The Better Part of a Decade and a Half with the Navy & Midrats, with Bryan McGrath
good friends and good conversations
One of our guests on Episode 3 of Midrats in January, 2010 was Bryan McGrath, CDR, USN (Ret.). Over the years he’s returned often, and has even graced us with the pleasure of a few guest posts here.
As he’s let people know for years, he was going to retire for good at 60. True to his word, he hung it up a few weeks ago.
Earlier this year before he got too focused on his figs and vines, I asked Bryan to come on for a broad-ranging conversation.
What a great hour. You can listen here or at the Spotify widget below.
A retired Naval Officer, Bryan spent 21 years on active duty including a tour in command of USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), a guided-missile destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. In command, he received the “Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Award for Inspirational Leadership” from the Surface Navy Association and his ship earned the USS ARIZONA Memorial Trophy signifying its selection as the Fleet’s most combat-ready warship. His final duties ashore included serving as Team Lead and Primary Author of the US Navy’s 2007 Maritime Strategy “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower”.
Bryan was formerly the Deputy Director of the Hudson Institute Center for American Seapower. In this capacity, he helped develop the Surface Navy’s “Distributed Lethality” concept and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ 2017 Navy Alternate Fleet Architecture Study.
Bryan earned a BA in History from the University of Virginia in 1987, and an MA in Political Science (Congressional Studies) from The Catholic University of America. He is a graduate of the Naval War College.
He retired again in November 2025 after 13 years in defense consulting.
Show Links
The End of the Road, Bryan McGrath
In Praise of the Military-Industrial Complex, Bryan McGrath
Summary
In this episode of Midrats, hosts Sal and Mark welcome back Bryan McGrath to discuss his reflections on retirement, the changes in the naval environment over the years, and the importance of relationships in naval policy. They delve into the challenges facing shipbuilding and naval strategy, the need for diverse naval capabilities, and the influence of Congress on naval development. The conversation also touches on personnel and leadership in the Navy, learning from past naval conflicts, and the impact of historical events on naval leadership. Bryan shares insights on future directions for naval operations, praises recent naval performance, and emphasizes the role of technology in naval warfare. The episode concludes with a discussion on collaboration between industry and military and Bryan’s final thoughts on future advocacy in the naval sphere.
Chapters
00:00: Introduction and Guest Background
04:46: Reflections on Retirement and Career Path
07:35: Changes in Naval Environment Over the Years
11:17: The Importance of Relationships in Naval Policy
14:47: Challenges in Shipbuilding and Naval Strategy
18:03: The Need for Diverse Naval Capabilities
21:25: Congressional Influence on Naval Development
24:40: Personnel and Leadership in the Navy
28:14: Learning from Past Naval Conflicts
32:45: The Impact of Historical Events on Naval Leadership
36:08: Future Directions for Naval Operations
39:00: Praise for Naval Performance in Recent Operations
43:23: The Role of Technology in Naval Warfare
46:57: Collaboration Between Industry and Military
50:48: Final Thoughts and Future Advocacy
Sal - I have another commitment and will miss the live session, but I have a question that has been bugging me and that Captain McGrath might comment on. I see that Admiral Moton is moving to PEO CV's after PEO for the Constellation. Before Constellation he ran the Burke restart and the LCS mission module program. Kudos for the Burke restart, but the LCS mission modules and Constellation programs have been long-running disasters with red flags and, based on my experience, apparent program management malpractice and anti-patterns (e.g. change out-of-control that is the opposite of "best practices") that no organization I worked for would have tolerated. Yet Admirals Downey and Moton have continued to receive awards and promotions. Adm Moton is clearly a very smart guy, so two questions: 1) what's the other side of the story that excuses Adm Moton from being held accountable for the failures under his leadership; and 2) If the responsible leaders can't or shouldn't be held accountable, is there a systemic fix?
Cheers!
-Mark
I hope Bryan does successfully retire. I am RETIRED . . . and yet . . . the brain will not let it go, and my Aegis background screams loudly in my brain every day as I watch our forces succeed in some cases, and do stupid things from time to time . . . simply because they were not on their toes, took things for granted, and DID KNOW THEIR SYSTEMS, their redundancies, and ability to function with multiple overlapping capabilities in depth. Then there are those few trying to make everything more efficient by deleting, truncating, and eliminating systems NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING what they are doing and the intense. lasting, detrimental effects it will have when the box is gone, or system is changed/truncated.
Those with expertise granted by the Creator have a responsibility to observe, share, correct when necessary, but always KEEP THE FAITH with the FORCE.