Blog Posts

The Army will need more cybersecurity personnel in the future than it has today and will need to continually adjust its strategies for recruiting, training, and qualifying cyber specialists.

S. Syria, once the quietest corner of the country’s multisided conflict, has unexpectedly become the most volatile flashpoint between America and Iran as the two countries vie for control.

“Social media analysis has significant potential to support military information operations by providing a window into perspectives, thoughts, and communications.”

“The United States should not have ended a special-operations task force in the southern Philippines three years ago in light of the weeks-long jihadi siege of a city there.”

“The researchers compiling the U.S. Army’s accounts of Iraq and Afghanistan have an unprecedented - and overwhelming - volume of material to work through.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said late Tuesday.

“Cyberweapons hit limits against an enemy that exploits the internet to recruit, spread propaganda and use encrypted communications, all of which can be quickly reconstituted.”

“U.S.-backed forces cleared mines from the eastern fringe of the Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa on Tuesday as a second front south of the city appeared to falter.”

“Will the defeat of Islamic State in Iraq be a foreign policy victory for Donald Trump? With the fall of Mosul imminent, what happens next?”

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis today launched a full-throated attack on looming across-the-board spending cuts during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill.

"A recent string of violent episodes in Southeast Asian countries sheds some light on the challenges facing this region as it grapples with extremism."

“The news of the cooperation is significant, because the country’s president had previously threatened to kick out U.S. troops.”

“There has been a growing convergence of interest between diplomacy and special operations since the 9/11 terror attacks.”

A short SWJ update....

"An Afghan commando turned his weapon on U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, killing three American soldiers and wounding one who is in critical condition."

“Military power divorced from diplomacy cannot win conventional wars. In “small wars,” killing is even less decisive.”

“When his bosses hedged, Adm. Chester Nimitz took a chance on a codebreaker - and surprised the enemy.”

“Mark Bowden’s account of the Battle of Huế - “the bloodiest of the Vietnam War, a turning point in American history” - is an extraordinary feat of journalism.”

“As European NATO members confront rampant materiel shortages, officials acknowledge Trump has a point in calling for more military spending.”

“For many Americans, it seems better to deal only with the most urgent crises, sending our forces to surgically clean things up and return home.”

Current doctrine does not address the unique fabric of crowded urban areas of operation, though ongoing research aims to address these shortfalls.

“Afghan intelligence services admit they knew an attack was coming, but blame the government next door for organizing it.”

Afghan officials are blaming Wednesday's massive truck bombing on the Taliban-affiliated and al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network. Here's what is known about the group.

“The Department of Defense has issued an unusually detailed DoD budget request for Iraq and Syria.”

“Soldiers are fighting street by street in the southern city of Marawi with the Muslim-extremist Maute group, which raised the black Islamic State flag there more than a week ago.”