Top Marine Nominee Had a Hand In The Corps’ Transformation
OPINION — “That’s the thing we’ve always sought – kind of the Holy Grail – and now we’re doing it.” “The Cipher Brief has become […] More
Marine Corps
SOCOM’s Discipline and Ethics on the Radar
The Cipher Brief’s new Friday column Cipher Select, is laser-focused on bringing you a range of different perspectives on special operations issues over the next several […] More
U.S. Marines Head to Norway and Australia
U.S. Marines are being deployed to Norway and Australia, ostensibly as part of standard procedure, but also to respond to two emerging threats, Russia and […] More
Foreign Forces in Norway
The U.S. this year deployed 330 Marines to Norway. The concept is nothing new; it dates back to the 2005 Oslo-Washington agreement called Marine Corps […] More
The Latest
Marines Head to Australia: Still Working Toward a Full Deployment
In 2011, former President Barack Obama and then-Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard signed a deal to base 2,500 U.S. Marines in Darwin, Australia in an […] More
Land, Sea, and Air: U.S. Military Readiness in the Navy and Marine Corps
The crash of a MV-22B off of Okinawa on December 13, 2016 occurred during one of the most difficult tasks a Marine aviator can do […] More
Marine Corps Readiness: Meeting the Challenges While Mitigating the Risks
As the United States’ crisis response force, the Marine Corps prioritizes readiness above capability, capacity, or any other goal. Maintaining this level of readiness in […] More
The Post-9/11 U.S. Military
The crisis after 9/11 forced every branch of the military to reevaluate its mission set, its structure, and its identity. Fifteen years later, the process […] More
Ground Combat
After the United States emerged from the Vietnam War, it witnessed the events of the 1973 Yom Kippur War—a state-level conflict fought against Israel by […] More
Naval Warfare
Thomas Mahnken is the Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the U.S. Naval War College and served as Deputy Assistant […] More
Preparing Today’s Military for Tomorrow’s Wars
Whether or not we are officially at war with ISIS is a reoccurring debate in today’s mass media. Part of what makes this question so […] More
Understanding Who They Are
In American culture, Veteran is a powerful word, and for better or worse, it is used universally. The Department of Veterans Affairs is a common […] More
Celebrating Their Sacrifice
For many Americans, holidays have become something to look forward to, because they mark the beginning of special season like summer, a day off from […] More
Veterans Day
Every year, about 200 thousand service members complete their military service and transition to civilian communities and the civilian workforce. Military downsizing—forced by budget pressures […] More
How War Has Changed the U.S. Army
Retired LTG Guy Swan spent more than 35 years in the Army, commanding at every level. Now, as a Vice President of the Association of […] More
Remembering Military Families
As Veterans Day approaches, I find myself thinking about the veterans in my family—three generations. There is my 95-year-old father-in-law, who did his World War […] More
Reintegrating Our Vets
Master Sergeant William “Spanky” Gibson is a retired United States Marine, who served for 22 years in multiple theaters. On May 16th, 2006, while on […] More