Normally, this week's guest would be billed as a "Special Guest" as Joe Galloway was never actually in the military. But if history has anything to say about it, there's no doubt he's earned his stripes, going all the way back to his first overseas assignments in Vietnam. Early on, Galloway was embedded with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. He not only covered the battle, but also fought to save the lives of other American soldier...
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Patrick Murphy is the first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, representing Pennsylvania. Following his time in Congress, he was confirmed as the 32nd Under Secretary of the Army, serving until January 2017. Murphy may be a veteran of U.S. politics, but this conversation is anything but a political one. Murphy deployed to Iraq in 2003 with the 82nd Airborne, and also taught at West Point during his tenure as a U.S. Army officer. He’s a special breed of leader who truly understands wh...
Sep 03, 2019•1 hr 2 min
While taking a semester off from college, Gene Murphy received what many young men his age feared at the time - a draft notice for Vietnam. Murphy considered it an honor to serve his country, so leaving his small, South Dakota farming community for the Army and Vietnam, was tough, but not a big deal. When he shipped off to Vietnam, he figured as a mortarman he'd probably be stationed at a basecamp somewhere and not spend much time in the jungle. But the situation changed rapidly when he hit the ...
Aug 27, 2019•1 hr 4 min
As far back as he can remember, Michael Rutledge wanted to be a Naval Aviator. He lacked the grades to get him there, so he enlisted in the Navy, eventually becoming a Navy SEAL. Unable to ignore his desire to fly in the military, after 8 years as a SEAL, Rutledge started the process to transfer to the Army to fly helicopters. All of this happened not long before 9/11. Despite his love for the Teams and its inherent brotherhood, Rutledge felt a greater calling to make it into the aviator ranks a...
Aug 20, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Garrett Cathcart had wanted to go to West Point since the 4th grade. When high school graduation approached, it was West Point or enlist. He secured an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy, setting him on a course to become a combat-tested leader, as the Global War on Terror erupted only a couple of years before he graduated and entered active duty. Since then he has served as a Cavalry Scout, Troop Commander, and military advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cathcart sits down in-studio to refl...
Aug 13, 2019•1 hr 11 min
It’s not too often we get the opportunity to speak with veterans of WWII. They’re a special breed, and Harry Lockhead is no exception. Joining the Navy when his country was at war, Lockhead went into the service as a cook. After the battle at Tarawa, the loss of Marines was so great, that the Navy asked for volunteers to learn how to perform reconnaissance and underwater demolition for future beach landings. Harry volunteered, and became one of the Navy's first Underwater Demolition swimmers, or...
Aug 06, 2019•44 min
Staring down a very domesticated life path she had no interest in following, Mary Dague decided to join the Army, a few years after 9/11. Desiring a military job that was both dynamic and challenging, she signed up for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD). She loved being an EOD soldier and showed great promise as a young bomb tech on her team while deployed in combat. But it only took one critical incident to end all of that. On November 4, 2007, her military career came to an end when she literal...
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 29 min
Following his childhood dream to serve in the military, Zachary Rhyner joined the Air Force in 2004. He knew he wanted to serve in an elite group, that would no doubt face challenges in combat. Rhyner enlisted with the goal of becoming a combat controller. After a grueling two-and-a-half-year selection and training process, he became a special tactics combat controller. He would soon go on to serve with a Special Operations team, seeing their fare share of combat in Afghanistan. It was on one of...
Jul 23, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Even though Chris Greca came from a military family, he never intended to join the Army. But, it was a spur of the moment decision at a red light one day that drove him to the recruiter’s office. And before he knew it, Chris Greca was on his way to a 31-year career in the Army. He would retire in 2017 as a Sergeant Major, fulfilling key posts all the way up to the 4-star command level. Serving much of his career with the storied 75th Ranger Regiment, he also racked up a large number of injuries ...
Jul 16, 2019•1 hr 11 min
As a young Army Ranger, Jeff Struecker saw combat early, beginning with the operation to capture Manuel Noriega in Panama in 1989. But, it wasn't until his experiences during Operation Gothic Serpent - the op to capture Somali faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid - that combat took on a new meaning - a more violent and vicious meaning. Better known by its book and film title, "Black Hawk Down", Struecker shares with us his experiences fighting on the ground in Mogadishu, on 3 and 4 October, 1993,...
