Podcasts about joint staff

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, guest host Sean Noble joins Sam Stone for a packed episode featuring Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute, who breaks down the true state of U.S. military readiness, how China's defense spending compares to ours, and why Pentagon bureaucracy is undermining our ability to prepare for global threats. Later, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap offers an inside look at what he calls a “crisis situation” in his office, revealing that outgoing officials stripped him of key powers, staff, and budget before he even took office, leaving voters with a “clearly broken system” and a power struggle that threatens local election integrity. And stay tuned for Kiley's Corner, where she covers the heartbreaking suicides of four officers from the same department last month—and the mysterious reappearance of Valery, the lost wiener dog who vanished on Kangaroo Island in 2023 and was spotted again this February. From national defense to local integrity, this episode delivers sharp insight into the issues shaping America's future. Tune in now! www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegroundsTruth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@breakingbattlegroundsShow sponsors:Invest Yrefy - investyrefy.com4Freedom MobileExperience true freedom with 4Freedom Mobile, the exclusive provider offering nationwide coverage on all three major US networks (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile) with just one SIM card. Our service not only connects you but also shields you from data collection by network operators, social media platforms, government agencies, and more.Use code ‘Battleground' to get your first month for $9 and save $10 a month every month after.Learn more at: 4FreedomMobile.comDot VoteWith a .VOTE website, you ensure your political campaign stands out among the competition while simplifying how you reach voters.Learn more at: dotvote.voteAbout our guest:Mackenzie Eaglen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she works on defense strategy, defense budgets, and military readiness. She is also a regular guest lecturer at universities, a member of the board of advisers of the Alexander Hamilton Society, and a member of the steering committee of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security.Ms. Eaglen is also one of the 12-member US Army War College Board of Visitors, which offers advice about academic program objectives and effectiveness, and serves on the US Army Science Board, an advisory body that provides guidance on scientific and other matters to the Army's senior leadership. In 2023, she became a member of the Commission on the Future of the Navy, established by Congress to study the strategy, budget, and policy concerning the future strength of the US Navy fleet.While working at AEI, Ms. Eaglen served as a staff member on the National Defense Strategy Commission, a congressionally mandated bipartisan review group whose final report in November 2018, “Providing for the Common Defense,” included assessments and recommendations for the administration. Earlier, Ms. Eaglen served as a staff member on the 2014 congressionally mandated National Defense Panel and in 2010 on the congressionally mandated bipartisan Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel.Before joining AEI, Ms. Eaglen worked on defense issues in the House of Representatives, in the US Senate, and at the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff.A prolific writer on defense-related issues, Ms. Eaglen has been published in the popular press, including in Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, Politico, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and War on the Rocks. She has also testified before Congress.Ms. Eaglen has an MA from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a BA from Mercer University.-Justin Heap serves as the 31st Recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, having been elected in November 2024 and assuming office in January 2025. In this role, he oversees an office of approximately 150 employees responsible for recording public documents, maintaining a voter registration database of 2.6 million voters—the second-largest voting jurisdiction in the United States—and administering the mail voting component of all elections in Maricopa County.Prior to his tenure as Recorder, Heap represented District 10 in the Arizona House of Representatives from January 2023 to January 2025. During his legislative term, he focused on issues related to election integrity and was associated with the Arizona Freedom Caucus. Heap holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor degree from Arizona State University. Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

In this very special—and slightly chaotic—April Fools' Day edition of From the Crows' Nest, host Ken Miller discovers just how hard it is to book a guest when everyone thinks it's a prank. With no high-level military officials or defense tech experts willing to risk being punk'd, Ken turns to a trusted voice close to home: Voxtopica producer Laura Krebs joins him in the studio to answer listener emails and take a few surprisingly tough questions from our very real (and definitely not hired-actors) studio audience.Ken also offers his thoughts on some serious topics—including the growing role of AI and Cognitive EW, much-needed defense budget reform, the latest EMSO manual from the Joint Staff, and today's complex global security environment.Oh, and there may be a surprise announcement about the Pentagon's new "Invisible Aircraft Program"... but we'll let you decide if that one's real.Don't miss Season 1 of our new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) podcast powered by L3 Harris. All six episodes are now available. To listen and learn more about the CTO Series, visit here.These special episodes are released twice a month. To access them and participate in live recordings as part of the virtual audience, become an AOC member at www.crows.org or subscribe for $2.99/month at www.ftcnpodcast.org. Join us today. You can reach the host directly to share your thoughts or questions you want FTCN to cover in future episodes at host@fromthecrowsnest.org.

EXPOSED! In December 1994, the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force (CSAF) tasked Air University to conduct a study to identify the concepts, capabilities and technologies the United States would require to remain the dominant air and space force beyond the first quarter of the 21st century. The study was called Air Force 2025, or 2025 for short. The Commander of Air University (AU), the project chair, directed the formation of a study team composed of students and faculty from the Air University's Air War College (AWC) and Air Command and Staff College (ACSC); scientists and technologists from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), located at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; and selected academic and business leaders in the civilian community across the nation. The AU team network included the Joint Staff; the staffs of unified commands; agencies with the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency; and all the services. Collectively, this diverse group served as a "think tank" to identify the innovative, high-leverage technologies and systems that will enable the United States to continue to set the standard for excellence in air and space power well into the 21st century. Link to archived Air Force 2025 documents | April 29th, 1997: https://web.archive.org/web/19970429013311/http://www.au.af.mil/au/2025/

In this episode of NucleCast, host Adam speaks with Lieutenant Colonel Gary Glover about the evolving landscape of the Air Force, particularly in relation to nuclear force design and modernization efforts. They discuss the importance of advanced education for military officers, the implications of hypersonic weapons on nuclear command and control, and the broader national security challenges facing the United States.Lieutenant Colonel Garrett Glover is the Chief of AFGSC Futures Division, Air Force Global Strike Command, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at USAFA, and a Senior Fellow with the Institute for National Security Studies.Colonel Glover was commissioned from the United States Air Force Academy in 2009. He has held key positions within the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile community, including Instructor, Evaluator, Flight Commander, and Assistant Director of Operations. As Executive Officer for the Office of Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, he played a pivotal role in the successful execution of a $5 billion Stockpile Stewardship Program, supporting $25 billion in nuclear sustainment initiatives. He served as a Presidential Nuclear Strike Advisor and Assistant Deputy Director of Operations at the National Military Command Center, translating presidential intent into nuclear strike options and leading a joint inter-agency team focused on both nuclear and conventional global military operations. In this role he oversaw the execution of the National Military Command System on behalf of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Additionally, he served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director for Nuclear and Homeland Defense Operations (J-36) on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He spent a year as a DoD Nuclear Technical Lab Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA. Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Nuclear Strategist of Headquarters, Air Force Global Strike Command.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Global Strike Command and Force Design07:29 The Importance of Advanced Education for Officers15:23 Hypersonics and Nuclear Command Control25:50 Wishes for National Security and EducationSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

For review:1. US CENTCOM Campaign Against Houthis.  More airstrikes are planned in the coming days. USAF LTG Alexus G. Grynkewich, director for operations for the Joint Staff: "US CENTCOM began precision strike operations against the Houthis to restore freedom of navigation and American deterrence. The initial wave of strikes hit over 30 targets at multiple locations, degrading a variety of Houthi capabilities. Included among those targets were terrorist training sites, unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure, weapons manufacturing capabilities and weapons storage facilities." 2. IDF Strikes Iranian Proxies in Gaza, S. Lebanon, & S. Syria.3. President Trump & Russian President to Speak Tuesday About Peace Negotiations.4. BBC Report: Ukranian Soldiers talk about combat actions in Kursk region. The BBC has received extensive accounts from Ukrainian troops, who recount a "catastrophic" withdrawal in the face of heavy fire, and columns of military equipment destroyed and constant attacks from swarms of Russian drones. 5. Sweden will donate 18 Archer artillery units and five Arthur counter-battery radar systems to Ukraine as part of its 18th aid package for Kyiv. The total value of the donations is 3 billion kronor ($296 million), with deliveries of Arthur systems planned to begin this year and Archer systems in 2026.6. Canada Reconsidering Future F-35 Fighter Purchase. The Canadian military said while it is committed to the first 16 F-35As it's on contract to buy from American defense giant Lockheed Martin, it is actively re-evaluating the rest of the multi-billion-dollar order. Ottawa's reconsideration of the deal could open a door for alternatives like the Saab Gripen Fighter- which was beat out by the F-35 for the competition to replace Canada's legacy F-18 fleet. 

南雲憲一郎統合幕僚副長政府は、新設する自衛隊統合作戦司令部の初代司令官に南雲憲一郎統合幕僚副長を起用する方向で調整に入った。 The Japanese government is considering naming Lt. Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, vice chief of staff at the Joint Staff of the Self-Defense Forces, as the first head of the Joint Operations Command, which will be established shortly, it was learned Tuesday.

The Japanese government is considering naming Lt. Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, vice chief of staff at the Joint Staff of the Self-Defense Forces, as the first head of the Joint Operations Command, which will be established shortly, it was learned Tuesday.

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/ Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor Yesterday, in a dramatic and unexpected press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump called for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, and to relocate its two million Palestinian residents to alternative countries. President Trump also issued a series of executive orders impacting Israel and the Middle East, including one imposing maximum pressure on Iran. To discuss these fast-moving developments, Rich Goldberg returns to the podcast. Rich is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). From 2019-2020, he served as Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the Trump White House National Security Council (NSC). He previously served as a national security staffer in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House and is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan. CREDITS:ILAN BENATAR - Producer & EditorMARTIN HUERGO - EditorREBECCA STROM - Director of OperationsSTAV SLAMA - ResearcherGABE SILVERSTEIN - Research InternYUVAL SEMO - Music Composer 

James O'Keefe with O'Keefe Media Group is hands down has the best undercover operation for revealing corruption and nefarious members of the DEEP STATE. His shows serve as an important reminder that well-intentioned fellow Americans are actually working to undermine our liberty, our standard of living, and possibly our lives. From coast-to-coast America is full of useful idiots that are working for our demise as well as their own. It's really a sad commentary on where we are today that some of us have so little integrity that we allow ourselves to be corrupted voluntarily in this way for green pieces of paper. O'Keefe Media Group - Undercover Meeting with Jaime Mannina, Consultant to the Joint Staff at the DoD https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1879331299766521937

Michael Elliott talks about the intricate process of nuclear planning and outlines the eight-step nuclear planning process, emphasizing the collaborative efforts required from various military and intelligence agencies. He addresses common misconceptions about nuclear launch protocols, highlighting the rigorous safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized or accidental launches. The conversation provides valuable insights into the complexities of nuclear strategy and the importance of informed policy-making in today's geopolitical landscape.Mr. Elliott is a retired member of the Senior Executive Service and current National Security Consultant. Mr. Elliott is an adviser to the Nuclear Deterrence External Advisory Board for Sandia National Laboratories.From September 2010 to November 2015 Mr. Elliott was Deputy Director for Strategic Stability, Plans and Policy Directorate, The Joint Staff. In this capacity he was a senior advisor to the Director, Plans and Policy and Chairman for shaping and implementation of national security plans and policy. He represented the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Interagency Policy Committee debate on such diverse topics as National Nuclear Technical Forensics, implementation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Chemical Weapons Convention, Biological Weapons Convention, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, CFE, Vienna Document, Open Skies Treaty and the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. In 2015 the President conferred upon Mr. Elliott the rank of Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service.From April 2009 to August 2010, Mr. Elliott served as the Chairman's representative to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiations with the Russian Federation.From June 2003 to April 2009 Mr. Elliott was a member of United States Strategic Command, culminating his tour as the Deputy Director for Plans and Policy, responsible for the shaping and implementation of national security plans and policy as it applied to the Command and the execution of its mission.Mr. Elliott returned to government service in June 2003, following 7 years in the private sector, where he was an Assistant Vice President with Science Applications International Corporation.Mr. Elliott retired from the United States Air Force, in January 1996, following 25 years of service. Mr. Elliott's duties included a distinguished flying career in the B-1B, FB-111, and B-52G.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Nuclear Planning and Michael Elliott15:03 The Eight-Step Nuclear Planning Process30:00 Collaborative Efforts in Nuclear Strategy30:35 Misconceptions About Nuclear Launch ProtocolsSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

