Martin N. Stanton, SWJ
Introduction:
Despite the recent Orwellian attempts to “unperson” him, Robert E. Lee remains an iconic figure in American military history.

Washington Post
Secret for 20 years, a declassified report warned of military vulnerabilities to unconventional tactics that were later exploited by enemies in real conflicts in Iraq and…

Rebecca Grant, The National Interest
Because of its stealth and information characteristics, the F-35 will be the primary manned platform in the transition to teams of collaborative drones….

The US government awarded Sikorsky a $1.2bn deal to manufacture 74 more Black Hawk helicopters to meet FMS customer orders.

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Last week, Germany and the United Kingdom signed what they called a “landmark defense treaty” to boost security, investment, and employment. Under the terms of the “Trinity House Agreement,” the countries agreed to cooperate on a range of defense initiatives, including joint missile development, drone production, and maritime security.

Watch as HMS Prince of Wales returns to her hom

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What does conventional arms control mean for how wars end? Even the longest wars terminate, and many conflicts end with some kind of agreement, even if it is unconditional surrender. Yet the term unconditional surrender is, itself, misleading, although what differentiates surrendering from negotiating a surrender’s conditions may be a matter of degrees. Countries that surrender entirely are still surrendering with the understanding that conventional warfare will end: Cities will no longer be bombed, troops will no longer be shot at, and sieges will be lifted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had reasons to be pleased after his recent Balkan tour. Visiting Albania on Oct. 10, 2024, Erdoğan promised to donate an unspecified number of kamikaze drones to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the two leaders jointly opened the largest mosque in the Balkans. The next day, Erdoğan visited Belgrade, where he and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić discussed military cooperation, including a likely drone program.  Ankara’s post–Cold War engagement with the Balkans, particularly Serbs and Albanians, has followed a twisting path.

This video describes the military situation in

This video describes the military situation in

This is Chapter 11 in the Infertility Memoir. Read previous chapters here.
With our embryos now in Pennsylvania, and a plan in place, it was time to start all of the appointments as we prepared for our second transfer. Back in March, my doctor started me on birth control so that once my embryos arrived my body would be ready to start the other medications. Originally I was only supposed to be taking them for a few months, but I had been taking them for six months. By the time September 2023 came, that created an added hurdle to proceed with a natural transfer cycle.

Mark Munsell has been tapped to serve as the chief AI officer at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the spy organization announced Tuesday.
The move comes amid a broader push by the U.S. intelligence community and Defense Department to onboard more AI technologies. Last week, President Biden issued a new national security memorandum that prods the Defense Department and IC to go faster in adopting these types of capabilities. Munsell was at National Defense University where National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan rolled out the memo, according to a post on LinkedIn.

RFA Lyme Bay docks in Ghana for integration tra

The Department of Veterans Affairs is apologizing to a veteran who received a voicemail from a facility in El Paso Texas, in which VA employees can be heard speculating that the veteran was seeking to retain his 100% disability rating, when one of them says, “It’s all about the money.”
“VA deeply apologizes to this Veteran, and we are reaching out to him immediately,” VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes told Task & Purpose on Tuesday.

Ryan popped over to Quantico to speak with four marines at the forefront of major advances in marksmanship in America’s 9-1-1 force. Listen in as Maj. Steve Stephenson, Capt. Phil Williams, Gunner Josh Grayek, and Gunnery Sgt. Jude Stewart of Weapons Training Battalion explain how they are making the Marine Corps more lethal and capable than ever before. And, if you’re interested in reading more, check out their article in the Gazette, “Continuously Revolutionizing Small-Arms Lethality.” Image: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl.

Do British biscuits pass the taste test on boar

A Navy Reserve commander was sentenced to 30 months in prison for accepting thousands of dollars in bribes for a visa program reserved for Afghan nationals who worked with the U.S. government prior to the Taliban takeover of the country, federal officials said.
Jeromy Pittmann, 53, of Pensacola, Florida, accepted bribes in exchange for drafting, submitting, and verifying fake recommendations for Afghan nationals who applied for Special Immigrant Visas with the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Justice said in a release.

Trainee helicopter instructors at RAF Shawbury

The Pentagon on Tuesday released its implementation plan for the National Defense Industrial Strategy, which calls for boosting production of solid rocket motors as a “complement” to its Replicator unmanned systems initiative.
A key goal of Replicator is to help grease the wheels of the acquisition system so that the department can field thousands of “attritable autonomous” platforms to counter China’s military buildup in the Indo-Pacific.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by six Republican members of the House of Representatives, which targeted absentee ballots including those mailed home by troops and their families overseas.  The Republican legislators took issue with Pennsylvania’s process for verifying the identity of the voters behind absentee ballots..
But U.S. District Judge Christoper Conner ruled Tuesday that separating and verifying roughly 25,000 absentee ballots so close to the Nov.

Go to http://ground.

Close to 60 nations now back the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, more than a year after U.S. leadership unveiled that international norms and arms control proposal and it was accepted for adoption with partners, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. 
The Pentagon’s No.

