A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

Readers will recall that for this year’s Thanksgiving message, we turned the page back to 1968 for the proclamation issued that year by President Lyndon Johnson. Even in a time plagued by war, unrest, and division, Johnson reminded the nation to not overlook all that was good. Inspired by the recent success of the Artemis 1 mission to lunar orbit, we will continue the theme of 1968 for our annual holiday message. That year ended with the historic Apollo 8 mission, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. During their return to Earth, astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders broadcast a televised greeting from space that was the most watched television program to that time. As the first humans to ever leave low Earth orbit and thus to be able to look back at our world in its entirety, they had a truly unprecedented vantage from which to bring good tidings to all. Though the words come from a specific religious text and tradition which these men shared, when placed in the context of that epic journey and the unsettled time at home, the underlying message seems to transcend any specific set of beliefs and speak to a perhaps common sense of awe and wonder when faced with the vastness of space and the universe. In that spirit, we share the Apollo 8 message in its written form and as a podcast with the original recording available on the podcatcher of your choice. And so to close the year, we here at War Room wish that you and yours may find a brief distraction from your troubles and a sense of hope and wonder like those of the Apollo 8 astronauts for what is still to come. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! We’ll see you in 2023.

Any conversation has two very basic players, the sender and the receiver. The intelligence conversation, at its most basic level, has the producer and the consumer. There are volumes written, schools, courses, and entire career fields and specialties dedicated to producing better intel, but how does one learn to be a better intelligence consumer? A BETTER PEACE welcomes LTG (R) Karen Gibson to shed some light on what commanders need to know to, not only be a better consumer, but to mentor and train intelligence professionals and staffers. She joins host Gen Lester, to share her experiences from over three decades in the intelligence community during which time she led intelligence-operations fusion centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, East Africa, and in the United States.

The war in Ukraine has been a fascinating study of the democratization of intelligence. That's a phrase coined by David Gioe in a recent article he wrote with Ken Stolworthy. David and Ken join host Gen Lester in the studio to discuss what has changed in the intelligence realm that makes information so readily available and effective for the Ukrainian forces. David notes that the gap between what the professional intelligence community knows and what the average citizen armed with an Internet connection can know has dramatically narrowed as the conflict drags on. The commercialization of intelligence has been growing for years, but now the enormous amount of open source information, collated and analyzed by both amateurs and professionals alike has led to operationalization by the military in ways never seen before.

The U.S. Army War College provides an outstanding strategic-level education to the military and civilian leaders of the DoD and other federal agencies. Each year, roughly 380 U.S. and international students attend the year-long resident course at Carlisle Barracks, PA. But what many people don’t realize is that at any given time there are nearly twice that many students enrolled in the distance education program receiving a similar quality education as those in the resident course and ultimately the same degree. Today we have COL Heather Smigowski, Chair of the Department of Distance Education, in the studio to describe the creation of the program and the changes it has undergone to become the present-day effort. Created in 1967 the distance program has evolved over the last five decades into a two-year program that is delivered both synchronously and asynchronously, online and for two weeks each year in-person in Carlisle. All of this is accomplished by board-selected students who navigate the courseware from their present duty (or deployed) location while performing their “day job,” often while serving in command positions. It’s a great conversation with podcast editor, Ron Granieri that looks at how the U.S. Army provides educational opportunities to the force around the world. Created in 1967 the distance program has evolved over the last five decades into a two-year program that is delivered both synchronously and asynchronously, online and for two weeks each year in-person in Carlisle. All of this is accomplished by board selected students who navigate the courseware from their present duty (or deployed) location while performing their “day job”, often in command positions. It’s a great conversation with podcast editor, Ron Granieri that looks at how the U.S. Army provides educational opportunities to the force around the world.

As part of our ongoing collaboration between A BETTER PEACE and the Army War College Civil-Military Relations Center, Celestino Perez joins podcast editor Ron Granieri for a wide-ranging discussion of civil-military relations. Tino notes that words like politics and partisan can have many different meanings. He argues that conversations and debates on the proper role and rules for military engagement with society would be more fruitful, if participants recognize these potential differences. Acknowledging these subtle differences is the first step toward better dialogue and understanding of this complex issue.