In Episode 10 of Long Blue Leadership, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Burt Field '79, now president and CEO of the Air & Space Forces Association, discusses his leadership philosophy, and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, effective communication, family, and the five core values by which he lives. Listen now!   SUMMARY Burt Field, a retired Lieutenant General and CEO of the Air and Space Forces Association, discussed his career and leadership philosophy. He highlighted his upbringing as an Air Force brat, his academic journey at the Air Force Academy, and his early leadership roles. Field emphasized the importance of continuous learning, effective communication, and avoiding being an "asshole" in leadership. He shared impactful experiences, such as leading during the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the significance of family support. Field also discussed the Air and Space Forces Association's efforts in advocacy, education, and family resilience, stressing the need for strong national security and defense.   LEADERSHIP BITES Values-Driven Leadership: Burt shared his 5 core leadership values - integrity, fortitude, excellence, teamwork, and service. Defining your values and using them to guide your decisions and actions is crucial. Continuous Learning: Burt emphasized that as a leader, you can never stop learning, whether it's about your organization, industry, or even topics outside your expertise. Staying curious and open to growth is key. Empowering Others: Burt stressed that a leader's job is to empower and inspire their team, not try to do everything themselves. Recognizing and rewarding excellence in others is vital. Effective Communication: Burt noted that leaders can never communicate too much or well enough. Repeatedly delivering clear, consistent messages is essential for alignment and buy-in. Humility and Inclusivity: True leadership requires humility, giving credit to others, and making the organization successful.   SHARE THIS EPISODE LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   TAKEAWAYS Never stop learning. As a leader, you must continuously learn and expand your knowledge, even in areas outside your expertise. Define your leadership philosophy and values. Burt shared his 5 core values of integrity, fortitude, excellence, teamwork, and service. Having a clear set of guiding principles is crucial. Recognize and reward excellence. Identify and empower those who have put in the hard work to become experts in their fields. This builds a strong, capable team. Communicate effectively, repeatedly. Effective communication is critical, but leaders often underestimate how many times a message needs to be delivered clearly. Burt emphasized the importance of being inclusive, giving credit, and making the organization successful rather than yourself. Avoid toxic, self-serving leadership.   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to General Burt Field 01:52 Growing Up as an Air Force Brat 05:40 Choosing the Air Force Academy 10:26 Life as a Cadet at the Academy 19:09 Leadership Development During Cadet Years 23:15 The Integration of Women at the Academy 24:12 Influential Leaders in General Field's Career 28:28 Learning from Subordinates 34:15 Career Path and Leadership Philosophy 37:54 A Chance Encounter: Love and Military Life 41:13 Building Resilient Families in the Military 42:12 The Journey to Leadership: From Air Force to AFA 45:57 Empowering the Next Generation: Education and STEM 49:46 Leadership Lessons: Insights from Experience   5 FRANK KEYS TO LEADERSHIP SUCCESS "You can never stop learning. You have to learn. And whether it's leadership or anything else, you have to always learn." "Everything comes from your values. When I make leadership decisions, or when I look at how we're going to move forward, or what, how we're going to accomplish the mission, it should reflect those values in my decisions, how I act, how I from the biggest thing of creating a here's the strategy, or in objectives on on what we're going to accomplish, to the smallest things, like how I conduct a meeting." "If you want to be a really good leader, you need to be really good at something. So you got to put in the work when you're young to be really good and understand how hard it is to be really good at something." "You cannot communicate enough, and you cannot communicate well enough. So I use this example all the time. I come up with a message. I craft it, I think about it, I write it down, I practice it, and then I deliver it, and it's awesome. I was perfect. I nobody could have misunderstood me when I'm done with that, and I really think that I have hit the mark with maybe 20% I probably got to say that again, that way or differently, about another 10 or 15 times when I can barely stand to hear myself talk anymore, and I'm still not going to get everybody." "I'm going to give the credit and I'm going to take the blame. That's how you become a good leader."  - Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Burt Field '79, October 2024   ABOUT GEN. FIELD BIO Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.), is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Air & Space Forces Association, leading the Association's professional staff in its mission to advocate, educate, and support the Air & Space Forces. As CEO, he oversees operations and resourcing for AFA and its 113,000 members, including events, publications, and the Mitchell Institue for Aerospace Studies, the nation's only think tank dedicated to air and space power.   A veteran of 35 years of Air Force service, Field retired from active duty in 2015 following his final tour, as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Requirements. Throughout his career, Field commanded a squadron, the Air Force Weapons School, three wings, a numbered Air Force, and a sub-unified command. A command pilot with over 3,400 flying hours in the F-16 and F-22, he served twice on the Joint Staff and completed a tour in the State Department as the military assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his last assignment, he led policy and requirements decision-making for air, space, irregular warfare, counter-proliferation, homeland security, and cyber operations. Prior to that assignment, he served as the Commander of United States Forces, Japan, and Commander of 5th Air Force from 2010-2012 where he led the U.S. military response to support Japan during the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of 2011.   Following his retirement, he served as the Vice President of Strategic Planning for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, developing strategies that guided and contributed to over $5 billion in growth in a five-year period. He also managed a $500 million New Business Funds portfolio for independent research and development. Since 2020, he has been an independent defense consultant, served as a subject matter expert working with and mentoring Airmen at all levels, and a member of the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation.   Field graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1979 and earned a master's degree in business administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, both officers in the USAF. - Bio image and copy credit: AFA.org     CONNECT WITH GEN. FIELD LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK | AIR & SPACE FORCES ASSOCIATION     ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates!          TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS GUEST:  Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Burt Field '79 | Host:  Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz 00:00 My guest today is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Burt Field USAFA Class of '79, president and CEO of the Air & Space Forces Association. He spent 35 years in the Air Force, retiring in 2015 as deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements. Gen. Field has held many positions of leadership throughout his career, including squadron command, the Air Force Weapons School and three wings. He has served as a command pilot with over 3,400 hours in the F-16 and F-22. He completed a tour in the State Department as the military assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. He has also served as the commander of United States Forces, Japan, and commander of the 5th Air Force from 2010 to 2012. In his post military career, he served as vice president of strategic planning for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. He has been an independent defense consultant and has served as a subject matter expert, working with and mentoring airmen. He is also a member of the board of trustees for the United States Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation. Today, we'll talk with Gen. Field about his life before, during and after the Academy. We'll discuss his role in leading the Air & Space Forces Association. And finally, we'll ask the general to share advice in leadership development. Gen. Field, welcome to Long Blue Leadership.   Burt Field 01:23 Thank you, Naviere. Please call me Burt.   Naviere Walkewicz 01:24 OK, yes, sir, Burt. Will do. And I will say that was quite an introduction. You have had an incredible and ongoing career.   Burt Field 01:30 Well, frankly, and no false modesty, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and take advantage of the opportunities presented to me.   Naviere Walkewicz 01:39 Well, I appreciate you saying that, and I think our listeners are really going to enjoy hearing about what some of those right places at the right time kind of look like. But here's what we do at Long Blue Leadership: We like to rewind the clock a little bit and start with Burt as a child. What were you like growing up? Where was home?   Burt Field 01:56 Well, I'm an Air Force brat. My dad was a fighter pilot. I like to say his first assignment was the Korean War, flying F-86s and his last flight was in an F-4 over Hanoi. Now, didn't get shot down, but that was his last flight. So, I grew up traveling around both country and the world and went to a bunch of different elementary schools and then three high schools before I ended up at the Air Force Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz 02:27 Wow. I can imagine some of our listeners have also been some kind of service brat. As I always say, I was an Air Force brat as well. Are you an only child? Do you have siblings?   Burt Field 02:37 I have three sisters. I have one older sister and two younger sisters, which irritated me to no end when I was a kid, but now we couldn't be closer.   Naviere Walkewicz 02:49 So did you get special benefits because you were the only boy of all the girls?   Burt Field 02:53 Of course not. Now, their stories are a little different, but of course not.   Naviere Walkewicz 02:57 Understood. And did they also serve as well.   Burt Field 03:01 They did not. None of them did. My older sister's a doctor. My next down is an accountant and CFO, and the one below that is a bunch of different medical community things and a nutritionist.   Naviere Walkewicz 03:15 Wow. So, you are the one who followed in the military family footsteps.   Burt Field 03:18 I was, but interestingly enough, I never really thought about it growing up. My dad just happened to be in the Air Force. He just happened to fly airplanes. And you know, whoever you were, your dad was a doctor, lawyer, plumber, dentist, truck driver, whatever, and now let's go play ball. And that's pretty much the extent of it. But when I was in high school, I knew that I needed to start figuring out what I was going to do, because I'm pretty sure my dad wasn't going to let me just lay around the house after I graduated. And I was definitely afraid of being bored, and nothing really sounded good — doctor, lawyer, dentist, plumber, truck driver — none of it was good. So, I came into the house one day in my junior year, and I attribute this to the Air Force Association: The magazine was laying on our coffee table, and it was face down, and on the back was a picture of the F-15, which was one of the brand new airplanes that was coming out. And I looked down at it, and for whatever reason, it clicked, and I said, “That does not look boring.” And I went and talked to my dad, because I figured he might know how to do this. So, he did some research for me, and he said, “Well, to go to pilot training…" And this was 1974 and that's the wind down of the Vietnam War and letting a lot of people out of the Air Force, “…to go to pilot training, you have to be an Air Force Academy graduate, or distinguished graduate from ROTC.” Well, my dad had retired, or was about to retire, and we were going to move to Florida for my senior year, and I was going to go to the University of Florida, like everybody in my family did, except for two, and so I knew that the Air Force Academy would provide me an avenue, and the University of Florida would provide me an avenue to be a bellboy down in a Key West hotel when I graduated.   Naviere Walkewicz 05:18 So you chose the Air Force Academy, of course. So, that's interesting. Forty-five years later, you are now the president and CEO of the Air & Space Forces Association, which was what kind of caught your eye in high school.   Burt Field 05:34 It's really kind of amazing. And the editor of the magazine — they have a bunch of back issues at our headquarters building, and he found that magazine.   Naviere Walkewicz 05:47 Oh my goodness, I hope that's framed in your office now.   Burt Field It is.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, that's amazing. What a story. And we're going to talk more about that. I really want to hear more about that role, but let's stay in the childhood range a little bit. So you were going to go to the Air Force Academy. Were you already involved in sports? Was that something—   Burt Field 06:06 Yeah, so, I played baseball growing up. We moved around a lot, so it was hard to play a lot of other sports. I did Pop Warner football, played basketball, you know, on teams growing up. And I was a good athlete but not a great athlete, and so I wasn't recruited for going to come here to the Academy. But I played football, I wrestled and played baseball until my sophomore year, when I blew up my shoulder and couldn't throw anymore. Then I just wrestled and played football for the rest of my high school career, and then when I came here, I just played intramurals until a friend of mine that was a couple years older was on the rugby team, and so he kind of said, “Hey, come on out, you'll like this.” And so it was the rugby club back then, and it was a way to get out of stuff in the afternoons when you're a freshman. So I came down and I played on the rugby team for a few years.   Naviere Walkewicz 07:10 I have a lot of rugby friends, and it definitely is, it's a family, for sure.   Burt Field 07:15 It is. And it was really that way back then. It was all local Colorado sports teams. You know, the guys who were 45 and over down to other colleges around the state.   Naviere Walkewicz 07:28 Your extended family.     Burt Field Right.   Naviere Walkewicz So, speaking of family, how did your — I think I know how your dad felt about you wanting to come to the Air Force Academy. How about your mom?    Burt Field 07:37 She was pretty proud of me. Both of them were mad because I only applied to one place.   Naviere Walkewicz 07:44 So, it was here or a bellboy.   Burt Field 07:48 It was here or a bellboy somewhere. But they were pretty proud of me, and they were really proud, obviously, when I graduated.   Naviere Walkewicz So, you came into the Academy. You had a little bit of an idea of what to expect, because your dad had been the military, right?   Burt Field 10:06 Well, no, nobody is prepared for the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz That's true.   Burt Field I mean, your dad went to the Academy and…   Naviere Walkewicz They were classmates.   Burt Field And you were not prepared.   Naviere Walkewicz That's true.   Burt Field Because you are immediately thrown into the deep end of a very cold, murky pool and told to start swimming. But the interesting thing: I came out with a few guys from my local area, and the way we did it back then is, you told the Academy what hotel you were gonna stay at, and they came and picked you up in a bus and they drove you onto the Academy and dropped you off at the base of the ramp, and you jumped off the bus, and all your newfound friends started telling you all the things that were wrong with you personally, with your family, your genetics, your upbringing, and how you would never amount to anything ever in your entire life. And then they take you — I wasn't really good with authoritarian figures.   Naviere Walkewicz 11:10 Well, I can imagine, with three sisters, you probably chose your own path, right?   Burt Field 11:15 So, you can imagine — as we're most of my classmates. We all are kind of like that. So, I wasn't sure that this was for me, but it was 1975 and everybody had long hair. So as soon as I got my head shaved, I said, “Well, I'm staying here at least until I get my hair back.”   Naviere Walkewicz 11:37 That was a good thing then.   Burt Field 11:39 That kept me here. And so then I kept staying. But that first day was a bit of a shock, as it is with everybody around here. But, I have a great memory. I was standing in line getting something issued to me, and the guy behind me and I started talking, and he actually graduated from the high school that I spent my ninth and 10th grade in in Las Vegas, Nevada. His name's John Pickitt. And so we became friends, and he's the godfather of our oldest child, along with Tom McCarthy, who you met earlier today.   Naviere Walkewicz 12:16 Wow. I mean, it really is… We talk about family a lot in our podcast, and family spans way beyond blood.   Burt Field 12:26 Yep, it sure does, especially with graduates of the Air Force Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz 12:31 Yes, 100%. Wow. So you jumped into that murky pool and making friends along the way. What was life like for you as a cadet? Were you really strong in your academics? I mean, obviously you were an athlete, because you were doing everything.   Burt Field 12:45 I mean, everybody did that kind of stuff. So, I got good grades in high school, and I got good grades here, except for one semester. So, I was on the supt's list every semester except for one. That's just the way it was.   Naviere Walkewicz That's amazing.   Burt Field I would do it different now, if I had it to do over again, because I got on the dean's list by cramming instead of doing my homework. And so every young person that goes to the Air Force Academy, I tell them, “There's one way to success and happiness at the Air Force Academy…” I don't tell them this, not that they're going to be happy, because they're not. But I tell them, “Do your homework every night.”   Naviere Walkewicz 13:32 That's right. I think there was a saying: “If you wait to the last minute, it only takes a minute, but then you get to see…   Burt Field You really reap the results.   Naviere Walkewicz 13:42 Exactly, exactly.   Burt Field So, that's no different than a lot of my friends. And back then, you're pretty restricted to the Academy, especially your first year, and then gradually you get out more and more. So, it wasn't like we were out and about very much.   Naviere Walkewicz Right.   Burt Field We stayed around here. We worked out a lot. We played games, sports on the weekends, and that was it.   Naviere Walkewicz 14:07 And were you 1 and 3? What was the squadron change like? Was it 2 and 2 back then?   Burt Field 14:13 And so 1 and 3. So, I was in 35 as of Doolie, and the only squadron— 35 and 38, they're still together, but it was carpeted, and we had carpeting, and so we took a lot of heat from people just because of that.   Naviere Walkewicz Because you had it nicer?   Burt Field Yeah, then I went into 27 and graduated from 27.   Naviere Walkewicz 14:38 OK, and your son is also a graduate from your legacy squadron, 27.   Burt Field 14:42 He is. He graduated in 2008.   Naviere Walkewicz 14:43 Love that legacy. Great. What a wonderful legacy. So your cadet time sounds like it was pretty pleasant, or…   Burt Field 14:50 Oh yes, just like everybody's. Everybody leaves here with a love-hate relationship with the Air Force Academy and it changes over time from mostly hate to mostly love. So, that was no different with us. I had a group of great friends, both in my squadron and outside my squadron, from the rugby team and a couple other places. And so it was like — I tell everybody, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th grade.   Naviere Walkewicz 15:24 I love that. That's a great way to put that into an analogy, yes, because you're still developing.   Burt Field 15:31 Classes, you know, five or six classes a day. I play sports after school. I go home and do homework or avoid homework and go to bed so I can't go out during the weeknights. Can't go out very often on the weekends. And, there you go.   Naviere Walkewicz 15:45 That's right. That's very much like high school, absolutely. So we like to talk about how you developed as a leader, even early on. And so we're getting to know you a little bit better. While you were cadet, did you hold any leadership positions in particular?   Burt Field 16:02 Well, I was the — what did I do? I did something as a third-classman. Oh yeah, chief of training? Or whatever.   Naviere Walkewicz 16:11 Sounds like it could be accurate.   Burt Field 16:12 Back in the day, the the guy that was in charge of training for the freshman. I was an ops officer when I was the, I mean, op sergeant when I was a junior, squadron commander when I was a senior. So nothing hugely out of the ordinary. I like that kind of role and that kind of challenge, but I wanted to stay inside my squadron. So, when I got offered a chance to, “Hey, do you want to be on a group staff or wing staff?” I declined.   Naviere Walkewicz Tell me more. Why?   Burt Field Because my brothers were my squadron.   Naviere Walkewicz OK, I love that, yes.   Burt Field So, I didn't want to leave that for six months or four months, or whatever the time period was back then.   Naviere Walkewicz 17:05 So, leadership in your squadron, and this is interesting, and this is a good topic, because some of our listeners, some of the challenges that they experience in leadership is on a peer level, or maybe, you know, how do you lead someone that you're really close with? How do you earn that trust? So maybe you can share some lessons that you have learned about yourself during that time.   Burt Field 17:24 Well, I always tell people that the hardest leadership challenge that we face is when you have no authority and you still need to lead, and regardless of what we say about cadet squadron commanders, you know, we can all think we're in charge, but we're not that in charge. And so what you had to do is you had to lead by influence and by doing the right thing. And so whether we agree with that, it's the right thing, because I don't want to do it, because it's no fun, because I'd rather do something else. Everybody knows what you have to do at the Air Force Academy on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, on the way through the week. And so we just went and did it. And I encouraged people to come and do it all with me, whether it's doing drill, whether it's playing intramural sports, whether, “Hey, it's your turn to be the referee for this season,” whether we want to go to these whatever it was. So you just encourage people to do that, and then you talk to people and try to empower them so that they can figure that out on their own, and then later pass that on as leaders themselves.   Naviere Walkewicz 18:44 No, those are really great examples. And I think just leadership tidbits that some of our listeners can take, and it really is some of the best ways, just leading by example and then inviting them to join you on that, absolutely. OK, so your cadet career was, I think, really important to you, because it formed you, and it formed you like you said your brothers, because you were the last class of all men cadets together. So how did that translate? And if I may be so bold, you started having women cadets there while you're at the Academy as well. Can you share some of the dynamics of that then at the Academy, and maybe some of the stories that you saw of how that really evolved into a stronger Academy that we have today?   Burt Field 19:26 Yeah, let me put some of this in perspective, and I'll start with a story. I get a large ration of crap from my friends that are in '80 and '81 that I'm really close with because of my role in terrorizing the women of the Class of '80, which I said, “Exactly, what role was that?” Basically, these guys considered us the source of all evil. My perspective was different, and it's just my perspective. When I talked to my classmates, most of them — I'm talking about most of them, not all of them — we were children that grew up and came of age in the late '60s and early '70s, which was basically that whole protest movement, grow your hair long, protest the Vietnam War, and we really didn't care that much that women were coming into the Air Force Academy, because most of us were smart enough to know that the only reason that women were not in my class and they were in that class was an accident of birth and the accident of when the legislation passed to do the right thing in the United States of America. So there's nothing special about being the last all-male class. There's nothing special about being the first class that had women in it, other than, you know, it was the end of one way of doing business and the beginning of another way of doing business. To your point, I think it makes the Air Force stronger. It certainly makes our Academy better. While they were here, the first semester, all the women were in one part of the state, in one part of the Academy over in Fairchild Hall. And they were only in 20 squadrons, so 1 through 20.   Naviere Walkewicz In Vandenberg?   Burt Field In Vandenberg, I'm sorry. So we're they were only in 1 through 20 the first semester, for whatever reason. Then they came the next semester to our squadron, and you know, well, one of them I'm still friends with, so, to me, it was a no brainer. I wish I was more profound on this. This is one of the things that my friends from later classes yell at me about. But I didn't consider it to be that big of a deal. I didn't, at the time, think that this is some big historical event and change in the Air Force or the military, or anything else that we could all maybe talk about better today than I could back then. So for me and my friends that I knew, it was not an issue. I don't think I treated women any different than I treated men, and I don't think I treated women or men badly, regardless of my role and their role at the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz I really appreciate that perspective.   Burt Field Yeah, so, you know, bluntly, most of us just didn't care.   Naviere Walkewicz 22:50 You were there just trying to get through the Academy, right?   Burt Field 22:53 That sounds terrible, but, I mean, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about social implications of race, sex, gender, however you want to put it. I was just trying to get through the day without getting yelled at, like everybody else.   Naviere Walkewicz 23:12 Thank you for sharing that, because I think it's sometimes a question that people have, and it's really helpful to hear a perspective that really is, “We're all just trying to get through the Air Force Academy, we all come in, and we hope that we all graduate.”   Burt Field 23:23 Yeah, and some of them, very impressive, had huge careers. You know, Susan Helms, just one of my heroes, frankly, as a person, as an officer, that have nothing to do with her role in space. That just makes me more in awe of her. But, you know, there's a lot of great, great people out there, and a lot of them are women.   Naviere Walkewicz 23:49 Yes, thank you. Thank you for sharing that, and I appreciate that you said that. You know, Gen. Holmes is one of your heroes as well. Let's talk about some of those that maybe inspired you in leadership roles. It could be while you're a cadet, or maybe early in your career as an officer after you graduated. Maybe talk about some of those influencers.   Burt Field 24:09 Well, I had some great AOCs. My freshman AOC was a guy that was a Fast FAC in Vietnam, and actually was the guy that gave me a ride in a T-37, which was fantastic and really solidified what I wanted to do. My sophomore and junior year, my AOC was not that guy.   Naviere Walkewicz We learned from those leaders too.   Burt Field We'll probably talk about leadership philosophy later, and if you'll remind me, my last bullet on my leadership philosophy partly came from him. And then my senior year, we had a great guy named Ken Lawrence that came in that several of us are still in touch with. And he was both a welcome relief and a great role model for us as we spent that last year here at the Academy, before we went off. I went out in the Air Force and my first two squadron commanders, the first one was a guy named Tiny West, 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, barely fit into an F-16, and taught me how to fly fighters.   Naviere Walkewicz 25:21 I totally understand his call sign then.   Burt Field 25:24 Just a great guy. A second squadron commander was a guy named John Jumper, who ended up being the chief of staff of the Air Force and is still kind of like a second father to me.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, wow.   Burt Field Let's see. And then multiple people along the way that you know, from crusty old majors and young captains that taught me how to fly the F-16 and in what we called RTU at the time, now, FTU in how we kind of learn together. Because when my class showed up at Hill in the B course, we went into the 34th at the time, tactical training fighter squadron. We were their first class, and the high-time guy in that squadron with F-16 time had 30 hours. So they were teaching all of us second lieutenants how to do this. Went from there down to Nellis and served under Tiny and John Jumper. So, that was how I started. And there's lots of great people in that time frame that obviously I'm still in touch with, and taught us how to fly. There's my squadron commander in Korea, which was my second assignment, another great role model. And then just on and on. When I came back to Nellis on my third assignment, I worked for a guy named Sandy Sandstrom. Sandy was one of my RTU instructors, also, and we became really lifelong friends. And he and his wife, Jeannie, have sadly passed away, but we, Lisa and I keep in touch with both their children to this day. Yeah. But anyway, there's a lot of great leaders, both above us in squadron commander roles, and then you watch your fellow officers and brothers and sisters, and see and you learn stuff, watching them, how they develop relationships, how they train, how they identify what's important, how they communicate, how they focus, how they connect. All of those things are important, and you can learn something from everybody around you. And if you don't, you're probably missing out.   Naviere Walkewicz 27:48 I appreciate that perspective. I think, especially as someone who is more experienced in leadership, the fact that you are looking to continue to learn and see what you can kind of pick up from those even that support you and serve under you. Can you share an example? Is there one that sticks out in your memory of someone that you're like, “Wow, that's something I really took back”?   Burt Field 28:08 Are you talking about somebody that served under me?   Naviere Walkewicz Mmm-hmm   Burt Field Oh, yeah, so, there's thousands of these. I'll tell you two stories. So I'm a squander commander, and I had a friend, a very close friend of mine, who was a squadron commander, and one of his guys was coming to our squadron, and he said, “This is a great guy. You're going to love him. Really good pilot…,” blah, blah, blah. It's his second assignment. And so he shows up in the squadron and we have about four or five guys about that that time in their career, and they're ready to become flight leads, which is leading flights in the fighter community. And so I put him in without really thinking this through, and one of the other guys came up and said, “Hey, I need to talk to you.” And he came in my office, and he explained to me how I wasn't looking at everybody through the same lens and was probably missing some of the things other people were seeing. And I mean, pretty blunt, pretty focused, not yelling, and just a straightforward conversation. And I sat back and thought for about five seconds, and I said, “Holy cow, Bruce Fisher is totally correct. I have missed the boat on this, and I'm never going to do that again.”   Naviere Walkewicz Wow.   Burt Field And so that was one guy. The second example I have is in Japan when I was a 3-star general. I was there during the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, and it was a wild time. It started on a Friday. On Monday, so Friday was the earthquake and the tsunami. Saturday was the first explosion in one of the nuclear reactors. Monday was the second explosion in another nuclear reactor. On Monday, I also went up with the Japanese minister of defense and the head of their military to a place up near the epicenter, or the center of where the disaster area was, and they stood up, for the first time, a joint task force in Japan to take to take on the role of trying to work through all the things they had to work through. So we tried to land at the airport and could not. We tried to land at one of the air bases and barely could in a helicopter, in a helicopter. So I flew over Sendai Airport, where we couldn't land, and it was totally flooded, and it looked like when you tell your 5-year-old son to pick up his room and he shoves everything over into the corner, so there's trucks and cars and toys and giraffes and boxes over in the corner of the room and he says, “I'm good.” That is exactly what this airport looked like, except those were real cars, those were real cranes, those were real age equipment that was working on airlines, all swept away into the corner. So came back, and that night, met a guy named Rob Toth. Now we were getting a lot of people in to help, and Rob Toth had actually, he was the commander of the special ops group that was down at Kadena that we had brought up to Yakota. And he said to me, “Sir, my name is Rob Toth.” He's a colonel. And he said, “My guys have been up to Sendai, and I think we can open Sendai in about two weeks.” And I looked at Rob, and I said, “Rob, no way,” except I added a word in between “no” and “way.” And he said, “Sir, I know how you feel, like, I knew you'd feel like that, but just listen to me.” And I said, “No, that thing's not gonna be open until the summer.” And he said, “Sir, hold on. Let me tell you something.” Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm starting listening to him, I'm thinking, “OK, here's a special ops guy telling me how his experts think that they can go up and solve an enormous problem for us. They know how to do this. And I am telling him no, because I flew over it in a helicopter and it was flooded. Why don't you just ignore your opinion and say yes to a good idea?” Because all I have to do is say yes, and the worst that can happen is I'm going to be right. The best that can happen is he's going to be right and they're going to open the airport. Well, guess who was right? Not me.   Naviere Walkewicz He was right. Oh, wow.   Burt Field So, three weeks later, the first airplane, well, two weeks, a week later, the first airplane landed on it, and three weeks later, the first commercial airplane landed there.   Naviere Walkewicz Wow.   Burt Field Just say yes to good ideas.   Naviere Walkewicz 33:14 I think that's a leadership nugget right there.   Burt Field 33:16 And it's all from somebody that, you know, he had never met me before. I'm a 3-star general. He's a colonel. Took a lot of courage to tell me that, and keep persisting when I said, “Forget it,” because I was busy and didn't believe it, and I had just been there, so if you're not listening to people, you're probably not gonna make the best decisions.   Naviere Walkewicz 33:38 That's an incredible story. Thank you for sharing that.   Burt Field You bet.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, that's fantastic. So, your career was outstanding. I mean, I think you had the opportunity to really lead and impact a lot of lives by the time you put on your third star. Had you known that was your destiny? When you graduate the Academy you want to be pilot. We knew you went into the Academy to fly.   Burt Field 34:01 To fly fighters.   Naviere Walkewicz To fly fighters.   Burt Field Actually, to fly F-15s.   Naviere Walkewicz 34:07 OK, OK, so very specific.   Burt Field 34:08 Yeah. So I ended up going to third lieutenant to Langley Air Force Base. And I kind of, I was fortunate enough, because I traded with a guy that was from California. I was going to George. He was from California. He had the Langley slot, so we switched, and I went out there because I wanted to fly in an F-15 to make sure I liked it, because it was after sophomore year, before junior year. And I knew that I wasn't all that fired up about the Air Force Academy at the time. It was not the most fun place I'd ever been. And so I wanted to ensure that this was something I really wanted to do. Fortunately, I went to a great squadron, great people. They welcomed us with open arms, and I flew three or four times, five times during that third lieutenant and just loved every second of it. Now, of course, I didn't fly the F-15, except in the back seat a couple times later on. But I was lucky enough to get an F-16 out of pilot training. So 1980, F-16, go through that RTU with those guys, and we're all learning this together and into a squadron where we're all learning this together. Cool part about the first squadron I was in is we had… there was a squadron, which means that we had 25 people in the squadron. So squadron commander, an ops officer, and 23 other folks. And when I went in there, 12 of us were lieutenants and classmates.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, my goodness.   Burt Field And so it was really cool to go through that experience with people like that. But it's 1980, the Cold War is in full swing. We're pretty sure that we're going to be in a fight with the Soviet Union, and basically I didn't want to die in that fight. And so I figure what you need to do to not die is be the best there is. And I was went to work with a bunch of other guys that felt the same way, and so we helped each other. We competed with each other. We pulled people along. We got pulled along. And we all became really good at what we did. And it was just that drive to be really good at what was important — which was flying — that drove me, and that's what drove me to try to go to the Weapons School. That's what drove me to go back as an instructor. That's what drove me to train people to be the best that they could be, so that when we went to combat, we would all come back, because anybody can lead men and women into combat. I want people that lead them home.   Naviere Walkewicz I'm so glad that—   Burt Field Anyway, so that's what drove me. That's what drove me. You know, because I had friends that didn't come home.   Naviere Walkewicz 37:27 So part of what you've shared with us today, and I think we're really appreciative of how much you're sharing, because I think it gives us a sense of really who you are, and the family aspect with your brothers, the family aspect with your extended family at the Academy, on your teams. When did your family come into play? Because I had the opportunity to meet your wife, Lisa, and she's lovely. When did she come into your life?   Burt Field 37:54 Well, I like to tell everybody that I met her at a bachelor party, which I did. But, we were in pilot training at Willie Air Force Base in Phoenix, and somebody was getting married, and we're going to have a bachelor party, but it already required way too much planning, and somebody had to host it, and that meant somebody had to go buy stuff for it. And basically we just went down to where we went every Friday night, and that was the bachelor party. And I met her that night, and then we just started talking on the phone, and we started dating, and then we got married. And so we got married in 1981 and she's still putting up with me.   Naviere Walkewicz 38:48 Wow. She's literally been part of your life since the Academy.   Burt Field 38:53 Oh, yeah, so I married her a year and a half after I graduated, and so we have two sons, and both of those boys are in the military. My oldest son is a University of Florida grad.   Naviere Walkewicz 39:06 So he did follow the family footsteps.   Burt Field 39:09 But he's smart. He graduated with a high GPA, and anyway, he's a maintenance officer in the Air Force. And my youngest son is a C-130 pilot in the Air Force, and he's the 2008 grad from the Academy, and he's married to our daughter-in-law, Natasha. And right now, both David and Natasha fly C-130s for the Alaska Air Guard up in Anchorage in Elmendorf.   Naviere Walkewicz 39:36 That's amazing.   Burt Field So, it's the family business.   Naviere Walkewicz So, dad, you and your son?   Burt Field 39:39 Not only that, well, one of the reasons, when we bring up Lisa, when I met her, she said, we started talking, and I have short hair, because most people, have long hair. She goes, “Obviously, you're in the Air Force.” And she had told that to her roommate, and I said, “Yeah.” And she said, “Oh, my dad was in the Air Force.” And we said, “Where'd you all live, and what'd your dad do?” Well, her and my dad flew together and so stationed in the same places, sometimes at the same time. And when we went home and called our parents and said, “Hey, do you know this guy or this guy?” Without hesitation, both of them said, “Oh yeah, I know Dave.” “I know Burt,” and so they were in the other squadron. They didn't really hang out together, but they knew each other. So both my dad and my father-in-law were F-100 pilots and fighter pilots. And so Lisa is also an Air Force brat. So both of us are — we call ourselves nomads because we've never really lived anywhere longer than five years.   Naviere Walkewicz 40:44 I used to say that, and now I actually can. But can you claim anywhere longer than five years now?   Burt Field 40:52 No, getting close though. So I've been in five years, five years in a couple places, but never longer.   Naviere Walkewicz 40:58 Oh my goodness, what an incredible story.   Burt Field 41:00 Yeah. So anyway, this is one of the things we're doing in AFA now. And I think the Air Force is Air Force and Space Force are recognizing that if you want strong and resilient airmen and guardians, you need strong and resilient families behind them. And you need to have that kind of family dynamic that's supportive of what you do with your life and what the country is asking of you and your family to be all in and if we can work with the families to change that dynamic, to make sure that we're focused on building strong and resilient families, then the strong and resilient guardian and airmen will come out of that effort. So both the Air Force and the Air & Space Forces Association, that's part of what we're doing these days.   Naviere Walkewicz Before I get into the last couple of questions I want to ask you, what is the best way that anyone that's listening can learn more about the Air & Space Forces Association?   Burt Field  Well, we can go to afa.org, simple as that, and do that. That shows you how to contact us. For another thing, you can join, which is what I would like you to do, and become a member, and then you get access to all of that information. And you can find out how to do that again, on that website. But joining gives you access to that information. It gives you access to what we do. It tells you where the chapters are that are close to you, that are similar-minded people doing similar things. And we have about 120,000 members right now. We have about 230 chapters in every state except Maine, and in several foreign countries where we have airmen and guardians stationed. Those chapters can do a lot of this work, whether it's working with your local government officials, with your state officials, like your congressmen or your senators, and it arms you with the things that you can deliver these messages with. It also arms you with how can I get access to these kind of programs that help with my family, my friends' family, the people I work with, their family. Where can I direct an airman when she needs some help? Where can I put a guardian in touch with somebody that can help him get through something that he's got a problem with? So, you have a lot of resources at your disposal that can help both you and your brothers and sisters you work with   Naviere Walkewicz  That is outstanding. So I mentioned two questions. I'll start with the first and then we'll come back after a short break. The first one is, some of our listeners aspire, at some point to be a C-suite executive. What's the coolest thing that you've done, or that's happened for you since being CEO?   Burt Field  Oh, man, that's a hard question.   Naviere Walkewicz  Well, take a minute to think about that. But first we're going to take a moment and thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. The podcast publishes Tuesdays in both video and audio, and is available on all your favorite podcast platforms. Watch or listen to all episodes of Long Blue Leadership at longblueleadership.org. So have you had a chance to think about something cool that's happened since you've been CEO?   Burt Field  I would say that the coolest thing about this job is that you get some pretty good access. Because of what we try to do in support of the Space Force and the Air Force, I've been able to spend some time with the chief, the CSO and the secretary. And you know, the vice chief, the vice CSO, chief master sergeant of the Air Force, chief master sergeant the Space Force. So that part has been really interesting to me. Next week, I'm going to something with Secretary Austin, and so that that's kind of interesting. And then we do some work up on the Hill. And so I've been able to go up there and meet a few of the members up at the Hill. The good news, though, is that I knew a lot of those guys already, so, you know, because I'm old and. But it's still good to be able to listen directly from a leader on what he or she really is trying to communicate, as opposed to get it interpreted by somebody else or through some rumor or, “Here's why their vision doesn't match up with what I know we should be doing.” So, it helps us in our mission to kind of advocate for those strong forces when you know exactly what the leadership is thinking and what they're driving at.   Naviere Walkewicz  No, that's powerful, and that's transparency that you're able to bring to the members of your organization and all of their families. So, we like to leave our listeners with kind of leadership lessons, and I wanted to go back earlier in our conversation. You said, “Remind me to tell you about a leader that's shaped one of my bullets, maybe on how not to lead.” Or something to that effect. So what are your lessons of leadership that you want our leaders to take away today from you?   Burt Field  Well, so first off, you can never stop learning. You have to learn. And whether it's leadership or anything else— when I was in Japan during that disaster, I didn't know the first thing about nuclear power plants. Virtually nothing. I knew that there's some kind of nuclear reaction. They put something in water. It made steam power to turbine. Viola, you have electricity, period. There's a chance I might not even know that. So, I found a couple books that in the three or four hours a day that I didn't have work, I read so I could learn about nuclear power plants, the effect of nuclear radiation on the human body. What we can with withstand, what makes you sick and what kills you. So you have to always learn. And that goes double for being a leader, and you can never rest on your laurels. And so, I have been fortunate to be in a lot of different leadership positions and work for a lot of great leaders, most of them military, but some of them civilian as well, like Richard Holbrooke, a completely different leadership style than most military people. In fact, when I was working for Richard, my direct report was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen. And I talked with Adm. Mullen virtually daily, and my other virtual three-times-a-week conversation was with Dave Petraeus, who was running Afghanistan at the time, because of what a Richard's job was and they always want to know what he was thinking. So, it was interesting to watch all three of those who have three distinct leadership styles and learn from take the best from all of that. It was a learning experience. But the upshot of it is, having been exposed to people like that and being able to ask them questions about leadership, why they did things, helped shape my leadership philosophy. So, one of the things that I think everybody should do is kind of define what they think leadership is and have a leadership philosophy. And so, the way I look at leadership, it's, how how do you empower people? How do you inspire people? How do you get people to get the job done? Because you can't do it yourself. You're not going to win the war, you're not going to make all the sales, you're not going to get all the gross profit, you're not going to reduce all the expenses, you're not going to fight all the fights. You're going to be part of a team if you're going to be successful. So, how do you inspire that to happen? And how do you ensure that that team that you're building has the resources that they need? And resources come in all shapes and sizes. Some of it is equipment, some of it is money, some of it is the people that are in those roles? Do they have the education, the training, the experience and access to what they need to be successful? So that's what your job is, in my opinion, as a leader. And then how you go about doing that? You need to have a list of things that you do. So I start with values. You should have a set of values. For the cadets listening, and you're going to go into the Air Force, the Space Force, and if you cross commission into something else, every one of our services has a set of values, which are your values. Now you can have more, but your values include those. But at my stage of life, I have about five, and it's integrity, which everybody knows, and most people say, “Hey, that's when you do the right thing when no one is looking.” In the last four or five years, I added a second one to that, and I call it “fortitude.” Fortitude is when you do the right thing when everybody is looking. Then excellence. You know, from Excellence in All You Do. Teamwork and service. So those are my five values. And so when I make leadership decisions, or when I look at how we're going to move forward, or how we're going to accomplish the mission, it should reflect those values in my decisions, how I act, how I from the biggest thing of creating a here's the strategy, or in objectives on what we're going to accomplish, to the smallest things, like how I conduct a meeting. So, that that's the second thing. So everything comes from that. I think you need to be really good at something. If you want to be a really good leader, you need to be really good at something. So, you got to put in the work when you're young to be really good and understand how hard it is to be really good at something. Normally, when we “grow up,” in quotes, and become leaders of large organizations, there's a whole bunch going on in that organization that you will have little or no expertise in, but you know how to recognize excellence, and you know how to recognize effort that it takes to become excellent. And so you can look for those because you've seen it in yourself. So, that's the other thing. The next one is communication. You cannot communicate enough, and you cannot communicate well enough. So I use this example all the time. I come up with a message, I craft it, I think about it, I write it down, I practice it, and then I deliver it, and it's awesome. I was perfect. Nobody could have misunderstood me. When I'm done with that, and I really think that I have hit the mark with maybe 20%. I probably got to say that again that way or differently, about another 10 or 15 times when I can barely stand to hear myself talk anymore, and I'm still not going to get everybody. So, one of the things that you have to recognize as a leader is you're probably miscommunicating. So, you have to check and recheck to make sure that the message is going out the way you think it should be heard. So, communication is really important, and probably one of the biggest things that infects an organization is somebody misperceiving what somebody else is communicating, and then they get mad, and everybody's feelings get hurt, and on it goes. And we've all seen that. I told you about the “say yes to good ideas.”   Naviere Walkewicz  That was fantastic. Burt, is there anything that I didn't ask you that you would really like to leave with our listeners today?   Burt Field  I think we pretty much covered it, and I appreciate the opportunity to come on and chat with you and watch your act, because you're very comfortable doing this, and I need to take some lessons from you.   Naviere Walkewicz  Thank you so much for that compliment. And I must just say it has been a pleasure being on Long Blue Leadershipwith you. I can't wait for our listeners to hear more about your story and the way that you will, I think, affect great change for our Air and Space Force leaders.   Burt Field  Thank you, Naviere, it's really an honor to be on here and I appreciate the opportunity to share some of the lessons that I've been able to learn throughout my career, and also what the Air & Space Forces Association brings to the table, and why our cadets and our grads and all those out there who care about strong Air Forces, strong Space Forces, a strong national security and defense in the future.   Naviere Walkewicz  Thank you so much.   KEYWORDS Air Force brat, leadership philosophy, Air Force Academy, rugby team, squadron commander, family dynamics, career progression, leadership challenges, communication importance, resilience, Space Force, education programs, family support, military service, leadership lessons       Long Blue Leadership is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates and Foundation    

