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The Mike Litton Experience

From Wars to Writing: Rick Steinke on Duty, Ukraine, and the Mission That Never Ends

The Mike Litton Experience

Mike Litton

Business, Kids & Family, Parenting, Careers

5.01.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 86 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this powerful episode of The Mike Litton Experience, Mike sits down with Colonel Rick Steinke (Ret.) — award-winning author, former U.S. Defense Attaché to France, senior diplomat, combat leader, and international security expert.

Rick opens up about decades of global service, from shaping post-Cold-War Europe to training Ukrainian forces, working alongside global intelligence services, serving in Afghanistan, and witnessing the long shadow of 9/11.

He also shares the inspiration behind his acclaimed Jake Fortina thriller series — including his newest release, Vital Mission — praised for its authenticity, moral depth, and real-world insight drawn from his extraordinary career.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

✔ Why Ukraine became the “prize” in Europe — and how the Budapest Memorandum shaped everything
✔ What NATO expansion really meant to Eastern Europe
✔ The shocking reality of Russian child abductions during the war
✔ How Afghanistan’s corruption and Pakistan’s border shaped a 20-year conflict
✔ Rick’s personal accounts from 9/11, global intelligence failures, and the lessons learned
✔ How he transitioned from military diplomat to award-winning novelist
✔ What drives his writing, characters, and worldview

If you’re passionate about leadership, geopolitics, national security, military life, resilience, or behind-the-scenes intelligence stories, this episode delivers depth, honesty, and unforgettable perspective.

👉 Enjoy the episode? Hit LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and turn on notifications so you never miss a powerful interview. Your support helps us grow our mission of curiosity, truth, and extraordinary stories.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

the technological developments and one thing a lot of people don't know either is at one point

0:05.1

they were the third most powerful nuclear capable country on the planet

0:12.7

her nobles there right right and we told them we told the ukrainians we the brits and the

0:19.6

russians in 1994 in Budapest, you give up all your nuke their weapons,

0:28.6

and we will vouch for your defense. Russians said that too, by the way. Look it up. The Budapest

0:35.2

memorandum, it was a 5,000 man brigade that if the Russians ever threatened anywhere along the former, but I should say the Soviet Union back then, along the Soviet Union's borders, we would be the first to go.

0:53.1

And so we trained everywhere from the Arctic Circle, border with Russia,

0:58.0

all the way down.

1:00.0

In my case, my unit, we've trained all the way down in Southern Columbia.

1:03.0

I want to talk about family members, military family members, and what they go through.

1:08.0

And so I try to bring some aspect of that into my writing. And then,

1:13.0

you know, just come from kind of a fun and informative perspective, I wanted to talk to some of

1:19.0

the places where, you know, I've walked the ground. So I was one of the guys that was a doctrine

1:26.2

writer and reviewer of the highest publications, if you will,

1:31.0

the how-to manuals of how to operate in a joint force. And I just left that assignment

1:38.2

in the fall and was at William and Mary. And I was, I saw, saw like a lot of people I saw this TV flying

1:48.1

to the you know this I'm sorry this aircraft flying to the Twin Towers did you know there's a

1:54.0

technology that's actually an app on your phone that uses sound waves to tell your brain what you

1:59.2

want your brain to do.

2:05.7

We had a young man that was a guest on our podcast, the Mike Litton Experience, who had a traumatic brain injury.

2:06.6

He was sleeping three hours a night.

2:08.6

He's using Newcom now and he's sleeping more.

...

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