This week we’re catching up with The American Legion's Executive Director of Government Affairs, Mario Marquez, a retired Marine Corps Sgt. Major, with a deep background in veterans affairs and national security.

We open with memories from Iraq deployments, and an experience with Houthi rebels in Yemen. That led us to our first discussion about the recent Signal message app scandal involving DoD, DNI, CIA and Senior White House officials. Marquez says if he had shared discussions of pending military strikes, "he would have been court martialed".

Marquez also discusses the impact of recent VA layoffs, the Legion’s commitment to protecting veteran benefits and his private conversations with VA Secretary Doug Collins.

We close with a fascinating Op-Ed from former Ranger and Special Forces veteran Jack Murphy.

He calls out veterans like Sec Def Pete Hegseth and DNI Tulsi Gabbard for downplaying the danger of the messages shared on Signal. He also reveals how this is a much bigger problem than they want you to believe.

See why veterans benefit from membership in the American Legion here:

https://www.legion.org/

Connect with CBS Eye on Veterans Host, Phil Briggs

phil@connectingvets.com

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices