#3--Devon Sanderfield, Nathaniel Baker, and Michael Carreiro

In this episode, we discuss:

*What the Infantry Battalion-Experiment (IBX) is

*Alpha Company’s structure and rank-billet requirements

*How the company is supposed to conduct Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

*Grumbling from some of the enlisted leaders over the new rank-billet requirements

*Lt Carreiro’s experience in A/1/2 so far including what’s surprised him most

*What it’s like having Sgt fire team leaders and SSgt squad leaders

*The expanded platoon and company headquarters elements

*The rifle squads’ two-fire team construct

*Advice for future platoon commanders who might serve in an IBX-like unit

*Gunny Baker’s experiences in the company so far, including what it’s like being a platoon sergeant again

*His advice for future gunny platoon sergeants

*The data being collected on A/1/2

*The drones in A/1/2

*The Arms Room concept

*Logistics in A/1/2

*The Infantry Marine Course

*The criticism that the IBX, in its current form, is trying to replicate a Ranger battalion with a portion of the gear and none (or comparatively very little) of the training

*How A/1/2 would have operated in places like Iraq or Afghanistan and in a counterinsurgency more generally

*What's been most surprising about the new kinds of equipment the unit is using or has experimented with

*A/1/2’s relationship with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab

*Some of the training exercises and experiments A/1/2 has conducted

*The role of security clearances in the new technology available to A/1/2

*Where the company has failed

*The role of PME in the company

*Where IBX should go from here

*How the war in Ukraine is influencing A/1/2

*The one thing each guest would like the audience to take from what they’re doing in Alpha Company and the IBX

Links

"2nd Marine Division | Infantry Battalion Experiment," Defense Flash News

"2030 Infantry Battalions," Headquarters Marine Corps