War on the Rocks

On this special, free episode of Marine Pulse, Ian Brown sat down with two Marines who recount their mission at Hamid Karzai International Airport on the day of the suicide bombing attack at the Abbey gate during the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan. Aaron Reep and Lee Bowden share their personal accounts of the mission, what stood out to them about their fellow Marines during the mission, and the timeless lessons Marines can take from it. If you enjoyed this episode, you can listen to all of our armed service podcast shows by becoming a member.

Lt. Gen. (ret) David Deptula sat down with Patrick McSpadden in the War on the Rocks studio for a wide-ranging conversation. Deptula highlights the Air Force's current challenges and addresses what it will take to fix them. The duo discuss everything from previous missions to Deptula's advice for current Airmen, even delving into his favorite D.C. gems for food and drinks. You don't want to miss this special episode of Airman Pulse. Note: This is a free episode of the members-only Airman Pulse podcast. If you'd like to hear more interesting conversations about life in the Air Force, you can become a member to unlock this show, as well as the other Armed Services Podcasts. The 2026 Mitchell Institute Airpower Forum mentioned in the episode has already taken place at the time of publication. Additionally, the links to the readings mentioned in today's episode can be found below. https://www.lri.fr/~mbl/Stanford/CS477/papers/Kuhn-SSR-2ndEd.pdf https://www.forbes.com/sites/davedeptula/2026/01/12/a-15-trillion-defense-budget-implications-for-the-air-force-and-space-force/

As the year comes to a close, Dara Massicot and Mike Kofman talk with Ryan about the state of play from diplomacy to the battlefield.

Gen. Xavier T. Brunson is a busy man. As the senior U.S. military leader on the Korean Peninsula, he has three jobs, commanding U.N. Command, South Korean-U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea. What all this boils down to is, if the balloon goes up with North Korea, or another adversary in the region, the forces under his command are expected to be ready to "fight tonight." During a visit to Washington, Gen. Brunson popped into WOTR HQ to discuss the security environment, his vision of command, and a host of other issues. This episode was supported by Legion. Learn more about our friends at Legion here: https://warontherocks.com/legion

When should Ukraine commit more forces to a perhaps desperate stand to hold ground it will likely lose? And when is it the difficult but correct choice to preserve the force and pull back to the next defensive line? This is the real, agonizing strategic dilemma shaping the war, now highlighted in the fight for Pokrovsk. Distinguished strategist Lawrence Freedman joins Ryan at a cafe in Vilnius, where they were both speaking at a conference, to dissect this critical question. They also sort through how this relates to each side's theory of victory and the shifting realities of the battlefield.

Gen. (ret.) CQ Brown, Jr. may have been removed from his post as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but he isn't finished serving. He joined Ryan at War on the Rocks HQ to talk about how America can realize the true promise of its faltering defense industrial enterprise (the focus of a recent article he authored). Brown argues the playbook already exists. What is missing is concerted action. He also opens up about his abrupt dismissal and how he sees his duty to the nation in the years ahead. You can read his article here: https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/racing-against-time-realizing-a-true-defense-industrial-enterprise/

Army Chief Technology Officer Alex Miller joined Ryan at a live event to talk about what countering improvised explosive devices taught him about defeating drones, what the Army is learning from the southern border about emerging threats, and what he wants to see from industry. He makes the case for deeper collaboration between companies, sharper focus, and the courage to shut down what no longer works.

Well, is it? From defense innovation, to scaling capabilities, to budgets, the answers aren't easy. Ryan was joined by General Sir Richard Barrons of the United Kingdom and Peter Michael Nielsen of Denmark to sort through these issues. Barrons had a storied military career and most recently co-led his country's Strategic Defence Review. Nielsen is Denmark's deputy national armaments director, a role that has unique weight now as Denmark holds the E.U. presidency. This episode was recorded live at a reception in London hosted by our friends at Helsing (https://helsing.ai).