US Navy – Navy training is about to undergo a profound change.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy developing plans to deploy, train overseas with foreign fleets

US Coast Guard – How the Coast Guard is supporting US Navy operations around the world.

• Sea Power: Aquidneck Probes Iraqi Shipwrecks for Arms, Spies

US Marines – The Marines enter Liberia.

• Washington Post: With Flourish, Marines Enter Monrovia

US Navy – How the lack of a Secretary of the Navy is hurting the Navy.

• Virginian Pilot: Bush team appears in no hurry to name Navy candidate

US Marines – By demonstrating knowledge, concern, and respect for the Islam religion, Marines will make better ëambassadorsí when in Muslim countries.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Operations in the Muslim World ó A Clash or a Celebration of Civilizations

US Marines – More Marines prepare to go ashore in Liberia.

• Washington Post: U.S. to Send 200 Troops To Liberia
• BBC: US troops set to land in Monrovia

North Korean Navy – A detailed look at how North Korea smuggles Scud missiles via the sea.

• Washington Post: On N. Korean Freighter, a Hidden Missile Factory

US Navy – Cdr. Doug Denneny describes what it was like to be “on the first wave of ‘shock and awe'” as he led the initial Navy and Marine Corps attack on Baghdad from the air.

• Sea Power: In My Own Words

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan detains a North Korean vessel carrying supplies for making rockets.

• Christian Science Monitor: Ship’s seizure sends warning to N. Korea

US Coast Guard – In spite of increasing responsibilities in homeland security, Coast Guard forces remain committed to and equipped to support expeditionary operations.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: What Was the Coast Guard Doing in Iraq?

US Navy – The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group remains off of Liberia.

• Virginian Pilot: Norfolk ships briefly approach Liberian coast

US Navy – The Ohio-class SSGNs will do more than just fire cruise missiles.

• Sea Power: Ohio-class SSGNs: Experimental Test Beds for Future Attack Subs

Russian Navy – Russia is constructing the world’s deepest diving and quietest nuclear submarine.

• The Hindu: Russia builds world’s deepest submarine

US Marines – The Marines get a new helmet.

• Copley News Service: Marines ready to issue new, improved helmets

Background – Training – How the US military is outsourcing some of its training activities to civilian firms today; and how this most likely will increase tremendously in the future.

• Aviation Week: Arizona Co. with Fleet of A-4 Skyhawks Taps Huge Training Market

Background – Information Warfare – The first acknowledgements of how the US undermined Iraq’s military before the war.

• New York Times: U.S. Moved to Undermine Iraqi Military Before War
  

Background – Iraq – Having assumed responsibility for the physical and political reconstruction of an Arab state in the heart of the Middle East, the United States has yet to clearly articulate how this task is to be accomplished. Its success or failure will have wide-ranging strategic implications for Americaís relationship with the Arab/Islamic world, the war on terrorism, WMD proliferation, oil prices, and the political stability of friends and enemies alike. CDI Research Analyst Dr. Michael Donovan argues that the stakes for the United States have never been higher.

• Center for Defense Information: Iraqi Reconstruction Update No. 1: A Rough Start

Royal Navy – Iraqi’s continue to smuggle oil out of Iraq.

• BBC: Navy seizes smuggled Iraqi oil

Canadian Navy – A serious fire occurs aboard HMCS Ottawa.

• Times Colonist: Crew fights major blaze in frigate’s engine room

Background – American Warfighting – “The American way of war” refers to the grinding strategy of attrition that U.S. generals traditionally employed to prevail in combat. But that was then. Spurred by dramatic advances in information technology, the new American way of war relies on speed, maneuver, flexibility, and surprise. This approach was put on display in the invasion of Iraq and should reshape what the military looks like.

• Foreign Affairs: The New American Way of War

Royal Australian Navy – More problems with the Collins-class submarines.

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Navy recalls Collins Class submarine fleet

Taiwanese Navy – China probes Taiwan yet again.

