From the monthly archives:

October 2013

Kill SSBN(X) and Give The Virginia Class Subs SLBM Capability

by admin on October 28, 2013

U.S. ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) have done a great job maintaining America’s second-strike nuclear capability–lurking at sea, undetected, every day. But their era of invulnerability is coming to a close; once SSBNs lose their ability to hide in the oceans, these single-purpose arsenal ships are finished. The sea is already a crowded place, and hiding […]

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So You Think Bloggers Don’t Matter, Eh?

by admin on October 22, 2013

Think again!  On October 16, my old New Pacific Institute Pal, Kyle Mizokami, published a particularly eloquent piece, lamenting the defunding of the 2013 San Francisco Fleet Week, entitled “Scrapped: The Naval Parade That Brings Military and Civilians Together” over at medium.com. Two days later, on October 18, the Department of Defense did this, reinstating […]

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Remembering a Legend: Congressman Bill Young

by admin on October 21, 2013

America lost a legend last week. Congressman Bill Young, a towering personality trapped in an increasingly frail body, has died.  He was a living legacy, the longest-serving Republican in Congress, and one of the few remaining links to the go-go days of the Reagan era build-up–and one of the last of the “old school” pols […]

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The Impact Of An Iranian Thaw?

by admin on October 20, 2013

The idea of a uniformly hostile Iran has been baked into America’s strategic framework for decades–almost a generation.  But the prospect of a thaw in the long-running Iranian-US Cold War would be fascinating–transforming the entire Arabian Gulf.  If–IF–tensions recede, what will this mean?  I threw together a few thoughts and questions for discussion: 1. U.S. […]

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In Press: Historic Naval Ships Association

by admin on October 14, 2013

If you don’t know the good folks at the Historic Naval Ships Association, they work to bring community to those who preserve naval history.  Their “fleet” of 188 ships are on display in twelve nations and, in the U.S., 31 states–so it’s a neat little organization, and well worth joining. They do good work, and […]

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Navy Ship Christenings Are Obsolete; Celebrate Delivery Instead

by admin on October 12, 2013

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus created a bit of a stir yesterday when he postponed the Christening of DDG-1000, the lead ship of the future Zumwalt Class of destroyers. I think the Navy missed an opportunity to gracefully reorient a tired ceremony that has been, in large part, rendered obsolete by new shipbuilding technology […]

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Blockading China: Distinguishing Hype from Reality

by admin on October 10, 2013

Blockading China is hard.  Yes, China depends upon oil.  Yes, China ships that oil from the Mideast, and yes, America has the biggest, baddest submarines and Navy in the business. But advocates for blockade seem to have forgotten that times have changed, and a blockade–particularly on petrochemicals–run from an old “subs sink everything” World War […]

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A Marine Calls For Trimming the Chaplaincy Corps

by admin on October 4, 2013

A brave USMC Captain is calling to shrink the Chaplaincy Corps.  He isn’t alone. Back in 2010, I suggested shrinking the military Chaplaincy Corps. To me, the bureaucracy in the Chaplaincy Corps had–for no discernible reason–ballooned, and far too little effort was being made to utilize existing non-military religious services. I caught hell for my […]

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The USN And Long-Term Strategy Part II:

by admin on October 3, 2013

Please indulge me as I continue the strategy discussion from earlier this week…where I tally a few concerns about the Navy’s lack of a defined strategy beyond an anodyne rehash of “uh, we just do stuff…from the sea!”.  To sum up my position so far–my hope is that the U.S. Navy starts to fix upon […]

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