Small Batch | SignalGate

Summary

Truth in the Barrel - Episode Summary: "Small Batch | SignalGate"

Episode Information:

• Title: Small Batch | SignalGate
• Hosts: Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman
• Release Date: March 29, 2025
• Website: www.TruthintheBarrel.com

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Small Batch | SignalGate," hosts Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman delve into a recent controversy surrounding the misuse of the Signal Chat platform within the national security apparatus. Drawing upon their extensive military and intelligence backgrounds, the duo provides a critical analysis of the events, highlighting the implications for national security and the integrity of military operations.

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Background and Expertise

Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman establish their credibility by discussing their military backgrounds. Amy, the first woman Marine to fly an F/A-18 in combat, shares her extensive experience with 89 combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Denver, an intelligence officer, reflects on his experience briefing pilots in various squadrons, emphasizing the depth of his operational knowledge.

Notable Quote:

• Denver Riggleman (00:45): “You were the first woman Marine who flew in an F18 in combat, correct?”
• Amy McGrath (01:13): “That is correct.”

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The Signal Chat Debacle

The core of the episode revolves around the misuse of Signal Chat by national security officials, which Amy and Denver argue represents a significant breach of operational security. They express concern over the sharing of sensitive mission details on an unsecured platform, which jeopardizes both the safety of missions and the lives of service members.

Key Points:

• Operational Security Breach: Sharing Air Tasking Orders (ATOs), including launch times, call signs, and strike packages, on Signal Chat exposes critical mission details.
• Classification Violations: ATOs are classified, and their dissemination over non-secure channels undermines established security protocols.
• Risk to Military Operations: Revealing launch times and targets can provide adversaries with valuable information, increasing the vulnerability of missions.

Notable Quotes:

• Amy McGrath (02:21): “We’d scrub the mission because... you have just risked the entire mission. You’ve risked our lives.”
• Amy McGrath (03:21): “Those launch times, those time on targets. It is classified... why are these times being shared?”

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Critique of Leadership and Accountability

Amy and Denver critically assess the role of leadership, particularly focusing on Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, accusing him of incompetence and arrogance. They argue that Hegseth's actions, including the misuse of Signal Chat, reflect a broader issue of unqualified leadership within the national security team.

Key Points:

• Lack of Qualified Oversight: The absence of a Classification Authority Official (CAO) on the Signal Chat facilitated the unauthorized sharing of classified information.
• Arrogance and Unqualification: Hegseth is portrayed as both unqualified and arrogant, traits that Amy believes are detrimental to national security.
• Failure to Acknowledge Mistakes: Hegseth's alleged lack of accountability and honesty exacerbates the situation, undermining trust within the military.

Notable Quotes:

• Amy McGrath (05:17): “Pete Hegseth has the deadly combination of being unqualified and arrogant at the same time.”
• Amy McGrath (07:34): “Pete Hegseth was in charge... he just screwed over members of the military. He put lives at risk knowingly.”

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Security Protocols and Best Practices

The discussion extends to the importance of adhering to established security protocols to prevent similar breaches. Amy emphasizes the necessity of compartmentalization in military operations to minimize the risk of information spillage.

Key Points:

• Compartmentalization: Limiting access to sensitive information ensures that only essential personnel are privy to mission-critical details.
• Approved Communication Channels: Utilizing secure, approved channels for sharing classified information is imperative to maintain operational integrity.
• Consequences of Spillage: Unauthorized dissemination can lead to compromised missions, increased enemy awareness, and potential loss of life.

Notable Quotes:

• Amy McGrath (06:41): “There are reasons that we have these protocols, and it's so that spillage doesn't happen.”
• Denver Riggleman (07:14): “That actually went through my head, right? And I feel like everybody's got to look up all this.”

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Concluding Remarks

In their concluding statements, Amy and Denver reiterate the gravity of the Signal Chat incident, framing it as a reflection of deeper systemic issues within the national security establishment. They call for accountability and adherence to security protocols to safeguard military operations and personnel.

