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In this episode of the Defence Connect podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Australian Army Corporal (Ret’d) and Afghan veteran Matthew “ Willy” Williams (Order of Australia Medal) to discuss citizen conflict reporting and his coverage of the ongoing Ukraine War.
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Corporal Williams was previously deployed as a private to Afghanistan with the Australian Army, leaving as a corporal in 2020 and undertaking a radical career change to operate the 130,000-subscriber Willy OAM independent journalism YouTube channel.
The pair discuss Willy’s experiences as a veteran, the support he received after leaving the Army, and his sideways career choice to become a travelling civilian conflict reporter.
They then discuss the impact of a terminal brain cancer diagnosis on his 22nd birthday, his efforts to promote brain cancer awareness initiatives, and receiving an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List.
They also discuss his ongoing daily analysis of the Ukraine War through public crowd-sourced maps and how to split fact from fiction in the modern world of military propaganda.
They then detail Willy’s own interactions and interviews with military volunteers – from Australia, the US, and Russia – their motivations, and concerns.
Finally, the pair take stock of the conflict, discussing worst-case scenarios, what it’s like on the ground, and how it’s likely to end.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect team
Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:
Episode 477: PODCAST: Middle East conflict reignition, with Major General (Ret’d) Gus McLachlan
Episode 476: CONTESTED GROUND: The pace of military change, with Dr David Kilcullen
Episode 475: SPOTLIGHT: Unpacking the opportunities to enhance Australia’s defence capabilities, with Yehuda Lahav, Israel Aerospace Industries
Episode 474: PODCAST: Confronting Australia’s dwindling belief in itself and the national security implications, with Scott Hargreaves, Institute of Public Affairs
Episode 473: CONTESTED GROUND: Espionage and disrupting non-state adversaries
Episode 472: PODCAST: The future of land warfare for Australia and our UK partners with Tom Newman, Babcock Land CEO
Episode 471: CONTESTED GROUND: Irregular warfare in Ukraine and Russian information operations, with MAJGEN (Ret’d) Gus McLachlan
Episode 470: SPOTLIGHT: Deconstructing Defence’s Digital Engineering Strategy, with Downer’s Rachel Hatton and Connie Heaney
Episode 469: CONTESTED GROUND: The enduring opportunities of the Australia–US relationship, with former ambassador Joe Hockey
Episode 468: CONTESTED GROUND: Developing true sovereign capability, with shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie MP
