The battle against misinformation: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE, FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST RYAN ROBERTSON. THIS WEEK, SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE BATTLE AGAINST DISINFORMATION.

I RECENTLY HAD THE CHANCE TO CATCH-UP WITH ONE MAN WHO’S DOING HIS PART TO STEM THE TIDE AGAINST THOSE THAT DEAL IN DISINFORMATION. RYAN McBETH IS AN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST AND ARMY VETERAN  WHO IS MEETING THE ENEMY WHERE THEY OPERATE, ONLINE. 

PLUS WE’RE HEADED TO FRANCE FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK AS WE RECOGNIZE SOME MEMBERS OF OUR ARMED FORCES THAT REPRESENTED THE STARS AND STRIPES ON THE OLYMPIC STAGE.

BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. 

AN AIR FORCE INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THE CRASH OF A C-V-22-B OSPREY THAT KILLED EIGHT AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND AIRMEN WAS LARGELY CAUSED BY CRACKS IN A METAL GEAR AND TO A LESSER DEGREE THE PILOT’S DECISION TO KEEP FLYING DESPITE MULTIPLE ON-BOARD WARNINGS TO LAND THE AIRCRAFT.

THE NOVEMBER 2023 CRASH OFF THE COAST OF JAPAN WAS THE FOURTH DEADLY MISHAP INVOLVING THE TILT-ROTOR CRAFT IN THE PAST TWO YEARS AND LED TO A MONTHS-LONG GROUNDING OF THE MILITARY’S FLEET OF OSPREYS.

THE REPORT RELEASED BY THE AIR FORCE SHOWS INVESTIGATORS CONCLUDED THE FAILURE OF A PINION GEAR IN THE PROP-ROTOR GEARBOX WAS TO BLAME, BUT THEY ARE STILL UNSURE WHY IT FAILED. 

INVESTIGATORS ALSO POINTED TO ON-BOARD VOICE RECORDINGS INDICATING THE PILOT IN COMMAND WAS FOCUSED ON COMPLETING THE CREW’S TRAINING EXERCISE OVER WHAT HE ULTIMATELY DECIDED WERE ERRORS FROM A FAULTY DETECTOR THAT WARNS CREWS WHEN GEARS, LIKE THE PINION GEAR, CHIP DURING FLIGHT. 

IN MARCH, OSPREYS WERE CLEARED TO RETURN TO FLIGHT STATUS WITH LIMITATIONS. PRIMARILY NO FLIGHTS WITHOUT A SUITABLE DIVERT AIRFIELD WITHIN 30 MINUTES.

[TRANSITION]

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE B-1 MIGHT BE GETTING A BIT OF A GLOW-UP. THAT’S AFTER CREWS AT EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE RECENTLY TESTED SOME NEW HARDWARE. 

IT’S CALLED THE LAM, OR THE ‘LOAD-ADAPTABLE MODULAR’ PYLON.

IN LAYMAN’S TERMS, IT’S AN EXTERNAL PYLON MOUNTED UNDERNEATH THE LANCER. 

BUILT BY BOEING, THE PYLON IS DESIGNED TO CARRY A VARIETY OF STANDARD ORDINANCE AND EMERGING WEAPONS, READ HYPERSONIC, WITH NO PERFORMANCE LOSS TO ONE OF THE AIR FORCE’S PREMIER BOMBERS. 

[SCOTT PONTZER]

“We’re excited that the LAM pylon is going to be able to allow the war fighter to carry a whole slew set of weapons, and those capabilities would be very important for winning future conflicts and deterring our adversaries.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN A NEWS RELEASE, THE AIR FORCE SAYS THE B-1 WAS CHOSEN DUE TO AIRCRAFT AVAILABILITY AT EDWARDS, BUT THE LAM CAN BE MODIFIED FOR ATTACHMENT TO A VARIETY OF OTHER AIRCRAFT IF THE NEED WERE TO ARISE.

[TRANSITION]

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FINALLY, FOR ALL OF THE TALK ABOUT NATO IN RECENT MONTHS, BOTH HERE IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD, IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION ISN’T JUST A POLITICAL BARGAINING CHIP. IT’S 32 COUNTRIES WORKING TOGETHER TO ENSURE PEACE AMONG ITS MEMBER NATIONS. 

