School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 217: Steven Rabalais on Ike’s Mentor Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

Steven Rabalais, litigator and author of General Fox Conner: Pershing's Chief of Operations and Eisenhower's Mentor, joins the show to discuss the extraordinary influence of now-forgotten General Fox Connor on the outcome of WWI and Eisenhower’s career.

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Times

• 01:51 Introduction

• 03:10 Growing up with history

• 05:47 A southern story

• 07:44 West Point struggles

• 12:07 A reader

• 14:50 Coastal artillery

• 20:46 Rocks and airplanes

• 23:51 Mechanism of victory

• 27:54 WWI logistics

• 32:47 Summer 1918

• 46:03 Eisenhower

• 51:24 Panama

• 01:01:58 Foreshadowing

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Ep 216: Will Somerindyke on Making Munitions in America Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Will Somerindyke, Chairman of Regulus Global and CEO of UNION, joins the show to discuss rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base.

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Times

• 01:36 Introduction

• 02:35 A navy family

• 05:51 Regulus

• 08:05 American made

• 10:45 155

• 14:44 Integration

• 16:53 Supply chains

• 23:20 Demand

• 28:27 Flexibility

• 31:40 Forging vs casting

• 33:45 UNION

• 37:27 Customers

• 40:07 Mindset

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Ep 215: Ryan McDermott on Invading Iraq in 2003 Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Ryan McDermott, Army veteran of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and author of Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet, joins the show to talk about his combat experiences.

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Times

• 01:13 Introduction

• 01:55 Seeking purpose

• 04:11 West Point

• 06:48 9/11

• 08:41 3rd Infantry Division

• 10:12 Platoon tactics

• 14:51 “Crossing tonight”

• 18:08 Preparing for combat

• 23:40 Tired

• 29:37 Baghdad

• 35:51 Thunder Runs

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Ep 214: Bryan Clark on the Coming Sensor War with China Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute, joins the show to talk about how a war with China could play out.

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Times

• 01:51 Introduction

• 02:00 Submariner

• 10:10 Environmental conditions

• 12:40 State of play

• 20:04 Complacency

• 23:36 Hellscape

• 32:14 Cultural differences

• 37:20 Party control

• 43:40 Degraded environment

• 48:02 Practice now

• 51:45 Deterrence

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Ep 213: Paul Lay on Cromwell and the English Civil War Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

Paul Lay, Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas and author of Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell's Protectorate,joins the show to talk about the turbulent age of the English Civil War, Cromwell, and the Protectorate.

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Times

• 01:45 Introduction

• 02:00 17th century

• 03:51 The Thirty Years War

• 12:40 Anti-Catholicism

• 15:24 Underlying causes

• 21:46 Cromwell

• 30:34 Thatcher

• 33:04 The Rump Parliament

• 37:07 Western Design

• 54:44 Reverberations

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Ep 212: Arnold Punaro on Fighting in Vietnam and Washington Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

Arnold Punaro, retired USMC Major General and author of If Confirmed: An Insider's View of the National Security Confirmation Process, joins the show to talk about his infantry service in Vietnam and his experiences serving in Washington DC.

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Times

• 01:35 Introduction

• 05:40 5 weeks

• 10:51 Officer training

• 13:18 3/7

• 16:37 Jungle fighting

• 23:25 Wounded

• 31:32 Payback

• 36:35 Bad situation

• 40:10 Getting home

• 45:46 The Senate

• 49:28 Getting the facts

• 54:00 Service

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Ep 211: Daniel Samet on the Origins of the U.S.-Israel Relationship Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Daniel Samet, the George P. Shultz Fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute and author of U.S. Defense Policy toward Israel: A Cold War History, joins the show to breakdown the origins of the important, if at times contentious, U.S.-Israel relationship.

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Times

• 01:30 Introduction

• 02:28 1948

• 05:44 Arabist strategy

• 08:13 11 minutes

• 10:37 Looking for friends

• 15:40 Soviet-Arab relations

• 19:25 Republicans

• 25:16 Kennedy

• 29:29 Strong friends

• 32:02 Nuclear program

• 37:33 6 Day War

• 43:19 Mistake?

• 47:41 Kissinger

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Ep 210: Scott Boorman on Sun Tzu Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

Scott Boorman, Professor of Sociology at Yale University and author of Three Faces of Sun Tzu, joins the show to discuss the world and ideas of Sun Tzu.

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Times

• 01:48 Introduction

• 02:10 “Know your enemy”

• 05:18 The Protracted Game

• 09:59 Text and application

• 16:05 Warring states

• 21:14 Chinese thinking

• 24:58 Net assessment

• 29:05 Cunning

• 32:02 Omissions

• 37:05 Memorization

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Ep 209: Jonathan Schanzer on the Israel-Iran Ceasefire Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at FDD, joins the show to break down his time on the ground in Israel at the beginning of the war and what may come with the Israel-Iran ceasefire in place.

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Times

• 01:27 Introduction

• 02:10 Extraction

• 05:50 Different

• 09:25 In the shelter

• 12:03 Damage taken

• 16:18 Stress

• 17:45 Getting out

• 24:57 Road ahead

• 30:40 Iranian risks

• 32:10 Hamas

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Ep 208: Mike Doran on America’s Strikes in Iran Jun 22, 2025

Show notes

Mike Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, joins the show to break down America’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and what might come next.

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Times

• 01:00 Reactions

• 08:00 Deception

• 12:00 More to come

• 17:00 Self-deception

• 24:00 Next few days

• 31:00 Escalation

• 34:00 Not over

• 41:00 Trump is serious

• 44:00 Restraintists

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