    What role does the enlisted voice play in shaping the future of military medicine? Join us for a captivating conversation with CMSgt Thomas Wigington, the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Joint Staff Surgeon Office, as we explore this pivotal question. Uncover his insights on how the Military Health System operates as a cohesive, collaborative network, and understand why fostering joint and interoperable medical operations is crucial for the preparedness of our service members. We also delve into the nuances of adapting training for enlisted medics and corpsmen, a critical component in ensuring they are equipped for the unique challenges of future conflicts.     CMSgt Wigington stresses the urgent need for proactive preventive medicine in military operations. With evolving global threats, maintaining the health and readiness of our warfighters has never been more important. He shares his personal journey, revealing how his Air Force career, initially a means to stay out of trouble, blossomed into a passionate commitment to public and occupational health. His reflections on the rewards of military life—ranging from travel and education to a profound sense of camaraderie—offer invaluable guidance for young listeners considering a career in military medicine. This episode is a treasure trove of leadership wisdom and forward-thinking strategies for the future of military healthcare.   Chapters (00:04) Enhancing Military Medicine Through Partnerships        Nature's role in military medicine: enhancing enlisted voice, joint operations, and adapting training for future conflicts. (10:06) Military Medicine Challenges and Perspectives       Proactive preventive medicine is crucial in military operations, often overlooked, and aligns with future strategic needs. (13:57) Military Medicine       Chief Master Sergeant Wigington shares his journey in the Air Force, emphasizing the rewards of travel, education, and a supportive community.   Highlights (00:55) Senior Enlisted Advisor Responsibilities (76 Seconds) (08:28) Enhancing Joint Service Medic Readiness (178 Seconds)   Take Home Messages Enlisted Leadership in Military Medicine: The episode highlights the crucial role of enlisted leaders in shaping military medicine, emphasizing the importance of amplifying their voices to foster collaboration across different service branches and the Defense Health Agency. This leadership is essential in preparing service members for future conflicts by ensuring joint and interoperable medical operations. Proactive Preventive Medicine: A significant takeaway is the shift from reactive to proactive preventive medicine in military operations. This approach is vital for maintaining the health and readiness of warfighters, especially in the face of evolving global threats, and underscores the necessity of keeping soldiers healthy and combat-ready. Interoperability Over Uniformity: The discussion challenges the traditional "purple suit" mentality, advocating instead for a joint and interoperable approach where service members retain their unique identities while working seamlessly together. This interoperability is crucial for adapting to future military engagements that may differ significantly from past conflicts. Career Insights and Personal Growth: The episode offers personal anecdotes and reflections on a career in military medicine, highlighting the rewards, educational opportunities, and sense of camaraderie that come with military service. These insights provide valuable guidance for young listeners considering a career in this field. Collaboration Across Military and Civilian Sectors: Emphasizing a whole-of-nation approach, the episode discusses the importance of collaboration between military and civilian medical personnel to enhance the health, strength, and survivability of warfighters. This collaboration ensures comprehensive support for service members, preparing them for whatever future challenges may arise.   Keywords Military Medicine, Joint Staff Surgeon Office, Enlisted Voice, Defense Health Agency, Service Branches, Joint and Interoperable Medical Operations, Purple Suit Mentality, Future Conflicts, Preventive Medicine, Warfighters, Military Engagements, Training, Enlisted Medics, Corpsmen, Iraq, Afghanistan, COVID-19, Air Force, Public Health, Occupational Health, Leadership, Collaboration, Military Healthcare, Generals, Strategic Needs, Personal Growth, Community Support #MilitaryMedicine #EnlistedLeadership #JointOperations #ProactiveMedicine #WarfighterHealth #HealthcareInnovation #PreventiveCare #MilitaryHealthcare #LeadershipDynamics #DefenseHealthAgency   Honoring the Legacy and Preserving the History of Military Medicine The WarDocs Mission is to honor the legacy, preserve the oral history, and showcase career opportunities, unique expeditionary experiences, and achievements of Military Medicine. We foster patriotism and pride in Who we are, What we do, and, most importantly, How we serve Our Patients, the DoD, and Our Nation.   Find out more and join Team WarDocs at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/ Check our list of previous guest episodes at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/our-guests Subscribe and Like our Videos on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wardocspodcast Listen to the “What We Are For” Episode 47. https://bit.ly/3r87Afm   WarDocs- The Military Medicine Podcast is a Non-Profit, Tax-exempt-501(c)(3) Veteran Run Organization run by volunteers. All donations are tax-deductible and go to honoring and preserving the history, experiences, successes, and lessons learned in Military Medicine. A tax receipt will be sent to you. WARDOCS documents the experiences, contributions, and innovations of all military medicine Services, ranks, and Corps who are affectionately called "Docs" as a sign of respect, trust, and confidence on and off the battlefield,demonstrating dedication to the medical care of fellow comrades in arms.     Follow Us on Social Media Twitter: @wardocspodcast Facebook: WarDocs Podcast Instagram: @wardocspodcast LinkedIn: WarDocs-The Military Medicine Podcast YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wardocspodcast

