Good Saturday morning May 22
I hope that your weekend is off to a good start.
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This day in Naval History May 22, 2019
1943 During the battle to protect British Royal Convoy (ON 184) in the North Atlantic, TBFs from (VC 9) based on board USS Bogue (ACV 9) sink German submarine (U 569) and damage (U 305).
1967 New York City reaches an agreement to purchase the New York Naval Shipyard, also known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, after it was closed in 1966.
1968 USS Scorpion (SSN 589) is lost with her crew south-west of the Azores. In late Oct. 1968, her remains are found on the sea floor more than 10,000 feet below the surface by a deep-submergence vehicle towed from USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11).
1986 Military Sealift Commands USNS Sgt. William R. Button (T-AK 3012) is christened and launched. The ship serves as one of 17 Container and Roll-on/Roll-off vessels for the Navy and is part of the 36 ships in the Prepositioning Program.
Thanks to CHINFO
No CHINFO on the weekend
Today in History May 22
1246 | Henry Raspe is elected anti-king by the Rhenish prelates in France. | |
1455 | King Henry VI is taken prisoner by the Yorkists at the Battle of St. Albans, during the War of the Roses. | |
1804 | The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri. | |
1856 | U.S. Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for Sumner's earlier condemnation of slavery, which included an insult to Brooks' cousin, Senator Andrew Butler. | |
1863 | Union General Ulysses S. Grant's second attack on Vicksburg fails and a siege begins. | |
1868 | The "Great Train Robbery" takes place as seven members of the Reno Gang make off with $98,000 in cash from a train's safe in Indiana. | |
1872 | The Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners. | |
1882 | The United States formally recognizes Korea. | |
1908 | The Wright brothers register their flying machine for a U.S. patent. | |
1939 | Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini sign a "Pact of Steel" forming the Axis powers. | |
1947 | The Truman Doctrine brings aid to Turkey and Greece. | |
1967 | The children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood premiers. | |
1972 | Ceylon becomes the Republic of Sri Lanka as its constitution is ratified. | |
1985 | Baseball player Pete Rose passes Hank Aaron as National League run scoring leader with 2,108. | |
1990 | In the Middle East, North and South Yemen merge to become a single state. | |
1992 | Johnny Carson's final appearance on The Tonight Show on NBC, after 30 years as the program's host. | |
2004 | An EF4 tornado with a record-setting width of 2.5 miles wipes out Hallam, Nebraska, killing 1 person. | |
2004 | Fahrenheit 9-11, directed by Michael Moore, becomes the first documentary ever to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. | |
2010 | Following a 200-year search for the tomb of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus his remains are reburied in Frombork Cathedral | |
2011 | An EF5 tornado kills at least 158 people in Joplin, Missouri, the largest death toll from a tornado since record-keeping began in 1950. | |
2015 | The Republic of Ireland, long known as a conservative, predominantly Catholic country, becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum. |
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Thanks to Bill
Subject: And we are only 4 months in the Biden Diaster!
Only 4 months in!!!!!
So...Israel is on fire, war in the middle east,
Major US pipeline hacked,
Price of everyday goods is skyrocketing,
Russia is massing troops on the border with Ukraine. Ukraine is threatening to take Crimea back by force.
China is threatening Taiwan and its neighbors while also threatening our ships and Navy.
N Korea is testing missiles again and restarting their nuclear weapons program.
Iran has been emboldened and making more than their normal threats.
Our southern border is a humanitarian disaster caused directly by this administration,
And the administration that promised transparency is hiding it and not letting the media have access.
Ford is closing a plant and moving it to Mexico after just bringing it back from Mexico.
Because of the current Administration's plan for INCREASED taxes.
Price of steel up 145%,
Lumber 126%,
Wheat up 25%,
Food index up 25%,
Cotton 35%,
Silver 38%,
Copper 50%,
Soybeans 71%,
Oil 80%,
Pipeline jobs lost.
Wall construction jobs lost.
1.9 trillion in stimulus that funds the administrations pet projects and only paid a fraction to the people.