In October 2022 we published an episode examining the newly released National Security Strategy (NSS) and comparing it to its interim predecessor. Once the NSS is published there are a number of other strategic documents that are published that nest within the overarching guidance of the NSS. In this episode podcast editor Ron Granieri sits down with War College professors Bob Bradford and Tom Spahr to discuss the unclassified version of the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS). The capstone strategic guidance document for the Department of Defense (DoD), the NDS details priorities, identifies allies and adversaries, and spells out in grand macro terms the direction forward for the entire DoD. The analysis centers around the utility and the messaging of the document as well as the complimentary Missile Defense Review that was released along with the NDS. The three talk about plenty of familiar concepts like building partner capability and capacity, integrated deterrence and developing resilience that make for a great conversation.

Every year the amount of sheer talent, knowledge and experience that comes through the little town of Carlisle, PA is astounding. There is the student body at the Army War College and the nation's leaders that present as part of the curriculum, the number of academic powerhouses associated with Dickinson College and Penn State Dickinson Law, and the speaker program at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Added to that list is the J. Sherwood McGinnis, Jr. War, Peace and Justice Project (WPJP) which began its Fall/Winter presentation schedule in October this year. A BETTER PEACE was fortunate enough to sit down with two of the program's main presenters, General Sir Rupert Smith and LTG (Ret.) Jim Dubik, Ph.D., to discuss the project's main theme: "Why has it been so difficult to achieve peace and justice as a result of our conflicts?" The two soldier-authors shared their thoughts and experiences with podcast editor Ron Granieri in a captivating conversation. Be sure to check out the project's website at https://www.warpeacejustice.org/ for future events. And visit the Cumberland County Historical Society where the project was hosted the next time you're in Carlisle.

There are multiple facets to the civil-military relationship. How the military interacts with the civil society, or other governmental agencies or the relationship between the military and the civilian authorities charged with the control and direction of the military are all very different. Alice Hunt Friend is in the virtual studio to discuss her specific area of expertise - the elite levels of leadership, the folks participating in the highest levels of the government. She joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to examine some of the misunderstandings that exist and what has to be done to correct them. Their conversation centers on the role of politics in the civ-mil relationship, and the mis-characterization of political versus partisan. And while we're on the topic, the U.S. Army War College is pleased to announce the creation of its new Civil-Military Relations Center(CMRC). The center was created to sponsor and promote the development of a healthy, sustainable relationship between the American military, society, and political leaders through education, research, and outreach. Go check out the website and see the publications, podcasts, events and conferences designed to develop leaders, advance knowledge and connect professionals. https://cmrc.armywarcollege.edu/

Dating back to 1987 and the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the National Security Strategy (NSS) has become perhaps the most powerful single document to communicate the Executive branch's vision to Congress, the American people, the many departments of the U.S federal government, as well as foreign friends and foes. When President Biden took office in January 2021, his administration produced an interim NSS that many nicknamed the "skinny NSS" and released it March of that year. On 12 October 2022, the Biden-Harris administration released an updated NSS. We've got Carrie A. Lee and J.P. Clark in the studio to examine the contents of the new document and talk about what has changed, what is emphasized and what the new NSS communicates to the world. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to highlight the themes and messages in the new product that is now twice as large as the original interim NSS.

Successful military organizations are always assessing and adapting; this includes methods of command and control. The joint task forces with constituent air, land, and maritime components currently used by the U.S. military have demonstrated benefits, but are all too often ad hoc structures that take too long to stand up and fight as a cohesive team. Tom Bruscino and Lou Yuengert are in the studio to talk about their recently released manuscript, The Future of the Joint Warfighting Headquarters: An Alternative Approach to the Joint Task Force, which they wrote with fellow authors Eric Bissonette, Kelvin Mote, Matthew Powell, Marc Sanborn and James Watts. Tom and Lou argue that now is the time to create standing, numbered, and regionally aligned joint warfighting headquarters— American Expeditionary Forces (AEFs)—around a command council and a staff organized into Joint centers and cells. They join host Darrell Driver to share the thought process behind the organizational structure and why the U.S. military must become a superior and sustainable joint force sooner than its adversaries.