CDR Salamander - The Better Part of a Decade and a Half with the Navy & Midrats, with Bryan McGrath

One of our guests on Episode 3 of Midrats was Bryan McGrath, CDR, USN (Ret.). Over the years he’s returned often, and has even graced us with the pleasure of a few guest posts here.

As he’s let people know for years, he was going to retire for good at 60. True to his word, he hung it up a few weeks ago.

Earlier this year before he got too focused on his figs and vines, I asked Bryan to come on for a broad-ranging conversation.

We go live at 5pm Eastern this Sunday for a full hour with an old friend. You can join us at this link.

If you are reading this after the show, check the Substack later on Sunday night and I’ll upload the podcast.

A retired Naval Officer, Bryan spent 21 years on active duty including a tour in command of USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), a guided-missile destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. In command, he received the “Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Award for Inspirational Leadership” from the Surface Navy Association and his ship earned the USS ARIZONA Memorial Trophy signifying its selection as the Fleet’s most combat-ready warship. His final duties ashore included serving as Team Lead and Primary Author of the US Navy’s 2007 Maritime Strategy “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower”.

Bryan was formerly the Deputy Director of the Hudson Institute Center for American Seapower. In this capacity, he helped develop the Surface Navy’s “Distributed Lethality” concept and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ 2017 Navy Alternate Fleet Architecture Study.

Bryan earned a BA in History from the University of Virginia in 1987, and an MA in Political Science (Congressional Studies) from The Catholic University of America. He is a graduate of the Naval War College.

He retired again in November 2025 after 13 years in defense consulting.

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