29 trillion in debt with 4.8 trillion projected 2021 deficit before the 2 trillion dollar stimulus proposed today for the new green deal. 🤦♂️️
9+% unemployment with millions of job openings that can't be filled because federal unemployment assistance makes it more advantageous for people to stay home than work.
BUT...at least no more mean tweets!
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Interesting
Breakfast, we are told, is the most important meal of the day. Not only do doctors tell us this, but so do advertisers who bombard us with messages about the health benefits of eating eggs, bacon, cereal, bagels, and oatmeal.
We are told that eating soon after waking up in the morning sets us up for success for the rest of the day. It makes us more productive, evens our blood sugar, speeds up our metabolism, helps us avoid becoming "hangry" and other unpleasant feelings.
But what if the things we have been told about breakfast weren't true? That they were all based on a lie perpetrated by biased researchers who worked to achieve a specific outcome rather than let the facts fall where they may?
Unfortunately, that looks like that's EXACTLY what happened. Read more about the breakfast myth that's just been destroyed. You won't believe what the TRUTH actually is!
I don't like to eat a lot in the morning. A granola bar and a cup of tea and a banana maybe. I am usually not hungry right after I wake up
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Thanks to Sue ...and Dr. Rich
Fun to watch! Sylvia
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... For The List for Saturday, 22 May 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)...
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 22 May 1966...
"Interdiction: stemming the 'flow'"...
https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-22-may-1966-flow-control/
This work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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This is a recurrent theme and we are not immune to this. In fact I believe we are on the slippery slope already
thanks to BudB and Dutch
The Founder of Dubai
The founder of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid, was asked about the future of his country, and he replied, "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I ride a Mercedes, my son rides a Land Rover, and my grandson is going to ride a Land Rover…but my great-grandson is going to have to ride a camel again." Why is that, he was asked? And his reply was, "Hard times create strong men, strong men create easy times. Easy times create weak men, weak men create difficult times. Many will not understand it, but you have to raise warriors, not parasites." And add to that the historical reality that all great empires...the Persians, the Trojans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and in later years, the British...all rose and perished within 240 years. They were not conquered by external enemies; they rotted from within. America has now passed that 240 year mark, and the rot is starting to be visible and is accelerating. We are past the Mercedes and Land Rover Years….the camels are on the horizon. Last November, 80 million Americans voted for Biden and demonstrated either that they know nothing about history or they think we should all be riding camels
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This Day in Aviation History" brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 22, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
22 May
1908: Roy Knabenshue's three-man airship made its first ascent at Toledo, Ohio, with the owner, Charles K. Hamilton, and George Duesler aboard. (24)
1912: 1Lt Alfred A. Cunningham reported for "duty in connection with aviation" to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He thus became the Marine Corps' first aviator and the fifth in the Navy. As such, today is the birthday of Marine Corps aviation. (10)
1917: Curtiss schools at Newport News and Miami stopped training civilian pilot candidates for Air Service Signal Officers, Reserve Corps. The students were assigned to cadet schools at several universities. (24)
1934: MACKAY TROPHY. Capt Westside T. Larson received the 1933 trophy for developing procedures for instrument takeoffs and landings on land and sea and instrument flying over water. (4) (11) 1941: The Curtiss Hawk 87A Warhawk first flew.
1946: Majs F. T. Caschman and W. E. Zims in a Sikorsky set a 703.6-mile distance record for helicopters. Technicians at White Sands launched the first WAC Corporal E. It was the first US ballistic missile to use a guidance system (a ground-controlled radar system). (6)
1951: KOREAN WAR. In close air support sorties, Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers inflicted some 1,700 casualties on enemy forces, one of the highest daily totals thus far. (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Fifth Air Force flew 472 fighter-bomber sorties at the Kijang-ni industrial area near Pyongyang to destroy more than 90 percent of the complex, which produced hand grenades, small arms, and ammunition. (28) An Air Force Aerobee rocket carried two monkeys and two mice to a height of about 38 miles. These astronauts returned to earth safely. (16) (24)
1958: Over a two day period, Maj E. N. LeFaivre (USMC) piloted an F4D-1 at NAMTC Point Mugu to five world records in speed of climb to 3,000, 6,000, 12,000, and 15,000 meters with marks of 44.392, 66.095, 90.025, 111.224, and 156.233 seconds.