• Taipei Times: Spy ship off southern coast

US Coast Guard – Deepwater is more important than ever to the Coast Guard.

• Sea Power: Need for Deepwater Rises as CG Workload Expands

US Navy – The Navy considers using blimps for anti-terrorism applications.

• Associated Press: U.S. Navy See Blimps As Anti-Terror Tool

US Marines – We are Marines who are also logisticians, not logisticians who are also Marines.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Excellence in Logistics Supporting Excellence in Warfighting
  

Background – Military Policy – Dr. Nikolai Zlobin, CDI Senior Fellow and Director of CDI’s Russia and Asia Programs, argues that changes in technology, political structures, threats and social conditions require a re-evaluation of security policy.

• Center for Defense Information: A New Military Policy for a New World

US Marines – The first few Marines arrive in Liberia.

• Associated Press: Team of Seven Marines Lands in Liberia

Taiwanese Navy – Is Taiwan serious about paying for its own defense?

• Washington Times: Unfilled order for subs casts doubt on defense posture

Background – Liberia – As the US considers sending peacekeepers to Liberia, an in-depth review of the relationship between the US and Liberia.

• The Atlantic: Our Liberian Legacy

US Navy – What is involved in decomissioning the aircraft carrier USS Constellation.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Retiring America’s Flagship

US Navy – Problems with the arresting cables on the USS Ronald Reagan.

• Virginian Pilot: Arresting-cable problems delay carrier Reagan’s certification

US Navy – The Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship may have found a new lease on life.

• Sea Power: Cyclone Ships May Find New Life in War on Terrorism

Background – Liberia – James F. Dunnigan’s analysis of the situation in Liberia.

• StrategyPage: Lost in Liberia

US Navy – The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group is off of Liberia.

• CNN: Peacekeepers expect Taylor to leave power

US Navy – The USS John F. Kennedy comes out of overhaul.

• Associated Press: Carrier John F. Kennedy coming back to life in Fla.

Royal Navy – More on how the Royal Navy may be forced to downgrade their aircraft carrier plans.

• Jane’s: Cost concerns force UK to consider smaller carrier

US Coast Guard – The Integrated Deepwater System project is under way, and will change the face of Coast Guard aviation as it introduces new systemsósuch as CASA twin-engine maritime patrol aircraftó and upgrades legacy aircraft.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Coast Guard Aviation Gets a New Look

Background – Asymetrical Warfare – Yet another way to think about asymetrical warfare.

• The Guardian: A worm’s eye view

US Marines – The latest on the MV-22 Osprey.

• SeaPower: Future Outlook Bright as Osprey Flies Through DOD Review

Background – CENTCOM – Thomas Ricks on the new Commander of Central Command.

• Washington Post: Centcom’s Renaissance Man

Background – Al Queda – An interesting review of why we have not found Bin Laden yet.

• The New Yorker: The Search for Osama
• The New Yorker: Questions and Answers with the author

Background – History – ëThe storm broke suddenly, about four oíclock in the morning. About six battalions of the enemy launched a ëdo-or-dieí counterattack preceded by intense mortar fire. Approximately a battalion of this force struck the positions of the [M]arines on Fonte Hill, with other hostile units hitting the line to [the] left and right in the zones of the 3d and 21st Marines. About two hours of fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued with the enemy coming in apparently never ending waves.í

• Marine Corps Gazette: The Battle of Fonte Hill, Guam, 25ñ26 July 1944

International Naval News – The latest news on the Indian, Greek, Canadian and Royal Navies.

• SeaPower: Indian Navy Orders Three Vikrant Carriers

US Navy – A very interesting paper based on lessons learned from high speed vessel concept development and experimentation.

• Naval Warfare Development Command: High Speed Vessel (HSV): Adaptability, Modularity and Flexibility for the Joint Force

Royal Marines – The British Army wants to take over the Royal Marines.

