The Jedburgh Podcast

The battlefield is more than guns, aircraft, ships and vehicles. Sometimes the most important weapon is an adversary’s perception. Since inception, US Army Special Forces have been central to shaping human behavior and enemy perspective; still the most important factors in military decision making. The objective isn’t always to change what someone believes. Sometimes we only need to change what they do, where they go, or the decision they make long enough to create an advantage. That’s the battlefield of Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs. From the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum at Fort Bragg, I sat down with Colonel Steve Santucci, Colonel Jeff Uherka, and Colonel Bob Cusick to go inside two of the most misunderstood capabilities in Army Special Operations and examine how Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs are shaping today’s battlefield. For these units, the mission is about precision influence. Identify the decision maker. Understand how they think. Force a decision. Create time and space. Then give commanders an opportunity to exploit it. Artificial intelligence, large language models, cyber capabilities, drones, and the digital information environment are creating new ways to understand and influence an audience. But on a battlefield where communications can be degraded and the electromagnetic spectrum contested, some of the answers may come from the past. Information warfare is also being consolidated under Army Special Operations, and the Army is building a more unified approach to how it trains and employs information professionals across the force. On today’s battlefield, destroying the enemy may not always be the most powerful option. If we can influence what they see, shape what they understand, and change the decisions they make, we may never have to fire a shot.Highlights:00:00 - Introduction02:59 - Defining PSYOPs and Civil Affairs Missions07:50 - Behavior vs. Mindset10:57 - Delivery Mechanisms13:25 - Language and Culture17:25 - Recruitment21:07 - Qualification Course Pipelines27:18 - Decentralization to Special Forces Groups31:31 - Consolidation of Army Information Operations39:53 - Future Operating Capabilities44:58 - Daily HabitsQuotes"“At the end of the day, it's about providing influence and deception’s word of commanders, to provide them time, space, and advantage on the battlefield.”“Can we change their mind just for a couple minutes, to divert, to deceive, to create opportunity for blue forces.”“Influence the influencers, and through an indigenous approach, they are able to change the minds of the population for our mutual objectives.”“We have to pull back on the history machine and relearn the things that we've forgotten about over the years.”“Technology can't replace the human to human eye to eye contact to influence a key leader.”“They don't want us to do anything other than offer ideas and solutions that they just hadn't considered.”“The Army wants more.”“He wants precision influence. He wants us to hit that decision maker.”“Sometimes what is old is new again.”“But at the end of the day, we all know we just we have to listen.”“I think as a foundation for a good soldier, which builds a team, which builds a company, a battalion, and a brigade.”“Leaders need time to think. Leaders need time to prepare for coaching. Leaders need time to understand what's going on around them, so they can issue clear, sound guidance.”“Leaders have to be present.”“It's a capability that can be employed across the force, and it's only better when it works in harmony.”Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

Speed of innovation will be the deciding factor on today’s battlefields. The technology soldiers need to survive and win cannot take years to field. For generations, one of the Army’s greatest challenges has been closing the distance between the soldier who identifies a need and the acquisition system responsible for delivering the solution.At Fort Bragg, the XVIII Airborne Corps is attacking that problem head on.Colonel Tom Monaghan, has a mission - build the Joint Innovation Outpost - putting soldiers, acquisition professionals, industry, funding, testing, and Army program offices together to accelerate the development of solutions. No red tape. No delays. No endless discussion about contract vehicles. Just lethality, survivability, and mobility.Colonel Monaghan joins Fran Racioppi to discuss the theory behind the JIOP, Dragon’s Lair, artificial intelligence, and why some of the Army’s best innovations are coming directly from soldiers closest to the problem; including counter-drone and unmanned systems. For Monaghan, the leadership philosophy behind that mission is just as important as the technology: provide clarity, listen to the soldier, and solve problems. The JIOP is proving that acquisition does not always have to begin thousands of miles from the operational force. Sometimes the person with the answer is already standing on the drop zone, sitting inside the vehicle, or carrying the equipment that needs to change.Innovate. Accelerate. Dominate. The Joint Innovation Outpost is building a model designed to ensure that when America's soldiers identify the battlefield need, the Army can move fast enough to solve it.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Introduction1:58 Welcome to The Jedburgh Podcast3:10 Building the Joint Innovation Outpost5:52 Closing the Gap8:10 Army Acquisition12:11 Soldier-Driven Innovation16:57 Prioritizing Battlefield Innovation17:01 The Immediate Response Force18:46 Dragon’s Lair and Accelerating New Ideas19:22 Why Army Innovation Takes So Long21:02 The Smartest Generation of Soldiers23:28 Turning Soldier Ideas Into Battlefield Solutions26:15 Artificial Intelligence and Human Decision-Making27:28 Cost, Technology and Scalability31:14 Innovate, Accelerate, Dominate32:12 Measuring the JIOP’s Success33:09 The Future of Army Innovation34:25 Solving Problems35:04 Three ThingsQuotes“We concentrate on anything that improves soldier lethality, survivability, mobility.” “We imagine a world where we close that time gap. We actually get rid of that valley of death.” “The normal process that I just talked about, that should have taken three to five years.” “There’s always a human in the loop.”“No piece of software is going to answer every question available.”“From an acquisition perspective, we always say cost, schedule, and performance. You never get all three.”“Solve problems. Support the soldier. Get them what they need.”“There’s nothing I can’t fix in five minutes with a phone call that you mess up. So just go out there and try.”“My superpower as a leader is to provide clarity.”The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by OneBrief; enabling military leaders to make innovative, informed and deliberate decisions faster than ever before. Superhuman command wins wars.Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

