D-Fence

During UDT 2025 I sat down with Cathrine Largerberg, co-founder of the Crown Defenze corporate security company, to discuss how she moved from working in the oil & gas sector, to the military and then to building a successful women-led business in a male-dominated industry. The secret? Complementarity!

In this episode, Captain Laurel Foster, Executive Officer (XO) to the Director, NGB Comptroller, in the National Guard Bureau Joint Staff, tells us about being a native Alaskan (Cu'pik) and a member of the National Guards in Alaska. She explains how joining the military gave her a new sense of belonging and purpose after growing up between rural and urban Alaska as a half Cup'ik and half white. And we talk about how this complex heritage has become her strength, advocating for more inclusivity in the National Guards - and Alaskan society at large.

In this episode I speak to Veronica Clark, Women, Peace and Security Focal Point at the US Air Force base in Alaska, about her research into security issues affecting women in Alaska and how this, in turn, could potentially impact stability. We also talk about her work in and with the USAF, and what emotionally intelligent leadership might look like.

In July 2024, during a NATO summit in Washington DC, Allies endorsed a new NATO policy on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). Irene Fellin, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative on WPS, kindly agreed to talk to the D-Fence podcast about the WPS agenda, its principles and goals, what this means in practice for women in NATO and for peace and security in general.

In this last episode of a four part series conversation, Gen. Zaki talks about the difficulties of effecting change in the Somalian security sector as a woman and as a member of the diaspora.

In this third episode of the series, Gen. Zakia tells us about how she worked to re-establish bonds and trust between the security forces in Somalia and citizens. She speaks of accountability, communication, and transparency.

While in the previous episode Gen.Zaki told us all about how and why she moved back to Somalia to join the security forces, in this second part of the interview she explains the state of the security sector when she joined, and shares multiple anecdotes showing the sector was not ready (or indeed expecting!) a woman to become a deputy chief and brigadier general. Laughs guaranteed!

This four part series delves into Gen. Zakia Hussein's incredible and challenging journey into the Somali security sector and her work heading its reform. The first episode is an introduction to Gen. Zaki herself, where she grew up, why she decided to leave the comfort of her London life to move back to Somalia to be an activist, and how she ended up working in the security sector (at a time where most people working in the sector were receiving daily death threats).

On 12 February 2024, for the first time ever, the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control

Force (NAEW&CF) conducted command and control (C2) operations on

Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, with an all-female aircrew composition. I spoke to two of the amazing women who took part in this mission to discuss why they decided to organise it, what their takeaways were and, of course, what drew them to defence and why they love their job. Tune-in to learn more about Captain Beatrice and Sargent Master Yeny.

The US Marine Corps opened up attack helicopter pilot positions to women when Jeannette was training to become a USMC - she became one of the first women to hold that position. In this episode we talk about what it was like, her inspirations and the obstacles she faced, and how all her experiences led her to do a PhD to make sense of it all and be able to improve things for the new generations.