Grant Newsham is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, a senior research fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a retired United States Marine Officer. He was the first US Marine liaison officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense force and was instrumental in promoting the JSDF’s initial moves towards an amphibious capability.  He joined ALL MARINE RADIO today to talk about:

* An NBC News story about the Wuhan Institute of Virology — one of the locations where the Chinese stored and experimented on the Covid-19 virus — and coincidentally located in the same city where the outbreak occurred

* GRANT ASKS AN ABSURD QUESTION:  if this Covid-19 outbreak was traced to the area around Fort Detrick MD (were US biological labs are located)… would American or world news media outlets even consider that the virus might not have come from the US labs there?  ANSWER:  of course they wouldn’t!

* Here is the NBC News story

* Here is Grant’s column

 

Three retired Marine Infantry Officers — Colonel Will Costantini, Colonel Jeff Kenney & Major Tim Lynch join host Mike McNamara for an hour of current events discussion every Thursday here on ALL MARINE RADIO.

TODAY’S TOPICS:

* Playing poker

* The CG of US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, USMC, did an extended interview with David Ignatius at the Aspen Security Forum

The Commanding General of the US Central Command sat down with the Washington Post’s David Ignatius for an hour long discussion about the CENTCOM area of operations as part of the Aspen Security Forum — it’s awesome stuff.  General McKenzie is a straight-talker and discusses Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia & China in this hour long event.

Tuesday, August 11th 2020 was one of the best days of my life.  An email from a Marine Officer who employees the wisdom contained in Post-Traumatic Winning; a call from leaders in I MEF to discuss presenting Post-Traumatic Winning to the 15th MEU after their loss in late July off the coast of California; an email from Stacey Falzarano (which is below) and another phone call from a leader of a NROTC program — where we planned training for his cadets, but also for first responders and anybody in the community.  It was an amazing day.

STACEY FALZARANO’S INTRODUCTION OF POST-TRAUMATIC WINNING — FOR THE AIR FORCES’S PACIFIC COMMAND’S “SQUADRON COMMANDERS COURSE”

“Hey, Hun. I’m home.”  He called me “Hun;” a play on combining Honey and Attila the Hun.  Inside joke.

“Hey, Sweetie.  There’s leftover gnocchi in the fridge,” I announced back to Tom as he entered the kitchen through the laundry room door.

It was lunchtime on a Tuesday.  A regular, run of the mill Tuesday.  May 12.  COVID-19 allowed Tom to come home for lunch and get an exercise in on our treadmill.  It was nice to get to see him in the middle of the work day.

Tom walked up to me sitting at the kitchen table.  Wearing his OCPs, he sat down next to me, started to unlace his boots, and leaned over to give me a loving kiss on the lips.  He said “I love you.”  My response… well, it’s my first regret of many.  I perfunctorily said, “love ya.”  Why didn’t I look the love of my life straight in the eyes and tell him, “I love you so much.  I appreciate you so much.  I’m so proud of you.  You gave me my beautiful family and my beautiful life.”  But, I didn’t.  Just “love ya.”  Those were the last words I said to my husband.  I said a lot to him several minutes later as I knelt over his body.  But, I can’t be sure he heard me.

—

Trauma.  The immediate and utter disruption of life, of plans, of feelings and emotions, and of one’s existence.  Trauma can shake your faith to the core.  Trauma destroys your world in a second and is totally and irrevocably irreversible – all while you’re simply sipping coffee at the kitchen table.  Your world just forever changed and your coffee is still warm.  How did I get so utterly blindsided?  That’s the curse of trauma. 

Then, in the night, at the height of the shock, grief creeps in to relieve trauma of its evil deeds.  Time for a whole new set of horrors to enter my world within hardly any time at all.  Grief is such a small word.  Some may think it’s sadness.  It’s not.  Some may think it’s something from which one can heal.  It’s not.  Grief is an inappropriate word for the depths of despair, sorrow, and loss I am feeling.

Trauma and grief are embodied in me as if I’m figuratively lying face down on the ground spiraling into blackness.  Panic and fear envelop me.   Sadness engulfs my soul.  I’m utterly lost; rudderless.  What do I do?  I can’t breathe.  Is this it for me for the rest of my life?  I feel desperate and drowning in despair.  I am the strongest person I have ever know, and yet I’m in need.  I need to reach out to somebody.  Who?  But, I don’t want to show my panic and weakness.

—

Mere weeks earlier, I had attended a Wing Command Spouse Leadership Conference headed by Mrs. Mollie Raymond.  Life was a cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae.  Tom and I relished our children (Michael and Thomas 5 years old, and Valentina 18 months old).  We had adopted the boys in 2014-2015 when we were stationed at Patrick AFB.  Four years later, Valentina joined our family while we were at Peterson AFB.  Tom was Wing Commander of the 21st Space Wing.  And, word was he would be promoted to Brigadier General.  He loved his family and he loved the Air Force and the Space Force.  Yep, life was all good; nothing but a bowl of cherries.  My biggest concern was where the boys would start kindergarten.

Here is an excerpt from an article written by David Larter and Joe Gould that appeared in Defense News on August 4, 2020:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s path to 355 ships was unrealistic, prompting the Pentagon to delay the release of the Navy’s annual 30-year shipbuilding plan, the presumptive incoming head of the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s in-house think tank told Senate lawmakers Tuesday.

The Navy is required to submit to Congress a 30-year plan for shipbuilding with its budget, but did not do so this year, which has raised consternation among lawmakers of both parties who have been pushing for a larger fleet to meet what they see as a rising threat from China.

But John Whitley, Trump’s nominee to be the director of the Pentagon’s influential Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Navy’s plan wasn’t rooted in fiscal realities, adding it was “not a credible document.”

“It assumed there were resource constraints for five years and then assumed there were no resource constraints,” Whitley said. “And what [Secretary of Defense Mark Esper] was concerned about was that wasn’t a credible document.

“The secretary has said he’s incredibly committed to 355. His belief is it’s a number of north of 355,” Whitley said. “What he tasked the Navy and CAPE to do, and what I would do if confirmed, is be working with the Navy to get a credible path to a number as quickly as possible that’s north of 355.”

Col Will Costantini, USMC (ret) joins me to discuss this important issue.

Grant Newsham is a recently joined the Center for Security Policy as a Senior Fellow. senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies and a retired United States Marine Officer. He was the first US Marine liaison officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense force and was instrumental in promoting the JSDF’s initial moves towards an amphibious capability.  He joined ALL MARINE RADIO today to talk about:

* The Lebanese Cabinet resigns

* Grant’s new affiliation with the Center for Security Policy

* The role that the cellphone app “TikTok”

* The Chinese & US feud goes public in a larger way

* Chinese ships and aircraft are showing up in greater numbers in the East China Sea near the disputed Senkaku Island — what does that mean?

* Last week in testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee news was made when John Whitley told the Senate Armed Services Committee that SECDEF Esper was worried the Navy’s shipbuilding plan was not realistic