Radio Stockdale

Test Depth is a case study that follows the experiences of a young Junior Officer on his first role in the engineering department on a US Navy nuclear submarine. When he discovers a leak in the sea water system, he is challenged to do something about it. This case study addresses his responsibilities as a JO in working with a tight-knit team, where he may be the one who must speak truth to power.

Looming Storm is a case study that follows the early experiences of a young Junior Officer aboard ship. In a flashback, we see a poorly led ship, its wardroom and its crew. Slovenly sailors and messy quarters, rust and unaddressed leaks. Bad morale. The JO is challenged to do something about it, and he must consider who and how he deals with senior officers, and his sailors. This case study addres...

Tactical Interrogation is a case study where we consider balancing the rights and interests of three stake-holding groups: service members, their clients (i.e. inhabitants of the US), and non-clients (foreign enemy combatants and foreign non-combatants). Torture is grossly immoral when considered from any of these perspectives. Torturers tend to sustain moral and psychological injury. They are oft...

This is a different kind of case study in that it is a primer on Artificial Intelligence, and how it can be understood by naval officers. We go through several situations where a young naval officer is challenged by a fact set, and she has to deal with what information she is being given, her understanding of the current situation, and bounce that against her underlying sense of ethics and the law...

This is a case study where a group of Midshipmen on a semester abroad run into trouble. You're the protagonist in a fictitious eastern European country. You're out with your buddies. A local guide has been showing you around, and he bids adieu, after calling for a taxi. So far so good. You have a group of students, different ethnicities, genders, generally different outlooks and experiences. And t...

Leave No One Behind is a classic case that we have used for years at the Naval Academy. An interactive version of this case is available for individual and classroom use online. You are the OIC of a helicopter detachment that has already lost an airplane during a search and rescue mission, in bad weather and a bad sea state. The question asked is - should you launch your next, and final helicopter...

While thousands of climbers have successfully scaled Mount Everest, less than a handful of people have descended to the planet's deepest point, the Mariana Trench. The sea is the Navy's domain. Dr. Joseph Dituri, Ph. D., DMT, CDR - US Navy (ret) enlisted in the Navy. He made his way up through the ranks after earning his B.S. in Computer Science and received his commissioned. Among various billets...

One could ask, what makes the US Naval Academy a special place? Isn't it just a college with a lot of rules and uniforms? We talk with Jeff Webb, the new President and CEO of the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation, about what makes USNA a special place. He likens USNA as a unique incubator that shapes motivated young men and women into leaders, not just at the Academy or in the Navy, but throu...

For Aristotle, wisdom was not just an abstract idea. Aristotle called this different kind of wisdom, “prudence”, and we discuss another translation, “practical wisdom.” Practical wisdom is knowing what is good, right, or best, given a particular set of circumstances. It is not about book smarts, or knowing general rules. Thomas Aquinas helps us better understand practical wisdom. Finally, how can...

Perseverance is a strength within the virtue category of courage. Courage describes strengths that help you exercise your will and face adversity. The story of the USS Quail is a story of perseverance and grit. The crew evaded capture by the Japanese during World War II. What extent did formal training play in the Quail crew's successful escape? How could the CO, Lieutenant Commander Morrill, serv...

What does leadership have to do with your gut, and taking risks? What goes through your head (and gut) when you need to get back to task, after you had a major failure. What can you learn about yourself after a flat spin? Can you be a leader if you don't take risks? RADM Mike Manazir, USN (ret) is a leader, and he has had a distinguished career in the Navy. He has been a fighter pilot, the Command...

The Returned with Honor program recognizes the sacrifice of the Vietnam Era POWs and their families. We’ve been celebrating these men and women on the Yard in several ways this academic year. We start our podcast with VADM Sean Buck, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, joined by his wife, Mrs. Joanne Buck. We then talk with CAPT Tasya Lacy about the programs she is leading around the Yard thi...

What is obedience and is it a virtue or a good thing? Is compliance different from obedience? Why is it necessary to involve a group in the practice of obedience? Pauline Shanks Kaurin is professor and Admiral James B. Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics. She holds a Ph. D. in philosophy and specializes in military ethics, “just war theory” and philosophy of law and applied ethics. She...

The Honorable Paul Dabbar is a graduate of the Naval Academy. He served as a nuclear submarine officer, including a deployment to the North Pole, where he conducted environmental research. He has been a lecturer at the Naval Academy and he conducted research at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Following his naval service, and graduate school at Columbia Business School, among other th...

Part 4 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley wrap up their discussion of the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. In this final episode, Shaun and Alvin reminisce about the personal stories of the POWs and their wives. Their private experiences, and how they and their families were able to withstand the pressures and separations they all endured durin...

Part 3 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley continue to discuss the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. How did the US Code of Conduct apply to the American POWs? How did captivity, cooperation, and leadership lend itself to a reinterpretation of the code? What does BACKUS mean, and how did it impact the actions of the POWs? And what is the signific...

Colonel “J.P.” McDonough is the 89th Commandant of Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy. He is a career artillery officer and has held operational assignments in every level of command including Commander, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He has numerous deployments under his belt in the War on Terror as commanding officer of artillery units, and embedded training with the Afghan National...

Part 2 of 4. Dr. Shaun Baker and Senior Fellow Alvin Townley talk about the use of the US POWs as propaganda tools during the Vietnam conflict. What did the North Vietnamese try to accomplish, and how did they go about it? The propaganda/media war, how it had worked in the 1st Indochina War with France, and how they used the same strategy during the US War. How the US government responded during t...

Dr. Baker earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Arlington and his Ph. D. from Wayne State University. Aside from teaching philosophy at the University and College levels, he also spent 3 years teaching writing and computer skills at the Methodist Children's Home Society group home in Detroit, Michigan. Beyond teaching at Navy, he coaches the Ethics Bowl team, and is a member of the team...

Douglas Rau is the Professor of Leadership Education within the Division of Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) at USNA. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1974 and received a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and later transferred to the Enginee...

Douglas Rau is the Professor of Leadership Education within the Division of Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) at USNA. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1974 and received a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and later transferred to the Enginee...

CAPT Franky serves as the Deputy Director for Ethics at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership and is the Senior Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Representative at USNA. Most recently he served as the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula // Commanding Officer of Naval Special Warfare Unit THREE, responsible for the execution of the full spectrum, multi-domain, j...

Mitt Regan is McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center. He is a Senior Fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership. He is also Adjunct Faculty Member at the Center for Military and Security Law at the Australian National University College of Law, and an International Research Fellow at the...

Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the US Naval War College, in the College of Leadership and Ethics. His first book, The Good Kill: Just War & Moral Injury, was published in 2021 by Oxford University Press. He can be followed, or stalked, on twitter @mlivecche. Ryan Bernacchi is a form...