Midrats

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Episode 285: Best of Pacific Air in WWII Jun 21, 2015

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Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" & EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" with their returning guest, author David Sears for the full hour to discuss his latest book, Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan.
For WWII and aviaition fans - this is a show you do not want to miss!

Episode 284: 200th Anniversary of Waterloo with John Kuehn Jun 14, 2015

Show notes

18 June will be the 200th Anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, fought in present-day Belgium.
Just in time, regular guest to Midrats, John Kuehn has his latest book out, Napoleonic Warfare: The Operational Art of the Great Campaigns where he covers the operational level analysis of European warfare from 1792 to 1815, including the tactics, operations, and strategy of major conflicts of the time.
More than just a description of set piece battle, there is a discussion of naval warfare, maneuver warfare, compound warfare, and counterinsurgency.
We've got him for the full hour ... we should be able to get to most of it.
Dr. John T. Kuehn is the General William Stofft Chair for Historical Research at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He retired from the U.S. Navy 2004 at the rank of commander after 23 years of service as a naval flight officer in EP-3s and ES-3s. He authored Agents of Innovation (2008) and co-authored Eyewitness Pacific Theater (2008) with D.M. Giangreco, as well as numerous articles and editorials and was awarded a Moncado Prize from the Society for Military History in 2011.
His previous book was, A military History of Japan: From the Age of the Samurai to the 21st Century.

Episode 283: The Foreign and Defense Policy Terrain for the '16 Election Jun 07, 2015

Show notes

As the world has set its own course as we have been planning other things, some believe that the 2016 election will be more focused on foreign policy and defense issues that any of the candidates thought would be the case at the end of last year.
What will be the above-the-fold topics? The baseline was set by the '16 budget battle last year and the winding down and a post-mortum on the sequestration gambit of the last couple of years.
As proxies in the emerging discussion, to join the old bulls on the Hill, are there emerging new leaders on defense issues elected in the '14 cycle?
Where do declared or expected candidates for President for both parties stand on policy and present operations?
To discuss this and more in the foreign policy and defense arena will be returning guest, Mackenzie Eaglen,
Mackenzie is a resident fellow in the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where she works on defense strategy, defense budgets, and military readiness.
She has worked on defense issues in the House of Representatives and Senate and at the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff. In 2014, Eaglen served as a staff member of the congressionally mandated National Defense Panel, a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission established to assess US defense interests and strategic objectives. This followed Eaglen’s previous work as a staff member for the 2010 congressionally mandated bipartisan Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel, also established to assess the Pentagon’s major defense strategy. A prolific writer on defense-related issues, she has also testified before Congress.
She has an M.A. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a B.A. from Mercer University.

Episode 282: Summer Kick-off Free For All May 31, 2015

Show notes

Midrats is back live this Sunday at 5-pm Eastern; tanned, rested and ready for the summer.
Join EagleOne from EagleSpeak and Sal from CDR Salamander for the full hour as they cover the major national security and maritime issues that are set to dominate conversations as the kids get out of school and that moving trucks start to roll.
From China's sand islands, the Islamic States expansion, the response to a revanchist Russia, to the usual goings on with the Potomac Flotilla - we'll cover it all.

Episode 281: Best of Sammy B,; No Higher Honor May 24, 2015

Show notes

On Friday, 22 May 2015 a great warship was decommissioned, the USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG-58). In her honor, we will replay our show on the day that defined her.
Little has changed since the USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG-58) struck a mine, and in retribution, the US Navy launched Operation PRAYING MANTIS.
The tactical and operational aspects of each, as well as combat leadership, remain constant even while the tools may have changed a bit.
To discuss this an more, our guest for the full hour will be Brad Peniston, author of "No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf," released in 2013 by the Naval Institute Press in paperback and on Kindle.

Episode 280: Best of NATO in Afghanistan, With Stephen Saideman May 17, 2015

Show notes

Lost to many whose news sources in the USA consists of the major newspapers and the standard networks, for most of the last dozen+ years, the conflict in Afghanistan has not been a USA-Centric battle; it has been a NATO run operation.
When the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force has been an American 4-star, the visuals can be misleading.
For most of the last decade, American forces were dominate in only one region of Afghanistan, the east. Other NATO nations from Italy/Spain in the west, Germany in the North, and Commonwealth nations and the Dutch in the south.
More important than the actual numbers involved, it was the Rules of Engagement, caveats, and the fickle nature of national politics that drove what effects those forces had on the ground.
The good, the bad, and the ugly of modern coalition warfare was all in view for all in Afghanistan, but outside small circles, has yet to be fully discussed.
Our guest for the full hour will be Stephen Saideman.
Stephen holds the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He has written The Ties That Divide: Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy and International Conflict and For Kin or Country: Xenophobia, Nationalism and War (with R. William Ayres) and NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone (with David Auerswald), and other work on nationalism, ethnic conflict, civil war, and civil-military relations. Prof. Saideman spent 2001-02 on the U.S. Joint Staff working in the Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate as part of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. He writes online at OpenCanada.org, Political Violence at a Glance, Duck of Minerva and his own site (saideman.blogspot.com). He also tweets too much at @smsaideman.

Episode 279: Air Diplomacy, Air-Sea Battle, & the PAC Pivot Best of May 10, 2015

Show notes

Excuse the host's audio quality ... but the guest's audio is perfect.
For America's natural position as a naval and aerospace power, are we thinking correctly on how to best leverage our resources and strenghts?
How should we be using sea power and air power to create the right effects during peace, yet be poised to have the best utility at war?
Are there concepts, habits, and systems that have had their time and should be moved aside for newer tools and ideas?
Our guest for the full hour will be Dr. Adam Lowther, Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, DC.
He is the author of numerous books and articles on national security topics and previously served in the US Navy.

Episode 278: Betrayal, leadership, loyalty, and redemption: Task Force VIOLENT May 03, 2015

Show notes

Loyalty goes both ways, the old saying goes. One shows loyalty up the chain, because one expects the same in the other direction. They system, however, is built upon the timbers of the imperfect human condition.
What happens when you have conflicting narratives, but the system that you thought was there to serve you as you served it decides to take the counter-narrative without question?
Is there a point where a leader accepts that there is no loyalty above, and as a result, has to redouble his loyalty to those under him?
The story of Task Force VIOLENT is one of inspired unit level leadership, and nightmarishly twisted priorities up the chain; of brave men caught in a modern day, real time, Kafkaesque circle.
Following up on his 5-part series, Task Force Violent: The Unforgiven - the Tragic Betrayal of and Elite Marine Corps Commando Unit, our guest for the full hour will be MilitaryTimes journalist Andrew deGrandpre.

Episode 277: Manpower, Modernization, and Motivation - an Hour with VADM Moran Apr 26, 2015

Show notes

For the Sailor, nothing is more immediate, more "now" and of more impact to their personal and professional lives than their next set of orders.
For our Navy, nothing defines present operational performance, the development of future leaders, and ensuring success at war for the next few decades than personnel policy.
Our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern will be the Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Admiral Bill Moran, USN.
We will discuss the drive to man the Fleet to appropriate levels now, while looking at ways to modernize the personnel system to provide greater choice, flexibility and transparency for our Sailors and the commands they serve.
We will also look at the ongoing discussion about how to best keep with one hand a firm hand on what has worked, while with a free hand, reach for those things that will ensure that today's officers and enlisted personnel have a Navy that not only is meeting its needs, but takes in to consideration the individual goals and priorities of its personnel.

Episode 276: 21st Century Ellis - Edited by B.A. Friedman Apr 19, 2015

Show notes

The next book from USNI's 21st Century Foundations series is 21st Century Ellis, edited by Capt. B.A. Friedman, USMC.
This book covers the work of Lt. Col. "Pete" Ellis, USMC who in 1921 predicted the coming war with Japan.
Included in this collection are some o f his articles on counterinsurgency and conventional war based on his experiences in WWI and the Philippines.
Capt. Friedman will be with us for the full hour to discuss this and more.
Capt. B.A. Friedman is a field artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps currently stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC. He is pursuing a master's degree in national security and strategic studies through the Naval War College.

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