A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

To many people the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is as foreign as the countries in which our embassies are placed. Fortunately, we here at A BETTER PEACE know some people, and on this episode we welcome Andrea Gastaldo to share her experiences as the Director of the Department of State’s Political-Military Bureau Office of State-Defense Integration (PM/SDI). That particular office may not be familiar to most military folks but the Foreign Policy Advisor or POLAD program that Andrea is responsible for probably rings a bell. She joins our own Associate Editor Amanda Cronkhite in the next installment of this multi-part series to discuss the details of a program that probably has more direct contact with the military and combatant command leaderships than any other office in DOS. Andrea has served as a POLAD to the Commanding General of U.S. Army North and has experience around the world in such places as South Africa, Belarus and New Zealand. Her current position finds her recruiting and mentoring future POLADs and that experience makes her the perfect guest to conduct the next installment of what we're calling DOS 101. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-094-DOS-101-FOREIGN-POLICY-ADVISORS-Transcript.pdf

In April 2020 we published an article that argued for the removal of the official photo from the Army's promotion and selection process. The goal was to eliminate a source of bias from the process and the Army took notice and removed the photo requirement. Bonnie "Buffie" Clemente joins podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to discuss how the officer evaluation system still has sources of bias that have to be addressed to ensure a true meritocracy. Buffie brings to bear her years of experience with evaluations and promotion boards to identify both conscious and unconscious forms of bias in the system and the way ahead to try and minimize their impact. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-062-FREE-OF-BIAS-ARMY-OFFICER-EVALUATIONS-Transcript.pdf

Land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, that is the multi-domain environment that the Army sees operations occurring in from now forward. What does this shift in viewing the environment mean for all the aspects of raising and sustaining an army and all of its interactions and interdependencies in the joint force? Doctrine is being written and re-written across the force to adapt to this new schema, but all the doctrine in the world is useless if there aren't leaders in place that understand it and execute it. Jeff Barta joins podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to talk about the efforts of Army University to change, synchronize, modernize and distribute the education and training necessary to develop the leaders of today and tomorrow to operate in the multi-domain environment. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-072-INFLECTION-POINT-ARMY-LEADER-DEVELOPMENT-STRATEGY-Transcript.pdf

It's highly unlikely you'll ever hear a military leader say "I've got all the money and time I need to execute the mission." And when a global pandemic, aging infrastructure, and the end of a multi-decade war all drive federal spending towards domestic priorities, defense budgets get even tighter. Enter the practice of divestiture. Sustainment is the most expensive portion of a weapon system's life cycle, and there comes a time when it's more cost effective to get rid of the system and find something new to do the job. Adam Miller joins podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to discuss why getting rid of things is harder than it sounds. They talk about a budgetary system that doesn't incentivize divestiture, personal and professional biases that get in the way, and an acquisition system that is a baffling maze of rules, regulations, terms and acronyms. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-067-ITS-TIME-TO-LET-GO-ACQUISITION-DIVESTITURE-Transcript.pdf

Last year our WARGAMING ROOM editor, Ken Gilliam, sat down with a soon-to-graduate War College student to get her impression of the use of wargames in the classroom. A BETTER PEACE welcomes War College graduate Tina Cancel to the studio to share her thoughts and experiences with LEGO® Serious Play® and the War College created game, Joint Overmatch. Ken has recently retired and moved on to a new career and this was fitting as his final episode because Tina confirms the benefits of all of his hard work during his time as the Director of Strategic Wargaming at the Center for Strategic Leadership and gives him some great feedback to pass on to his successor. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-037-WARGAMING-IN-THE-SEMINAR-A-STUDENTS-VIEW-WARGAMING-ROOM-Transcript.pdf

