Dr. James Holmes, U.S. Naval War College

James Holmes

James Holmes holds the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College and served on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. A former U.S. Navy surface-warfare officer, he was the last gunnery officer in history to fire a battleship’s big guns in anger, during the first Gulf War in 1991. He earned the Naval War College Foundation Award in 1994, signifying the top graduate in his class. His books include Red Star over the Pacific, an Atlantic Monthly Best Book of 2010 and a fixture on the Navy Professional Reading List. General James Mattis deems him “troublesome.”

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Hawaii (July 6, 2022) U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Darrel Ebaugh, a scout sniper with Weapons Company, Battalion Land Team, 3d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Marine Air-Ground Task Force 7 (MAGFT-7), sights in on a target during a live-fire sniper range in support of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, July 6, 2022. Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationship among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brayden Daniel)

Dr. James Holmes: The Naval Diplomat - 19FortyFive

Three Cheers for the New U.S. Marine Corps, None for the Old

Fighting jointly is how you prevail in an age when not just fleets of warships, and not just navies, but air forces, strategic rocket...

James HolmesJune 4, 2023

War in Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Dr. James Holmes: The Naval Diplomat - 19FortyFive

Ukraine’s Big Spring Counteroffensive: Is It Happening or Not?

That it’s springtime in the Black Sea is not enough reason to go on the march. Military reality—not the passing of the seasons—has to...

James HolmesMay 27, 2023

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The U.S. Marine Corps: Now An Access-Denial Force to Fight China?

A few months back, Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the U.S. Marine Corps intends to found a Marine Littoral Regiment capable of island-hopping along Japan’s...

James HolmesMay 15, 2023

A Marine with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command, fires an AT4 antitank rocket launcher in the Central Command area of operations, March 23, 2015. The 2/7 Marines participated in a range that tests their ability to conduct an integrated combined arms assault against a simulated enemy position. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Will Perkins/Released)

Dr. James Holmes: The Naval Diplomat - 19FortyFive

Zombie Ideas Could Doom the Marine Corps’ Future

Robert Work is the Rick Grimes of U.S. Marine Corps force design, forever blazing away at faulty ideas.

James HolmesMay 15, 2023

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Anatalia Zamora, from Midland, Texas, runs to a safe distance before an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the "Tophatters" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 14 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability through alliances and partnerships while serving as a ready-response force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Singley) 220228-N-MM912-1137

Dr. James Holmes: The Naval Diplomat - 19FortyFive

Robert Kaplan: Think “Tragically” About War and Politics

In The Tragic Mind: Fear, Fate, and the Burden of Power, just out from Yale, Kaplan brings a bleak outlook drawn from Greek tragedy...

James HolmesMay 8, 2023

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force.

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B-21 Raider Unveiling: A Message to China and Russia? You Bet It Is

Late last year, the U.S. Air Force rolled out its B-21 Raider stealth bomber for the first time, showing a select group of attendees...

James HolmesMay 8, 2023

USS Pennsylvania, which was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Image: Creative Commons.

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What If Japan Had Never Attacked Pearl Harbor During World War II?

Suppose Robert E. Lee had laid hands on a shipment of AK-47s in 1864. How would American history have unfolded? Differently than it did, one imagines....

James HolmesMay 1, 2023