ep 48: Extremely Unserious
In early February, in the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol “riot,” Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, ordered a 60-day stand-down within all the military branches in order to address extremism in the ranks. Despite an October 2020 Pentagon report commissioned by Congress that concluded extremist views were not widespread and identified "a low number…
ep 47: Conduct Unbecoming
IN THE NEWS: Grandpa Doc; Biden Trips; Space Force growing Techs; SFJROTC; GAO gets in on Space Command HQ relo; UFO report coming due; Space Force NATSEC Nip Slip; National Guard D.C. extension; And we're staying in Afghanistan; Generals acting badly; Where are the cars and buildings we bought in Afghanistan?; Iran satellite psyche-out; A…
ep 46: Florida Fiasco
In 1812, the United States government tried to annex Spanish East Florida by a combination of covert action and direct invasion. Then the plan went horribly wrong. The “Patriots' War'” in Spanish East Florida during 1812-13 was an early example of a military disaster caused by a secret, flawed political policy. The characteristics of this…
ep 45: TRUMP!
IN THE NEWS: Mike saves Tiger; Space takes a back seat; Trump; Paski mocks Space Force; Floaty Bois; IG probes Space Force relo; Trump; Capitol fence ain't going away any time soon; The National Guard may not either; Biden's Three Stooges Syria Solution; 'American is Back' like it was before; Trump; We ain't leaving Afghanistan;…
ep 44: Too L8, They’re Gone
To the mysteries of the sky add the case of the U.S. Navy blimp, L-8. Since the dawn of aviation, aircraft have flown into the clouds never to be seen again. The L-8 disappeared into the clouds all right, but when she reappeared and eventually came back down to earth, she was missing her crew!…
ep 43: Bits and Bytes
IN THE NEWS: We were right about COVID; Space Force is here to stay; Star Gate; Alabama wins Space Force; The Cyber Force?; A General understatement; Specialists; Lockheed to the rescue for $5B; Space Force season 2; Biden locked out; National Guard parked in the garage; "Let them eat cookies"; Extremists in the Guard; 404-1776…
ep 42: The Thresher’s Tale
On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher, the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered submarines, went down with all hands 220-miles off the coast of Cape Cod. It was the deadliest submarine disaster in U.S. naval history. The loss of the Thresher was never fully explained and the Navy never released the report on…
ep 41: “Guardians” of the Galaxy
IN THE NEWS: Farewell Caroline Creech; Space Force "Guardians"; Be Like Star Trek; Space Force wins international tournament; Yolo, PS5 > letters of discipline; Is unclaimed money waiting for you?; Ghosts in the wires; Smaller paychecks for GI's; BMI is bad; The Galactic Federation is watching; USAF shopping for flying cars; Told you: Army has…
ep 40: Merry Christmas Drop
Merry Christmas! For 69-years the US Air Force has performed what has become the oldest continuing Department of Defense mission and the longest-running humanitarian airlift in the world. Every year, the multinational Operation Christmas Drop brings school supplies, clothing, rice, fishing equipment, and toys to more than 50 remote Pacific islands throughout the Commonwealth of…
ep 39: I Want A Lawyer
IN THE NEWS: Spotify's #1 Podcast; Space Force theme song; Space Force has new Chiefs; China rivalry; Missile warnings; Vets in Congress at all-time low; Gen Mattis doesn't get it; Military's biggest AI challenge; DISA did Teams; Pandemic stirs bio-attack worries; NASA says mystery object is not an asteroid; C130s to influence election runoff?; Old…
ep 38: Broken Arrow
Seven and a half hours into their training mission, Major Howard Richardson and his Boeing B-47B Stratojet flight crew finally began to relax after an evening of deploying electronic counter-measures and chaff to evade prowling North American F-86 fighters. The sky was clear and the moon was full. Heading south at 35,000 feet and 495…
ep 37: Pilot Protection Program
IN THE NEWS: Podcaster Stories; Space command gets a home; Space policy czar; Schriever Exercise; Space warfare and the secret X-37B space plane; Robots or Astronauts?; Space Force boot camp; International Space Station turns 20; DOD leaders acting like douchebags; Exercise in USFK; Welcome home troops; Like father, like son in the AOR; The United…
ep 36: Top Secret Courage
In 1968, Chief Master Sergeant Richard "Dick Etchberger was part of a covert CIA and USAF team working out of a small radar site on a remote mountain in Laos called Lima Site 85. He was part of a highly-classified operation called "Project Heavy Green." At this time, Laos was a neutral country, so it…
ep 35: White Feather
He's the most famous sniper you’ve probably never heard of. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos N. Hathcock II was a Marine Scout Sniper who served two tours in Vietnam, first in 1966, and returning in 1969. Until the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq he held the record for the most confirmed kills in the United States…
ep 34: YOU’RE FIRED!
