Underground Strategy

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with retired U.S. Army infantry officer and Director for Strategic Innovation at US Space Command, Dr. Ben Zweibelson, about his new book, Bad War Stories. Zweibelson, a veteran of multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, shuns both heroic myth and overt polemic to deliver a raw, philosophical memoir of modern conflict. He explores the chaos,...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with educator, archaeologist, and former World War I Centennial Commissioner Monique Brouillet Seefried , co-author of Général Louis Dio: The Wartime Epic of One of Free France's Greatest Soldiers, 1940-1946 . As the goddaughter of General Louis Dio , she brings a uniquely personal perspective to the life of one of Free France’s most rem...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with historian and former civil servant Phil McCarty about his new book Point of Failure: British Brigadiers in France and Norway, 1940 . Drawing on decades of government service and years of academic research, McCarty examines the careers, decisions, and battlefield experiences of the brigadiers who led the British Army through one of its m...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with historian and author Alexander S. Burns about his book Infantry in Battle, 1733–1783. Burns challenges the long-standing myth that 18th-century infantry were rigid automatons following rote drill. Instead, his work reveals a far more dynamic reality — one where soldiers and officers constantly negotiated tactics, adapted to terrain, and...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with writer and historian Gabriel Neville, author of The Last Men Standing: The 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution. Gabriel shares the remarkable story of one of Virginia’s most distinctive regiments — a force shaped by frontier experience, cultural diversity, and the harsh realities of early American warfare. Drawing on two de...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with aerospace engineer, pilot, and author Bill Norton about his groundbreaking new series Air-to-Air Missiles: Development and Combat Across 80 Years. Drawing on decades of experience in flight testing and aeronautical engineering, Bill explores the evolution of guided air combat weapons—from their World War II prototypes to the latest fift...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with historian Glenn Price, author of Soldiers and Civilians, Transport and Provisions: Early Modern Military Logistics and Supply Systems during the British Civil Wars 1638–1653. Glenn discusses the often-overlooked world of logistics and supply during the British Civil Wars, exploring how armies were fed, equipped, and kept moving amid the...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with historian Karen Horn, author of Bold in Battle: South African Stories from the Second World War. Karen shares how her work brings to life the overlooked experiences of South African volunteers who served across Africa and Europe — men and women whose stories have long remained in the margins of military history. Drawing on personal diar...

In this inaugural episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia sits down with Helion & Company founder and CEO Duncan Rogers to explore the origins of one of the world’s leading military history publishers. Duncan shares how his lifelong passion for military history evolved into the founding of Helion in 1996, and how that passion continues to drive the company today. They discuss the evolution o...

In this episode of Helion Talks, host Tony Garcia speaks with historian and author Michael Fredholm von Essen about his new two-volume series Whiskey on the Rocks — an in-depth exploration of a tense Cold War standoff between the Soviet Union and Sweden. Michael recounts the extraordinary events of October 1981, when a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine ran aground near a major Swedish naval base, spa...

A small state, big pressures—Botswana built its army late and cautiously. In this season finale, we sit down with Bafumiki Mocheregwa, a historian and academic at the University of Southern Mississippi who studies the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) and Southern African military history. The conversation explores how Botswana built its armed forces late—only in 1977—after relying for years on the Pol...

In this episode, we’re joined by John Gordon Sennett, a U.S. Marine veteran, writer, and co-author of Accidental Ukrainians, a personal chronicle of war, survival, and adaptation from inside Ukraine. John and his wife Natasha Sennett moved to Kiev just before the invasion began. What started as a family decision quickly turned into a frontline life. From volunteering in the early days of war to ch...

In this episode, we’re joined again by Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Jean-Pierre Scherman of the South African National Defence Force—a returning guest with deep operational experience and a sharp eye for military history. This time, we turn to Operation Boleas: the 1998 intervention in Lesotho that tested the SANDF just four years after its formation. We get into the real story behind the headlines—why...

