From F-15s to AI Wingmen: Inside the Future of Air Combat

From F-15s to AI Wingmen: Inside the Future of Air Combat

In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Colonel Keagan McLeese, call sign "Waldo", commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and Beale Air Force Base, recorded just two days before McLeese hands over command and flies his final mission as an Air Force pilot. The conversation traces his path from a teenager earning his private pilot's license to the cockpit of the F-15 Eagle and F-22 Raptor, the origin of his call sign, and his philosophy on leadership forged through two decades of fighter pilot debriefs. From there, the discussion widens to Beale's role in America's power projection mission and the technology now reshaping how the Air Force fights. That technology is Collaborative Combat Aircraft — semi-autonomous drone wingmen designed to fly alongside manned fighters, expand the "magazine," and feed real-time intelligence back to the pilot in command. As artificial intelligence takes on a larger role in life-and-death decisions in the air, the conversation turns to a pointed question: how much authority should a machine actually have, and who stays responsible for pulling the trigger? McLeese's answer is direct: CCA platforms are built to be semi-autonomous, not autonomous, meaning a human pilot must still issue the final "consent to kill" before any hostile aircraft is engaged, preserving human judgment at the center of an increasingly AI-driven battlespace. What You'll Discover in This Episode: * (08:35) How Colonel McLeese earned his call sign "Waldo" and the embarrassing dogfight behind it * (13:15) What Beale Air Force Base actually does for America's power projection mission, from the U-2 to the 195th Guard Wing * (21:50) Inside Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA): how AI-powered drone wingmen could multiply the Air Force's combat power * (34:26) The bittersweet reality of giving up command, explained through a surprising family analogy * (36:17) What happens during a "Fini Flight" and why the colonel’s own son will be there for it Let's Connect:  * Daniel Marrujo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marrujo/] * TSS Website [https://tss.llc/] Learn more about TSS: https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/ [https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Encrypted, Translated, Transmitted | The Tech Keeping Coalition Forces Connected

In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo takes viewers inside one of the most quietly powerful demonstrations at African Lion 2026 in Tan Tan, Morocco. Joined by Staff Sergeant Thalia Gonzalez, Master Sergeant Michael Patterson, and Airman First Class Caleb Hilton, Daniel gets an up-close look at the Wave Relay MPU-5, a compact networking and radio device configured to run real-time multilingual voice translation inside the MC Hammer edge-computing environment. What begins as a hardware introduction quickly becomes a live demonstration that reframes what battlefield communication can look like when technology removes the language barrier entirely. The episode digs into one of the most persistent friction points in multinational military operations: the interpreter bottleneck. When coalition forces operate across language lines, the speed of the mission has historically depended on the availability of a human interpreter. That single dependency can introduce delays of hours, creating a vulnerability not in firepower or logistics, but in communication itself. Daniel and his guests explore how that problem compounds in fast-moving, unforeseen field environments where waiting is not an option. The Wave Relay MPU-5, operating within the MC Hammer edge-computing stack, solves this by converting voice to text, translating it in the cloud, and returning it as audio in the recipient's native language, in real time, with no proximity limit, and protected by dual-layer AES-256 encryption. What You'll Discover in This Episode (01:10) — What the Wave Relay MPU-5 actually is, how it functions as both a networking device and a radio, and why its IP-based architecture makes it uniquely suited for translation applications in the field. (01:36) — A breakdown of the MC Hammer edge-computing environment; what it is, what cloud tiers it operates across (Unclassified, IL2, NIPRONET IL5, SIPRONET IL6), and why having that infrastructure at the tactical edge matters. (02:55) — A live demonstration of real-time voice translation in action — English to Arabic, French to English — showing exactly how the system performs under field conditions with minimal latency. (04:15) — A whiteboard walkthrough of the full data flow: how a voice packet travels from radio to cloud, converts to text for translation, then reverts to audio and reaches the recipient anywhere in the world. (05:17) — How the MPU-5 achieves beyond-line-of-sight communication using local SIM cards, Starshield, or standard internet service providers, and why proximity is no longer a constraint. (06:58) — The security architecture behind the system: CSFC compliance, dual-layer AES-256 encryption over both IP address and MAC address, and how soldiers can remain masked even within their own network. Let’s Connect * Daniel Marrujo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marrujo/] * TSS Website [https://tss.llc/] Learn more about TSS: https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/ [https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

