Kate Bachelder Odell Profile Banner
Kate Bachelder Odell Profile
Kate Bachelder Odell

@katebachwsj

2,998
Followers
1,122
Following
29
Media
510
Statuses

WSJ editorial board

Joined July 2009
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
I broke some news in @WSJopinion about an important report commissioned by @SenCotton et al. on the culture of the U.S. Navy. Every American has a stake in making sure the fleet is focused on the next fight. A thread w/ additional details and analysis: 1/x
35
177
327
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
"This weekend’s Fourth of July is the 244th anniversary of American’s first revolution. It remains the benchmark against which any successor idea must be measured."
9
99
267
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Timothy J. Keller, pastor, theologian, student of beauty. A valedictory for the single most formative influence of my early adult life.
6
45
326
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
8 months
Quick refresher of some Reagan policies that won Cold War: - US economic revival to restore standing abroad - Spend 6% of economy on military & fund global proxy wars that weaken your big enemy - Always tout superiority of US system and America's ability to overcome challenges
@MZHemingway
Mollie
8 months
The Reagan policies that won the Cold War are not the polices of the George W. Bush, Mitch McConnell beltway Republicans of the last 25 years. The candidate that articulates this well at the Reagan library tonight will be rewarded by the voters.
163
258
1K
12
45
207
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
Me in @WSJopinion on Amy Barrett's personal & professional balancing act, and why more women should hear her message of decency and nonconformity.
12
37
134
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
These problems are not partisan; they have been true of other peacetime navies; and they can be fixed. But that will require civilian leadership and flag introspection. /end
9
18
108
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
Firings cost human capital, but that is not the real damage as the report notes. The Navy "all but chases" talent "out the door." Why spend the next 10yrs going to sea, doing staff duty, carting family around the world, if you might end up defenestrated one afternoon? 6/x
Tweet media one
3
25
107
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
An insidious effect of expanding bureaucracy is that it breeds a mindset of compliance and micromanagement. “The Navy treats warfighting readiness as a compliance issue,” one career commander told interviewers. 4/x
2
30
102
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
Many noncombat trainings are appropriate & important (e.g. suicide & sexual assault prevention). But they also “come with a cost,” in time and focus. When commanders have too many requirements, what takes priority? What do they know *must* be done? 3/x
Tweet media one
2
27
99
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
The principal purpose of a Navy, the report notes, is finding and sinking enemy fleets. But the 77 current/recently former officers and sailors interviewed do not think that is absorbing most of their unit or flag leadership's time. 2/x
Tweet media one
4
29
96
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
On Senate floor this evening, @BasedMikeLee says Japanese government agreed to speed up a prisoner transfer of U.S. Navy #LtRidgeAlkonis , only to stonewall. @wsj editorial board with the latest on the case:
29
43
108
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Fantastic @continetti column on the stakes of supporting Ukraine.
Tweet media one
6
32
107
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
The report also brings up “a corrosive over-responsiveness to media culture.” Service members perceive the flag ranks are terrified of a bad headline and willing to feed a subordinate to the wolves if necessary. 7/x
3
24
90
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
I spent a couple days driving around Wisconsin with @RepGallagher , talking about the U.S. role in the world, the case for the American Navy & much more. More Americans should get to know this "Ph.D who can win a bar fight."
36
31
101
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
17 days
America wasn't the aggressor in Iraq. Dude named Saddam Hussein was. While I'm here: The U.S. was right to drop the atomic bomb & Dresden was a military target. Next
@rachelbovard
Rachel Bovard
18 days
@RLHeinrichs @willcain So was America the aggressor in Iraq?
19
4
91
195
12
100
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
The "most concerning finding" was "an inversion of the chain of command itself." It is now “easy for a disgruntled junior officer or sailor to grind their axe with targeted leaks.” 8/x
Tweet media one
3
24
85
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
This compliance mindset is paired with a “dominant and paralyzing” culture of firing commanding officers for a single misjudgment. A prime goal of a CO tour? Survive. Navy folks know this is an old debate, but the firings keep coming. 5/x
Tweet media one
2
24
86
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
9 months
What can Republicans learn from a GOP governor with a 57% approval rating in a state the party hasn’t carried for president in 20 years?
