OPINION

So many of the advanced technologies that will be critical to fighting and winning future wars are extremely energy-intensive; that means winning the wars of the future will require concentrated sources of always-on, assured energy.

OPINION

I sometimes refer to the COVID-19 pandemic as “the great psychometric test.” We are all being placed under different kinds of strain, and we have the chance to react for better or worse.

“Mom, how did you meet people your age during your family vacation?” my 22-year-old daughter Anna asked a couple of weeks ago, during the 13-hour car ride to our North Carolina beach cottage. We would be picking up Anna’s college roommate on the way. Clearly, the girls were weighing their vacation social options.

OPINION

Now that Bolton has delivered his book manuscript and been paid $2 million for it, he wants us all to understand he is eager to patriotically tell us all what we need to know.

OPINION

German support for America both within NATO and globally is one of our most important bilateral partnerships. Russia and China understand that only too well, which is why they devote so much effort to fracturing that partnership by pressuring Germany to accommodate their own various regional and global initiatives, often to America’s disadvantage.

OPINION

What we cannot afford is to put these men and women in a position that oes against everything for which they have trained and sacrificed.

OPINION

This decision is a landmark. And it will mean liberals must treat Gorsuch as a serious justice, not just a Trump minion. This in turn will help Gorsuch’s bid to become the new Scalia.

OPINION

Russian leaders historically fear encirclement, and rightly respect the technological prowess of the United States. Putin’s actions reflect these anxieties.

Riding in a V-22 Osprey over the jungles of Liberia in search of suitable terrain to build treatment camps during the 2014 Ebola epidemic, young Army engineer Major Anthony Barbina had no idea that he was preparing for a job he would fill years later. All he knew was that his skills as a burgeoning military leader were being tested.

OPINION

Whether he intends to actually bring U.S. troops home or not, Trump is yet again showing contempt for America’s friends.

OPINION

Ultimately, offices are more than just a place to do business — like the cities that surround them, they are meeting points for social and cultural exchanges.

OPINION

For the generals, this isn’t only about following the Constitution. It’s a matter of protecting the services in which they’ve made their careers.

OPINION

Mattis views a conflict between the military and civilian society, concocted during a series of protests over racial injustice, as distinctly threatening to national unity.

OPINION

Now is the time for us to do our part to assist these service men and women and ensure they can put food on the table for themselves and their families.

OPINION

America is exceptional not simply due to its military might or democratic values, but because 75 years ago it took upon itself the monumental task of underwriting an international system of rules, norms and institutions.

OPINION

A politicized military, or even a military perceived as having partisan political interests, could be sidelined if its advice is no longer seen as neutral.

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, people everywhere ran frantically to the stores, clearing the shelves of disinfectant, bleach and cleaning supplies. Other than a smidge of toilet paper panic, I never felt an urgency to stockpile to prepare for the crisis. Why? Because I’ve been a clean freak all my life.

OPINION

Above all, the company must demonstrate that its relatively inexpensive human-capable flights have a commercial market — an idea that’s far from certain.

OPINION

The use of military force for policing on American soil in the early United States came at a heavy cost, stoking fear and causing death and destruction.

When I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in the ’90s, a rattlesnake struck at my ankles, missing by millimeters.

It’s summer PCS season, when 40% of the 400,000 military and DOD civilian moves take place each year. This time brings back memories of our family’s final military move in May 2017. It was our 11th in 23 years of marriage, and it was pretty much like all the rest — a stressful experience involving tedious planning, unexpected crises, broken and lost belongings and physical exhaustion.

OPINION

World War II does provide a lesson for today. Budgetary shortfalls are good in bad times, bad in good times — and horrible when scheduled regardless of the times.

OPINION

For our tireless efforts, the silver lining is being a bearer of hope for those we serve.

OPINION

Ironically, voting by mail in its old-fashioned version, the absentee ballot, has traditionally been a Republican specialty.

OPINION

We can do this, America. We can practice our freedoms and practice remembering those who gave their lives so that we could keep them.

OPINION

The silver lining of our quarantines, our solitude, and our adherence to stay-at-home orders is that this Monday may be full of thoughtful memories, solemn tributes and quiet commemorations — an acknowledgement of sacrifice rather than a frenzied dash to the local big-box stores.

OPINION

The proper course of action in Syria is the one Trump advocated before he was president: complete U.S. departure.

OPINION

The inspectors general who remain have every reason to be concerned for themselves and their subordinates as they embark on investigations that could turn up unwelcome findings or evidence of a crime or misconduct.

Judging from the bright sunlight that glowed through my closed eyelids, it was a beautiful morning. But I couldn’t get up and face another day of this unending monotony. I pulled the pillow over my face and yearned for sleep to deliver me.

OPINION

Plenty of Stripes’ “local” coverage of the pandemic also cast an enterprising light on the larger story.