Jul 09, 2019•1 hr 6 min
In 2004 in the Iraq desert, British soldier, Brian Wood found himself on the receiving end of an order not given in battle in 25 years: FIX BAYONETS! In just a split second he digested that phrase, and began leading his men on a full-frontal assault against an entrenched enemy, charging into heavy oncoming fire. Outnumbered, he and his men engaged in a close-quarter battle, seizing the initiative and defeating the enemy force, saving numerous allied soldiers' lives. For his courageous leadership...
Jul 02, 2019•57 min
Remi Adeleke was destined to lead an unconventional life. He might say it was divine intervention. Whatever it was, it put him on a path most ordinary people never travel. Then again, Remi isn't an ordinary human being. He was born into Nigerian royalty, the son of a Yoruba chief. His father was also an entrepreneur, architect, and engineer, who worked to bring prosperity to Nigeria through innovative development projects. But, his father's untimely death would leave Remi's family penniless, and...
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 14 min
We bring a little bit of levity to the show this week with our guest, Matt Cothron. Matt, better known by his online moniker, Uncle Chaps, is a successful (and humorous) blogger and podcast host. But, before that, he was a Marine, serving in combat as a bomb dog handler. In 2007 he was shot through the arm - an injury that would eventually contribute to medical retirement. Leading up to that event, he had been in over 40 fire fights and conducted over 100 raids in Iraq. His experiences in combat...
Jun 18, 2019•1 hr 12 min
When you look back on Jason Redman's career as a Navy SEAL, two words stand out: warrior and leader. We've said it before - those words get thrown around rather loosely. But in Jason's case, they are terms he continues to embody, even after his career in the Navy was finished. In this episode, he talks about what it means to be a leader, and what it takes to continue to grow as one, constantly learning and refining knowledge, lessons, and experience. He also goes in-depth on what happened to him...
Jun 11, 2019•1 hr 19 min
We have another Special Guest this week, and an absolutely incredible story of one man's quest to survive under Saddam Hussein's rule as well as the insurgency that plagued his country months into Operation Iraqi Freedom. He still goes by his code name, Johnny Walker, and for years - including through Desert Storm and the 2003 U.S. invasion - he dreamed of a better life for himself and his family. He didn't see a future in Iraq, but rather one nested in the American Dream. Johnny Walker discover...
Jun 04, 2019•1 hr 6 min
It was an absolute honor to have Marine, WWII vet, and Medal of Honor recipient, Hershel “Woody” Williams on the show! Woody Williams grew up in rural West Virginia, so far removed from urban centers that his family had no access to daily news sources. So, Woody’s family had virtually no access to information about the military, let alone the events leading up to WWII. But, eventually it was the Second World War that would act as the catalyst for Woody joining the Marine Corps. While fighting on...
May 28, 2019•55 min
Our Special Guest this week is Renee Nickell. Renee became a Gold Star Sibling when she lost her brother, Marine Major Samuel Griffith in combat on December 14, 2011 in Afghanistan. Renee was very close to Sam; in her eyes, he was her hero. Losing him was devastating. Six years after his death, she decided to honor and remember Sam by writing a memoir about him, with the hope that it would help her and others who had lost a sibling, find some peace in the process of healing. The book is "Always ...
May 21, 2019•1 hr 17 min
This week, another legend in the Special Ops community joins us, as retired Colonel Lee Van Arsdale takes us through two pivotal operations for the storied 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta, more commonly known as Delta Force. Van Arsdale joined Delta Force in 1985, and spent 14 years leading some of the most elite soldiers history has ever seen. As a Major, he lead the Delta assault troop that captured Manual Noriega in Panama in 1989, personally restraining Noriega while he was...
May 14, 2019•1 hr 13 min
There are many general officers in the U.S. military, but there are few who truly leave their mark on the organization after they have finished serving in its ranks. LTG (Ret) Michael Ferriter is one of those few. His commitment to not only serving his country, during multiple times of conflict, as a Ranger and beyond, along with his steadfast leadership have made the military a healthier and more lethal fighting force. LTG Ferriter is also responsible for bringing the Combatives Program to the ...
May 07, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Scot Spooner is a modern-day warrior. He joined the Army at a young age, earned his Green Beret, and eventually earned a spot in the Army's elite Delta Force. He's trained for war, instructed others in its finer and deadlier points; fought in combat and survived when others around him were less fortunate, and returned home, seemingly unscathed. But, ultimately, injuries deeper than skin surface came to light. So Scot, in the truest sense of the term "warrior," sought healing while discovering a ...