8
28
89
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
@Justin_Br0nk Fascinating & thought-provoking stuff, and hopefully will be read by western militaries whose flight hours are also too low.
Tweet media one
3
5
73
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
"More Americans should thumb through James Hornfischer’s work about the Navy’s 'finest hour,' off the coast of Samar on an October morning in 1944." Bravo Zulu, Lt. Odell.
8
19
69
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
"How to Be An Antiracist" is on the Navy CNO's book list as "foundational" reading, the same level as Jim Hornfischer's WWII naval history. You don't have to be a right winger, much less deny racism, to ask whether that is appropriate.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
3
12
62
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
The Biden crowd is going to keep hearing about the Polish Migs. They could show a little creativity: Break down the jets for parts to feed the planes the Ukrainians have, e.g. extra engines. Weapons stocks could also help.
4
17
54
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Fair winds to Paul Johnson, a master of narrative force in writing history. A singular formative influence on my thinking, writing and imagination.
3
20
51
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
"The Navy is worried about readiness, particularly overworked carriers, and that a larger fleet won’t be properly manned or maintained, which are real concerns. But that is a case for more investment."
6
18
38
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
22 days
The House Ukraine aid bill forces the Biden Admin to articulate a strategy in Ukraine within 45 days. Republicans are right to drive that debate, and what the Admin produces will be instructive.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
@stephenwertheim
Stephen Wertheim
24 days
Whether the aid passes or not, we appear no closer to having a sound answer to the essential question: What is America's strategy on Ukraine?
19
21
80
3
15
37
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
An accumulating risk that deserves more attention: American military pilots aren’t getting enough preparation for high-end combat. (from me in tomorrow’s ⁦ @WSJopinion ⁩)
5
9
27
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Focus is often on paid leave & I’m grateful to have it. But truly invaluable: church families brought dinner 4x/wk for a month; neighbors took the toddler on short notice; friends came over to encourage us & hold baby. Goal of my life is to help others have such social wealth.
0
5
25
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
What’s at stake if the US Navy ceases to be the most powerful in the world? A review from me in today’s @WSJBooks :
1
15
18
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
More young, ambitious women should hear what Amy Barrett has to say about work and family. Meet the alleged handmaid with a husband who does most of the cooking in tomorrow’s WSJ:
Tweet media one
9
5
18
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Navy pilot husband wrapping a gift I bought for our toddler: “Are we just going to let him pretend these types of planes fly off carriers?”
Tweet media one
1
0
20
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Great thoughts here on how many Americans don’t have “a community of recognition.” I’ve been thinking about family support in the month since welcoming my second son.
@BradWilcoxIFS
Brad Wilcox
2 years
“When you isolate what we call the nuclear family… I think the nuclear family becomes less resilient and more fragile. Because the truth is, marriage and childrearing are very hard. We need social support of many kinds to do these things well.” @ahc
3
10
36
1
3
19
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 months
RIP Toby Keith, legend and friend to U.S. troops everywhere. On the platform of the USS Enterprise in 2007, talking down a landing pilot.
Tweet media one
1
2
19
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
“A Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a seminal event that accelerates the new world disorder. The signs have been building for years, but America and its allies are unprepared, as democracies usually are, for the trouble to come.”
1
7
16
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Just another day in the Navy, reading a contingency folder my husband left for me titled “How to Buy A House While I’m At Sea.”
1
0
16
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
As the U.S. debates its least-bad options for managed decline, China is laying hulls.
1
6
15
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
It isn’t clear how many Switchblades US could provide. @HudsonInstitute has estimated 1,000 of the older model and 250 of the 600. Hope we send in every one we can dig up — Brits have ordered the 600 and could perhaps pitch in too.
