MCA Scuttlebutt

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, as a continuation of our 20th anniversary of Fallujah II/Operation Phantom Fury programming, we welcome Col Willie Buhl to the show. Col Buhl is a veteran of Operation Phantom Fury/Al-Fajr. He was the commanding officer of Task Force 3rd Bn/1st Marines at the battle. Col Buhl shares with us his experiences in Fallujah and his thoughts on the battle 20 years later. We are truly honored that he was willing to share the details of his story with us. We hope you find it as informative as you do engaging.

Enjoy!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 172: Corps Voices Season 2 with Col Willie Buhl, USMC (Ret.) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Jeremiah Workman back to the show. Jeremiah is a veteran of Operation Phantom Fury/Al-Fajr, also known as the Second Battle of Fallujah. He is a Navy Cross recipient and author of the book Shadow of the Sword. You can hear all about his story in Episode 61. Jeremiah happened to be in town for the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps’ fantastic OIF/OEF exhibit so we were so fortunate to be able to get him in studio. Jeremiah talks about his experiences in Fallujah, his thoughts on the battle 20 year later, and how he feels the battle has impacted the Marine Corps and current and future Marines. His humility is infectious and his account of the battle is as enlightening as it is sincere. This is a very special episode and we are truly honored that he was willing to share the details of his story with us. We hope you find it as informative as you do engaging.

Enjoy!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 171: Catching Up with Old Friends with Jeremiah Workman first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we begin our newest segment, Road to 250, in celebration of the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Over the next year, we’ll be featuring stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history.

This month, we begin with the Continental Marines. And I can’t imagine having a better guest to share the rich and little-known history of the birth of the Corps, MajGen Jason Bohm, USMC (Ret). MajGen Bohm’s last duty was serving as the Inspector General of the Marine Corps. He is currently the Dean of Liberty University’s Helms School of Government and author of From the Cold War to ISIL: One Marine’s Journey and Washington’s Marines: The Origins of the Corps and the American Revolution, 1775-1777. MajGen Bohm takes us beyond the hallowed stories of New Providence and shows us how employing Marines has been critical to American military success since before the founding of our Nation. This is a great conversation and we are so excited to be kicking off our Road to 250 with MajGen Bohm.

Enjoy!

www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bohm

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 170: Washington’s Marines with MajGen Jason Q. Bohm, USMC (Ret.) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome the founder of the Artist Preservation Group—Mike Stelzel. Following his service in the Marine Corps, Mike wanted to do his part in historical preservation. Combining his love of historical miniatures and history, he created the Artist Preservation Group to raise money in support of battlefield preservation and artifact maintenance. Mike shares with us his passion for this work, in particular, the preservation of five swords for the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Enjoy!

For more information, check out the Artist Preservation Group website here: artistpreservationgroup.com

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 169: Artist Preservation Group with SgtMaj Mike Stelzel, USMC (Ret.) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome the founder of PreVeteran and retired Air Force LtCol, Jason C. Anderson, to the show. PreVeteran is a veteran transition organization that trains and assists veterans in moving from military service to life in the private sector. Jason knows these challenges all too well. Even though his resume would lead one to believe he made a smooth and successful transition, Jason was struck with a sobering reality – he was not equipped business-wise to flourish in his new roles. Unfortunately, he learned firsthand that the military transition model is not optimized for preparing service members for private sector success. Jason explains these challenges, the tools veterans need to understand the private sector, and how PreVeteran optimizes veterans so that their talents and experience can benefit their future organizations and themselves.

Enjoy!

preveteran.com

linkedin.com/in/jason-anderson-preveteran/

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 168: PreVeteran Founder, LtCol Jason C. Anderson, USAF (Ret.) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we welcome the Marine Corps Shooting Team’s Capt John Bodzioch and SSgt Stephen Corson. These two Marines share with us what the Marine Corps Shooting Team does, the types of competitions they compete in, and most importantly, how to become a member. Not only do they represent the Marine Corps in local, regional, national, and international tournaments and competitions, but the weapons techniques and employment they teach make the Marine Corps a more lethal force.  Marines take a lot of pride in being known for expert marksmanship but it doesn’t come from good intentions. It takes constant and consistent training led by Marines like Capt Bodzioch and SSgt Corson. It was a lot of fun getting to spend some time learning more about what it is that the Marine Corps Shooting Team is all about.

Enjoy!

www.instagram.com/usmcshootingteam

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 167: Marine Corps Shooting Team first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we welcome Elliot Ackerman to the show. Elliot is a veteran Marine, infantry, and MARSOC officer, CIA paramilitary operative, and author of Green on Blue, Dark at the Crossing, Waiting for Eden, and 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, and many others. He is also a journalist who frequently contributes to The Atlantic and New York Times. Elliot talks to us about his Marine Corps journey, his transition to becoming an award-winning author, reading as wargaming, and the value of a military imagination. It was great having Elliot on the show to hear his story.

Enjoy!

www.instagram.com/elliot.ackerman

x.com/elliotackerman

www.prhspeakers.com/speaker/elliot-ackerman

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 166: Elliot Ackerman first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Isaac Lee to the show. Isaac Lee is a retired Marine CH-53 pilot and veteran of the Long War. He is also the author of the book Hangar 4: A Combat Aviator’s Memoir. Isaac’s book takes a very vulnerable and transparent look at his life as a Marine, husband, and father, and we have the pleasure of being able to share his story. We talk about his upbringing in Lubbock, TX, as an aspiring Major League Baseball player, how his desire for a continued sense of team brought him to the yellow footprints, his experiences in the cockpit, and the challenges of coming home and finding his team again. It’s not often that we get the perspective through the lens of a combat support aviator, so it was really cool being able to spend some time with Isaac.

Enjoy!

IG: @isaacgleewriter

FB: Isaac G Lee

X: @isaacglee

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 165: Hanger 4 with LtCol Isaac Lee , USMC (Ret) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we dive into the 39th  Commandant’s Planning Guidance. Last month, The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Smith, released his vision for the Service and his intent to provide strategic direction for the Marine Corps. Col Chris Woodbridge joins us again to talk about some of the history behind the Commandant’s Planning Guidance document,  the challenges that the Commandant identifies, and how the criticisms of the document remain as omnipresent and as persistent as they were in previous iterations of the CPG. Recent Gazette articles have discussed some of the experimentation and innovation that the Marine Corps is experiencing based on the CPG. Check those out on our website as well as links to the the Aug 2024 CPG. 

Enjoy!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 164: Commandant’s Planning Guidance 2024 first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. It’s been a while since we did an update on the war in Ukraine and as the major media outlets have shown us, you can’t do a Ukraine discussion without a retired Col in attendance. So, we brought in our own Editor-In-Chief, Col Chris Woodbridge back to the show to help legitimize us. It goes without saying that the war has gone on a lot longer than most would have predicted while at the same time, there have been some moves that no one saw coming. After spring and summer offensives that have spent a ton in the way of blood and treasure but do not seem to have yielded the same in territory gained, the Russians are gaining ground in the south while the Ukrainians have punched through in the north, penetrating in the Kursk region of Russia, which is fascinating being that this is the site of the Battle of Kursk, a major battle between the Nazis and Soviet Union during WWII, the largest battle in the history of warfare. Every time Col Woodbridge comes on the show, we learn something.

Enjoy!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 163: Ukraine Update with Col Chris Woodbridge first appeared on Marine Corps Association.