As we continue to assess the threat FROM Iran and the threat TO Iran, we sat down today with two analysts and former national security officials with different perspectives on what we've learned so far and next steps.Richard Fontaine is CEO of the Center for American Security. He was formerly the top foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain, deputy staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and an official of the U.S. State Department and National Security Council. He currently serves as a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board.Rich Goldberg is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. From 2019-2020, he served as a Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council. He previously served as a national security staffer in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. Rich is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan. 

In recent days, the Biden-Harris administration has announced it would deploy the THAAD system to Israel — THAAD is an advanced missile defense system that can thwart short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, as well as the U.S. military personnel to operate it.  At the same time, the Biden-Harris administration has issued a blistering letter to Israel's government threatening to withhold military resources at the time that Israel is planning its response to the October 1st Iranian attack (here's a copy of the letter:  https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25212303-bqshvt-hmmshl-hamryqny-bhqshrym-hvmnytrym ). To help us understand what is going on with U.S. policy, Rich Goldberg returns to the podcast. Rich is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. From 2019-2020, he served as a Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council. He previously served as a national security staffer in the US Senate and US House. Rich is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan. Recent pieces by Rich: “Israel's Victory Will Be a Success for American Grand Strategy”: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/op_eds/2024/10/04/israels-victory-will-be-a-success-for-american-grand-strategy/ “Turn-Key Alternatives to Replace UNRWA Immediately”: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/05/06/turn-key-alternatives-to-replace-unrwa-immediately/

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Hoover Institution, Stanford University The Hoover Institution's Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative presents To War or Not to War: Vietnam and the Sigma Wargames on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 2:00PM PT. In 1964, America was slowly marching towards war in Vietnam. But what if that war could have been fought differently or avoided altogether? The Sigma Games, a series of politico-military wargames run by the Pentagon's Joint Staff in the 1960s, sought to understand the unfolding conflict in Southeast Asia. These games, which involved top figures from the Johnson Administration—including National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy, Air Force General Curtis LeMay, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Earle Wheeler—offer a chillingly accurate forecast of the war's potential trajectory.  Choose your character for an immersive experience. See the game unfold through the eyes of pivotal figures such as John McCone, Curtis LeMay, Earle Wheeler, and McGeorge Bundy in this interactive event. This event introduces the games and turns to a panel of historians to explore the Sigma Wargames, their prescient warnings, and why these early insights failed to shape the Johnson Administration's decision-making, ultimately leading to one of America's most costly conflicts.  The conversation, while a look into a key set of games at a historical moment in American foreign policy, says something more broadly at the impact of wargames on US foreign and defense policy as well as how influence is created (and hijacked) within strategic decision making. ​PANELISTS H.R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.  McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the US Military Academy. He is author of the bestselling books Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World and Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. In August 2024, McMaster released his most recent book, At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House. His many essays, articles, and book reviews on leadership, history, and the future of warfare have appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, National Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. McMaster is the host of Battlegrounds: Vital Perspectives on Today's Challenges and is a regular on GoodFellows, both produced by the Hoover Institution. He is a Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University. Mai Elliott is the author of The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family, a personal and family memoir which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and RAND in Southeast Asia: A History of the Vietnam War Era. She served as an advisor to Ken Burns and Lynn Novick for their PBS documentary on “The Vietnam War” and featured in seven of its ten episodes.  She recently contributed a chapter analyzing “The South Vietnamese Home Front” for the soon to be published Cambridge University Press 3-volume work on the Vietnam War.    Mai Elliott was born in Vietnam and grew up in Hanoi and Saigon.  She attended French schools in Vietnam and is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  (She also writes under the name of Duong Van Mai Elliott).   Mark Moyar is the director of the Center for Military History and Strategy at Hillsdale College, where he also holds the William P. Harris Chair of Military History. During the Trump administration, Dr. Moyar was a political appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development, serving as the Director of the Office of Civilian–Military Cooperation. Previously, he directed the Project on Military and Diplomatic History at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, and worked as a national security consultant. He has taught at the U.S. Marine Corps University, the Joint Special Operations University, and Texas A&M University. He is author of eight books, of which the most recent is Masters of Corruption: How the Federal Bureaucracy Sabotaged the Trump Presidency. He holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Cambridge. MODERATOR Jacquelyn Schneider is the Hargrove Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Director of the Hoover Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative, and an affiliate with Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, national security, and political psychology with a special interest in cybersecurity, autonomous technologies, wargames, and Northeast Asia. She was previously an Assistant Professor at the Naval War College as well as a senior policy advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Dr. Schneider was a 2020 winner of the Perry World House-Foreign Affairs Emerging Scholars Policy Prize. She is also the recipient of a Minerva grant on autonomy (with co-PIs Michael Horowitz, Julia Macdonald, and Allen Dafoe), a University of Denver grant to study public responses to the use of drones (with Macdonald), and a grant from the Stanton Foundation to study networks, cyber, and nuclear stability through wargames. Dr. Schneider is an active member of the defense policy community with previous positions at the Center for a New American Security and the RAND Corporation. Before beginning her academic career, she spent six years as an Air Force officer in South Korea and Japan and is currently a reservist assigned to US Space Systems Command. She has a BA from Columbia University, MA from Arizona State University, and PhD from George Washington University.

１８日未明に日本の接続水域内を初めて航行した中国軍の空母「遼寧」防衛省統合幕僚監部は１８日、中国海軍の空母「遼寧」が沖縄県・与那国島と西表島の間の接続水域を航行したと発表した。 The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning has sailed in a Japanese contiguous zone between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in Okinawa Prefecture, the Japanese Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said Wednesday.

This week on the ‘What's Your Pineapple Express?' series, Scott had the honor of sitting down and speaking with an incredible leader – Jason Howk. Jason leads a non-profit organization called Global Friends of Afghanistan and has continued doing amazing work while keeping Afghanistan at the forefront. Join us this week as Jason shares his many years of experience in Afghanistan, gives us insight into some very important information, and shares what we need to learn from the abandonment of Afghanistan. Some of the things he reveals about what happened with this abandonment and more importantly, what's happening right under our noses in this growing safe haven will blow you away. Own Every Room - https://rooftopleadership.com/owneveryroom/ Nobody is Coming to Save You - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/scott-mann/nobody-is-coming-to-save-you/9781546008286/?lens=center-street Scottmann.com  Join Rooftop Nation! Website: https://www.rooftopleadership.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScottMannAuthor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottmannauthor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rooftop-leadership Twitter: https://twitter.com/RooftopLeader Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYOQ7CDJ6uSaGvmfxYC_skQ  Select Afghanistan experiences and published works SummaryJason Criss Howk spent 23 years in the U.S. Army as an Infantry and Sapper Paratrooper, and also as a South Asia Foreign Area Officer (Soldier-Diplomat).  His work in Afghanistan began in 2002 and has continued until the present day as he leads the Global Friends of Afghanistan educational non-profit organization that monitors and leads discussions on Afghan issues. Jason has worked on Afghanistan portfolios at the tactical, operational, strategic, national policy and international policy levels. He has taken part in a variety of missions to include military, diplomatic, intelligence, academic, and humanitarian efforts. During his Afghanistan work Jason worked daily with dozens of generals, ambassadors, and political appointees with Afghan portfolios. Due to his assignments and knowledge of the topic, Jason is one of the few Americans that has been privy to the discussions of all 4 presidential administrations as they planned their Afghanistan policy. Jason studied both Arabic and Dari at the Defense Language Institute, is a professor at the USAF Special Operations School, and is a Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies. He holds a Master's Degree in South Asia and Middle East Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, is a CGSC graduate, and was a term-member of the Council on Foreign Relations from 2010-2015. Jason is an award-winning author who has written 4 books in English and has published over 225 works since 2008 in over 40 outlets. As a professor, lecturer, and columnist he focuses on Afghanistan, Islam, terrorism, and various National Security topics. For his work on Afghanistan Major Howk earned the Legion of Merit award for his years of exceptionally meritorious service as a Soldier-Statesman, and two Bronze Star Medals. He also earned the Afghanistan Governmental Success medal from the President of Afghanistan. Afghanistan ExperiencesSep 2002-Sep 2003       Sep-Nov 2003: Operations officer Coalition Task Force 82. Engineer Operations Officer on MG Vines General Staff at Bagram Airfield. Focus on engineer support to daily counter-terrorism operations across the country. His key effort was the completion of the FOB Salerno Airfield and Heliport in Khost province. Tactical and Operational level experiences in various Eastern Provinces.Nov 2002-Sep 2003: Aide De Camp to MG Karl Eikenberry as he took over as Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan at the U.S. Embassy Kabul and also as the U.S. Security Coordinator. They worked daily with Afghan cabinet members across all parts of the government for the first year of the interim government and got to know all of them intimately. MG Eikenberry was tasked with implementing the international Security Sector Reform program in Afghanistan, and as Chief OMC-A creating the Afghan National Army and MOD from scratch. Their typical daily interactions included the leaders of UNAMA, NATO-Nation Embassies, ISAF, the 3-star US Forces Commander, CENTCOM, OSD, the Joint Staff, the Intelligence Community, regional ambassadors, the Special Forces leaders training the ANA, and the US Ambassador. For the majority of the year Jason was the sole note-taker in over 4,000 hours of meetings and the drafter of reports to State, OSD, and CENTCOM.2004-July 2007During an assignment in TRADOC Jason began to create and teach courses in the Army and at civilian institutions about Afghan and Islamic culture. He helped the Engineer School develop their Cultural, Counter-insurgency, and Counter-IED training for 2LTs deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq. During company command the Army selected Jason for the highly competitive Foreign Area Officer (FAO) program after completing a fellowship in Oman where he studied their insurgencies and how they rebuilt their nation after those conflicts. He continued to study Afghanistan and stayed in touch with his former boss LTG Karl Eikenberry who was the Combined Forces commander in Afghanistan.2007-2009 FAO TrainingIn FAO training he obtained a Master's Degree in South Asia and Middle East Security Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in 2008. At NPS Jason focused on Afghanistan and the Oman counter-insurgency campaigns. He published a thesis on Oman's COIN and CT lessons which was distributed to his former bosses LTG Eikenberry, LTG McChrystal, and GEN Petraeus. He also wrote a directed study on the creation of the Afghan Military and the US Security Sector Reform efforts that was published as a monograph by the US Army War College in 2009 with a foreword by GEN McChrystal. That study was completed after many interviews with LTG Karl Eikenberry who was then assigned to NATO, just prior to his selection as Ambassador to Afghanistan.From 2008-2009 Jason attended Arabic language training at DLI until the day LTG McChrystal was nominated by President Obama to command ISAF. He was immediately ordered to the Pentagon to prepare LTG McChrystal for senate confirmation and to assist him when he took command in Kabul.2009-2010 As ADC to LTG McChrystal, Jason helped prepare him for his assignment and attended all meetings with Legislative and Executive branch leaders in Washington. Within hours of the Senate confirmation, they flew to Brussels to meet with NATO leaders and then onwards to Kabul Afghanistan. In Kabul Jason helped GEN McChrystal form trusting relationships with the same Afghan leaders Jason worked closely with when they first formed the government in 2002.For the next 2 months Jason traveled with GEN McChrystal to over half the provinces to listen to NATO and Afghan forces, and Afghan leaders to better understand the war.  Jason assisted COMISAF during the strategic review of the U.S. and NATO Afghanistan policy, often quietly liaising between GEN McChrystal and Ambassador Eikenberry, his new and old bosses.After the strategic review was sent to CENTCOM Jason was selected to initiate and design the NATO interagency team focused on reintegration — i.e., how former insurgents could rejoin society. GEN McChrystal loaned Jason to support the incoming Reintegration Advisor who had worked on a similar mission in Iraq and would carry out sensitive diplomatic missions.As the Military Assistant and Political Advisor to retired British Lt Gen Sir Graeme Lamb. They worked with the Afghan government as they developed their peace and reintegration policy with foreign governments, diplomats, and international organizations. This also helped launch the US/NATO peace process and made Jason one of the insiders on Afghan peace talks for over a decade.2010-2014After a year in Dari (Afghan Farsi) language training at DLI, and graduation from the Army Command and General Staff College, Jason was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Afghanistan and Pakistan Task Force. In that role, he led two of the highest-level interagency teams of Afghanistan and Pakistan experts in providing products and briefings for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and OSD leadership, and the White House.  Also in that role, his teams helped prepare four different Generals to assume senior commands in Afghanistan. One of his team's key efforts was monitoring and helping U.S. leaders prepare for diplomatic negotiations with the Taliban.2015-2021After retiring in 2015, Jason continued his focus on Afghanistan and Islam as a professor at numerous institutes and continued to advise the U.S. and Afghan governments, and international bodies.From 2016 to 2017, he served as an advisor on the Presidential Transition Team's National Security cell focused on the Afghan peace process and foreign relations with Islamic nations. He contributed ideas to both the 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Strategy for Counterterrorism.From 2017 onwards he served as an advisor on conflict resolution to the U.S. government, NATO member states, parts of the U.N., the Afghan President's NSC staff, and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces leadership.Jason was invited to give presentations at the 2019 and 2020 Central and South Asia Military Intelligence conferences at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). His topics included the future of the ANDSF, and the Unconventional Warfare efforts of Pakistan against Afghan and NATO forces.Jason led a USIP project team to assess post-conflict security in Afghanistan that culminated in a an invitation from the Afghan President and UN Chief in Kabul to give a presentation to over 70 nations at the 2020 U.N. Donor Conference on Afghanistan in Geneva.A second USIP project allowed his team to remain involved in the peace process until August 2021 as part of a U.S. Institute of Peace project authorized to conduct Track-2 diplomacy while talking to the Afghan government, various parts of Afghan society, and Taliban supporters.From 2019-2021 during both USIP projects his team took part in the USIP-led discussions that contributed to the congressionally-mandated Afghanistan Study Group Report. “A Pathway for Peace in Afghanistan” was published in February 2021.August 2021 OnwardsAfter the collapse of the Afghan republic while Jason was virtually assisting the evacuation of at-risk Afghans from Kabul, he and his colleagues formed the Global Friends of Afghanistan non-profit (GFA) to speak and write about Afghanistan and ensure the topic of Afghanistan was not removed from the daily news, and to help Afghans raise their voices to the outside world. On 1 September 2022 GFA held their inaugural annual conference with Georgetown University to discuss the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans, and the humanitarian crisis and security collapse in Afghanistan. Writing ExperienceSummaryJason has written 5 books, was on the editing team of the FAO Association International Affairs Journal, and was the senior editor for A Voice for Two Nations blog. He has published over 225 articles, essays, and news reports in over 40 outlets. He is a mentor to writers and a member of the Military Writers Guild, where he edits and co-authors with new writers. Most recently he has begun publishing U.S. veterans and Afghan book authors at Tamarisk Press a niche publishing assistance non-profit. His work has been published in the following outlets: CNN, Fast Company, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, ClearanceJobs News, Military Times, The Cipher Brief, US Institute of Peace, The Global Observatory, Small Wars Journal, Divergent Options, From The Green Notebook, The Bridge, The Forge, The Foreign Service Journal, The FAOA Journal, Observer, Task&Purpose, Business Insider, Real Clear Defense and Politics, SOFX The Special Operations Forces Network, US Army War College, Naval Postgraduate School, O-Dark-Thirty, and in various Afghan newspapers like Reporterly, and Hasht e Subh. He also discusses Afghanistan, Terrorism, and Islam on CNN, Afghan International Persian, TRT World, and Voice of America, and appears on other news and radio outlets.Select Publications Books2012, Lions in the Path of Stability and Security: Oman's Response to Pressing Issues in the Middle East. My 2008 NPS thesis was published in Oman in Arabic.2017, The Quran: A Chronological Modern English Interpretation. Gold Medal Winner at the National Indie Excellence Awards2021, Leaders Always Go a Little Further: ...Unless They Trip. Foreword by LtGen Sir Graeme Lamb.2021, Ali's American Dream: An Iraqi Refugee's Story of Survival and Triumph. Foreword by SIV recipient Nasirullah Safi formerly of Afghanistan.2022, U.S. War Options in Afghanistan: Choose Your Own Path. Foreword by Afghan Colonel A. Rahman Rahmani, a would-be terrorist who was deradicalized and later flew special operations combat missions against the Taliban-Haqqani network and aided evacuation of Afghans Pilots in 2021. 2020-2022, Lead Editor of the Foreign Area Officer Association book, Culture Shock: Leadership Lessons from the Military's Diplomatic Corps. Foreword by LTG (Ret) Charles Hooper. Publishing advisor and book formatting for 4 books. 2021: Brand Elverston's Proclivity and Nasirullah Safi's Get the Terp Up Here!2022: Brand Elverston's Instruments of Ignorance and Nasirullah Safi's Indispensable: Tale of a Military Interpreter Various Studies (contributor and author/co-author)2009, US Strategy Review of US and NATO Afghanistan Policy, ISAF2009, A Case Study in Security Sector Reform: Learning from Security Sector Reform/Building in Afghanistan (October 2002-September 2003), US Army War College press2010 Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan2021, “No Going Backward”: Afghanistan's Post–Peace Accord Security Sector, USIP2022, Afghan Women: “I Don't Feel Safe.” A Global Friends of Afghanistan survey report, GFA Select recent articles and columnsAug 2022, Afghanistan Has Become a Terrorist Paradise, The National InterestAug 2022, How Can We Help Afghanistan? Ask the Afghans, The National InterestMar 2022, Information Operations: How is Ukraine Different Than Afghanistan? ClearanceJobs NewsMar 2022, Lessons Learned from the Last 20 Years: 9 Flaws in the American Way of War, ClearanceJobsDec 2021, U.S. Foreign Affairs Influence and the Afghanistan Fallout for the U.S., ClearanceJobs NewsOct 2021, Why Afghan Peace Talks Got Derailed, ClearanceJobs NewsSep 2021, ‘You Are Fighting in the Wrong Country.' How We Failed Afghan Policy Miserably, The Pilot19 Aug 2021, Taliban Takeover in Kabul: Pakistani Invasion Complete in Afghanistan, ClearanceJobs9 Aug 2021, Where is the Taliban with the Doha Peace Process? ClearanceJobs NewsMay 2021, Terrorists Kill Around 90 Afghan Students: The World Shrugs, ClearanceJobs NewsApr 2021, Afghanistan Needs a Weaker President: Decentralizing power can be key to long-term peace, Foreign Policy, with Shabnam NasimiFeb 2021, Taliban Keep Showing True Colors with Mockery of the Doha Peace Process, ClearanceJobsJan 2021, Path to Peace in Afghanistan for the Biden Administration, ClearanceJobs NewsDec 2020, Time to Make the Taliban Diplomatically Uncomfortable, ClearanceJobs NewsFeb 2019, America, don't abandon Afghanistan…Again, CNN, with Abdul Rahman Rahmani

Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, USMC (Ret.) retired after 39 years of active duty service to our nation in October of 2018 as the Commanding General of III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan. He was born in Toronto, Canada, and commissioned after graduating from The Citadel, in Charleston SC in 1979. From 1980-1990 he served as an Infantryman in the First Marine Division, and as a Series and Company Commander at MCRD San Diego. From 1990- 1993 he served at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Additionally, he served as a United Nations Observer in the Middle East in 1994-95, at NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium from 2002-04, as the Commander of the Warlords of 2nd Bn 2nd Marines from 1999-2001, and as the Senior Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon from 2010- 2012. Lt.Gen. Nicholson earned a master's degree from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. and is a 2002 graduate of the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. Multiple combat tours include service as the G-3 (Operations) of the 1st Marine Division in Ramadi, Iraq during 2004-05, and as the Commander of the 5th Marine Regiment in Fallujah, Iraq 2006-07. He commanded Task Force Leatherneck and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Helmand Province Afghanistan from 2009-2010. He later returned to Afghanistan in 2012 as the CJ-3 Operations Officer for the ISAF Joint Command (IJC). Lt.Gen. Nicholson commanded the famed 1st Marine (Blue Diamond) Division at Camp Pendleton California from 2013-2015. After retiring from active duty, Lt.Gen. Nicholson served as a Vice President for Execution and Leadership for the H.T. Hackney Company in Knoxville, TN until July of 2022. Today he serves as a Senior Mentor and Highly Qualified Expert for the Joint Staff travelling globally in support of large scale exercises. Additionally, he serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation is on the advisory board for Spirit of America and serves on several veterans-focused non-profit boards. He and his wife Deborah enjoy spoiling their 9 grandchildren, and hiking in the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

John Sherwood interviews General Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., USMC Ret. about his new book The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century.  General McKenzie served as the commander of CENTCOM from March 2019 to April 2022. In that role, he oversaw the 2020 strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Quds Force; and America's final withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.  

Risk is a mathematical equation—one we can all learn. General Stanley McChrystal explains how. Up Next ► Nuclear catastrophe: how much risk are you willing to accept?   • Nuclear Catastrophe: How Much Risk ar...   Crises are often predictable, even though we cannot know in advance the exact time or form they will take. 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic were all — to some extent — foreseeable. So, why do governments drop the ball so often? We need to improve our capacity to predict risk and to become resilient to it. To learn even more from the world's biggest thinkers, get Big Think+ for your business: https://bigthink.com/plus/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Stanley Allen McChrystal: Stanley Allen McChrystal is a retired United States Army general, described by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as, "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I (have) ever met." His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A). He previously served as Director, Joint Staff from August 2008 to June 2009 and as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008. McChrystal was reportedly known for saying and thinking what other military leaders were afraid to; this was one of the reasons cited for his appointment to lead all forces in Afghanistan. He held the post from June 15, 2009, to June 23, 2010. McChrystal has since joined the Yale University faculty, teaching courses in International Relations. His latest book is Team of Teams. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: APRIL 2, 2016Since I reference this book a lot, I felt it was time to remaster and re-upload this show, with it's short Patreon segment as well. Eric Ouellet joins me for a fascinating discussion of his new book, Illuminations: The UFO Experience as a Parapsychological Event. He proposes that we should examine the UFO Phenomenon as we would a poltergeist case. It's a novel way of looking at it, and may ultimately play a part in solving this enigma. ERIC OUELLET is professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, and at the Canadian Forces College (Canada's Joint Staff and War College). He has a Ph.D. in sociology from York University (Toronto, Canada), and he is the liaison officer for Canada with the Parapsychological Association. He has published parapsychological work in the Australian Journal of Psychology, EdgeScience, and the Bulletin Métapsychique. His other research works focus on military sociology and war studies.You can check out his blog at parasociology.blogspot.com

Episode 57 - METOC ME-talks with Maritime Space Officer (MSO) Flag Lead RADM John Okon. In this METOC ME-talks episode, hosts LCDR Alanna Youngblood and LT Daniel Petersen swap leadership outlooks for every occasion and hard-won life transitions with RADM Okon. This episode was recorded on March 6, 2024. Rear Adm. John A. Okon is a native of Syracuse, New York, and graduated from the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology and Oceanography. He holds Master's Degrees in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California, and in National Security Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon commissioning, he initially served as a surface warfare officer and transferred to naval oceanography in 1995. He now serves as a member of the Navy's Information Warfare Community. At sea, Okon served aboard USS Ticonderoga (CG 47) as first lieutenant, administrative officer and navigator and aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as meteorologist and oceanographer Ashore, he served as optimum track ship router at the Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Center; aide to commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command; operations officer and executive assistant to the deputy director for regional operations, Joint Staff; senior oceanography assignment and placement officer, Navy Personnel Command; and executive assistant to the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence. Okon commanded Naval Oceanography Antisubmarine Warfare Center in Yokosuka, Japan, and Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey. As a flag officer, Okon commanded Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and served as the oceanographer of the Navy, navigator of the Navy, and hydrographer of the Navy. Personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and various personal, campaign and service awards. The Trident Room Podcast is brought to you by the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association and the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation. http://www.npsfoundation.org For comments, suggestions, and critiques, please email us at TridentRoomPodcastHost@nps.edu, and find us online at nps.edu/tridentroompodcast. Thank you!

James Aiken is the Admiral of the 4th Fleet. He's spent over 3 decades in the Navy keeping the United States safe. He is a leader who studies leadership and shares the leadership principles and lessons that guides him and those he leads.    In this episode, you will:          •     Learn how to build high-performing teams for outstanding results.         •     Discover the importance of reading and learning for effective leadership.         •     Gain insights into the impact of strong military presence on global security.         •     Uncover leadership lessons from high-ranking military officers for real-world  application.   About the guest, Admiral James Aiken is currently serving as commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet. He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. He was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at Pennsylvania State University with a degree in political science. He also earned a master's degree in strategic studies from the Naval War College. As a surface warfare officer, he commanded USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and Destroyer Squadron 60/Task Force 65. His assignments at sea include service aboard USS Monongahela (AO(J) 178), USS Virginia (CGN 38), Commander, Carrier Group 2 (John F. Kennedy) battle group, USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Normandy (CG 60) and USS Hopper (DDG 70). Ashore, Aiken served as a manpower specialist/detailer at Navy Surface Warfare Manpower Headquarters, Navy Personnel Command; deputy executive assistant/administrative aide to the Secretary of the Navy; liaison to the U.S. Senate for the Secretary of Defense; and naval aide and executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Financial Management and Comptroller. Aiken has completed a Legislative Fellowship with Congressman Randy Forbes, Virginia-4/ Chairman, House Armed Services Committee Readiness Sub-Committee. As a flag officer, he served as commander, Carrier Strike Group 3 and deputy director Resources and Acquisition, Joint Staff, J8, Washington, District of Columbia.

Originally aired on April 2, 2016Since I reference this book a lot, I felt it was time to remaster and re-upload this show, with it's short Patreon segment as well.Eric Ouellet joins me for a fascinating discussion of his new book, Illuminations: The UFO Experience as a Parapsychological Event. He proposes that we should examine the UFO Phenomenon as we would a poltergeist case. It's a novel way of looking at it, and may ultimately play a part in solving this enigma.ERIC OUELLET is professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, and at the Canadian Forces College (Canada's Joint Staff and War College). He has a Ph.D. in sociology from York University (Toronto, Canada), and he is the liaison officer for Canada with the Parapsychological Association. He has published parapsychological work in the Australian Journal of Psychology, EdgeScience, and the Bulletin Métapsychique. His other research works focus on military sociology and war studies.You can check out his blog at parasociology.blogspot.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lt. Gen. Todd Isaacson, the CIO for the Joint Chiefs of Staff/J-6, said a review team is completing recommendations for leadership around using GenAI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Daily Scoop Podcast, host Billy Mitchell discusses the Department of Defense's evolving strategy towards artificial intelligence. The Joint Staff, under the guidance of Lieutenant General Todd Isaacson, has initiated an AI task force, which recently completed a crucial 90-day review to identify viable AI applications and necessary organizational structures to support AI-enabled capabilities. This initiative aims to establish a dedicated Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, reflecting a broader trend within the Pentagon towards integrating AI for various military and administrative uses. Additionally, the podcast covers the Department of Commerce's ongoing efforts to standardize data for AI applications. Oliver Wise, the Chief Data Officer, speaking at the Gov AI Summit, emphasized the need for defining what constitutes AI-ready data. A working group within the Department is actively seeking public input to shape guidelines for government data that meets AI usability standards, aiming to publish their findings by year's end.

Texas Air National Guard Brigadier General Thomas M. Seltzer, Texas Military Department Director of Joint Staff, pins on his second star as Major General at the 136th Airlift Wing, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, January 23, 2021. General Seltzer gives thanks to family and friends as he takes on new responsibilities as Major General and celebrates his appointment by Governor of Texas, Gregg Abbott, to Deputy Adjutant General for Air.

In this episode of State Secrets, we're talking with Cipher Brief Expert, retired General Frank McKenzie. General McKenzie served for forty-two years in the U.S. military as a Marine and retired as the fourteenth commander of U.S. Central Command.  He also served as Director of the Joint Staff.  Perhaps one of the missions he is best known for was overseeing the targeted drone assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January of 2020.  It was a strong and clear U.S. response to the planning and executions of operations that killed Americans.  Operations in which Soleimani, a popular Iranian general, had played a key role. The photo that's on the cover of McKenzie's new book, The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century sums up the grit that he brought to every role he had.  The picture was taken at the Kabul airport in August of 2021, just one day after U.S. troops fought back a breach at the airfield's southern perimeter and the stories he shares in the book are a true insiders look at some of the most controversial military operations of our time. Here's my State Secrets conversation with retired General and author, Frank McKenzie.

Join us for an engaging conversation with Lieutenant General Brian W. Cavanaugh, a proud Baltimore native and one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the Marines. We explore his remarkable journey from growing up in Northwood, Baltimore, to attending Baltimore Polytech and the Naval Academy, and ultimately serving 39 years in the military. Kavanaugh shares his unexpected path to the Naval Academy, his extensive service including a combat tour in Iraq, and his reflections on living in places like Okinawa, Japan. This episode is rich with insights into his life, career, and the profound impact his experiences have had on his family. We also celebrate Lieutenant General Brian W. Cavanaugh's impressive career and contributions to the community, emphasizing his role as a hometown hero and a role model for young people in Baltimore. As we look forward to his upcoming retirement, we discuss plans for a relaxed and meaningful crab cake outing in Northeast Baltimore, reflecting on his inspiring journey and the positive impact he has had on the community. Don't miss this heartfelt tribute to a distinguished military leader who has made significant strides and remains deeply connected to his Baltimore roots. Bio: Lieutenant General Brian W. Cavanaugh assumed the duties as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic; Commander, Marine Forces Command; and Commander, Marine Forces Northern Command on 30 August 2022. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Lieutenant General Cavanaugh earned his commission through the United States Naval Academy in 1990 and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1992. He served with HMH-462, HMH-362, and HMX-1. He commanded HMH-362 in Iraq during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and MAG-36 during multiple disaster relief efforts in Asia. As a General Officer, he served as Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific; Deputy Director for Operations, Joint Staff J-3; Assistant Deputy Commandant, Programs, Headquarters Marine Corps, Programs and Resources Department; and as Commanding General, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Lieutenant General Cavanaugh's other staff assignments include instructor at Officer Candidates School; Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Naval Operations; Joint Doctrine Branch Chief, Joint Staff; Executive Assistant, Vice Director Joint Staff; Director of the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Safety Division; and Marine Military Assistant to the 75th Secretary of the Navy. Lieutenant General Cavanaugh's education includes a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, an MBA from Webster University and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is also an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow. Lieutenant General Cavanaugh has accumulated over 3,000 flight hours, primarily in the CH-53D/E.

Space Power: Why States, National Guard Association Say “No!” To Defense Department Space Units Plan There's a Department of Defense legislative proposal to move Air National Guard space units into the U.S. Space Force that has unified all 55 state and territorial governors with the National Guard Association in opposition. This week's episode is about this extraordinary dispute. The parties cannot even agree on the number of space units or Guardsmen and Guardswomen that would be affected if the proposal is passed and then signed into law. Laura Winter speaks with National Guard Association President Maj. Gen. (ret.) Frank M. McGinn; and Director of Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Colorado, Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, who was the Executive Officer for 137th Space Warning Squadron at Greeley Air National Guard Station.

This week, a special edition of World Review – a conversation with ADM Lisa Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, about the U.S. Navy's role in this increasingly complex and uncertain world. ADM Franchetti is the first woman to ascend to the top leadership of the U.S. Navy and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A surface warfare officer, ADM Franchetti previously served as vice chief of naval operations, director for strategy, plans, and policy of the Joint Staff, and commander of the United States Sixth Fleet from 2018 to 2020. She has also commanded carrier strike groups and U.S. Naval Forces Korea during her career.

In this episode of NucleCast, Adam and Colonel Curtis McGiffin discuss the need for an AI-enabled NC3 system with a dead hand. They argue that the current NC3 system and the decision-making process have significant problems that need to be addressed and propose using AI tools to enhance the decision-making process and improve the speed and effectiveness of the system. They also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of such a system and its importance for deterrence. The conversation highlights the need for the United States to modernize its nuclear command and control capabilities and consider new approaches to ensure the effectiveness of its deterrent.Curtis McGiffin is the Vice President for Education and Co-founder of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies. His areas of expertise are deterrence theory education, grand strategy, and strategic triad operations. He also serves on the teaching faculty of the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University, where he teaches graduate and doctorate courses in deterrence theory and grand strategy. Previously, he was the Associate Dean of the School of Strategic Force Studies at the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he led a robust portfolio of USAF professional continuing education programs supporting the AF nuclear enterprise. He also was the Executive Director of the Louisiana Tech Research Institute, where he designed and developed a catalog of Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications curriculum and courses for Air Force Global Strike Command's workforce.Colonel McGiffin retired with over 26 years of experience in the USAF as an aviator, commander, staff officer, and educator, most of which was supporting the USAF's nuclear enterprise. Prior to his retirement from active duty, Colonel McGiffin was the Associate Dean of Faculty and Assistant Professor of Strategy and Deterrence at the National War College in Washington DC. He has served on the Joint Staff, HQ AF staff, and combatant command staff, as a squadron commander, and as the senior advisor to Iraq's military Vice Chief of Staff. He was a Master Navigator and flight instructor with 2,750 flight hours in the E-4B, EC-135, KC-135 and T-43 aircraft. He has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, a Legion of Merit, and two Aerial Achievement Medals.Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

In this fascinating interview, Larry talks with General Robert Neller about  Just War Theory; the increasing security risks our country faces from the alliance of China, Russia, and Iran; the importance of Allies to the United States; and our commitment to Ukraine from the time they gave up nuclear weapons.General Neller served in the U.S. Marine Corps for forty-four years. He was the 37th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and served as member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Military. General Neller also served as Deputy Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (05-07); Assistant Division Commander for 1st and 2d Marine Divisions; and President of Marine Corps University.His Joint assignments include service in the Policy Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium, and as the Director of Operations (J-3) of the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C.General Neller's many honors include having The Marine Corps Wargaming and Analysis Center named after him. It will be called the “General Robert B. Neller Center for Wargaming and Analysis” when it is completed in 2025. Neller Center will be a world-class facility for Marines to wargame in a secure, centralized location and will provide next-generation technologies to facilitate wargaming and analysis across multiple levels of classification, with a host of coalition and joint partners. General Neller is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law and a Distinguished National Security Fellow at the Clements Center. Both centers are located at the University of Texas. He is a Board Member of Bridge to Mobility, which provides access to wheelchair accessible vehicles. 

Admiral Franchetti sits down with Dr. Kathleen McInnis, Director of the Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative, for a discussion on the U.S. Navy's priorities as they operate far forward, around the world and around the clock, from seabed to space, in cyberspace, and in the information environment to promote our nation's prosperity and security, deter aggression, and provide options to our nation's leaders. Additionally, the pair will discuss Admiral Franchetti's approach to mentorship, recruitment, and retention within the force. Admiral Franchetti assumed the duties as 33rd Chief of Naval Operations on November 2, 2023, becoming the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to this, Admiral Franchetti served as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Throughout her time in the service, she has led across the globe – including in Korea, Europe, and Africa. At sea, she has served on numerous vessels including carriers, destroyers, destroyer tenders, replenishment ships, and a hospital ship. Notably, she commanded USS Ross (DDG-55); led Destroyer Squadron 21 (DESRON 21) while embarked on USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74); and the USS George Washington (CVN-73) Carrier Strike Group.    Ashore, Franchetti's highlights as a flag officer include commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea; commander, Carrier Strike Group 15; chief of staff, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J-5) Joint Staff; commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO; deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa; and director for Strategy, Plans and Policy (J-5), Joint Staff.

