A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

[VON STEUBEN] WAS THE RIGHT MAN AT THE RIGHT PLACE AND THE RIGHT TIME. In the next installment of in our Dusty Shelves series, "Building the Continental Army: Von Steuben's 'Blue Book'," Jack Giblin and Jacqueline E. Whitt tell the story behind the Continental Army's first training manual. Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was a Prussian Army officer who volunteered to come to the American colonies and serve as inspector general for the Continental Army. His book, entitled Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States would become the standard U.S. Army drill manual through 1812.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/18-003-Giblin-Whitt-DS-vonSteuben-Blue-Book-Final.mp3   You may also download a copy of the podcast here. Click here to access a full PDF version of the Blue Book (warning: 26MB!). Or, click here to access the Blue Book at the U.S. Library of Congress, which allows access to individual pages.   Jack Giblin is the Chief of Visitor and Education Services at the Army Heritage and Education Center. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and WAR ROOM podcast editor. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Image: Portrait extracted from "Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus, Baron von Steuben," by Ralph Earl 1786 (public domain) via the U.S. National Park Service. Inside cover of the Blue Book from the U.S. Army website. Composite assembled by Tom Galvin.   Posts in the "Dusty Shelves" series: BOOK LOVERS NEED APPLY: A DUSTY SHELVES PODCASTHOW A HOMING PIGEON SAVED THE LOST BATTALION OF WORLD WAR I (DUSTY SHELVES)COOK’S ‘MIDNIGHT DRAWINGS’ AND THEIR HAUNTING VIEWS OF WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)BUILDING THE CONTINENTAL ARMY: VON STEUBEN’S “BLUE BOOK” (DUSTY SHELVES)RECEIPT: BOMB, ATOMIC, 1 EACH (DUSTY SHELVES)NSC-68: THE POLICY DOCUMENT THAT SHAPED THE COLD WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)RIDGWAY’S MEMO: “WHY WE ARE HERE” (DUSTY SHELVES)

This [National Security Strategy] sort of fits the mold, in that it is strong on ends, aspirations, and vision, but vague on ways. In this podcast, four members of the U.S. Army War College engage in dialogue about the Trump Administration's National Security Strategy (NSS), released in December 2017. Beyond focusing on the content of the strategy itself, they look at it through a historical lens. What is new and what is unchanged from previous strategies may be surprising.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/18-011-NSS-roundtable-Final.mp3   You can also download the podcast here.   Mark Duckenfield is Chair of the Department of National Security Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. Richard Lacquement is Dean of the School of Strategic Landpower at the U.S. Army War College. Michelle Ryan is a colonel in the U.S. Army and Director of the National Security Policy Program at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and WAR ROOM's Podcast Editor. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, and Department of Defense. Photo Credit:  The White House.

Washington [will] realize early on that he is playing a losing hand and has to change how he plays that hand. This inaugural episode of the Great Captains series focuses on George Washington from his early career aspirations as a colonel in the British (!) Army to leadership of the American Revolution. Throughout, Washington's ability to learn from previous failure, understanding of British weaknesses, concern for his troops helped him overcome the uncertainty about the revolution's success. Len Fullenkamp and Andrew A. Hill discuss this compelling but lesser known side of General George Washington. WAR ROOM podcast editor Jacqueline E. Whitt introduces the episode with a backgrounder on the Great Captains series.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/18-001-Fullenkamp-Hill-GC-Washington.mp3   You may also download the podcast here.   Len Fullenkamp is a military historian and retired Professor of National Security Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Andrew A. Hill is editor-in-chief of WAR ROOM. The views expressed in this production are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. Image: George Washington on horseback in snow at Valley Forge. By Percy Moran, 1911. Posts in the "Great Captains" series: KNOWING WHEN A WAR IS UNWINNABLE — GENERAL FREDERICK C. WEYAND (GREAT CAPTAINS)AN UNBEATEN ROMAN GENERAL: SCIPIO AFRICANUS (GREAT CAPTAINS)KNOW THY ENEMY: OSAMA BIN LADEN & RISE OF THE NON-STATE ACTOR (GREAT CAPTAINS)GEORGE C. MARSHALL & LEADING THE NATIONAL WAR EFFORT (GREAT CAPTAINS)THE PARTNERSHIP OF ROBERT E. LEE AND STONEWALL JACKSON (GREAT CAPTAINS)HANNIBAL AND THE MARCH THROUGH THE ALPS (GREAT CAPTAINS)WILLIAM T. SHERMAN: THE FIRST ‘MODERN’ GENERAL (GREAT CAPTAINS)GEORGE WASHINGTON: THE LESSONS OF FAILURE (GREAT CAPTAINS)

[Operation Christmas Drop] says a great thing about the ability to train and operate in the real world environment. ... The humanitarian mission has always been a part of the military. Sometimes great traditions happen by accident or circumstance. Spur of the moment actions by an aircrew in 1952 have grown to become an annual multinational humanitarian assistance event. Operation Christmas Drop is a airdrop mission conducted each December to deliver supplies to citizens of remote Pacific Islands. In this podcast, U.S. Air Force officer Buck Haberichter tells the history and significance of the mission, along with his own personal experiences. War Room podcast editor Jacqueline E. Whitt moderates. Buck Haberichter is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a faculty instructor at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is a professor of strategy at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense. Photo Description: A C-130 Hercules from Yokota Air Base, Japan, drops a low-cost, low-altitude bundle over the Federated States of Micronesia during Operation Christmas Drop Dec.13, 2015. Operation Christmas Drop is the Department of Defense`s longest running humanitarian mission covering 56 remote islands in Micronesia. Photo Credit:  U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Melissa K. Mekpongsatorn

