Fortress On A Hill (FOH) Podcast

Today is our final episode for the year.  We discuss the HUGE pile of recent military news that has occurred within the last week, to include Jim Mattis’ resignation, 4k troops departing Syria, half of the current deployment in Afghanistan redeploying,...

Tom Secker visits the podcast for an in-depth discussion on examining films manipulated by the CIA or the DOD, filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the US government, various military films to include A Few Good Men, War Machine,

It's been WAY too long since we've done headlines, so we do our best to catch you up.  I break down the current situation in Yemen and discuss some updates, including the American contractors working as mercenaries there while Danny takes us back to the seventeen year old war in Afghanistan, showing the headlines missed during the week while the media was focused on a photo of the senior comm...

Today, Danny and I present part 2 of our sitdown with Scott Horton, host of Anti-War Radio on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, which is also known by its podcast name, the Scott Horton Show.  Scott has hosted Anti-War Radio since 2003 and has done several thousand interviews with war correspondents of all stripes.  His book, “Fool’s Errand: Time to end the war in Afghanistan” is an amazing collection...

Today, Danny and I present part 1 of our sitdown with Scott Horton, host of Anti-War Radio on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, which is also known by its podcast name, the Scott Horton Show.  Scott has hosted Anti-War Radio since 2003 and has done several thousand interviews with war correspondents of all stripes.  His book, “Fool’s Errand: Time to end the war in Afghanistan” is an amazing collection...

Going through the official government narratives of conflict, there’s a lot of learn, even knowing that you’re dealing with a certain percentage of deliberate obfuscation and outright falsehoods.  It’s important to discuss what the war planners of a given conflict knew, at what point they knew it, and how they acted on that information. A new Army report with heavy criticism over operations during...

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve done a headlines episode, so we pack this one to the gills for you.  We catch up on damage caused by Hurricane Michael to DOD bases and our government’s current climate change denying views, discuss the horrific conditions in Yemen and the U.S.’ choice to ignore the catastrophe there, and Danny takes us through the recent insider attack in Afghanistan and the spot...

Ben Fountain stopped by the podcast to talk with us on his visits to Haiti, his inspiration for his award winning book "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk", and his time following candidates in the 2016 election, which became the subject of his new book "Beautiful Country Burn Again". Enjoy the show?!  Please leave us a review right here. Contact us direct by email at fortressonahill@gmail.com Leave...

Can anyone tell 'ol Henri what a Muslim living in America looks like?  Anybody?! See, that's the whole problem.  Being a Muslim means a specific type of religious practice, but which sect?  Which tribe?  Which country or region do they hail from?  Are they practicing the religion presently?  If not, are they simply trying to survive in their culture, albeit one that's hard and severe for apostates...

Just a few days ago, we passed the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu.  A oddity of a military action, falling shortly after the Gulf War among a decade of more "humanitarian" actions by the US government, the battle saw nineteens American lives lost and seventy three more wounded.  The battle also saw the deaths of untold numbers of Somali nationals, believed to be in the thousands.  Wha...

Spenser Rapone joins us on the podcast as we discuss growing up in the aftermath of 9/11, Spencer’s time at West Point, his thoughts about the anti-war movement, and his new podcast Eyes Left.  Enjoy!!! Enjoy the show?!  Please leave us a review right here. Got news to share about our military or veterans?! Or just need to cuss at us for a bit?! Contact us direct by email at fortressonah...

Without even trying, Danny and I spent the episode discussing numerous topics where others have gone to great lengths to mask the truth.  Whether rumors of John McCain’s military prowess, discussing an anonymous op-ed from within the White House, or analyzing a set of boilerplate articles on women in combat arms, it’s all about making something seem different when all the while, they were lying th...

I wanted to expand our conversation on moral injury, to give listeners a better insight into the weight of war from different perspectives and experiences.  Here is the result.  I won't preface it anymore than that; please listen and learn. Enjoy the show?!  Please leave us a review right here. Got news to share about our military or veterans?! Or just need to cuss at us for a bit?! Contact us dir...