1964: Through 5 June, to combat the effects of the volcanic eruptions of Mount Irazu in Costa Rica, eight C-133s and five C-124s airlifted flood control equipment and personnel. (18)
1966: The US Army claimed 21 world records for its OH-6A light observation helicopter. Flights at Edwards AFB resulted in 12 speed records, with three each for distance, climbing, and sustained altitude. The records were submitted to the FAI in Paris.
1967: Two F-111As showed their long-range capabilities by flying from the US to Europe without refueling or external tanks.
1976: TYPHOON PAMELA. Through 15 June, after a typhoon struck Guam, MAC airlifted engineering repair teams and 2,650 tons of cargo, including generators, vans, utility vehicles, and communications equipment to Andersen AFB in 24 C-5, 83 C-141, 3 C-130 and 1 commercial missions. (18) (21)
1990: McDonnell Douglas pilot Larry Walker and Maj Erwin Jenschke landed the NF-15B STOL Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator in 1,650 feet at Edwards AFB. The Pratt and Whitney two-dimensional, thrust-reversing engine nozzles were used to stop the aircraft. (20)
1993: Lt Cmdr Kathryn P. Hire, the Navy's first woman to be assigned to a combat unit, flew her first mission in a Lockheed P-3C Update III Maritime Patrol Aircraft. (20)
2002: The X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), designated Blue, flew for the first time at Edwards AFB over an oval shaped track for 14 minutes at 7,500 feet and 195 knots. It was the first unmanned aircraft designed for autonomous combat operations. (3) (21)
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This day in American Military History
May22
1843 – A massive wagon train, made up of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle, sets off down the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. Known as the "Great Emigration," the expedition came two years after the first modest party of settlers made the long, overland journey to Oregon. After leaving Independence, the giant wagon train followed the Sante Fe Trail for some 40 miles and then turned northwest to the Platte River, which it followed along its northern route to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. From there, it traveled on to the Rocky Mountains, which it passed through by way of the broad, level South Pass that led to the basin of the Colorado River. The travelers then went southwest to Fort Bridger, northwest across a divide to Fort Hall on the Snake River, and on to Fort Boise, where they gained supplies for the difficult journey over the Blue Mountains and into Oregon. The Great Emigration finally arrived in October, completing the 2,000-mile journey from Independence in five months. In the next year, four more wagon trains made the journey, and in 1845 the number of emigrants who used the Oregon Trail exceeded 3,000. Travel along the trail gradually declined with the advent of the railroads, and the route was finally abandoned in the 1870s.
1863 – U.S. Grant's second attack on Vicksburg, Miss., failed and a siege began.
See the MOH LIST BELOW
1912 – First Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham, the first Marine officer to be assigned to "duty in connection with aviation" by Major General Commandant William P. Biddle. Cunningham reported for aviation training at the Naval Aviation Camp at Annapolis, Maryland, and Marine aviation had its official beginning.
1943 – Admiral Dontiz orders all U-boat patrols in the north Atlantic to break off operations against the convoys. The submarine losses have grown too high. This decision effectively ends the battle of the Atlantic with an Allied victory. Some boats are moved south to the Caribbean and to waters off the Azores.
1944 – US 5th Army forces continue to advance. The US 2nd Corps (Keyes) advances north along the coast and Route 7. The French Expeditionary Corps captures Pico. There is continued heavy German resistance in the Liri Valley.
1944 – An American submarine detects the concentration of the Japanese fleet around Tawitawi.
1944 – Japanese forces attack US positions around Aitape. American forces make some withdrawals.
1944 – U.S. and British aircraft begin a systematic bombing raid on railroads in Germany and other parts of northern Europe, called Operation Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The operation is a success; Germany is forced to scramble for laborers, including foreign slave laborers, to repair the widespread damage exacted on its railway network.
1945 – Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsfuhrer SS, is captured by a British patrol at Bremervorde, near Hamburg. He initially claimed to be a rural policeman named Heinrich Hitzinger but under interrogation he removed the black eye patch he was wearing and put on his familiar glasses before admitting his true identity.