1
9
15
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
I'm excited to be out at the Reagan National Defense Forum this weekend. Tomorrow I'll be chatting with a great cast about the little subject known as the defense budget. #RNDF
0
4
12
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
10 months
Once more from @cdrsalamander : If you don't fight the war you have because you prefer to fight a different war that may or may not come-- you will fight both and be prepared for neither.
1
2
11
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
11 months
"I don’t know Evan Gershkovich, but I’ve thought about him every day since Vladimir Putin took him hostage. I’ve also thought about what the arbitrary detention of a . . . reporter in Russia says about the brave new world we inhabit." @MaryAnastasiaOG
1
6
11
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
"This apparent violation of war graves is a gruesome Memorial Day reminder that international rules and order are not the natural state of affairs but the product of American and allied military enforcement."
0
4
11
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
5 years
My husband deployed the day after inauguration 2017. I wasn't the only Navy wife who felt better knowing that Mattis had the night watch. Thanks sir.
2
1
10
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
9 months
“If no alternative to Mr. Trump breaks through, nervous Republican donors and voters will start looking for a lifeboat, and Glenn Youngkin just may prove seaworthy.”
13
2
10
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
. @JessGrose is subtweeting my review of her book earlier this week, but I stand by it: Telling young professional women to maximize their lifetime career earnings at all costs is truly terrible advice.
0
0
9
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Indeed. As part of recruiting crisis, US military needs to think about how many Americans never consider serving because they are married/attached to someone with high earning potential, for whom a lifetime of capricious under employment is not attractive.
@NavyStrang
Nathan Strang
1 year
Another one is spousal employment. Not only does a service member not want to put their life on hold, they don't want to put their spouse's on hold either. The idea that "spouse follows the breadwinner" is ancient now. It doesn't work.
6
0
12
2
3
9
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
A little @wsjopinion newslet out of the House GOP retreat, on what Republicans learned playing a tabletop war game to defend Taiwan.
2
1
9
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
6 years
"For support, I refer Friedersdorf to the Nicomachean Ethics."
0
3
9
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
5 years
A short weekend read: Something I wrote in the WSJ on war and memory and visiting Normandy for the first time.
2
6
9
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
@cdrsalamander Deal seems to have fallen apart. Instructive line from Politico EU (blog seems to have since been revised): "Bulgaria had a deficit of serviceable aircraft and parts, and did not have sufficient fighter jets to guard its airspace by itself, a Bulgarian official told POLITICO."
0
0
8
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
"The post-Cold War order has depended on U.S. economic and military power, not on the illusion that the 'international community' can enforce world order."
0
4
8
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Inflation, restive politics, dishonor abroad—what can the Cold War teach us about today's world moment? Reagan historian Will Inboden & I discuss:
1
6
8
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
The Navy is suffering from cultural dysfunction and needs fresh thinking for developing and retaining talented officers. In the weekend WSJ:
6
4
7
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Manned rails, blue skies and the very best husband, dad and paddles done with deployment and home for Christmas.
Tweet media one
0
0
7
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Glad the military vaccine mandate is kaput, may it never return, but always amazed to see conservatives valorize service members who violated a lawful order. Order and discipline matters. More credit should go to those who had reservations but saw it as their duty to comply.
@megbasham
Megan Basham
1 year
Romney strikes again—voted against reinstating military members discharged over vaccine. Great reporting from my friend ⁦ @MaryMargOlohan ⁩.
33
82
238
0
0
7
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
9 months
The GOP "nominee should understand the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to America and be able to articulate it. The nominee must tout the superiority of the American system and why, after we get our act together, freedom will be the victor."
0
3
7
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Today’s fighter jet fiasco was a failure of American leadership, and the stakes are much larger than a couple dozen Polish MiGs.
0
5
7
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
9 months
"The free world, far from plunging into irreversible decline, retains the moral energy and spiritual stamina to tell the truth," to "state clearly the real issues now before the world." Ronald Reagan at the Heritage Foundation's 10th Anniversary Gala, October 1983
Tweet media one
1
2
6
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Can the U.S. focus more on China if it stops arming Ukraine?
