Mackenzie Eaglen | RealClearDefense
The Pentagon’s new strategy is expected to be released soon. The substance of the document is classified, but there is a growing consensus about how to grade it. It is past time for a new National Defense Strategy that seeks to break the mold in honesty, clarity, and fresh thinking. As an official articulation of Pentagon doctrine, this is an opportunity to mend the broken dialogue among the military, the government, and the people they serve.
By Jon Harper, National Defense Magazine: “The Pentagon’s new national defense strategy, an unclassified summary of which was released Jan. 19, prioritizes the procurement of high-end capabilities and streamlining business practices.”
The Army’s Ryan McCarthy Pulls the Plug on Bad Acquisitions
By John M. Donnelly, Roll Call: “There’s something different about the Army these days. In a word, it is humility.”
By George Vișan, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “In the four years that have passed since Russia annexed Crimea, the number of Russian submarines active in the Black Sea has grown from one to seven. These submarines pose a grave threat to the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) eastern flank.”
Baltics Steadily Grow Their Armies
By Olevs Nikers, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “The biggest success for all three Baltic countries—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—last year was the arrival of the multinational battalion groups to the region, thus implementing the decisions reached at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) 2016 summit in Warsaw.”
By Paul Cook, RealClearDefense: “Since 2011, the Budget Control Act (BCA), also known as “sequestration,” has arbitrarily underfunded the U.S. military. At the same time, our nation asked the men and women of our Armed Forces to do more around the globe, including missions in areas ravished by flooding and fires.”