Midrats

In the mid-1930s, Leni Riefenstahl showed the power of the latest communication technology of her time to move opinion, bring support, and intimidate potential opponents. The last quarter century's work of Moore's Law in the ability to distribute visual data world wide in an instant has completely change the ability of even the smallest groups with the most threadbare budgets to create significant...

Claims hundreds of year old in the South China Sea are being acted on today. Ethnic tensions that date back to recorded time are returning to the surface with renewed importance. Regardless of what may be happening in the Middle East or Europe, China and the nations that border the South China Sea have their own set of priorities they will pursue this year. To discuss the present state of play in...

We're back live after a mid-winter break! If there were some topics you'd like us to cover, or want to call in with a question for the hosts - now is your time. We have a full and open hour. Call in at the number above or join in the chatroom as we catch up on the developments in the national security arena this month. From the Med, to the South China Sea, to shipbuilding, to Syria, and whatever e...

Looking for a "Best of" this Valentine's Day, I realized there is a guest we need to bring back on for an update. With Russia being Russia, you have to think Big Things that make Big Booms. From a bit more than three years ago, They're back; ICBM, IRBM, SRBM. Strategic forces. Long range strike and long range counter-air. Some real old ones are coming back in to the lexicon: ABM. Some new ones hav...

From shortly after he was The Under and prior to moving on to DepSecDef, Bob Work came on to discuss the broad picture. When one hangs up the uniform after decades of service, but still wants to contribute to their nations national security needs, what paths can that take? How does one find a path forward, and what are the keys to success? In a budgetary challenge not seen by the US military in tw...

From the same school as "If you want peace, prepare for war," a global maritime power must maintain a presence at sea. It must design a national strategy in line with its economic capability and political will, and make sure it mans, trains, and equips its navy in line with the design. If presence is a critical function of a navy, how is it best accomplished, what are the tradeoffs, and how does i...

How do we get combat integration of women right? The quest has moved well away from "if" and in to "how." With an apparent broad disconnect between biological realities, cultural norms, and political desires, what is the right way for military leaders to carry out their orders while ensuring that combat effectiveness is maintained. Our guest to discuss this and related issues for the full hour wil...

A decade and a half of ongoing ground combat under their belt, what are the hard-won lessons we need to keep, and what should be left behind? Looking forward, what are the challenges our ground forces need to make sure they are prepared to meet?  From growing conventional strength from nations who desire to challenge our nation's global position, to the unending requirements for Counter Insurgency...

Yes Shipmates ... we are now in our 6th year of Midrats! To mark the day, we are going to have a radically different format as a thank you gift to our listeners. The focus of the show today is one question; "Where do you see as the most critical thing to watch for Navy and Marine Corp issues in 2016." To get the answer, we are bringing on a series of prior guests one at a time in their own segment...

How do you balance cost, risk, peacetime habits and wartime requirements in designing and using the world's largest Navy? How do we maximize the most the utility of our platforms now, and create a future fleet best suited for what is coming up? Our guest for the full hour to discuss will be Barney Rubel, CAPT, USN (Ret.). Robert C. “Barney” Rubel is a retired naval officer. From 2006 to 2014, he w...

While good ideas are often forgotten, bad ideas seem to pop up over an over again - especially the sexy ones that sound so good, but never seem to work well. The answer, of course, is to try again and hope for a better result. Some would argue that sea swap is one of those sexy ideas that just isn't that practical in actual operation. A good idea? One of the good ideas mostly forgotten is that of...

From a 2012 show; everyone knows CENTCOM, many know PACOM or EUCOM ... but what about NORTHCOM? What is their role in national defense, and what special role does it have inside the United States - specifically in disaster response? Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and more will be Brigadier General Donald A. McGregor, in 2012 the Deputy Director of Operations for Domestic Operations, H...

How do you design a game that has practical tactical application to the naval tactician?  Even more ambitious, how do you make one accessible and understandable with the goal of making it a mobile wargame for eventual use by sailors and warfare commands. For today's show we will discuss one of the projects of the CNO's Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC), the game "Fleet Battle School." Our guests to dis...

