By Jason Lamb, War on the Rocks: "A recently fired commander wasn't bitter about what had happened, and so decided to offer some help to his replacement. He told the incoming commander, “I left you with four sealed letters. When you're faced with a crisis you can't handle, open the first envelope."
By Dan Christman, War On The Rocks: “The Army needs more and better batteries. But to meet the higher energy needs of the next generation of weapons systems, the Army needs a generator that can dramatically increase the amount of tactical energy. Only nuclear power can provide the energy density necessary to have both a small footprint and a low logistical tail. It is not an exaggeration to say that the deployment of mobile, micro nuclear power plants would revolutionize military logistics for the 21st century.”
How Afghanistan Prepared NATO for Great-Power Competition
By Iain King, Modern War Institute: “Great-power competition is certainly back, but it would be a mistake to regard NATO's enduring operation in Afghanistan as a distraction or a detour—or worse, as a factor that has made great-power competition more likely. Rather, the long war in that country has prepared the West for today's challenges. NATO is now far more able to face down Russia and China precisely because of the tough lessons and battlefield adaptations forced upon it by the long and difficult experience in Afghanistan.”
By Robert Guerrero, Defense News: "This is a question that keeps me up at night. Are we prepared to defend the homeland and defeat our enemies at any location around the world? If faced against a near-peer or peer competitor, will we have the necessary infrastructure and logistical supply chain to support the lethality we need on the battlefield?"