1945 – President Truman reports to Congress on the Lend-Lease program. He announces that up to March 1945, Britain had received supplies worth $12,775,000,000 and the Soviets $8,409,000,000. Reverse Lend-Lease, mostly from Britain has been worth almost $5,000,000,000 in the same period.
1945 – On Okinawa, American forces enter Yonabaru and capture Conical Hill. Heavy rains begin that hamper offensive operations for the coming weeks.
1945 – Elements of the US 24th Division reach Tambongan on Mindanao.
1945 – Operation Paperclip begins. United States Army Major Robert B. Staver recommends that the U.S. evacuate German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
1947 – In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, the U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.
1947 – The 1st US ballistic missile was fired.
1952 – Major General William K. Harrison succeeded Admiral C. Turner Joy as Senior U.N. Command Delegate for armistice negotiations.
1958 – Naval aircraft F4D-1 Sky Ray sets five world speed-to-climb records.
1969 – In Phubai, South Vietnam, Major General Melvin Zais, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, says his orders were 'to destroy enemy forces' in the Ashau valley and Apbia mountain from 10-20 May and says that he did not have any orders to reduce casualties by avoiding battles. Apbia mountain has been dubbed 'Hamburger Hill' due to high casualties on both sides. The US military command in Saigon states that the recent battle for Apbia mountain is an integral part of the policy of 'maximum pressure' that it has been pursuing for the last six months and confirms that no orders have been received from President Nixon to modify the basic strategy.
1969 – The lunar module of Apollo 10 separated from the command module and flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
1970 – The White House announces the US is prepared to continue air cover, if needed, for South Vietnamese forces that are considered almost certain to remain in Cambodia after US troops are withdrawn.
1972 – President Richard Nixon arrives in Moscow for a summit with Soviet leaders. Although it was Nixon's first visit to the Soviet Union as president, he had visited Moscow once before–as U.S. vice president. As Eisenhower's vice president, Nixon made frequent official trips abroad, including a 1959 trip to Moscow to tour the Soviet capital and to attend the U.S. Trade and Cultural Fair in Sokolniki Park. Soon after Vice President Nixon arrived in July 1959, he opened an informal debate with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev about the merits and disadvantages of their governments' political and economic systems. Known as the "Kitchen Debate" because of a particularly heated exchange between Khrushchev and Nixon that occurred in the kitchen of a model U.S. home at the American fair, the dialogue was a defining moment in the Cold War. Nixon's second visit to Moscow in May 1972, this time as president, was for a more conciliatory purpose. During a week of summit meetings with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet officials, the United States and the USSR reached a number of agreements, including one that laid the groundwork for a joint space flight in 1975. On May 26, Nixon and Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), the most significant of the agreements reached during the summit. The treaty limited the United States and the USSR to 200 antiballistic missiles each, which were to be divided between two defensive systems. President Nixon returned to the United States on May 30.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
1863 – U.S. Grant's second attack on Vicksburg, Miss., failed and a siege began.
99 MOH Citations: for Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."
At Vicksberg Miss on 22 May 1863
ALBERT, CHRISTIAN
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 47th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Vicksburg, Miss., 22 May 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio. Date of issue: 10 August 1895. Citation: Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."
I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS MANY MOH FOR ONE BATTLE In a losing effort or any effort
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Thanks to Grant for some personal input on St Louis
More back story on this part:
Following repairs stateside, ST. LOUIS returned to action in March 1945 in time to cover the minesweeper and underwater demolition team operations in preparation for the landings on Okinawa. This was followed by additional shore bombardment and anti-aircraft duties at Okinawa. On 12 August 1945, ENS Shelton was on watch in sky-aft on ST. LOUIS, anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa when a lone Japanese plane dropped through the smoke cover and launched a torpedo. ENS Shelton gave warning, but there was not much that could be done. The torpedo narrowly missed ST. LOUIS ahead and hit battleship PENNSYLVANIA (BB-38,) also at anchor, in the stern, nearly sinking the ship (and probably would have but for the shallow water,) making ENS Shelton witness to the last major U.S. warship damaged in World War II. ST. LOUIS was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation for her actions in the Okinawa campaign. On 31 August, ST. LOUIS was ordered to depart Okinawa on short notice to accept the Japanese surrender of Formosa. Having received orders to flight school, ENS Shelton was awakened at 0330 and given 30 minutes to get off the ship to an LCS in order to execute his orders. ENS Shelton then made his way back to San Francisco on the light carrier CABOT (CVL-28,) the first "Magic Carpet" ship repatriating U.S. servicemen from the Far East.