This week on the Underground Strategy Podcast, Max Lauker continues the conversation with Andy Balaam, former Selous Scout and veteran of some of the Bush War’s most daring missions. In Part 2, Balaam walks us through the attack on Nyadzonya itself — from the buildup on the parade ground to the destruction of the camp, the clearing of huts, and the tense withdrawal across the border. He also refle...

This week on the Underground Strategy Podcast, Max Lauker is joined once again by Andy Balaam, former Selous Scout and veteran of some of the Bush War’s most daring missions. After walking us through Operation Long John, Balaam now turns to Operation Eland. In August 1976, fewer than a hundred Scouts crossed into Mozambique in a flying column, targeting a ZANLA base at Nyadzonya. Stay tuned for Pa...

In this episode, we’re joined once again by military scholar and practitioner Amos Fox for a fast-paced listener Q&A tackling some of the most pressing questions in contemporary warfare. From the blurred lines between war and peace to the myth of maneuver and the limits of tech, this one hits hard. We talk endurance, positional warfare and why most armies still get strategy wrong. Fox brings s...

In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Tarak Barkawi—an international relations scholar, military historian, and sharp critic of the way we often misunderstand war. We talk about everything from colonial troops and battlefield ritual to the power of memoirs and the global legacy of regimental tradition. From the jungles of Burma to the camps of Korea, Barkawi explores what really drives soldie...

In this episode, we turn our focus to one of the most iconic campaigns of the Second World War—the battle for North Africa. From the strategic significance of the Suez Canal and Middle Eastern oil to the rise and fall of Rommel’s legend, the North African campaign shaped the course of the global conflict in unexpected ways. We’re joined by Lt. Col. Dr. Jean-Pierre Scherman of the South African Nat...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Serhii Velychanskyi, we shift from combat to recovery—exploring how war leaves marks that can’t be seen from the outside, and how humor can help heal them. After serving on the front lines in Irpin and Kharkiv, Serhii transitioned into Ukraine’s Center for Morale and Psychological Support, where he began using improvisational theater as a recovery tool. He walks...

In Part 1 of our conversation with Serhii Velychanskyi, we follow his journey from civilian to frontline soldier in Ukraine’s 130th Territorial Defense Battalion—where he took part in the defense of Kyiv and the liberation of Irpin and Kharkiv. Serhii walks us through those early days of the full-scale Russian invasion: the uncertainty, the shelling, and the harsh lessons learned on the ground. Bu...

The third part of our Fortress Britain series takes us north, where Gordon Barclay joins us for a deep dive into Scotland’s defense plans during the Second World War—and how they’ve been misunderstood ever since. We talk about stop lines, airfield vulnerabilities, pillbox design, and the sheer logistical push it took to prepare the country for invasion. Gordon breaks down how anti-tank ditches, co...

In this episode, we explore the Zimbabwean liberation struggle—a war that redefined Southern Africa and left lasting political and military scars across the region. Takawira Chatambudza joins us to unpack the origins of the nationalist movements, the split between ZANU and ZAPU, and how their armed wings—ZANLA and ZIPRA—fought on different fronts with different doctrines. We talk about guerrilla t...

The second part of our Fortress Britain series takes us to the windswept beaches of northeast Scotland, where archeology meets military history. Tony and Alessandro link up with Bruce Mann—a senior Historic Environment Officer and real-world battlefield archaeologist—to walk through pillboxes, anti-tank blocks, and the overlooked coastal defenses that still dot the landscape today. We talk about h...

In the first of our Fortress Britain episodes, we step back from the secret guerrilla units and look at the bigger picture—how ready was the UK, really, to stop a German invasion in 1940? Andrew Chatterton returns to break down Britain’s physical defenses—from the rapid construction of stop lines and pillboxes to the strategic thinking behind them. We talk about how much of the country was actuall...

In this episode, we’re joined by Roman Kuzyuk, First Deputy CEO of Viysktorgservice and co-author of Management in Times of War . Roman brings a unique mix of experience to the table—from corporate governance and martial arts to frontline logistics within Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. We explore the transformation of Ukraine’s defense sector, the challenges of legacy systems, and the ongoing figh...