Robert Spalding is a former United States Air Force Brigadier General and B-2 Stealth Bomber Pilot. General Spalding served as the chief China strategist for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has served in senior positions of strategy and diplomacy within the Departments of Defense and State for more than 26 years. His experience has made him one of the foremost authorities on U.S. foreign policy and intelligence concerning China. Today, he servers as the CEO of SEMPRE, a company specializing in secure, EMP hardened telecommunication and cloud systems that are redefining security across the industry. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://lairdsuperfood.com - USE CODE "SRS" https://helixsleep.com/srs - USE CODE "HELIXPARTNER20" https://meetfabric.com/shawn https://hillsdale.edu/srs https://moinkbox.com/shawn https://blackbuffalo.com https://ShawnLikesGold.com | 855-936-GOLD #goldcopartner General Robert Spalding Links: Company - https://sempre.ai X - https://twitter.com/SEMPRE_USA IG - https://www.instagram.com/generalspalding FB - https://www.facebook.com/GeneralRobertSpalding LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/company/sempre1 Website - https://generalspalding.com Books - https://www.amazon.com/Stealth-War-China-While-Americas/dp/0593084349 | https://www.amazon.com/War-Without-Rules-Playbook-Domination/dp/0593331044 Please leave us a review on Apple & Spotify Podcasts. Vigilance Elite/Shawn Ryan Links: Website | Patreon | TikTok | Instagram | Download Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn joins Kathy Barnette LIVE!  Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Military Intelligence. His first assignment was as a paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since then, he has served in a variety of command and staff positions to include, Commander, 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and G2, 82nd Airborne Division; G2, 18th Airborne Corps, CJ2, CJTF-180 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan; Commander, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade at the Army's Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Director of Intelligence, Joint Special Operations Command with duty in OEF and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Director of Intelligence, United States Central Command with duty in OEF and OIF; Director of Intelligence, the Joint Staff; Director of Intelligence, International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan and US Forces-Afghanistan and Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, G2. He most recently served as the Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Partner Engagement before becoming the DIA director on July 24, 2012. Tune in weekdays 10 AM - 12 PM EST on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT; or on the Audacy app!

Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue returns to the show to continue his previous conversation with Joe on culture and leadership. In this episode, they discuss:What LTG Donahue has learned since his last appearance on the podcastHow the culture of the 82nd Airborne Division held up during the evacuation of AfghanistanFour reasons leaders need to focus on physical fitnessThe importance of innovation in today's ArmyWhat LTG Donahue is reading right nowTips for successful communicationLieutenant General Christopher Donahue currently serves as the 39th Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, and Ft. Liberty, NC. Prior to assuming command of the corps, LTG Donahue served as the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.LTG Donahue's other assignments include Commander, NATO Special Operations Component and US Joint Special Operations in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism, J-3, for the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., Commandant, US Army Infantry School and Director of the Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team, and Deputy Commanding General (Maneuver) of the 4th Infantry Division.LTG Donahue has led Soldiers at all levels in Airborne, Ranger, Light and Mechanized units, to include service with 3 divisions, the 75th Ranger Regiment and USASOC. He has deployed 20 times in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, to include; Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Atlantic Resolve, Operation Freedom's Sentinel, Operation European Assure, Deter and Reinforce, and in support of the Sudan crisis.His formative and key, Army and special operations, assignments include Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command, and 16 years in various USASOC organizations, first as a platoon leader, then as a troop commander, squadron commander, and finally as a brigade commander.LTG Donahue is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and was commissioned in 1992. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Naval War College, and the US Army War College Fellowship at Harvard University.Special thanks to this week's sponsors!Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here! My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else!  Learn more here.   

The 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, General Randy A. George makes his first appearance on the podcast for a great discussion about leadership, his vision, and the lessons he's learned over the course of his four-decade career. General George and Joe cover a lot of ground in this episode, discussing topics including:Encouraging professional discourseWhy leaders need to ask questionsThe training management program that's in the Chief's crosshairsWhy great leaders are great editorsWhat transforming in contact looks likeHow General George recharges his batteries after a long dayThe importance of professional boundariesWhat topics General George wants leaders to write about....and more!General Randy A. George assumed duties as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army on September 21, 2023.George commissioned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1988 as an infantry officer. He served as a lieutenant in the 101st Airborne Division and deployed in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. George received his Master of Science in Economics in 1999 from Colorado School of Mines and then served at the National Simulation Center in Fort Leavenworth before attending the Command and General Staff College.In 2001 George went to Italy and served as the executive officer of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was later executive officer and then deputy commander of the brigade, during which time he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Returning to the 101st Airborne Division in 2004, George commanded 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment and deployed a second time to Iraq. He then went to United States Naval War College as an instructor and then student. He deployed again as part of the initiatives group for the commanding general, Multi-National Corps-Iraq in 2007.In 2008 George returned to the 4th Infantry Division, where he commanded 4th Brigade Combat Team and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following command, he was a fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations, chief of the strategic policy division for the Pakistan-Afghanistan coordination cell on the Joint Staff, executive officer to the 33rd Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. He later returned to Fort Carson as the deputy commanding general (maneuver) of 4th Infantry Division.George took command of the 4th Infantry Division in June 2017. In this role he deployed again to Afghanistan. His most recent command was of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis McChord, after which he served as the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.He is married to his West Point classmate, Patty. They have two children, Grant and Andrea.Special thanks to this week's sponsors!Veteran-founded Adyton. Connect Leadership With Action Across Distributed Formations With Mustr by Adyton. Mustr is your digital knife-hand for daily and rapid personnel accountability, real time response data visibility, and automated reporting. Learn more about what Mustr can do for your formation here! My favorite coffee is veteran-owned Alpha Coffee and I've been drinking it every morning since 2020! They make 100% premium arabica coffee. Alpha has donated over 22k bags of coffee to deployed units and they offer a 10% discount for military veterans, first responders, nurses, and teachers! Try their coffee today. Once you taste the Alpha difference, you won't want to drink anything else!  Learn more here.   

Season 3, Episode 43. Welcoming Season 3 of All Quiet, Tyler Sweatt is joined by Brigadier General John P. Cogbill, a seasoned expert in military operations and innovation within the United States Central Command (CentCom). Together, they discuss the pivotal role of migrating combat power across theaters while mitigating risks, emphasizing global awareness, and shortening kill chains. BG Cogbill sheds light on the challenges faced by the Joint Staff in global force management and highlights the significance of digital targeting and data integration for enhanced military capabilities. The conversation delves into empowering tactical innovation, advocating for innovation centers at division levels, and creating pathways to scale good ideas.What's Happening on the Second Front:Enhancing global awareness and readiness for effective military operationsEmpowering tactical-level innovation to solve problems efficientlyLeveraging digital targeting and data integration for operational effectivenessAdopting new technology via the CTO & innovation task forcesFostering collaboration through informal networks and platformsConnect with John:LinkedIn: Brigadier General John P. CogbillConnect with Tyler:LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt Website: secondfront.comCatch 2F's Offset Symposium replay here.This show is produced by Soulfire Productions

Drysdale “Dale” H. Hernandez is the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) for Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command where he serves as the Chief, Force Development Division in the Directorate of Manpower and Personnel. In this position he serves as the primary advisor to the MAJCOM Commander on all Learning Strategy issues. His A1D Division plans, develops, and directs advisory and support services for command-wide Professional Development.In this episode, Colonel retired Hernandez discusses the importance of education in Air Force Global Strike Command and the efforts made to develop and educate strikers. Global Strike Command was created in 2009 to address the atrophy of nuclear expertise in the Air Force. The command offers over 20 courses and has invested over $23 million in the development of strikers. The education programs aim to build courageous problem solvers capable of critical thinking and problem-solving. The command also focuses on leadership development and strategic stability through a credible long-range strike force.Mr. Hernandez was raised in El Paso, Texas and was commissioned in 1991 as a graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso's Air Force ROTC program. His Masters-level education includes degrees in Human Resources Management and Administration from Webster's University, Military Operational Arts and Science from Air University, and Strategic Studies from the Army War College. Mr. Hernandez began his professional career in 1992 as the Chief of Social Actions at Griffiss AFB, NY. His Air Force career included multiple deployments, staff positions at Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and U.S. Air Forces in Africa, Headquarters U.S. Air Force and The Joint Staff. He has served as the 48th Mission Support Squadron Commander at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom and as the 52d Mission Support Group Commander at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have a history and legacy dating back hundreds of years. Dr. Cortez Dial discusses the foundation of HBCUs, the opportunities they have provided Black Americans, and their impact on America's higher education system.   This podcast is made possible by generous funding from the Air Force Officers' Spouses' Club of Washington DC. To learn more, visit https://www.afoscdc.com/   Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.   Show Notes:   Resources:   White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/   FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Highlights a Record of Championing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-highlights-record-championing-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-hbcus   HBCU Connect https://hbcuconnect.com/   Bio: Over a twenty-nine-year career with the Department of the Army (DA), Mr. Cortez K. Dial has held challenging positions in Human Resources, Professional Development, and Education with increasing executive responsibility. His career has been characterized by key assignments in personnel management, personnel services, and the formulation of programs, policy, professional development, and teaching. In his last military position as The Director of Family Programs, he was responsible for the formal education, development, and preparation of 17 (colonel and civilian equivalent) students for the broad responsibilities of future senior leadership in the Department of Defense, Joint, or combined organizations within the federal government. As a seminar leader (faculty member) at the United States Army War College, he prepared and presented a graduate-level core curriculum focusing on command, leadership, management, ethics, equal opportunity (EO), equal employment opportunity (EEO), diversity, and decision making at strategic levels.  He also served as a US Army War College point of contact for appropriate government agencies, private organizations, and educational institutions in the areas of human resources, family education, family support and service programs, along with personnel management, diversity management and human relations.  For these areas of concentration, he was the Army War College liaison with the Joint Staff, Department of Army (DA), Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Personnel Command (PERSCOM), Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), and the Soldier Support Institute (SSI). Lastly, he was the officer in charge of the annual three-day trip to Washington D.C. for over 350 senior military officers, International Fellows, and DA Civilians with the mission and organizational goal of gaining first-hand knowledge of executive and strategic leadership in government as they visited over seventy-five Members of Congress and more than fifty different departments, embassies, and agencies.   He continued his professional development with formal training, membership in societies, and participating in Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored forums addressing Human Resources and Professional Development. He is a graduate of the 2002 Pennsylvania Education Leadership and Policy Centers Fellowship Program while continuing to be a guest lecturer on Human Resource Policy and Organizational Culture. On April 5, 2003, he gave an extensive presentation to Senators, Bill Frist, George Allen, Rick Santorum, and Jim Kyl on changing organizational culture. He regularly lectures and facilitates workshops on diversity and organizational culture at The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute and he was one of the editors of the chapter on “Civilian Personnel” found in the U.S. Army War College publication, How the Army Runs. Additionally, he published two articles describing organizational culture: “Mentoring: A Road Paved with Good Intentions,” and “One Team, One Fight.” He is a recipient of the Army's Legion of Merit Award for distinguished service in the human resource field as Deputy Chief of Staff Personnel, Eight   United States Army. On August 10th, 2003, he became the Director of Residence Life at Virginia State University, was promoted to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs in 2004. For the next nine years he served as the Presidents Chief of Staff before becoming an Associate Professor in the Mass Communication Department in the fall of 2014, retiring in July of 2017.    

Brigadier General Bill Murphy discusses the importance of the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) system and their role in strategic deterrence. He explains that NC3 is a system of systems that ensures the President has command and control over nuclear forces and enables mission essential functions. General Murphy highlights the challenges of modernizing NC3 and the role of the NC3 Enterprise Center in overseeing the process. He emphasizes the importance of digital engineering and modeling in making informed decisions about future capabilities. General Murphy also calls for increased understanding and support for strategic deterrence and recognition of the work done by the men and women of the NC3 Enterprise.Brig. Gen. William D. Murphy serves as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He is the principal advisor to the Commander on Reserve Component matters related to the Command's diverse missions, including strategic deterrence; cyberspace operations; integrated missile defense; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and global strike. Brig. Gen. Murphy also flies as an Airborne Emergency Action Officer conducting strategic deterrence and operations missions aboard the Looking Glass Airborne Nuclear Command Post, supporting the president and National Command Authorities. Brig. Gen. Murphy was commissioned in 1990 as a graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at University of Nebraska, Omaha. He was a Distinguished Graduate in the MMII and MMIII weapon systems and has served in numerous wing, Numbered Air Force, Air Staff, Combatant Command and Joint Staff assignments. He has served on faculty for the Reserve Component National Security Course, National Defense University and as guest lecturer for the Air Force Nuclear Fundamentals Course and Nuclear Concepts Course. He was awarded Joint Qualified Officer (Level III) in 2012. In his civilian capacity, Brig. Gen. Murphy serves as Vice President of an Independent Consulting Firm based in Omaha Neb. Prior to his current position, he served as Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Operations and Communications, Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