Watch as HMS Prince of Wales returns to her hom

On Oct. 26, 1882, the village of Angoon, was home to nearly 420 Tlingit people in southeast Alaska, not far from the modern state capital of Juneau. 
But in an afternoon of shelling, looting and arson, U.S. Navy sailors destroyed the village and left the native community so bereft that many of the Tlingit people died during the subsequent winter months.
This week, the Navy formally apologized for the destruction. Rear Adm.

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In today’s digital world, social media plays a significant role in how we communicate, share experiences, and stay connected, especially for military families. While social platforms offer opportunities to foster community, network for career purposes (especially for student-athletes), and share memorable moments, they also come with risks. This is particularly true for children and teens. As military families face unique challenges such as frequent moves and distance from loved ones, maintaining a safe online presence becomes crucial.

The Molniya fixed-wing FPV drone is getting a l

After leaving the military, it can be difficult to figure out where to go without having orders. Luckily, on October 29, 2024, Navy Federal Credit Union released its 2024 Best Cities After Service list. Conducted in partnership with Sperling’s BestPlaces, the report is designed to help service members, veterans, and their families discern the best places to settle down. Four hundred cities across the country were evaluated based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics including affordability, economic health, recreational opportunity, and, of course, veteran success and wellness.

The UK Ministry of Defence have begun a recruitment process to fill a new “fully fledged” National Armaments Director (NAD) role.

QinetiQ US has received a multi-award ATS-3 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, with an estimated ceiling of $95m.

NATO Secretary-General confirms recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia and military units in the Kursk border region.

Burn it Down – Military Motivation
✓ in

Satam, The Aviationist
The CV-22B Osprey crashed following a catastrophic failure in the left-hand Prop Rotor Gear Box, triggered by a crack in one of the high-speed pinion gears…

USNI News
A bipartisan group of senators wants more details from the Navy and the White House Office of Management and Budget on a funding scheme that shipbuilders want to employ to help pay…

AFT
The upcoming B-21 Raider stealth bomber could end up having a larger role in the Air Force’s plans for future air dominance, as the service rethinks its plans for an advanced…

Jerry Hendrix & Brent Sadler, National Review
An agenda for the next president’s first hundred days

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Editor’s Note: This is part of a running series of essays by Iskander Rehman, entitled “Applied History,” which seeks, through the study of the history of strategy and military operations, to better illuminate contemporary defense challenges. Wild nations are pressing upon the Roman Empire and howling about it everywhere, and treacherous barbarians, shielded by geography, are assailing every frontier.

This video describes the military situation in

This video describes the military situation in

Gordon Carroll left an indelible mark on the film world, especially for his work in the science fiction genre on the first five Alien films. He produced such projects as Cool Hand Luke, the Oscar-winning film starring Paul Newman, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, with stars Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn, Blue Thunder with Roy Scheider and Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger. All highly legit and well-made films.

EMP is the Boogeyman lurking on the sidelines of the showdown between the PRC and the US led world systems.

Public Domain

Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP) caused by airborne nuclear blasts have been a concern since the height of the Cold War. The EMP surge could potentially knock out all electronics over a vast area of the United States.
China just conducted a test (see article below). This is not good on several possible angles.

Navy Capt. Chris “Chowdah” Hill is unapologetically bullish about elevating crew morale across every level of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier he commands, which recently returned from an extended and high-stress combat deployment in the Red Sea. 
Providing sailors with secure access to internet connectivity — explicitly for personal use — proved to be a key morale-builder during the nine months that “the Ike” was deployed, according to Hill, where they frequently faced a barrage of threats from the Iran-backed Houthis and others.

A federal lawsuit brought by six Republican members of Congress could force Pennsylvania to set aside ballots cast by U.S. troops and their families stationed overseas in next week’s election.
The Republican congressmen say that Pennsylvania should not count any overseas absentee votes — including military votes — without directly verifying the identity of the voter behind the ballot.

The Pentagon’s Chief Information Office is planning to publish new guidance and instruction for the department’s military services and components on accelerating software modernization efforts, according to a senior official.
The new document will be released “fairly shortly,” Kevin Mulvihill, acting principal deputy CIO, said Monday during the Defense Information Systems Agency’s annual forecast to industry.

The Navy is looking for options to enable its future fleets of uncrewed platforms to steam ahead even if they can’t access satellite navigation systems.
The sea service plans to add a slew of robo-ships of various shapes, sizes and mission sets to its inventory in the coming years. Last month, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti laid out a new initiative called Project 33 that aims to scale robotic and autonomous systems across the fleet by 2027 so that maritime forces will be ready for a potential war against China.

A missile is being fired at targets in Ukraine

An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter pilot etched a message of good-time island vibes in a recent flight path over Hawaii. Captured by the Flightradar24 tacking site, an Apache flying as Chaos 65 took off from Kahului Airport on the afternoon of Oct. 21 and drew a hand sign in the air before landing again, a little over an hour after takeoff.
The hand gesture is known as the Shaka, Hawaii’s official state hand gesture, and roughly symbolizes an easy-living, good-natured greeting or goodbye, like “hang loose.