Fire Watch

Mar 04 2025 35 ep. 31 mins 20

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Join the talented reporters at military.com every two weeks for your military news -- told in podcast format. A Military.com production.

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Always Faithful, Always On: The Taxing Job of a Marine Corps Drill Instructor

Mar 04 2025 42 mins

Marine Corps drill instructors represent one of the most legendary roles in the military. From the 1987 war movie "Full Metal Jacket" to their essential job of making new Marines at boot camp in 13-week cycles, the role has become iconic to the public and within squad bays alike. Last month, Military.com and The Washington Post published a joint investigation into the mental health

Trump’s Promises to Radically Change the Military

Jan 20 2025 15 mins

Since announcing his campaign for re-election, the public has weighed and dissected the merits and shortfalls of incoming President Trump’s aims for the military. But what has been missing is how these promises or inferences might come to fruition and what challenges they may face on their way to implementation. In this episode, we spoke to two people with collective decades of e

Stolen Valor & the 2024 Election

Sep 26 2024 23 mins

At its surface, Stolen Valor is a legal term used to describe people who claim gallant military awards -- like the Purple Heart or Medal of Honor -- they did not earn in an effort to gain money, property or other tangible benefits, according to a 2013 congressional act. But the phrase seems to have inhabited a broader meaning and gained a foothold in the public consciousness in rec

Osprey Crash Investigations Often Blame the Pilots and Crew. Is That Fair?

Aug 29 2024 20 mins

The V-22 was a novel aircraft when it was conceived in the 1980s. Promising to give American service members an advantage on the battlefield, it was versatile. It could fly like a plane, but rotate its propellers to take off like a helicopter. Military services jumped on it, especially the Marine Corps. But since 2022, Ospreys have crashed four times during routine training exerci

Why ‘Back in My Day’ Views of Navy Boot Camp Changes May Be Missing the Point

Jul 25 2024 35 mins

Last time, on Fire Watch, we took you inside Navy Boot camp. I was accompanied by Military.com reporter and Navy veteran Konstantin Toropin. And we came armed with a few questions: Is Navy boot camp different than veterans remember it? Is it still hard? And what do those changes say about the sailors joining the Navy today? In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at those cha

Inside Today's Navy Boot Camp: Less Yelling, Same Sleep Deprivation

Jun 28 2024 57 mins

Underreporting Child Abuse & The Case of China Lake

May 30 2024 14 mins

On this episode we will be focusing on years of underreporting of child abuse at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, one of the Navy’s most sprawling installations which is located in the Mojave Desert. This is a story about disclosure – or rather the lack of disclosure. In this episode: Drew F. Lawrence, Konstantin Toropin.

Vets in Hollywood and TV

Apr 25 2024 20 mins

In this episode we examine the history of the military, Hollywood and the veterans who brought real-as-can-be portrayals of that world to big and small screens. I interviewed some of the contemporary players – actors, advisors and writers – who made some of those portrayals a reality. In this episode: Jim LaPorta, Drew F. Lawrence, Caitlin Bassett, Capt. (ret.) Dale Dye

On the Ice with Marines Preparing for War in the Arctic

Mar 28 2024 12 mins

We’re in a Norwegian valley, high above the Arctic Circle. It’s late afternoon in early March and a group of over a dozen infantry Marines are standing around an American and Norwegian chaplain. It’s windy, cold. The Marines hold laminated prayer cards in dense gloves, some are shifting back and forth to stay warm. A radio chatters in the background with reports from the fron

On the Hunt for Army Recruits at an NRA Sponsored Sporting Convention

Feb 29 2024 16 mins

Since the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago, recruiting across the military services has been in crisis. Many recruiters lost access to schools that were shuttered. The military also has been increasingly the subject of political attacks – mainly from the right of the aisle condemning the services as “woke.” We’ll get into that in the episode. My colleague, Steve Beynon –