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, graduati...
May 28, 2017•1 hr 1 min
To say that the profile of Russia since the American elections last fall has increased in the minds of Americans would be an understatement. Outside the 24-hr news cycle, there have been significant developments in Russia internally and externally. From the Baltics, to nuclear weapons, to her growing influence in the Middle East following her involvement in the Syrian conflict. What should people be focused on with regards to Russia on the global stage this year? Returning as our resident Russia...
May 21, 2017•1 hr 4 min
A hundred years on, in 2014 what insights can we gain from the war that started 100 years ago in August of 2014? What are some of the lessons we need to remember in all four levers of national power; diplomatic, informational, military, and economic - in order to help steer our future course as a nation, and to better understand developing events? Using his article in The National Interest, World War I: Five Ways Germany Could Have Won the First Battle of the Atlantic as a starting point for an ...
May 14, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Whenever there is a global crisis, natural disaster or manmade, civilians or of a security related issue - the world turns their eyes to the United States of America. The indispensable nation. The only global super-power. You all know the drill. Is it an honor, or a burden? Is it a habit we should, or can sustain? Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and related issues will be Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. As a starting po...
May 07, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Except for a few final holdouts and mopping up, the siege of Mosul is almost over and the wrecked city back in the hands of allied Iraqi factions. Soon the attention will turn west as the investment of Raqqa is setting up nicely. As they lose actual ground in Iraq and Syria, what will the next step be for the Islamic State? Where will they move to as their next safe haven, and what should be expect from the thousands of fighters trained by them who will return to their home nations? Our guest fo...
Apr 30, 2017•1 hr 3 min
In concept, execution, and ability to effectively provide its part of the national defense infrastructure, has a separate Air Force served this nation well, and does it make sense to keep it a separate service. Our guest this week makes the case that the experiment in a separate US Air Force is over, and it has failed. Though we need airpower, we don't need a separate service to provide it. With us for the full hour will be Professor Robert M. Farley, PhD, author of the book being released 11 Ma...
Apr 23, 2017•1 hr
How do we build the future surface fleet to ensure our forces maintain the ability to access to all regions of the world's oceans that our vital to our national interests? Our guest to discuss this and the broader issues related to our surface forces will be Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow at Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). A basis for our conversation will be his recent study for CSBA, Commanding the Seas: A Plan to reinvigorate U.S. Navy Surface Warfare, where he articulates ...
Apr 16, 2017•1 hr 3 min
When faced with the promise of a conflict with a limited mission and a strangely ill-defined Strategic and Operational design - what do we need to keep in mind not just from recent history, but the longer term record? History shows us that military and political leaders either over or under appreciate changing technology, outmoded doctrine, and the imperfect correlation between past experience and present requirements. From the national psyche to stockpiled war reserves - what happens when the s...
Apr 09, 2017•1 hr 5 min
You hear a bit on the edges about China's cyber forces' ongoing efforts to penetrate the cyber domain in order to get an edge against the USA and other nations she sees as either being in the way of her national goals, or in possession of something they need to keep their economy strong. This Sunday we are going to take a deeper dive in to the role of China in the cyber domain with our guest Dean Cheng. In addition to being the author of the book, Cyber Dragon, Dean Cheng has been studying Chine...
Apr 02, 2017•1 hr 4 min
When is there ever too much of a good thing? Is our officer manning policy in the Surface Warfare Community resulting in too many JOs chasing too few hours of experience actually performing one of their most important professional duties, the safe and effective maneuver of a ship at sea? Do we have our numbers, policies, and priorities right to ensure we are giving out Surface Warfare Officers the opportunity to master the fundamentals of any respected leader at sea? Building off his article in ...
Mar 26, 2017•1 hr 2 min
While a new American President, Russia, and ongoing operations against the Islamic State continue to absorb attention, the Western Pacific from Japan, Korea, China, to Australia continues forward. Our guest to discuss all the latest developments will be Toshi Yoshihara. A prior guest on Midrats, Dr. Yoshihara is a Senior Fellow at CSBA. Before joining CBSA he held the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College where he taught strategy for over a decade. He is ...
