GRP 165-Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man: A conversation with a Marine Corps General
Global Recon
John Hendricks
4.8 • 592 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2022
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
My guest for this week's podcast is retired Marine Corps Major General Arnold Punaro. Punaro went on to serve for 34 years, finishing his career as the Commanding Officer of the 4th Marine Division and reaching the rank of Two Star General. He was shot during a firefight as a young Officer leading Marines against an enemy position in Vietnam.
After the war, he went to work for Senator Sam Nunn in National Security matters serving as his director of National Security Affairs and then as Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His latest book, "The Ever Shrinking Fighting Force." Highlights the issue of how more money being spent is not equating to a more effective fighting force. We discussed General Punaro's time in Vietnam, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China, and his book. Tune in.
Main Takeaways
- Being shot by a sniper
- CPL Roy Hammonds saves Punaro and gets killed shortly after
- Working National Security for Senator Sam Nunn
- Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan
- Russia's invasion of Ukraine
- The Ever Shrinking Fighting Force
Connect with Arnold Punaro
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm General Arnold Pinaro. I'm a retired Marine Corps Major General. I'm the author of a book entitled The Ever Shrinking Fighting Force. |
| 0:23.7 | We face in this country the most existential threats we've seen in our lifetime, particularly |
| 0:29.6 | from China. |
| 0:30.7 | This book is written really for the citizens of the United States of America to understand |
| 0:36.3 | that if we're going to preserve |
| 0:37.7 | our way of life and preserve our freedoms, we've got to have a strong military. |
| 0:42.1 | We've got to get more bang for the buck for the dollars we're spending so that we can |
| 0:46.2 | compete with the Chinese who now purchasing power is greater than the United States of America. |
| 0:52.5 | Their military has grown very powerful. |
| 0:55.1 | We are spending more than we've ever spent, |
| 0:57.2 | and yet the capability that we're getting |
| 0:59.2 | for those dollars is decreasing. |
| 1:02.1 | You understand China, you have to understand the history of China. |
| 1:06.4 | And China takes the long view of everything. |
| 1:08.9 | If it takes a year, if it takes 10 years, |
| 1:12.1 | if it takes 100 years, if it takes 1,000 years, |
| 1:15.0 | they want to be the dominant power in the world, |
| 1:17.2 | militarily, economically, and politically. |
| 1:20.2 | The warning sides are absolutely out there. |
| 1:22.9 | China has published what they want to do |
| 1:26.3 | by the year 2035, |
| 1:27.7 | and they're on a road to do it. |
... |
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