Building the Base

• Ghost Fleet at 10: Fiction as a Strategic Tool with author August Cole

  In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula sit down with August Cole, strategist, author, and futurist who has spent his career exploring fiction's role in national security strategy. Drawing from his journey from Wall Street Journal journalist covering defense and technology to co-authoring the groundbreaking novel Ghost Fleet with Peter Singer, Cole discusses how fiction can help leaders avoid strategic surprise and failure of imagination. As Ghost Fleet celebrates its 10-year anniversary, Cole reflects on the book's impact on defense thinking, the power of scenario planning through storytelling, and why "useful fiction" has become an essential tool for wargaming future conflicts in an era of exponential technological change.Five key takeaways from today's episode:Fiction serves as a strategic tool to avoid failure of imagination, with Cole noting that "we really can fall victim to failure of imagination with catastrophic consequences, and even more so today when so many technologies are exponential in their impact on warfare."Ghost Fleet combines rigorous research with narrative storytelling, grounded in "30 or so pages of endnotes" from open-source research including doctrine, patents, and scholarship to make the speculative scenario credible and actionable for defense leaders.Strategic fiction gives leaders permission to think differently, as Cole explains that fiction provides "a safe space to explore ideas that might otherwise be dismissed" and helps overcome organizational resistance to uncomfortable futures.The power of story transcends traditional analysis, with Cole emphasizing that narrative allows people to "see problems from someone else's perspective" and makes complex strategic concepts accessible across organizational hierarchies.Invest in skills that make you a better collaborator, as Cole advises the next generation to focus on "the human dimension" including empathy, foreign languages, and technical literacy while resisting pressure to follow conventional career paths.

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• Academia's Role in National Security with Jamie Jones Miller of Northeastern University Arlington

  In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula sit down with Jamie Jones Miller, CEO of Northeastern University's Arlington campus and Interim Director of the Kostas Research Institute. Drawing from her journey from Capitol Hill legislative work on the House Armed Services Committee to the Pentagon's Office of Legislative Affairs, and now leading national security research in academia, Miller discusses the critical need for "unicorn talent" that bridges policy, technology, and leadership. She explains why universities must align with defense priorities, the importance of matching talent pipelines to technology strategies, and how academia can serve as a vital connector in the national security ecosystem.Five key takeaways from today's episode:Employers want "unicorn talent" who can seamlessly operate across policy, technology, and leadership domains, with Miller noting they "want the people who can figure out how to look into the future and see what's coming."Policy, technology, and security are now inseparable, as Miller reflects that these domains "can't stand on its own anymore" and require integrated approaches to education and problem-solving.Academia must align with defense priorities, with Miller asking "what is the next critical technologies list at DOD gonna look like?" to ensure universities invest where "the investments are going to be made."Talent strategy must match technology strategy, as Miller challenges organizations: "Do you have a talent pipeline plan? How many engineers do you need to hire in the next 12 to 18 months?"Start with real problems, not solutions, emphasizing the need to ask "what are your pain points?" and build trust through delivery rather than rushing to help without understanding actual needs.

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• Innovation at the Speed of Battle with Zach Beecher of Scout Ventures

  In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula sit down with Zach Beecher, Partner at Scout Ventures, who brings a unique perspective from serving as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq to now leading dual-use technology investments on the front lines of defense innovation. Drawing from his combat experience witnessing "innovation at the speed of battle" during the liberation of Mosul from ISIS, his transition through venture capital in London, and his current role backing breakthrough defense technologies, Beecher discusses the urgent need to bridge Silicon Valley innovation with national security imperatives. He shares his insights on why "innovation at the speed of bureaucracy looks a lot different than innovation at the speed of battle," explains how venture capital can serve as a "player coach" for defense entrepreneurs, and argues that America must grow the industrial base through addition rather than subtraction by incentivizing collaboration between traditional primes and non-traditional startups.Five key takeaways from today's episode:Combat experience reveals innovation potential, as Beecher describes how deploying to Iraq in 2017 exposed him to soldiers thinking on their feet to solve dynamic battlefield challenges, from integrating off-the-shelf drones for Iraqi forces to creating software solutions for logistics, showing him that "innovation at the speed of battle" could be transformative if scaled properly.The dual-use investment landscape has dramatically evolved, Beecher notes, from being called a "warmonger" on a panel just two years ago for suggesting quantum companies focus on national security applications, to today's environment where "the capital ladder" from early stage through scaled production is "fully formed in a way that it's never been before."Contracts are the only validation that matters, Beecher emphasizes, because "contracts signify demand and contracts ultimately indicate what the government has identified as a priority," warning that without real customer validation through actual purchases, even well-funded startups risk "building a bridge to nowhere."Success requires mastering four core pillars, Beecher explains entrepreneurs must understand the problems they're solving, the people responsible for solving them, the processes required to navigate solutions, and how their products integrate across all three, with companies like Tern AI demonstrating this by addressing alternative navigation needs for both military operations and commercial autonomous vehicles.Collaboration beats competition in defense innovation, as Beecher advocates for "leading through addition rather than subtraction," pointing to examples like NASA's commercial orbital program that sparked competition between traditional primes and companies like SpaceX, ultimately transforming entire industries through incentivized partnership rather than zero-sum thinking.