Mar 19, 2017•1 hr 4 min
We are in the second month of a new President who is building a new national security team. He and his team come to their positions with a very different view of the world and America's place in it than their predecessors had. What direction will they take our nation? What role should realism, alliances, and the requirement to anchor all to a strategic discipline focused on the long term interests of our nation have on the decisions they make? What do his initial steps and the people so far on h...
Mar 12, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Well inside an officer's career arch, we saw the American Navy move from the Great White Fleet, The Spanish American War to the age of the Dreadnought. Our Army, from ad-hoc volunteer units to a professional army going head-to-head with the finest professional army on the planet. How did our military and our Navy build up to WWI, and how did that experience inform the evolution of our national defense infrastructure? Our guest for the full hour will be Dr. John T. Kuehn , the General William Sto...
Mar 05, 2017•1 hr 9 min
Is your head swimming in the 2nd month of the Trump Administration? While we are distracted with intramural politics, the world keeps moving and other nations move forward. How are the national security and international order reacting to the change in USA leadership? From NATO to China and Russia, what signals are coming from and going to the new American government? No guests this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern, just our quarterly free-for-all with the show co-hosts, Sal from "CDR Salamander" and E...
Feb 26, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Since his election in November, the administration and several articles have suggested Donald Trump is a new Andrew Jackson whose portrait now hangs in the Oval Office. What might that mean for the Navy? How did Andrew Jackson approach his Navy and what lessons can we draw from that? Our guest for the full hour for a discussion of an understudied part of our naval history and what it could mean for the current administration is returning guest Claude Berube. Claude is the Director of the Naval A...
Feb 19, 2017•1 hr 2 min
For the first time in eight years, we are watching a new team take over the national security infrastructure. Now is a good time to review, "Who is who in the zoo" and what exactly they do. In the alphabet soup of organizations, how do the NSC, NSA, CIA, DOD, DIA, DHS and DNI all work together - and in competition - to enhance national security? Though everyone likes to bash bureaucracies, they are important and are only as good as those who populate and lead them. Our guest for the full hour to...
Feb 12, 2017•1 hr 1 min
There will be no rest for the next Secretary of the Navy. He will need to lead his Navy and Marine Corps as they continue to engage in the Long War against expansionist Islamic extremism, while at the same time come up with the best way to respond to the new direction and guidance coming from President Trump and Secretary of Defense Mattis. From China, to Russia, to Europe, the Islamic world to South America and India on one side of the house, to Congress, academia, and industry - what are those...
Feb 05, 2017•1 hr 5 min
To meet the national security requirements of our republic in the years to come, what direction and emphasis do we need for our military? What are the false horizons we need to watch out for, and what important areas do we seem to be either ignoring or forgetting? For the full hour our guest to discuss this and more will be Bob Scales, Major General, US Army (Ret), discussing with him many of the issues he raises in his latest book from Naval Institute Press, Scales on War; The Future of America...
Jan 29, 2017•1 hr 4 min
For a maritime power with global requirements, what is the role of the small ship in times of peace and war? What are the tradeoffs between quantity and capability, size and range, survivability and affordable? Does the US Navy need a high-low mix; or a Strike Group-Flotilla mix? Where do our national requirements influence how we build our Fleet vs. the process other nations build theirs? Do we have a sustainable path towards a balanced Fleet, or are we sailing on based on outdated charts? To d...
Jan 21, 2017•1 hr 4 min
From a show we did 5 years ago, time to bring it back. Much of the conversation about the USMC over the last decade has been about its "Second Land Army" status .... well .... Marines are still second to none at their core skill set. In case someone forgot that - our next guest and his Marines reminded everyone of not just that - but the power of the Navy-Marine Corp team. Over a 48 hour period, the 15th MEU/PELARG team conducted offensive air operations in Afghanistan resulting in the deaths of...