THAT COOPERATION WAS RECENTLY ON DISPLAY IN LATVIA AS AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS TOOK PART IN A NATO EXERCISE DUBBED PALADIN STRIKE. 

[NICHOLAS OLIVARES]

“Coolest thing I found out so far about the exercise is just seeing how well the nations are working together to plan and execute the exercise and their mission on both sides for the battle group from Poland and Latvia.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR FOUR DAYS IN EARLY AUGUST SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN AND MARINES WORKED WITH LATVIAN, CANADIAN, ROMANIAN, BRITISH, POLISH AND SPAINISH COUNTERPARTS ON COMBINED MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS AND MATERIALS, AS WELL AS TACTICAL FIELD ENGAGEMENTS.

AND IT ALL HAPPENED A LITTLE MORE THAN 120 MILES FROM THE RUSSIAN BORDER.

[TRANSITION]

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA–EVERYONE GETS A CHANCE TO WEIGH IN ON SOMETHING.

BUT, ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE WORST PARTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA–EVERYONE GETS A CHANCE TO WEIGH IN ON SOMETHING.

THESE MAY COME AS A SURPRISE, BUT NOT ALL OPINIONS AND INSIGHTS ARE CREATED EQUALLY…SOME ARE MORE INFORMED; 

CRAFTED IN THE CRUCIBLES OF EXPERIENCE AND CONTEXT.

RYAN MCBETH KNOWS ALL ABOUT THIS. HE SPENT 20 YEARS IN THE ARMY BEFORE BECOMING AN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST, SOFTWARE ENGINEER, AND YOUTUBE SENSATION. 

I STUMBLED ACROSS MCBETH’S CONTENT A LITTLE AFTER THE START OF THE UKRAINE WAR.

IT WAS A VIDEO DEBUNKING THE NOTION UKRAINE WAS BEING RUN BY NAZIS–A LIE PUTIN USED TO JUSTIFY HIS INVASION OF UKRAINE.

NOW, ASIDE FROM JUST BEING AN ENTERTAINING PRESENTER–

MCBETH’S VIDEOS STRUCK ME FOR ANOTHER REASON–THEY WERE FULL OF FACTS.

AS A JOURNALIST–IT WAS GREAT TO SEE ANOTHER TORCH BEARER FOR TRUTH TRYING TO SORT THROUGH ALL THE MISINFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION OUT THERE–

I HAD THE CHANCE TO TALK TO MCBETH RECENTLY–

WE COVERED A LOT OF GROUND AND SEVERAL HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIOS–

BUT WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO KNOW IS WHY HE WANTED TO GET INTO THE TRUTH TELLING BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

RYAN MCBETH, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO TALK WITH US TODAY. WHAT MADE YOUR CONTENT STAND OUT TO ME, RYAN, WAS YOUR JUST DESIRE TO SHARE TRUTH AND BEAT DOWN MISTRUTH AND DISINFORMATION. BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED ON EVERYTHING, RYAN, IF YOU CAN FOR OUR AUDIENCE, I KNOW YOU HAVE A, YOU KNOW, 20-YEAR INFANTRYMAN CAREER KIND OF GIVE OUR AUDIENCE KIND OF A READER’S DIGEST VERSION OF YOUR OF YOUR CAREER PATH TO THIS POINT. 

[RYAN MCBETH]

“So, yeah, so I was an infantryman for 20 years. While serving, I got a a degree in computer science, and then I got a master’s in engineering management. And after I got out, I got a degree in MSC, Master MSc in cybersecurity, and I ended up doing working for the government, mainly doing what’s called CDs, cross-domain solutions. That’s where you take stuff from an area of low trust and push it up into an area of high trust, like if you have a drone feed, you know that when the footage enters the camera, technically, that camera isn’t on a secure network. So how do you take that information and put that information onto a secure network while making sure the information kflowing in doesn’t have any data that could allow us to be hacked? Then I worked for Accenture, doing something called C for ISR, Command Control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance. Basically, we found bad guys, and once we found those bad guys, would give that information to our client, and our client would either continue surveillance or use more kinetic options to deal with the problem. So, while working for Accenture, I had a YouTube channel. It was mainly about software programming. And once the war in Ukraine kicked off, I started to do a couple of videos on cyber security in Ukraine and some videos from my anti anti tank experience. And my channel went from 5000 followers to 100,000 followers almost overnight.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN YOU WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE WAR IN UKRAINE, AND THAT’S WHAT KIND OF MAJOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING BALLOON AND WHAT’S GOTTEN YOU TO THE POINT NOW, WAS IT THE THE NAZIS IN UKRAINE. DISINFORMATION VIDEO WAS, WAS THAT THE FIRST ONE THAT KIND OF BLEW UP FOR YOU? OR WHAT WAS THE FIRST ONE THAT LIKE, HEY, I GOT SOMETHING HERE. 