OPINION

The National Rifle Association of America has a long, exquisite history of service to the nation. Many of its leaders from past generations were war heroes. But their legacies, largely for political reasons, are barely known today.

OPINION

According to one estimate, about half of small businesses will be out of cash within a month, and many of them will close. The American economy has been living off the inheritance of its pre-COVID-19 past, and that cannot go on forever.

OPINION

There is little doubt that Iraqis and Americans are better off working together, especially now.

OPINION

Our political culture often puts individual rights before communal interests. We’re not obedient people by heritage; the Constitution enshrines our right to rebel.

I’ve got dirt packed under my fingernails. There’s a blister the size of Delaware on my thumb. My face is sunburned in a distinctive raccoon pattern around my sunglasses. I’m walking with a slight limp, thanks to the pain in my knee from too much squatting.

OPINION

They are a form of detainment without due process, contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and, more important, to American notions of individual rights.

OPINION

For the analogy to be effective, we must account for the war that made the 1918 flu so deadly.

OPINION

They’ve seen just about everything, but nothing like the coronavirus.

OPINION

There are so many stories of grief and deep sorrow, of incredible teamwork, selflessness, strength and endurance.

OPINION

One of the biggest economic effects of a hasty end of lockdowns adopted to limit the spread of the coronavirus won’t be to save businesses; it will be to kick people off of desperately needed government assistance.

I’ve always been a bit of a loner. This may seem to contradict my image as class clown, columnist and book author — but it’s true nonetheless, and it has affected me as a military spouse.

OPINION

Putin has become a daring military gambler in the Mideast. That has extremely serious military security implications for the United States.

OPINION

We have to start trusting others to do what is right.

OPINION

We’re a nation that ought to be united, but can’t resist the temptation to divide.

OPINION

The coronavirus crisis will not erase party lines, but it could make us all see ourselves, our country and the world in a different way.

Traditionally, May 1 is National Decision Day for high school seniors picking colleges. COVID-19 has delayed some universities’ schedules; however, parents will inevitably begin engaging in vaguely competitive “college talk.” Beware: These seemingly innocent conversation starters are an invitation into a quagmire of double entendre.

OPINION

If it would strain China to the breaking point just to invade Taiwan, there is no rational case to be made that China has any significant territorial ambitions beyond its own borders.

The official release of some previously leaked UFO videos taken by U.S. Navy pilots has sparked renewed interest in the bigger questions. For sure those flying objects are unidentified, but how much attention should we earthlings devote to this issue? I am struck by the contrast between those who see this as an important question and those who think the whole thing will turn out to be an error or some kind of optical illusion.

OPINION

Like most kids, I tended to tune out a great deal of what my parents told me. The story of this remarkable odyssey, however, was so gripping that I listened carefully.

OPINION

The good news is that now, more than ever, we are seeing communities come together in this time of physical distance.

Our family members are the people we know best. Living together makes us intimately familiar with each other’s personalities, likes, dislikes, quirks and habits. We know intuitively what the other person is thinking or feeling, without a single spoken word.

OPINION

Command is lonely and burdensome precisely because all U.S. Navy officers know that they must be prepared to accept the consequences of their decisions, whatever they may be.

OPINION

We do not know the disposition of Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. But we do know that Crozier laid the basis for his April 2 relief when he wrote to his superiors about the coronavirus then loose upon his ship.

OPINION

War is the wrong metaphor for our response to this pandemic. The comparison advances a misunderstanding of what war entails.

OPINION

Soldiers stood at the entrance to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi brandishing automatic weapons and bottles of hand sanitizer. My boyfriend and I were on our way home to the United States — or so we thought.

OPINION

In the world of national security, what we don't know can hurt us. The men and women of the intelligence community work every day against that unknown, searching for the truth — uncovering our enemies' secrets to help keep Americans safe.

“Mom! We’re out of avocados!” my 22-year-old daughter, Anna, bellowed. “And where are the goat cheese crumbles?!” People all over the globe are covering their faces and hands before entering grocery stores to buy life-sustaining food staples for their families sheltering at home, only to find them sparsely stocked. But in Anna’s world, being out of avocados is an emergency.

OPINION

Recent developments involving the Navy during the COVID-19 crisis are a reminder that legacy rules and systems can stand in the way, limiting a branch’s agility in responding to an emergency.

OPINION

For many Americans, and for every Marine, Iwo Jima exists as a memorial to duty and sacrifice — a hallowed, consecrated ground not unlike Gettysburg. The battle that produced these feelings was the culmination of years of education under fire.

Recently, a television jingle got stuck in my head. It’s from a PBS kid’s show I used to watch in the 1970s. My brain’s recesses are imprinted with hazy flashes of the program’s ethnically diverse cast of pre-teens dressed in matching striped shirts and bell bottoms, singing the opening sequence’s jazzy theme song.

OPINION

By ignoring the deaths of the Sikhs in Kabul, the otherwise civilized world unwittingly seems to agree that a crisis matters and, frankly, little else does.