IN THE NEWS: You're fired!; Space Force deploys; Charlie Brown in TIME's 100; Training for the new Cold War; What's old is new again; Nellis leads the way; Army's new A.I., sorta, not really; Three big Army deployments! What could it mean?; Beetle Bailey turns 70; The Navy has a real pirate ship; Big new…
ep 33: Surviving COVID with The Fired-Up Chief
Chief Master Sergeant Juan Lewis served 28-years in the U.S. Air Force before retiring from active service. During his career, the former Services troop held many key billets on Joint Task Forces, NATO, and as the Wing Command Chief on several bases. He was given the moniker, the "Fired-Up Chief," by the Airmen he led…
ep 32: Fort Hoodlum w/ SFC Ron Barteau
The U.S. Army's Fort Hood is on track to have the biggest year yet in soldier deaths due to accidents, illness, suicide, and murder! The Texas military installation, on which Army psychiatrist Maj Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 others in a 2009 mass shooting, has seen more than its share of bloodshed.…
ep 31: Military Murder
What drives military members to murder? Maybe it's the violent nature of the work; or some childhood trauma; or a psychological disorder; or maybe they're just bad people. Maybe it's all of these things or a combination or none of them. The truth is we often don't know what compels someone to kill. If you're…
ep 30: Semper ‘Sup
IN THE NEWS: 'Sup with the Space Force motto?; A Space Force second; House wants Navy ranks in Space Force; Poland is the new Germany; F-16s moving out; Beirut blast; U.S. military delivers; Pentagon shuts down has-been colonels; Chinese military told to stand-down; Space X Splashdown; New UFO task force; Air Force helicopter takes fire…
ep 29: “The Bomb” is 75
Ever since the American occupation of the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, the main Japanese islands had been under constant bombardment by long-range bombers of the United States. The city of Tokyo and many other cities on the Japanese mainland were leveled by day-and-night firebomb raids. As Italy and Germany had already done, Japan was…
ep 28: Self Before Service
IN THE NEWS: Killer garden gnomes; Time wasters; The Space Force 2400; Space Force partners with the UK; What Trump knows about Roswell; Racial bias in grooming standards; Drawdown in Iraq; Moving troops in Germany; The military's assault on religious liberty; Congress "okays" senior leader promotions; Rogue leaders; New Senior NCOs in the Air Force;…
ep 27: Snooze You Loose
Most of you have probably heard of Antonio López de Santa Anna, the self-proclaimed "Napoleon of the West," and the story of the Alamo. What you probably haven't heard is how, just a few months after the Alamo, Santa Anna parked his army directly next to Sam Houston's much smaller American force by the San…
ep 26: The Protest Episode
In the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, what may have begun as peaceful protests against racism quickly turned violent, as riots and looting broke out throughout the city, then rapidly moved across the country. The military was not unaffected by this turmoil, as National Guard troops were…
ep 25: To Boldly Digress
The Amazing 25th Episode Podcast Spectacular! Of course, it's really no different than our regular episodes...okay, so it's a regular episode, but it's special because it's number 25--a podcast milestone! To celebrate #25, we talk about the origin of The Digression Podcast on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And, as…
ep 24: Bad Apple
In the news: The DOJ cracks the Pensacola terrorist iPhone and they’re pissed at Apple; Apple is also pissed at the DOJ; Corporations are People, too; A new Space Force Chief is enshrined on the Leadership Wall; Space Force goes on the road to explain Space Force; A new look at USAF mission-capable ratings; The…