Artificial Intelligence enhances deterrence capabilities in various ways, contributing to the overall effectiveness of military strategies and national security. Deterrence aims to dissuade adversaries from taking certain actions by convincing them that the costs or risks outweigh the potential benefits. So, how does AI, particularly machine learning, serve as a force multiplier in the development and application of deterrence? Considering the role of AI in intelligence and military deterrence operations, how do algorithms enhance real-time human-machine interfacing and contribute to the overall deterrent effect against potential threats? And finally, what are some thoughts on the ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in deterrence, especially in non-kinetic operations. Dr. James Giordano is Pellegrino Center Professor of Neurology and Biochemistry, Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program, and Chair of the Sub-Program in Military Medical Ethics at Georgetown University Medical Center. He is a Senior Bioethicist of the Department of Defense Medical Ethics Center; Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment Branch, of the Joint Staff of the Pentagon; a Senior Fellow of the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic, United States Military Academy, West Point, and Distinguished Fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership. He was a designated Naval Aerospace Physiologist, and served with the US Navy and Marine Corps.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Bradford J. Shwedo '87, uniquely suited to his calling, explains how he leverages lessons from the past to equip present-day warriors to dominate future warfare.    ----more---- SUMMARY A leader of warriors can never over-prepare for potential battle. Lt. Gen. Shwedo, director of USAFA's Institute for Future Conflict, draws on the distant past to teach today's cadets how to lead tomorrow's warriors into 21st century battles and win.   LEARN. ENGAGE. LEAD! Read more about the IFC in the first of a three-part series, Future Focus, in December 2023 Checkpoints! (Pg. 42)         OUR FAVORITE QUOTES IN THIS EPISODE "I saw that the Air Force figured out how to win with what you got. They would figure out a way through leadership to win with what they got." "Leadership is all about working with people, and you've got to understand people." "I work for you, I'm removing your impediments so you can do that, you know, kill the bad guys." "Don't forget who you are. There were there were times when we were shoveling show. I have learned to show up when it's crappy." "My focus had to be the Dean. And the direction comes from the national defense strategy. So we actually have a meeting a week with the futures guys. And that gives us insight."   VIDEO:  BRIEF ON THE IFC TO THE ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES AND FOUNDATION - 1-11-2024   SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN  |  TWITTER  |  EMAIL   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:24 Early Competitive Streak and Decision to Join Air Force Academy 06:16 Being Open to Opportunities and Trusting the Process 07:38 Preparation and Academic Background 09:30 The Importance of Studying History and Being Prepared 10:56 Leadership Lessons from the West Wing 12:52 The Shift to Special Access Programs and New Ways of Thinking 16:34 Leading in Cyber and Intelligence Operations 17:30 The Decision to Join the Institute for Future Conflict 19:22 Shifting the Focus of Leadership and Academics 20:50 Helping Cadets Understand the Larger System 23:13 Preparing Cadets for the Future Fight 25:43 The Rise of Third Parties in Warfare 26:37 Motivating and Understanding People as a Leader 28:52 Are Leaders Born or Made? 30:19 Lessons in Leadership: Don't Forget Who You Are 31:17 Advice for the Next Generation of Warriors and Leaders 34:07 Leadership is About Working with People 36:21 Final Thoughts and Contact Information   OUR FAVORITE TAKEAWAYS - Leadership is about working with people and understanding what motivates them. - Being open to opportunities and trusting the process can lead to valuable experiences and career paths. - Studying history and being prepared can provide a strong foundation for future challenges. - Leaders must be aware of the changing nature of warfare and the rise of third parties in conflict.   GENERAL SHWEDO'S BIO Lt. Gen. (Ret) Bradford J. Shwedo '87 is the Director, Institute for Future Conflict. Previous to this position, he was the Director for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4)/Cyber, Chief Information Officer, Joint Staff, J6, the Pentagon. Lt. Gen. Shwedo has commanded at the detachment, squadron, group, wing and numbered air force levels. During these commands, his units were engaged in direct support to Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and the greater Global War on Terror providing worldwide Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Cyber operations. He also led an Intelligence Team to Desert Shield/Storm. His last command was 25th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, where he led 30,000 personnel in worldwide operations, delivering multisource ISR products, applications, capabilities and resources. When he was the Chief, Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, he led four directorates that supported 77,000 personnel and cyber operations across the globe with a portfolio valued at $17 billion. Lt. Gen. Shwedo graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1987 with a degree in Military History and was also a student athlete, lettering in football. - Copy and image courtesy of www.USAFA.edu LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IFC   ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates!        FULL TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Our host is Dr. Doug Lindsay '92  |  Our guest is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Bradford J. Shwedo '87   Gen. Shwedo  00:01 I saw the Air Force figured out how to win with what you got. They would figure out a way through leadership to win with what they got. They would put us in situations where they would facilitate our positives and negate our negatives. So, when you sit there and go, “Well, you didn't give me X, Y or Z, so we lost.” No, my expectation is we'll work to get what you need. But the expectation is still you win with what you got.   Doug Lindsay  00:55 My guest today is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Bradford J. Shwedo, USAFA Class of 1987. Gen. Shwedo leads the Air Force Academy's Institute for Future Conflict as its first director. Throughout our conversation, you'll hear us refer to the Institute as the IFC. Gen. Shwedo was named to the position in March 2021 by Academy Superintendent, Gen. Richard Clark. The IFC is preparing cadets to wage and win wars in nontraditional domains. As we progress through our conversation with Gen. Shwedo, you will quickly understand why he was chosen to lead this pioneering institution where future-think informs everything they do. The general graduated from the Academy with a bachelor's in military history while also lettering in football. His career led him into an intelligence space, beginning with an assignment at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas in 1989, then Germany and Saudi Arabia. He served as threat manager with the 487th Intelligence Group from 1993 to 1995. He moved to the Pentagon as offensive information warfare chief in 1995. Between 1998 and 2020, he spent time in Korea, several assignments at CIA headquarters in Virginia, at Buckley Air Force base here in Colorado, and several more assignments at the Pentagon. He served in multiple command and leadership positions, and at one point was in charge of four directorates supporting 77,000 personnel, global cyber operations and assets valued at $17 billion. He's a consummate warrior, logistician, strategist and leader. Gen. Shwedo. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership.   Gen. Shwedo  02:33 Thanks so much. The pleasure is mine. Thanks a lot for having me.   Doug Lindsay  02:36 Absolutely. Let's, let's start kind of at the beginning if we if we can.  It seems like from an early age that you had a competitive streak.  Can you talk a little bit behind that background and that upbringing?   Gen. Shwedo  02:48 So, I will tell you, I was very, very pleased when the Air Force came knocking. And it started with football, as you brought up. And I was recruited as a high schooler to come out here and play and I think as what you were talking about my earlier career. I think I'm very much a product of the Academy across the board. It's not just one single piece. And one of the larger ones, though, was football, and quite honestly, and we'll talk about history, because that was very much one and then different comms programs, also big influences, but coming here to play football, it was amazing to me. There were so many great athletes, I wasn't one of them. But it was amazing to me every Saturday, we would go out there and we'd look at these guys that any layman would say there's no way these guys are going to win. And I learned a lot about leadership and a lot about, you know, capabilities and competitions in Falcon stadium. And I saw in Air Force that they figured out how to win with what you got. They would figure out a way through leadership to win with what they got. They would put us in situations as individual athletes, where they would facilitate our positives and negate our negatives on that competitive streak. All that background at Falcon Stadium was priceless. I mean, I learned a lot both playing and coaching on how to do that. And once again, that reflects greatly on the people in the Department of Athletics, who every day have to do exactly what I witnessed. But what a great life lesson for when after you graduate and you're no-lie defending the country. We expect you to win with what you got.    Doug Lindsay It's a no fail mission. Right?   Gen. Shwedo Absolutely. Absolutely. And what a great training ground, you know, to kind of lick your wounds when you didn't get the right lesson. But on game day, I felt like we were always there. We always understood what we needed to do. And we put those people in the right places so we could win that day.   Doug Lindsay 04:49 You realized that as you went through football and as you were coaching and doing that, but before that, when the Academy did come knocking or — what was it that intrigued you about it? Obviously the opportunity to play football… What was your thought process of that whole idea of saying, “I'm gonna go out to Colorado and I'm gonna do that?” And there's that service component as well.   Gen. Shwedo 05:07 I think the one thing that really impressed me about the Air Force Academy, and they still do this: They sell you on the whole program. You know, there are some places where, and I was getting recruited from other schools, where they're just focusing on the football, or whatever. And what I loved about the Air Force Academy was they sold you the whole package. And quite honestly, I encourage cadets when I meet with them to think of this place as a buffet. Because there's lots of things you don't know the Air Force does that is really, really cool. And my biggest problem was, I wanted to do everything. I mean, I wanted to be a pilot, I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be a combat controller, I wanted to be an intelligence officer — I thought all of those things were really cool. And when I tell the cadets, look, “I know what you want to do right now. But think of this place as a buffet, you don't just sit down and eat one sample of those things. And you rapidly find out there's lots of different things that you may want to do.” And that's kind of the way I've been through my career is, you know, wow, that's really cool. Or that I'd like to do that. And [I've] been very lucky to be able to pounce on a lot of those opportunities.   Doug Lindsay 06:15 Being open to the process and kind of trusting the process, that there's something here that we're going to, we're looking out for you. I always thought that was kind of nice in my 22 years that there was always someone there looking out for me, protecting me from myself, so to speak, of, “Hey, you need to go here at this time. And you need to do that.” Even though it wasn't quite the vector I wanted to go, it was still probably the best one at the right time.   Gen. Shwedo 06:38 It is things you do for the team that doesn't always, you know, align with what you want to do. But in the long run was absolutely the right call.   Doug Lindsay 06:47 Right. And you mentioned the team, right. That's something I think that I learned as well, kind of going through this, it felt very much — when I would fail a GR test, it was very much me. But it was always kind of in the context of something larger about the about the team. And that's where that always felt like I was going through it alone. But I really wasn't because there were all these other people around me. No, you're exactly right. What else really resonated that set you up for success when you got on the Academy?   Gen. Shwedo 07:12 You know, on the academic side, I felt well prepared for what I was about to jump into. And, you know, military history for me was exactly what I wanted to do. There's an old Bismarck quote that says, “Only fools learn from their mistakes, wise men, you know, learn from other people's mistakes.” And that's kind of what dragged me to military history, because I was like, you know, there's a lot of life lessons there. And, you know, it was reading that I really enjoyed. Also, within the academics, you know, a long, long time ago, we studied about the Soviet Union, and World War III, and all of those things. And as you said, I went to intel school in '89. But I rapidly found myself in 1990, in Desert Shield, and all of those things that I had studied — because the Iraqis used a lot of the Soviet organize, train and equip structures — I knew what they were doing before. So, I had studied here. So, I felt really well prepared by the time Desert Storm started. And then that started kicking me off, you know, in the right direction,   Doug Lindsay 08:24 I always felt a little unsettled at the Academy, because it was always pulling me to do different things, not just be stuck in my lane, but learn that there are other lanes out there and that I can actually be in that lane and be OK, you know, whether it's academics or military or athletics. And I think there's something to that idea of not just letting people be a little unbalanced, and being comfortable with that in terms of being able to figure out where they need to be or what they need to do. Does that fit in with what you're talking about?   Gen. Shwedo 08:53 You're exactly right. And you know, everybody jokes about the GRs and the quizzes and knowing where you're going to take a hit here and you're gonna focus on that, as I talked about siri, that was not comfortable, but you kind of sucked it up. But first of all, you know, dealing with cadets in this job is the most humbling experience in my life. They're so much smarter than I ever was. And, you know, it's really humbling, and it's an honor to do that. But they fire, you know, evil questions back at you. And it's actually really fun to answer those questions. So, a lot of them will go, you know, “I'm learning all this stuff that's not applicable and blah, blah, blah.” And they'll ask me questions. So, when I was doing cyber, on the joint staff, we have these things called committee meetings and principal committee meetings. And those are either chaired by — the principal is chaired by the president or National Security Council and when you walk in, they are underwhelming conference rooms in the West Wing of the White House, I can assure you, and at a principals committee meeting you have a secretary of defense, the secretary of state, secretary of treasury, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and sometimes when it would come to cyber, or frequencies that you know different election security. They go, “BJ, you take the meeting.” So, I would go and you know, the first time I walked on the West Wing of the White House, it was a significant emotional event. But back to the cadets, I have told them a hundred times, you know, when you go in there, first of all, you better be prepared, you better do all the studies. So, all of these things that we do to cram is not a bad thing. But the next piece is, I've told them numerous times, some of the things that I learned in Colorado Springs carry the day in West Wing discussions, because I remember studying those things, and, “Well, you're forgetting this portion of their history, or you're forgetting this piece.” And often, I'm sure you had it when you were running around, cadets are like, “Oh, when will I ever use this?”   Doug Lindsay 10:54 Surprisingly, actually, you will.   Gen. Shwedo 10:55 I'm embarrassed to tell you, yes, you will.   Doug Lindsay 10:59 Well, so thinking about that idea of being in the West Wing and being there and being tapped to say, hey, you're the guy, you're successful at that point at the highest levels. But at some point, there's that idea that you're the person, right, you're the one that's got to be able to speak and articulate in that way. What was that like the first time that kind of went through that?     Gen. Shwedo 11:18 It's very humbling, you know. First of all, you look down at [your] stars, you're like, where the hell did these come from? Because, because you do still feel like you're a cadet, you know, 24/7. And, honestly, when you walk into these rooms, you know the seriousness of the situation. By that time, you know most of the people around the table, and, you know, you're prepared. They will give you three-ring binders. And I tell the cadets this, I'm like, look, you know, the world is not — and we've had cadets come and they go, you know, “What's all this Hamas, and, you know, Israeli thing?” because our squadron's kind of split. And I go, guys, I go, “I know you're in an academic situation. So, you think things are either right or wrong. But the world is gray.” Talking to the cadets, oh, we went through the history of, you know, the Middle East and all that. And they're kind of drooling, because it's been 20 minutes, and I go, “By the way, that three-ring binder, that's the first tab. And if you haven't read everything in that binder, you're gonna get mauled in this situation.” And I go, you know, the next piece is, and we went back and forth where there wasn't, you know, there were so many grays associated with it, and I go, “Now, when you get up from that conference table, you're gonna walk out, and there will be people waiting to talk about the border, the Ukraine, or they're…,” you know, and it has a conga line of problems that that they deal with every day. And I go, “Oh, by the way, you better be well versed on all of those too.” And, you know, when they see that, it is that transition to, from an academic situation where it's right and wrong, to what we're going to dump them into the grays. And I think they do see, that's where some of these applicable situations that they had in Colorado Springs may come back. Once again, is it a GR quiz, OK, well, a quiz is gonna die, all right there. And I'm not too proud to tell you that speed reading is a good thing. And they will drive you from the river entrance at the Pentagon and drop you off in front of the White House. And by the way, soon as you get back from the White House, there's another meeting waiting for you on another thing that you better be prepared for. So this whole thing, there's a method, I think, to the Academy's madness, throwing all this stuff at you.   Doug Lindsay 13:39 So, you kind of come out as a military history major. So really more, here's what was done to here's what's going on to here's kind of what it looks like in the future. What do you think it was that appealed to you?   Gen. Shwedo 13:55 I was very lucky. And, you know, came out of Desert Storm, and I knew I was too dumb to get a master's on my own. So, they sent me to the Defense Intelligence Agency, and I started seeing some of the new stuff and some of the things that were in the intelligence community. So that job in the 487 Intelligence Group, I was working new bombs, missiles and PGMs. And then they go, there's this new thing, and it's going to be a Special Access Program. You're gonna get into all of those things. And I think what led me to that was I could pass a polygraph. I mean, I grew up in this little town in North Carolina. And you know, the first time I took a polygraph, they said, “Have you done drugs?” No. “Have you done drugs?” No. The guy goes, “Have you done drugs?” No. And he turns off the machine and says, “You've never done drugs.” That's because I'm from Reedsville. We'll get drugs in about 20 or 30 years. But all kidding aside that started getting me down to all the Special Access Programs and every one of them was cooler and cooler and cooler and I had a blast when I worked special programs during 9/11. And when President Bush said, “This is going to be unlike any war you've seen before. A lot of it is going to be in the shadows.” And you won't see what was being done. That's kind of where I was. And what was wonderful because there weren't very many people with those clearances. So, I would usually go straight into the chairman's office and say, “This just came in from the White House, we need to do X, Y or Z.” And he would do that. So then fast forward, we weren't talking about cyber, we just didn't talk about it. I was at the CIA. And they said, “Congratulations, you're going to be a group commander, you're going to transition an intel group into the first attack squadrons for the Air Force.” So that's how I did that. And then I stuck around to be the wing commander. But you know, that realm is just, like you said, lots of excitement, lots of new ways of thinking and doing things. So, I was very, very excited to be able to jump into that at an early age — captain. Really, I will tell you, our airmen are amazing, amazing. And when you start pitching them into a fight that they really appreciate. And sometimes, especially in cyber, when you change a one to a zero, they, the overall group doesn't know what's going on. So, I usually would charge our junior guys to do the math down range. And say, “By the way, when you turn that one to a zero, bad guy X, who wanted to blow himself up in the Mall of America is no longer with us.” And then all of a sudden, everybody walks around with a big bow chest, and they're very proud of what they do. And then it's just starts snowballing. And everybody's doing better and better things. And I tell a story often but, you know, I walked in at 3 o'clock in the morning and there was all kinds of math on … the board, and I go, what's up with all the math and he goes, “Oh, Airman so-and-so figured out how long we go to jail if we did this on the outside.” Now, of course, everybody's kidding. But I'd be you know, those are those airmen that that are just rockstars, and you're so proud to be around them. And just like I was telling you about football, I wasn't the athlete, we had a bunch of rockstars I ran around with. And it was just a lot of fun to be a part of that organization.   Doug Lindsay 17:27 You're like, tailor made for your role right now. It seems like everything kind of fit into your ability and where you're at right now to be at the IFC. So, when, you know, the folks approach you, Kaminsky and Fox, and those folks approached you, what was it about this one that really made you say, “Yeah, that's where I want to go?”   Gen. Shwedo 17:49 So, I will tell you, you know, relationships matter. And you know, we have brothers and sisters across, you know, this place. So, and you know, when you call somebody a brother or sister, you may not mean it. Most of the people I run around with really do mean it. So, I got a phone call from Gen. Clark, who was a teammate of mine. And he was also in seventh squadron with me. So, we've known each other for very long time. I was still on active duty. And he goes, “Hey, brother, I need a favor.” And I'm like, “Sure, brother, whatever you need.” Don't answer the phone like that. Doesn't work well. But all kidding aside, he, you know, he said, because he and I have known each other he goes exactly what you said, “Hey, I'm looking at all the things you did, and what they want to do. This makes all the sense in the world.” And, you know, really, the major reason I came was a brother asked me to do something, and I'd do anything for him.   Doug Lindsay 18:50 But what the IFC is doing is it's changing our mental model, right? It's out of those traditional ways. We think about academics, how we prepare leaders, we're taking a little bit of different approach there. So, what's that been like helping the Academy transition to that new mindset?   Gen. Shwedo 19:08 My focus had to be the dean. And the direction comes from the national defense strategy. So, we actually have a meeting a week with the future guys. And that gives us insight. But then going back and figuring out what we're going to put into the curriculum. We did a curriculum review as soon as we got here. And I was joking, and I said, “OK, everybody knows Word products. We're going to do a universal insert, delete, every time you see ISIS and Al Qaeda, they'll say Russia and China.” But all kidding aside, that was kind of where we started rooting out some of the problems as we did. If I'd had a dean that didn't agree or believe, we'd be done a long time ago, but she's been wonderful. Gen. Clark has been awesome, you know, facilitating all of this. And because we can go classified or do anything else, it really starts, as you said, shifting the focus. And saying there is a reason why the Air Force Academy is different than an ROTC unit or a regular, you know, OTs or whatever, we're going to ingrain that across the board. This is basically teaching them, “You're a part of a much bigger, you know, orchestration. And, boy, it's a different way of thinking, but definitely gives you insight into how to do different things, you know, thinking two or three layers above when you're just in a cockpit.” “I don't understand why I'm doing this.” But two or three layers above, “I totally get it. Now I understand it.”   Doug Lindsay 20:41 Well, and helping people see that connectedness to the larger system, right? So, it not it may seem like I'm an independent person doing this, right. But as part of that larger system and…   Gen. Shwedo 20:49 I still want you to independently be padlocked on that target and do all of that. But as opposed to grumbling, “I don't understand why I'm doing this,” or the urgency of me … doing this from the way that they're telling me…,” it totally makes larger sense, as opposed to shut up and do it. We're Americans, we challenge everything. And honestly, I think that's what gives us the advantage over China or something else. We question everything. That's not necessarily bad.   Doug Lindsay 21:18 Yeah, that's right. Within context, right? That's right. So, what's it like from a leadership standpoint? Obviously, at the highest levels, this one's a little bit different, maybe some more influence? Sure, more of those dotted lines and things? What's it been like to lead that organization through, from the beginning to where it is now, from the big idea to a concept?   Gen. Shwedo 21:40 I really am not looking to take credit for anything. So, whenever a future conflict thing comes off, we may have pulled lots of strings, but whoever's carrying it out or is involved, we try to push it, and we'll look at what they did, because that makes the better team and, you know, sometimes I wince a little bit when they go, “Well, the IFC did this.” Well, actually, a lot of people did. And when people go, “Well, you know, who is in the IFC? Who's studying under the IFC?” Well, as I said, all three mission areas. Well, when did the IFC does well, I mentioned Firstie Flag. Well, actually, that's not mine, that's the Commandant's. We've helped out. But it's common. It's an outstanding job. And I would never say, “Look at what the IFC did.” But when you look at all of these different things, where we'll bring speakers in somebody else, or will fund, you know, some conference, you know, the donors may say, “Hey, BJ, what are you doing, you know, with this money?” I can show them that it absolutely forwarded the future fight. It's giving the cadets great insight on that future fight. But somebody else may walk in and go, “But that was my conference.” And I will say you're exactly right. And we are very proud.   Doug Lindsay 22:57 Obviously, we're sending out people who are competent in certain domains as an academic institution as well. But from a leadership standpoint, where are you seeing the value of the efforts of what IFC and the larger team is doing on helping cadets understand their leadership and their role in leading that effort moving forward?   Gen. Shwedo 23:16 There's several things with that. So, the first piece is making them aware of the threat. And you know, the dean has introduced me and said, “This is BJ. Gen. Shwedo, he's making evil minds.” And I'm here to tell you that the evil minds already exist. What we gotta do is make them aware of the environment we're dumping them in. And a case in point, I have one cadet, he raises his hands like, “You know, hypersonic missiles. I don't understand what's the big deal about that.” And I go,” OK, well, first of all, yes, they're fast. But as you remember from Physics 110 a ballistic missile trajectory is all mathematics. That's how the Patriot works. Hypersonic missiles can maneuver. So, all your math is now dead.” And I go, “Oh, by the way, when you look down-range and you see all those antennas, NORAD, for the most part was looking up to the north, because the quickest way to get an ICBM to the United States was over the top. You can actually take a hypersonic missile, put it in a low earth orbit, and that attack will come out of Antarctica.” Same cadet immediately raises his hand and goes, “So the maneuvering — is that RF, command guide?” And he's immediately trying to get into it. And I'm like, I love you, man. Because, honestly, when you start making them aware of the threats, they immediately start thinking countermeasures. So, from the leadership standpoint, they understand that piece, another thing we're teaching them is, and it's a snarky way of saying it, but forget cylinders of excellence — and cylinders of excellence during the global war on terrorism. We could show up in one cylinder of excellence like I told you about the Predator, the Reaper, fire that missile, declare victory and go home. If we're going to fight a great power competition or whatever, we are going to be in that situation where we need air, land, sea, space, cyber all showing up. So, break down the cylinders. And then the last part of this great power competition: We need to keep it at competition and not get to conflict. For the most part, we've been stuck at bombs, bullets and beans in the spectrum of conflict. This is competition down here. This is conflict over here. And what we're teaching the cadets is no, you got to participate across the board. And it may be heavy, more in cyber or information operations. But you're going to use those tools all the way across the spectrum. But I really don't think our citizenry is ready for great power conflict. They're so used to us running up the score to a hundred to nothing that they don't understand what that is. And the Russians and Chinese on the competition scale, had been running unopposed because we have been padlocked on ISIS and Al Qaeda. So, we're resetting their awareness. So, when they are future leaders, they make those impacts on the lower level. So, we just like I told you at the beginning, we never got to World War III.   Doug Lindsay 26:14 A lot of impact in a short amount of time. What are you hearing, even anecdotally from them about that experience and that mindset and that ability to play at that level?   Gen. Shwedo 26:23 A kid that walks up to me goes, “Sir, I had no idea my country does this, but I want to do it really badly.” You energize that excitement, and then they come back and start telling all of these friends, I mean, you know, when I came here, I knew we were doing cool stuff, but being able to come back and see all of those things. Boy, that makes me want to study more that makes me want to get even better at whatever that buffet, right, that I want to do, it is — and it's just one more thing that energizes me to make sure that I get it right.   Doug Lindsay 26:56 When you put energized, passionate, excited cadets together, and you start talking about the ability to solve complex problems and have an influence…   Gen. Shwedo 27:05 So, I used to call them evil bar-napkins. They come up with, you know, these great ideas. And it is humbling, because they, you know, they grew up a different way than I did. That's probably a lot more applicable to that future fight. And that is why so many people come to these guys. And that's why our research department gets so much money, because they want to drag these guys in. I think we have more opportunities than we have cadets for research. Because they're so in demand, people understand how smart they are.   Doug Lindsay 27:38 If Gen. Shwedo was Cadet Shwedo going through the Academy right now, knowing what you know in terms of your trajectory and what you've learned over your time, and then knowing the opportunities that exist in the IFC, what would you tell yourself to think about as you're going through this process, if you got off the bus this summer to start all over?   Gen. Shwedo 27:59 I would look up and say, “You're very lucky. It's going to, they're going to be times it's just going to suck. You better be ready for that. But I will tell you it's worth the fight.” You know, I've seen and done very, very cool things that people will not know about for a very long time. And then the last part is because I just got off the bus and my head shaved, and I'm pissed off at everybody, “Suck it up. It's, it's worth the price of admission. But when you get out, honestly, all of this training all of this, you know, experiences preps you for those future opportunities.”   Doug Lindsay 28:35 So, Gen. Shwedo, as a student of military history, and a teacher of leadership, and there's a question that we often like to ask just based on people's experience, are, in your opinion, are leaders born or are they made?   Gen. Shwedo 28:47 You know, it's funny, I often get the question, you know, “Hey, is there a book that you really advocate for leadership?” And I just kind of smile and go, “Look, leadership,” just like I was telling you with the coaching and all that other stuff, “leadership is all about working with people. And you've got to understand people. And it's a little more work than that.” Just like you said, I need to find the positives, I need to see what you as a person excites you, what motivates you. And then when I was telling you facilitate the positives and negate the negatives, and I believe, … people are born with the capability to get to know you a lot better, but it does come back to motivating you and finding where I can put you in that situation, that you're going to excel just like we were talking about earlier, and then keep you out of those situations where you may not perform. That is kind of the one-on-one leadership. Well, it's more of a pyramid organization by design. So, you find leaders that also go along those lines and then when I have a problem, I go down that pyramid along those lines. But I think it's, it would be pretty sad if you're either a leader or not. I do believe that if you're not very good at figuring out people, etc, you can eventually learn that. But it is easier for some than others. That's kind of it. Leadership is definitely motivating people and understanding what motivates [them]. You know, Patton used to say, “I don't measure the merits of my company commanders by the calluses on their ass.” And what you are saying is, “Get out.” And you do need to get out there and you know, motivate, understand, talk to the folks and for, you know, here and everywhere else, because our airmen are so amazing. It's actually one of the best parts of the day. And some of these guys are just denying them that opportunity.   Doug Lindsay 30:53 And within the context of warfare, obviously, you've mentioned this earlier, that we've seen the world change and conflict in the 21st century doesn't take place in what we think in traditional areas, like the battlefield. So, what advice would you like to offer the generation coming up behind you and us that, who want to be warriors, that maybe want to join the Long Blue Line and, and want to become leaders for the…?   Gen. Shwedo 31:17 …Future fight? I will tell you, you know, fundamentally, as I said before, it's a lot different than global war on terrorism, and you know, some of these other pieces, but what I'm seeing, especially with technologies, is the rise of the third parties. So, when it comes to cyber, we've watched the Ukraine, where these third-party cyber gangs, are now playing. And you know, when you look at the Russian cyber capability, where the Russian government stops, and the Russian mafia begins, is not a real good, fine line. And we're seeing some of these guys pitch into the fights. When I'm talking to the cadets. I'm like, “You can ignore this, but you'll do it at your own peril.” And more disconcerting, a lot of these well-intentioned people that may think that they're helping the fight, there was one report where they had gotten into the space systems of the Russians. And they had the ability to turn off the satellites. Well, in a nuclear scenario in first strike, making your adversary blind before you do that is a precursor. And sometimes countries don't want their missiles stuck in holes. So, when they start seeing all of those warnings go, they launch in the other direction. So, these well-intentioned people could cook off a much larger campaign. So, I tell the cadets that you cannot ignore these capabilities. Another one is drones. I mean, Richard Clark, who was the previous SOCOM commander, quite rightly pointed out that a bomb has not fallen on U.S. troops since 1953. These drones that we're seeing, and, you know, they are blowing up tanks, they have pushed the Black Sea Fleet out of port. You know, we've seen all of this. And fundamentally, you're going, “Okay, how do we counter that?” And can we promise that a bomb will not fall on there with F-22s and F-35s. Back to those evil minds, they start looking on those countermeasures, but we're dumping them fundamentally in a much different environment than what their teachers fought in the global war on terrorism. So, we've got to equip them with all of those capabilities. And then the last part were those drone drivers. And the cyber folks. They may not look like a battle dress uniform, they may look, you know, like somebody, and oh, by the way, they probably can't run, you know, the 2-mile run or anything like that. But they're still effective on the battlefield. And you need to understand that when we go forward.   Doug Lindsay 33:52 You've led at different levels. You've obviously learned a lot of lessons along the way. What are some of the, maybe a couple key takeaways you've learned about leadership?   Gen. Shwedo 34:00 I think the lesson is, don't forget who you are. You know, I wasn't born a general. I very much was scrubbing toilets, you know, up on the Hill. And I think going back to don't forget who you are, and being able to, you know, hey, there were there were times when we were shoveling snow. I have learned, you know, back to getting to know that your people show up when it's crappy. Don't show up only when it is convenient for you. But you showed that hey, I love you because I'll show up. And it really is: Never forget who you are. I mean, you know, you sure as hell wouldn't get that vote when you were second lieutenant. So, it's not going to change your life too much. And I think people understand when you really care about them, you know, and if you care about them, they'll do what you know, whatever needs to be done. And the last part is my airmen used to roll their eyes. Of course, you were on the hook for the vision and for the battle plan. But as I said before, these are amazing airmen, and they will do whatever needs to be done to win that fight. But I'd often tell them when they were, you know, struggling, “Look, I work for you, I'm removing your impediments so you can do that, you know, kill the bad guys.” And you know, I've made a career out of playing practical jokes on bad guys, because these guys were really good at it. But when I'd say, “I work for you…” they roll their eyes. But eventually they understood that if there wasn't enough gas here, if there wasn't, remove those impediments, so they can do that. And so that was something that I did as a lieutenant, captain, I've been pretty good at it, you know, up to this point.   Doug Lindsay 35:38 So, and it really helps that value proposition, they feel like they really are part of a team. Now, do they matter regardless of the, of the level of the organization?   Gen. Shwedo 35:45 Absolutely. And, you know, to understand and, you know, the military, on the Army side, you know, the leaders eat last. I've got numerous Army brothers; I don't like talking about it. But all kidding aside, there's a lesson there. And you know, be humble and understand that you really do work for those guys, because they are doing the mission. And once you do that, and once they understand that they no-lie will remove those impediments and, no-lie, they do care about you, you'll be amazed what kind of feats that you'll see happen on the other end.   Doug Lindsay 36:19 Well, thank you for that. Any final thoughts or anything we didn't talk about that you want to talk about?   Gen. Shwedo 36:23 No, I can't thank you guys enough for the opportunity and, you know, asking about the Institute for Future Conflict. Honestly, everything they've done has nothing to do with me and everything to do with this command team here because they have given me all the opportunities. From Gen. Clark, the Dean, the, you know, the comm and the Department of Athletics and people kind of have a furrowed brow. Yes, we have, we have a focus on the Department of Athletics, too. So, thanks for the opportunity so I can share with you with all the great things they're doing to make our cadets ready for that future fight.   Doug Lindsay 36:55 Appreciate that. And appreciate your example and what you're doing with that. If people want to connect with you or get in touch with the IFC and find out kind of what's going on, what's the best way for them?   Gen. Shwedo 37:04 Absolutely. So, if you just Google Institute for Future Conflict, it'll come up. And then on the bottom, you'll see a couple of lieutenant's names. Luckily, and I tease them all the time — I compare and contrast me, coaching, football and teaching boxing and unarmed combat and you're getting two different worlds. But they often are the ones that we tease them and go, they're the real bosses of the IFC, they'll get back to us on what we need to do or to answer questions or anything along those lines.   Doug Lindsay 37:34 That's great. And I know that Checkpoints magazine has a three-part series that's coming out that kind of amplifies some of the people and some of the team members that you built on there that you mentioned as well today. Looking forward to that.   Gen. Shwedo 37:46 So lastly, there's not that many Shwedo's in the globe — you can find me fairly quickly.   Doug Lindsay 37:48 That's great. Well, we thank you for your time. Thank you for your legacy. Thank you for all that you're doing for the Academy.   Gen. Shwedo 37:55 Thanks for the opportunity. Thanks a lot.   KEYWORDS cadets, leadership, Air Force Academy, cyber, IFC, learned, Academy, warfare, conflict, 21st century, understand, opportunity, missiles, led, future, football, Air Force, airmen, work, leaders, studied, history, West Wing     The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation     

