My guest is a West Point classmate of mine, Chris Petty, a retired Brigadier General. He created the book and online resource Battle Digest to fill the gap in military history education, offering concise lessons from historic battles. A former Rugby player, he emphasizes how studying history builds battlefield awareness and strategic thinking. Each digest follows a clear structure, covering strategic context, maneuvers, tactical actions, and lessons learned, making evident the principles of warfare.
In this episode we discuss pivotal battles like Lexington and Concord, Yorktown, and the Alamo to show how intelligence, deception, and leadership shape outcomes. He points to examples like Washington’s Yorktown feint and the intelligence victory at Midway to stress the critical role of foresight. Reflecting on modern warfare, he emphasizes the importance of drones, intelligence, and learning from missteps in Iraq and Afghanistan. Petty argues that understanding history helps commanders recognize patterns and apply key principles like unity of command.
I share a legendary Chris Petty anecdote, whose service and work combine his passion for military excellence with a drive to make military history current and accessible.
12 Battles Every American Should Know, Chris Petty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.