Call to Action: The hosts encourage listeners to engage with their content on multiple platforms, emphasizing their commitment to exposing falsehoods and advocating for truth within national security discussions.

Notable Quotes:

• Denver Riggleman (08:06): “We hate liars. We'll call out people who are full of shit.”
• Amy McGrath (08:24): “Those of us that served in the military... that’s almost unforgivable. In my opinion.”

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Final Thoughts

"Small Batch | SignalGate" serves as a potent reminder of the critical importance of operational security within military and national security operations. Through their incisive analysis, Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman shed light on the potentially catastrophic consequences of security lapses, advocating for stronger adherence to protocols and accountable leadership to protect the integrity and safety of military missions.

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Transcript

[Amy McGrath]

Welcome everyone to Truth in the Barrel Small batch. I'm Amy McGrath with Denver Rigman and we are going to talk about the signal chat debacle that you have seen in the last few days. And actually I think this is really important, Denver, for us to talk about this because you have an intelligence background and I have an operator background. And both of those things are being talked about right now in different ways regarding this, in my opinion, incompetency that we're seeing from the national security team of our country right now.

[Denver Rigman]

Amy, you know, the reason I think we're paired so well together is you were a pilot. You know, I was an intelligence officer who cut my teeth on briefing pilots doing threats as an ops I in. Right. In a fighter squadron, then a bomber squadron. Right. So pretty exciting. So great. I have all this experience. But you have this special. Right. Sort of thing that I want to tell people about is that you're the first woman Marine who flew in an F18 in combat, correct?

[Amy McGrath]

That is correct.

[Denver Rigman]

What's amazing when you're flying into combat. And for me, I've debriefed hundreds of missions, right. Whether it's in training or real world. So the first thing I would ask you because I, you know, both me and you both know what air tasking orders are. ATOs, both of us have done mission planning from using computers all the way to acetate and grease pencils or wet markers. I don't know if you remember those old days, right.

[Amy McGrath]

Whatever you got in the tent, whatever.

[Denver Rigman]

You got in the tent, right. We did it. So if I'm asking you, I'm like, you know what, guess what, ma'am, know you're flying into harm's way. But I was happy, you know, I'm on a signal chat or I'm on this other chat, I'm going to think, I want to say, tell some of my buddies it's only an hour before you know when time over target is, what your specific target is and the platform's actually flying. What would you do to an intelligence officer helping you train? Who was even suggesting that? Maybe I would say publishing your times over target your IPs, what you're flying and who your specific target is about an hour before you went out over a non secure channel. How would you, how would you think about that there?

[Amy McGrath]

We'd scrub the mission because. Yeah, because you have just risked the entire mission. You've risked our lives. This signal chat thing is personal to me because the pilots that are out there, look, I trained many of them while they were midshipmen at the U.S. naval Academy while I taught there. They're the ones now out doing these missions. And I used to do these types of missions, right. I had 89 combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, strike missions. The air tasking order, folks, for everybody that's listening, that is the order that has the flight times and the call signs and the strike packages, what aircraft are taking off and when. That order I have never seen. I have never seen an air tasking order that is not classified. Those launch times, those time on targets. It is classified not only in combat, but. But in exercises back home and overseas. Why?

[Denver Rigman]

Sure, because you flew in Dallas, you.

[Amy McGrath]

Flew out of Red Flags, right? And exercises overseas. You do not want people to know when you are launching. That is the most vulnerable time for an aircraft. And also the most vulnerable time actually is over the target. Right. And so to tell people, or to tell folks over an unsecure network, the type of package that is going in on a strike, when it's launching, when it's going to be over the target, that is just. My head exploded. And, and I have. I've gotten so many calls, emails, texts from former squadron mates of mine with the WTF on this. Because anybody that's in the military knows this. You are basically telling the enemy when you're going to be there on a strike that by the way, its own existence is classified. So when Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor says, oh no, no classified sources or methods was released in this, that is total bullshit. The entire operation that they were chit chatting about over this signal chat frame that in and of self is classified. Why? Because you're putting pilots at risk if the enemy would know about it.

