A great article that gives weight to research from Jack Watling and others on the true role of FPVs etc as an adjunct to - not replacement of - conventional arty, mortars etc on the battlefields of Ukraine. warontherocks.com/2025/06/i-foug…

Took the Younglings to see Imagine Dragons last night of the European leg of their #LOOMtour... Think they were excited for their first ever gig?!? The band are epic - keeping old minds sane and young minds inspired! Highly recommend!

In other words: "we do the flying, you do the dying." Wonder how that would go down in the capitals of our allies?

Some of us raised concerns about the state of the RFA's lack of mass in the amphib fleet, & the re-roling of Argus a few years back. It's now headline news... rusi.org/explore-our-re… rusi.org/explore-our-re…

My 2016 MPhil Thesis highlighted serious Russian military issues - inability to sustain itself beyond own borders; poor C2 at all levels; non-existent vehicle maintenance etc. We learnt the wrong lessons of their 2014/5 "successes" in Ukr; & so did they. academia.edu/resource/work/…

Done humaning for the day. Time to sit in the cool evening light, contemplating happier (strategic) times, in my lovely new garden... ...with something suitably chilled to take the edge off. And *breathe*.

Excuse the umming & ah-ing... For those who know, this was given when I was not at my best (MH struck again at end of March, and symptom is decline in my speech). However, thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, and hopefully brought something new to the discussion.

The counter to this (in true Training Manager style) is: what did they fail; & why? People who persevere and go round the buoy again are not automatically bad at the job. Similarly, we have plenty of cases of "golden child" officers who fail in command...having passed 1st time.

"Clear-eyed learning" from Ukr... I am more & more convinced that the type of warfare we have seen in Ukr is the result of failure to cohere conventional mass with combined arms manoeuvre. Having worked with Justin Bronk & Jack Watling RUSI, I'm confident in their view.

Anniversary weekend... Thought I'd pack some light reading for whilst SWMBO is on the spa...