Professional Dinners Podcast

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.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week we welcome Nate Boaz and his wife, Martha Contreras on the show. Nate is a veteran Marine human intel officer, the chairman of the board of directors for Patrol Base Abbate, and the author of the book, Running Toward Fire: Following the Warrior Path. Nate and Marta talk to us about his journey to and in the Marine Corps, the purpose and intent behind the writing of this book, how necessary it is for veterans to find their sense of purpose and community again, and how veteran support organizations like PB Abbate help. Also, this is Suicide Prevention Month, and specifically, this is National Suicide Prevention Week, so this conversation is not only timely but the stories that Nate and Marta share are moving.

Thank you for joining us in this important conversation.

www.linkedin.com/in/nate-boaz/

www.barstoolballads.com/

www.pbabbate.org

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 162: Running Toward Fire with Nate Boaz first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

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

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 161: The Bottom Line Up Front with Sarah Kallassy first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

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!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 160: Semper Cinema with William Treuting first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

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/

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 159: SgtMaj Justin LeHew first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

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!

The post Scuttlebutt Ep 158: Behind the Camouflage with Marta Sullivan first appeared on Marine Corps Association.