517 episodes

Navy Milbloggers Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" discuss leading issues and developments for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and related national security issues.

Midrats Midrats

    • News
    • 4.8 • 82 Ratings

Navy Milbloggers Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" discuss leading issues and developments for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and related national security issues.

    Episode 683: The Urgent Need for U.S. Maritime Reform with William Cahill

    Episode 683: The Urgent Need for U.S. Maritime Reform with William Cahill

    If people are policy and policy shapes decisions, then that is the start in understanding why a nation like the USA wound up neglecting what should be a core sector of not just its economy, but its strategic advantage - its civilian maritime industry.

    Using his recent article, The Urgent Need for U.S. Maritime Reform as a starting point, our guest for the full hour is William Cahill.

    Will is president of Applied Maritime Sciences, a maritime technology and strategy consultancy. He served as Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council and Maritime Advisor on the Council of Economic Advisers where he helped develop and lead Interagency efforts to enhance American maritime competitiveness. During his 20 years as a Coast Guard officer, Will completed numerous operational tours both at sea as a Cutterman and at air stations as a Coast Guard aviator. Will holds degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine engineering from the USCGA and a Master of Public Policy from Princeton University. 

    • 1 hr 3 min
    Episode 682: Seablindness, from the Mother Country to her Children

    Episode 682: Seablindness, from the Mother Country to her Children

    Especially for the Royal Navy, it was assumed the military leaders, politicians, and the general population understood that they were island nations and that their security and prosperity depended on a strong navy and civilian maritime commerce. 

    Even the greatest naval power of the last century, the United States of America seems to be unable to have people understand why it needs a strong navy. What happened?

    Focused primarily on the core of the issue with the Royal Navy, our guest for the full hour to discuss the scourge of seablindness will be Dr James WE Smith, the Laughton-Corbett Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London.

    He completed his PhD in ‘War and Strategic Studies’ that focused on studying the organization of defense and defense unification in the UK and US and how that impacts strategy and strategic thought. This has complemented a broader research effort which has taken nearly fifteen years about the devaluation of sea, navies and maritime strategy in nations and strategic thought from seabed to space.

    Links:
    'Seablindness' and the Royal Navy TodayThe US Navy versus Seablindness: par for the course for America?You can follow James on X, or his substack.

    • 1 hr 11 min
    Episode 681: Midrats March Melee!

    Episode 681: Midrats March Melee!

    Feel like the chaos from the Black Sea, Red Sea, South China Sea and various places ashore seems just too much to keep track of?

    Well, if you need an hour to catch up and ponder as Sal & Eagle One will take you from the Houthi's sinking their first ship, Darwinism at war, to the US Navy heading in to Haiphong witih guns blazing ... for peace.

    • 1 hr 18 min
    Episode 680: The Military-Industrial Complex Wears a White Hat

    Episode 680: The Military-Industrial Complex Wears a White Hat

    From the February 12th guest post over at Sal's substack, our guest today opened with a firm point;"..the combat performance of U.S. Navy destroyers in the Red Sea against a variety of weapons employed by the Houthis from Yemen stands as a monument to decades of brilliance, hard work, and dedication across generations of naval officers, government civilians, industry executives, talented engineers and technologists, assembly line workers, and shipbuilders. THIS—is the military-industrial complex, and it works."

    Returning for another visit to Midrats to dive into his arguments about where the Military Industrial Complex puts "Ws" on the board and related topics will be Bryan McGrath, CDR, USN (Ret.).

    Bryan is the Managing Director of The FerryBridge Group LLC, a defense consultancy. The opinions expressed here are his.

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Episode 679: The Eternally, Irreplaceably Vulnerable: Aircraft Carrier at War

    Episode 679: The Eternally, Irreplaceably Vulnerable: Aircraft Carrier at War

    The vulnerability of aircraft carriers is nothing new. They are vulnerable not just because of how they are designed - really just a thin hulled ship full of fuel and explosives - but because of what they do.

    At peace and at war, there is no other platform that can project power and national will on a global scale at sea than an aircraft carrier. As such, everyone either wants one, or wants to sink one - or both.While many people think of the Pacific wars of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam as places where the US Navy's aircraft carriers could operate at will and dominate everything, that really was not the case until late 1944.The reality was quite different before then. Proper use of carriers was mostly about husbanding carriers’s limited resources while still getting max value out of them.That will be the topic of today's show with returning guest Dr. John T. Kuehn.

    John is Professor of Military History at the Army Command and General Staff College. He served in the US Navy as a naval flight officer flying in EP-3s and ES-3s, retiring in 2004.

    He has authored or co-authored seven books and was awarded a Vandevort Prize from the Society for Military History in 2023 for his article “Zumwalt, Holloway, and the Soviet Navy Threat Leadership in a Time of Strategic, Social, and Cultural Change.”His latest book from is Strategy in Crisis (Naval Institute, 2023).

    • 1 hr 7 min
    Episode 678: January Free For All

    Episode 678: January Free For All

    Feel like there is too much going on in the national security world to keep up with?

    Well, let your heart not be troubled. Mark & Sal will deliver a full hour of discussion of not just what's breaking in to the news in the last week of January 2024, but whatever else pops up.

    Iranian proxies causing American military losses from Jordan to the Horn of Africa; Iranian drone carriers to America's need for some inventive ideas to bring more VLS cells forward sooner - with some ASBM pondering thrown in for good measure.

    • 1 hr 6 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
82 Ratings

82 Ratings

cm3340 ,

Good stuff!

I enjoy your topics and speakers you have. It is insightful and educational. You guys bring up good topics not easily found in regular media

Sailor1992 ,

A definite must-follow podcast

Midrats is definitely a great podcast for anyone who wants a timely maritime perspective on national security issues. Sal and Eagle One very effectively use their own experiences as part of the greater broad background on the germane maritime issues of the day for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. I am always impressed with their ability to draw upon a broad assemblage of interviewees from Naval, Joint, and Coalition backgrounds.

Stephen Grishnackh ,

Great content week after week

Essential listening for members and students of the US Navy.

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