Over the past four months everyone has become an expert on the failings of the Russian army, air force and navy. In particular, it is well known that Russian equipment is junk, their leadership is nearly worthless, the troops don’t get enough training and the morale is so bad that whole units refuse to fight. […]

Accidents don’t just happen, God isn’t to be blamed, You made a bad decision, No matter how it’s named. No one told you to spend money, That bills would come due is known, And governments are no smarter, Wars don’t start on their own. Printing presses don’t print money, Politicians ordered it done, Everyone knew […]

Thick and hot, it clings to me, I am wrapped up in her arms, Not a single creature stirs, I am smothered in her charms. Lilies, daffodils, azaleas, Already bloomed, petals disappear, Fertile land, green, lush, Saucy, sultry Summer is here. Just the faintest insect buzz, Else the silence is most complete, Not the merest […]

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 […]