12: The Wild Science of Military MRE Meals
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Release Date: 10/30/2020
Why Failing to Help Our Afghan Interpreters Would Be a Disaster
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
They served beside U.S. troops and wore the very same uniform. But now 18,000 Afghan interpreters fear for their lives as the American government completes a military withdrawal from the country. How we treat our closest allies tells a story about who we are as Americans. Steve Miska, a retired Army officer and the author of Baghdad Underground Railroad, joins Left of Boom to discuss what it will take to stay true to our interpreters.
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4 Years After the Marines United Scandal, What Has the Military Learned?
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
It took a national scandal over a Facebook group called Marines United to force a true reckoning within the Marine Corps about its cultural problems with sexual harassment and misogyny. Four years later, how far has the military come in putting an end to this toxic behavior and creating a safer place for all troops to serve? Scott Jensen, a former leader of the Marines' Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program, joins Left of Boom to give the military a report card on its progress.
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How Many Ships Does the Navy Really Need?
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
The U.S. Navy's fleet is one of the most impressive on the planet -- but officials and strategists are desperate for even more ships to accomplish the service's global mission. The future fleet that planners want has up to 500 ships and includes drone ships, corvettes, light carriers and other innovative platforms. Does the Navy really need all that, and, more importantly, can the Navy afford it? Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute takes us behind the scenes on planning for future maritime warfare.
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21: The Untold Story of the Hunt for Osama bin Laden
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
It has been 10 years since May 2, 2011, the night a top-secret SEAL raid took out notorious terrorist and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. You may think you know the story of bin Laden and the ten-year manhunt that ended in his death, but you've probably seen it like this before. In Revealed: The Hunt for Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 Museum and the History Channel team up to present never-before-seen interviews and previously classified material.
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20: The Wildest Technologies Changing How the Military Fights
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Warfighting has come a long way from machine guns mounted on the back of horse-drawn carriages. New technologies can allow militaries to create and replenish weapons and ammunition on the run; train in virtual environments that they can touch, taste and smell; and command hordes of tiny drones that swarm enemy combatants on command. In many cases, what's standing between the U.S. military and effective implementation of these technologies is trust -- and a thorough understanding of how they work.
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19. The Five Biggest Things for Veterans in 2021
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Military veterans are emerging from the pandemic into a new world in 2021, and a lot has changed -- some things decidedly for the better. On this episode, host Hope Hodge Seck is joined by Air Force veteran Blake Stilwell of Military.com and Marine Corps veteran Jeff Daly of the American Legion's Tango Alpha Lima podcast to discuss the five things that every veterans should know about in 2021 -- and how the world is beginning to see military veterans and their potential in a different light.
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18. So What Is a 6th-Generation Fighter Jet?
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
While the U.S. military's fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets are still rolling off the production line and deploying across the globe, work has already begun on a futuristic 6th-generation fighter -- an aircraft that may have increased stealth, drone companions, boosted artificial intelligence and even the ability to heal itself when damaged. Richard Aboulafia from the Teal Group breaks down what we can expect from a 6th-gen fighter jet.
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17. Meet the Man Who Puts Movie Stars Through Boot Camp
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Dale Dye has been an adviser on many of the generation's On this episode, host Hope Hodge Seck and Military.com writer Blake Stilwell ask military movie legend Dale Dye about the worst military movie he's ever seen, his thoughts on Space Force and his advice for other veterans who want to make a career in showbiz.
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16: What We Got Wrong in Afghanistan
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Bing West has been called "The Grunt's Homer." After serving as a Marine Corps infantry officer in Vietnam and then going on to be an assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon, he has devoted his time to long embeds with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, telling their stories and bearing witness to the wars in a series of nonfiction books. His new novel, The Last Platoon, is a cautionary tale about America's "Forever War."
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15: What It's Like to Be a Medal of Honor Recipient (ft. Kyle White)
Left of Boom | A Military.com Podcast
Receiving the Medal of Honor -- the nation’s highest honor recognizing bravery in combat -- means joining an elite fraternity: there are only 69 living recipients, spanning conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan. At 33, Kyle White is one of the youngest. And now, 6 years after receiving the medal, he’s making a point of telling his whole story, including his fight to overcome personal demons from battle and his adjustment to the unexpected fame that comes with the medal.
info_outlineIt’s hard to think of a more beloved -- and sometimes hated -- cultural touchstone in the military than meals ready to eat, or MREs. They’ve been around since the C-Rations of World War II and beyond, and have for decades offered a touch of comfort and a taste of home -- albeit a highly engineered one that can last for years at high temperatures without spoiling. You can find MRE cookbooks that will tell you how to turn drink mix and generic toaster pastries into gourmet desserts, and there are scores of YouTube videos dedicated to taste-testing chili mac and the prized jalapeno cheese spread.
Well, it turns out there’s a lot of science that goes into each one of these compact rations packs, and sometimes the development of a new MRE menu item -- such as the coveted pepperoni pizza slice -- requires actual technological breakthrough. Today, we’ll talk to two people from the Combat Feeding Directorate in Natick, Massachusetts: Lauren Oleksyk, team leader for food engineering, who holds two patents in revolutionary food science, and David Accetta, an Army military historian and public affairs officer at the directorate.