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I'm not sure if having not-so-good CIA covers in foreign nations is really doing a whole lot to build international relations and influence. Kind of gives credibility to a whole bunch of totalitarian dictators who claim the US is meddling in their politics to galvanize nationalism to discredit...

The corruption within government charity organizations (both internal and external) is taught in academic settings, so it's not like it's a well-kept secret. More importantly, we often lack a transition plan to get the local population to be self-sustaining. You could imagine if a third-party...

Medicare and social security are currently net $0 for the US government because they are funded by specific taxes. Social security was actually profitable until recently. It should've been a major issue for the 2024 election cycle, but I guess we're going to wait until it goes into crisis mode...

This. But if you're going to choose Presidents, there are quite a few unused names of people that are significantly more historically significant... Madison, Adams, Grant, Wilson come to mind. In our infinite wisdom, we decided to shift fast-attack subs to states with the procurement of the...

I understand that. Almost nothing covers assisted living. It's extremely expensive and insurance companies believe that you're responsible for putting a roof over your own head. There's a supplemental medicare plan that offsets assisted living costs, but I haven't gotten far enough to crunch...

Tricare's website says it pays for at-home nursing care, to include hospice. I don't have any first-hand experience attempting to use the benefit, but at least it's in black-and-white that it should be covered. I agree that it clearly says it will not pay the cost to live at an assisted living...

Touche. I would also argue that we stagnated after the Cold War when the Soviet Union fell and we had no pacing threats. I'd also point out that the Soviet Union / Russia culturally doesn't really take its Navy very seriously outside of its submarine force... as if that wasn't self-evident by...

It does not. Unfortunately, we're married to certain assumptions despite overwhelming data do the contrary. The results have the potential to be disasterous. Like when a kid takes karate at a McDojo and suddenly realizes that the bully doesn't actually fall down after 1 punch. But maybe that's...

Fact. Not a fact. The risk of modern sensors and munitions to CVNs and aircraft requires a reliance on inorganic sensors. Perhaps too much so. So yes, the solution is to rely on platforms that don't need OTHT to execute the killchain against level 1 combatants. Right now that's submarines, but...

The same thing that happens now with manned fighters conducting strikes against near-peer warships. OTH sensors are already critical parts of our kill chain. The PRC's rapid modernization and our love for investing into platforms vice ordnance caught us flat-footed. Like I said earlier, the...

Thanks for the nostalgia from 25 years ago. Have a Shakira video.

Not relevant to modern maritime warfare. And to the extent that it is, you don't necessarily need an FA-18 or F-35 to execute the back end of the kill chain developed by an E-2. This is why the maritime fires mission is increasingly moving toward the 18xx communities, and from my view in the...

I understand just fine. The administration didn't get its wish because it faced staunch opposition in the Senate. But the point I was making is that someone who was actually President in the 21st century and within the last 10 years didn't think carriers were as important as good ol'e slick...

Against L1 combatants... yes, they do.

Great 30 year old example. In 2019, the DoD wanted to decommission the Truman early and use the savings towards developing unmanned systems and hypersonic missiles. Today it's CENTCOM and INDOPACOM fighting over getting enough DDGs to do everything we need them to do.

A warship is essentially a floating (or purposefully sinking) artillery platform. Manned aircraft serve to extend the range / accuracy of that artillery. But if you can target a ship with a satellite or UAV and launch a mid-range ASCM for a fraction of the cost, you don't need manned aircraft...

I've been paying very close attention. You have your definitions crossed.

The long-range guided missile with OTHT is what will kill the CVN. If you don't need to launch a jet to fly 500-700 miles to attack an enemy fleet or SAG because you can shoot missiles from a DDG that outrange the enemy... well, then you don't need carriers. We're still clinging to short-range...

The closest thing I could find to a pure Navy "war" is the "quasi-war" between USA and France over the Carribean Islands. Even in the Navy's magnum opus of the Pacific campaign, the main effort was the island hopping land force. We like to pat ourselves on the back over the battles of Midway...

According to our lord and savior, Clausewitz, you are wrong. Aside from the fact that more than 6 senior Army leaders looked at me like I have a dick growing out my forehead when I asked about a Taiwan land campaign... meaning, the service isn't appreciably planning for it on any large scale...

Wars are fought on land. The Navy has been, and always will be, a supporting effort. I recognize that opinion / reality is very unpopular these days IRT the state of the Pacific.

It sounds like you all think I was making excuses for the actions of the President rather than criticizing them. I don't know why you got that impression.

Well, since he was the President for the first 10 months of the pandemic and spent most of his time on camera complaining about the people who work for him... nope.

The sub community doesn't want DH screening to be selective. The board only exists to weed out the people who absolutely cannot hack it in the military and/or people with disciplinary issues. If there's a good retention year, DH tours simply get shorter. When retention is down, DH tours get longer.

