Watchtower Intel

From Strait of Hormuz to Star Wars: Strategy and Storytelling

I’m back on the Watchtower Intel pod with a two-part episode. First, I joined Scott Ryfun on WGIG’s Straight Talk to answer a deceptively simple question about the Iran war: Did we win Operation Epic Fury? Drawing on my Air Force intelligence background, I’ll break down what “success” really means, why airpower and diplomacy both have limits, and how Iranian propaganda (and other foreign disinfo) is shaping what you see online. Then I’ll pivot to Star Wars, arguing that Disney’s Mandalorian marketing is culturally blind, alienating legacy fans and families while leaning hard into online influencer aesthetics, and making a concrete box office prediction I’ll be revisiting. * [0:00] Episode Overview * [3:23] Did We Win? Operation Epic Fury Explained * [11:09] Iran’s Regime, Long-Term Strategy & Propaganda * [24:37] From War to Star Wars: Mandalorian Marketing * [30:42] Culture War Optics, Box Office Bet & Closing Adheres to AFI 1-1, USAF Social Media PolicyViews expressed in this video are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Air Force or Department of Defense. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit watchtowerintel.substack.com [https://watchtowerintel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

I (Re) Read the 2026 Defense Strategy So You Don't Have To

It’s a video this week! The Department of Defense is now the Department of War.Open the 2026 National Defense Strategy, and that’s what you’ll see. A Memo signed by the Secretary of War. I read the whole thing [https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/23/2003864773/-1/-1/0/2026-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY.PDF], so you don’t have to. Some called the focus on the Western Hemisphere “isolationism.” Foreign policy wonks warned about abandoning allies and ceding global leadership. Here’s what actually happened in the past year: * Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER — we struck Iran’s nuclear program * Operation EPIC FURY — sustained combat against Iranian forces across multiple theaters * Operation ABSOLUTE RESOLVE — direct action in Venezuela This Document Is Different National Defense Strategies are usually boring. Written by committee. Staffed through interagency meetings. The goal is consensus, to make sure everyone from the Department of State to NATO can sign off. The 2022 version was exactly that. It called China a “pacing challenge.” Iran got mentioned in one section. The 2026 version? It calls out “grandiose nation-building.” It names previous administrations for squandering our advantages. It calls China the second most powerful country in the world and lists Iran’s Axis of Resistance by name — Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the IRGC. What It Means for the Budget The National Defense Strategy drives the budget. If it’s in the NDS, it gets funded. So when this document says: * Defend the Homeland (top priority) * Deter China in the First Island Chain * Allies take primary responsibility for their own regions * Rebuild the defense industrial base You can expect: * Hypersonics and long-range strike systems * Missile defense — the document calls for “Golden Dome for America.” * Autonomous systems and AI — Anduril, Palantir, software-driven warfare * Munitions production at scale What gets cut? Legacy platforms. Europe-heavy force posture. Anything optimized for the old counterinsurgency fight. Where We Actually Are This is a strategy that says we’ll defend American interests with overwhelming force when necessary. The tone shift from 2022 to 2026 isn’t purely partisan. It’s a significant doctrinal shift in national policy. Whether you think that’s good or bad, you should at least know what the document actually says. Because most people don’t. MTFBWY, -Riley Adheres to AFI 1-1, USAF Social Media PolicyViews expressed in this video are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Air Force or Department of Defense. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit watchtowerintel.substack.com [https://watchtowerintel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Careerist Bureaucrat

Click the button below to subscribe via Apple Podcasts: The most dangerous leader you’ll ever work for isn’t incompetent; they’re actually competent enough to advance their career while caring about all the wrong things. Mission and people become tools for personal gain. In this episode, I break down: * What a careerist bureaucrat actually is (and why they’re so hard to spot) * The trap: how good people get caught optimizing for a bad leader * When to recognize you’re in it — and when to get out This is a case study in institutional failure. It’s also why I’m leaving active duty Air Force Intelligence. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rileyblanton [https://www.youtube.com/@rileyblanton] Contact: watchtowerintel@substack.comFollow on X: https://x.com/therileyguy [https://x.com/therileyguy]The gram: https://instagram.com/therileyguy [https://instagram.com/therileyguy] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit watchtowerintel.substack.com [https://watchtowerintel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Iran Ceasefire Extension: What the Commentariat is Missing

This week I appeared on Scott Ryfun [https://substack.com/profile/69163442-scott-ryfun] Straight Talk — coastal Georgia’s most-listened-to talk radio show — to cut through the noise on the Iran ceasefire extension. We covered: * Why the “indefinite ceasefire” shows how the IRGC has consolidated power * The strategic difference between operational success (obliterating Iran’s conventional military) and impossible problems (securing nuclear material without boots on the ground) * Why flippant commentary about “just solving it” ignores the actual cost in American lives * The moral question nobody’s asking: How is a radical Islamist theocratic regime with nuclear weapons different than North Korea, Russia, or China? Scott gets it; he’s rightly skeptical of the hot-take industrial complex and wants to understand what’s actually happening, not telling his audience what to think about it. (This is why Watchtower Intel exists: to bridge the gap between how military operations are planned and executed, and the circus happening in the commentary class.) -Riley This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit watchtowerintel.substack.com [https://watchtowerintel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Video: How Did Iran Hit an E-3 Sentry AWACS?

On March 27, Iran struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia — damaging KC-135 tankers and an E-3 Sentry AWACS. That last one is a big deal. The E-3 is one of the highest-value assets in the theater. It doesn't get hit by accident. So how did Iran know where to look?In this video, I break down what actually happened at PSAB, why the precision of these strikes point to something bigger than Iranian capability alone, and what the Washington Post, CNN, and Bloomberg have all now confirmed about Russian intelligence sharing — and what China may be providing on top of that.Read my full piece with sources: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit watchtowerintel.substack.com [https://watchtowerintel.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]