On today's show, General Flynn discusses Joe Biden potentially bringing on World War 3. GUEST OVERVIEW: LTG Michael Flynn, USA July 2012 - August 2014 Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Military Intelligence. His first assignment was as a paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since then, he has served in a variety of command and staff positions to include, Commander, 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and G2, 82nd Airborne Division; G2, 18th Airborne Corps, CJ2, CJTF-180 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan; Commander, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade at the Army's Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Director of Intelligence, Joint Special Operations Command with duty in OEF and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Director of Intelligence, United States Central Command with duty in OEF and OIF; Director of Intelligence, the Joint Staff; Director of Intelligence, International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan and US Forces-Afghanistan and Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, G2. He most recently served as the Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Partner Engagement before becoming the DIA director on July 24, 2012.

Robert “Cujo” Teschner: Debrief to Win Robert “Cujo” Teschner is a retired F-15 / F-22 fighter pilot. He is also a former F-15 Weapons School Instructor, F-22 Squadron Commander, senior Joint Staff officer, and combat veteran. He holds advanced degrees in Operational Art and Science and National Security Strategy and has extensive experience in tactical planning and execution, and organizational leadership. From 2004 to 2006, he served as the US Air Force's expert in post-mission debriefing, the methodology used by high-performing military teams to self-correct and improve continuously. Cujo retired immediately after his promotion to full Colonel due to complications from cancer-related care and started an international business consulting practice based in St. Louis, MO. His company is called VMax Group. VMax Group's mission is to teach, inspire, and nurture teams on how to really “team”, making work more fulfilling, and making teams much more effective. He is the author of Debrief to Win: How America's Top Guns Practice Accountable Leadership...and How You Can, Too!* Many of us recognize we could get better at reflecting our team's work, but we rarely get beyond what went well and what didn't. One of the best ways to stop making the same mistakes is to look at the truth of what's already happened, and learn from it. In this conversation, Cujo and I look at the value of a debrief and how to bring that practice into your organization. Key Points Saying, “We learned a lot of important lessons today,” doesn't actually prove that any learning has happened. The context of military and civilian debriefs are both different, but the stakes are still high in both venues. A debrief is not about blame or shame. Instead, it's an affirming, positive experience that builds future leaders. A key benefit of regular debriefs is to institutionalize the process of challenging conversations. Psychological safety is critical for this to happen well. Objectives should measurable, achievable, and time-constrained. Debrief should focus on the objectives and the decisions that were made to meet those objectives. Be cautious about outsourcing debriefing to external facilitators. An effective debrief should be led by someone who has participated in the mission or project. Resources Mentioned Debrief to Win: How America's Top Guns Practice Accountable Leadership...and How You Can, Too! by Robert “Cujo” Teschner Robert “Cujo” Teschner's website Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306) How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404) The Way to Make Better Decisions, with Annie Duke (episode 499) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Chris "Switch" Roness, Colonel(Retired), is a 27 year veteran of the USAF and is Founder/CEO of Chris Roness Enterprises, LLC. Chris has served at the Joint Staff and is a graduated Squadron Commander with distinguished service and leadership in Special Forces, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Nuclear Operations, Nuclear Security, Combat Search and Rescue; and Defense Support to Civil Authorities.  As a strategist, he has conducted leading edge research and advised key U.S. leaders on emerging trends in strategy. Chris is a decorated United States Air Force pilot, who has flown in combat operations world-wide. His acumen includes human performance, mindfulness, economics, technology, finance, and banking. He has earned two Masters degrees and is dedicating his life to serving our veterans through his premier human performance and mindfulness system called "You M.A.T.R;" Leduc Entertainment is a video production company with offices in New Orleans, Atlanta and Los Angeles. We help business owners and creatives scale their businesses through video marketing. Using YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Twitter, we are able to communicate your message, brand and product in an engaging way. Your business deserves great videos! 

Back in July, we dedicated an episode to the question of whether the U.S. was on the cusp of reaching a new deal with Iran. Or was an unofficial deal already hatched that nobody was talking about? According to Rich Goldberg, the answers to these questions are now becoming more clear. Rich has also been focused on another development that didn't get sufficient press attention this summer: the release of US hostages by Iran. Rich wrote an important piece for The Dispatch analyzing that deal, and in our conversation today we examine it in the context of the broader arrangement Rich believes we have with Iran right now. We also discuss what exactly is going on behind all the chatter about a U.S.-brokered normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Rich Goldberg is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. From 2019-2020, he served as a Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council. He previously served as a national security staffer in the US Senate and US House. Rich is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan. Item discussed in this episode: "The Disastrous Implications of the $6 Billion Iran Hostage Deal": thedispatch.com/article/the-disastrous-implications-of-the-6-billion-iran-hostage-deal/

Kick off your aviation career journey on the right foot as you listen to Jason Richardson's expert tips on creating a strong airline application. Don't miss this episode today to learn how to make an impression that will boost your chances of being noticed and, ultimately, get you closer to the job of your dreams!   WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE  The value of having your job application reviewed Essential information you need to include in your airline job application  Common mistakes when filling out your airline job application and ways to avoid them Importance of preparing for your job application in advance when joining conventions and conferences Why you should keep your job application updated, and how often it should be done   RESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONED DOD SkillBridge EVA Flight Training Academy Propel Aviation Sales and Services, LLC American Airlines Cadet Academy  UPS  Cory Glenn  Women in Aviation Conference   ABOUT JASON RICHARDSON Jason is a highly accomplished aviator with a proven track record of success in leading military pilot training, flight safety, and maintenance organizations. He began his career in the United States Air Force, where he gained extensive experience and expertise in aviation operations and management. Currently, Jason serves as a mentor at Spitfire Elite Consulting, where he provides guidance and leadership development to aviation professionals. Prior to this, he held positions as a first officer at both American Airlines and Delta Airlines, where he honed his skills as a skilled and experienced pilot. In addition to his aviation expertise, Jason has also contributed to national security and defense strategy development. During his tenure at The Joint Staff, he played a key role in developing the 2022 National Defense Strategy and integrating warfighting concepts across multiple Department of Defense strategic documents.   CONNECT WITH JASON  Website: Spitfire Elite LinkedIn: Jason Richardson   CONNECT WITH US  Are you ready to take your relationship to the next level? Don't wait until it's too late. Use the promo code “PODCAST” and save 10% on all our services. Check us out at www.spitfireelite.com!   If you want to recommend someone to guest on the show, email Nik at podcast@spitfireelite.com, and if you need a professional pilot resume, go to www.spitfireelite.com/podcast/ for FREE templates!    SPONSOR If you're a professional pilot looking for a great financial planning partner for your retirement, tax, and investment, go to www.tpope.ceterainvestors.com/contact or call 704-717-8900 ext 120 to schedule a consultation appointment with Timothy P. Pope, CFP®

What a privilege it is to have the top graduate of the Air Force Top Gun School and retired U.S. Air Force F-22 and F-15 fighter pilot and squadron commander, Rob “Cujo” Teschner in the studio with Marcus for this week's Team Never Quit Podcast. Listen in for an inspiring conversation with Cujo, whose life is an amazing success story, and whose life mission is to teach and inspire others, bridging the gap between the principles of high performance combat veterans and high performance business. His fight with Colorectal Cancer is what prompted Cujo to retire from the Air Force early. Yet his ambition led to his path of entrepreneurship, leadership and team development. Cujo is the founder and CEO of VMax Group, an international leadership training company and he has authored several books, two of which went to #1 on the Amazon bestseller list. In this episode you will hear: • I loved being part of the Air Force family. We lived all over the place. (7:57) • 1977 when Luke Skywalker wants to join some academy and then join the rebellion. That resonated with me. (9:49) • As a kid, I felt like the military was my family. It's what I knew. (10:50) • I thought it was always cool to hop on an airplane to go someplace new. To meet new people along the way. (13:00) • My letter – the one that says “thanks for applying” never said “try again”. (18:26) • The more people told me it wasn't gonna happen the more committed I was to proving them wrong. (20:47) • I had never flown an airplane before I went to the Air Force Academy. (23:32) • Isn't that stunning how fast we accelerate leadership – how fast we accelerate somebody to realize their potential?  (27:07) • If there was a time period I could freeze it would be First Lieutenant to Captain, because that's when I was out there doing the mission. (28:28) • What we need is a constant stream of warriors who are ready to go forth and do. (35:18) • The biggest honor of my military career was being called to be an instructor at our Fighter Weapons School, basically it's the Air Force Top Gun Program. (36:49) • You can beat people up and tell them how much they suck and they can learn from that, but another alternative might be Hey Cujo, we were 2 decisions from victory today. (43:55) • I try to apply that to my kids. (44:46) • One of the huge blessings of my life was being a part of teams that mattered. (48:09) • Our family team got a whole heck of a lot better as a result of my failure with cancer. That caused us to focus where we needed to. I'm eternally grateful for it. (52:32) • One of the best 4-star bosses I ever worked for would come in every month and ask us “Hey what are you doing for the home team?” (55:33)