The Citizens to Soldiers Podcast

In June (yes, I know, we're late getting this posted!), the C2SI team had an internal discussion on the trajectory of conflict in Iran, Ukraine and elsewhere (two months later, most of our takes have held up pretty well). We concluded with a thought experiment: if you were defense minister of a small country building capability and capacity from the ground up, what would you invest in? Join us to find out.

Forward observers (FOs) are artillery soldiers embedded in infantry units to manage fire support. What goes into producing such soldiers? Back in November, C2SI talked with Rob Dahlgren, former US Army FO, now a PhD student conducting cutting-edge research into the US Army fire support training pipeline at the University of Central Florida, to find out.

Continuing with our series on wargaming, last fall, Adrian and Dan got the chance to chat with US Army (and Navy!) veteran and professional wargamer Kevin Williamson. We talked about his career working with organizations like Marine Corps University and CSIS, the state of the field, its current gaps, how technology is advancing the discipline, and how wargaming can be a cost-effective way for military leaders to prepare for situations from squad-level engagements to national mobilization.

We're back again! In this episode, recorded last fall, we revisit the topic of wargaming, this time with British Army Major Edward Farren, an exchange officer with the Canadian Army, co-director of Fight Club International, and designer of the "Readiness" wargame, which simulates the strategic challenge of managing the military of a great power for an extended period, balancing force projection and force generation while responding to threats in different theaters and navigating domestic political currents. Join us to learn more about how wargaming can help soldiers, citizens, and policymakers better understand how to face the most urgent challenges of our time.

Learn more about Fight Club here: https://www.fightclubinternational.org/

Infantry may be the "queen of battle"... but artillery is the king! Earlier this year, we spoke with retired US Army Colonel Jeffrey Buck about his career in Field Artillery and what training is like for soldiers in this branch, from the schoolhouse to the two-way range, and how gunners are adapting for the battlefields of the future.

Earlier this year, we chatted with Julian Werner, an infantry officer in the German Bundeswehr's EGB (Specialized Army Forces), a SOF unit comparable to the US Army Rangers. In addition, he's a research fellow at the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. An exemplar of the "warrior-scholar" archetype, Julian spoke with us about everything from shoothouses to strategic-level defense policy issues in an uncertain age for the transatlantic alliance.

Julian's profile at CISS

We're back with another slate of episodes!

Last fall, C2SI sat down with retired US Army infantry NCO and former Ranger Instructor (and Adrian's 1SG in the 173rd Airborne Brigade back in the day) Randy Collins. In this episode, we talk with Randy about what Ranger School is like from the RI's point of view, training up an infantry company for deployment to Afghanistan, and more.

Right now, C2SI is closely following the latest developments regarding US policy in Ukraine, but for this episode, we're going back for some historical perspective. Back in November, we sat down for a great discussion with Dr. Alex Burns of the Franciscan University of Steubenville to talk about military training, force generation, and warfare in the 18th century -- the "kabinettskriege" period.

You can follow Dr. Burns at kabinettskriege.bsky.social and read more of his work at https://kabinettskriege.blogspot.com/. His new book, "Infantry in Battle 1733-1783", is available here.

If you support Ukraine, the best thing you can do is DONATE TO HELP THE ZSU. There are many charities you can support, here are some of the larger Ukrainian ones:

https://u24.gov.ua/

https://savelife.in.ua/en/

https://prytulafoundation.org/en

For the past few years the military has experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining enough troops to meet its authorized size. While that is changing, the crew sat down last fall to talk with reporter and Army veteran Steve Beynon, who has covered the issue very closely for Military.com. The information is a little out of date, but listeners will still be able to understand the contours of the basic issues.

We're back! C2SI returns for 2025 with a new episode. Recorded last fall but relevant to the the latest headlines, we sat down for a discussion with professional wargaming umpire Jan Heinemann to talk about the history and uses of wargaming, from Prussians preparing for war to modern think tanks preparing to resist an authoritarian takeover of America. Jan is a member of the International Kriegsspiel Society and can be found on BlueSky at https://bsky.app/profile/letsplayhistory.bsky.social.