Despite their “quiet professional” ethos, special operations forces have received a lot of attention in the past several years. From movies such as “Zero Dark Thirty” to speeches at football games and graduations, recent, public conversation about special operations forces has dispelled many of the myths and legends about this long misunderstood group of American […]
The US armed forces stand at a critical crossroads. The military is as busy as ever, and it must simultaneously meet expanded current needs while preparing for an uncertain future. The next president will make choices about the US military that will define American hard power for much of the 21st century. 1.) The Obama […]
Jerry Hendrix of the Center for a New American Security took to the pages of National Review this week (“Drydock Time: The Navy’s Aircraft Carriers Are Yesterday’s Weapons”) to advocate the elimination of the aircraft carrier from the arsenal of the U.S. Navy. A former naval aviator, Hendrix is a serious man and a gifted […]
The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees put out their budgets recently, and have succeeded in passing the respective proposals. The House proposal is here and the Senate proposal is here; both plans are roughly the same. It’s nice to see the budget process follow its “regular order,” although there’s still a long way to go […]
On Thursday, Senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the Senate budget that would have hiked defense spending and paid for it with a range of spending cuts elsewhere. The summary, via Reason’s Nick Gillespie: Amdt. 940 will increase, defense spending by nearly $190 billion over the next two years. This amendment continues to fulfill […]