[RYAN MCBETH]

“So the first video that really blew up for me was a video that I did about why tank turrets pop off of their holes. I actually can’t tell you, I don’t know which was the first disinformation video. And I didn’t set out to become a disinformation expert, but I think that since I knew so much about the military and anti tank warfare, and I just, I kind of became an expert at going like, No, you’re wrong, and here’s why you’re wrong. It’s because tanks actually do this, or reactive armor actually works like this. And what I kind of noticed was that there was just so much disinformation out there about how the military works that by me kind of peeling back some of this stuff, I found more and more stuff. And I guess over two years, I kind of became like Forrest Gump, you know, Forrest Gump became a really good runner, because people were always chasing him. I became really good at finding disinformation agents because they were just freaking everywhere on the subject of Ukraine.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

OBVIOUSLY, THE THE VIDEOS ARE DOING WELL FOR YOU. SO THERE’S, YOU KNOW, AS A CONTENT CREATOR, YOU SEE THAT, AND YOU WANT TO GIVE THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY WANT, RIGHT? BUT THE THE AUDIENCE FLOCKS TO THAT BECAUSE THERE’S A DESIRE FOR THAT, RIGHT? HOW IMPORTANT IN YOUR MIND IS THE DISINFORMATION, MISINFORMATION TAKE DOWN LIKE MISSION FOR YOU.

[RYAN MCBETH]

“it’s it’s more important now than I think it was at the start of the conflict in Ukraine, mainly because one of the things that I realized doing my work is that information war is a weapon. Info DOM war. And one of the things I’ve done over the past year, since September of last year, is I have traveled around giving speeches about how information war is a domain of warfare. In fact, on the 10th I think I’m going to be in Ohio with the Ohio National Guard and all other Judge Advocate generals in the Ohio National Guard. They’re going to this one meeting, and I’m going to give a presentation where I’m going to try to convince them that we need to come up with a plan for treating information warfare practitioners as combatants. Because think about it like this. So let’s say, let’s say, um. Um, what? When you buy a drill, do you buy a drill because you want a drill, or do you buy a drill because you want a hole, because you want a hole, right? You don’t buy nobody collects drills, right? You buy a drill because you need a hole. So when you buy a weapon, you don’t really buy a weapon. To buy a weapon, you buy a weapon because you’re going to need the effects of that weapon. And the effects of that weapon might be to destroy a bridge, right? So a weapon is really an effector. So let’s say you want to prevent your adversary from crossing a bridge, you could use a weapon like a bomb or a cruise missile. Maybe you could use a cyber attack right, set a cyber attack and disable the electronic controls on the bridge so the toll gates won’t open or whatever. Or you could use information warfare to tell a bunch of weak minded college students to go shut down the bridge because of colonialist, imperialist, whatever. And we’ve already seen that when a bunch of students shut down a bridge, set down the Golden Gate Bridge in California, that was a weapon. Tiktok is a weapon. These students are motivated by Tiktok to shut down a bridge, and if the adversary can do that to a bridge. They can also say, if deterrence fails and China invades Taiwan, China had Taiwan has always been Chinese. This is colonialist, imperialist. The US is trying to take Taiwan for its own. You need to go to a naval base and glue yourself to a ship, and now you have an information warfare program working as a weapon system that is disabling a ship no different than a bomb can. How is that message being received? Well, I haven’t pulled all 150 and and usually I am very blunt when I’ve talked about how we need to kill these people, and when we start putting Hell fire missiles through people’s windows, or we start putting tea lambs into a into a an office building that’s being used as an Information Warfare Center, they’ll probably get the message. And usually, when people interview me about this, and I tell them that, and I’m very blunt, we need to kill these people, usually they go, oh my goodness, you know, like clutching their pearls, you’re gonna put a tea lamb through someone’s window, through some teenagers window, probably not a teenager’s window. There are other effects that you might be able to use. You might be able to use a cyber attack. There might be groundwork that you can do to take out critical parts of this operation. But we need to start considering information were to be a domain of war land. The land domain has been a domain of war ever since someone picked up a spear and said, I don’t like the way Thag is always in charge, right? And sea warfare has been a domain of war since the Peloponnesian War, where they were fighting on ships. And air has been a domain of war since we’ve had fighter planes, you know, World War One planes shooting at each other and well, now we have information war. Russia can’t defeat Ukraine by force of arms. They can’t they would have done it already. So how do you defeat Ukraine? Well, you can cut off their supply of arms. How does Russia do that? Well, they could use a weapon. They could bomb some of the factories in Germany and maybe use missiles on factories in the US. Well, that’ll cause a war. But if we use information war to convince people that Ukraine is corrupt, your money is getting thrown away. Vladimir Zelinsky, his wife, just bought a new Bugatti with your tax dollars, well, then we get people to call their congressman and say, I don’t want us sending money to Ukraine. And that stops the munitions just as easily as a bomb. We are at war right now, and these people who are using information warfare to affect as an effector, they need to be targeted.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

