PODCAST · news
Fire Watch
by Military.com
Join the talented reporters at military.com every two weeks for your military news -- told in podcast format.A Military.com production.
Episodes
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Always Faithful, Always On: The Taxing Job of a Marine Corps Drill Instructor
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,...
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Trump's Promises to Radically Change the Military
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...
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Stolen Valor & the 2024 Election
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…
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Osprey Crash Investigations Often Blame the Pilots and Crew. Is That Fair?
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...
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Why 'Back in My Day' Views of Navy Boot Camp Changes May Be Missing the Point
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...
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Underreporting Child Abuse & The Case of China Lake
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...
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Vets in Hollywood and TV
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...
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On the Ice with Marines Preparing for War in the Arctic
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...
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On the Hunt for Army Recruits at an NRA Sponsored Sporting Convention
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...
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It's One of the VA's Biggest Expansions of Benefits in History. Some Veterans Missed Out.
The PACT Act, which was meant to help veterans receive care and benefits after being exposed to toxins and burn pits while serving their country, was billed as the most sweeping piece of veteran healthcare legislation ever passed. But for some veterans, like those exposed to things like the…
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How the Military's Holiday Tradition of Tracking Santa Came to Be
Note: This special Christmas episode originally aired on December 23rd, 2022. We thought it might bring you some holiday cheer again this year. Enjoy. When the red telephone began to ring, Col. Harry Shoup feared the worst. It was 1955, at the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was in the…
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A Thanksgiving Aboard the USS Forrest Sherman
Pier 6 sits where the Elizabeth River and Chesapeake Bay meet at the largest navy complex in the world – Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. It's Monday, windy and cold. Sailors, civilian contractors and dock workers, or stevedors as they're called on Pier 6 hurry to unload three enormous food…
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A Military Halloween at Owl Creek Bridge
[ARCHIVES] Ambrose Bierce was an American Civil War veteran. As a Union soldier Bierce fought in many battles, was wounded, and went on to become a pioneer in the horror genre, helping introduce the psychological thriller to the American story. American tradition is steeped in rich horror and...
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Troops and Tattoos: A History in Ink
A few blocks away from Baltimore Harbor where many a sailor have made port and ships have launched for centuries, I walk into a tan and green-shingled building lined inside and out with tattoo memorabilia. Snarling panthers, rickety ships, pin-up girls: slices of Americana-style ink hang over...
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Want to File a PACT Act Claim? Do It by August 9. Here's Why.
August 9th, August 9th, August 9th! If there is one thing you remember about this episode, it is that you should apply for your PACT Act benefits by August 9th. August 9th – that's the date. If you are unsure what I am talking about, and why I am talking about it repetitively, I bet you have...
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The New ISIS: How a Branch of the Terrorist Group Is Becoming a Top Threat
The Islamic State's Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS-K, has rapidly become the new boogeyman in the Middle East -- specifically in Afghanistan, where the overall ISIS apparatus has spread its influence. The State Department has issued warnings about the group and has previously designated…
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Fire Watch: We Ask the Navy's Personnel Leaders Your Questions About Pay, Billets and Beards
Last week, my colleague Konstantin Toropin and I spoke to the Chief of Navy Personnel, Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman, and his senior enlisted counterpart Fleet Master Chief Delbert Terrell. They are the senior leaders who run the Navy's personnel, manpower and training operations across the fleet. We...
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The Heroic Stories of the USO Service Members of the Year
Many Americans think of only one form of military heroism: the war hero. But there are many varieties of heroism -- yes, some that include acts of gallantry in combat, but others are performed by service members here at home. At least, that's what the United Service Organizations, or USO, has…
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Colonel Paris D. Davis and His Decades Long Wait for the Medal of Honor
Nearly 60 years ago, now-retired Colonel Paris Davis did something remarkable. He was a Green Beret, one of the first Black officers to join the elite Special Forces. And on June 18, 1965 as dawn was breaking over the rice paddies of Binh Dinh province Vietnam, Davis, his Special Forces team, and...
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Is America Going to War with China?
Last week, Americans looked toward the sky … they were scanning for a 200-foot-tall white orb that traversed the entire country in less than two weeks. It stalked the Midwest and floated into the Southeast like an all-seeing eye. It was a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon or spy balloon,...
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Sesame Street's Push to Help Military Families Rattled by the Pandemic
In 2019, when Gen. Milley marched his boots on Sesame Street, it was in April, the Month of the Military Child. What Gen. Milley, Elmo and the rest of the world did not know at the time was that in less than a year, the world would change. The experts and researcher behind the family-friendly fun...
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Inside the Fight by National Guardsmen to Repel a Terrorist Attack in Somalia
In late 2019, an explosion rumbled across a remote vista in Somalia, disturbing the low brush and red-brown dirt surrounding a lonely American airfield. It rattled the bolts of the decades-old base and buckled the knees of the National Guard soldiers tasked with defending it. Capt. London Nagai –...
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The Santa Colonel & NORAD's Hunt for Saint Nick
When the red telephone began to ring, Col. Harry Shoup feared the worst. It was 1955, at the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was in the operations center of the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado. CONAD, as it was known then, stood as the early warning system for a Soviet attack. So…
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The War Is Done & the Bill Is Due: TBI and the Price Paid by Vets
This episode contains descriptions of suicide. Listener discretion is advised. Traumatic Brain Injuries – the cost of the Global War on Terror is due – passed due – and veterans and families are footing the bill with their lives. Suicide is a complex issue. And as we are learning, TBIs add to…
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Thank You for Your Service
Veterans Day is a holiday meant to honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. It is also a day that has historically served as a platform for those outside of the community to offer their thoughts on service – whether sincere or platitudinous. On this episode of Fire Watch, we...
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A Halloween Occurrence and the Veterans Who Live to Scare
Ambrose Bierce was an American Civil War veteran. As a Union soldier Bierce fought in many battles, was wounded, and went on to become a pioneer in the horror genre, helping introduce the psychological thriller to the American story. American tradition is steeped in rich horror and veterans like...
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Episode 7: The Army of Families Caring for America's Wounded Vets
These are the family members who were part of the Department of Veterans' Affairs caregiver program, a largely unsung army of thousands of friends, family members and guardians that quietly take care of veterans who cannot independently take care of themselves as a result of injury or illness...
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Episode 6: The Proof of Service that Sailors Just Can't Get on Time
On the way out of the military, troops get a single document that has the power to get them a job and healthcare. It is constantly used by the Department of Veterans Affairs as reference for disability or benefits ratings. If a veteran wants to go to school, a university is going to ask for it.…
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Episode 5: Meet the Women Changing How the Army Treats Female Soldiers
Who are the women shaking up Army rules? Today, junior ranks are leading the charge to make change in the military. Not only for hair policy, but for women's reproductive health and in tackling the pervasive sexual assault issue that has been plaguing the military for decades. On this episode,...
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Episode 4: Afghanistan to Vietnam, The Lasting Mark on Those Who Served
A year ago this week, U.S. forces were preparing to depart Afghanistan after 20 years of war. It wasn't the first time that American troops witnessed the end of decades of conflict, trying to assess what it was all for. Almost 50 years prior President Richard Nixon promised the next generation...
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Episode 3: Veterans Sickened by Burn Pits Are Finally Getting Help
The PACT Act had a years-long, tumultuous journey to getting signed into law this week. It is meant to provide expanded health care for veterans affected by burnpit toxins and other exposures incurred during their service. Veterans and their advocates camped outside of the Capitol for six days...
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Episode 2: Disaster at Red Hill
What happened at Red Hill? Last year, fuel tanks at the Navy facility spilled thousands of gallons of fuel into Hawaii's water supply – sickening and displacing thousands of families from the Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam area. This is their story. Appearing in this episode: Families, Military...
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Episode 1: Making a Space Troop
How is the military making space troops? Fire Watch looks at the military's newest service, how the Space Force is building its own identity in the long-established shadows of the other military branches and how Guardians are trained, from cradle to star amid a renewed 21st century competition in...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Fire Watch have?
Fire Watch currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Fire Watch about?
Join the talented reporters at military.com every two weeks for your military news -- told in podcast format.A Military.com production.
How often does Fire Watch release new episodes?
Fire Watch has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Fire Watch?
You can listen to Fire Watch on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Fire Watch?
Fire Watch is created and hosted by Military.com.
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