Defense and Security Studies Commons^™

Revive: Getting Medical Supplies And Expertise Right In Distributed Maritime Operations, Seth Reini, Jonathan J. Haase

Joint Force Quarterly

In recent conflicts, military medical providers have set impressive records for battlefield care, setting a “golden hour” precedent. In a conflict with the People's Republic of China, however, the “golden hour” aspiration will be severely challenged if not untenable. Here, the paradigm will be Distributed Maritime Operations, air superiority will be challenged, and vast distances exist between treatment locations. With patients potentially being held for hours or days, updated medical treatment strategies, logistics methodologies, and transport capabilities will be necessary. This paper focuses on leveraging Military Sealift Command platforms for multi-mission usage by transporting medical supplies to Navy ships in …

Increasing Operational Access: A Strategy For The Western Pacific, Shaun F. Callahan

Joint Force Quarterly

This article presents a comprehensive argument for why the United States must enhance its military and strategic mobility in the Western Pacific to counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) growing regional assertiveness. The article contends that maintaining a Free and Open Indo-Pacific requires a whole-of-government approach to operational access, blending diplomatic outreach, economic engagement, strategic communication, and military posture. Current U.S. basing and access agreements, rooted in Cold War dynamics, no longer suffice for effective power projection in today’s contested environment. To enable integrated deterrence and flexible crisis response, the United States must expand distributed access points, deepen partnerships, …

T-Birrd: Transforming The Future Of Military And Humanitarian Logistics, Jacob R. Bright

Joint Force Quarterly

Terrestrial Based Inserted Rocket Resource Delivery (T-BIRRD), Also Known as “Rocket Cargo” or “Point to Point Delivery”, represents a significant leap in the field of logistics, leveraging the capabilities of large commercial rockets to enhance the responsiveness and effectiveness of military operations and humanitarian efforts. This paper delves into the strategic advantages, operational controls, and legal implications associated with the use of T-BIRRD, framing it as a critical evolution in logistical practices.

This paper refers to the capability of rocket cargo delivery as T-BIRRD, a name chosen for its specificity, and clear differentiation from existing systems using rockets to deliver …

Finding Deepfakes: A Tabletop Exercise About Ai, Decisionmaking, And Algorithmic Performance, Andrea Brennan, Gwyneth Sutherlin, Lisa Pagano-Wallace, Hermie Mendoza

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores a first-of-its-kind tabletop exercise designed to expose U.S. military and national security professionals to the real-world challenges of using AI tools like deepfake detectors in high-stakes decisionmaking. Set in a fictional scenario involving a flawed AI system, participants confronted algorithmic bias, technical uncertainty, and ethical dilemmas, revealing how AI limitations can erode trust in intelligence products. Drawing from student and faculty reflections, the article highlights the importance of preparing future leaders to scrutinize and manage AI performance failures not only as technical bugs but as complex, systemic issues with social and operational consequences. The exercise underscored the …

The Philosophical Foundations Of The Civil-Military Relationship, John Mark Mattox

Joint Force Quarterly

This article reexamines civil-military relations through a philosophical lens, arguing that they are far more complex than simple military subordination to civilian authority. Drawing on foundational models from Hobbes, Plato, medieval Christendom, and Clausewitz, it reveals a recurring tripartite structure of society: rulers, warriors, and citizens bound together by mutual responsibility and moral obligation. From Plato’s emphasis on virtue and justice to Clausewitz’s "paradoxical trinity" of people, military, and government, the article shows that the strength of any state depends on trust and collaboration among all three. True civil-military relations, it concludes, must be understood as a dynamic moral partnership …

Building Strategic Lethality: Special Operations Models For Joint Force Learning And Leader Development, Spencer B. Meredith Iii

Joint Force Quarterly

This article examines how U.S. Joint Special Operations Forces (SOF), particularly through SAG-U and CJSOTF-10, have rapidly adapted to support Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, offering a model for future joint force innovation. SAG-U emerged as a key logistics and coordination hub, integrating NATO and interagency partners to manage complex, high-stakes supply chains. Meanwhile, CJSOTF-10 and its subordinate SOTF-10.1 shifted from traditional training and advising roles to rapid tactical adaptation, virtual assistance, and technological integration to meet evolving battlefield demands. The creation of the Remote Advise and Assist Cell (RAAC) illustrates how remote support and real-time data can bridge operational …

