Hey, MWI podcast listeners. Before we get to this episode, I've got some exciting news about a really

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Project. While the Harding Fellowship prepares Army leaders to drive professional discussion,

Harding Fellows earn a graduate degree and then edit their branch journals, helping to shape the

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That lineof departure. That army.mill slash harding. If you look across the U.S. Defense Industrial Base and down to that, you know, fifth and sixth tier of supply, there are so many sole or single source providers of critical components.

And it's going to be very difficult not only for the US to be able to get some of the critical equipment that it might need into the Pacific,

but it also might struggle to get some of the critical components that it needs out of the Indo-Pacific.

I don't think the workforce issue is one that gets shouted out enough, and this is so important.

Workforce is a critical problem for the defense industrial base.

Hey, welcome back to the MWI podcast, brought to you with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

I'm John Amble, and the discussion on this episode tackles a really important subject, the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, and it features the insightful perspective of Becca Wasser, deputy director of the defense Program at the Center for Our New American Security.

We begin by exploring just what constitutes the defense industrial base in the information age

where data and software play an increasingly prominent role alongside physical material like tanks,

aircraft, and artillery shells. We explore how globalization and extended and complicated supply chains factor into defense planning.

And we talk about the specific features that define a U.S. defense industrial base at its best and how we get there,

maximizing readiness for a large-scale conflict.

Before we get to the discussion, as always, a couple of quick notes.

First, a very special thank you to the West Point

class of 1974 for their generous support to MWI. And second, as always, what you hear in this

episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of West Point, the Army, or any other

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