America at Sea: Matthew “Whiz” Buckley
America at Sea: Voices That Matter is a 45-day maritime conversation hosted by Americans for a Stronger Navy with U.S. Maritime Action and moderated by Capt. Brent Sadler, USN (Ret.). Each voice answers the same three questions: What’s working? What’s the biggest barrier? What would you fix first?
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley flew the F/A-18 Hornet for the U.S. Navy for about 15 years. He graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School adversary program, flew combat sorties over southern Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, deployed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Kitty Hawk, and was mobilized for Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom. After a stint on Wall Street, he founded the No Fallen Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to ending veteran suicide [1].
He answers like a fighter pilot: direct, fast, and with no wasted motion.
What’s Working: Forward Presence
For Buckley, the answer starts with the oldest question in American crisis management: when something goes wrong in the world, the first thing a president asks is where’s the nearest carrier?
He tells the story on a friend, Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, an F-16 pilot Buckley has known for decades. Whenever something happens, Buckley says, even an Air Force fighter pilot has to ask where the boats are: the carriers, the subs, the nearest strike group, the nearest Marine Expeditionary Unit.
“What’s working with the Navy is being forward deployed, projecting our power on 75% of this planet, which obviously is water. When we can put four and a half acres of sovereign U.S. territory off somebody’s coast, it allows us to project power and get the job done.”
The Biggest Barrier: Deployments That Wear Out Ships, Aircraft, and People
The same forward presence that works is also the barrier. Deployments are getting longer, and they are combat deployments. Carriers have been dodging missiles, and an F/A-18 went over the side of a carrier during hard maneuvering to evade hostile fire [2].
“Literally every landing I had in the F-18 Hornet was a car crash. It’s the equivalent force. So we’re beating up the airplanes, we’re beating up the boats, and we’re beating up the people, and you can only do that for so long.”
His prescription is plain: more carriers, more air wings, more ships. And he takes the threat at its word. He points to the 2027 date for the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take Taiwan, a timeline U.S. intelligence officials have said Xi Jinping set for his military [3].
“The threat ain’t getting less, it’s getting more. We’re really putting our Navy and Marine Corps team to a lot of stress right now. And I think our leaders need to address that.”
Fix One Thing: Peace First, Then Overwhelming Force
Asked what he would fix first if he were king for a day, Buckley starts somewhere unexpected: there wouldn’t be any wars. He says he never served with anyone who wanted to go kill people, and he paraphrases General Douglas MacArthur’s observation that the soldier, above all others, prays for peace because he must bear the deepest wounds of war.
But the world has people who wish America harm. If the nation has to fight, he says, it should fight to end the war quickly. He contrasts the grinding war in Ukraine and 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Powell and Schwarzkopf doctrine of overwhelming force.
“If I were king for a day, I’d want peace. But if we get pushed to the point of having to use force, overwhelming massive firepower. And that’s where a strong Navy is going to come in.”
Where to Learn More
Buckley’s passion today is the No Fallen Heroes Foundation. More than five years ago, he traveled to Mexico with Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL and author of Lone Survivor, for psychedelic-assisted therapy that he says saved and changed his life. In April 2026, he and Luttrell were in the Oval Office when President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate research and review of psychedelic treatments for PTSD and other conditions affecting veterans [4].
The foundation gives grants to veterans and their families. And Buckley closes with a personal offer:
“If you’re a veteran and you’re not in a good place, man, I’m available 24/7. I’m here for you. Healing is possible. There is a way out.”
Learn more at NoFallenHeroes.com and WhizBuckley.com [1][5].
If you are a veteran in crisis, or worried about one, call or text the Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1 [6].
The Takeaway
Buckley’s three answers make one argument. Forward presence is what America’s Navy does best, and it is wearing out the ships, aircraft, and sailors who provide it. The fix is a Navy big enough to stay forward without breaking, strong enough that adversaries never test it, and decisive enough to end a fight quickly if they do.
He also brings something no other guest has: a reminder that the people who serve carry the cost long after they come home. A stronger Navy means taking care of them too.
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About America at Sea
America at Sea: Voices That Matter is a 45-day maritime conversation launched October 18, 2026, by Americans for a Stronger Navy with U.S. Maritime Action. Moderated by Capt. Brent Sadler, USN (Ret.), the series asks shipbuilders, mariners, industry leaders, the Navy community, and policy experts the same three questions. A common-ground report will be delivered to policymakers, their staffs, and the public at the end of November.
Learn more: StrongerNavy.org
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About the Guest
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley flew the F/A-18 Hornet for the U.S. Navy for about 15 years. A graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School adversary program, he flew combat sorties over southern Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, deployed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Kitty Hawk, and was mobilized for Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom. He is the founder of the No Fallen Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to ending veteran suicide.
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References
[1] No Fallen Heroes Foundation: https://nofallenheroes.com
[2] In April 2025, an F/A-18E Super Hornet and its tow tractor were lost overboard from USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea when the carrier turned hard to evade Houthi fire. Both crew members survived.
[3] In February 2023, CIA Director William Burns said U.S. intelligence indicated Xi Jinping had instructed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, while noting that this did not mean Xi had decided to do so.
[4] The White House, “President Trump’s Landmark Order Advances Breakthrough Mental Health Treatments — Delivering New Hope to Veterans,” April 20, 2026. The executive order was signed April 18, 2026.
[5] Matthew “Whiz” Buckley: https://whizbuckley.com
[6] Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net