NucleCast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of NucleCast, Adam and Chris Stone engage in a deep discussion about the concept of dynamic parity in nuclear deterrence. They explore the implications of parity versus superiority in military strategy, the challenges of arms control, and the political landscape affecting defense spending. The conversation highlights the need for modernization in the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the importance of understanding adversaries' capabilities and strategies.

Christopher Stone is a Senior Fellow for Space Deterrence Studies at the National Institute for Deterrence Studies and Host of Real Space Strategy podcast. He previously served as special assistant to the deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy.

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Captain Retired Brad Baker discusses the development of the nuclear engineering program at the U.S. Naval Academy and the recruitment of nuclear propulsion officers. He emphasizes the importance of technical training and the opportunities available in the Navy for those with a nuclear engineering background. Brad also talks about the additive manufacturing program at the Naval Academy and its significance for the Navy. He envisions the merging of energetics and additive manufacturing, as well as the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning in additive manufacturing and highlights the need for advancements in the qualification of additive manufacturing parts.

Proudly starting his military career as an enlisted Sailor, Dr. Brad Baker completed a distinguished 36-year career in the Navy retiring as a Captain with degrees in Marine Engineering, Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He served in a variety of leadership positions in submarines followed by over 10 years as a Permanent Military Professor at the United States Naval Academy where he was one of few military members promoted to Associate Professor. A strong advocate for the Naval Academy and education, he has the longest tenure as chairman of the Naval Academy’s Admission Board serving in that capacity for 7 years. He has received multiple award recognitions including teaching awards, selection as one of the 20 most influential academics in smart manufacturing in 2021, the first ever education and workforce development award by America Makes in 2024, and other awards. Following his retirement from the military, he became Principal Engineer for Energetics Technology Center bringing his leadership and technical expertise to expand the engineering analysis and strategic policy around energetic materials and advanced manufacturing. His technical areas of expertise include materials science, nuclear engineering, microscopy, and additive manufacturing.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:27 Establishing the Nuclear Engineering Program at the Naval Academy

05:52 Recruiting Nuclear Propulsion Officers

10:11 The Significance of Additive Manufacturing at the Naval Academy

17:29 Merging Energetics and Additive Manufacturing

20:39 Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Additive Manufacturing

29:16 Advancements in Qualification of Additive Manufacturing Parts

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In this episode of NucleCast, Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, talks about the challenges and implications of nuclear modernization. They discuss the growing threats from China, Russia, and other countries, and the need for the United States to rethink its approach to deterrence. They also explore the budget constraints and acquisition processes that impact nuclear modernization efforts. Clark suggests that the Department of Defense should eliminate the joint requirements process and focus on force planning and design. He also calls for a reexamination of the triad recapitalization plan and a renewed emphasis on force design within each service.

Bryan Clark is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute. He studies naval operations, cyber and electromagnetic warfare, autonomous systems, military competitions, and wargaming. From 2013 to 2019, Mr. Clark was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) where he led studies for the DoD Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Defense Advanced Research Products Agency on new technologies and the future of warfare.

Prior to joining CSBA in 2013, Mr. Clark was a career enlisted and officer submariner. His last assignment was as director of the Chief of Naval Operations Commander’s Action Group, where he led development of Navy strategy and implemented new initiatives in electromagnetic spectrum operations, undersea warfare, expeditionary operations, and personnel and readiness management.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview

02:09 Growing Threats and Implications of Nuclear Modernization

09:47 Budget Constraints and Acquisition Challenges

18:56 Rethinking Defense Priorities

27:05 Eliminating Joint Requirements and Focusing on Force Planning

29:06 Rethinking the Triad Recapitalization Plan

32:22 The Importance of Force Design

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Raphael "Rafi" Cohen is the director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He works on a broad range of defense and foreign policy issues, including defense strategy and force planning, Middle East and European security and civil-military relations.

Cohen previously held research fellowships at the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute and the National Defense University’s Center for Complex Operations. He has written for a variety of forums, including the Journal of Strategic Studies, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Fox News, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, The Hill, The National Interest and other publications. He also served as a staffer on the Congressionally-appointed 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission and is now the deputy executive director of the 2023 National Defense Strategy Commission.

A military intelligence branched lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, Cohen has held a variety of command and staff positions in both the active and reserve components, including during two combat tours in Iraq from 2005 to 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008. He holds B.A. magna cum laude in government from Harvard University and an M.A. in security studies and Ph.D. in government from Georgetown University.

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Brian Green is a non-resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense Project. Prior to his current position, he was the founder and principal at Impact Strategies, a national security consulting firm, and served as Executive Director of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Washington Operations Office, with planning and execution responsibilities for the company’s defense business development and government affairs in the DC area. Prior to his work at Aerojet, he was the Director of Strategic Force Assessments at Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc.

In his government service, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategic Capabilities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, with oversight and policy development responsibilities for US nuclear forces, missile defense, military space, information operations, and arms control. He also served as the staff lead for the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the lead for strategic programs on the House Armed Services Committee, in which he had legislative and oversight responsibilities for nuclear, missile defense, and military space programs. Prior to those assignments, he served on the staff of the Air Force Association, the Aerospace Education Foundation, and the Heritage Foundation.

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Carl Rhodes Ph.D. is the founder of Robust Policy, a Canberra-based business that provides evidence-based analysis on defense topics. Carl worked at RAND Corporation from 1997-2021, including four years as director of RAND Australia. Prior to moving to Australia, Carl spent twenty years as a researcher and manager in RAND’s Project AIR FORCE. His research portfolio has covered topics including long-range strike, ISR, sovereign weapons, nuclear deterrence, unmanned systems, and stressors facing 20th Air Force.