From High Seas To Highlands: Framing U.S. Defense Strategy With Southeast Asia’S Geography, Caitlin P. Irby

Joint Force Quarterly

The 2022 United States National Security Strategy prioritized competing with China and this focus seems likely to continue with the new administration.[i] Southeast Asia’s growing economic relevance and proximity to China mean that the US can secure significant gains on numerous goals by focusing on this region. To support developing an appropriate strategy, this paper identifies what features make Southeast Asia relevant to the US, potential flashpoints for conflict, and outlines the characteristics of a potential conflict. With this information the author then proposes specific steps to ensure that the United States military maintains the capability to protect US …

Rightsizing The Pla Air Force: Revisiting An Analytic Framework, Lauren Edson, Phillip C. Saunders

Joint Force Quarterly

This article evaluates the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 2007 to 2025 using the Saunders-Quam framework, which identifies four core trade-offs: changes in roles and missions, domestic versus foreign procurement, high-tech versus low-tech systems, and combat versus support aircraft. While the framework remains a useful analytical tool, it underestimated the Chinese Communist Party’s willingness to fund expensive modernization efforts and the rapid advancements in China’s defense industrial base. The article identifies key factors missing from the original framework such as doctrinal shifts, increased emphasis on counterintervention, maritime expansion, and the rise of unmanned systems. It …

Is Mobilization A Major Question?, Evan J. Ward

Joint Force Quarterly

The combination of the Supreme Court’s new Major Questions doctrine and its decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo threatens to hobble the Executive Branch’s ability to effect a major mobilization under the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act followed the War Powers Acts of WWII to consolidate and update the presidential powers that were so famously marshaled to mobilize the arsenal of democracy. The Department of Defense has long planned to rely on Defense Production Act authority to mobilize should the need arise, but the risk of litigation brought about by new legal developments means that the authorities the …

Executive Summary, William T. Eliason

Joint Force Quarterly

In this issue, JFQ Editor in Chief William T. Eliason reflects on the enduring value of joint professional military education (JPME) and the journal’s role in shaping informed national security leaders. He emphasizes the importance of history, critical thinking, and learning from past conflicts, principles rooted in Clausewitzian theory, as essential to preparing for future challenges. The issue’s Forum section tackles readiness for great power competition, especially with China, examining mobilization, PLA airpower, and Southeast Asia’s strategic geography. Additional features explore leadership development in special operations, civil-military relations, AI and deepfake threats, space-based logistics, Western Pacific access strategies, distributed medical …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 118, 3rd Quarter 2025, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

This issue of Joint Force Quarterly addresses key strategic, operational, and doctrinal questions shaping the future of the joint force. Articles examine mobilization as a strategic imperative, PLA Air Force modernization, Southeast Asia’s geographic role in U.S. defense strategy, and leader development for strategic lethality. Contributions also explore AI’s role in detecting deepfakes, the civil-military relationship, and innovations in military logistics and cyber force design. A retrospective on the Joint Warfighting Concept and critical reviews of recent defense literature provide context and continuity. Collectively, these pieces offer insight into how the joint force must evolve to meet emerging challenges.

Spotting And Preventing Air Rage: Proactive Strategies For Pilots & Flight Attendants For Handling Unruly Passenger Behavior, Alan Saquella, Joe Frary

Publications

Unruly passenger behavior has become an increasingly common challenge for airline crews. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), more than 53,500 disruptive passenger incidents were reported globally in 2024, averaging one incident every 395 flights. In the U.S., the FAA recorded over 900 cases by mid-year, with more than 100 directly tied to intoxication. While the majority of flights operate without issue, the rise in verbal abuse, intimidation, and physical altercations is impacting both safety and morale in the skies.

