The US Navy is lost at sea and in the thrall of exquisite platform that be the maritime tombs of tens of thousands of sailors in the coming wars of the 21st century. The acquisition system is broken beyond repair, burn it down. The aircraft carrier has been a signature component of US naval power and prestige for more than a century. The utility has continued to diminish since the end of WWII. The tremendous disadvantage of putting so much manpower and treasure into these single use leviathan sy...
Jun 07, 2026•56 min•Season 1Ep. 84
I discuss the darker side of celebrating war and the moral injury of wars of choice. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and an existential wake. This day is about the ashes of victory and blood lakes of defeat. I show how the American way of war is far more brutal and murderous than the usual suspects let on.. ***This episode is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.*** U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES James M. Scott Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila Howard Jones My L...
May 25, 2026•51 min•Season 1Ep. 83
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What should the USAF do now? Is fraud a form of irregular warfare? What should the DoW do with 1.5 trillion dollars? References: Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five...
May 11, 2026•36 min•Season 1Ep. 82
I examine the strategic deficit disorder that absolutely dominates the US and western military establishments I speak to the tools and critical thinking modalities that could spark and encourage competent martial imagination. Moral courage is necessary to tell the flag officer dullards and their Senior Executive Service (SES) necromancers that the emperor has no clothes. If not, the unblemished record of defeat and stalemate will continue. I describe some of the reasons I do it and the technique...
Apr 13, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Episode 100! Well, when I combine the 20 episodes of WarNotes with the CG podcasts but a chance to pop the bubbly anyway. Today we discuss the critical lack of critical thinking that has led the US into the unenviable position of being an extraordinarily 20th century fighting force nor fit for purpose for 21st century peer combat. It will get worse. I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward. References: Richard Feynman Cargo Cult speech at CalTech 1974 RAND wish-casting on drones i...
Mar 30, 2026•57 min•Season 1Ep. 80
I'll discuss Iran and the grunt math of salvo competition. Buppert’s Law of Military Topography: “Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.” For other insight on Iran, I recommend CG episodes 061 , 067 and 078 . References: The Boogeyman of 21st-Century Warfare: Drones Why the US is facing strategic defeat Points of Resistance and Departure: An interview with James C. Scott Lester Grau and Charles J. Bartles Mountain Warfare and Other Lofty ...
Mar 16, 2026•44 min•Season 1Ep. 79
With Western conflict in Iran escalating and in train, I discuss the vagaries and verities of the nuclear gambit in Iran in the Middle East and what this will mean to the future of warfare for the reminder of this century. I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the remainder of the century. Buppert’s Law of Military Topography: “Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.” For other insight ...
Mar 02, 2026•45 min•Season 1Ep. 78
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What are your thoughts on the Maduro and VZ kerfuffle? How do you fix the defense acquisition system and fraud? What should the US Navy do in the 21st century? How did GEN Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck do it (preview)? Are American SOF capable of 21st century mission success? References: Soryu (16SS) class Attack Submarine - SSK Robert Gaudi African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and ...
Jan 06, 2026•51 min•Season 1Ep. 77
I offer my scorched earth solutions to fighting Antifa and communism in the US.. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Four at Episode 075 Part Three at Episode 074 Part Two at Episode 073 Part One at Episode 072. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-197...
Dec 08, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 76
I further examine the educational feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, I examine the pedagogical origins of government supremacist ideology in American schools. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Three at Episode 074 Part Two at Episode 073 Part One at Epis...
Nov 24, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 75
I examine the feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, we examine the epistemology that created a rump state of communist resistance in America. now. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Two at Episode 73 Part One at Episode 72. I did a primer on cell organizatio...
Nov 10, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 74
I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this second episode, we examine the history that brought the US to the brink of civil war it is at now. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part One at Episode 72. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organ...
Oct 27, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 73
I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-governments;. In this first episode, we shall examine origins, terminology and some expositions on methodology. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". Refer...
Oct 13, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 72
This episode examines civil war manifesting itself in the US and the world over the next few years and makes a forecast on how close we are on the doomsday clock of civil war on American soil. The probability and possibility of civil kinetic conflict in the US is closer than in decades.. My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what a spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland which in my mind is the primary man-made vector...
Sep 22, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 71
We examine the emerging Venezuelan kerfuffle. There are many currents and undercurrents in the latest incipient war debacle in America history. This will be a disaster for America if it clacks off and; expect the American government to make this a preamble to go kinetic on the drug war generally and the following catastrophes. I covered this in detail in both parts of Ep 059 and 059 "The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: War Without End". Gird your loins for the first war in American history that will l...
