In a recent article, former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster commented that: The longer the United States operates under the delusion that restraint will appease authoritarian regimes that have made their hostile intentions abundantly clear, Russia and China will become bolder and the risk of a catastrophic war—which Ukraine was the prelude for—will only grow. […]

The idea of using a crisis to make decisions that would otherwise never be allowed is not new. Kings and pharaohs and emperors of all stripes have been doing such things for millennia. Some have gone so far as to generate crises in order to provide the opportunity to “solve the crisis” and in solving […]

My Muse walked the dogs this morning… ’Tis my own heavenly chorus, Must be a hundred birds chirping away, As I walk the dogs at sunrise, These little angels welcome the new day. Busy little hummingbirds humming, As they dart from flower to flower, The most remarkable aviators, I marvel at their skill and power. […]

Editor’s Note: Arrias steps away from Ukraine today…a brilliant sunny one tinged with memory for those who gave their all… – Vic DoD’s Augean Stables If you have been keeping up with current events you will know that there is a war going on in Europe, a big, ugly, high-end war with one of America’s […]

We sat and joked about the day, And then out the door we went, We all addressed our own missions, But he was part of that two percent. Another time, another friend, Off target, headed back to the ship, In the dark he flew into the sea, Into death’s cold, cold grip. Some good friends, […]

The Clint Eastwood classic “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” ends with a three-way duel. Of course, there is no way to win a “three-way duel” except to cheat. Which is all part of the plot… It also mirrors where the US finds itself. The current national security discussion in the US seems to […]

Two shipmates sit and talk, Sipping sweet Iced Tea, Crab soup, Po’ Boys, Sandwiches, Tales of their lives at sea. Ships and ports, crises and wars, Far too many to name, Forty years since they first met, Much changes, everything’s the same. Several years since they last met But it feels just like yesterday, Serve […]

They stood against a rain of bombs, Russian siege guns pounded away, Tanks and fire thrown at them, Day after day after day. Their President said they could surrender, He said they’d done enough, But they would not bow to the foeman, To Russian dreams they were MacDuff. Some say they are a disreputable sort, […]

We want Ukraine to win. But at what cost? With the prospect of spending nearly $50 billion on this war in FY22, and in all likelihood spending far more than that on Ukraine in 2023, US taxpayers – the folks who really do pay for it – are probably going to start asking: “Is that […]

If you’ve been keeping up with the news of the war in Ukraine – the Russian invasion of Ukraine – you’ll know that in the last four or five days the Ukrainian army has made a counter-attack into territory held by the Russians for two months, and are pushing the Russians back towards the Russia-Ukraine […]