Before ground forces can advance, the battlefield has to be shaped. Air defenses have to come down. Enemy weapons have to be destroyed. And the adversaries' will to combat America has to be lessened. This is the job of field artillery; a branch of the US Army where speed, distance, precision, and results determine who controls the battlefield before ground forces ever make contact.From Fort Bragg, NC, the 18th Field Artillery Brigade leads the Army’s rapidly deployable artillery units. As the largest HIMARS brigade, its soldiers must be prepared to deploy anywhere in the world within 10 days of notification and deliver long-range precision fires in support of the XVIII Airborne Corps, its divisions, and Special Operations Forces.Fran Racioppi sat down with the command team of Colonel Andy Hercik and Command Sergeant Major George Cabrera, to talk about what it takes to maintain readiness as the battlefield rapidly changes. After two decades of counterinsurgency, field artillery is now leading in large-scale combat operations where kilometers matter, ammunition and logistics can determine operational reach, and the ability to shoot, move, communicate, and survive has become unforgiving.Drones have made the battlefield increasingly transparent. A cell phone can expose a position. A lingering electromagnetic signature can make a HIMARS crew a target. The answer isn't abandoning the fundamentals. It's executing them better, while using lessons from today's conflicts to change how soldiers train and how the Army develops the capabilities required for tomorrow.We also discuss what true integration between conventional forces and Special Operations looks like, why the targeting process has to bring every capability together from the beginning, and the responsibility of NCOs and officers to build a formation that doesn't simply comply with standards, but understands why those standards keep soldiers alive and make them lethal.When the call comes, there won't be time to prepare. 18th Field Artillery Brigade has to be ready.Highlights00:00 Introduction01:12 Mission of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade04:16 NCO Leadership and Force Readiness05:38 Subordinate Units and Capabilities09:55 Refocusing on Core Field Artillery Basics13:49 Passing Down Lessons Learned14:40 Interoperability and Special Operations Forces Integration22:31 What Separates the 18th FA Brigade24:58 Joint Force Integration26:15 Modernization, Innovation, and Ammunition Investment30:15 Drone Warfare and Signature Management36:02 Culture of Commitment and the Warrior Mindset41:15 Driving Decision-Making and Warfighting ReadinessQuotes“We have to be ready to deploy, fight, and win within 10 days of notification.”“We are the Army’s largest HIMARS brigade with 54 HIMARS launchers.”“We’re going to first look to strip away adversary air defense and then kill what’s killing us.”“It’s much more effective to destroy a launcher than to try to intercept an incoming missile.”“Divisions are maneuvering in order to fire.”“We now have to be prepared to operate in a completely transparent battlefield.”“What we’re trying to do is avoid being at this point on the Earth where the enemy missile hits when it hits.”“Shoot, move, communicate, clean up our electromagnetic spectrum.”“Making sure soldiers understand the visibility of their signature.”“Be more survivable, which then lets us be more lethal, because we’re able to retain more combat power.”Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by OneBrief; enabling military leaders to make innovative, informed and deliberate decisions faster than ever before. Superhuman command wins wars.