Tactics and Operations

  1. 03/08/2024

    Systems Confrontation - Maneuver Warfare with Chinese Characteristics

    In our first video episode, our host Major Josh White discusses Chinese Systems Destruction doctrine and how the Marine Corps can counter it with Chief Warrant Office 3 Frank Chisowski.

  2. 12/21/2023

    Adaptability - Lessons Learned from Ia Drang with Major Josh White and Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Bargerstock

    In this episode, we discuss what is often argued to be the greatest predictor of success on the battlefield - adaptability. We discuss LTG Harold "Hal" Moore (Ret), and his actions at and leading up to the Battle of Ia Drang as well as how to train our units to be adaptable.

  3. 09/22/2023

    Unit Training Course- Improving Combat Effectiveness Through Training Management

    In this episode we discuss MCTOGs most frequent course, the Unit Training Course (UTC), formerly known as Prep for Combat (P4C) and Unit Readiness Planning Course (URPC). We talk about the evolution of the course from it's inception to present day and how it is improving combat effectiveness in units across the MAGTF. This weeks guests are Master Sergent Austin Morgan, Course Chief; GySgt Sean Justice, Lead Instructor; Mr. Dave McCulloh, Camp Pendleton Site Lead, and Mr. Nate Hunt, Camp Lejeune site lead.

  4. 08/01/2023

    Network Engagement Course w/Capt Jake Marvell, MSgt Eric Anderson, GySgt Jordan Kelly

    In this episode we discuss the Network Engagement Course offered by MCTOG. We cover the origin of the concept, its evolution and its applicability to 21st Century conflict and Maneuver Warfare.

  5. 06/02/2023

    Intentional Design of Training with Maj Phil Hanf and Maj Josh White

    In this episode we discuss what it means to be intentional in the design of training for the GCE. We discuss the difficulties of training both technical and adaptive skills informed by experiences and observed trends from units training at MWX

  6. 05/08/2023

    Urban Training: Division and Above with BG Robert Wooldridge

    Concluding our series on urban operations, we talk to BG Robert Wooldridge of 40th Infantry Division California National Guard about his push to create an Urban Warfare Training Center and why conducting urban operations above the brigade level deserves its own dedicated training effort.

  7. 04/24/2023

    MWX 2-23 Postgame Show with Maj Kelsey Gibson

    In our first semi-annual MAGTF Warfighting Exercise postgame show, we discuss what went down during MWX 2-23 and what we can learn from it.

  8. 04/10/2023

    Urban Training: Brigade and Below with Maj Steve Collins and Capt Tom Wilson

    In part 3 of our series on urban warfare, we discuss urban training focused at the brigade and below level with the subject-matter experts from the USMC Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group’s urban team.

  9. 03/27/2023

    Concepts of C2 with Maj Josh White and MGySgt Paul O’Donnell

    What is a concept of command and control, really? To help us answer, we talk to Maj White and MGySgt O’Donnell, two Marines with experience at C2 at the battalion and teaching it at MCTOG.

  10. 02/28/2023

    Wargaming as Training with Maj Zachary Schwartz and SSgt David Wood

    Wargaming isn’t just something that goes on at think tanks in the Beltway, it is an indispensable part of a unit training plan. In this episode we discuss why and how you can start wargaming with your unit right now.

  11. 02/13/2023

    Future Cities with Stu Lyle and MAJ Shaun Clarke

    We are speaking with Stu Lyle, urban lead at the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, and his British Army counterpart Major Shaun Clarke, about the trajectory of cities and its implications for urban operations.

  12. 01/30/2023

    Tenets of Urban Operations with MAJ Jayson Geroux

    In this episode, we unpack ten historical trends in urban operations with one of the leading experts on urban warfare, MAJ Jayson Geroux of the Canadian Armed Forces.

  13. 01/16/2023

    Defeat Mechanisms and Maneuver Warfare with John Schmitt

    In this final episode in our series on Maneuver Warfare, we go to the man responsible for FMFM 1 Warfighting and its successor MCDP 1. We talk about Warfighting’s continued relevance and where improvements could be made in a revision.

