From the Crows' Nest

In today’s episode of From the Crows’ Nest, Host Ken Miller is joined by Dr. Adam Lowther to discuss the evolution of US nuclear weapons policy since the end of the Cold War and into this new age of Great Power Competition.  Global security is changing rapidly, and we are required to rethink our underlying assumptions, especially as Russia invades Ukraine and China opportunistically takes advantage of current events to strengthen its strategic goals in the Pacific. Dr. Lowther is an author and editor of a new book entitled, Guide to Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Great-Power Competition. He is currently the Director of Multidomain Operations at the Army Management Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. He was the founding director of the US Air Force’s School of Advanced Nuclear Deterrence Studies at Kirtland Air Force Base. The views expressed are his own and do not represent those of the United States government. For more information on the Association of Old Crows, please visit here.

Host Ken Miller sits down with journalist and author, Michael Fabey, to discuss his new book, Heavy Metal – The Hard Days and Nights of the Shipyard Workers who Build America’s Supercarriers. The book chronicles the building of the USS John F. Kennedy, the 2nd Ford-class supercarrier. He takes us into the lives and stories of the shipyard workers who build these “cities on the sea” and provides us insight into the revitalization of the American labor movement. Michael Fabey has reported on military and naval affairs for most of his career. In his work for National Geographic Traveler, the Economist Group, Defense News, Aviation Week, and Janes, he has collected more than two dozen reporting awards, including the prestigious Timothy White Award. His first book, Crashback, provides an account of the power struggle between the U.S. and China in the Pacific.To learn more and purchase his books, visit here. Listeners will also enjoy his recent article in Medium entitled, “Why what happened to the Russian warship Moskva won’t happen to American aircraft carriers,” here.

The congressional defense budget process will be heating up over the next few weeks. To understand what we should expect for defense funding in the fiscal year 2022, Ken Miller talks with Madison Strader Arcangeli and Katy Nazaretova of Forza DC, a federal strategies and consulting firm that helps organizations engage with Capitol Hill over defense, technology, and cyber security issues. Madison and Katy break down the National Defense Authorization Act and Defense Appropriations Bill, explaining how these bills differ from each other and what each bill covers. We also discuss the big-ticket items the defense budget committee will grapple with, how congressional staff will navigate the political dance of defense bills, and what the future holds for the responsible defense budgets. To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

From Ukraine to China, NATO to Congress, a lot has happened in May. In this episode, host Ken Miller talks with JED editor, John Knowles to take a step back and discuss where these topics stand in the EW community. John and Ken particularly discuss how these current conflicts have generated a lot of new interest in EMSO, and they ask the question: how can we move EMSO past this type of episodic interest driven by conflict to become a sustained and managed practice? John and Ken also update us on the new phase of conflict in Ukraine, the role of EMSO in NATO, and what the Russia-Ukraine conflict implies for China and Taiwan. To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage. 

In this episode, host Ken Miller sits down with Col. William “Dollar” Young, Commander of the USAF 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing to discuss how the Air Force is addressing the challenges of achieving and sustaining EMS Superiority. Ken and Dollar talked at the AOC Dixie Crow Symposium 2022 in March in Warner Robins, GA.Let us know what you think of From the Crows’ Nest! The Association of Old Crows wants our podcasts to serve you, our audience, in the best ways possible. Please take just a moment to rate us or comment wherever you down our podcast.Thank you!

In this episode of From the Crows’ Nest, host Ken Miller revisits Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and sits down with Bryan Clark and Dan Patt from the Hudson Institute to discuss their new report, “One Size Fits None: Overhauling JADC2 to Prioritize the Warfighter and Exploit Adversaries Weaknesses.” Ken, Bryan and Dan talk about the need to think differently about JADC2, an ambitious and potentially costly vision that may miss the mark when it comes to its primary customer – the warfighter. As technology changes at the tactical edge, the Defense Department must change the way it conducts business and implements potentially game-changing capabilities for the joint forces.

In this episode, host Ken Miller welcomes Col. Jeffery Fischer, USAF (Ret), to discuss current developments in Ukraine and how the conflict may change how we think about fighting in the electromagnetic spectrum. Jeff is a 30-year Military Aviator and Electronic Warfare Officer with seven combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. He flew both the Air Force's EC-130H Compass Call and the EA-6B Prowler while on a joint exchange with the US Navy. He also served as Diplomatic Defense Official to U.S. Embassies in Austria and Kosovo and at NATO Special Operations Headquarters in Mons, Belgium. Today he is a consultant and author of military fiction thrillers. You can learn more here.Let us know what you think of From the Crows’ Nest! The Association of Old Crows wants our podcasts to serve you, our audience, in the best ways possible. Please take just a few minutes to complete our 2022 listener survey, because your opinion is very important to us. Thank you!

In this episode, host Ken Miller welcomes a group of young engineers from NAVAIR at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. In recent years, the local Association of Old Crows chapter at NAS Pax River coordinates the visit of a group of early career young engineers to the annual AOC Symposium and Convention in Washington, DC. Ken sits down with three representatives from this group - Troy Robinson, Kyle Robinson-Jordan, and Kaylee Arceo – to talk about their unique education and career journeys and the impact they can have on their field at NAVAIR.  Let us know what you think of From the Crows’ Nest! The Association of Old Crows wants our podcasts to serve you, our audience, in the best ways possible. Please take just a few minutes to complete our 2022 listener survey, because your opinion is very important to us. Thank you!

In this episode, host Ken Miller welcomes guest, Dr. Karen Zita Haigh. She is an author, speaker, and consultant on Cognitive Electronic Warfare and Embedded Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). She recently co-authored a new book, Cognitive Electronic Warfare: An Artificial Intelligence Approach. They discuss how cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in electronic warfare (EW) and how these new technologies force us to rethink our underlying assumptions about a conflict environment. Let us know what you think of From the Crows’ Nest! The Association of Old Crows wants our podcasts to serve you, our audience, in the best ways possible. So please take just a few minutes to complete our 2022 listener survey because your opinion is very important to us. Thank you!

In this episode, host Tala Alshaboot fills in for usual host Ken Miller to talk about a topic that has become the focal point of world news the past few days. Tala sits with JED editor, John Knowles to talk about the unfolding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and what that means for the state of EMSO, the possible implications of the conflict on the U.S., and the likelihood of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine extending to space.