That's fair when it comes to immediate actions. But proving China was the culprit early in the pandemic could have... 1. Caused the international community to put more pressure on the PRC to support the global response. 2. Bolstered the U.S. in its pseudo-Cold War with China by... a...

Wasn't really 'conspiracy theorists.' It was moreso that the MSM and social media execs silenced anyone who dissented with the federal government's messaging, including reputable professional healthcare providers and scientists, for 'spreading misinformation.' Russia and China don't need an IO...

The problem is DC is run by a bunch of 60+ year old men with an inflated sense of importance who pearl clutch over adopting any sort of change, because change threatens the fundamental framework of business rules that they leveraged to success. Bill Clinton famously remarked that he sent one...

This is a disingenuous argument. Yes, if you dig through government documents you can find the U.S. policy going back over a decade. I don't think that's what robav8er was referring to. The White House has a press secretary. The DoD has a public affairs department. Wouldn't it be great if they...

Also... you know how AI and unmanned systems are the modern DoD R&D flavor of the day? Biotech had that spot about 5-7 years ago.

According to the joint and navy planning processes - yes.

I'm not familiar with the specifics of Stanford's CS program. Having said that, elite programs aren't about leaving out information. It's the difference between learning from people who used cutting edge search algorithms for Google and encryption to protect sensitive information for large...

Only when your lapse of knowledge conforms with broader society. You know why people pay so much to go to Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc.? They're getting lectures from esteemed experts on leading edge theories that you won't find in an AI model. While that's an extreme example, most of what you...

Chat GPT makes up fake sources, and this issue is well known. If your teachers have only a sliver of awareness of youth culture, a simple lookup of your "sources" can lead you to academic integrity issues.

What year did mankind figure out how to build vessels capable of navigating a 150 mile strait?

Transporting 1,000,000 troops over ~150 miles is not "one of the most complex naval operations ever conducted." It's an operation that could have been completed 700 years ago. Just stop believing the DoD hype here. Preventing a Chinese invasion is like being a member of the Wehrmacht trying to...

The Russians haven't employed their "A" game because their "A" game is the invasion force ready to seize the Suwarki Gap. Similar to when the U.S. fought in Vietnam with draftees while using volunteer forces to fortify Europe against a potential Soviet invasion, Russia needs to be mindful of...

Putin is extremely popular and moreso after the war. Imagine if the US saw every opposition candidate to the current President as a KGB implant. Now imagine that foreign support to the opposition in a war further solidifies that belief. Basically, imagine that 70% of Americans suspected that...

The US policies under debate are continuing to arm Ukraine for a protracted conflict or withdraw support to bring Zelenskyy to the negotiation table. Russia has over 5 million fighting aged (18-40) males, and they're using people into their 50s. They've lost about 1% of them. To a casualty...

The argument to negotiate a truce isn't about isolationism, although it makes a good sound bite on TV for voters who can't understand nuance. It would be very dangerous if Russia spun up its full capabilities instead of sending convicts and ethnically undesirable draftees into a conflict...

In a general sense, only when you have innovated a new widget that serves the same function. In the case of nuclear weapons, that entails developing some other explosive device with the destructive power of a megaton of TNT without the associated radioactive fallout.

A nice idea, but practically impossible. First, every ASEAN nation thinks that U.S. interest in the region is transitory, and only exists insofar as we decide that it's economically beneficial to us. Because of this, they are not motivated to rock the boat with China, let alone agree to take up...

The micro level relationships among world leaders is what I'm talking about and can be very significant. Do you have a link? Whenever I search I just get dozens of clickbait links about his gaffe wrt Iraq vs Ukraine.

To the extent that Russia thinks we are a potential military threat - ok? We always say we build our military to counter capabilities, not intent. I don't think Hitler repeats of Operation Barbarossa motivate Putin or keep him up at night. There's nothing in his national security strategies to...

Read how Presidents during the Cold War had to interact with Russian leaders to reach agreements. The ones who were successful knew how to exploit their egos. The ones who puffed their chests and threw insults provoked negative responses.

Of the current people who tried to run, I think Haley had the best shot. Here's former chancellor Merkel's perspective on how it was important to try to negotiate with Putin. “I would feel very bad if I had said: ‘There’s no point talking to that man [Putin]." Further, she highlighted how...

I said several posts ago that Trump is not a good statesman.

Creating trust is a necessary condition for negotiations. In the not too distant past, I had a beer or 6 with some allied officers from Eastern and Northern European nations. After getting them to relax and to my surprise, their stereotype of Americans are lying opportunists and cannot be...

We have had several political leaders who conducted successful, deescalatory negotiations and treaties with Russia since Operation Balbarossa commenced in 1941. I don't think it's the impossible feat you make it out to be. I do agree it takes a cultural knowledge of what makes them tick...

Undoubtedly, eastern bloc countries wanted the security of US military power to ensure their sovereignty. It also prevents Russia from infiltrating their political elections to install Russian friendly leaders that would revert them back to pseudo-satellite states. No contention here that their...