Leave No One Behind is a classic case that we have used for years at the Naval Academy. An interactive version of this case is available for individual and classroom use online. You are the OIC of a helicopter detachment that has already lost an airplane during a search and rescue mission, in bad weather and a bad sea state. The question asked is - should you launch your next, and final helicopter asset and crew to find the first? https://stockdaleinteractive.com/ Professor Mike Norton discusses...
Apr 24, 2023•20 min•Ep. 135
While thousands of climbers have successfully scaled Mount Everest, less than a handful of people have descended to the planet's deepest point, the Mariana Trench. The sea is the Navy's domain. Dr. Joseph Dituri, Ph.D., DMT, CDR - US Navy (ret) enlisted in the Navy. He made his way up through the ranks after earning his B.S. in Computer Science and received his commissioned. Among various billets, he served at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard as a Nuclear Project Superintendent, Project Manager, Dock...
Apr 10, 2023•13 min•Ep. 134
One could ask, what makes the US Naval Academy a special place? Isn't it just a college with a lot of rules and uniforms? We talk with Jeff Webb, the new President and CEO of the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation, about what makes USNA a special place. He likens USNA as a unique incubator that shapes motivated young men and women into leaders, not just at the Academy or in the Navy, but throughout their entire life. That is, leaders that exemplify the expectation of trust, honor, and ethica...
Mar 27, 2023•13 min•Ep. 133
For Aristotle, wisdom was not just an abstract idea. Aristotle called this different kind of wisdom, “prudence”, and we discuss another translation, “practical wisdom.” Practical wisdom is knowing what is good, right, or best, given a particular set of circumstances. It is not about book smarts, or knowing general rules. Thomas Aquinas helps us better understand practical wisdom. Finally, how can we improve our practical wisdom?
Mar 13, 2023•12 min•Ep. 132
Perseverance is a strength within the virtue category of courage. Courage describes strengths that help you exercise your will and face adversity. The story of the USS Quail is a story of perseverance and grit. The crew evaded capture by the Japanese during World War II. What extent did formal training play in the Quail crew's successful escape? How could the CO, Lieutenant Commander Morrill, serve as an example to leaders today? What lessons does the saga of USS Quail have for today's Navy? How...
Feb 27, 2023•10 min•Ep. 131
What does leadership have to do with your gut, and taking risks? What goes through your head (and gut) when you need to get back to task, after you had a major failure. What can you learn about yourself after a flat spin? Can you be a leader if you don't take risks? RADM Mike Manazir, USN (ret) is a leader, and he has had a distinguished career in the Navy. He has been a fighter pilot, the Commanding Officer of several Navy ships, and he commanded Carrier Strike Group 8. We speak with RADM Manaz...
Feb 13, 2023•26 min•Ep. 130
The Returned with Honor program recognizes the sacrifice of the Vietnam Era POWs and their families. We’ve been celebrating these men and women on the Yard in several ways this academic year. We start our podcast with VADM Sean Buck, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, joined by his wife, Mrs. Joanne Buck. We then talk with CAPT Tasya Lacy about the programs she is leading around the Yard this year, from the Honor, Courage, Commitment Luncheon, to the Passing on Wisdom public TV documentary...
Jan 23, 2023•19 min•Ep. 129
What is obedience and is it a virtue or a good thing? Is compliance different from obedience? Why is it necessary to involve a group in the practice of obedience? Pauline Shanks Kaurin is professor and Admiral James B. Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and specializes in military ethics, “just war theory” and philosophy of law and applied ethics. She is author of “On Obedience: Contrasting Philosophies for Military, Community and Citizenry”.
Jan 02, 2023•18 min•Ep. 128
The Honorable Paul Dabbar is a graduate of the Naval Academy. He served as a nuclear submarine officer, including a deployment to the North Pole, where he conducted environmental research. He has been a lecturer at the Naval Academy and he conducted research at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Following his naval service, and graduate school at Columbia Business School, among other things he worked at J.P. Morgan & Co. as an investment banker and managing director for mergers &a...
