US Marines – Were the Marines’ communication systems as seamless as they appeared to be in Iraq? Apparently not???

• Wired: Tough Talking for Marines in Iraq

US Navy – The Navy intends to increase the size of the SEALs.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Navy plans to expand its special forces

Military Sealift Command – Interview with Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, Commander, Military Sealift Command.

• Sea Power: MSC Commander Envisions a Sea Base with Air Express Service into the War Zone

Background – Basing – A more indepth look at what the US intends to do with base realignment around the world.

• Washington Post: New Bases Reflect Shift in Military

Dutch Marines – Holland will send a battalion of Marines to Iraq for peacekeeping.

• Associated Press: Dutch to Send 1,100 Peacekeepers to Iraq

Background – History – Ralph Peters looks at how the world has changed in the past decade and finds that America is both hostage to history and likely to be saved by it

• American Heritage: The Shah Always Falls

Canadian Navy – Canada is scaling back its naval committment in the Gulf.

• Reuters: Canada Scales Back Military Activities in Gulf

Chinese Navy – India begins to worry about the growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.

• Financial Express: Chinese Presence In Indian Ocean Rings Alarm Bells In MoD

Military Sealift Command – Strategic Sealift Program provides outsized capabilities for future conflicts.

• Sea Power: A New Dimension of Strength

US Marines – The Marine’s approach to peacekeeping in Iraq.

• Daily Telegraph: We want to be feared not loved, say US Marines

US Navy – The US is making radical changes in how it will make available aircraft carrier battlegroups for deployment.

• Associated Press: Navy Takes New Approach to Ship Rotation

US Coast Guard – The future of logistics in the Coast Guard.

• Sea Power: The Deepwater Integrated Logistics System: Building a Foundation for Future Readiness

US Marines – Maritime Prepositioning Force Equipped Marines for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Sea Power: Outfitting the Operating Force

Background – Iraq – John Keegan on why the second Gulf war will not lead to an end in the conflict between Muslim and Western ways???

• Daily Telegraph: Saddam was easily defeated ñwhich is why the war goes on

Background – Peacekeeping – Thomas Ricks nicely outlines the challenges facing US peacekeepers in Iraq.

• Washington Post: A Tale of Two Baghdad

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Should Japan pull its ships out of the Gulf?

• Asahi Shimbun: As role shrinks for MSDF, debate rages over mission

US Navy – Interview with Rear Adm. Charles L. Munns, Director of the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet.

• Sea Power: The Admiral Who Brings Order to the ‘Wild, Wild West” of Information Systems

Taiwanese Navy – Will Taiwan get the Kidd-class destroyers?

• China Post: Budget for Kidd-class warships released

Background – Nation Building – Scenes from the new Afghanistan: A cautionary tale from America’s last attempt at nation-building.

• New York Times Sunday Magazine: Unreconstructed

North Korean Navy – A tour of the North Korean spy ship captured by Japan.

• Daily Telegraph: Japanese flock to inspect Korean spy ship

South Korean Navy – South Korea chases North Korean fishing boats out of its territorial waters.

• The Straits Times: S. Korean navy chases off intruding boats from North

US Navy – A summary of the USS Constellation’s last cruise.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Venerable carrier managed to save the best for last

US Navy – Naval news from around the US fleet.

• Sea Power: Tactical Tomahawk Begins Final Test Phase

Background – Asia – The US looks at shifting where its troops are deployed in Asia.

• CNN: U.S. to shake up Asian presence

Background – Iraq – William Arkin on how speed, as well as pauses, kill.

• Los Angeles Times: Fliers Rose to Occasion

US Navy – A look at the medical department aboard the USS Bataan.

• Virginian Pilot: Bataan’s floating medical staff has seen it all

US Navy – Polar bear vs. submarine.

• Virginian Pilot: Cold war? No, just a polar bear’s submarine snack

Background – History – A look at the US Navy’s early research into nuclear propulsion.

• International Journal of Naval History: Ross Gunn and The Naval Research Laboratoryís Early Research into Nuclear Propulsion, 1939 ñ 1946

US Marines – A year of flight testing has led to a reversal of fortune for the V-22, with senior Pentagon officials giving their blessing to take the tiltrotor into a higher production rate.

• Aviation Week: Back From The Brink, V-22 Eyes A Rosier Future

Canadian Navy – Should Canada purchase aircraft carriers?

• Canadian Press: Canada needs aircraft carriers to revamp military – retired general

International Naval News – Naval news from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.

• Sea Power: BAE Systems Realigns Naval Business

Chinese Navy – China continues to probe Taiwan’s defenses.

• Agence France Presse: Chinese ëspy shipsí found off Taiwan

US Marines – The Deputy Commandant for Aviation provides his annual assessment.

• Marine Corps Gazette: State of Marine Aviation

US Navy – The differences between the USS Ronald Reagan and other Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

• Virginian Pilot: Carrier Reagan readying for its acceptance trials

US Navy – An Interview with Rep. Edward L. Schrock, Chairman of the Navy-Marine Corps Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Sea Power: Down to the Sea in Ships

Background – Airpower – Some official lessons learned from the USAF in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Slate: Bombing by Numbers

Royal Navy – Are further deep cuts ahead for the Royal Navy?

