Defense & Aerospace (September 2010)

This month, as the United States begins its 10th year in Afghanistan, the newly formed Afghanistan Study Group published “A New Way Forward: Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan.”

In the West, water law is based on the concept of prior appropriation, commonly referred to as “first in time, first in line.” It means that if you’re the first to put water to beneficial use, you will remain the first in line to reap the benefits.

Over the years, our national security and defense programs have developed and adapted to address the threats and conflicts facing us both at home and abroad.  We have developed new strategies, new technologies, and in the process, the training, experience and role of the American warrior has evolved, as well. But the evolution of our warfighting systems and capabilities is not enough — the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs must also make changes and enact reforms to ensure veterans and their families are better prepared and better served when the veteran returns from war. 

Only a weekend after members of Congress returned to their districts for August recess, the fiscal blitzkrieg on our military began.

In 1608, Captain John Smith recognized the importance of building a fort at Point Comfort in what is today the Virginia City of Hampton. He constructed Fort Algernourne with the mission of protecting the colony at Jamestown. After the War of 1812, Fort Monroe was constructed at the same site to guard the entrance to Hampton Roads and the several port cities sharing its waters. These events began Virginia’s long partnership with the nation’s military and national-security agencies. 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s abrupt announcement in early August that he plans to arbitrarily cut defense contracting by 10 percent per year for three years and close the U.S. Joint Forces Command raises many questions that should have been addressed before the secretary put this process into motion.