Academic Year 2025–26 Annual Estimate Of The Strategic Security Environment, Us Army War College

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Maintaining strategic advantage demands professional discourse from across the force. The Academic Year 2025–26 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment provides a framework for those aspiring to tackle the Department of Defense’s most pressing challenges. This year’s authors highlight trending challenges and identify potential tension points across 15 sections organized into four enduring themes. This survey of regional, domestic, and institutional challenges represents the collective expertise of the US Army War College. The narrative is supplemented by a tailored list of 100 command-sponsored questions from 43 different Army and Joint organizations from across the Department of Defense. Combined, the …

Book Review: Provoked: How Washington Started The New Cold War With Russia And The Catastrophe In Ukraine, Josh Vanbuskirk

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Scott Horton

Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Josh VanBuskirk, commander, 6th Battalion, 95th Regiment, San Antonio, Texas

Billed by the reviewer as “must-read for military professionals who want to understand how the United States and Russia came to the precipice of war,” this book posits that the Washington bipartisan foreign policy consensus is to blame for the Russia-Ukraine War. Using US diplomats, bureaucrats, defense contractors, and politicians to make his point, Horton uses their work to argue for restraint when dealing with Russia.

©2025 Josh VanBuskirk

Book Review: How To Fight A War, Chase Metcalf

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Mike Martin

Reviewed by Colonel Chase Metcalf (US Army), assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

Current member of the British Parliament, former British Army officer with Afghanistan experience, and senior visiting research fellow at Kings College London’s War Studies Department Dr. Mike Martin delivers what he terms a “reference guide for the Commander in Chief” in How to Fight a War (3). The result is far more and will serve as an accessible primer for aspiring national security professionals and senior leaders seeking to understand the basic principles of employing violence to …

Book Review: Dr. Seuss And The Art Of War: Secret Military Lessons, John Erickson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Editor: Montgomery McFate

Reviewed by John Erickson, senior engineer, Axiom Technologies

Dr. Seuss and the Art of War: Secret Military Lessons is broken into five parts. Part one introduces Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Part two discusses Geisel’s knowledge of strategy, while part three discusses specialty topics. Parts four and five examine luck in war and post-traumatic stress, respectively. The reviewer notes, “because Dr. Seuss used the genre of story as a pedagogical device, he likely made military strategy digestible to a wider audience.”

©2025 John Erickson

Book Review: The War For Ukraine: Strategy And Adaptation Under Fire, Jonathan P. Klug

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Mick Ryan

Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan P. Klug (colonel, US Army, retired), course integrator, Theater Army Staff Course, Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College

Mick Ryan’s book The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire examines Russia’s and Ukraine’s strategies and, and Ukraine’s NATO supporters, “exploring how the Russians and Ukrainians adapted during the war—on the battlefield and institutionally.” The book has two parts. Part one explores strategy. Part two discusses adaptation in the Russia-Ukraine War and includes points about adaptation for future wars. The reviewer sees it as a must-read saying, “The War for Ukraine …

Book Review: Origins Of The Just War: Military Ethics And Culture In The Ancient Near East, Pauline Shanks Kaurin

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Rory Cox

Reviewed by Dr. Pauline Shanks Kaurin, Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics and professor, College of Leadership and Ethics, US Naval War College

Origins of the Just War: Military Ethics and Culture in the Ancient Near East, by Rory Cox, explores three ancient cultures —Egyptian, Hittite and Israeli—and how they navigated their relationships between ethics and war. Factors central to these civilizations include political authority, divine leadership, justice, and putting down rebellion. The book offers various disciplinary perspectives including philosophy, religion, art, history, sociology, and international relations. The reviewer notes, “This book will be of interest …

Book Review: Into The Void: Special Operations Forces After The War On Terror, Eric Robinson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Editors: James D. Kiras and Martijn Kitzen

Reviewed by Eric Robinson, special operations researcher, RAND Corporation

Edited by James D. Kiras and Martijn Kitzen, Into the Void: Special Operations Forces after the War on Terror, looks at what is unique about the special operations forces' enterprise, explores how the organization must evolve, as well as a range of new operational concepts that could benefit SOF. Contributors include academics and practitioners from several backgrounds and countries.

Research On The Construction And 0perating Of Security Intelligence Process Model, Guoli Yang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] The security intelligence process is the fundamental path for intelligence to support security governance and decision-making. The incompleteness and even deceptive nature of the information relied up‐on in security intelligence activities, as well as the concealment and adversarial nature of security issues, determine significant differences in the scientific perspective and methodology of constructing security intelligence processes compared to other intelligence processes.

[Method/process] Starting from the analysis of existing problems in the security intelligence process and optimization suggestions, this article constructs a security intelligence process model based on the conceptual model of the intelligence process, based on the information chain …