EP 033: Critical Thinking at a Critical Juncture in American History, with USMC Lt Col Brian "Noonan" McDermott

Brian McDermott served 20 years as a Marine aviator retiring in 2016 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom twice (one to Afghanistan, other to the Horn of Africa). Held various billets in safety, operations and maintenance, including as the Marine CH-53E Detachment Commander in the Horn of Africa region. His supporting establishment tours include Faculty Advisor and Naval Expeditionary Operations Course Director at the USMC Expeditionary Warfare School and as the Marine Corps University (MCU) Red Team Director after successful completion of the 9-week Red Team Leaders course at the U.S. Army University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies (UFMCS). | He was also accredited by UFMCS in Jan 2016 as the only non-resident Red Team Instructor/Facilitator to designate Marines the USMC Military Occupational Specialty Red Team Member designation after successful completion of the rigorous UFMCS Red Team course requirements. Since his retirement from the Corps, Mr. McDermott has been employed by as a contractor at: National Geospatial Intelligence-Agency College in VA as a Critical Thinking Senior Instructor, Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization in VA as a Tactical Red Team Intelligence Analyst, with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in VA as the Strategic Red Team Intelligence Analyst Lead, and a senior facilitator at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in MD. | He currently works as a Solutions Architect for MOSAIC Technologies Group, LLC, and as a part-time Adjunct Professor at the MCU College of Distance Education and Training Continuing Education Program for an asynchronous on-line Red Team course he designed. He is also the founder and President of Red Teaming Solutions & Training, LLC. Finally, he is also an Advisory Board member at the Center for Advanced Red Teaming at the University of Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). | He was a contributor to the UFMCS Red Team Handbook v9.0, and interviewed by Bryce Hoffman as a USMC Red Team Subject Matter Expert (SME) for his book Red Teaming: How Your Business Can Conquer The Competition By Challenging Everything.

4:03 This guest is a very close personal friend of mine. And I really admire his incredible ability to not only do the red teaming work that he'll talk about, and how you in in the audience can listen to can find ways to apply this critical thinking, alternative analysis and ways to look at the world through different lenses.

26:22 I try not to overestimate my capabilities, by having respect, and better understanding how that other entity that other organizations, how they, as best I can, how they think, and how they prepare and do actions and stuff like that.

27:26 It's like a QR fo quick reaction force for better thinking, using methods, using analytical techniques to think through a problem set and get better answers is never a bad thing. And empathy, being able to understand to perceive the other person or other organizations, other side's experience of the of the conflict, or another situation is not agreeing with it.

39:04 So I love this quote, I've been capturing your you're taking notes on what you've said. You meant you made a conscious comment about have a better conversation.

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