Gates of Tears in Fiction

During 2012, the U.S. and allied navies continued non-stop operations in the Gulf of Aden, the Somali Basin, and the Arabian sea.  Although Somali piracy precipitously declined, al Shabaab was on the run, and the pressure was turned up on AQAP, ongoing operational requirements drove more record length U.S. Navy deployments in the area.  Many of these operations were well known but some remained outside of the public view.  Late last year, I reviewed Camille Pecastaing's interesting expose on the geostrategic challenges in and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.  This year, I was drawn to another book about the same region.

I'm not normally a big fiction reader, but if like me, you can only cram in a bit of escapist reading every now and then, next year make it Claude Berube's debut novel, The Aden Effect.  The book combines a mix of Beltway intrigue, clever law enforcement work, and high seas action into a suprisingly prescient yarn. Amongst the various plotlines of ambassadors under attack by terrorists, duplicitous politicians, and pirates run amok, one passage in particular could have been ripped straight out of recent congressional hearings: "If they're so concerned though, why is the embassy understaffed?... No spooks. No regional security officer --how can an embassy operate without an RSO?-- only half the number of Marines you'd expect, and no other military staff at all."

For those more versed in naval and counterterrorism operations who like to nit-pick operational details (like me), I'd suggest you follow Claude's admonishment in the post-script to "suspend some disbelief" and just enjoy a good read.  Happy New Year.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.

DC Maritime Meet-up - 26 June

I'll be joining the young Jedis from CIMSEC this Tuesday evening at the Iron Horse Tap in Washington, DC.  The gathering should make for some lively discussions on naval topicality.  Hope to see you there.

Entertainment News

I am not sure if you have heard, but the Universal Pictures movie Battleship began filming last week in Hawaii. Based on the old board game Battleship, I admit I am skeptical. Noteworthy though, the movie has been given a budget of $200 million - which by any standard is an enormous amount of money for a movie.

The other big entertainment news this week is that the Battle of Midway is heading back to the big screen too, this time in 3-D from the same folks who produced the recent award winning HBO mini-series "The Pacific."

One of the themes on the blog has been the communication the Navy needs to have with the American people. How can people advocate for seapower? Well, when someone asks me this question I always return with the questions "What is your YouTube strategy? Who are you working with in Hollywood?"

In Washington the Navy actually pays folks to produce a PDF/PPT with the answer. What a waste of taxpayer money - as if the answer is going to leap off the page and become something Americans download to read.

For better or worse, these two movies have the potential of leaving a deeper lasting impression regarding what the Navy is about to the American people than anything an Admiral has said in years. Lets face it, the new US Navy uniform will have a much stronger association with the Navy because Rihanna wore it than it has to date - and if she tells Entertainment Tonight the US Navy uniform is uncomfortable for women - that has the potential of being a stronger complaint than the one already made by many women in the Navy who have said the same. Sad but potentially true.

Battleship could turn out to be a $200 million mess. Battle of Midway? Well, it better not. The Battle of Midway is the single most important naval battle in American history. The one thing the Navy cannot afford to ever do is allow that battle to be screwed up in any way by Hollywood.

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Finally in entertainment news, if you have the day off or if you have DVR, you need to be recording/watching Whale Wars on Animal Planet - as there is a Whale Wars marathon today. Whale Wars has everything, and if you haven't watched it you really need to - it is 21st century naval warfare as a reality TV show.

Contested boardings, maneuvering for firing position, multi-vessel naval tactics, NGO warfare, strategic communications, etc. etc. etc... If you don't believe me, watch it. Whale Wars is modern naval warfare on TV, and is perhaps the best naval combat television show ever produced.