Project CADILLAC (Part I) Ed note: Everything has a beginning and that beginning is usually quite humble compared to present conditions. Consider, a small spring at the headwaters of the Madison River in Montana is the source of the mighty Missouri River which itself empties into ol’ man river — the Mississippi, all of which…
By any measure, fifty years is remarkable. Birthdays, reunions, wedding anniversaries – in all of these the marker set at fifty years is justifiably prominent and noteworthy. For aircraft — especially those in carrier aviation, it is signatory. This month the E-2 Hawkeye will celebrate 50 years, starting with the first flight of the prototype,…
Last year, a small group of us spent the better part of the summer and fall writing on the Solomons Campaign. That drawnout slugfest in the southwest Pacific receives little notice beyond Guadalcanal and some discussions regarding Santa Cruz. The purpose of that exercise (here and over at USNI’s blog) was to surface the larger…
“Whenever the Enterprise roams in the traditional freedom of the seas, she is the sovereign of the United States, a mighty symbol of our determination to preserve liberty and justice and a clear sign of our nation’s ability to do so.†– ADM Arleigh Burke, 24 Sept 1960 This Friday (24 Sept) marks the 50th…
“We Remember…” With those two, simple and profound words, an extraordinary project was launched three years ago — 2006. Prior to the observance of the 5th anniversary of the attacks by Islamist terrorists on the US, a private citizen had an extraordinary idea of how to memorialize those who were lost. Bringing together members of…
The sun has long since set – but in the darkened, borrowed office I notice little beyond the pale circle of light on the desk in front of me. Before me is list of names, some scratched out, many not. The hand that just hung up the phone is now cradling my head – throbbing…
The promise of 3.5 days away from the pressing business of the day job filled your correspondent with all manner of hope to catch up on writing and posts, which we will confess, has been a bit thin of late (blame *that* on the SM-3…but I digress). So it was while wending my way through…
When Russia planted a flag on the Arctic Ocean seabed in August 2007, it was in part, political theater meant to cement its claim to the region’s vast natural resources (especially mineral). Of course, such action served as a shot across the bow of the other states bordering the region, leading, among other actions,…
At its root it is all about resources — protein to supplement meager domestic harvests and oil to drive economies that governments push to unnatural and unsustainable annual growth. It is about an emergent regional power, poised on the brink of asserting itself as something more, flexing new-found muscle in new domains and deepening…