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• No Substitute for Victory: A Green Beret's Defense Mission with Rep. Pat Harrigan

  In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula sit down with Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10), who brings a rare combination of Special Forces experience, defense entrepreneurship, and fresh congressional perspective to America's national security challenges. Drawing from his service in 3rd Special Forces Group, his journey building a weapons and munitions manufacturing company, and his current role on the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Harrigan discusses the urgent need to revolutionize America's defense industrial base. He shares his candid assessment of government as "a terrible customer," explains his groundbreaking Sky Foundry initiative to build America's first million-drone manufacturing capability, and warns that the nature of warfare has fundamentally changed from the Global War on Terror era. The conversation explores why America must shift from producing "high cost problems to our enemies' low cost solutions" to creating affordable, scalable technologies that can match the pace of modern conflict.Five key takeaways from today's episode:Personal inspiration drives public service, as Rep. Harrigan reveals how his grandfather's vivid memories of D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, details he could recite perfectly even with dementia, showed him "what a formative part of his life he made a huge difference for the trajectory of the world," inspiring his own call to serve when he witnessed leadership failures during Afghanistan's fall.The nature of warfare has fundamentally changed, Congressman Harrigan explains, comparing the shift from the Global War on Terror to today's drone-dominated battlefield as the difference between "basketball and baseball" with 80% of casualties in Ukraine now caused by small, inexpensive FPV drones rather than traditional weapons systems.America currently sits at "effectively zero" drone manufacturing capability while being wholly dependent on Chinese supply chains, Rep. Harrigan warns, as adversaries like Russia and Ukraine produce millions of drones annually at costs dramatically lower than America's $20,000-30,000 per unit.The Sky Foundry initiative represents a revolutionary approach to defense manufacturing, combining government-owned facilities with private contractor intellectual property through a royalty-based system that incentivizes innovation while maintaining competition and driving costs down to $500 per drone.Success requires unwavering persistence, Rep. Harrigan emphasizes, sharing his philosophy of "never give up, never give in" when fighting for his daughters Reagan and McKinley's future, because "there is no substitute for victory" and breakthrough solutions will eventually succeed if you believe in them and keep working regardless of initial resistance.

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• Innovation through Incrementalism: Rep. Jim Himes, Ranking Member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

  In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula sit down with Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT), who serves on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Financial Services Committee. Drawing from his unique background spanning Wall Street and public service, Congressman Himes discusses the critical intersection of technology innovation, national security, and America's industrial base. He shares candid insights on the challenges of government innovation, the evolving threat landscape from China, and why immigration remains America's secret weapon in the global competition for technological supremacy. The conversation also explores the cultural shifts needed within both Congress and the defense establishment to embrace the iterative, failure-tolerant approach essential for modern software development and emerging technologies.Five key takeaways from today's episode:The shift from hardware to software has fundamentally changed defense acquisition, Rep. Himes explains, requiring iterative development through failure and constant end-user contact—a capability traditional defense primes weren't prepared for, though progress is being made through innovative programs like DIU and Kessel Run.America's two greatest advantages over China in innovation, according to Rep. Himes, are immigration and a chaotic entrepreneurial ecosystem that treats failure as graduate-level education for the next venture, advantages that must be preserved and leveraged.Congressional culture remains risk-averse toward failure, Rep. Himes notes, with members more focused on finding the next "Solyndra" to investigate rather than creating the psychological safety necessary for breakthrough innovation.Supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict have created new appreciation for defense industrial base resilience, but Rep. Himes argues the tension between economic efficiency and strategic security requires nuanced thinking.Emerging threats like biosynthesis and quantum computing pose existential risks that require both cutting-edge research investment and a return to shared empirical truth, Rep. Himes warns, making the intersection of technology policy and national security more critical than ever.

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