Midrats

Join us this Memorial Day for one of our favorite shows from our first year with guests; holder of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., USN (Ret), and the author of Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea, David Sears as they talk about the role of Naval Aviation in the Korean War. Stuck between the Greatest Generation's...

We are coming up on the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Jutland.  Stop for a moment, close your eyes, and then tell me what image comes to mind.   If your image is of a huge mass of steel coming at you out from the mist at 25-knots belching out sun-blocking clouds of coal-smoke and burned black powder and searing fingers of flame pushing tons of armor-piercing explosives, then this is the sh...

The best fiction doesn't just entertain, it informs and causes the reader to think. Our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern is August Cole, the co-author with P.W. Singer of one of the best received military fiction novels on the last year, Ghost Fleet: An Novel of the Next World War. August is an author and analyst specializing in national security issues. He is a nonresident s...

For the career minded Naval professional, to have a chance for the greatest advancement and promotion, you have to push and push hard. The reputation you build in your first 10 years sets the tone for the rest. Except for very rare exceptions, there are no second chances. There are no pauses - one iffy set of orders - one poorly timed FITREP, and you are on an off-ramp. You must work harder, you m...

When does the Long War go feet wet?   Given the track record of the preceding couple of decades, it was expected shortly after the start of this phase of the war after 911, that terrorists would take the war to sea. There was an incident now and then, but the threat never really played out to the extent we thought early on. Recent events point to the possibility that this may be changing, in perha...

Spring is here, and from the Baltic to the Beltway, there is a lot to catch up with. Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" for a national security catch-up. As with all free-for-alls - phones are open. Give us a call!

Do we have the right balance between strike as embodied by carrier air and expeditionary forces based around amphibious ships. What capability is most cost effective and gives the combatant commanders the most flexible assets in their area of responsibility? What is driving our Fleet structure, and do we have the right mix? What is informing our decisions, and what should be informing it? Our gues...

What is the impact of the right man at the right time with the right ideas? What is the impact of what seems to some as just a man, but to a son is all? Our 1st Guest will be LCDR BJ Armstrong author of, 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era . For the second half of the hour we will have Stephen Roderick author of, The Magical Stranger: A Son's Journey into His Father's...

Since its ascendency to the premier maritime power, the US Navy - especially in the area of undersea warfare - has been at the leading edge of using technology to get a military edge.  During the Cold War, significant and steady progress in the first two steps of the kill chain against submarines, location and tracking, made the prospect of engaging superior numbers of Soviet submarine forces mana...

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? This Sunday, September 9th from 5-6pm EST, our guest for the full hour to discuss this and more will be Brigadier General Donald A. McGregor, the Deputy Director of Operations for Domes...

What happens when a global maritime power finds itself in a position where it can no longer sustain the global presence it once considered an essential requirement? The US Navy has been in a period of decline in both numbers and capability for awhile, and as budgetary reality sets in and burn out starts to hollow remaining capabilities - the decline is set to continue for at least another decade....

The wartime record of the US Navy in under four years of combat from late 1941’s low point to the September 1945 anchoring in Tokyo Bay did not happen by chance. It did not happen through luck, or through quick thinking. It happened through a process of dedicated, deliberate, disciplined and driven effort over two decades in the intra-war period. What were the mindset, process, leadership, and fra...

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...