Modern War Institute

In 1973, the US military took an enormously consequential step when it adopted an all-volunteer force model. That decision has produced the most professional, capable joint force in history. But it hasn’t come without costs—from the large budgets required to maintain it to a shrinking recruitment base that has serious implications for civil-military relations. So what does the all-volunteer force’s future look like? How much have the strategic, economic, and social conditions that drove the decision to adopt the model changed over the past fifty years? Would it hold up in a modern, large-scale war? And if strategic realities required it, how would a return to some form of conscription work? John Amble is joined on this episode by Jaron Wharton and Keith Carter, coeditors of Bend But Do Not Break: Shaping the Future of the All-Volunteer Force, to explore those questions and more. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

When the United States conducted Operation Midnight Hammer, a series of strikes against Iranian nuclear targets, it did so with two key pieces of exquisite hardware: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. But how does the GBU-57 actually work? And what’s it like to fly this type of long-range bomber mission in a B-2? To examine those questions, John Amble is joined on this episode by Air Force University’s Dr. Melvin Deaile, a retired Air Force colonel and strategic bomber pilot with operational combat experience in the B-2. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it galvanized both NATO and the European Union, doing more to unify much of Europe than any event in recent history. But how has political and strategic unity translated to improvements of collective European defense and deterrence? Amid uncertainty about continued US support for Ukraine, which European states are stepping into leadership roles? And most broadly, after three and a half years of war, how much has the European security landscape changed? To explore those questions and more, John Amble is joined on this episode of the MWI Podcast by Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow for European Security at the Royal United Services Institute. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

National security professionals often conceptualize a continuum of conflict as a framework to understand the wide variety of ways in which conflict can manifest itself. It extends from relative peace on one end, terrorism and low-intensity conflict, up through large-scale combat, all the way to strategic rivalry in which nuclear weapons even come into the picture. But what if that cognitive framework no long holds? In a recent article published by Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mara Karlin explored that question. A professor of practice at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a former assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities, she shares insights gleaned from ongoing wars, from Ukraine to the Middle East, and argues that warfare is increasingly defined by a mix of characteristics from across the continuum of conflict. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

After twenty years of America’s post-9/11 wars and the US military’s struggle to build capable and effective security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is an important discussion taking place about what role security force assistance should play for the United States in the very different strategic environment that is taking shape. Will it be a mission that we'll be required to do in order to compete with Russia and China? Or will it become tangential to our preparations for large-scale combat operations? And given the challenges we faced over the past two decades, what needs to happen to achieve better outcomes in the future? Will Reno, a professor of political science at Northwestern University, and Franky Matisek, a military professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College, have researched the topic deeply, including conducting hundreds of interviews in the field. They join this episode to discuss their findings. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, one of its first targets was the city of Mariupol. Despite being outnumbered by—and less well equipped than—their adversaries, Ukrainian defenders held out for three months. As the Russian siege of the city intensified, Ukrainian forces defended a shrinking perimeter with a command post in the Azovstal steel plant. One of those Ukrainian defenders was Sergeant Arseniy Fedosiuk. MWI's John Spencer had the opportunity to speak to him about his experience in Mariupol, and you'll hear part of that discussion in this episode. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

During the United States’ post-9/11 counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, many US service members survived wounds that would have been fatal in any previous conflict. This was largely because of the care they received—beginning at the point where they were wounded and continuing through evacuation to medical facilities in theater and transport to military hospitals at Landstuhl, Germany and in the United States. But prolonged casualty care will be vastly more challenging in what the Army calls LSCO (large-scale combat operations) environments. To explore why—and what will be required to meet the challenges—John Amble is joined on this episode by Colonel Jennifer Gurney, the chief of the DoD Joint Trauma System, and Lieutenant Colonel Max Ferguson, an infantry battalion commander whose recent deployment experience offers insights on how this crucial issue affects tactical-level maneuver units. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

Thirty years ago this week—on October 3, 1993—US special operations forces launched a mission in Mogadishu. It was part of Operation Gothic Serpent, which was aimed at capturing Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was intended to be of a short duration. But things changed when, shortly after members of Task Force Ranger launched from their base, fighters on the ground began firing on US aircraft. The battle that ensued—which would later become the subject of journalist Mark Bowden’s book, Black Hawk Down, and subsequently a film of the same name—lasted well into the next day. In this episode, you'll hear three people who took part in that battle. Listen as they share their firsthand perspectives of the action over those two days, describing the challenges they faced, reflecting on what was required to overcome those challenges, and exploring the lessons the battle holds for future Army leaders. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.