Thank You For Your Service

Latest Episodes:

Phil Klay on "The Soldiers We Leave Behind" Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

What does it mean to be an American?

Phil Klay, a former Marine and critically acclaimed writer, returns to the podcast to discuss the connection between military service, citizenship, and “Americanness.” Elaborating on his November 2019 New York Times essay “The Soldiers We Leave Behind,” Phil recounts the story of the World War I “Melting Pot” division, and one of their leaders, Charles Whittlesey. He also describes the harrowing experiences of Black veterans after both world wars, and he connects these narratives to the stories of two Iraqi nationals – Ali and Ted – who, in recognition for serving alongside the US military in Iraq as interpreters, were promised visas to come to the United States.

“Thank You For Your Service” is a production of the University of Chicago Public Policy Podcasts and does not necessarily represent the official positions of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.

References:

Phil Klay, “The Soldiers We Leave Behind”.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/09/opinion/veterans-war-immigration.html

Equal Justice Initiative, “Lynching in America.”

https://eji.org/reports/targeting-black-veterans/

Congressional Research Service report on the Special Immigrant Visa Program.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43725/10

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Tom Lattanzio, producer

Bobby Maxwell, producer

Aishwarya Kumar, production manager

Special thanks to Phil Klay.

Congressman Tom Rooney on Military Justice and Presidential Pardons Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

Why does the military have a justice system distinct from the civilian justice system? And what are the implications of having separate forms of accountability?

Former Republican Congressman Tom Rooney joins TYFYS to give his take. Congressman Rooney represented Florida’s 16th and then 17th congressional districts from 2009 to 2019. During his time in government, he served on the Armed Services Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Committee on Agriculture. Before his political career, Rooney served in the US Army as a Judge Advocate, a military lawyer. He worked as a prosecutor at Fort Hood, Texas, and he later taught law at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In this episode Congressman Rooney discusses his time in the Army and in Congress. In light of his background with military justice and his political experience, Rep. Rooney also gives his perspective on the President’s decision to pardon convicted or alleged war criminals.

This episode was recorded on the morning of November 20, 2019. The situation concerning Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher has developed since then.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Tom Lattanzio, producer

Bobby Maxwell, producer

Special thanks to Congressman Tom Rooney, Ashley Jorn, and the Institute of Politics.

Why We Join: Thoughts on Military Recruitment Nov 11, 2019

Show notes

“Thank You For Your Service” is back. In Season 2, we’ll be taking a hard look at how the military institution interacts with American social issues and social change: race, gender, LGBT issues. We’ll address questions like: Who joins the military and why? What can be done to address sexual assault in the military or mental health issues among service members and veterans? What does the veteran transition to civilian life look like? We’re hoping to provide more context and information to these ongoing conversations, so they get the focused, rigorous, analytic examination they deserve.

In this Season 2 premiere, Thomas and Nick look at reasons for joining the military. First, they speak to students on campus to get an informal look at why civilians think people enlist. Many of these stereotypes do not stack up to reality, and researcher Emma Moore joins to explain what the evidence shows. Finally, Thomas and Nick speak with Kaedy Puckett, a Navy veteran and first-year student at UChicago, to get a personal look at her reasons for joining the military.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Tommy Lattanzio, producer

Bobby Maxwell, editor

Michelle Tran, producer

Special thanks to Emma Moore, Kaedy Puckett, and Morgan Wade

Inside the Pentagon with Sec. Mattis’s Former Chief Speechwriter Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

Recently retired Navy commander Guy “Bus” Snodgrass served as chief speechwriter to Secretary James Mattis for most of his tenure as Secretary of Defense. Snodgrass has recently published a book, Holding the Line: Inside Trump’s Pentagon with Secretary Mattis. In it, the former speechwriter gives a behind-the-scenes look at national security decision-making at the highest levels of government.

Snodgrass’s decision to reveal private conversations in his memoir has been met with criticism. Some have accused him of being self-serving or selling out. Others argue it is inappropriate for a military official to go public with the sensitive information he was privy to.

Guy Snodgrass joins Thomas and Nick for this special episode of TYFYS to address those criticisms and to provide context on his decision to write this book. They also evaluate criticisms of Secretary Mattis’s time in office, and talk through leadership lessons that can be gleaned from Snodgrass’s time at the Pentagon.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Aishwarya Kumar, production manager

Beyond America: Civil-Military Relations Around the World Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Paul Staniland and Dr. Austin Carson, political science professors at the University of Chicago, join the podcast to discuss how studying international civil-military relations can shed light on American civ-mil – and how the challenges of maintaining civilian control of militaries play out in countries around the world. Why do some countries experience coups, and others don’t? What happens when a country’s military becomes truly politicized? In addition, we discuss Dr. Carson’s new book Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics, which was recently named the winner of the 2018 Lepgold Book Prize – one of the most prestigious awards in the international affairs field, which Dr. Staniland also won three years ago.

