Defense
The new army, senior military leaders say, must become more nimble, its officers more savvy, its engagements more nuanced and almost certainly shorter. The lessons of the Arab Spring weigh heavily on war planners, with an array of threats looming in the Middle East and elsewhere. A high premium is being placed on devising the proper use of Special Forces, drones and cyber capabilities – Washington Post
Even though the administration’s strategic guidance swears off “large-scale, prolonged stability operations” while emphasizing air and naval forces, the lessons that ground troops learned in Afghanistan and Iraq will remain vitally relevant, both because we will still do stability operations in the future and because those skills apply to other kinds of conflicts as well, declared a senior advisor to the Marine Corps Commandant. – AOL Defense
The “Chairman’s Action Group” is a team of 18 little-known but highly influential advisors — though they prefer not to be called that — working directly for Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Col. Troy Thomas, special assistant to the chairman and director of the CAG, sat with the E-Ring on Friday for a rare on-the-record interview to help explain. – The E-Ring
Two academics debated for about 90 minutes about sequestration and job losses, but the “debate” took the form of most sequestration-focused conversation: There was little agreement on anything other than that automatic, across-the-board cuts are a bad idea. – Defense News
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is launching an investigation into the Obama administration’s guidance that helped persuade defense contractors not to issue layoff notices this year due to across-the-board defense cuts. – DEFCON Hill
A new survey found that more than half of the public opposes cutting defense spending in order to reduce the deficit. – DEFCON Hill
The U.S. Air Force will continue to investigate the oxygen concentration levels in F-22 Raptor cockpits in the wake of reports about fluctuations of those numbers noted during studies of recent pilot breathing problems. – Aviation Week
The War
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups want Congress to overhaul a rule that all cargo shipped to the United States from foreign ports be scanned for security. – The Hill’s On the Money
The leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, said on Saturday that a film depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a buffoon, a womanizer and a child molester showed that Washington was waging a “crusader Zionist war” against Muslims and he called for more protests outside American embassies. – Reuters
Nunn-Lugar
A wise next step would be to negotiate a replacement agreement that would better fit Russia’s revival, keeping both countries engaged and focused on the unfinished business. That might be difficult in the current political environment, but Nunn-Lugar stood the test of time over two decades, and it is too soon to give up on its mission. – Washington Post
Cybersecurity
The U.S. Defense Department is shifting its policy stance on cyber threats, hoping that the threat of offense can work as an effective defense. – Defense News
Schmidt intimated cyber war could be closer than anyone thinks. Yet identity, privacy rules and cultural resistance still complicate the technological landscape and cybersecurity ability. – AOL Defense
