by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 23, 2025 | Japan, North Korea, Pacific Rim Security, Philippines, South China Sea, South Korea, Vietnam
Grant Newsham is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, a senior research fellow at the Center for Security Policy, and a retired United States Marine Officer. He was the first US Marine liaison officer to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and was instrumental in promoting the JSDF’s initial moves towards an amphibious capability.
He joined Mac to catch up on:
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- US engagement in the region… how goes it?
- Where each of the following Pacific Rim nations are today relative to defense issues: China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.
- The Marine Corps in the Pacific… how is it doing
- Ukraine
- Israel’s war against Hama, Hezbollah, Houthis and Iran
Always an interesting guest… Grant Newsham is the best I’ve heard when it comes to frank assessments of the Western Pacific.
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by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 21, 2025 | A1, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), isolation, Leadership, Mental Fitness, Mental Health
NEVER in the history of the Marine Corps has it needed the leadership abilities of its Staff Non-Commissioned Officer corps more than it does today. In today’s “Talking Point,” Mac expands on the theme of “It’s not my job to parent and life coach young Marines” — something he hears wherever he goes to speak to Marines, Sailors, and leaders.
In today’s “Talking Point,” Mac discusses the Post-Traumatic Winning Leader Class he’s given for the past three years to officers and staff non-commissioned officers wherever he speaks. The class attempts to develop a “terrain model” for leaders… explaining to them the world they lead in. Here are the components of the PTW Terrain Model:
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- The prevalence of childhood trauma (adverse childhood experiences – ACEs) in the All-Volunteer Force in general and in the Marine Corps in particular.
- How the environment young Americans grow up in today contributes to their greater fragility, and how digital technology promotes individual isolation.
- How leaders are unsure where the leadership line ends and the mental health line begins, which begets the phrase “it’s not my job” when Marine Staff Non-Commissioned Officers speak to Mac.
- Finally, Mac discusses how the most senior leader who is with junior Marines has grown in importance due to the greater fragility of young Americans.
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by Michael F. McNamara | Feb 21, 2023 | Mental Fitness, Mental Health, Post Traumatic Stress, Post Traumatic Winning, Suicide
At 10:09 PM on June 6th of 2022, I received a long email from a guy named Wade Cates. At 11:15 PM, I woke up, read the email, and told him to call me if he was still awake. We spoke the next day.
Wade is a former Marine NCO, he drives a semi-truck for a living… hauling a lot of steel between Jackson, Tennessee, Birmingham, Alabama, and Savannah, Georgia. He is rightly proud of his beautiful family and more than loves a good cigar.
The story that you will hear Wade tell is not an easy one to listen to; it’s the story of Juan’s suicide and just some of what his family has dealt with in the aftermath. But in that story, I know you will hear Wade’s depth, his resolve to exit the Valley of the Shadow of Death with his family and ultimately live a great life.
I am proud to call him my friend.
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