Mike Minihan, General, USAF (ret.) breaks down the "permissive environment trap" plaguing current military thinking. While recent operations in Iran, Ukraine, and Israel demonstrate exceptional execution, he tells Ian they mask fatal capability gaps that will emerge in Pacific conflicts where forces face contestation in all domains. Mobility aircraft currently have less connectivity than consumer smartphones, making tanker crews unaware they're under attack "until they wake up in heaven."

But this isn't just about technology gaps. Minihan outlines why institutional change requires what he calls commander business — the obligation to prioritize mission and troops over career preservation. From his framework for Congressional engagement to his resource allocation reality check, he provides a playbook for senior leaders willing to challenge systems that prioritize survival over effectiveness.

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Heather Ichord, CEO & Founder of Mile37 Tech, LLC, argues that successful defense technology goes far beyond building better hardware — it requires understanding exactly how tactical units will employ these systems, including training pipelines, maintenance requirements, and sustainment logistics in environments where contractors can't provide on-site support. Her framework for evaluating defense technology starts with specific use cases: which unit size will employ this system, how does it integrate with daily operations, and what does the entire sustainment ecosystem look like in distributed environments?

Drawing from her background as a Marine logistics officer, Heather emphasizes that sustainment thinking must drive technology development from day one. She advocates for "hardware as a shell for software" approaches that enable constant iteration and updates, though she acknowledges to Ian that this mindset remains controversial in defense circles accustomed to decades-long asset lifecycles. Her investment thesis focuses on companies that can scale from prototypes to squad-level deployment across thousands of tactical units while maintaining software-like update capabilities.

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Defense acquisition feels broken, because it's working exactly as designed — to prevent political embarrassment rather than enable mission success. Dr. Alexis Lasselle Ross, President of Apex Defense Strategies, spent 25 years navigating this system and breaks down the fundamental business dynamics that control America's defense spending, from congressional quasi-entitlements that build on themselves year after year to the five-year budget cycle that disconnects funding decisions from technology development.

Alexis sees the current moment as uniquely positioned for significant acquisition reform, she tells Ian, with alignment across government and industry driven by the China threat. She explains why contracting officers become risk-averse by design, operating under layers of regulations from decades of reactive policymaking, and identifies the breakthrough authorities that could finally address funding inflexibility.

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Lieutenant General (ret.) Mike Dana believes the biggest impediment to defense innovation isn't technology limitations but institutional processes that prioritize compliance over speed. Mike advocates for acquisition restructuring to match the pace of modern threats where visibility equals vulnerability.

Dana's approach combines operational urgency with practical relationship building. His Pacific theater insights reveal why future conflicts require logistics webs rather than supply chains, with AI systems optimizing force distribution while unmanned platforms deliver sustainment across contested terrain.

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Combat operations in the Red Sea since October 2023 have provided the U.S. Navy with invaluable real-world data on modern naval warfare, validating decades of systems development while exposing critical capability gaps that demand immediate attention. Rear Admiral (ret.) Fred Pyle, who concluded his 40-year naval career as Director of Surface Warfare managing $30 billion in annual capabilities, offers Ian and Ed a unique perspective on how institutional learning happens at the speed of combat and what it means for the future of naval operations.

Fred's experience spans from enlisted aviation fire controlman maintaining F-14 Tomcats at Miramar to flag officer overseeing the surface fleet's combat systems, providing him with both tactical understanding and strategic oversight of how the Navy adapts to emerging threats. His insights into current Red Sea operations, where nearly 30 ships have engaged in actual combat, reveal both the effectiveness of existing systems and the urgent need for fundamental changes in how the Navy approaches cost-effective defense against asymmetric threats.

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The assumption that America maintains decisive military superiority might be more dangerous than the threats we're actually facing. Daniel "D-Day" Simpson, Major General USAF (ret), brings decades of intelligence and operational experience to challenge conventional wisdom about peer competition, artificial intelligence, and the pace of defense innovation.

D-Day's career trajectory provides unique insights into how military professionals adapt to radically different operational environments. His wisdom spans the evolution from Cold War deterrence through counterterrorism operations to renewed great power competition, offering critical perspective on how technological advantages can create strategic blind spots. Most importantly, his current focus on artificial intelligence integration reflects deep understanding of both operational requirements and implementation challenges that academic discussions often miss.

His conversation with Ian also explores why treating China as a "near peer" rather than peer competitor reflects dangerous strategic miscalculation, how artificial intelligence represents evolutionary rather than revolutionary change at revolutionary speed, and why future conflict scenarios will exceed human processing capabilities regardless of personnel increases. 

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Two veteran intelligence officers with distinct naval and marine backgrounds reflect on how military intelligence operations have evolved from exclusive government programs to information-saturated environments where technology frequently fails to deliver. In this candid conversation on Defense Disrupted, Ed Padinske, Retired Navy Captain, who served as senior intelligence officer for Navy special warfare units, and Ed Sullivan, Retired Marine Colonel, who spent years as an intelligence officer in Iraq and later commanded an intelligence battalion, share battlefield perspectives on system failures. 

They explain to Ian how acquisition processes designed in the 1960s remain fundamentally unchanged while fighting modern adversaries, comparing it to racing a 1970 Nova in an F1 competition. Their frontline stories — from Padinske's experience in the White House Situation Room on 9/11 to Sullivan's cultural advisor role in Fallujah — illuminate how personality-driven procurement decisions often sabotage effective solutions, and why pushing capabilities to lower echelons could revolutionize warfare. Both agree that defense innovation requires not just technological advancement but a cultural shift from process compliance to mission outcomes.

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From the frontlines to AI deployment at the tactical edge, Chané Jackson, Former Chief Data Scientist for U.S. Special Operations Command brings 20+ years of military experience to our inaugural episode of Defense Disrupted. 

Through conversations like this with military professionals, technology experts, and implementation specialists, our host Ian Kalin, CEO & Co-Founder of TurbineOne, will explore practical insights about deploying machine learning at the edge, emerging trends in field operations, and success stories from those accelerating threat recognition.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Government, or any of its affiliated agencies.