Stevenson’s army, December 26

-I’ve long argued that “some people die only in the Times.” I mean that that paper regularly reports on the lives  of interesting if quirky people who have done some memorable things that other papers overlook On the last Sunday of every year, they devote the magazine to reflections on many of those people who died that year. See this year’s issue.

-In the 1970s I was part of the military reform movement as a Senate staffer and had the chance to know John Boyd, the pilot who revolutionized training and coined the OODA loop. This week I learned that someone has written a book debunking Boyd and his theories. All I know so far is this review.

– I also know and admire Kori Schake, now at AEI. But I was dismayed to read the articles criticizing her — in the National Review and then in reply. I guess even think tanks are now caught up in our divisiveness.

– WSJ says Russian mercenaries are taking over in Africa.

– NYT says Ukraine is training civilians for resistance warfare.

– And AP says a new CIA office isn’t working out.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).