In Press: Talking Navy aviation and UAVs in the San Diego Union-Tribune

February 14, 2011

On the eve of the Centennial of Naval Aviation, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s awesome national security reporter, Jen Steele, filed a piece on how UAVs would transform the Navy.  I was quoted in the story and you can read the entire piece here. Certainly, UAVs are going to have a big role–and make a big […]

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How can the Navy win a flyover…during a budget crisis?

February 12, 2011

Over the next year, the Navy is gonna learn that a depression makes a bad time to party. Today, as the U.S. Navy prepares to kick-off the ceremony-laden, flyby bedecked Centennial of Naval Aviation with a massive flyby in San Diego, the nation’s “Austerity-First” budget-trimmers are sharpening their pencils, ready pillory the Navy for each […]

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The U.S. Coast Guard Commandant calls for leadership, strategic direction and resources

February 10, 2011

Admiral Bob Papp just gave the USCG’s State of the Coast Guard address, and warned that the Post-post 9/11 Coast Guard will be setting priorities and limits: We need to change our focus. We need to train to proficiency — and retain proficiency. In order to achieve proficiency in our most needed activities and capabilities, […]

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An Inspiring Mistake: Australia’s turn from mid-sized amphibs

February 7, 2011

It is no secret the Australian Navy is super-sizing their amphibious force. But…is that force going to be too big and unwieldy to do a good job of projecting security throughout the South Pacific? The first step towards a super-sized amphibious force is interesting. Last month, after I urged the Australian Navy to retire their […]

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The U.S. Navy in Egypt: A bright spot during dificult times

January 28, 2011

As Egypt implodes, the incredible diplomatic resiliency of the Cairo-based U.S. Navy Medical Research Unit Number 3 (NAMRU-3), deserves another look. With the U.S. government scrambling to control the diplomatic damage in Egypt–and as the U.S. Embassy’s traditional friends in the cozy upper-echelon of Egyptian society pack up and leave–this Navy facility will still be […]

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Did RAND force the “Green Fleet” out of the State of the Union Address?

January 27, 2011

With all the excitement over the East Coast snowstorm, the President’s State of the Union and AFCEA’s WEST 2011, Navy-types may have missed an interesting bit of DC bureaucratic theater–RAND’s preemptive strike at the DOD’s aggressive adoption/promotion of renewable energy–in a report released early in the week. I strongly suspect the perfectly-timed media coverage of […]

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Show, don’t tell: Circumspection over Virginia Class MIP/SHT woes

January 21, 2011

Daily Press reporter Peter Frost broke the news yesterday that the Navy has put the Virginia-class submarines’ sloughing hull-coating problem “behind” them.  Here’s parts of the interview (full story here): “Clearly we had problems on the early ships,” said Vice Adm. Kevin M. McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, the Navy’s ship-buying and maintenance […]

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In Press: Talking carriers and INSURVs with the San Diego Union-Tribune

January 20, 2011

Jeanette Steele, one of the better national security reporters working today, chatted with me about the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), which will, in 2012, be headed off for a year’s maintenance in far-off Washington State. The story is here. This was big news for the San Diego region, which was all excited about being the […]

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In Press: Talking tankers with the Mobile Press-Register

January 17, 2011

Had a nice chat about the T-AO(X) program with the Mobile Press-Register’s Jeff Amy last week, and the story dropped yesterday.  Read it here. It’s a good article–making the best of a tough editorial assignment.  Basically, the reporter was put to work assembling this story because some Gulf Coast folks hope that the money saved […]

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Australia’s Amphibs: Retire the old stuff and experiment!

January 14, 2011

Australia has three creaky old amphibious vessels, the HMAS Tobruk, HMAS Kanimbla and HMAS Manoora. They are scheduled to retire over the next 8 years to be replaced in 2014-15 by the Canberra Class LHDs. Australia’s legacy amphibs are, at this point, feeble, unreliable platforms. They’ve done yeoman service, but, in September, the Kanimbla an […]

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