No Runway, No Limits: Inside the AI Drone Rewriting Modern Recon

In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Chief Warrant Officer 4 Eric Barker on the ground at African Lion 2026 in Morocco for an unfiltered look at one of the most capable reconnaissance tools in the U.S. military's current arsenal. What started as Daniel spotting a drone descending from a ship in the ocean turned into an exclusive walkthrough of the Quantum Vector AI drone — a vertical takeoff and landing reconnaissance platform built for intelligence gathering in the most demanding and unpredictable operational environments on earth. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barker breaks down a system that most people will never encounter up close. The Quantum Vector AI is not a concept or a prototype — it is an active, field-deployed reconnaissance drone with a standard range of ten kilometers, an extended range of up to sixty kilometers depending on antenna configuration, and a flight ceiling of thirteen thousand feet. It carries both daytime and infrared cameras, requires no runway to launch, and can be operated from a laptop and a controller that looks closer to consumer gaming hardware than military equipment. In environments where speed, flexibility, and discretion are everything, those capabilities represent a significant shift in how ground forces gather and share battlefield intelligence. The Quantum Vector AI addresses one of the most persistent challenges in modern military operations — giving commanders and operators real-time visual awareness of a battlefield without the infrastructure constraints that have historically limited reconnaissance assets. What You'll Discover in This Episode: (00:44) — Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barker introduces the Quantum Vector AI drone and explains its core mission: intelligence and reconnaissance using vertical takeoff and landing technology that eliminates the need for a runway in any terrain or operational environment. (00:44) — The drone's performance specs revealed: a standard ten kilometer range extendable to sixty kilometers, a flight ceiling of thirteen thousand feet, and dual daytime and infrared camera systems for round-the-clock surveillance capability. (01:29) — Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barker reveals the surprisingly accessible operator interface — a laptop paired with what functions like an Xbox controller — making the system faster to deploy and easier to operate under field conditions. (01:41) — Daniel and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barker discuss the drone's dual operational modes: flight patterns can be fully pre-programmed before a mission launches, or changed in real time as conditions on the ground evolve. (01:51) — Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barker explains the live video feed capability, which allows the operator to stream footage to multiple viewers simultaneously — giving commanders, analysts, and ground teams shared awareness of targets, vehicles, and personnel in real time. Let’s Connect: * Daniel Marrujo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marrujo/] * TSS Website [https://tss.llc/] Learn more about TSS: https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/ [https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Africa Isn't Untapped — It's Strategic

