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Episode 204: A Day Without Seapower - Best of Dec 01, 2013

Show notes

Almost two and a half years ago we had a show that is a fitting ago now as it was then.
Almost a decade of involvement in two land wars in Asia combined with a series of costly and ill timed shipbuilding programs that have yet to produce ships anywhere near promised cost and performance has brought our Navy to the growing budget crisis in a delicate position.
The national security arena suffers from SeaBlindness about the critical requirements of seapower to the long term economic and security needs of a maritime, mercantile republic.
Using their work at The Heritage Foundation, Thinking About a Day Without Sea Power:Implications for U.S. Defense Policy as a starting point, for the full hour we will returning guests Mackenzie Eaglen and Bryan McGrath to discuss the long view on the future direction of our Navy and Marine Corps team.

Episode 203: Bob Work and Global Maritime Power Nov 24, 2013

Show notes

When one hangs up the uniform after decades of service, but still wants to contribute to their nations national security needs, what paths can that take? How does one find a path forward, and what are the keys to success?
In a budgetary challenge not seen by the US military in two decades, what are the important "must haves" that need to be kept at full strength, and what "nice to haves" may have to be put in to the side?
What are the legacy ideas, concepts, and capabilities that the Navy and Marine Corps need to make sure they maintain mastery of, and what new things are either here or are soon on the way that we need to set conditions for success now?
Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and more will be Robert O. Work, Col. USMC (Ret), presently CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and former Undersecretary of the Navy from 2009-2013.
After 27-years of active duty service in the Marine Corps, Work joined the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), where he focused on defense strategy and programs, revolutions in war, Department of Defense transformation, and maritime affairs. He also contributed to Department of Defense studies on global basing and emerging military missions; and provided support for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review.
During this time, Work was also an adjunct professor at George Washington University, where he taught defense analysis and roles and missions of the armed forces.
In late 2008, Work served on President Barack Obama’s Department of Defense Transition Team.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois; and has Masters Degrees from the University of Southern California, the Naval Postgraduate School; and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Episode 202: Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton Nov 17, 2013

Show notes

Are there lessons one can learn from the most exceptional edges of the military experience that can be useful to the civilian world?
Was there something from the experience of American prisoners of war imprisoned at the "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War that had to do with their success in their subsequent careers?
Our guests to discuss for the full hour will be Peter Fretwell and Taylor Baldwin Kiland, authors of Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teams.

Episode 201: The 911 Decade Best Of Nov 10, 2013

Show notes

Going back 14 months, this Veterans Day weekend, let's review the war we have been soaking in.
There are certain points in a nation's history that define a transition from one era to another. These moments are so clear that you don't realize it in retrospect - you know it the moment it happens. No one argues the fact that everything has changed; from all sides, everyone sees it. September 11th, 2001 was one of those times.
911 was not just a national moment, but a global moment.
Our military has changed, our national strategy has changed, the way we perceive the tradeoff between liberty and freedom has changed - the international order has changed.
Where was our nation and the world on September 10th 2001, and how did the events the following day bring us to where our nation is a decade later?
To discuss this, our extened panel members will include:
- J. Michael Barrett, Partner at Diligent Innovations, Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and former Director, Strategy & Resources at the White House Homeland Security Council.
- L. Thomas Bortmes, CAPT USN (Ret), research staff member at IDA, and former Executive Director, Office of Intelligence, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
- Claude Berube, LCDR USNR, instructor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy, Intelligence Officer in the Navy Reserve, author, and former Senate Staff member.

Episode 200: Navy SEALs in the Long War Nov 03, 2013

Show notes

In an arch that spans the immediate post-Cold War era through the Iraq War, what are the observations & lessons a front-line leader at the tactical level and, for those who are injured in service to their nation, through recovery.
Our guest for the full hour will be Jason Redman, author of The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader.
Jason joined the Navy on September 11, 1992 and served as an enlisted SEAL until he entered Old Dominion University in August of 2001, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management via Naval ROTC. He was commissioned in May of 2004 and returned as Naval SEAL Officer.
He deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2007, and in September was severely wounded.
While recovering at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Jason underwent 37 surgeries. His experience led him to create Wounded Wear, a Non-Profit organization that provides clothing kits and clothing modifications to America’s wounded warriors.