Jan 15, 2017•1 hr 1 min
The 1980s might be getting some of its foreign policy back - but why is our entire defense framework in the second-half of the second decade of the 21st Century based around ideas forged when the Chrysler K-car was still a young platform? Is our present system creating the conditions for our uniformed senior leadership to forge the best path for our military to support national security requirements? Our guest for the full hour is returning to Midrats to discuss this and more; M.L. Cavanaugh. Ma...
Jan 08, 2017•1 hr 2 min
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...
Jan 01, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Today, we return to a show from four years ago with author Stephen Phillips. Steve is a 1992 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He began his naval career as a surface warfare officer on board USS Harlan County and USS San Jacinto. He then applied and was accepted into the Navy’s Special Operations community. He subsequently served as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician at EOD Mobile Units Six, Eight, and Ten. Steve is the author of the awarding-winning debut novel, Proximity, descri...
Dec 25, 2016•28 min
If you define the Cold War as lasting 44 years from 1947 to 1991, then for over half the Cold War there was a simmering proxy war in southern Africa that involved, to one extent or another, the present day nations of Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa. Over the course of time, it would involve nations from other hemispheres such as Cuba, and brought in to conflict two political philosophies of the 20th Century now held in disrepute in the 21st Century; Communism and Apartheid. The last de...
Dec 18, 2016•1 hr 4 min
Even before the election, President-elect Trump mentioned he wanted to get to a 350 ship Navy. The outgoing Secretary of the Navy has put us on a path to 308, and in his waning months is fighting a holding action on the shipbuilding budget giving as good of a turnover in this area to his relief. What are the viable paths to 350 we could see in the opening years of a Trump Presidency? How long could it realistically take? What would a fleet look like 5, 10 or 20 years down the road? What will thi...
Dec 11, 2016•1 hr 4 min
For the full hour this Sunday our guest will be Lieutenant Colonel Seth W. B. Folsom, USMC the author of Where Youth and Laughter Go. Described by USNI Books: It is the culminating chapter of a trilogy that began with The Highway War: A Marine Company Commander in Iraq in 2006 and continued with In the Gray Area: A Marine Advisor Team at War in 2010. Where Youth and Laughter Go completes LtCol Seth Folsom’s recounting of his personal experiences in command over a decade of war. It is the culmina...
Dec 04, 2016•1 hr 5 min
What does an officer do with the opportunistic "white space" the Navy can provide you in your career path? What does a curious intellect and an operational mindset need to look at doing to meet both? What are some of the demands and opportunities out there who want something a bit different in their career path? To discuss this for the full hour as well as a bit about the last props on the carrier deck, will be Captain Herb Carmen, USN (Retired). CAPT Carmen is Naval Aviator with over 4,000 flig...
Nov 27, 2016•1 hr 2 min
Old foreign and defense challenges return, new ones emerge, and existing ones morph in to something slightly different. The only thing that is constant is that there is no opportunity for a learning curve for the Commander in Chief of the United States of America. From the first day in office to the last, a needy, grasping, and unstable world will look to or at our nation. What are those challenges that will test President-Elect Trump in his first few years in office, and what in the background ...
Nov 20, 2016•1 hr 2 min
Why a Navy? Why a strong Navy? Why is a strong Navy an essential requirement for the United States Navy? From its ability to project national will, to it hidden hand in the economics of every citizen's life, why is it so critical that we have a Navy second to none. To discuss this and more - especially in light of the election - will be returning guest, Bryan McGrath, Commander, US Navy (Retired). Bryan McGrath grew up in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of Virginia in...
Nov 13, 2016•1 hr 3 min
The systems that trains, mans, and equips our military - and provides guidance and support to their civilian masters is broadly shaped by Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. There is much discussion that in the middle of the second decade of the 21st Century, is there a better system to serve our national security requirements than one designed at the height of the 20th Century's Cold War? Using his article in War on the Rocks, Don't Rush to "Fix" Goldwater-Nichols as a starting point, our guest for ...
Nov 06, 2016•35 min