YOU’RE RIGHT… I MEAN…

[RYAN MCBETH]

“You’re acting like every other interviewer that is interviewing about this subject, where you don’t want to say, wow, you’re kind of right, but you’re also a psychopath. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WELL, I MEAN, I MEAN, YOU MIGHT BE, I DON’T KNOW, BUT NO, YOU BRING UP SOME, LIKE, STARTLING REVELATIONS, RIGHT? AND YOU BRING UP SOME, SOME POINTS THAT IT’S LIKE, LOOK, IF WE’RE, IF WE’RE BEING SERIOUS ABOUT WHERE THE WORLD IS HEADING, AND IF WE’RE BEING. SERIOUS ABOUT TRYING TO PREVENT THINGS. WE NEED TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT WHERE OUR ENEMIES ARE COMING FROM AND HOW THEY’RE COMING TO ATTACK US. SO I DON’T, I DON’T, I DON’T JUDGE THAT STATEMENT. YOU’RE THE 20 YEAR INFANTRY VETERAN, RIGHT? I’M NOT SO BUT IT, BUT IT IS STARK TO THINK ABOUT ALL THEY’RE DOING IS USING COMPUTERS TO TO POST MESSAGES OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BUT IN THE 21ST CENTURY, I MEAN, THAT’S…

[RYAN MCBETH]

“It’s a domain of warfare. And you know when, when someone blew up, when terrorists blew up the USS Cole, they did it on the water, and we didn’t go, oh, well, we can’t retaliate by air, because they did it on the water, right? So if somebody is using information warfare as an effector in cyberspace, why can’t we attack them through kinetic means, either on land or from the air? It’s a domain of warfare, and we cross domains of warfare all the time. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HEY, RYAN, REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. AS YOU KNOW, FROM ONE JOURNALIST TO ANOTHER TRUTH BEARER, WANTED TO SAY, I APPRECIATE YOUR YOUR EFFORTS TO, YOU KNOW, SPEAK TO THE MISINFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION AND MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING THE RIGHT INFORMATION SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE EDUCATED DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR LIVES AND THOSE AROUND THEM, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. REALLY APPRECIATE IT, 

[RYAN MCBETH]

“Ryan, I had a great time. Thank you. You.”

[TRANSITION]

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, OR SHOULD I SAY OUR WEAPONS OF THE WEEK, AS IN PLURAL. THAT’S BECAUSE WE WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE A FEW MEMBERS OF OUR COUNTRY’S MILITARY THAT RECENTLY REPRESENTED THE STARS AND STRIPES IN A DIFFERENT WAY. AS OLYMPIANS IN PARIS FOR THE 2024 GAMES. 

THE U.S ARMY SENT THE LARGEST CONTINGENT OF ATHLETES TO THE GAMES WITH SEVEN ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS, ONE ARMY RESERVE SOLDIER AND TWO VETERANS. 

LEADING THE FIELD WAS ARMY VETERAN VINCENT HANCOCK WHO BROUGHT HOME HIS FOURTH OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNING MEN’S SKEET SHOOTING AND JOINING THE RANKS OF MICHAEL PHELPS, CARL LEWIS AND KATIE LEDECKY AS ONE OF ONLY SEVEN OLYMPIANS EVER TO WIN THE SAME EVENT IN FOUR SEPARATE GAMES. HE ALSO BAGGED A SILVER IN THE ‘SKEET MIXED TEAM’ EVENT.  

