About Lt. Matthew Hipple, USN

Lt. Matthew Hipple is a surface warfare officer. He writes for Proceedings, USNI Blog, Small Wars Journal, and War on the Rocks and is the director of the NEXTWAR blog at the Center for International Maritime Security.


Recent Posts By the Author


Opinion: What the Navy Can Learn from Golf

Opinion: What the Navy Can Learn from Golf

A sailors hits golf balls in an inflatable driving range during a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) event in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2012. US Navy Photo

A sailors hits golf balls in an inflatable driving range during a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) event in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2012. US Navy Photo

Golfers may not realize it, but they have a keen understanding of combined arms.

I’m not a particularly good golfer myself. Some may suggest what I do is not actually “playing golf,” but I know well enough not to use a putter in the sand trap or use my sand wedge from the tee and certainly not buy any club that claims to cover all those situations. Read More

Opinion: Thinking Weapons Are Closer Than We Think

Opinion: Thinking Weapons Are Closer Than We Think

Man Transportable Robot System "Talon" Mark 2 approaches a suspected bomb maker's building during an exercise. US Navy Photo

Man Transportable Robot System “Talon” Mark 2 approaches a suspected bomb maker’s building during an exercise. US Navy Photo

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has constructed a neuromorphic device—the functioning structure of a mammalian brain—out of artificial materials. DARPA’s project, SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) signals a new level for biomimicry in engineering. The project team included IBM, HRL, and their subcontracted universities. Read More

Africa Demands more U.S. Focus

Africa Demands more U.S. Focus

A good fighter does not stand in one place fending off blows, he moves around the ring. America’s Asian Pivot is merely a minor weight shift. America has been standing with a foot in Asia and Europe for over half a century; we need to step forward to the ring’s greatest area of potential: Africa.

usnafrica

Sailor with children during U.S. Africa Command’s 2012 Africa Partnership Station
[U.S. Navy Photo]

While the appropriate focus for America’s next step, Africa is prevented in reaching its full potential from the dangers of terrorist groups in vast uncontrolled areas and unstable governments. Africa has the greatest potential energy to drive future changes in the international system. America should pursue further engagement to ensure that those changes realize the best of the continent’s potential, rather than the worst.

Any sense that America’s pivot toward Asia is a major policy change ignores the robust presence that already exists. In the June 2 post, Information Dissemination notes that the Navy’s shift to Asia started long before the pivot talk even began. With bases in Korea, Japan and Guam , the U.S. has no small military presence in the region. The Association of South East Asian Nations may not be as effective or as unified as NATO, but it is still an active and engaged institution of regional diplomacy. And the U.S. has a number of strong bilateral relationships, from Japan to Thailand to Australia. Those who think a pivot to the Western Pacific is a major policy change haven’t been watching policy. America has in the past, if not pivoted, at least kept glancing over its Pacific shoulder.

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