War on the Rocks

As the old adage goes, “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” Military operations are utterly dependent on complex supply chains to move food, fuel, and other essential products across long distances and through contested environments to reach the warfighter. These vital supply lines are fragile at every stage: production concentrated in a single facility can...

During a 2022 wargame I ran, bilateral planners reached a familiar barrier. U.S. forces needed to disperse from concentrated bases before the adversary’s first missile salvo. Participants believed Japan could grant emergency access to private land only after an attack, which would be too late — the authority’s trigger was also its deadline.This appeared to be a hard political...

In 2024, James Barnett wrote, “A Port Deal Puts the Horn of Africa on the Brink,” where he argued that tensions in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia threaten to escalate into a broader regional conflict if not contained. Two years later, with U.S. attention largely diverted to other areas of concern, we asked James to revisit his arguments.Image: Joseph Rullo via DVIDSIn yo...

“I wanted disciplined but not regimented thinking. Commanders must encourage intellectual risk-taking to preclude a lethargic environment. Leaders must shelter those challenging nonconformists and mavericks who make institutions uncomfortable; otherwise you wash out innovation.”— James Mattis & Bing West, Call Sign ChaosFor the last decade, the Pentagon has had the author...

In late 2023, Ukraine’s military leadership faced an institutional choice: establish a dedicated branch of the armed forces for unmanned systems or integrate drones into existing branches. Most senior officers I knew opposed the separate force, and their strongest argument was sound within classical doctrine. Each branch of service corresponds to a distinct domain of war: The...