My wife's uncle was off duty, playing poker in a compartment on BB38 and left to get the mail. As he got to the store, the lone torpedo hit, killing everyone in the compartment he had just left. Roy suffered survivor's guilt "forever", passing at 94 a few years back…
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75th Anniversary of World War II
USS England Sinks Six Japanese Submarines, May 1944
England (DE-635)
(DE-635: dp. 1,400; l. 306'; b. 37'; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 3 21" tt., 8 dcp., 1 dcp.(hh.), 2 dct.; cl. Buckley)
John Charles England, born, in Harris, Mo., 11 December 1920, enlisted in the Naval Reserve 6 September 1940, and was commissioned ensign 6 June 1941. On 3 September 1941, he reported for duty in Oklahoma (BB-37), and was killed in action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941.
England (DE-635) was launched 26 September 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif.; sponsored by Mrs. H. B. England, mother of Ensign England; and commissioned 10 December 1943, Commander W. B. Pendleton in command.
England arrived at Espiritu Santo 12 March 1944 from San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, Funafuti, and Guadalcanal. She took up escort duty between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal, occasionally sailing to Noumea, and once to the Marshalls.
On 18 May 1944, with two other destroyers, England cleared Port Purvis on a hunt for Japanese submarines during a passage to Bougainville. During the next 8 days, she was to set an impressive record in antisubmarine warfare, never matched in World War II by any other American ship, as she hunted down and sank 1-16 on 19 May, RO-106 on 22 May, RO-104 on 23 May, RO-116 on 24 May, and RO-108 on 26 May. In three of these cases, the other destroyers were in on the beginning of the actions, but the kill in every case was England's alone. Quickly replenishing depth charges at Manus, England was back in action on 31 May to join with four other ships in sinking RO-105. This superlative performance won for England a Presidential Unit Citation, and the assurance from the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral E. J. King, "There'll always be an England in the United States Navy." His pledge was fulfilled 6 October 1960, when DLG-22 was assigned the name England.
***** I do not know if this is currently the case..Skip*****
Through the summer of 1944, England sailed throughout the northern Solomons, providing the escort services necessary for the building up of bases, preparations for the renewed assaults on Japanese territories to the north, and provision of supplies to garrison forces on the islands of the southwest Pacific. In August, she underwent repairs at Manus, and between 24 September and 15 October voyaged from the Treasury Islands to Sydney, Australia. From the Treasuries, she sailed guarding a convoy to Hollandia, where she arrived 18 October, and on the 26th got underway on the first of two voyages to escort reinforcement convoys to newly invaded Leyte. She returned to Manus and local escort duty 2 December.
From 2 January 1945, England escorted convoys between Manus and Ulithi, the major base for operations of the carrier task forces, and later to be the staging point for the assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The escort vessel sailed to Kossol Roads in February, bringing in a convoy later routed on to the Philippines, then resumed her duty on the Manus-Ulithi sealanes. She sailed from Ulithi 23 March for the preinvasion bombardment of Okinawa, returned to Ulithi to join the screen of two cruisers, guarding them back to Okinawa to join the 5th Fleet just after the initial assault on 1 April. Between 6 and 17 April, she voyaged to Saipan screening unladen transports, then took up a screening and patrol station north of the Kerama Retto.
On 9 May 1945, while on station, England was attacked by three Japanese dive bombers. Her antiaircraft fire set the first of these flaming, but the plane crashed England on her starboard side, just below the bridge. The kamikaze pilot had remembered his instructions to knock out the ship's nerve center and kill as many as possible of her officers. With the bomb of the plane exploding just after the crash, England's men began a dangerous race against time, to quench the fires and save their ship, while combat air patrol shot down the two other attackers. She was able to make Kerama Retto under tow, with 37 of her men killed or missing and 25 wounded.