Sep 08, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 70
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What are your personal weapons of choice: rifle or pistol? How do you fix the defense acquisition system? Is the American military really in terminal collapse? Storming America ; is it still coming to the US? Is America headed to civil war? I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward. References: RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: ki...
Aug 04, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Despite what you are told by the mainstream news sources in the media, the drone war is here to stay and it will be the most significant war modality for the next generation. It has literally exposed all ground troops and the exquisite platforms the West relies upon in war-making for detailed neutralization and destruction. In concert with the democratized distribution of ubiquitous missile technology, it is the end of Western dominance in warfare. Despite what you may think, the US conventional...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 68
This will be the first CG episode to get the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series. The WarNotes episode catalog has been completely re-fabbed using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . Let me know what you think. We discuss the latest missteps by the West in Iran. The recent American involvement in direct military intervention in Iran changed the temper and nature of the war inevitably. I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing...
Jun 23, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 67
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . This episode examines civil war manifesting itself in the world in the west in the 21st century and some of my modest forecasts of war weather in the next few years. Dr. David Betz and others have started to float the balloons of probability and possibility of civil kinetic conflict in the West. My Sto...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 66
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . We discuss coups, color revolutions and the changing face of political manipulation in the world. The world is not what it seems even in non-military political manipulation. The hybrid and grey zone conflict is real. Color revolution have hijacked Western democracy and precipitated he slow decline of m...
Jun 02, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 65
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . Memorial Day is a day to reflect on the existential moral outrage and trail of tears American military might has draped over the planet since the end of the nineteenth century. Wars of choice are by their very nature a path to corruption, excess and unintended consequences. The concept of moral injurie...
May 26, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 64
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . Military sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a government effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. It can take place left of bang or during war with the object the weakening of the military effort by a...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 63
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . This episode examines American landscape one year later and whether the probability of attack is reduced or increased. My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what the spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland. I cover it in Epi...
Apr 14, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 62
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . With Western conflict possible in Yemen and Iran, I discuss the vagaries and verities of mountain warfare. The special hell of high altitude and colder temperatures and their effect on fighting and warfare. I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the ...
Mar 31, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 61
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . I am an un-credentialed amateur historian who has done very little archive work and lack the substantial infrastructure credentialed historians have to practice their craft. I have debated esteemed historians and won on stage (Daniel Walker Howe looked at my CV and did not prepare) but that doesn't mak...
Mar 17, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 60
This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . Here is Part One: Ep 058 "The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: War Without End Part One" We continue the inquiry into the implications and future returns on going kinetic in the drug war as elucidated by worthies in the new administration. I examine the implications and the second and third order effects of t...
Mar 03, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Chasing Ghosts is back! This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth . There has been chatter and enthusiasm to use military means to take on the drugs and human trafficking organizations and cartels in Mexico (and I imagine the cartels in the north in Canada), this will not end well. I examine the implications and the second and third order effect...
Feb 10, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 58
I will be pausing Chasing Ghosts from its fortnightly cadence of issuance for the remainder of the year. I am taking the time to regroup and focus on the new occasional podcast series, WarNotes: A Conflict Podcast as a companion podcast focusing on conventional conflict and strategic thought. I think the new election results may be the time for the western military complexes to take a knee and refocus and re-calibrate strategic and grand strategic opportunities in addressing the real-time shortf...
Nov 25, 2024•6 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Mark Booher at Pearl Snap Tactical interviewed me discussing irregular warfare and the threat to the homeland. We discuss irregular warfare and the impacts of an up-sized catastrophic attack on the US homeland. We riff on and discuss my "Storming America" series (episodes 37, 41-43 and 49-50) on the CG podcast. The election results don't change the imminent danger but may alter the warp and woof of the probability and timeline of attack. Pearl Snap Tactical interview can be found here: https://s...
Nov 11, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 56
I am the Smedley D. Butler Fellow for Military Affairs at the Libertarian Institute. They asked me to comment on the recent podcast interview between Ben Shapiro and Niall Ferguson which of course, was a reaction to Darryl Cooper's ( Martyrmade Podcast ) recent appearance on Tucker Carlson. I find members of the academic historian cartel (even "right of center" types like Ferguson) are horrified that non-credentialed historical observers are weighing in on the consequences of war in history. I u...
Oct 28, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 55