When a nation of laws goes to war, their laws go with them.  In a decade and a half of fighting terrorism, the laws that define our actions overseas and at home have morphed as the threat and strategy for dealing with it has. From fighting ISIS, operating with and in failed states, dealing with the expanding "refugee crisis," to keeping the balance between security and safety - what has the legal...

With a lot of new listeners in the last year, I thought I would bring back a show from our first year, 2010. When you mention the possibility of an Electro Magnetic Pulse attack (EMP) - people have a reaction of, "What?" - either that or they get all fidgety or roll their eyes. Is the EMP threat trick or treat? Our guests will be Jason Sigger, defense policy analyst, opinion writer and blogg'r for...

This Sunday we are going to look at the big pixels that supports the entire national security infrastructure above it. Using his recent article in The National Interest, The Real Threat to America's Military (And It's Not China, Russia or Iran), we will tackle the greatest challenge of a world power - those things it has no one else to blame for. Procurement, strategy, and the choices we make. The...

This Sunday for the full hour our guest will be author Claude Berube to discuss his second Connor Stark novel, Syren's Song, from Naval Institute Press. From the Amazon page; "Syren's Song is the second novel featuring Connor Stark, and it promises to be just as engaging asThe Aden Effect. This geopolitical thriller begins when the Sri Lankan navy is unexpectedly attacked by a resurgent and separa...

It is that time of the year ... time for a Fall Free For All on Midrats. No guests, no agenda, open phones, open topics, open mic. Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "Eaglespeak" for a full hour as we dive in to the national security topics of the day with a maritime bent - or whatever topics break above the background noise. This is your chance by calling in or by throwing it out in...

If the requirement is to be able to operate, fight, and win in the Littorals - is the Littoral Combat Ship the answer? Other nations have the same requirement - yet have come up with different answers. Are we defining our requirements properly in face of larger Fleet needs and the threats we expect? What platforms and systems need to be looked at closer if we are to have the best mix of capabiliti...

As 2015 starts its final act, where is China heading? From her Great Wall of Sand in the South China Sea, to economic stress, and her increasingly nervous neighbors, where does the USA and her allies need to adjust to China’s expanding footprint globally, and where do they need to stand firm? Our guest for the full hour to discuss this and more will be James Kraska. Dr. James Kraska is Professor i...

How did the US Marine Corps and local tribal leaders turn the corner in Fallujah?  Who were the people on the ground, Iraqi and American, who were the catalyst for the change that brought about a sea change in the tactical, operational, and strategic direction in Iraq? Our guest for the full hour to discuss that and more will be author Bill Ardolino. We will use as a base of our discussion his new...

One man's chore is another man's hobby. Another man's dread, is the other's fantasy. Such, in a fashion, is Program Management in the Navy. To be a good one, step one is to be self-aware. From his latest article in USNI's Proceedings, Confessions of a Major Program Manager, Captain Mark Vandroff, USN just lays it out; "Face it: Everyone hates MPMs. For the budget-conscious officials in the Pentago...

Wars are full of accidental battles, unexpected horror, and the valor of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Often lost in the sweeping stories of the Pacific in WWII, there is a story that - if not for one man's inability to properly recognize one ship from another - should have never have happened. Because of that one man's mistake, and a leader's stubborn enthusiasm to double down o...

There is a fair bit of talk about the rush for the arctic for economic and strategic reasons - and where there is international interest on the seas, the nations involved need to think about what is the best way to secure their interests. While the initial thought might be Navy - is the natural answer really the Coast Guard? If the USCG is the right answer, is it trained, manned and equipped for t...

Last week, the Naval Academy Museum opened a new exhibit “Warrior Writers: The U.S. Naval Institute" that will run through Jan. 31, 2016. The exhibit features literary work primarily from junior officers during their active duty service since the 1870’s. The majority of the literature focuses on controversies, issues, and trends of the time and is accompanied by over 100 artifacts including writin...