Robert D. Holzer

Stories by Robert D. Holzer

Introducing America’s New ‘Expeditionary Fleet’

Introducing America’s New ‘Expeditionary Fleet’
Introducing America’s New ‘Expeditionary Fleet’

What’s in a name? A lot, especially for the military. Over the next decade, the Navy will take delivery of at least 32 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS); 10 Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV); three Mobile Landing Platforms (MLP); several Afloat Forward Staging Bases; and new versions of amphibious assault ships and Ship-to-Shore connector craft. New…

Why Pentagon Must Embrace Transformation, This Time

Why Pentagon Must Embrace Transformation, This Time
Why Pentagon Must Embrace Transformation, This Time

  Military transformation boasts several fathers, including Andy Marshall (Yoda) of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, Andy Krepinevich of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments  (a Marshall acolyte) and the late Vice Adm. Art Cebrowski of the Office of Force Transformation (OFT), but relatively few children. The OFT built the M80 Stiletto (pictured…

Birthing Ships is Never Easy; Give LCS A Break

Birthing Ships is Never Easy; Give LCS A Break
Birthing Ships is Never Easy; Give LCS A Break

The chorus of criticism facing the first ships of the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class calls for a little historical context to be brought to this debate. Almost all new ship classes experienced considerable “birthing pains” in their early days. This is not new. Indeed, the first six frigates acquired by the American Navy in…