Apr 30, 2019•1 hr 15 min
This week we return to Afghanistan, 2002, and the Battle of Takur Ghar. Retired Army Master Sergeant and Ranger, Eric Stebner tells it from the perspective of leading Chalk 2 of his Quick Reaction Force up an over 10,000-foot mountain, under enemy mortar fire, to link up with his Platoon Leader’s chalk, which was already engaged with the enemy on top of the mountain. Stebner recounts the effort to climb 2000 feet, at a high altitude in the thin mountain air, and fight the battle to take back the...
Apr 23, 2019•1 hr 22 min
Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Kevin Lacz left college to join the Navy with orders for SEAL training. He would go on to graduate with BUD/s Class 246, and eventually land with SEAL Team Three. By 2006, he was fighting in Ramadi, Iraq, working primarily as a sniper and medic. In 2008 he returned to Iraq, working again as a sniper, medic, and also breacher - SEAL certifications that made him the only member of his platoon qualified to participate in any operation the platoon pla...
Apr 16, 2019•1 hr
She initially wanted to be an astronaut, jumping headfirst into the Civil Air Patrol program at a young age. But Annie Kleiman would end up taking a completely different path - one very unconventional within the ranks of the Air Force. She would ultimately try out for and be selected to deploy as part of a Cultural Support Team (CST) in 2012 in Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regiment, as an Air Force Officer. The CSTs would place her and other women like her on direct combat missions, performi...
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr 13 min
An absolutely powerful episode this week with the Executive Director of The Headstrong Project, Joe Quinn, on the heels of launching a new chapter in Atlanta. Joe was in his senior at West Point when his brother died in the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Joe believed he was in the best spot to enact revenge on the perpetrators of the attacks, and maybe have a chance to feel somewhat whole again, as he was soon to be commissioned in the Army, and would soon fight his...
Apr 02, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Following in the footsteps of immediate family, Duane France joined the Army prior to September 11, 2001. When the World Trade Center towers fell, France was stationed in Germany, away from the immediacy of GWOT planning, but ready to serve, wherever, and whenever. It would be a few years before he'd be "in the fight," but as with most people who served post-9/11, his time would come, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan during some of the bloodiest times of both campaigns. His experien...
Mar 26, 2019•1 hr 1 min
He's now living his life not just for himself, but for those he served with on the battlefield who never made it home. One of those soldiers, in particular, died in an instant right next to him. On December 8, 2005, Adam Mattis was seriously injured when his vehicle was struck by an IED containing several explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) near Sadr City in Baghdad. The attack occurred just 28 days before Adam's tour in Iraq was scheduled to end. The officer riding next him was a good friend ...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr 16 min
She went from performing in front of thousands of cheering fans in NFL stadiums, to executing one of the most vital missions in the Global War on Terror. Rachel Washburn was a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader before commissioning as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army. Her first assignment in the Army was to a Cultural Support Team (CST) in Afghanistan - a groundbreaking concept where women were embedded with Special Operations units in order to enable and help form enduring relationships with the local...
Mar 11, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Mike Frazier has one of the most interesting military backgrounds of any of our guests. He served in Iraq in 2003 as part of a Coast Guard tactical law enforcement team, in support of combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following a short stint in the Coast Guard, Frazier enlisted in the Army to become a crew chief. He would eventually earn a billet in the elite and highly specialized 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, more commonly known as the “Night Stalkers.” But, a bac...
Mar 05, 2019•1 hr 17 min
Imagine being shot through the chest by a sniper in Ramadi, Iraq in 2004, and surviving. Imagine completing a 4-year enlistment as an infantry Marine, surviving combat, and then going on to become one of the Army’s elite Green Berets. Now imagine finding out several years after surviving the sniper’s round, that you have terminal lung cancer that was misdiagnosed by the military, and there’s virtually nothing you can do about it. That’s the story of Rich Stayskal. Because the alleged misdiagnosi...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Author, journalist, and Marine Officer Philip Caputo served 16 months in Vietnam, landing in 1965 with the first ground combat unit deployed there. Caputo spent much of his time in Vietnam commanding an infantry platoon in fierce combat operations synonymous with the war. A few years later he would leave the Marine Corps and begin writing about his experiences in Vietnam. His memoir on the subject, “A Rumor of War” is a classic, and it wholeheartedly describes the savagery that war can so easily...
Feb 18, 2019•58 min