Episode 199: Best of Budget Choices Oct 27, 2013

Show notes

If you have only started to think about the budget problems this year, you are late to the game Shipmate. We are years in to it, and almost 2-yrs ago, as many were sobering up to the fact that the military was about to face a budget challenge not seen in a generation. Especially those who have seen this movie before, they knew that this one has the potential to be the most challenging seen in over half a century.
For the full hour, our guest will be Col. Robert Killebrew, USA (Ret.)., using his article in the DEC 2011 Armed Forces Journal, Cutbacks & Crisis, as a starting point.
In addition to being a contributing editor at AFJ, among the many other things he had done at the time of the interview and since retirement, was writing and consulting on national defense issues as a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Prior to his retirement from active duty he served for thirty years in a variety of Special Forces, infantry and staff duties. His assignments ranged included duty in Vietnam with MACVSOG, the Vietnamese Airborne Division, command in mechanized, air assault and airborne units, and staff positions in the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, as director of plans, XVIII Airborne Corps, special assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army, command of a deployed joint task force and as an instructor in strategy and policy at the Army War College.

Episode 198: Best of the Darkhorse Battalion Oct 20, 2013

Show notes

This week, we'll go back to 2011 for an interview with one of the better reports from an embed this decade. For those who listened to All Things Considered on NPR in 2011, you caught an outstanding series on the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines – the Darkhorse Battalion — the Marine unit that suffered the highest casualty rate of any Marine unit during the 10-year Afghan war.
Our guest for the full hour is the journalist who brought the American people that story - Tom Bowman, NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon.
In his current role, Bowman has traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan often for month-long visits and embedded with U.S. Marines and soldiers.
Before coming to NPR in April 2006, Bowman spent nine years as a Pentagon reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Altogether he was at The Sun for nearly two decades, covering the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the National Security Agency (NSA).

Episode 197: Sea Swap & Small Unit Leadership Oct 13, 2013

Show notes

While good ideas are often forgotten, bad ideas seem to pop up over an over again - especially the sexy ones that sound so good, but never seem to work well. The answer, of course, is to try again and hope for a better result.
Some would argue that sea swap is one of those sexy ideas that just isn't that practical in actual operation.
A good idea? One of the good ideas mostly forgotten is that of the Junior Officer in significant positions of authority. LTJG as XO? LT as Skipper? Sure... used to be common; now not so much outside the MIW and PC community.
What are the different challenges for the officer on a smaller warship? As JO command opportunities shrink, what is our Navy losing?
Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and anything else the squirrels deliver will be Lieutenant Matthew Hipple, USN.
We'll start the conversation from his article in the July 2013 Proceedings, Sea Swap - Its a Trap - then we'll be off to the races from there.
LT Hipple is a surface warfare officer who graduated from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. He is Director of the NEXTWAR blog and hosts of the Sea Control podcast. While his opinions may not reflect those of the United States Navy, Department of Defense, or US Government, he wishes they did.

Episode 196: RDML Kirby, USN, CHINFO Oct 06, 2013

Show notes

From long-term issues like sequester, the strategic review, the QDR, to bolt-from-the-blue incidents like the murders at the Navy yard - how does the Navy communicate to the public and the press in an information starved culture?
When the race to being wrong first seems to be a standard, how do we maintain the standard of being a useful source of information, but in a timely manner? In some areas like the budget that wander in to the political arena - how do we stay inside the lines but still inform?
Our guest for the full hour to discuss the process, method and substance of explaining the an often perplexed world our Navy and those things that impact it will be Rear Admiral John Kirby, USN, the Chief of Information.

Episode 195: The Pacific Pivot Ground Element Sep 29, 2013

Show notes

What is the role of ground forces as the conversation revolves around the Air Sea Battle Concept?
Is an emphasis on air and sea power sending the right message, driving balanced thinking, and sending the right messages to our friends and competitors?
Building off his article in the May 2013 Armed Forces Journal, Back To Reality, Why Land Power Trumps in the National Rebalance Towards Asia, our guest for the full hour will be Major Robert Chamberlain, USA.
He has served two tours in Iraq (2003-4 and 2007-8), studied refugees at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and is currently finishing his dissertation in Political Science at Columbia. He teaches International Relations at the West Point and, of course, the views he is about to express are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Military Academy, the Army, or the Department of Defense.

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