Your Ideas Matter: The Making of Marine Strategic Planning and the Future of War
War on the Rocks
War on the Rocks
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 August 2019
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Maybe you've already heard about the Marine commandant's new planning guidance. Maybe you haven't. If you care about how strategy at the service level can work at its best, then you should take a close look. This episode digs into how tough questions from Congress, hard-hitting and public writing by servicemembers, and bold thinking by senior leaders all interacted to create an important document that will chart the way ahead for the Marine Corps.
The core of this episode is a conversation with Chris Brose, the former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the current head of strategy of Anduril Industries. Chris breaks down what's special about this document, what it gets right about the future of warfare and the rise of the defensive, and what the Army, Navy, and Air Force can learn from the Marine Corp's example. We also include a long segment from the last big speech by Gen. Robert Neller, the last commandant of the Marine Corps, which hinted where the service was going to go under Gen. David Berger, his successor. We also feature a clip from a recent episode of "Net Assessment," one of our other podcasts. And, finally, we close with some thoughts from Brose about life in the Senate, moving to the private sector, ethics and autonomy, and what Anduril -- a most interesting company -- is up to.
Transcript
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| 0:15.9 | You are listening to Warren The Rocks, a podcast on strategy, defense, and foreign affairs. My name is Ryan Evans. |
| 0:16.9 | I'm the editor-in-chief of Warren the Rocks. |
| 0:19.3 | In this episode we talk about an important contribution to American military strategic planning, |
| 0:24.8 | the commandant of the Marine Corps' new planning guidance, and how it came to be and |
| 0:30.1 | what the other services might be able to learn from it. |
| 0:33.0 | The base of this episode is a conversation ad with Chris Broze. |
| 0:36.0 | Chris has had a number of senior roles in government most recently as the staff director |
| 0:40.0 | for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the late John McCain. |
| 0:43.3 | He is now the head of strategy for a new firm called Andrel Industries, a tech firm in the defense |
| 0:49.3 | base started by the founder of Oculus Rift, Palmer Lucky. |
| 0:54.8 | We also have a couple clips in this show, |
| 0:57.1 | including a contribution from Brian McGrath, |
| 0:59.6 | from the latest episode of Ned Assessment, |
| 1:01.6 | as well as the last commandant of the Marine Corps, General |
| 1:04.8 | Nellie. |
| 1:07.7 | So Chris, private sector is treating you well. |
| 1:10.0 | You're in a t-shirt. |
| 1:11.0 | Normally when I would see you in your old life you were wearing a suit? |
| 1:14.2 | Yeah, occasionally in a t-shirt too, but no, mostly, mostly suits and ties and yeah, you've caught me on an even |
| 1:21.1 | more casual day than usual, |
| 1:22.6 | but t-shirts and jeans are a pretty good way to travel right now. |
| 1:25.6 | Not just any t-shirt, but an enchilada surfboard. |
... |
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