MCA Scuttlebutt

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we welcome  Sarah Kallassy to the scuttlebutt. Sarah is a veteran Marine linguist and host of the Veterans Affairs YouTube show, BLUF, where she gives you all of the up-to-date information going on with the VA. Sarah is so kind to spend some time with us sharing her fascinating story. The daughter of a Marine Silver Star recipient from WWII, we talk about what brought her to the gun club, through to graduate school, work with DC United, and ultimately the VA. It was awesome spending time with Sarah and we are excited to be able to share her amazing story with you. Enjoy! https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-abdella-el-kallassy https://x.com/sarahkallassy https://www.instagram.com/sarahkallassy https://thedistrictpress.com/author/sarahkallassy <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 161: The Bottom Line Up Front with Sarah Kallassy first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we have another installment of Semper Cinema, where we talk to our own real historian, Director of MCA Films, and co-host of the show, William Treuting. William is here to discuss the release of his latest project, a documentary on the First Battle of Manassas, or Battle of Bull Run, depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line you are on.  We talk about the process behind making the film, its intended audience, what we can take away from doing battle studies, and why it is important to preserve these historic battlefields. You can catch the film on the MCA YouTube channel. Enjoy! <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 160: Semper Cinema with William Treuting first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we welcome our Amtracker in Residence, SgtMaj Justin LeHew back to the show. SgtMaj loves this country so much, he refuses to take it in at any speed faster than six miles an hour. Which is why he is going on another walk through this great country of ours. This time, he is going to walk the 113 mile Overseas Highway in Florida that connects Key Largo to Key West starting on September 11th. He talks to us all about this generous and honorable journey, what it means for him to take these walks, and how it gives him a deeper sense of the beauty and wonder of America. We then talk about his continued work with History Flight and the challenges they are having bringing Americans home from the Pacific Islands due to Chinese influence and interference in the region. Enjoy! historyflight.com Team Long Road Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/698444134910085/ www.linkedin.com/in/justin-lehew-080aa94b/ <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 159: SgtMaj Justin LeHew first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week welcome the MCA’s Director of Engagement and Outreach, Marta Sullivan back to the show. We are excited to be introducing the MCA’s new military spouse advocacy initiative, Behind the Camoflauge. Marta is the lead on this and she shares with us how this all started with the Spouse Summit at Modern Day Marine and some of the other great programs within the Behind the Camouflage project, such as a website, and its own podcast which you can find here and on the other streaming services. This is such a great idea and can’t wait for the podcast to launch in September. Enjoy! <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 158: Behind the Camouflage with Marta Sullivan first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. World of Wargaming returns as William interviews returning guest Don Vandergriff about conducting successful after-action reports of wargames. Don also recently helped to write the New Maneuver Warfare Handbook, which is available here: https://amzn.to/3M0a4GN Enjoy! <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 157: World of Wargaming with Don Vandergriff first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. Speaking of outstanding support, our guest this week is a strong supporter of veterans and is dedicated to helping veterans transition. But more than that, she is dedicated to ensuring veterans see their worth. We are so excited to be welcoming Cheryl Cross to the scuttlebutt this week. Cheryl is the author of the best selling book, CIVILIAN MISSION: The Three-Year Guide for Military Professionals Planning Civilian Careers, and is the host of the Military to Civilian Transition Power Hour. She has a wealth of experience that she brings in advocating for veterans and we are honored that she was willing to take the time out of her busy schedule to share her story with us. This is honestly like having a free transition seminar localized in your airbuds! Enjoy! www.xchangepodcast.com www.linkedin.com/in/cherylcross #mil2civ <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 156: Military to Civilian Transition with Cheryl Cross first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. We’re back after a brief hiatus. Thank you for sticking with us and for your continued support. Well, after going radio dark we figured we needed to come out the gate swinging and our guest this week does not disappoint. We are excited to be welcoming Jose Torres to the show. Jose is a retired Force Recon gunnery sergeant, served in various roles through the agency alphabet soup, and is the author of the book, When Colonialism Wins: A Case Against American Statehood for Puerto Rico. His book references decades of scholarship to analyze 500 years of Spanish and U.S. colonialism on Puerto Rico. In it he highlights the island’s ongoing societal collapse and dependency mindset challenging Puerto Rico’s future and cultural preservation. Jose’s personal story is fascinating and the genesis of this book is so compelling. He speaks with us about how he felt compelled to write this book and how his past, his experiences in service of our country, and his views on the future of Puerto Rico. Enjoy! Check out When Colonialism Wins: A Case Against American Statehood for Puerto Rico here <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 155: When Colonialism Wins with Jose Torres first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week we had the pleasure of welcoming Col Chris Jackson, USMC (Ret) to the show. Chris is the Warrior PATHH Program Director for Sheep Dog IA. Warrior PATHH — Progressive and Alternative Training for Helping Heroes — is based on the science of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) and is one of the many programs offered to veterans through Sheep Dog IA. Chris talks to us about his path to the yellow footprints, his experiences as a leatherneck, what brought him to Sheep Dog IA, and the work he is doing to help veterans realize that trauma does not have to be the end of the road. Especially being that today is National Posttraumatic Growth Day, this is a really important conversation that we should all be having with our loved ones and with ourselves. Enjoy! https://sheepdogia.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjacksonyeti/ <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 154: Col Chris Jackson, USMC (Ret) and Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (IA) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. On this episode we are happy to welcome LtCol Robert “Butch” Bracknell, USMC (Ret) to the show. Butch is a former Marine JAG and is currently a practicing attorney in Norfolk, VA. From his small town roots in rural North Carolina to having deployed multiple times in support of combat operations, Butch is a true subject-matter expert in the application of the Law of Armed Conflict. Butch shares his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guantanamo Trials, proportionality, and his perspectives on the challenges AI will present to the Law of Armed Conflict and how to hold actors accountable in this new world where the term “actor” may not be as obvious in war as it once was. This was a really fascinating discussion and we hope you take away as much from it as we did. Of note, as awesome a job as our technical engineer did in post-production, there was only so much they were able to do. We want to apologize in advance for some of the audio. There were some connectivity challenges as we tried to have this conversation remote. Enjoy! https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbutchbracknell/ <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 153: Lawfare and the Law of Armed Conflict with LtCol Robert “Butch” Bracknell, USMC (Ret) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us for another segment of Strait Talk. Dr. Michael Hunzeker comes to the scuttlebutt and learns us up on what is going on with Taiwan post-election, how there is very little historical precedent for accidental war, how appeasing autocratic regimes isn’t the deterrent policy some may think it is (the power behind believing autocrats will do what they say they will do), and bumper boats in the South China Sea. Enjoy! <p>The post Scuttlebutt Ep 152: Strait Talk with Dr. Michael Hunzeker first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>