Managing Crises, Responses and Execution: Inside the JOC
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo steps inside the Joint Operations Center at the Royal Armed Forces base in Agadir, Morocco, the nerve center of African Lion 2026, to explore how government, industry, and academia converge to support both the multinational exercise and a live, real-world search-and-rescue mission. He’s joined […]
The Valley of Death: How the Army Saves Innovations From Dying
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Dubaz, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa| Advanced Capabilities Directorate, leads the Advanced Capabilities Directorate at the United States Army Southern European Task Force, the Army’s headquarters for Africa. In this conversation, he walks through how his team identifies capability gaps across a continent of 54 countries and more than two […]
Future Warfare: Overland AI Off-Road Autonomy
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo gets hands-on with Overland AI’s Ultra platform at African Lion 2026 in Tantan, Morocco, walking through the autonomous ground vehicle that soldiers in the field have nicknamed “Mufasa” and “Simba.” Built on a commercial Polaris Razor chassis and outfitted with LiDAR, cameras, GNSS receivers, […]
Building the Future, One Nanometer at a Time
Daniel Marrujo continues his tour of Brookhaven National Laboratory with a stop at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), where interim director Kevin Yager breaks down the science of building materials at the nanometer scale, from carbon nanotubes to self-assembling DNA structures. Yager also outlines CFN’s vision for an “exocortex,” a network of AI agents […]
Rare Earths, Real Power: Africa’s Role in Next Global Race
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Mvemba Dizolele, Managing Director, Dizolele Advisory at the African Land Forces Summit to explore a continent often misunderstood by the outside world. Dizolele, a professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, former senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at CSIS, and […]
Seeing the Invisible | National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven National Lab
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo takes viewers behind the scenes of one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the United States — the National Synchrotron Light Source 2 (NSLS II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. Joined by Denise Olds from the NSLS II communications […]
From F-15s to AI Wingmen: Inside the Future of Air Combat
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Colonel Keagan McLeese, call sign “Waldo”, commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and Beale Air Force Base, recorded just two days before McLeese hands over command and flies his final mission as an Air Force pilot. The conversation traces his path […]
Encrypted, Translated, Transmitted | The Tech Keeping Coalition Forces Connected
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo takes viewers inside one of the most quietly powerful demonstrations at African Lion 2026 in Tan Tan, Morocco. Joined by Staff Sergeant Thalia Gonzalez, Master Sergeant Michael Patterson, and Airman First Class Caleb Hilton, Daniel gets an up-close look at the Wave Relay MPU-5, […]
No Runway, No Limits: Inside the AI Drone Rewriting Modern Recon
In this episode of Micro Journeys Inside Access, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Chief Warrant Officer 4 Eric Barker on the ground at African Lion 2026 in Morocco for an unfiltered look at one of the most capable reconnaissance tools in the U.S. military’s current arsenal. What started as Daniel spotting a drone descending […]
Africa Isn’t Untapped — It’s Strategic
In this episode of Micro Journeys, host Daniel Marrujo sits down with Hap Harlow, Director of the Defense Cooperation Division for Army Forces Africa, live from the Africa Land Forces Summit in Rome, Italy. Hap brings a rare and grounded perspective on the intersection of defense, economics, and global investment, unpacking why Africa — often […]