Dave Patterson

Operation Project Freedom – launched earlier this month – involves US Naval vessels escorting commercial oil tankers and cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. During the initial escort missions, two US-flagged ships, a car carrier and a chemical product tanker, made it through the strait. The transit was not without incident, however, as Iran attempted to attack the commercial vessels with small fast Boston Whaler-type boats. What does this demonstrate? The US Navy is perfectly capable of escorting ships through the strait – yet no amount of guaranteed defeat will deter the Iranians bent on controlling the waterway from giving it their best shot.

Past administrations have talked about the defense industrial base, but few have put money where the talk is. President Donald Trump's FY2027 $1.5 trillion War Department budget request does that. According to the

Being accused of revealing classified information is not a good look for a senator.

The US is in a position to gain concessions from Beijing. President Donald Trump engaged with China's leader, Xi Jinping, from a position

Just days after President Donald Trump's visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent May 19-20 in meetings with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping. Putin's trip to Beijing is the most recent of many such diplomatic junkets the Russian leader has made to its neighbor to the south. The

The US is protecting the world; Iran is protecting its capability to threaten the world.

With Congress' passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, what had been Decoration Day officially became Memorial Day, taking full effect in 1971. Additionally, with the passage of the legislation, the day set aside to remember those fallen in defense of America was moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May. Though Memorial Day had been an alternative name for the holiday since the late 1880s, it became more common after World War I as a way of remembering those who gave “the last full measure of devotion.”

President Donald Trump says the US and Iran are close to an agreement. But the deal he's working on is tough on Tehran, re-opens the Strait of Hormuz, and ends the Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons. Will Iran ever agree to it?

President Donald Trump, in a May 29 Truth Social post, made crystal clear what must happen for peace to be restored between the US and Iran. There is absolutely no fuzz on Trump's stated conditions. If Iran does not agree or waffles in any way, there is no deal. The president has explained many times what the consequences will be. American forces will resume their air attacks in order to finish the job, destroying the over 3,500 remaining targets. Meanwhile, there is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a 60-day ceasefire being considered by Washington and Tehran.

. The capability to use electronic surveillance equipment to identify soldiers' digital footprints in the field is available today in the commercial market. The militarized version is far more sophisticated but essentially uses the same technology as Apple's Find My Phone application. To understand the utility of such a capability, let me recount a personal experience that makes the point. On a return trip from Washington, DC, my wife and I stopped at a McDonald's only to find it closed due to COVID. My wife used her iPhone to find the nearest restaurant. It was about 20 miles down Hwy 81. We drove there, and as we were getting out of the car, my wife said: “Where's my phone?” We searched the car to no avail. Using my phone, I employed the Find My Phone feature. Sure enough, a blinking iPhone avatar showed her device on a satellite image. We returned the 20 miles to the highway cloverleaf interchange, where the satellite photo showed the iPhone's precise location on the side of the road. The mobile phone was inadvertently put on the top of the car and fell off when we entered the on ramp. If it can work for someone using Find My Phone, it can certainly work for an enemy looking for a US soldier using a similar mobile device.