A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

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LESSONS FROM FORT LIVING ROOM: DISTANCE EDUCATION AT USAWC PT 3 Oct 10, 2023

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It's time for another episode about the U.S. Army War College's Distance Education program. COL Heather Smigowski, Chair of the Department of Distance Education (DDE), is back in the studio and this time she's brought along two recent grads of the AY21 and AY22 DDE classes. Mark Almond and Dave Paravecchia join Heather and podcast host Ron Granieri to explain what graduating from the distance program has done for them and how it has impacted their careers in the Army. Their conversation focuses on tips and techniques for time management along with the real-time lessons they learned while still working their "day jobs."

ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR FORCE MANAGEMENT: GFIM (HOW SHOULD THE ARMY RUN) Oct 03, 2023

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When faced with a challenge, a soldier will always come up with some sort of solution to make the system, process or piece of equipment work. It may not be an elegant solution or a good use of time, but they will find a way to make it work. Lori Mongold and Andrew St. Laurent are doing everything in their power to make sure soldiers don't have to find workarounds to disconnected systems, at least in the force management world. They are the chief and deputy chief of the office in the Army staff charged with fixing how the service creates and manages units. Their solution revises processes and replaces fifteen legacy systems with one new information technology system, the Global Force Information Management Operational Environment. They join host Bob Bradford in the studio to explain the bureaucratic journey required to move the global force management process from the industrial to the cognitive era.

RECRUIT, RETAIN, DRAFT?: RAISING AN ARMY FOR LARGE SCALE CONFLICT Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

In the closing scene of James Michener's novel The Bridges of Toko-Ri, an admiral thinks of the aircrew he just sent to the Korean conflict--some never to return--and asks, "Where did we get such men?" President Ronald Reagan asked the same question years later at the Medal of Honor presentation to Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez, speaking of both the awardee and his many comrades in Vietnam. It is often overlooked that many who served in both of those conflicts came from the activated reserve forces and selective service. During their year at the Army War College, Kent Park and Stephen Trynosky examined the challenges if we had to again rapidly expand the army for a large war. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss their research on the topic and their concerns that the U.S. is not adequately prepared for a major conflict with a near-peer threat, such as China or Russia. Park and Trynosky argue that the U.S. needs to take steps to increase its personnel readiness long before the shadow of great power conflict appears because timelines in the modern global security environment are much more compressed than in previous conflicts.

WRITING ON A DEADLINE: SHASHANK JOSHI (ON WRITING) Sep 19, 2023

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Michael Neiberg is back in the studio for the next installation of the On Writing series. This week's guest is Shashank Joshi, Defense Editor for The Economist. This episode is a slight variation from the normal On Writing discussion because Shashank is a journalist writing a much shorter form than our usual guests, and then there's the little issue of the deadlines associated with a fast-paced news cycle. Their conversation turns to the organization and formulation of an interesting and accessible article, avoiding personal injury when dealing with demanding editors, and what sort of formal and informal research is necessary to build a mental database useful for informing a news-oriented writing format.

OBSERVATIONS FROM NATO’S NORTHERN FRONT REVISITED (EISENHOWERS SERIES) Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

It's time once again to feature some of the smart conversations that occur around the country through the Eisenhower Series College Program. For over 50 years, the Eisenhower Program has reached out to colleges and town halls across the nation to introduce War College students to audiences that are often unfamiliar with members of the U.S. military. This time we have two officers of NATO's northern front in the studio, Norwegian Steinar Dahl and Canadian Eric Landry. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to present their thoughts on the NATO alliance and their country's contributions to the organization. The conversation focuses on interoperability, what the war in Ukraine has revealed about NATO and what the organization's world role might be after that war has ended. We've titled this "Revisited" because regular listeners might remember that in 2020 A BETTER PEACE sat down with Major General Torgeir Gråtrud, commander of the Norwegian Special Operations Command, to discuss his perspectives on strategic leadership and Norway's role in NATO.

ASPIRATIONAL, VAGUE, AND STRATEGIC: THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY Sep 05, 2023

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Regular listeners might remember previous episodes in which we looked at the 2022 National Security Strategy and the 2022 National Defense Strategy. In this episode, we continue the examination of strategic-level documents with a review of the 2023 National Intelligence Strategy. Genevieve Lester is in the studio, but this time she's the guest with podcast host Ron Granieri. Their conversation dissects the document that is the Director of National Intelligence's strategic direction for the Intelligence Community (IC) for the next four years. Ideally, it aligns IC priorities with other national strategies and supports the IC’s mission to provide timely, insightful, objective, and relevant intelligence and support to inform national security decisions and to protect the United States and its interests. But what can you say about an institution whose business is keeping secrets in a document that is shared with the world? Gen and Ron share their thoughts about the language used, the specificity and vagueness, and the overall message the document conveys.

STRATEGY IN SPACE! Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

For those of you of sufficient age, you should have heard that title in your head with the stentorian voice of this fine announcer. But in all seriousness, the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command have their work cut out for them, developing doctrine and strategy and educating the public on the contributions of space to daily life in the modern world. A.P. Penaflor joins host Jacqueline Whitt in the studio to discuss space, a topic that once held nations spellbound but has become so routine that the average citizen gives it little thought. But the members of the DoD that work in the space realm every day are busy developing the tactics, techniques and procedures that allow the military and commercial industries to operate and navigate in the unforgiving environment today and well into the future.

SIMULATING DIPLOMATIC DISASTER (WARGAMING ROOM) Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

It's time once again for a visit to the Wargaming Room. In this episode, three recent graduates of the AY23 Resident Course at the U.S. Army War College share the wargame they developed as part of the Carlisle Scholars Program. Giovanni Corrado, Ian Hopper and Kent Park are in the studio to discuss the impetus and goal of their Strategy Simulation Exercise. Joined by podcast editor Ron Granieri, the three game creators share how the exercise demonstrates how policy is made at many different levels. Using alliances, negotiations, political capital and timed periods, they've created a game that is an incredible teaching tool for a handful, a dozen, or even over a hundred students at a time.

MANAGING NATO: INTERESTS AND INTEROPERABILITY Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revived interest in and discussions about NATO. When 31 countries, each with their own national interests and goals, come together, interoperability becomes a driving consideration. Giovanni Corrado and Joel Gleason conducted a study of NATO interoperability and doctrine as their research project for the Carlisle Scholars program at the U.S. Army War College. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to share the findings of numerous interviews and studies. What they found was that despite all the different languages, interests, equipment and procedures, multinational formations on the battlefield make it work. Much of that is due to well-formed doctrine that most members aren't aware of in their daily routine.

AT THE CENTER OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE: THE LIBRARY Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

It's back-to-school time across the United States, and it's no different here at the U.S. Army War College. What's different this year is that the resident class of academic year 2024 will arrive at a brand new academic facility, dubbed the new Root Hall by faculty and staff. It's a beautiful building with every detail designed around facilitating the education of leaders today and well into the future. And of course, you can't have a school without a library, but this isn't the library you remember from grade school. Greta Braungard, Academic Library Division Chief, and Heather Goyette, Knowledge Commons Branch Chief, join podcast editor Ron Granieri to explain the features and innovations of the new facility. From movable stacks and digital databases to self-checkout and a whole new spectacular view (quite a change from the previous basement location), the new library will be at the center of the student body's research effort.

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