  14. 01/02/2023

    The Fantasy of MCDP 1 with LtCol Tad Drake

    In 2020, LtCol Tad Drake wrote “The Fantasy of MCDP 1” for the Marine Corps Gazette. In this penultimate episode in our series on Maneuver Warfare, we discuss his reservations about MCDP 1 Warfighting as doctrine and philosophy.

  15. 12/12/2022

    Boyd, the Godfather of Maneuver Warfare with Maj Ian Brown

    In this episode we try to cut through some of the myth and misinformation surrounding John Boyd’s theory by talking with one of the foremost experts on it: Maj Ian Brown, author of A New Conception of War.

  16. 11/28/2022

    Is There a Historical Basis for Maneuver Warfare with Dr. Bruce Gudmundsson

    In this episode, we discuss possible historical examples of Maneuver Warfare in practice, including the 1940 Battle of France.

  17. 11/14/2022

    Maneuver Warfare on the Gridiron with Coach Mark Malcolm

    In this episode, we explore the intersections of Maneuver Warfare and American Football with an innovative coach who has put the tenets of Maneuver Warfare into practice over a 40-year career.

  18. 10/31/2022

    Criticizing Maneuver Warfare with LtCol John Meixner

    In this first installment of a series exploring maneuver warfare, we hear some criticisms from one of its skeptics, LtCol John Meixner, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

  19. 10/17/2022

    What We Learned From the 2-Year MWX Final Exercise Report

    In March 2022, the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed MAGTFTC to review two years’ worth of exercise reports from the MAGTF Warfighting Exercise and report on the overarching trends. In this episode, Scott Kinner, LtCol Andy Hornfeck, and Maj AJ Cillo discuss the eight trends identified in the report.

  20. 10/03/2022

    Decision Games with Dr. Bruce Gudmundsson

    Dr. Bruce Gudmundsson talks about his journey from Marine to professional historian and leading proponent of decision forcing cases. We then discuss the uses of decision forcing cases and tactical decision games as part of an intentionally-designed training strategy.

  21. 06/03/2020

    Rapid Planning Model with Nate Jones and Gunnery Sergeant Anthony Link

    Planning can take many forms- week-long slogs through every conceivable detail to five minute decisions made by commanders. MCTOG has refined a model for how a battalion staff can run through a modified MCPP rapidly, giving them the agility to respond to changing circumstances or new directives from higher. AARs of free play exercises commonly reference the speed with which units can process new information and turn it into something operational. Only by doing so faster than the enemy can you gain an advantage. The Rapid Planning Model can help you do just that.

  22. 05/24/2020

    Artificial Intelligence with Capt. Justin Snell and Maj. Jason Harris

    Captain Snell is the Models and Simulations Officer for MCTOG and a  graduate of Naval Postgraduate School studying the same. Major Harris is  the current XO of MCTOG, and has written a graduate level thesis on the  subject of AI implementation in the military. By their powers combined,  they will get us to a point where we can understand real-world AI and  it's implications and uses without referencing Skynet.

  23. 05/13/2020

    Andragogy: Latin for "Multiple Choice Tests are Dumb" with Dr. Gene Coughlin

    Andragogy, or Adult Learning, is the science of how a fully formed brain learns as opposed to how a child's brain learns. Weirdly enough, it's SUPER different. First I explain some of the basics models that make up the field of andragogy, then my guest and I discuss implications for TECOM and the Marine Corps, how to specifically apply them to training at the battalion level or below, and generally muck about making fun of bad learning experiences that we've had or seen.

  24. 05/03/2020

    Maneuver Warfare with Major Nate Jones

    Major Nate Jones led the development of Advanced Maneuver Warfare Course, MCTOG's resident PME that focuses on developing the abilities of Operations and Intelligence Officers and Chiefs to implement maneuver warfare philosophy in tactical (battalion-level) planning.  He and a small team developed the course over the course of just a few months, with direct intent to root its lessons in the MCDP series of documents, while also connecting it to real-world historical examples. The Tactics and Operations Podcast sat down with him to get his thoughts on Maneuver Warfare and what it really is.