Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) writes: Two characteristics define the security environment facing the United States in the 21st century. One is that we face a wider array of serious challenges than ever before. The second is that the pace of change is accelerating. This combination of many threats changing ever more rapidly tests our traditional notions of armed conflict, as well as the organizations and systems we have relied upon to defend the country for the past 70 years. – The Catalyst
By Wes Hammond, Strategy Bridge: “The balkanization of the Navy’s personnel structure threatens the fleet’s ability to conduct naval maneuver warfare in the emerging contested sea control environment. For over 70 years (and particularly after the Cold War ended), U.S. naval supremacy has allowed the U.S. Navy to view the sea as a sanctuary to operate from. It could focus on leveraging the advantages of sea control to project power and influence, as opposed to fighting to achieve it.”