• Daily Telegraph: Army chiefs are out to capture the Marines

US Navy – The pros and cons of e-mail for naval professionals.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: E-Mail is a Two Edged Sword

Background – Lessons Learned in Iraq. – A very interesting pair of lessons learned articles regarding infantry equipment as used in Iraq. It is fascinating to read how the soldiers and Marines end up buying a large amount of their own equipment because what they are issued by the government is not adequate.

• US Army: Operation Iraqi Freedom – PEO Soldier Lessons Learned
• US Marine Corps: Equipment Reviews From Iraq (to read this you must register for Yahoo Groups)

Royal Australian Navy – A tour of HMAS Manoora, anchored off of the Solomon Islands.

• BBC: The floating sentry to the Solomons
  

Royal Australian Navy – An interesting proposed design for a miniature aircraft carrier.

• The Examiner: Incat’s aircraft carrier plans

US Marines – The Marine Corps must seek to expand its capabilities while simultaneously reinforcing our traditional role as expeditionary experts.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Fix Recon, USSOCom, and the Future Of the Corps: Food for Thought

Royal Australian Navy – Australia sends more ships to the Solomons.

• Sydney Morning Herald: More Australian navy ships sent to Solomons

US Navy – Unmanned underwater vehicles move to the forefront of naval warfare.

• SeaPower: UUVs Will Foster Fundamental Change in Naval Warfare

Background – Iraq – Another optimistic view of what the US is accomplishing in Iraq, by Paul Gigot.

• Wall Street Journal: ‘This Was a Good Thing to Do’-
  Iraqis’ greatest fear is that America will cut and run.

US Marines – A chronicle of the first – and last – embedded reporter’s adventures with the US Marines in Iraq.

• Virginian Pilot: A reporter’s journey

Royal Navy – A first pass at the UK’s lessons learned from Iraq. Unfortunately this document is only available in Adobe PDF format.

• Ministry of Defence: Operations in Iraq – First Reflections

Background – Liberia – An analysis of what the Marines face once they get to Liberia.

• BBC: Uncertainties of US Liberia mission

Background – Solomons – Why Australia is intervening in the Solomon Islands.

• National Post: Australian muscle visits ‘friendly’ isles
  – PM fears Solomon Islands might become terror haven

Background – Civil-Military relationships – I just reread this essay by Robert Kaplan and found it to be especially timely, although written 7 years ago. An interesting look at the military’s relationship with the rest of America???”At Fort Leavenworth, where the Army trains its top brass, captains and colonels study high-tech warfare, read the classics, and ponder what will be left to defend in a transnational world???”

• The Atlantic: Fort Leavenworth and the Eclipse of Nationhood

US Marines – The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group is ordered to sail to Liberia and await further orders.

• Washington Post: Marines Will Be Sent to Liberia
• BBC: US sends warships to Liberia

US Navy – A new affordable cruise missile, called The Affordable Weapon, is being developed.

• Washington Times: Inside the Ring

Background – Syria – A look at how Syria has been aiding the war on terror???and why they are not any longer.

• The New Yorker: The Syrian Bet

US Navy – Battlespace engineering brings new realism to dockside training.

• SeaPower: The Synthetic Torpedo Meets the Virtual Submarine

Royal Australian Navy – HMAS Manoora lands troops on Guadalcanal’s Red Beach.

• BBC: Peacekeepers arrive in Solomons
• CNN: First troops arrive in Solomons

US Marines – More Marines are landed at the embassy in Liberia.

• Associated Press: Helicopters Bring More Marines to Liberia

US Marines – The use of naval mobile construction battalions (NMCBs) is a needed force multiplier, not an engineer redundancy.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Navy SeaBees: The MAGTF ëStingí The Marine Corps Needs

US Navy – From its inception, the Virginia-class has been an innovative platform for both its warfighting capabilities and for its unique and effective design, development, construction, and testing processes.

• SeaPower: The Virginia Attack Boat Brings New Potency to the Fleet

Background – Japan – Can Japan shoulder a greater burden of its defense?

• New York Times: Japan Faces Burden: Its Own Defense