MCA Scuttlebutt

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week, we welcome the Vice President of the Marine Corps Association Foundation, retired Col Tim Mundy, to the scuttlebutt. With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, we thought it would be fun to bring someone who is the son of, and father of, a Marine. We mention in the conversation how “Hallmark holidays” are not really our bag, but having the opportunity to talk to someone like Col Mundy about the dynamics of both growing up in a Marine family and raising kids in a Marine household seemed really interesting. We’ve wanted to get Tim on the show for some time, so this was the perfect excuse. For those who aren’t familiar with the Mundy name, Tim’s dad, Gen Carl Mundy, was the 30th Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving in that role from 1991 to 1995. Before you roll your eyes, thinking of course we would interview a Commandant’s kid, it was really beautiful to hear Tim’s story of growing up with a father who would become Commandant, serving as an infantry officer during his dad’s tenure as Commandant, and the lessons his dad imparted upon him as he became a father in uniform. This was a great opportunity to hear some of the more human sides of Marine “celebrity” and how, at the end of the day, whether you’re the Commandant or a PFC, the relationship between a father and son knows no rank.   Enjoy!  <p>The post #248: Son, Father, Marine with Col Tim Mundy (Ret.) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This is an episode that we wanted to do when we first thought up the idea of hosting a podcast, but never really thought we would actually get to do it. This week, it is an honor to welcome the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Eric Smith, and the 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj Carlos Ruiz to the scuttlebutt. The Commandant and Sergeant Major talk to us about prioritizing the amphibious ready group and MEUs, their thoughts on what a MEU should like look and the demand signal from the combatant commanders for this capability, how important the quality of life improvement initiatives are to them, their focus on suicide prevention, and the impact seven years of force design has had on the Marine Corps’ role in the Joint Force.  Also, a huge shout-out to Maj Nick Cline and GySgt Jordan Gilbert for their hard work in making this happen.   Enjoy!  <p>The post #232: A Conversation with the Commandant and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us at the scuttlebutt. This week, we welcome retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Adam Walker back to the show. Adam is on deck to talk with us about the Marine Corps’ new E-8 Redesignation pilot program, which gives master sergeants and first sergeants a one-time option to “lat move” between the E-8 designations. Adam helps us understand the career progression for senior enlisted Marines, namely what happens when a gunnery sergeant is promoted, the differences between a first sergeant and master sergeant, how the Marine Corps views its E-8s differently from the other Services, and the significance of this policy change. Talking with Adam is always a lot of fun and super informative. This is a unique opportunity to see behind the curtain on how Marines are promoted and how this program addresses two of the primary things Marines are opposed to: how things are and change.   You can also catch more of Adam’s wit and insight in his recurring segment, Lessons from the Smoke Pit, in Leatherneck magazine. Shameless plug, but it’s definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!  <p>The post #230: Thoughts on the E-8 Redesignation Board Pilot Program with MGySgt Adam Walker (Ret) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and for your continued support. In Dec of 2025, the Commandant’s office released Gen Smith’s update to the Commandant’s Professional Reading List. In our pursuit of enabling professional development and self-study, throughout 2026, we will be doing a series of deep dives into the CPRL and some of Gen Smith’s selections through “Amazon reviews,” sometimes with the help of some of friends of the show and distinguished authors. This week, the editor-in-chief of Leatherneck and Marine Corps Gazette magazines, Col Chris Woodbridge, helps us introduce the series by providing background and history on the Commandant’s Professional Reading List, what it is, and the Commandant’s office’s intent in publishing this list of books. I always thought the CPRL was a staple of the Marine Corps since Gen Lejeune first made intellectual development a focus of combat readiness, so it was really interesting to hear about how the CRPL came to be and how it has evolved.   Enjoy!  mca-marines.org/commandants-professional-reading-list  marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/4351724/update-to-the-commandants-professional-reading-list-for-fiscal-year-26  <p>The post #228: Introduction to our Commandant’s Professional Reading List Series first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in. If you’re like me, the news cycle churns at a dizzying pace, and events come and go off the radar like submarines in The Hunt for Red October. To that, the situation in Venezuela is still very fluid and fraught with hazards. Carrier groups remain in the Caribbean, and there are clearly forces still operating in the Pacific near Central and South America. To help us digest all that has transpired in Venezuela and understand the implications, Ben Connable was kind enough to come down and help us conclude our discussion of Operation Absolute Resolve, the military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro. Ben was recently on in Episode 219 to talk us through the cautionary tale of military intervention in Venezuela, so it only made sense to have him come and give us his thoughts on the raid and to speculate what’s next. We also talk through how operational and tactical success doesn’t guarantee strategic victory, and what a foreign policy that embraces spheres of influence means to the global community. We made this caveat during our conversation, but it is important to continue to emphasize that none of us are experts on Venezuela, and so we discuss our ideas and theories based on the open-source, unclassified information available at the time, which oftentimes leads to speculation.   Enjoy!  benconnable.com  battleresearchgroup.org  <p>The post #226: Impacts of Military Action in Venezuela with Ben Connable first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>