Note: This episode was recorded in late August 2019, prior to the breakdown of the United States' negotiations with the Taliban.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

#NatSecGirlSquad: Building Competent Diversity in National Security Sep 10, 2019

Show notes

Maggie Feldman-Piltch is the founder of #NatSecGirlSquad, a professional development community committed to promoting competent diversity in national security and defense. She joins the podcast to discuss her experiences as an organizer and strategist, what motivates her to work towards putting more women at the table for national security discussions, and to share her vision for the future of #NatSecGirlSquad. We also discussed her perspective on the brand-new Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LC-WINS), where she sits on the Steering Committee, as well as our favorite West Wing characters and Maggie’s future presidential cabinet.

Notes:

You can find #NatSecGirlSquad at www.natsecgirlsquad.com and LC-WINS at www.lcwins.org. If you were unfamiliar with the names of some of the experts Maggie named in this episode, you can find most of their bios on the LC-WINS Steering Committee page.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Dr. Peter Feaver on Why the Civil-Military Gap Matters Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

Few scholars have had a greater influence on the academic study of American civil-military relations than Dr. Peter Feaver. But Dr. Feaver’s career has reached far beyond the campus of Duke University, where he is a professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of the American Grand Strategy Program. The author and editor of several books and innumerable papers on national security, he has also served twice on the National Security Council staff and as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves. In this episode, we explore what Dr. Feaver has learned during his career as a scholar-practitioner.

We also discuss the “civil-military gap” – Dr. Feaver’s groundbreaking research project with Dr. Richard Kohn at the Triangle Institute nearly twenty years ago, trends in American civ-mil since then, and his ongoing work with Lieutenant Colonel Jim Golby.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Haz Yano, publisher

Special thanks to Don Hoover.

Jake Tapper on Bridging the Civil-Military Divide Jun 25, 2019

Show notes

From his hard-hitting interviews with prominent politicians to his work reporting from the Middle East, Jake Tapper has been a forceful presence in political journalism for the last 20 years. He is currently CNN’s Chief Washington Correspondent and the anchor of The Lead with Jake Tapper, as well as the host of CNN’s Sunday political show, State of the Union.

In 2012, Mr. Tapper published a book, The Outpost, which covers the history of Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan leading up to a deadly battle that claimed the lives of eight American service members. The book has been widely praised for its realism, detail, and accuracy. It is now in development as a major motion picture.

Jake Tapper joins Thomas and Nick for the final episode of TYFYS’s first season to discuss The Outpost, the relationship between journalism and the military, and how to bridge the civil-military divide.

Notes:

-FOIA = Freedom of Information Act request

-“3-61 CAV” and “3-71 CAV” refer to U.S. Army regiments that were stationed at Combat Outpost Keating

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Haz Yano, producer & publisher

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Special thanks to Brianna Keilar.

David Axelrod on the Domestic Politics of Wartime Decisions Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

David Axelrod, the longtime political consultant and commentator now serving as director of the UChicago Institute of Politics, has a unique perspective on civil-military relations. In 2004, Mr. Axelrod joined the U.S. Senate campaign of a young Illinois state senator named Barack Obama. Just four years later, he and his team of strategists orchestrated Mr. Obama’s historic campaign for the presidency. Then during the first two years of the administration, Mr. Axelrod served as a White House Senior Adviser, coordinating policy and communications -- where, among many other things, he observed the U.S. military and its role in a complex government.

Mr. Axelrod joined Thomas and Nick for a special live episode before an audience of professors and graduate students at the Harris School of Public Policy. They discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, political considerations in the national security process, the sometimes-tense relationship between the Pentagon and the White House, and Mr. Axelrod’s role as a political adviser. Also discussed: the USS JOHN McCAIN controversy, President Obama’s Nobel Prize, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Haz Yano, producer

Julian Lake, engineer and producer

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Special thanks to ret. Admiral Mike Mullen, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Golby, Captain Mike Robinson, Samantha Neal, the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, and to everyone at Harris who came out and supported this live taping!

Michèle Flournoy on Civil-Military Relations at the Pentagon May 28, 2019

Show notes

The Honorable Michèle Flournoy, one of the most accomplished national security professionals working in the United States today, served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009 to 2012 and co-founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She is now the CEO of WestExec Advisors, where she helps make connections between the U.S. national security establishment and important industry partners. In this episode, Ms. Flournoy joins the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of her career, the challenges of civilian leadership at the Pentagon, the military-industrial complex, and military politicization.

Credits:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Haz Yano, producer

Alec MacMillen, engineer

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Special thanks to Lieutenant Alberto Ramos.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.