Category Archives: Military Personnel

Opinion: Unmanned Vehicles and Cyber are a Warfare Evolution, Not Revolution

Opinion: Unmanned Vehicles and Cyber are a Warfare Evolution, Not Revolution

A Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle is launched from USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) in 2012. US Navy Photo

A Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle is launched from USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) in 2012. US Navy Photo

The use of cyber-tactics combined with unmanned aerial vehicles to prosecute the campaign against terrorists has increased dramatically over recent years. Technological development along those lines has sparked discussions ranging from talk of revolutions in how wars will be fought to changes in domestic law enforcement. The New York Times recently published a column titled “At War: How Cyber Warfare and Drones Have Revolutionized Warfare,” by Tim Hsia and Jared Sperli. Both are West Point graduates and combat veterans, currently serving as ROTC military science instructors. Unfortunately, geography and the facts on the ground do not bear out their observations. Read More

Opinion: Seapower is An American Priority

Opinion: Seapower is An American Priority

Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) departs Naval Station Norfolk for Newport News Shipbuilding in June 2013. US Navy Photo

Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) departs Naval Station Norfolk for Newport News Shipbuilding in June 2013. US Navy Photo

In September 1960, the carrier Enterprise was christened at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock. Adm. Arleigh Burke, then chief of naval operations, spoke to the large crowd, saying, “Whenever the Enterprise roams in the traditional freedom of the seas, she is the sovereign of the United States, a mighty symbol of our determination to preserve liberty and justice and a clear sign of our nation’s ability to do so.” Read More

Document: Carter Memo on Headquarters Reduction

Document: Carter Memo on Headquarters Reduction

The following is a July 31, 2013 memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to military leaders on a planned reduction of 20 percent in the management in headquarters across the Department of Defense.

The cuts will occur regardless of the current legislative impasse over military funding.

Read More

Opinion: Marines Face Painful Transition in Age of Austerity

Opinion: Marines Face Painful Transition in Age of Austerity

Three U.S. Marine Corps CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters, assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron One Six Six (HMM-163) provides support during the Air show’s Marine Air-ground Task Force (MAGTF) demonstration in 2005.

Three U.S. Marine Corps CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters, assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron One Six Six (HMM-163) provides support during the Air show’s Marine Air-ground Task Force (MAGTF) demonstration in 2005.

On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Hagel announced some of the possible effects of sequestration on the Department of Defense. Among the possibilities is the prospect of a Marine Corps with a strength of just 150,000 Marines, down from the current 202,000—a cut of more than 25 percent. Read More

Two Options for Pentagon's Future

Two Options for Pentagon’s Future

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel answers reporters' questions during a Pentagon press briefing on July 31, 2013. Department of Defense Photo

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel answers reporters’ questions during a Pentagon press briefing on July 31, 2013. Department of Defense Photo

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon has to choose between a small high tech force or a larger one with antiquated equipment if the services are forced to live in a budgetary world dictated by the mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration, he told reporters in a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday. Read More

Pentagon Takes Next Steps in Moving Women into Combat Jobs

Pentagon Takes Next Steps in Moving Women into Combat Jobs

Chief Engineman Patricia Cooper, a student in the Riverine Combat Skills course (RCS), patrols the training grounds during a field training exercise in Camp Lejeune, N.C. in 2012. US Navy Photo

Chief Engineman Patricia Cooper, a student in the Riverine Combat Skills course (RCS), patrols the training grounds during a field training exercise in Camp Lejeune, N.C. in 2012. US Navy Photo

The Marine Corps intends to build up a female cadre of officers and noncommissioned officers to help women as more military occupations and units become open to females, the deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs told the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee on Thursday. Read More

Document: Navy Court-Martial Summaries from Jan. to June 2013

Document: Navy Court-Martial Summaries from Jan. to June 2013

The following reports the results of every Special and General Court-Martial convened within the United States Navy from January through June 2013. The cases are separated by the Navy Region in which they were tried. The publishing of court-martial information is part of a wider push inside the Navy to be more transparent in the service’s prosecution of offenders in the military justice system. Read More

Perez Report: Many in LCS Program Have Forgotten Key Fundamentals

Perez Report: Many in LCS Program Have Forgotten Key Fundamentals

Rear Adm. Samuel Perez in 2011 while he was commander of Carrier Strike Group 1. Perez was tasked in 2012 to review the Littoral Combat Ship Program. US Navy Photo

Rear Adm. Samuel Perez in 2011 while he was commander of Carrier Strike Group 1. Perez was tasked in 2012 to review the Littoral Combat Ship Program. US Navy Photo

Ahead of a busy week for Littoral Combat Ship policy makers, the Navy has released the executive summary of the Office of Chief of Operations Report (OPNAV) Review of the Littoral Combat Ship led by Rear Adm. Samuel Perez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Plans, Programs, and Operations in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and former commander of Carrier Strike Group 1.

In January of 2012, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson directed Perez to evaluate, “ the Navy’s readiness to receive deploy, employ and deploy the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) vessel,” according to the review’s executive summary. Read More

Document: Executive Summary of the LCS 'Perez Report'

Document: Executive Summary of the LCS ‘Perez Report’

From the Navy’s introduction: In January 2012, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations [Adm. Mark Ferguson] directed that there be an assessment and review of the Navy’s readiness to receive, employ and deploy the littoral combat ship. This document provides a summary of the effort that went into that review. Read More