The DoD has touted the civilian expertise of the National Guard and Reserve members of the force for years. Whether it was the small town mayor or civil engineer working Civil Affairs, or the physician or aviator applying their civilian "day job" skills directly to their military career fields, there are a number of incredibly successful matches that make the reserve component of the force invaluable. But what about all of the folks that have military jobs that look nothing like what they do in the civilian world? Andrew Vidourek and Rob Gerlach want to make sure the Army knows about all of the skills that exist among Guard and Reserve personnel, and specifically those that aren't properly matched. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to pitch a new approach to better talent management through technology. Their plan is to create a database of certified civilian expertise that is accessible, searchable and readily matches people to jobs that suit their talents. Their goal is to improve recruiting, retention, job satisfaction and ultimately lethality in the reserve component. Transcript: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-073-THE-ARMYS-GOT-TALENT-IN-RESERVES-Transcript.pdf

"If the Army wanted you to have a family they would have issued you one!" It's been a while since that phrase was in fashion, but if you do the math these days it might actually seem like the Army wants you to have a family. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Rachael Hoagland to look at the financial policies that actually incentivize Soldiers to get married, and at the same disadvantage single service members. Rachael joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to look at how the good intentions of the service to help provide for Army families unintentionally creates a pay/benefit gap that can lead to rash decisions. She proposes some solutions (don't worry she's not trying to take away money from married Soldiers) and lays out the cost to benefit ratio. Transcript: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-074-MONEY-MARRIAGE-AND-MILITARY-LIFE-Transcript.pdf

The U.S. Department of Defense has had its difficulties over the last decade with recruiting and retention. The high operations tempo of the last 20 years, long separations, the danger of combat, and an ever-shrinking pool of eligible recruits are just some of the factors that have made the sustainment of the force more difficult than in many years past. The all-volunteer force depends on attracting, recruiting, and retaining the right people and managing that talent properly. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Robert Gerlach and Silas Martinez to discuss a project that hopes to address the attracting and recruiting aspect and hopefully indirectly improve the retention piece. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to explain Rob's unique Strategy Research Project (SRP). Creating the first ever video SRP, Rob worked with his advisor, Silas, to try and solve a real problem for the U.S. Army by answering a unique question; "What if the Army Museum Enterprise could be utilized to attract or identify the right people to the Army and make sure they find their way into the ranks?" Transcript: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-077-HONORING-THE-PAST-WHILE-SPEAKING-TO-THE-FUTURE-Transcript.pdf

In September 2019 we introduced you to the Eisenhower Series College Program (ESCP). Though we are approaching life as we remember it pre-COVID, travel limitations significantly limited the ESCP from visiting colleges and universities, interacting with audiences often unfamiliar with members of the U.S. Military. It is our hope at WAR ROOM to bring you a glimpse of what some of those presentations might have looked like via A BETTER PEACE. In the third and final episode of academic year 2021 our podcast editor Ron Granieri is joined by War College students and ESCP members Rena Henderson-Alailima, Jeff Munn and Nicholas Ploetz. Today's conversation addresses the internal dimensions of strategy. Once again three professional military officers and leaders apply the sum total of their experiences to examine climate change, the resulting resourcing strategy and the future of autonomous technology as it all impacts military strategy. Transcript: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-088-STRATEGY-FROM-THE-INSIDE-OUT-EISENHOWER-SERIES-Transcript.pdf

Wars are costly affairs. It costs money to raise and train and equip militaries. The cost to rebuild societies after the destruction of battle is tremendous. But most costly is the staggering human cost of war. And so as we approach Memorial Day in the United States it's only fitting that this episode examines how the nation memorializes and honors those who have died in service to their country. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Kate Clarke Lemay to examine the history and significance of military cemeteries around the world. She joins our Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Whitt to discuss her study of U.S. military cemeteries and her book "Triumph of the Dead: American World War Two Cemeteries, Monuments and Diplomacy in France". Their conversation covers the art and architecture of the cemeteries, along with the politics and diplomacy of their locations and creation. Honoring and remembering the war dead speaks to the fabric of a nation's morality as well as the lengths it will go to in defense of its beliefs. Transcript: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-082-HONORING-THE-WAR-DEAD-AMERICAS-MILITARY-CEMETERIES-Transcript.pdf