[Denver Rigman]

It's not an approved comms channel. They had people on there that shouldn't have been on there because they're so dumb they invited people onto a signal chat that shouldn't have been there. They're talking about things that should be on approved comms channels at a security classification level. Was there a CAO on that signal chat? Was there classification authority? Right, that was actually on that signal chat that allowed that to happen pre chat? Of course not. And was he copy pasting from an actual off plan or from an at? We don't know. That's what I'm asking. Yeah.

[Amy McGrath]

The bottom line though is it's arrogance. Pete Hegseth has the deadly combination of being unqualified and arrogant at the same time. If you're unqualified, you can muddle through that job, you can ask for advice, you can be humble, you can listen. But if you are unqualified and arrogant as a Secretary of defense, it is a recipe for disaster. And this is a perfect example of that. These gu. Oh, you know, the bureaucracy is so hard in the military and, and on the national security establishment. So we're just going to create our own signal chat because, you know, we're smarter than everyone else. Well, there are reasons that we have these protocols, and it's so that spillage doesn't happen. We, we don't even. You know, when you're, when you're in a flight line, you don't necessarily even tell the, the person that is the ordinance man who's uploading your bomb. He may know your launch time, but he doesn't know your time on target. Why does he know? And the more people that know that stuff, the worse you want to compartmentalize things and you don't want the whole picture to go out. What Pete Hegseth texted out to the whole world is the whole picture. We specifically don't allow that. And the only people that know that, typically, are our high officials who we think, who we think are smart.

[Denver Rigman]

You know, I was thinking about military speak and thinking about the language that we use, Amy, whether it's our, our call signs, which I don't know if you want me to tell your call sign on a national show like this, but, you know, I'm Chunk, she's crusty, and we're here for you and. But here's the thing. When you said wtf, you know what popped in my mind? We did WTF on a sec def who fubarred an ATO with a tot, right? And that actually makes complete sense to us.

[Amy McGrath]

I know.

[Denver Rigman]

That's actually went through my head, right? And I feel like everybody's got to look up all this. But the thing is, is that, you know what? That all equals a Blue Falcon, right? So if you WTF the sec def who fubarred an ATO over a tot, he's a Blue Falcon. And I think that's really what people need to take out of this whole.

[Amy McGrath]

Conversation as we're going forward, 100%. But to translate that to everyday people, Look, Pete Hegseth was in charge, is in charge of the military, and he just screwed over members of the military. He put lives at risk knowingly. And then on top of it, if that wasn't bad enough, and all those guys did too, Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, all those people should know better. But if that wasn't Bad enough. Hegseth himself turns around and lies about it.

[Denver Rigman]

Yeah.

[Amy McGrath]

He doesn't even have the guts to say, you know what? That was bad. We screwed up. Doesn't have the guts to do that. He has to lie about it. And I'm telling you what. Those people, those of us that served in the military, you may be left, you may be right. That. That's almost unforgivable. In my opinion.

[Denver Rigman]

It is. And I think that's why when we do Truth in a barrel, whether we're doing truth or bullshit, or we're doing the Devil's Cut or our small batch shorts like this, that's why you have to listen to us, because we hate liars. We'll call out people who are full of shit. And that's why you have to subscribe. So you need to go to YouTube. You need to subscribe. You need to look at the comments. You can comment if you want. We're going to. We're going to actually might even say. You might even get something from Chunk or Crusty. We might even respond. But also go to your pod. Make sure of your choice. You can pick. We're not picky. Go to any pod. Make sure you subscribe there too, so you can listen to us, whether in your car or you're sitting at home. Thank you, Amy. You're awesome. Thanks for everything you did for our country. And look at us next time when we come in hot on a small batch. Truth in the barrel.