– War is Boring – The Pentagon needs new sea-surface ‘connectors,’ but can’t—or won’t—develop them.

– Marine Corps Times – A mobile Army could encroach on Marine turf – with sailors in the middle.

– San Diego Union Tribune – Taliban fighters in remote villages of Helmand province who thought coalition troops would wait out the end of their campaign from the relative safety of regional headquarters got a wake-up call last month. The Twentynine Palms-based infantry unit serving as a regional security force launched a series of attacks targeting insurgent havens in outlying areas.

– Stars and Stripes – Although officials insisted the annual multinational Eager Lion exercise that ended here Sunday was unrelated to sectarian violence across Jordan’s borders, regional tensions nonetheless affected the course of the two-week exercise.

– Stars and Stripes – Analysts and some military leaders have questioned whether the US Army’s Pacific Pathways initiative will duplicate Marines’ skills and assets and is a “solution in search of a problem.”

– War is Boring – The Pentagon has sent Marines and warplanes to Italy because of a possible crisis brewing in North Africa. The troops left their base in Spain after receiving a request from the State Department.

– USNI News – Sikorsky Aircraft rolled out the U.S. Marine Corps’ first CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter. Though the new K-model shares the same numerical designation as previous CH-53 helicopters, it is in fact a new clean-sheet design.

– Aviation Week – Ever since the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) version of the Joint Strike Fighter first flew in the hands of BAE Systems’ test pilot Graham Tomlinson in June 2008 we have heard plenty about the easy and precise nature of the jet’s controllability. Commenting about STOVL operations in particular, pilots tend to focus on the ‘push button’ ease of vertical landings compared to the Harrier and the unusual (until you get used to it) ‘walnuts in a blender’ sound that comes from the lift fan. However virtually everything we have heard so far has been from seasoned military or industry test pilots who were involved in the development and evaluation of the F-35B, or leading instructor pilots assigned to initial training. But now that an increasing number of regular U.S. Marine Corps squadron pilots are flying the F-35B at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, with VMFA-121, what do they think?

– Marine Corps Times – Approximately seven months after wrapping up a deployment at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, members of Fighter Attack Squadron 122 found themselves back in Japan, the latest sign of the increasingly quick turnarounds being asked of F/A-18 and other aircraft squadrons across the service.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – With end-strength numbers reduced and budgets slashed, the Navy–Marine Corps team must cultivate innovative ways to maintain vital capabilities.

– War is Boring – The Pentagon is sending more Marines and warplanes to join its emergency response group in Spain. The additions show the growing importance of smaller task forces in an era of shrinking defense budgets.

– San Diego Union Tribune – Top Marine sounds off on women infantry, warfighter legacy, budget pain.

– Aviation Week – A look at a flight aboard an MV-22 Osprey.

– Washington Post – As the Obama administration winds down the Army-centric war in Afghanistan, Pentagon leaders are seeking to place the Air Force, Navy and Marines in dominant roles to counter threats in the Asia-Pacific region, which they have deemed to be the nation’s next big national security challenge. Fearful that the new strategy will cut its share of the defense budget, the Army is launching an ambitious campaign to transform itself and assert its relevance in the Pacific. And that, in turn, is drawing the Army into a fight. With the Marines.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – National security and economic vitality are intertwined, and both depend on naval expeditionary capabilities that are as flexible and evolving as the challenges ahead.

– San Diego Union Tribune – Disaster response and buildup of forces key to Asia rebalance.

– Stars and Stripes – Defending territory and allies in the Pacific largely comes down to the ability to strike quickly from the sea, control a beachhead and secure it with troops and equipment. One of the U.S. military’s main weapons in that mission is the Landing Craft Air Cushion, a hovercraft that can travel across 70 percent of the world’s beaches compared to conventional craft’s 20 percent, and can hit a beach at upwards of 46 miles-per-hour with a full load of Marines, tanks and light armored vehicles. LCACs are also integral to humanitarian operations where ports and piers are damaged or blocked.

– Aviation Week – The U.S. Marine Corps invited the media Aug. 28 to visit the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship where the second set of developmental test trails for the F-35B are taking place. Being the savvy PAs that they are, USMC shipped us out and back on their newest rotorcraft, the Bell/Boeing MV-22 to see their newest fighter. (They also happen to be the Pentagon’s most expensive rotorcraft and fighter).

– US Naval War College Review – Before leaving his position as Secretary of Defense in 2010, Robert Gates offered a wake-up call in a speech to the Marine Corps Association in 2010: “It [is] time to redefine the purpose and size of the Marine Corps.” The perception
even then was that the Marine Corps had become too big, too heavy, and too far removed from its maritime roots…

– Breaking Defense – The US presence in the remote northern Australian port of Darwin will soar from its current 250 troops to 1,000 next year and ultimately to 2,200, granting a full Marine Expeditionary Unit an effective base of operations.

– National Defense – Analysts predict that as Navy and Marine Corps forces expand their presence in the Asia-Pacific region, they will face so-called “anti-access” threats from emerging powers such as a China. But Marine leaders in the region do not fear such scenarios, and believe that by establishing close ties with Asian allies, the United States will have access when it needs it, said Brig. Gen. Richard L. Simcock, deputy commander of Marine Forces Pacific. The command is the Corps’ largest, with approximately 83,000 Marines and sailors.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – A combat commander reflects on mission success in Afghanistan.

– DODBuzz – As the Marine Corps winds down ten years of land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more fully returns to its amphibious and expeditionary origins, service planners are vigorously preparing the service for more sea basing and operations spread across wide swaths of ocean, senior Corps leaders explained.

– Washington Post – The Taliban fighters who blew up a half-dozen U.S. Marine fighter jets on a sprawling NATO base last fall were able to walk easily onto the encampment because patrols of the perimeter had been scaled back and watchtowers left unmanned, according to senior military officials.

– San Diego Union Tribune – Miramar general talks Afghan hand-off, accountability after Bastion attack.