We're back!!!  After a few sweltering summer weeks, Danny and I are back.  We've got a lot of stuff coming up!!!  Next Friday, we have our episode on moral injury, including the Warax, Tyson Manker, and Chaplain Josh Morris.  It's an intense but needed discussion on today's troops dealing with the moral leanings of their decisions and the decisions of our government.  Next, we and Roomofrequiremen...

Drones are quickly becoming a crucial part of many US military and government toolboxes in order to deal with specialized situations.  This morning, I saw that the FAA granted a special exemption to allow drones to help fight massive forest fires happening in Idaho. Police departments are using drones for building searches and crisis situations at a minimum.  And our military uses drones for a wid...

It’s been sixteen years since I sat in a recruiter’s office.  I remember visiting there many times (even after I was signed up to join) and asked all kinds of questions.  What was basic training like? How was the food? Did they like their non-recruiter MOS? Did I have to make that MANY trips to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station - Super boring)?  I heard a lot about Army values, doing PT (...

Even with the usual drowning of military news topics in circulation today, this last week has raised the bar considerably on how much horrible news can be crammed in such a small amount of time.  Yemen, already awash in the humanitarian disasters caused by the Saudi / UAE / US campaign to remove the Houthis, found a new low this week as Yemeni citizens fled the new drive to retake the both the por...

We bring you part 2 of our sitdown with Keagan Miller.  Keagan is a former CTT (Cryptologic Technical Technician) who served in the Navy from 2009-13. He worked at NSA Georgia in support of 5th fleet and intelligence agency operations in North Africa and Middle East such as the Libya mission in 2011, the anti-piracy mission in Somalia, as well as other intelligence support given to operations in Y...

Military operations grind to a halt without intelligence.  Both the human side (HUMINT) and the electronic side (SIGINT for signal intelligence) must be pursued relentlessly to give military operational forces their picture of the battlespace.  Yes, it's a lot of jargon and bullshit to say intelligence speaks to people and gets info from them, along with listening to cell phones and other electron...

We've got one exceptionally LONG episodes of headlines for you.  Danny and I discuss a bunch of new developments in Syria, Google's choice to not renew their contract to Project Maven, and discussion about Reality Winner and the Intercept.  Enjoy!!! 15:51 - The US / Turkey reach agreement over Syrian town 26:52 - New interim VA director Peter O’Rourke - updates on VA Mission Act 35:37 - The US is...

Danny and I are very excited to bring you the second half of our sit down with Tom Engelhardt, editor-in-chief and founder of TomDispatch, where he brings us amazing long form journalism from a huge group of writers about our national security apparatus and especially America's endless addiction to militarism.  Please go and pick up Tom's new book, "A Nation Unmade By War", an amazing collection o...

Danny and I are very excited to bring you the first half of our sit down with Tom Engelhardt, editor-in-chief and founder of TomDispatch, where he brings us amazing long form journalism from a huge group of writers about our national security apparatus and especially America's endless addiction to militarism.  Here, we discuss Tom's new book, "A Nation Unmade By War", along with his journey in cre...

America has many three letter agencies that perform a variety of tasks.  Law enforcement, tax collection, firearms investigations, customs and border security, and so forth.  Today, Danny and I discuss our intelligence community, and when we say 'intelligence community, we mean the SEVENTEEN intelligence agencies that perform intelligence missions of all sorts.  Somehow, we have seventeen of them....

I’ve fired around a half dozen belt fed weapons systems during my time in service; some bigger and louder than others, and all of them a kick ass way to spend an afternoon.  Well, that is until you realize the effects of firing them over a longer period of time. It’s not just loud noise or dangerous, hot metal. I remember spending an entire day working as a lane safety for a .50 cal machine gun ra...

As a prolific news junkie, there are some stories that I’m tired of reading about and the Niger investigation has become one of those stories.  Not because the news about Niger is especially horrible or specifically newsworthy, or because we’re seeing more and more expansion by AFRICOM into new corners of Africa; obviously, both those things are true.  My frustration with this is because of the fa...