Hamas tunnels, Ukraine and city warfare
Hello from Atlanta,
If your city were attacked by military force, would you know how to protect it? If the answer is no, you've got to listen to John Spencer's story on the podcast this week. John is the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. He's also a combat veteran.
When Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago, John started a thread on X/Twitter which was
“what my advice would be to civilian resistors in Ukraine, especially Kyiv. Someone with no military training but wanting to resist. Here are a few things…”
He covered
→ casualty and fighter care
→ protecting civilians
→ attacking aircraft and drones
... and it went viral with over 20 million views and over 23,000 retweets.
It's now been organized into a manual and published in 17 languages. His basic military advice for civilians trying to defend their street or block saved lives and slowed the Russian advance.
Now he's turned his attention to Hamas tunnels. Since the October 7 massacre John has been into Gaza four times with the Israeli Defence Force. He's gone into the tunnels and watched how the IDF changed it's tactics and strategy towards Hamas.
It's a fascinating conversation about war in modern times and what he's seen in Ukraine and Gaza.
Oh, and we chat a bit about DOGE and why Elon Musk's chainsaw economics might actually see the budget for the Department of Defence increase.
Listen in. John is a world expert in urban warfare and he's teaching the next generation of US soldiers and officers how to confront the enemy in cities, villages and towns.
Enjoy,
Robyn
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