In this episode of Micro Journeys, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Hap Harlow, Director of the Defense Cooperation Division for Army Forces Africa, live from the Africa Land Forces Summit in Rome, Italy. Hap brings a rare and grounded perspective on the intersection of defense, economics, and global investment, unpacking why Africa — often mischaracterized as an untapped continent — is in fact a sovereign powerhouse of resources, talent, and strategic opportunity that the United States and its allies can no longer afford to overlook. Daniel and Hap dig deep into the critical minerals race reshaping global supply chains, from lithium and gold to rare earth elements found almost exclusively in Africa, and explore how private capital, venture funding, and public-private partnerships are beginning to converge in a space that was once the exclusive domain of governments. With competitors like China already embedded across the continent, the conversation raises urgent questions about whether American investors and defense industry partners are moving fast enough to secure meaningful footholds in one of the world's most strategically vital regions. Hap outlines how the transition from aid to trade, paired with workforce development modeled on military training pipelines, offers a blueprint for sustainable, bilateral investment that benefits both African nations and U.S. defense and economic interests. What You'll Discover in This Episode (02:44) Why "untapped" is the wrong word for Africa — and the more accurate, more powerful way to understand the continent's resources, sovereignty, and almost unlimited capability. (08:27) How the Africa Land Forces Summit is operationalizing the National Defense Strategy by bringing together venture capitalists, tech innovators, and African military leaders under one roof for the very first time. (11:42) The story of a small Nigerian drone startup whose local investment unlocked a $30 to $40 million U.S. defense deal — and what it reveals about the multiplier effect of anchor investments in emerging markets. (19:28) Why Africa's geography makes it one of the most strategically critical pivot points on the globe — sitting directly between Europe, China, and the Middle East, surrounded by ports and economic opportunity. (20:50) Why a massive population of entrepreneurial 19 and 20-year-olds across Africa may represent one of the world's greatest untapped workforces. (25:38) The critical shift from aid to trade, and why African partner nations are not only ready for that conversation — they are welcoming it. Let’s Connect * Daniel Marrujo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marrujo/] * Hap Harlow [https://www.setaf-africa.army.mil/mark-hap-harlow] * TSS Website [https://tss.llc/] Learn more about TSS: https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/ [https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Incorporating the Integrator and the Operator | AFRICOM J6 at African Lion Exercise 2026

In this episode of Micro Journeys, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bryan Duncan, Chief Technical Advisor for Africom J6, on the ground at African Lion 2026 in Morocco. Chief Duncan pulls back the curtain on how a small, specialized team is integrating commercial and military technology into a single agnostic cloud platform — enabling real-time data sharing across U.S. forces, industry partners, and partner nations in some of the most remote corners of the African continent. What begins as a conversation about innovation during a multinational training exercise takes an unexpected turn when the exercise itself becomes a live rescue mission, putting every piece of technology on the ground to an immediate, real-world test. The African continent presents unique operational challenges that solutions built for other theaters simply cannot anticipate. Without reliable infrastructure, traditional server stacks and communication systems become liabilities — too heavy, too slow, and too dependent on connectivity that doesn't exist at the edge. Chief Duncan describes a military landscape where commercial technology floods the market but rarely accounts for the realities of remote, irregular warfare environments where every day is unpredictable and the cost of a communication failure can be measured in lives. Chief Duncan and his team proved that a backpack-sized edge device and a Starlink terminal can replace an entire server stack — and that an agnostic platform capable of integrating any system, including a partner nation's commercial drone feed, is the key to rapid, effective coalition operations in austere environments. What You'll Discover in This Episode 01:43 — Why solutions that work in other theaters don't automatically translate to the African continent, and the specific transport and connectivity questions every commander needs to ask before deploying technology to a remote location. 02:56 — How Chief Duncan's team replaced heavy server stacks with a small form factor edge device and a Starlink terminal that fit in a backpack — redefining what it means to operate at the edge. 05:38 — The moment African Lion 2026 shifted from training exercise to live rescue mission, and how an agnostic cloud platform allowed every industry partner on the ground to immediately contribute a solution for the commander. 07:16 — How a whiteboard session with Moroccan partner forces unlocked the ability to pull a partner nation's drone feed directly into the U.S. network — reinvigorating coalition energy and demonstrating interoperability in action. 08:55 — Chief Duncan's candid reflection on what made this exercise historic: a team that broke systems, integrated them anyway, and built a common operational picture that no one had assembled quite like this before. 12:02 — The lesson that will outlast African Lion 2026: speed of implementation matters as much as the technology itself, and units with the freedom to act don't have to wait for approval to prove what works. Let’s Connect Daniel Marrujo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marrujo/] Chief Bryan G Duncan [http://linkedin.com/in/bduncan44] TSS Website [https://tss.llc/] Learn more about TSS: https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/ [https://tss.llc/micro-journeys-podcast/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.