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Wendy Baca started her career in 1987 with the Department of Energy in what was then known as the Albuquerque Operations Office. She was hired to fill the W87-1 Small Inter-continental Ballistic Missile (SICBM) Program Engineer position where one of her first tasks was to issue the Phase 3, Development Engineering, authorization to the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex. Although the program was canceled a short time later, she continued to work in numerous Federal Program Manager roles for the next 25 years. The majority of Wendy’s work focused on the ICBM programs where she was also the Director of the DOE’s and later, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s), ICBM Division for 9 years. During that time, her primary focus was the First Production Unit through completion of the W87 Alt 342, which was also referred to as the W87 Life Extension Program. Wendy’s other Federal Program Manager positions included the Pantex Stage Right Program, the AT-400A Pit Container, the DOE/NNSA Dismantlement Program, Plutonium Sustainment, and the Modernization Programs.

After retiring from DOE/NNSA in 2012, Wendy worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as an Executive Advisor in the Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program. In 2015, Wendy became the Director of the Integrated Program Management Office in the Plutonium Science and Manufacturing Division where she focused on the ongoing LANL Production Agency efforts to include plutonium pits.

Wendy worked at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) from February 2017 until October 2022. She started in the Military Liaison Department as the W80-1/W84 Field Engineer and she finished her SNL career as the Manager of the Accident Response Group and Legacy Hardware Laboratory Department.

In 2021, Wendy joined TechSource Inc’s Weapons Knowledge Preservation and Transfer Program where she works with the team to develop and deliver instructional modules for new and mid-career employees across the Nuclear Security Enterprise. As a Subject-Matter-Expert, Wendy provides lessons learned, experiences, and perspectives regarding the NNSA’s Weapons Acquisition Process that she has gained over the past 35 years.

Since November 2022, Wendy has also been a consultant with MELE Associates where she is part of the NNSA’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation “Reserve Force” which is a cadre of retired employees that provides expertise and support to the NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team.

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Brad is an accomplished senior leader who enjoys a reputation for original thinking and strategic acumen coupled with an affirmative leadership approach. He holds a doctorate from Vanderbilt University and is a graduate of the National War College. Most recently Brad served as the Army’s longest-tenured Senior Strategist and Chief of Plans, Brad exercised wide-ranging and global responsibilities across the Army. With his enterprise-wide authorities Brad directly advised Army executives as he led the Army’s formal outreach to international military partners to fashion agreements that enhanced the readiness of the Army through better-value investment and effective basing of high demand logistics and equipment footprints. The programs Bradinitiated delivered capabilities in the form of innovative solutions that leveraged current Army force designs with emerging technologies, new concepts, and effective alignment of institutional priorities.

Charged by Army leaders to “own the future” Brad built new structure models validated through scenario-driven experiments to maximize Army capabilities and operations. He refashioned planning and training methods to improve the Army’s counter-WMD readiness; wrote orders for Army-wide implementation; and regularly advised senior leaders regarding emerging trends affecting national defense, international affairs, and security policy.

Brad led the Pentagon’s primary planning and force posture forums. He regularly consulted with senior DoD civilian and military leaders across defense organizations to build DoD’s first and unique worldwide plans that integrated the DoD’s crisis responses to cross-domain challenges posed by disruptive technologies and the rapid global transfer of information.

In addition to his strategy and leadership experience, Brad served as a special assistant to multiple senior executives. An accomplished writer, he published capstone Army documents and has written numerous professional essays, three college instructor resource manuals, two urban warfare anthologies, and a military biography. He continues to work as a senior mentor to the Army and as an executive consultant.

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Juan Vitali is the Assistant Director Nuclear Energy Innovation at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House. Previously, he was the Army’s Nuclear Engineer and Chief of the Nuclear Power Branch where he led a team of engineers to shape conditions for the adoption of nuclear power by the Army. He was the chief concept architect for the development of mobile nuclear power plant for ground operations. He was the Senior Advisor to the Chief of Engineers on Nuclear Power Matters. Juan was Principal Research Faculty for eight years at Georgia Tech Research Institute and was Director of the Washington Office for the Electro-Optics Environment and Materials Laboratory.

Throughout his career, Juan has maintained a dedication to excellence not only in science and technology but, in general, quietly effecting change through increasing leadership roles. In 2000, his work in halon replacements earned him the International US-EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. Juan completed studies at National Defense University/Eisenhower Schooland obtained a master’s degree in National Security Studies and Resource Strategy in 2013. Juan is a Harvard University Senior Executive Fellow. Juan holds a Doctorate in Engineering Physics/Nuclear Engineering(1992), a Master of Engineering (1987) and a bachelor’s degree Cum Laude in Engineering Physics/Nuclear Engineering (1984), all from the University of Florida. Juan is married to the former Kathryn Bowler of Needham, MA.

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Major Frank W. Perry, Jr. is the Chief, Helicopter Operations Division, Twentieth Air Force. In this position Major Perry advises the Commander, Twentieth Air Force on operational and administrative issues for the Air Force’s sole Helicopter Group. He leads planning, coordination, and Operational Plan support for three operational helicopter squadrons, integrating USSTRATCOM and USNORTHCOM missions for over 400 personnel.

Prior to this assignment, Major Perry was a student at Air Command and Staff College in Air University. There he performed studies as part of the Russia Research Task Force, garnering the Thomas “Dutch” Miller Award for most relevant research in his field.

Major Perry enlisted in the Air Force as a Ground Radio Technician in 2004, receiving his commission through Officer Training School in 2009. Following graduation, he has served in a variety of operational assignments as a UH-1N instructor pilot, and subsequently as a Mi-17 instructor and evaluator pilot. Major Perry has deployed in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, and FREEDOM’S SENTINEL.

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