Welcome to the President's Inbox, a CFR podcast about the foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

I'm Jim Lindsay, Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This week's topic is challenges facing the U.S. military.

With me to provide an inside view of how the U.S. military is adapting to the challenges

it faces in an era of renewed geopolitical competition are Captain John Beriantos and

Colonel Kristen Thompson. John and Kristen are both spending a year at the

Council as visiting military fellows. John is a captain in the United States Navy. He was most

recently the reactor officer on the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, where he was deployed to

the Western Pacific. Kristen is a colonel in the United States Air Force.

She was most recently the commander of the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska,

where she was responsible for organizing, training, and equipping six groups and 30 squadrons,

executing worldwide intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance missions,

electronic attack, and nuclear command control and communication support. Earlier this month,

President Biden nominated Kristen for promotion to Brigadier General. John and Kristen are speaking

today in their personal capacity, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. government generally or the Department of Defense specifically.

John and Kristen, thank you for coming on the president's inbox.

Thanks, Jim. Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having this.

Kristen, let's start with you. I want to begin a sort of a personal question, if I may.

Why did you join the United States Air Force?

Well, thanks, Jim. Thanks for having us. I would say the reason I joined the United States Air Force

was kind of a happenstance. It's kind of a funny story. I did okay in high school,

you know, academically, but I really had kind of the

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