• Daily Telegraph: Armed Forces face big new cuts, say Tories

US Navy – Linked by high-tech communications systems, commanding officers never again will be alone at sea. They are at the tip of a spear whose aim is now influenced by thousands of well-intentioned but largely invisible hands that act from hundreds of nodes on a worldwide network.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Net-centric Fogs Accountability

Royal Navy – The nuclear submarine HMS Tireless may have hit an iceberg while submerged.

• Daily Telegraph: Nuclear sub ‘hits iceberg’

NATO – NATO is tracking 20 merchant ships believed to be used by Al Qaeda.

• The Times: Nato tracks 20 ësuspectí ships

Russian Navy – Why it is important to help Russia in dismantling its retired nuclear submarines.

• International Herald Tribune: Dismantling Russia’s submarines

US Navy – Naval Network Warfare Command is integrating systems, capabilities, sensors, and people to achieve a netted warfighting force.

• Sea Power: Spinning the Web

Background – Network Centric Warfare – The ability of Canadian warships to operate in U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups demonstrates that coalition network-centric naval warfare is possible. It has also shown, however, that the price of admission for coalition navies is high, in terms of technical interoperability, professional trust, and policyóabove all, with respect to information transfer.

• Naval War College Review: Small Navies and Network-centric Warfare

Indian Navy – More on the importance of the current exercises between the Indian and Russian navies.

• Agence France Press: India, Russia send signal to China

US Navy – The US commissions a new antiterrorist squadron.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Navy commissions new California-based anti-terrorism force

US Navy – The Chief of Naval Operations on the future of the US Navy.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Address by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark

Background – Airpower – James F. Dunnigan gives an overview of the air war in Iraq.

• StrategyPage: The Air Campaign in Iraq

Background – Information Warfare – A fascinating look at how the US wired the battlefield in Iraq to allow Internet connectivity between units.

• Wired: “If We Run Out of Batteries, This War is Screwed.”

Israeli Navy – Israel seizes a ship at sea carrying supplies for terrorists.

• BBC: Israel ‘seizes Hezbollah boat’

US Navy – The sea services muster unmanned aerial vehicles for growing list of missions.

• Sea Power: BAMS,Eagle Eyes, and Dragon Eyes

US Navy – A quick first pass at lessons learned by the US Navy in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Navy Cannot Rest on Its Laurels

Background – Iraq – Thomas Friedman describes insightfully the current state of affairs in Iraq.

• New York Times: Postcard from Iraq

US Marines – Marine Corps embraces the concept of sea basing.

• Sea Power: Marine Corps Combat Development Command Embraces Sea Basing

US Navy – Is this the last cruise of the USS Constellation? Meanwhile, the Chief of Naval Operations says “The Navy must “create a culture of readiness.””

• San Diego Union Tribune: Flattop’s retirement cruise has an element of ‘what if’

US Navy – Sea Power 21 Series: Part VI

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Global Concept of Operations

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan needs to replace its S-2 Trackers, but new P-3C’s are too expensive.

• Agence France Press:
  Taiwan seeking cheaper US-made submarine-hunting aircraft: report
  

Russian Navy – An overview of the India – Russian naval exercises about to get underway.

• Daily Times: War delayed India-Russia naval exercises, says Ivanov

Background – History – The history of catamarans in the US Navy.

• Sea Power: Two Centuries of Catamarans

Canadian Navy – Canada is reducing its naval committment to the Gulf.

• Globe and Mail: Canada recalls one of three warships in Gulf

Indian Navy – The US will send a nuclear attack submarine to exercise with India.

• The Statesman: Nuke vessel to join Indo-US seagames

US Marines – US Marines are operating inside Kenya, hunting for terrorists.

• Washington Post: Marines Comb Borders As Worries Rise in Kenya

Background – Naval Strategy – Certain classic functions of navies have disappeared (for the time being at least), others have changed, and a few new ones have emerged. In the new conditions, navies at war will strive to make sure that friendly ships and aircraft can get where they are needed when they are needed, and that those of the enemy cannot do these things. Furthermore, as occasion demands, navies will land forces, when possible in friendly ports, if necessary on or over hostile shores, and support them then and thereafter with fire and logistics.

• Naval War College Review: Fighting at and from the Sea

Royal Navy – HMS Ark Royal returns home.

• The Times: The gloom lifts as Ark Royal comes home

Singaporean Navy – Royal Navy ships are in Singapore for exercises.

• The Straits Times: Bug didn’t scare off British navy

Thai Navy – Exercise Cobra Gold is underway between Thailand, the US, and Singapore.

• Agence France Presse: Cobra Gold exercises begin in Thailand with 13,000 troops
• The Strait Times: SAF joins US and Thailand in major war games

US Coast Guard – A special report from the USCG commandant on the IDS (Integrated Deepwater System) program.

• Sea Power: The Integrated Deepwater System

Al Aaeda – How terrorists could attack the US from cargo ships.

• Christian Science Monitor: How Al Qaeda might strike the US by sea

US Navy – The USS Carl Vinson heads back to sea.

• Kyodo News: USS Carl Vinson leaves Yokosuka

US Marines – No Service was better prepared to fight the war on terror than the Marine Corps, yet it was relegated to the periphery. Has the Nationís premiere small unit infantry been replaced by the joint Special Operations Command?

• Marine Corps Gazette: Who Will Be the First to Fight?

Background – Laser Weapons – An interesting overview on the use of lasers as weapons.

• International Center for Law, Trade, and Diplomacy: Blinding Laser Weapons: It is Time for the International Community to Take Off Its Blinders