Hey guys,
Welcome to the View from the Front podcast. If you just happened to stumble by, let me say a quick word about what we’re doing here.
For those who don’t know, my name is Stan R. Mitchell, and I’m a prior Marine and journalist.
Every week, I primarily do three things:
Work to highlight what our military troops are doing around the world, while also trying to better educate Americans about looming hotspots. (Why I focus on foreign policy...)
Attempt to unite our country and remind us of how lucky we are to live in America. (My thoughts on the division in this country...)
And I always make sure at the end of the episode to share plenty of motivation and wisdom, because I want to do my small part to help encourage you and lift you up. Life is certainly hard, and I think it’s fair to say all of us need all the motivation and encouragement that we can possibly get.
In this episode, we’ll be discussing several topics, that I think will really interest you, and that I almost guarantee you haven’t seen in the news! This includes:
Ukraine will be getting a new weapon system from the United States, as our country plans to send over Bradley Fighting Vehicles to help drive out the Russians. That’s the topline news, but we’ll spend a few minutes going into the details of the Bradley, what it can do, and what makes it such a potential game-changer for Ukraine.
Hundreds of Russians died in what is probably one of the most successful deep strikes of Ukraine to date. We’ll cover how that happened, why that happened, and even how the Russians were warned about it and ignored those warnings.
We’re going to share the latest message that Russia is putting out, as it tries to spin the facts on the war, and then remind people what the truth is.
We’re going to talk briefly about Radio Free Europe, and the role it plays around the world, but especially for 11 million Russians who are tuning in and getting the truth about the war.
We’ll wrap up our coverage of Ukraine by visiting the Kherson torture rooms that were recently discovered, and what the Russians were doing to Ukrainians in that city before it was liberated.
From there, we’ll move to the friction between China and Taiwan and explain a generous offer that has been made by Taiwan, as China deals with the growing death toll from COVID, which we warned about several weeks ago.
We’ll end the news section by discussing the LongShot project to develop an air-launched unmanned air vehicle that can employ multiple air-to-air weapons, and how I think this could revolutionize warfare in the air.
Finally, we’ll cover plenty of motivation and wisdom.
Again, you should listen to it from the player above.
And if you love what I’m doing here, please sign up for email notifications. It’s FREE. Unless you choose to subscribe and support what I’m doing. It’s $5 per month should you choose that option, and you can cancel at any time.
Also, people are always asking me on social media how to best support my dreams, including getting out future books sooner. Believe me, the best way to support me is by signing up for a paid subscription here. Or, you can sign up at Patreon or make a donation at Venmo (@authorstanrmitchell).
Enough of the sales pitch, I hope you enjoy today’s edition. Again, you should listen to it from the player above.
And what follows are some of the news reports/source notes that I quote from in the podcast, as well as the motivation and wisdom links I read.
Selected source notes for the podcast.
Ukraine:
Biden weighs sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine
From the article:
The Bradley is a medium armored combat vehicle that can serve as a troop carrier. It has tracks rather than wheels, but the vehicle is lighter and more agile than a tank. It can carry about 10 personnel, or be configured instead to carry additional ammunition or communications equipment.
Incredible thread about the Bradley below:
Dozens of Russian soldiers killed in massive Donetsk missile strike
Without claiming responsibility for the attack, Kyiv’s military command said that at least 400 soldiers were killed in the strike in Makiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine under Russian occupation, and that at least 300 soldiers were injured. Russia’s Defense Ministry put the death toll at 63.
…
Moscow authorities, pro-Kremlin war bloggers and Telegram channels acknowledged the attack but provided inconclusive and contradictory death tolls.
Economist article on the strike:
The early-morning strike, courtesy of at least four himars high-precision missiles, killed scores of (mostly newly mobilised) soldiers. Russia has said that more than 90 died; Ukraine says the figure is at least 400. Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, the eccentric former intelligence officer largely responsible for the outbreak of war in the Donbas region in 2014, said he had warned Russian generals about the likelihood of himars strikes on barracks. “They [the generals] are untrainable in principle,” he barked.
Radio Free Europe source clip:
Radio Free Europe FAQs: https://pressroom.rferl.org/frequently-asked-questions
Taiwan/China news:
From the CNN article:
China’s U-turn on its Covid policy caught citizens and the medical system off guard, with some pharmacy shelves swept empty of cold and fever medicines and hospitals scrambling to cope with an unprecedented jump in infections.
Tech news:
The objective is to develop a novel UAV that can significantly extend engagement ranges, increase mission effectiveness, and reduce the risk to manned aircraft.
Current air superiority concepts rely on advanced manned fighter aircraft to provide a penetrating counter air capability to effectively deliver weapons. It is envisioned that LongShot will increase the survivability of manned platforms by allowing them to be at standoff ranges far away from enemy threats, while an air-launched LongShot UAV efficiently closes the gap to take more effective missile shots.
Motivation and Wisdom:
You know, just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day. And we all know that opportunities don't happen, you create them.
So, I want to make sure I do my best to feed you mentally. As you’ve probably heard, people often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily.” That was said by the great Zig Ziglar, and I’ve found it to be true for sure.
Without further delay, let’s just begin.
And, I always like to end with this one:
And with that, thanks for joining us this week on The View from the Front.
If you can, consider at some point becoming a paid subscriber.
The View from the Front is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support this work and make it sustainable is with a paid subscription. But at the same time, free ones are appreciated, too!
As a reminder, please be kind and try your best to love your fellow Americans.
So many men and women have sacrificed, fought, and died to keep this country together the past 240-plus years. Please work daily to unite our country again. The vast majority of Americans are decent, loving, great people.
Please don’t name-call the other side. They are mothers and fathers and folks not much different than you.🇺🇸🇺🇸
Also, please try to be a better person each and every day. Try to be kinder on social media and how you interact with others with whom you disagree.
Also, if you have a dream kicking around in the back of your mind? Go after it. If you have that friend or family member that you know you should reach out to? Reach out to them.
Finally, and this especially goes to all my awesome military folks listening out there, if you need help, reach out to someone. Please. Call that friend or family member. Do it for us all. We’ve already lost too many of the greatest folks that this country has produced to suicide. So I’m asking you to be brave once more, and show some vulnerability. Take a deep breath, breathe, and call a friend or family member or someone who can help.
I appreciate each and every one of you. Every tweet, every share, every email, etc. I can’t even tell you how much those mean to me, and I love each and every one of you.
Please join me again in our next episode, and please stay safe until then.
Thanks again, everyone! You guys are the best. As always, don’t forget to check out my books. You can find all 11 of them on Amazon.
And with that, I’m out.
Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational/biography book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
P.P.S. And here’s a short bio about me and what I’m trying to do with the newsletter.
Episode 1-5-23