In what has become a holiday tradition, the Urban Warfare Project Podcast turns its attention to an important question: What items should be on a military force's urban warfare holiday wish list? To do so, John Spencer is joined once again this year by two urban warfare scholars to discuss the unique capabilities, ideas, and initiatives they would like Santa to deliver. Major Jayson Geroux is a Canadian Army officer and urban warfare historian assigned to the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre. And Mr. Stuart Lyle is the urban operations research lead for the UK-based Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. From new scholarship to cheap tactical drones, they discuss the items that would help militaries be best prepared for urban warfare.

When thousands of Hamas militants invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, there were only 110 police officers on duty spread across hundreds of square kilometers, concentrated in four police stations and several other posts. Despite their relatively small numbers, these officers played a critical role that day. On this episode, John Spencer is joined by Israel Police Chief Superintendent Shlomi Chetrit, head of the Israel Police History and Heritage Branch, who discusses the role of the police on October 7, including their actions during the battle for the Sderot Police Station.

Cities' complex man-made terrain, the presence of civilian populations and infrastructure to support those populations, a complicated information environment, and a range of political and other factors make planning for brigade and division urban operations extremely difficult. Too often, militaries rely on a limited set of options—such as the deliberate assault or an effort to bypass cities completely. But history yields lessons on how to overcome the unique challenges of urban warfare. Chief among these lessons is that developing operational approaches to major urban areas requires planners to account for unique, environment-specific considerations. In this episode, Dr. Jacob Stoil—the chair of applied history at the Modern War Institute, an associate professor of military history at the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, and a senior fellow at the 40th Infantry Division Urban Warfare Center—explores these considerations and details several operational approaches for brigades or divisions in the offense, drawing on historical case studies to illustrate their value.