Our first podcast is an interview with General (Ret.) Joseph Votel. General Votel is recently retired from the United States Army after a 39 year career. The last position he held was as the Commander of US Central Command from March 2016 to March 2019. To listen to our interview with General (Ret.) Votel, you can do so on your desktop here, or by typing “Battlefield Next” into the search field of your favorite podcast app.
MAJ JJ Wellemeyer sat down with General Votel following his remarks at the “Ethical Challenges in the Development of New Weaponry” symposium hosted by the Center for the Rule of Law (CERL) at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2019. During his keynote address, General Votel discussed the ethical and moral implications of the evolving nature of warfare, and through the lens of his own personal experiences on the battlefield, he discussed how technological innovations have changed how we fight and how our adversaries do so as well. During the interview MAJ Wellemeyer asked him questions about his keynote address, professional development, leadership, and the qualities that make an effective judge advocate.
Below is a timeline of some of the subject-areas discussed during the episode:
00:00 Episode introduction
01:30 Beginning of interview with General (Ret.) Votel
01:57 Integration of judge advocates in planning/operations process
02:44 Gaining a commander's trust
04:33 Ramifications of a failure in standards
07:07 Professional development
09:58 Advice for JA Graduate Course and JAOBC students
13:46 General (Ret.) Votel's book recommendation
15:03 Closing remarks
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the topics covered during this episode, we recommend the following additional reading and resources:
• "Retiring Gen. Joseph Votel recalls challenges of CentCom, the Middle East" by Howard Altman, Tampa Bay Times
• General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal's leadership philosophy: "Listen, learn...then lead"
• ADP 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession
• "Once An Eagle" by Anton Myrer
• TJAG/DJAG Lifelong Learning Reading List
For more information related to FCD you can follow us on Twitter @jagfcd or by visiting our webpage. If you have recommendations or suggestions about future topics or guests, please send us an email, or you can leave us a comment by signing in below. Finally, if you like what you hear, please leave us a review on iTunes and subscribe to “Battlefield Next” on your favorite podcast app. While this is a podcast created by US Army Judge Advocates from Future Concepts Directorate, our goal is to reach other judge advocates and lawyers across the DoD, law students, and members of academia. Your reviews help make this possible.
For more information about the US Army JAG Corps, you can go here. If you’re interested in joining the Army JAG Corps, you can get more information by contacting the Judge Advocate Recruiting Office (JARO) or by visiting their webpage.
*Music by Joseph McDade
**The views expressed on the podcast are the views of the participants and do not necessarily represent those of The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, the Army, the Department of Defense, or any other agency of the US Government.