Dec 19, 2022•16 min•Ep. 127
Dec 05, 2022•11 min•Ep. 126
Part 4 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley wrap up their discussion of the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. In this final episode, Shaun and Alvin reminisce about the personal stories of the POWs and their wives. Their private experiences, and how they and their families were able to withstand the pressures and separations they all endured during the war, and how they have lived their lives since.
Nov 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 124
Part 3 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley continue to discuss the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. How did the US Code of Conduct apply to the American POWs? How did captivity, cooperation, and leadership lend itself to a reinterpretation of the code? What does BACKUS mean, and how did it impact the actions of the POWs? And what is the significance of the statement "Return with Honor"?
Nov 07, 2022•27 min•Ep. 123
Colonel “J.P.” McDonough is the 89th Commandant of Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy. He is a career artillery officer and has held operational assignments in every level of command including Commander, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He has numerous deployments under his belt in the War on Terror as commanding officer of artillery units, and embedded training with the Afghan National Army. Besides Staff and Joint tours, he served as a modeling and simulation analyst for multiple sim...
Oct 24, 2022•16 min•Ep. 125
Part 2 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley talk about the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. What did the North Vietnamese try to accomplish, and how did they go about it? The propaganda/media war, how it had worked in the 1st Indochina War with France, and how they used the same strategy during the US War. How the US government responded during the Johnson administration and then the Nixon administration. Finally, how the responses of the POWs ...
Oct 10, 2022•25 min•Ep. 121
Dr. Baker earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Arlington and his Ph.D. from Wayne State University. Aside from teaching philosophy at the University and College levels, he also spent 3 years teaching writing and computer skills at the Methodist Children's Home Society group home in Detroit, Michigan. Beyond teaching at Navy, he coaches the Ethics Bowl team, and is a member of the team that produces our interactive ethics simulations, and interactive electronic ethics and leadership vo...
Sep 26, 2022•18 min•Ep. 119
Douglas Rau is the Professor of Leadership Education within the Division of Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) at USNA. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1974 and received a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and later transferred to the Engineering Duty Officer community. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from Dallas Baptist Unive...
Sep 12, 2022•15 min•Ep. 122
Douglas Rau is the Professor of Leadership Education within the Division of Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) at USNA. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1974 and received a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and later transferred to the Engineering Duty Officer community. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from Dallas Baptist Unive...
Aug 29, 2022•22 min•Ep. 117
CAPT Franky serves as the Deputy Director for Ethics at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership and is the Senior Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Representative at USNA. Most recently he served as the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula // Commanding Officer of Naval Special Warfare Unit THREE, responsible for the execution of the full spectrum, multi-domain, joint special operations, actions, and investments on the Arabian Peninsula. He was born in Lafayette...
Aug 15, 2022•15 min•Ep. 120
Mitt Regan is McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center. He is a Senior Fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership. He is also Adjunct Faculty Member at the Center for Military and Security Law at the Australian National University College of Law, and an International Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Professional Service Firms. He is the author of Eat What You Kill...
Aug 01, 2022•21 min•Ep. 118
Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the US Naval War College, in the College of Leadership and Ethics. His first book, The Good Kill: Just War & Moral Injury, was published in 2021 by Oxford University Press. He can be followed, or stalked, on twitter @mlivecche. Ryan Bernacchi is a former TOPGUN instructor who served as a naval aviator and leader for 25 years. He has flown more than 4...
Jul 18, 2022•29 min•Ep. 116
Alvin Townley is a Senior Fellow at the Stockdale Center. He is a best-selling New York Times-reviewed author and Emmy-winning storyteller. His stories are about leadership, legacy, and purpose. He is a graduate of Washington & Lee University, and has studied economics in Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, and London before working in Congress, managing global strategy for a Fortune 100 firm, and leading external affairs for a national arts center.
