Force Recon in Vietnam & Is WW3 Actually Possible? | Bing West
Force Recon in Vietnam & Is WW3 Actually Possible? | Bing West  
Podcast: The Team House
Published On: Sat Sep 19 2026
Description: Bing West looks back on a lifetime of war and policy, from serving as a Force Recon Marine in Vietnam and writing The Village to working in the Reagan administration and covering Iraq and Afghanistan alongside U.S. troops. We also discuss why America keeps repeating the same strategic mistakes, the rise of autonomous warfare, the growing challenge from China, and whether today’s conflicts are converging into something much larger.Grab Bing's books here: https://a.co/d/0iGKYJRoToday's Sponsors:Ultra Pouches ⬇️Don’t sleep on @ultrapouches. New customers get 15% Off with code HOUSE at https://takeultra.com/  #ultrapouches #adGhostBed ⬇️https://www.ghostbed.com/houseFOR 10% off! Blue Chew ⬇️https://bluechew.com/Get 1 month free when you buy 2 of BlueChew Gold with code "HOUSECALL"For ad free video and audio and access to live streams and Eyes On Geopolitics...JOIN OUR PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTeamHouseTo help support the show and for all bonus content including:-live shows and asking guest questions -ad free audio and video-early access to shows-Access to ALL bonus segments with our guestsSubscribe to our Patreon! ⬇️https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouseSupport the show here:⬇️https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse___________________________________________________ORDER JACK'S NEW BOOK "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN" ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback/Subscribe to the new EYES ON podcast here:⬇️https://www.youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured__________________________________Jack Murphy's book "We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History" ⬇️https://www.amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N/——————————————————————Or make a one time donation at: ⬇️https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouseSocial Media: ⬇️The Team House Instagram:https://instagram.com/the.team.house?utm_medium=copy_linkThe Team House Twitter:https://twitter.com/TheTeamHousePodJack’s Instagram:https://instagram.com/jackmcmurph?utm_medium=copy_linkJack’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackmurphyrgr?s=21Team House Discord: ⬇️https://discord.gg/wHFHYM6"Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"00:00 – Start01:18 – Growing Up Around Marines & Joining the Corps03:28 – Becoming a Marine Officer & Writing Small Unit Action in Vietnam04:28 – Force Recon Deep Inside the DMZ05:26 – Living and Fighting With a Combined Action Platoon07:34 – Nearly 400 Days Inside a Vietnamese Village09:52 – How the Combined Action Platoons Actually Worked13:05 – Tet Offensive & Fighting at Night16:00 – Seven Marines Killed in a Single Night16:33 – Writing The Village During the Vietnam War19:15 – The Tactical Lessons Bing Took From Vietnam20:00 – Force Recon, Stealth & Operation Stingray21:20 – Why Bing Blames Lyndon Johnson for the War’s Failure23:16 – Could the U.S. Have Won the Vietnam War?25:04 – “If You Go to War, You Have to Fight to Win”26:53 – Why the War Could Have Been Won at the Squad Level29:23 – Henry Kissinger & the End of South Vietnam32:36 – Why America Keeps Repeating the Same Mistakes in War34:48 – The “Jupiter Complex” of American Power36:07 – H.R. McMaster, Vietnam & Repeating Old Mistakes39:05 – America’s Debt Crisis & the Coming Defense Squeeze42:04 – China, Defense Spending & the Future of Warfare43:03 – AI, Autonomous Weapons & Killing Legacy Systems47:14 – What the Fall of Rome Can Teach America49:02 – AI CEOs, Power & the New “Jupiter Complex”53:29 – Working for Ronald Reagan54:44 – Reagan, Somalia & Confronting Soviet Influence59:18 – The Final Years of the Cold War1:00:42 – Central America, Oliver North & Reagan-Era Proxy Wars1:02:40 – Iraq, Jim Mattis & the March to Baghdad1:03:52 – Fallujah & the Decision to Halt the Marines1:05:40 – Why You Can’t Fight a War Halfway1:06:07 – The Fatal Problem of Enemy Safe Havens1:07:28 – Pakistan, the Taliban & Why Afghanistan Couldn’t Be Won1:14:32 – Afghanistan: “The Wrong War”1:15:57 – Why Jim Gant Was the Exception, Not the Rule1:19:34 – Cat 5 & the 2033 War1:21:06 – China, Taiwan & America’s Coming Strategic Crisis1:22:58 – Why the Pentagon Must Move Toward Autonomous Weapons1:23:49 – Are Ukraine, Gaza & Iran the Prelude to World War III?1:25:38 – Russia, China, Iran & North Korea Against the U.S.1:27:34 – Should America Station Troops in Taiwan?1:29:24 – Cat 5: The 2033 War1:30:17 – Bing’s Next Projects1:31:17 – The Last Platoon & Writing Afghanistan as Fiction1:32:24 – Jack’s The Most Dangerous Man1:34:14 – Closing ThoughtsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support.