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The Bougainville Invasion (Part 3): December 1943 – March 1944

We resume the quite comprehensive articles provided by CINCLAX as part of the ongoing Solomon Islands Campaign blog project.  With the exception of some noteworthy battles at sea and on land, the Solomons campaign slogged on in near anonymity, except for those doing the fighting.  We would learn much in the process – about joint…

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The Bougainville Invasion: November – December 1943 (Part 2)

Today — part 2 of CINCLAX’s articles on the Bougainville Campaign… Battle of Empress Augusta Bay (the “short version”) While the 3rd Marines were settling for their first night ashore, a critical sea battle was brewing offshore. As they had immediately responded in the air, the IJN was quick to counter attack by sea. In…

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The Solomons Campaign: Guadalcanal 7-9 August, 1942 — Assault and Lodgment

This week we get down to brass tacks – the kickoff of what would become the Solomons Campaign. UltimaRatioRegis once again provides this week’s post with the opening stages of the invasion and occupation of Guadalcanal, on this, the 67th anniversary of this signatory battle. And while we’re about remembering, if you haven’t signed the…

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USAF Releases FY2010 Force Structure Plans

In a nutshell: Nuclear Deterrence mission: “Back-to-basics”, increase by 2,000 number of nuclear support personel, add a 4th B-52 sqdn TACAIR: Accelerate retirement of 254 F-15, F-16 and A-10 a/c, validate remaining service life of residual legacy TACAIR a/c Space: Field new satellites including the Global Positioning Satellite Block IIF, Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF),…

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E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Milestones

Couple of major milestones for the Advanced Hawkeye program announced today: Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP): An Acquisition Decision Memorandum, signed June 11 by the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, gave the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye program approval to enter low-rate initial production. Having demonstrated that it has met all acquisition…

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Linkages

6 June 1944: 6 June 2009: ARABIAN SEA (June 6, 2009) The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg (CG 69), and the French Navy destroyer FS Forbin (D620) are conducting operations in the Arabian Sea. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility…

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Coming This Fall: The Solomon Islands Campaign

Shifting from defense to offense. Joint and combined operations – and all the hard lessons learned. Finding out that training, tactics and procedures can trump an opponent’s better technology – and more hard lessons learned. Surviving on the razor’s edge and prevailing. Innovate, adapt – overcome. All of this and more are gathered together in…

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BMD From the Sea – It’s Not Just for SWO’s

It is time for Naval Aviation to become more than interested bystanders and step up to the plate for the ballistic missile defense mission. For those who have been otherwise engaged or looking elsewhere, the cover and main article in the May 2009 issue of Proceedings is your wake-up call. Now, besides the ever-present threat…