TIL there is a member of Ishin no Kai in the Japanese Diet (Shi Ping, or Seki Hei in Japanese) who was born in China, posts online in both Japanese and Chinese, and is a fan of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the “Etajima Spirit” (江田島精神). 👀👀
Will Yale
@wayale.bsky.social
Surface Warfare Officer (U.S. Navy) in DC. Six years in Japan, two years in China. Episcopalian. Johns Hopkins SAIS/HNC alum. 中文/日本語 🏳️🌈🇺🇦🇹🇼
Congratulations to the Tripoli ARG (including my former ship, USS Rushmore) and the 31st MEU on a successful deployment! For context, the FDNF ARG and 31st MEU rarely, if ever, deploy to 5th Fleet, and this deployment was about twice as long as a regular deployment. www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/New...
cpf.navy.mil
>wake up >global security architecture has degraded further >go to sleep >global security architecture has degraded further >wake up >global security architecture has degraded further >go to sleep >global security architecture has degraded further
It was a pleasure to worship (in both English and Chinese) this morning at St John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Taipei!
China's attempts to punish Japan economically highlight the continued need for "friendshoring" and developing alternative supply chains between the U.S. and its allies and partners. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/w...
China’s Latest Pressure Tactics Are Tightening the Screws on Japan
nytimes.com
Another example of the Littoral Maneuver Bridging Strategy (LMBS) in action! news.usni.org/2026/06/30/u...
U.S. Marines Use Commercial Ferries to Haul Anti-ship Missiles Across the Philippines - USNI News
MANILA, PHILIPPINES ― Marine anti-ship missile launchers and air defense rolled off contracted Philippine commercial transport vessels onto an island in the middle of the Luzon Strait near Taiwan duri...
news.usni.org
It's weird to be doing this "AHHHHHH UKRAINE IS ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE AHHHH WE NEED TO FORCE THEM TO SURRENDER RIGHT NOW" thing when Ukraine has had the most successful year in this conflict since 2022. The front is completely static and Russia's military/economy are under increasing strain.
Joe Stieb@joestieb.bsky.social · last mo.Quincy’s social media ppl are a genuine embarrassment who are setting the cause of restraint back.
Admiral Stavridis is right! www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Name Change Hurts the US and India
The Pentagon last week announced that it will change the name of its Indo-Pacific Command — a military empire covering almost all of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the 36 countries of the region, and ...
bloomberg.com
Great talk by Bob Kagan, but he repeats the canard (favored by Japanese ultranationalists) that the U.S. implicitly caused Pearl Harbor. This argument obscures Japan's culpability in causing what Japan calls the "Greater East Asian War" when it invaded China in 1937. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma3f...
Robert Kagan: America Is Entering a Dangerous New World
YouTube video by The Long Game Podcast
youtube.com
The PLAN's worst nightmare: the USN Virginia-class SSN USS Minnesota operating side-by-side with the JMSDF Taigei-class SSK JS Jingei at Valiant Shield 2026. 🇺🇸🤝🇯🇵 www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/New...
Good article, although I would not describe Japan as having "a comparatively secure industrial rear area from which production and maintenance could continue during a regional crisis." www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/06...
Does a new arsenal of deterrence run through Japan?
A spate of defense deals have highlighted Japan’s emergence as a potentially key manufacturing base for the Indo-Pacific region.
japantimes.co.jp
Persuasive argument by Joshua Kurlantzick: "Cumulatively, the United States’ approach to Asia continues to hand China exactly what it has long sought: regional influence." www.cfr.org/articles/tru...
U.S. Defense Demands Are Pushing Asian Allies Toward China | Council on Foreign Relations
The Trump administration now demands that Asian partners dramatically increase defense spending—the same pressure it has applied to NATO allies for years. This push is giving China an opening in Asia ...
cfr.org
Great article with salient points. #USNavy and Force Design #FD2030 peeps get into it. BZ!
Will Yale@wayale.bsky.social · last mo.Pleased to announce that my article “The SWO Community Should Embrace the LSM” was published in the July 2026 edition of the U.S. Naval Institute’s magazine, Proceedings! www.usni.org/magazines/pr...
