A FEW months ago, my wife and I had dinner with a couple we didn’t know very well. It was awkward at first, but there was wine, and conversation soon followed. At one point, the wife asked about my tour in Iraq, where I served four years as a cavalry officer. I began talking about…
Category: Tactics
WW I History: Operation China Snow, The Top Secret Mission of Germany’s Zeppelin L59
“The mission would be a risky one – no airship had ever flown such a distance.” TO DESCRIBE Germany’s Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck as a thorn in the side of the British Empire is something of an understatement. Beginning in 1914, the dashing 34-year-old Prussian lieutenant-colonel led a rag-tag band of 3,000 regulars and 10,000 colonial troops…
This is How WW3 Starts
Russian Fighter Conducts Dangerous Intercept of U.S. Recon Jet Pentagon calls Black Sea aerial provocation ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ A Russian Su-27 jet fighter came within 20 feet of a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea on Monday in Moscow’s latest military provocation involving dangerous aerial encounters. “On Jan. 25 an RC-135 aircraft flying…
Chinese Military Revamps Cyber and Intelligence Capabilities
This story reminds me of Paul Newman’s famous line in the scene from Cool Hand Luke where the “Road Boss” with the Mirror sun glasses Shoots a bird flying with a rifle with one shot: “That man don’t say much, but I think he just said something right there….” The Chinese are continuously making statements…
Preparing for the Next BIG War
As a footnote to this this list I would add the ability for our Military and Intelligence Agencies to Operate within the same parameters as the Russian, Chinese and Iranian Military operates; in a “hybrid” 4th Generational Capacity, where war is waged against your adversary in every facet of their society; Financial, Social, Political, Religious…
Regimes and Revolt: Authoritarian Ways of Counterinsurgency
Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from the author’s article in the Journal of Strategic Studies, “‘The People are Revolting’: An Anatomy of Authoritarian Counterinsurgency.” Scores of dead civilians, smoldering wastelands where villages used to be, a cowering people, and a regime thriving on tyranny and fear — these are the images evoked by the mention…
6 Lessons Being a Military Pilot Taught Me For Life
These are all tried and true Principles that every Armed Civilian can use..think about them and how they are all Applicable to you personally. -SF Lessons from being a military aviator can make your life better, Carl Forsling, a former MV-22B Osprey pilot, writes. Being a military pilot has some skills that cross over to…
Examining the Future of Ground, Naval and Air Combat
The following are three articles from the Cipher Brief I collated into one big article for the convenience of reading it in one sitting. These are good, relevant and succinct articles with little fluff.-SF Ground Warfare After the United States emerged from the Vietnam War, it witnessed the events of the 1973 Yom…
Wingate’s Way: Leadership Lessons from Britain’s Maverick General
I highly recommend Anglin’s book Orde Wingate: Unconventional Warrior for those of you who have an interest in learning about Counter-Insurgency Warfare and it’s timeless principles.-SF “Orde Wingate’s experiences from World War Two offer lessons for 21st Century military planners, particularly in the areas of counter-insurgency, covert and special operations and proxy wars.” By Dr. Simon Anglin MAJOR GENERAL Orde…
Killing Anwar: Targeting Jihadi Propagandist is Only Part of the Solution
Like dozens of others, the husband and wife team who shot up a San Bernardino community center were inspired by U.S. born al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in Yemen by a drone strike in September 2011. The San Bernardino shooting should serve as a reminder that killing propagandists can be an important tactical…