Jul 04, 2022•20 min•Ep. 115
Dr. Joe Thomas serves as the Director, VADM James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the US Naval Academy. A retired Marine, he served previously as the Class of 1961 Professor of Leadership Education at USNA and as Director, MajGen John A. Lejeune Leadership Institute at Marine Corps University. In addition he’s taught at the University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, George Washington University and the National Outdoor Leadership School. He has published five books on the to...
Jun 20, 2022•12 min•Ep. 114
Dr. Clementine Fujimura is the Director of Area Studies at USNA. As the sole anthropologist at the Naval Academy, Professor Fujimura has served the Naval Academy community extensively since 1993, supporting the mission in creating adaptable, successful officers who will lead a diverse Navy and Marine Corps at home and abroad. She has published widely on the subject of marginalized youth groups in Russia, as well as military culture in the United States and Germany. She has received the USNA 2021...
Jun 06, 2022•15 min•Ep. 113
LtGen Michael Groen, USMC, is the Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. In prior roles, LtGen Groen was assigned to the National Security Agency, and served as the Deputy Chief of Computer Network Operations. He served as the Director for Intelligence, Joint Staff (J2) in direct support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Joint Staff. He has served in a variety of operational, ground, air, and naval units in Central America, the Western Pacific, the Philippines, the Balkans and...
May 23, 2022•31 min•Ep. 112
Jovana Davidovic (PhD, University of Minnesota, 2011) is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Iowa, where she also holds a complimentary appointment at the Law School and the Center for Human Rights. Her research focuses on military ethics and philosophy of international law and has been published in venues such as Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Journal of Military Ethics, Ethics and International Affairs, Journal of Applied Ethics, and others. Davidovic has also worked exte...
May 16, 2022•14 min•Ep. 111
RADM Hugh Wyman Howard, USN, is a fourth generation Naval Officer and a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is a SEAL officer who commands Naval Special Warfare Command. He has commanded at all levels of Special Operations, including service as commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Development Group. He holds several Masters degrees, plus a Professional Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is an Eagle Scout...
May 09, 2022•13 min•Ep. 110
Professor Ken Reightler (CAPT, USN ret.) is a former NASA astronaut and pilot of two successful space shuttle missions including STS-60, the first U.S./Russian Joint Space Mission. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School and served two tours at the Naval Air Test Center as a test pilot, project officer and flight test instructor pilot. He is a 1973 graduate of the Naval Academy, and he is currently the Tig H. Krekel, Class of ’75, Distinguished Chair in Space Science at ...
May 02, 2022•18 min•Ep. 109
Dr. Joe Thomas currently serves as the Director, Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the US Naval Academy. A retired Marine, he served previously as the Class of 1961 Professor of Leadership Education at USNA and as Director, MajGen John A. Lejeune Leadership Institute at Marine Corps University in Quantico, VA. Joe holds masters’ degrees from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and the US Army War College, a PhD from George Mason University, and Ce...
Apr 25, 2022•19 min•Ep. 108
Captain Jason Rimmer is a third generation Sailor from Sherman, Texas. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, and was designated a naval aviator, flying the SH-60B Seahawk helicopter throughout his career. CAPT Rimmer has commanded Amphibious Squadron EIGHT, and the BATAAN Amphibious Ready Group. He commanded Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light FOUR NINE (HSL-49), among numerous jobs afloat. He earned an MBA in 2004 from The George Washington University and is also a graduate of the Join...
Apr 18, 2022•25 min•Ep. 107
Captain Jason Rimmer is a third generation Sailor from Sherman, Texas. He was commissioned in 1995 and graduated with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He was designated a naval aviator in June 1997 and flew the SH-60B Seahawk helicopter throughout his career. Most recently, Captain Rimmer commanded Amphibious Squadron EIGHT and the BATAAN Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG) from June 2020 to November 2021.
Apr 11, 2022•11 min•Ep. 106