Pleased to announce that my article “The SWO Community Should Embrace the LSM” was published in the July 2026 edition of the U.S. Naval Institute’s magazine, Proceedings! www.usni.org/magazines/pr...
The SWO Community Should Embrace the LSM
For a ship that was supposed to be fielded in a relatively short amount of time, the medium landing ship already has a somewhat long and tortuous history.
usni.org
Going full Nazi, I see. encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/a...
Forced Sterilization: A Form of Nazi Persecution | Holocaust Encyclopedia
The Nazis forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of people to prevent them from reproducing and passing down their supposedly inferior traits. Learn more.
encyclopedia.ushmm.org
Paul Graf@paulginva.bsky.social · last mo.Quite the meltdown on the postliberal right today....
One of the great things I’ve come to love about this country after moving here is that this is a country where regardless of who you are or your father is, you can be something here. This is a land of new beginnings for humans made of people who pursue more, better, freer in league with each other.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)@repstansbury.bsky.social · last mo.This should never have even been up for debate. If you are born in America, you’re an American. Period. 🇺🇸
Admiral Blair‘s argument is debatable, but this is definitely false: “although [China’s military] is advancing at a rapid pace, in absolute terms it is now roughly comparable to those of France, Japan, or the United Kingdom.“ www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...
The Mirage of China’s Military Edge
Panic is misguided—and counterproductive.
foreignaffairs.com
This is an important step in putting the Littoral Maneuver Bridging Strategy (LMBS) into effect, which enables littoral mobility for the Navy and Marine Corps team until Medium Landing Ships (LSMs) are delivered in appreciable numbers. defence-blog.com/u-s-navy-cha...
U.S. Navy charters four landing-capable ships for Okinawa operations
The U.S. Navy has hired four civilian cargo ships capable of driving military vehicles directly onto beaches and island piers without fixed port infrastructure, chartering them for operations out of N...
defence-blog.com
I finally sat down and read this whole thing and holy shit dawg
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2mo agoExclusive: A Post reporter obtained hundreds of confidential memos detailing politics and policy guidance for Tulsi Gabbard from her years in Congress, then embarked on a quest to identify who was behind them.
now in video form: youtu.be/fOVt5CrAEvk
Pete Hegseth is Trying to Resegregate the Military
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
youtu.be
jamelle@jamellebouie.net · 2mo agopete hegseth is engaged in open racial discrimination against black officers. the clear message is that there is no place for black or women leadership in his military
Bravo to this full-throated defense of academic freedom at service academies and PME institutions! www.usni.org/magazines/pr...
Academic Freedom Is a National Security Imperative
Why should the military care about academic freedom?
usni.org
pete hegseth is engaged in open racial discrimination against black officers. the clear message is that there is no place for black or women leadership in his military
Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity
nytimes.com
💯. The warrior ethos was embraced by the U.S. military in an era in which the U.S. lost two wars. The reasons for losing were many. But the soldier as warrior is not just fundamentally un-American but fundamentally astrategic.
Secretary of Defense Rock@sodrock.bsky.social · 2mo agoCursed timeline
there is a meta level to this that is extremely funny because not only did IPC occur under Trump I generally but Bridge specifically at the time was a big proponent of it (this is before he entirely lost his goddamned mind), given this is 110% a cheese-driven thing
Will Yale@wayale.bsky.social · 2mo agoINDOPACOM is dead. Long live PACOM. This name change is symbolic, yet it signals the death knell for the Quad and the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, at least in this administration. www.pacom.mil/Media/Press-...
It's not too far to say that the main reason there is no "Pacific-ism" in 2026, the way there is Atlanticism, is US retrenchment. Animosity between Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines is as low as it has ever been. If only there were a country to help lead the framework.
Will Yale@wayale.bsky.social · 2mo agoINDOPACOM is dead. Long live PACOM. This name change is symbolic, yet it signals the death knell for the Quad and the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, at least in this administration. www.pacom.mil/Media/Press-...