This is a hand receipt unlike any other. … Imagine instead of signing for an office key or a computer, … you’ve just taken responsibility for the first atomic weapon. Military historian Con Crane tells the story behind an unusual hand receipt, showing the transfer of responsibility of the components of the ‘Little Boy’ atomic weapon to Thomas Ferrell, Deputy Director of the Manhattan Project. Mr. Ferrell kept the receipt in his wallet for the rest of his life, and it eventually came into possession of the Army Heritage and Education Center. A fascinating story of bureaucracy at work! War Room podcast editor Jacqueline E. Whitt moderates.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/17-102-Crane-Whitt-Atomic-Bomb-Hand-Receipt-RLS.mp3   You can also download a copy of the podcast here. Below is a graphic of the hand-receipt.   Con Crane is a military historian with the Army Heritage and Education Center and associated editor of War Room. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in the podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. Photo: Photograph of a mock-up of the Little Boy nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.  Photo Credit: U.S. National Archives. Posts in the "Dusty Shelves" series: BOOK LOVERS NEED APPLY: A DUSTY SHELVES PODCASTHOW A HOMING PIGEON SAVED THE LOST BATTALION OF WORLD WAR I (DUSTY SHELVES)COOK’S ‘MIDNIGHT DRAWINGS’ AND THEIR HAUNTING VIEWS OF WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)BUILDING THE CONTINENTAL ARMY: VON STEUBEN’S “BLUE BOOK” (DUSTY SHELVES)RECEIPT: BOMB, ATOMIC, 1 EACH (DUSTY SHELVES)NSC-68: THE POLICY DOCUMENT THAT SHAPED THE COLD WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)RIDGWAY’S MEMO: “WHY WE ARE HERE” (DUSTY SHELVES)

[9/11] was a mixture of the intensity of doing my job with the surreal. Strategic intelligence plays a vital role in the national security policy arena, but it is not well-understood because of its secret nature and the tendency for both policymakers and the public to pay attention to it generally only after a crisis has occurred. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 signaled a major shift in the way strategic intelligence functions within the U.S. This podcast presents an insider’s view of this evolution. War Room welcomes special guest Michael Morell, former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010-2013, culminating a thirty-three year career in the agency. This included being with President George W. Bush during 9/11 and witnessing the deliberations of key strategic decisions that followed. Dr. Genevieve Lester, the War College’s De Serio Chair of Strategic Intelligence, moderates.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/17-110-Morell-Lester-War-on-Terror-RLS.mp3   You can also download a copy of the podcast here.     Michael Morell is former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010-2013. Genevieve Lester is the De Serio Chair of Strategic Intelligence at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

[PRESIDENT TRUMAN] WAS INTERESTED IN TAKING A LOOK AT AMERICA'S POSITION IN THE WORLD. In 1950, competition between the U.S. and its Allies and the Soviet Union was growing in intensity. Concerned over debt and seeming fragility of post-World War II peace, President Truman felt was time to re-examine “our objectives in peace and war and the effect of these objectives on our strategic plans.” The resulting document, National Security Council Report no. 68, would become the foundation of national security policy through the Cold War. Dr. Tami Davis Biddle examines the policy and the individuals responsible for its preparation, particularly Paul Nitze and George Kennan. She also discusses NSC 68 as an example of grand strategy and why it is so difficult to craft such a powerful and broad national security policy today. War Room podcast editor Jacqueline E. Whitt moderates.   https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/17-105-Biddle-Whitt-NSC-68-RLS.mp3   You can also download a copy of the podcast here.   Tami Davis Biddle is Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy and the U.S. Army War College and War Room's podcast editor. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. Image composed by Tom Galvin. Eagle photo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, cover of NSC 68 from the Truman Presidential Archives. Posts in the "Dusty Shelves" series: BOOK LOVERS NEED APPLY: A DUSTY SHELVES PODCASTHOW A HOMING PIGEON SAVED THE LOST BATTALION OF WORLD WAR I (DUSTY SHELVES)COOK’S ‘MIDNIGHT DRAWINGS’ AND THEIR HAUNTING VIEWS OF WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)BUILDING THE CONTINENTAL ARMY: VON STEUBEN’S “BLUE BOOK” (DUSTY SHELVES)RECEIPT: BOMB, ATOMIC, 1 EACH (DUSTY SHELVES)NSC-68: THE POLICY DOCUMENT THAT SHAPED THE COLD WAR (DUSTY SHELVES)RIDGWAY’S MEMO: “WHY WE ARE HERE” (DUSTY SHELVES)

The 2017 release of a television series on Vietnam War from director Ken Burns has renewed interest and controversy surrounding the purpose of the war and its effects. In this podcast, military historian, retired U.S. Army War College professor, and Vietnam veteran Len Fullenkamp presents his perspective on why the U.S. became involved. He also discusses the social and political change that happened at the same time, and how institutions such as education and political structures changed as a result. What does the Vietnam experience teach us about matters of national security policy today? What should military leaders learn from Vietnam so they may better render best military advice to their civilian overseers?

War Room welcomes Dr. Rob Farley, author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force, to discuss and critique the National Security Act of 1947 which included the establishment of an independent Air Force. Was it wise to separate the Air Force from the Army and pursue an unrealized promise of airpower solving national security problems on its own? Is the interservice rivalry that followed more destructive than helpful – and did the Goldwater-Nichols Act do enough to mitigate it? What can one learn from the establishment of an independent air force when considering new or emerging domains such as space or cyber? These and other questions are debated under the moderation of Dr. Mark Duckenfield, Chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College.

In this podcast, military historian Len Fullenkamp reflects on the importance of immersing oneself in the minds of strategic leaders facing dynamic and complex situations. One tool is the staff ride, an opportunity to walk a battlefield and understand the strategic perspective of the leaders prosecuting a campaign. What was the decision made then and what can it teach us about strategic decisions now?