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#239: Modern Day Marine 2026

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week, we’re talking Modern Day Marine 2026, so we brought the MCA’s Director of National Military Association Engagement and Expositions, Marta Sullivan, and the Director of Strategy, Plans & Assessment at Headquarters Marine Corps Comms Directorate, LtCol Nick Mannweiler, to the scuttlebutt to talk to us about what’s in store for the premier military exposition. From the key leadership engagements and TedTalk-style presentations to the Commandant’s Cup wargaming tourney at Objective 1, there’s something for everyone. And of course, there’sall the cool stuff. Vendors, large and small, will be presenting their innovations to support Force Design and the Marine Corps’ modernization efforts. If that weren’tenough to get you hyped, we’ll be there recording live from the showroom floor. Come check us out and say hi!   

Enjoy! 

marinemilitaryexpos.com 

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#238: The Power of Narrative with August Cole

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome August Cole back to the scuttlebutt. August joined us last year at Modern Day Marine in Episode 193 and was kind enough to come on again. Please go back and check that out. For those who missed it, August is the co-author of the books Ghost Fleetand Burn-In, managing partner of Useful Fiction, and a nonresident senior fellow in the Forward Defense practice of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He was also a journalist for the Wall Street Journal and he talks to us about being a journalist and how his experience informs his fiction writing. We also dive into narrative and the power of storytelling, and how telling stories about what could be helps tell the story of what is. Also, with this being the ten-year anniversary of Ghost Fleet, he shares some insights into how “right” his books are.     

Enjoy! 

augustcole.com 

instagram.com/augustcole 

useful-fiction.com 

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#237: Literary Lethality with Ian Brown

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week, we bring another installment of our new series, Literary Lethality, to the scuttlebutt. In this series, we will be doing a deep dive into the Commandant’s Professional Reading List, exploring various titles and talking with authors about some of the books on the list. Today, we welcome Ian Brown back to the show. Ian has been on a few times, participating in our World of Wargaming series and is one of the most prolific advocates for the benefits of wargaming and robust military education. He is also the author of A New Conception of War: John Boyd, the U.S. Marines, and Maneuver Warfare and Snowmobiles and Grand Ideas: John Boyd’s Vision for Thriving in Chaos. Ian talks to us about A New Conception of War, the genesis of the project, and what it means to him to have his book on the Commandant’s Professional Reading List three years running. And more than anything, why A New Conception of War deserves to be on the Commandant’s Professional Reading List. 

Enjoy! 

linkedin.com/in/ian-brown-41b2bb94 

x.com/ian_tb03 

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#236: Celebrating the Gazette’s 110th Anniversary

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us at the scuttlebutt. This week, the team comes together to form Voltron to recognize this month as the 110th anniversary of the Marine Corps Gazette being in continuous publication. It’s no small feat for any publication to continuously be in circulation for this long, especially in this digital age where literary works, particularly those in pulp, are in decline. But the significance of the Gazette goes beyond the dates. Nancy, William, and I talk about some of the significance, in particular the Gazette’s role in institutionalizing maneuver warfare.   

This is a wonderful milestone and it’s awesome that the Marine Corps Association continues to provide a forum for the presentation of ideas and professional discourse. Congratulations to the Gazette staff, past and present. 

Enjoy! 

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