Tweet media one
3
2
6
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
8 months
Economic growth has made parenting far less expensive, not more. Inflated cultural expectations are a choice You don't have to buy your kid $20 a week in berries, and it isn't a compelling argument for large government subsidies!
@PTBwrites
Patrick T. Brown
8 months
Berries are a perfect example of how economic growth can make parenting more expensive even as it boosts incomes. Three decades ago, you got grapefruit or canned pears for breakfast. Today, are you even a real parent if you're not keeping Driscoll's in business? 🫐🍓
4
4
31
2
0
6
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
8 months
Dan Henninger saw it all. Then he saw nothing. Read it every year on 9/11:
0
4
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
5 years
Lots of talk lately about helping military spouses. More of it should tilt at the real problem: The military manages assignments like a game of musical chairs. Navy wife me in today's WSJ:
1
1
6
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Modern Times is a classic work accessible to anyone curious about the world, even at 800+ pages. There are so many sharp and funny lines along the way. One of my favorites, about Lenin: “Religion was important to him, in that he hated it.”
1
1
6
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
In Ukraine, there are “options between doing nothing and risking the start of World War III,” and @WSJopinion gets into some:
0
0
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
Debates over family subsidies would be more constructive if they didn't dismiss everyone on the right who has serious concerns about "pro-family" cash transfers as market-worshipping "libertarians." E.g. @erikabachiochi & elsewhere:
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
1
2
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Historical analogies have limits, but: "From what I have seen of our Russian... Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness."
@MZHemingway
Mollie
2 years
"It is not ‘appeasement’ of Putin to try to find a negotiated way out of the war. It is elementary humaneness — and hard-headed realism."
52
117
405
1
1
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
A fun movie & a line that captures why I take all film advice from @rkylesmith : "I part ways with other film critics in preferring even a formulaic rom-com to, say, a three-hour allegory about the depredations of capitalism set in a leper colony"
1
0
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
A classic of this genre: the usn aviator who had to eject out of the back seat of a jet while on a joy ride as a young midshipman later gets the call sign “OTO0L”: one takeoff, zero landings.
2
0
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Some of my friends on the right seem to think only big contractors or bureaucracies will suffer if defense spending is frozen at last year’s levels in a CR. Dead wrong. It’s American pilots and sailors who won’t get the training and equipment they need.
0
0
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Join me in rejecting this strain of the right & classical education movement that now says American is a fundamentally rotten country.
1
1
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Johnson’s short biography of Winston Churchill closes with an incandescent section on the lessons of the prime minister’s life. Johnson never left readers wondering why the material mattered.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
2
1
5
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
9 months
Regrettable to see so many culture warriors dumping on military service. There are real, deep problems in the force. But ironic to adopt the distinctly leftist view that America isn't worth defending in uniform
@KeenanPeachy
Peachy Keenan
9 months
10 months ago:
Tweet media one
4
3
33
12
1
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Johnson’s core tenet: “There are no inevitabilities in history.” Such was my childhood that I remember my father saying that long before I understood what it meant. The family copy, dated reading May 1991, five months before my birth. RIP to a giant.
Tweet media one
0
0
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Should America ignore Putin's Ukraine gambit and focus on China? Your afternoon must-read on that question comes courtesy of @robertcobrien
2
1
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Insulin has for years been invoked as a reason to set price controls on drugs. The market has real problems but they are smaller than advertised—three of four prescriptions are less than $30.
0
1
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
U.S. aid to Ukraine is helping to degrade an enemy military without the death of a single American in uniform.
0
0
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
7 months
National defense is about 13% of the federal budget, down from about 25% in the 1980s. Entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid): about 65% So, uh, yes, that’s the driving cause of America’s fiscal problems, not US defense spending
@EmmaMAshford
Emma Ashford (@emmamashford.bsky.social)
7 months
Though it is always amusing to watch hawkish conservatives -- who scream bloody murder about the deficit when it comes to social programs -- argue that the only true resource constraints are in our heads when it comes to defense. The MMT of defense budgeting.