JOINING HANCOCK IN THE MEDAL HAUL WAS NEWLY PROMOTED ARMY STAFF SERGEANT SAGEN MADDALENA. THE ARMY SHOOTING INSTRUCTOR STATIONED AT FORT MOORE, GEORGIA BROUGHT HOME SILVER IN THE ‘50 METER RIFLE 3 POSITIONS’ WOMEN’S FINAL.

ARMY RESERVIST FIRST LIEUTENANT SAM KENDRICKS  POLE VAULTED HIS WAY TO THE MEDAL STAND, ADDING A SILVER TO THE BRONZE HE WON IN RIO IN 2016. 

FINALLY, ARMY CAPTAIN SAMMY SULLIVAN. THE WEST POINT GRADUATE WAS A KEY CONTRIBUTOR FOR THE U.S. WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS THAT SHOCKED AUSTRALIA, 14-12, IN THE WANING MOMENTS TO WIN THE BRONZE MEDAL. AMERICA’S FIRST RUGBY MEDAL IN 100 YEARS.

WE HERE AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE WANT TO EXTEND A SINCERE CONGRATULATIONS TO NOT ONLY THE MEDALISTS, BUT TO ALL OF THE OLYMPIANS THAT REPRESENTED THEIR  BRANCH OF SERVICE AND THEIR COUNTRY IN PARIS.

[TRANSITION]

THAT’S GOING TO JUST ABOUT DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE…AND FOR MY WRAP, I WANT TO FOCUS ON SOMETHING WE MENTIONED DURING THE DEBRIEF WITH RYAN MCBETH…AND THAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF SAFEGUARDING TRUTH IN THE DIGITAL AGE. 

 

LISTEN–WE LIVE IN A TRULY INCREDIBLE ERA OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. 

THE WAY WE LIVE, WORK, TRAVEL, THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE–

THEY’VE ALL SEEN MASSIVE SHIFTS OVER THE LAST  CENTURY OR SO…

SHIFTS WHICH ONLY ACCELERATED WHEN WE ADDED COMPUTERS TO THE MIX. 

 

ALONG WITH THOSE SHIFTS CAME MORE INDEPENDENCE FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON. MORE FREEDOM TO DECIDE WHERE TO WORK–WHERE TO LIVE–AND ULTIMATELY,  WHO TO BELIEVE.

 

WHEN YOU AREN’T RELIANT ON MONARCHS, RELIGIOUS LEADERS OR OTHER ARBITERS OF INFORMATION TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU—

YOU ARE EMPOWERED TO EDUCATE YOURSELF..

BUT AS A WISE OLD MAN IN A COMIC ONCE SAID–WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. 

 

WHEN IT COMES TO THE SHARING OF INFORMATION AND DATA IN THE DIGITAL AGE–

YES, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. 

SO, PLEASE– BE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE THE PLACE FROM WHICH YOU ARE GETTING YOUR INFORMATION IS REPUTABLE.

BE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE YOU AREN’T BEING MISLED…

OR HEARING ONLY WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR.

 

WEAPONS AND WARFARE–AND STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS AS A WHOLE

WE TAKE OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS JOURNALISTS VERY SERIOUSLY. 

WE HAVE ONGOING DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW TO TELL A STORY–WHICH DETAILS TO INCLUDE, AND YES, SOMETIMES EXCLUDE. 

ON THIS SHOW–OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE THE WORLD OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE AVERAGE PERSON–

GIVE THEM THE RESOURCES TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION

AND THEN LET THEM DO SO. 

 

IT’S HOW WE FIGHT  AGAINST  MISINFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION. AND I’M GOING TO TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER–AND ASK FOR YOUR HELP, BECAUSE THE STAKES ARE JUST TOO HIGH. 

 

IF YOU LIKE THE WORK WE’RE DOING ON WEAPONS AND WARFARE TO SHARE TRUTH ABOUT THIS WORLD… PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT US. OF COURSE, WE WANT MORE FOLKS TO SEE OUR WORK–BUT REALLY, WE WANT PEOPLE TO GET THE TRUTH. AS A RESPONSIBLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY–I HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US IN THAT ENDEAVOR. 

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHIC ARTIST DAKOTA PITEO–I’M RYAN ROBERTSON FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.