The Proceedings Podcast

Petty Officer Nicholas Harris builds upon his March "From the Deckplates" article and argues that the fleet's current approach to mission readiness is missing the critical element of "individual lethality."

Retired intel officer Mike Dahm talks about how China took lessons from Operation Desert Storm and remade itself with foreign technology to build a formidable joint military force with expeditionary ambitions. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/march/chinas-desert-storm-education

Proceedings author Robert Stuart, USNR (Ret.) discusses his experience as a young sailor stationed aboard an aircraft carrier, what he learned, and why naval professionals should be interested in their naval history and heritage. He also offers advice to new Chief Petty Officers. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/standing-ready-korea

CAPT Brian Taddiken, USN and LT Kirsten Krock, USN, discuss how 66 years ago one of the Navy’s most secretive communities began. Its members went by the code word SOSUS, which means “Sound Surveillance System.” A new front line in the Cold War, they had one mission: FIND SUBMARINES. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/february/66-years-undersea-surveillance

Former Acting SECNAV Thomas Modly talks about his tenure in the job with a focus on his firing of CAPT Crozier in the wake of the CVN 71 CO leaking a memo to the press about COVID concerns. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/february/lessons-learned-helm-department-navy

CDR B.J. Armstrong, USN discusses his most recent Naval History article about how, in a commandeered Confederate steamer, Robert Smalls piloted himself and other slaves to freedom and garnered the plaudits of a grateful Union Navy. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/february/hero

Ensign Evan Twarog and Lieutenant (J.G.) Cody Williamson, U.S. Coast Guard discuss how the Coast Guard’s newest icebreakers will need to balance national security, statutory, and scientific research missions while operating in one of the most operationally complex maritime regions of the world. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/polar-security-cutters-will-face-evol...

Proceedings author BMC (Ret.) Jeff Bayless offers solid guidance and advice for those considering pursuing a commission. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/so-you-want-be-officer

Historian Ed Marolda reviews the U.S. Navy's lessons learned during Desert Storm. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/february/weathering-storm

Paul Kingsbury hosts FORCMs James Osborne and Kevin Goodrich and dives into force COVID impacts, CPO Initiation, and changes to the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist program.

ADM James A. Winnefeld, USN (Ret.), former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reminisces about his first time on the Joint Staff at the outset of Desert Storm. What did those days teach him that he used on active duty after that? And what lessons should the U.S. military take from Desert Storm as we focus on the return to great power competition? More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/...

LT Kyle Cregge discusses how to use enlisted sailors as warfare tactics instructors. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/unleash-enlisted-sailors-wtis

VADM Kitchener, CNSP ("The SWO Boss"), talks about new warfighting initiatives for the surface force. More: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/what-got-us-here-wont-get-us-there

Ward and Bill review the highlights of the first 199 episodes of the podcast and tee up soundbites from notable guests.

CDR Joel Holwitt discusses how CNO Zumwalt’s personnel policies and focus on sea control in the lean budget years of the 1970s can offer lessons to the present-day Navy.

Gen. David Berger, USMC, 38th Commandant, joins the podcast to talk about the Marine Corps might play an important role in ASW as the service refocuses on being a Fleet Marine Force. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/november/marines-will-help-fight-submarines

Three years following the Comprehensive Review, Retired Fleet Master Chief Paul Kingsbury picks up the discussion where Proceedings author John Cordle left off in his Dec 2019 blog piece titled, Manning Matters. Ward, Paul, John, and current USFF Fleet Master Chief, Rick O’Rawe discuss the causes and impacts of chronic shortfalls in fleet manning and offer some solutions.

Retired Fleet Master Chief Paul Kingsbury hosts Master Gunnery Sergeant Scott Stalker, current senior enlisted advisor for the Commander of the newly established U.S. Space Command to talk about current priorities and the importance of space as a warfare domain.

Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite talks about how a deep understanding of history has influenced his career both in and out of uniform.

USNI News reporter Megan Eckstein talks about her recently published study that illustrates how the Navy's carrier force has been overworked and is currently struggling to maintain deployment schedules. More here: https://news.usni.org/2020/11/12/no-margin-left-overworked-carrier-force-struggles-to-maintain-deployments-after-decades-of-overuse

The authors of "The Craft of Wargaming," a new book from USNI Press, discuss how to run a successful wargame and how military leaders can avoid drawing the wrong conclusions from the results.

Petty Officer First Class Ashley Derenbecker discusses whether shipboard damage control training prepares crews for real life situations. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/october/final-battle-problem-turn-it-11

LTJG Artem Sherbinin explains why he believes the Navy's Optimized Fleet Response Plan could break the fleet and hurt retention. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/october/fleet-without-rudder

VADM Daryl Caudle talks about the U.S. Navy's current and future efforts to sustain the competitive edge in submarine warfare. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/october/sustaining-submarine-forces-competitive-edge

Naval analyst Norman Polmar discusses how the end of World War II might have unfolded in far worse fashion had Japan proceeded with its biological-warfare option. More here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2020/october/japans-deadliest-weapons