interesting times category for sure, especially when you look at the article posted earlier today regarding crews sitting on the ramp and "pretending" to fly because we don't have enough training hours. We have spent a good bit of time at the m100Group talking about choices... this was a …

Continue reading "Pentagon Shoots Down Kerry’s Syria Airstrike Plan By Jeffrey Goldberg"

DeM Banter: I was waiting for someone to bring this up...of course it was the Flight Engineer... "Hey eng...do we have any Airpower?" Pilot/Eng...."maybe when Washington gets us a budget." Good times.... USAToday.com June 17, 2013 Sequestration is crippling the Air Force's ability to defend the nation. Imagine an enemy that could neutralize 13 U.S. …

Continue reading "Doing The Enemy’s Job By Tom Young"

DeM Banter: Austerity measures in action...it is indeed odd that we have yet to hear that fact that about 30% of our combat fleet in the USAF is grounded as we debate action in Syria. Interesting times... Defense News June 17, 2013 Pg. 30 The French Air Force is facing a problem that is increasingly …

Continue reading "Interview Gen. Denis Mercier Chief of Staff, French Air Force by Andrew Chuter"

DeM Banter: It does make it tough to balance the military budget... June 13, 2013 The Pentagon says it doesn't want them, doesn't need them and can't afford to maintain them. Two congressional armed services panels say that's just tough -- you're stuck with them. So at a time of budget squeezing, the Defense Department's …

Continue reading "Slash The Budget, But Don’t Close Unneeded Bases? Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer"

DeM Banter: How many times have we "guessed" correctly at what the next war would look like? George Friedman's "The Next Hundred Years," is a wonderful read on the topic... without reviewing the text... I think the answer is close to zero. Something to think about when we ponder all of our "eggs in one …

Continue reading "A New Vision Of The Military’s Role By Walter Pincus"

DeM Banter:  One has to love the use of history to make a point... have to love Dr Joe Nye's writing.  We will see...  Los Angeles Times June 12, 2013 Pg. 13 The right U.S. strategy includes 'power with,' not just 'power over.' China will almost certainly pass the United States in the total size …

Continue reading "MEETING CHINA HALFWAY By Joseph S. Nye Jr."