Now Hear This

An R80D SkyRaider Unmanned Aircraft System goes through preflight checks during a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) exercise at Fort Drum, NY. The only limits to unmanned systems mission concepts are a warfighter’s imagination and ability to iterate.

Drones as Deterrence

The Navy and Marine Corps must organize to receive, test, proliferate, and reveal unmanned systems if Replicator is to become deterrence.

September 2024

Starboard bow view of USS Pueblo (AKL-44) lying at a pier before it was redesignated as USS Pueblo (AGER-2). The 1968 incident highlights the danger of maintaining geographically dispersed defense commitments.

To Understand the Dangers of Overcommitment, Look to the Pueblo Incident

The 1968 Pueblo should serve as a warning to the United States about the dangers of overcommitment.

September 2024

Bring Back Disruptive Thinkers and Radical Ideas

The Navy’s original grassroots innovation efforts focused heavily on radical ideas and finding talent able to think in an agile, innovative way.

Commander Reed A. Kitchen, U.S. Navy

September 2024

The presence of a major course of study in finance and accounting would promote the fundamental understanding of financial competencies within the Brigade of Midshipmen that otherwise go without standardization and are subject to popular interpretations. Enhancing the financial education of naval leaders is the first step to improving the financial wellbeing of service members throughout the Navy and Marine Corps.

The Financial Education Deficit in Naval Training

The U.S. Naval Academy should reintroduce formal financial education.

August 2024

A U.S. Marine with maritime raid force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit posts security during a visit, board, search, and seizure exercise aboard the USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, in February 2023. Force selection, interception tactics, and the correct employment of maritime geography are critical elements of a blockade’s conduct.

Employing Blockades in the 2026 Scenario

The imposition of a blockade in the 2026 scenario is key to the accomplishment of Allied strategic goals in the face of initial People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) victories. However ...

August 2024

A tanker ship in the South China Sea. It worth considering whether there are any low-cost options for deterring China from using force to subsume Taiwan. One means would be using the threat of trade denial.

Deterring China in the Taiwan Strait

The United States should adopt a trade denial strategy to deter China from Taiwan.

August 2024

The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the South China Sea on 26 May 2024. China’s assertions of ownership over disputed territories in the South China Sea and its refusal to recognize international law in maritime dispute settlements are the centerpiece of Beijing’s strategic defense initiatives against other claimant countries in the region and the United States.

Revisiting China’s Rationale for Its South China Sea Claims

A historical overview of China’s extralegal claims in the South China Sea.

August 2024

Captain Aaron Rybar, Commander, Training Air Wing - 2, addresses the crowd during a commemorative ceremony onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville, July 2024. For 2023, CNATRA produced at 102 percent on average across all pipelines. Currently, all pipelines remain “on glideslope” to achieve the elevated target.

How to Rebalance Naval Aviation Training

Naval Aviation Training Command has shortened the pilot backlog, is on target to eliminate it, and is now producing the optimum number of pilots each year

August 2024

The USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) sails with unmanned surface vessels in the Arabian Gulf. Rather than decommissioning the littoral combat ships, the Navy should install the lethality and survivability upgrades that have been proposed.

Get on with the LCS Upgrades

Rather than discarding the littoral combat ships, the Navy should install the lethality and survivability upgrades that have been proposed for the class.

Captain Pete Pagano, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2024

A dual-military couple signs their reenlistment papers together. Creating new policies that allow for more career flexibility for all officers is crucial to making it possible for more women to stay in the Navy longer

More Officer Career-Path Flexibility Will Improve Retention

Policies that allow for more career flexibility for all officers are crucial to making it possible for more women to stay in the Navy—and remain competitive—longer.

July 2024

Now Hear This

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