1
2
8
2
6
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
7 months
Carrier strike groups are formidable military assets, but deterrence depends on whether adversaries believe a U.S. President is willing to use them.
1
8
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Fantastic shot of the USN gang looking good.
@Osinttechnical
OSINTtechnical
2 years
Tweet media one
7
36
332
0
0
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Brutal but darkly funny and accurate summary of the US Navy’s problems, from @HASCRepublicans hearing on industrial base yesterday:
Tweet media one
0
0
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
My corner of the Navy lost a young lieutenant this week in a terrible training crash Wednesday night. These are the background risks and stakes of naval aviation. I’m grateful the country still produces the kind of people who do it anyway.
Tweet media one
@USFleetForces
U.S. Fleet Forces
2 years
BREAKING: Service member who died in E-2D Hawkeye crash near Wallops Island, Virginia identified as Lt. Hyrum Hanlon.
1
13
23
0
0
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
I'm biased, but commend you to read LCDR Odell on the risk that "when the next conflict breaks out, the U.S.'s finest strategic minds will not be at sea but will have long ago departed" the Navy "to work at an investment bank or accounting firm."
0
1
4
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
5 months
Americans who sign up to serve in uniform know the risks, but serving as drone catchers because Washington refuses to deter the enemy isn’t supposed to be among the occupational hazards.
0
1
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
10 months
Amen
@cdrsalamander
cdrsalamander
10 months
If you decide not to fight the war you have now because you would prefer to fight a different war later that may or may not come, you will wind up having to fight both and won't be ready to win either. If you win the war you have now, the other war may not come at all.
6
28
116
4
0
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
"We had hoped that Mr. Biden would accept some responsibility and explain how he would fix this mess. He did none of that, making it clear that he himself is the main architect of this needless American surrender."
1
0
2
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
This morning's @WSJopinion editorial about a larger American Navy is relevant to today's awful wake up call for the west.
2
4
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
3 years
America's Navy:
@jordanpbradford
Jordan Bradford 🇺🇲
3 years
Today I asked a question on my 1MC. There was no tasking or direction behind the question . I simply wanted to know who in my crew would be willing to help with the Afghan evac if needed. We're in the general area so I needed a ready list of who might help if called on.
8
53
253
0
0
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
7 months
The return of war against Israel isn’t an isolated event. It’s the latest installment in the unraveling of global order as American political will and military primacy are called into question. new @WSJopinion editorial
0
8
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 month
"He exemplifies the best of a Hillsdale education, and shows that one does not have to be loud or sacrifice the love of truth in order to reach high positions of influence"
0
0
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
"Why do so many sailors and veterans find it plausible that Capt. Crozier was getting the brush off from his bosses?"
0
2
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
Really wishing I had listened to his spiel about this instead of just nodding intently every few minutes
1
0
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
Fair to debate the military utility of Migs, but folks should reject the premise fighter jets are somehow a unique escalation. If jets are less useful for killing Russians than air defense systems, then they are also less of an escalation.
@philipaklein
Philip Klein
2 years
This is completely bananas. How is it arrogant for the U.S. to decide our own level of involvement based on our own national security interests rather than deferring to the leader of another country?
37
113
535
0
1
3
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
@collinhansen Collin, trying to reach you a/b your book. Could you message/follow me? Also on email at kate dot bachelder at wsj dot com.
0
0
2
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
1 year
"One misplaced concern is that modern fighters won’t matter in Ukraine because they’ll be too vulnerable to Russian surface-to-air missiles." Good stuff from @Deptula_David in WSJ pages:
1
1
2
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
4 years
Tom Coburn was the real deal. From the Journal's valedictory editorial for him in 2014:
Tweet media one
0
1
2
@katebachwsj
Kate Bachelder Odell
2 years
The Biden Team's defense budget bets on weapons that don’t yet exist for a war they hope arrives on someone else’s watch. But what if they're wrong?
0
2
2