England sailed on to Leyte, where she received temporary repairs to put her in shape for the long voyage home. On 16 July 1945 she arrived at Philadelphia for permanent repairs and conversion to a high-speed transport. The end of the war, however, halted this work, and she was decommissioned 15 October 1945 and sold 26 November 1946.
In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, England received 10 battle stars for World War II service.
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Thanks to Dutch
AI Is America's Achilles Heel Against China
(BLOOMBERG OPINION 20 MAY 21) ... James Stavridis
With the release of the much-anticipated National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence report, the U.S. must confront an inconvenient truth: America, in the words of co-chairmen Eric Schmidt and Bob Work, "is not prepared to defend or compete in the AI era." Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, and Work, former deputy secretary of defense, are as deeply versed in this subject as anyone in government or the private sector. Americans should treat this threat as a looming tower. What is the state of play and where does the U.S. go from here?
First, let's address the most obvious and concerning opponent in the AI field: China. The Chinese have been focused relentlessly for a decade on AI, and have built a "whole of government approach" from the ground up, to become the dominant global AI power. This includes a massive focus on science, technology, engineering and math education at every level; grooming of the brightest prodigies in the field; increasing levels of research and development, including for military operations; garnering control of vast pools of data from social networks (data is the "new oil," as the saying goes); industrial espionage to gather solutions from international competitors; and incorporation of AI into every field of government and private endeavor. It is a clever and consistently applied strategy to dominate this vital field.
Meanwhile, Washington has primarily adopted a market approach, on the hope that Silicon Valley and other tech centers will fund much basic research and keep America in the game. The U.S. has lagged in STEM education, and privacy rules preclude much gathering of massive data sets for experimentation. While some U.S. government and university labs are engaged in AI research (I am a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, a leader in the field), and the military is contracting some of this work, the approach is thus far too laissez-faire. There are some things — putting a person on the moon in the 1960s comes to mind — that the private sector won't initially have the incentive to do on its own. AI fits in that category.
Most importantly, AI is important in many different fields, from manufacturing to advertising to medical treatment to agriculture. But the zone in which the greatest danger of lagging behind principal opponents is quite clear: military operations.
The uses of AI in military activity are both broad and deep. As a Navy and NATO commander, I faced hard decisions in combat — during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — that had to be executed with limited knowledge and no way to compare my choice with how the other options would turn out.
An AI adviser would change that. Like someone who has played a trillion games of the Chinese strategy game Go, a combat commander's AI adviser could use computing power to synthesize information and intelligence, order and prioritize its presentation to the decision-maker, and ultimately provide advice on next moves.
This applies in military operations from the level of a SEAL team petty officer clearing a terrorist house up to the decisions I made as a four-star admiral in Afghanistan. The applications are powerful and will significantly elevate the performance of the military that gets there first.
The U.S. will need a coherent, all-of-government strategy that is aligned with the private sector. Some of the key elements, many of which are identified in the AI report, include investment in research and development. The report recommends a $40 billion down payment; identification of talent pools with incentives to bring the best into government service; a national academy for cyber; a Defense Department Cyber Force with deep expertise in AI (akin to and interwoven with the new Space Force); top-level advice to the president and the National Security Council; and more aggressive recruiting of top international talent through immigration.
An example of how the private sector fits in is the stark geopolitical fact that so many top-end microchips are manufactured in Taiwan, which is under constant pressure from China. The U.S. must look at global supply chains and onshore the ones that make sense, starting with microchips.
America's lead in AI is tenuous and shrinking, and some observers believe it is already gone. Artificial intelligence is inextricably tied to cyber capabilities, both offensive and defensive. Especially with the advent of quantum computing (a vastly more complex structure advancing from simple binary bits to moving information by positioning a wide range of particles in different positions), the entire set of premises upon which we have based cryptology, computer security and command-and-control networks are increasingly outdated.
The military operators in all of the services, and especially the intelligence community, must be part of embracing the AI revolution. It is, unfortunately, the battle America is least prepared to fight.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-20/china-s-artificial-intelligence-advantage-is-america-s-achilles-heel
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