Afghanistan: The Long, Painful Retreat

Afghanistan: The Long, Painful Retreat
Afghanistan: The Long, Painful Retreat

“I think the countries to the north of Afghanistan such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are also going to be worried about the flows of refugees and perhaps fighters to the north. All of them will see what happens after we leave, how the United States postures itself, and then they’ll decide what to do,” Gen. McKenzie said this week.

CSAF Brown On Deck For Joint Chiefs Chair: RUMINT

CSAF Brown On Deck For Joint Chiefs Chair: RUMINT
CSAF Brown On Deck For Joint Chiefs Chair: RUMINT

Former CSAF Gen. David Goldfein, who like many fighter pilots isn’t a big guy, was passed over as CJCS because he didn’t “look macho enough for Trump,” said one former Pentagon insider.

EXCLUSIVE: STRATCOM Creates Global Ops Center For All Domain

EXCLUSIVE: STRATCOM Creates Global Ops Center For All Domain
EXCLUSIVE: STRATCOM Creates Global Ops Center For All Domain

“I think global integrated operations is really the next big ‘advantage space’ for the Department of Defense,” says Maj. Gen. John Nichols.

All-Domain Ops Require Rethinking Combatant Commands: Goldfein

All-Domain Ops Require Rethinking Combatant Commands: Goldfein
All-Domain Ops Require Rethinking Combatant Commands: Goldfein

“This is foundational to who we are,” Goldfein says of the new all-domain operations warfighting concept.

Esper Confirmed As SecDef; Budget Deal Leaves DoD Spending Flat Next Year

Esper Confirmed As SecDef; Budget Deal Leaves DoD Spending Flat Next Year
Esper Confirmed As SecDef; Budget Deal Leaves DoD Spending Flat Next Year

With a two-year budget deal the Pentagon is getting what it wanted: budget certainty. But that certainty comes at a cost.

Dunford: Leaders Mull First NATO Strategy In Decades

Dunford: Leaders Mull First NATO Strategy In Decades
Dunford: Leaders Mull First NATO Strategy In Decades

Katie Wheelbarger, the acting assistant Defense secretary for international security affairs, said Thursday that “Russia’s great power status still remains largely aspirational.”

Enemy To US: We’re Going To Phase 2. You Ready?

Enemy To US: We’re Going To Phase 2. You Ready?
Enemy To US: We’re Going To Phase 2. You Ready?

“No enemy says, ‘I’m ready to go to Phase 2. You guys ready?'” Allvin said to laughter from the audience. “We have to be more nuanced. We need to be less mechanistic in our execution of these.”

Will Senate Ground Trump’s Space Force: ‘We Need Some Convincing’

Will Senate Ground Trump’s Space Force: ‘We Need Some Convincing’
Will Senate Ground Trump’s Space Force: ‘We Need Some Convincing’

Sen. James Inhofe remains cool to the Space Force and most of his colleagues on a key Senate panel sound like they’re right there with him.

Trump Tries to Take Control of Mattis Narrative

Trump Tries to Take Control of Mattis Narrative
Trump Tries to Take Control of Mattis Narrative

The relationship went through a messy ending. Will the president now try and give Mattis the Rex Tillerson treatment?

The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis

The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis
The Secretary Of Reassurance Has Resigned: Farewell To Mattis

WASHINGTON: After two years of reassuring US allies that Donald Trump’s America would not abandon them, Jim Mattis finally had enough. Even before Trump was sworn in as president, the announcement that he would pick Mattis as his Secretary of Defense was met with delighted relief “from the right, from the left, and from overseas.”…

Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman

Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman
Pentagon Frustrated By Silicon Valley Rejection: Joint Chiefs Chairman

HALIFAX: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs expressed frustration Saturday over the refusal of some tech giants to work with the US military. “I have a hard time with companies that are working very hard to engage in the market inside China,” said Gen. Joe Dunford at the Halifax Security Forum, “then don’t want to work…

Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed

Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed
Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed

WASHINGTON: Stop refueling Saudi warplanes as they fly to and fro, bombing, strafing and generally laying waste to Yemen. Freeze the sale of offensive weapons to the Kingdom of Saud. But the sale of defensive weapons is another matter, Sen. Jack Reed told reporters this morning. The danger posed by Houthi missiles and other threats…

Draft Nuke Review: Big NC3 Changes, LRSO OK’d, Small Yield Nukes Back

Draft Nuke Review: Big NC3 Changes, LRSO OK’d, Small Yield Nukes Back
Draft Nuke Review: Big NC3 Changes, LRSO OK’d, Small Yield Nukes Back

WASHINGTON: The days when America spoke of eliminating nuclear weapons are over, faced with Russian, Chinese and North Korean moves to build, boost or rebuild their nuclear forces. That’s the most essential message of the leaked Nuclear Posture Review. (Kudos to my colleague Ashley Feinberg at Huffington Post for getting this one.) The Pentagon immediately issued…

Air Force Cautions On Light Attack Combat Test: AF1 Refueling Update

Air Force Cautions On Light Attack Combat Test: AF1 Refueling Update
Air Force Cautions On Light Attack Combat Test: AF1 Refueling Update

PENTAGON: It’s always difficult to tell when the military is covering its tuckus and when it’s just being careful. So when the outgoing head of the Air Force press desk, Col. Patrick Ryder, told reporters this afternoon that the service had not made any decision about whether to go ahead with a combat test of…