Author Archives: Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
National Defense: The Case For The Democrats Issue BriefA Jan. 24 letter praised the U.S. Postal Service for being “debt-free.”
Yet the Postal Service has more than $70 billion of unfunded liabilities: money it doesn’t have but has promised to its employees down the road. Praising [Read More...]
Army Communications: Networking, or Just Not Working? Issue BriefArmy Secretary Francis J. Harvey is the most capable manager to occupy that post in modern times. Originally tapped to oversee network integration in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. (material sciences) [Read More...]
Secrets of the Quadrennial Review – Revealed! Issue BriefThe cat, as they say, is out of the bag. In a front-page story today, Defense News reveals virtually every interesting fact about the Quadrennial Defense Review report headed for Capitol Hill in February that wasn’t already reported [Read More...]
Is The Army’s Future Force A Mirage? Issue BriefThe U.S. Army is currently engaged in the herculean task of sustaining a military force at war on multiple fronts while simultaneously transforming that force into a more agile and networked organization. Amazingly enough, it seems to be [Read More...]
Iraq: The Army’s Weapons are Wearing Out Fast Issue BriefAnyone who follows coverage of U.S. military operations in Iraq can see that the Army’s personnel system is experiencing considerable stress. Less apparent to many observers is what the war is doing to the Army’s inventory of combat [Read More...]
2007 Defense Budget: Changes in Aircraft Programs Issue BriefThe fiscal 2007 budget request that defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld carries to Congress next month will contain a series of changes to military aircraft programs. Here are the most important changes.
F-35 Engines. Policymakers want to terminate development [Read More...]
Weather Satellite Faces Clouded Forecast Issue BriefThe United States has just endured one of the worst hurricane seasons on record. Whether you believe it was God’s Will or global warming that wrecked New Orleans, it seems clear that weather patterns are changing. Fortunately, the [Read More...]
Rumsfeld’s Legacy: WIN-T Winning the Race to Netcentricity Issue BriefIf you listen closely to the whispers of political intrigue in Washington, you can sense the end of Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure as defense secretary approaching. Past rumors of Rumsfeld’s demise have been, as Mark Twain put it, greatly [Read More...]
QDR Climax: Friendly Fire Hits Joint Strike Fighter Issue BriefNext Monday, the senior management of the nation’s military establishment will gather to decide what it has learned from the Quadrennial Defense Review. That congressionally-mandated assessment of strategy and forces has stumbled through a year-long series of stunningly [Read More...]
Ten Ways Iraq Is Like Vietnam (And One Way It Isn’t) Issue BriefCritics of the U.S. counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq complain that the military relies too much on metrics like enemy body counts to measure success. But national media maintain their own body count of U.S. deaths, cited daily in [Read More...]