MARINE CORPS ISSUE

Where’s the Special Trust and Confidence? By Captain Brian Donlon, USMC - The “administrative thick-headedness” cited in Colonel Robert D. Heinl’s seminal 1956 Proceedings article is alive and well.

Plus Afghanistan: Connecting Assumptions and Strategy By Colonel T. X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.), Major William S. McCallister, USA (Ret.), and Colonel John M. Collins, USA (Ret.) - In its ongoing discussions about this war, President Obama’s national security team should consider a new set of assumptions.

As shells from the CSS Tennessee (left) and Fort Morgan burst around them, the USS Hartford and Metacomet steam through the torpedo field at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Our package about the West Gulf Blockading Squardron and the 5 August 1864 battle begins on page 14. For a full view of Patrick O'Brien's Battle of Mobile Bay painting, turn to page 28-29.