Generals Out, Drones In: Hegseth's Plan for the Military
Adam Gillard and Dick Wilkinson start with the congressional hearing featuring former special counsel Jack Smith. They argue it was performative clip-hunting ahead of the midterms that buried what Smith actually said about January 6th. They also cover the senator whose "gotcha" text messages fell apart when it came out that Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes game, not in Atlanta.
Most of the episode breaks down Secretary Hegseth's annual State of the Forces address, delivered this year to E-6s and O-3s instead of generals. The hosts go through the main pieces:
Another 20 percent cut to general and flag officers by January
Project Meridian, the think tank of Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich, and Palmer Luckey
The new Autonomous Warfare Command
The American Corps of Cadets ROTC push at schools like Liberty and Hillsdale
A new Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to Hegseth
A proposed "Fortress America" megabase and an energy self-sufficiency mandate for every installation
Dick, a former intelligence analyst, weighs in on where drone warfare is headed. Adam questions what the religious office and the school list are really for.
They close with Tennessee's failed lethal injection and their views on the death penalty, deterrence, and the cost of getting it wrong.
2 Oct 2026
LIVE from COATI: Why Veterans Check Out of Elections
In this live episode recorded at COATI, Adam Gillard and Dick Wilkinson talk about a contradiction in military life. Service members risk their lives to bring voting to other countries, but veterans and active-duty troops often vote at lower rates than the public they serve.
The hosts share their own stories. They talk about checking out of local politics while moving between duty stations, voting absentee in home states they no longer followed, and not realizing that the Colorado they'd retire to was being shaped by elections they ignored. They make the case for Colorado to drop state income tax on active-duty pay so service members have a reason to register here. They also explain why Colorado Springs' southeast side, with turnout well below the rest of the city, has the most at stake.
The conversation then turns to the midterms. They cover the Iran war as a motivator for military families, the eight suicide attempts the Navy confirmed in the Lincoln strike group, the growing gap between public will and military orders, and why veterans should use the credibility they carry at the family dinner table. Adam and Dick close with how they each went from active duty to civic engagement and running for office.
27 Sept 2026
Wedding Gifts, Ballot Grabs, and a Showdown at the UN
Adam Gillard and Dick Wilkinson cover three stories this week. First, three Republican senators, including John Cornyn, are calling for an investigation after reports that a Russian oligarch with ties to Putin paid for part of Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding celebration. The hosts compare it to the Hunter Biden coverage and to a House ethics filing that let Rep. Jeff Crank accept wedding-related gifts from donors without itemizing them.
Next, Dick gets on his soapbox about a Northern California sheriff who seized ballots without a warrant and was ordered to return them. The conversation turns to the "constitutional sheriff" folklore, pandemic-era standoffs in rural New Mexico, and a county clerk's publicity stunt about hiring Tina Peters.
The episode closes with an expanded Hormuz Watch on the UN General Assembly, where Trump defended the war and Iran's president held up photos of the girls' school destroyed early in the conflict. Adam and Dick debate whether Iran's selective framing holds up, why the U.S. strike was so hard to defend given how much planning time there was.
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