On July 22, 2011 Norway experienced two terrorist attacks (a bombing at a government building in Oslo and a mass shooter event at a youth camp on nearby Utoya Island). These were perpetrated by a lone rightwing extremist. These attacks were unprecedented for the peaceful county of Norway and stretched the Norwegian first responders to their limits. My guest today is an active member of Norway’s most elite tactical and counter terrorism police unit - Beredskapstroppen (bearee-id-schkop-stropen), ...
Dec 06, 2023•2 hr 5 min•Ep. 36
My guest today is Dr. Kelly Starrett. Kelly is a world-renowned physical therapist, a strength and conditioning coach to Olympic and World Champion athletes, a 3x best-selling author, a speaker, and a two-time national kayaking champion. Kelly and his wife and partner Juliet launched one of the first CrossFit gyms in 2005, created the website Mobility WOD, and created the highly praised fitness blog and podcast called the “The Ready State.” Kelly’s first book, "Becoming a Supple Leopard", not on...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 35
My guest today is Michael Lumpkin. Michael has served many roles in his extremely distinguished career including Navy SEAL Captain, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflicts, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Special Assistant to Sec Def, and a Special Envoy at the Department of State. Michael’s military career included numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, serving as the Off...
Nov 08, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 34
Today’s episode of The Debrief features a unique format: this episode was recorded live at the National Tactical Officers Association Annual Conference in Aurora, Colorado. I was fortunate to moderate a panel discussion that included the presidents of five separate tactical associations including: Brent Straton from the California Association of Tactical Officers, Chris Eklund from the Florida SWAT Association, Thor Eells from the National Tactical Officers Association, Nick Sprague from the Roc...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 33
In June of 2018, just two years after the PULS nightclub attacks, Orlando Police officers responded to a domestic violence call. As officers attempted to contact the suspect, he fired a shot though his door striking Officer Kevin Valencia with wounds that he would eventually succumb to. The suspect then barricaded in his apartment with his 4 children as hostages. This event, which would last more than 24 hours, proved extremely difficult and required the resources of both the Orlando Police Depa...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 32
On July 2, 2020 patrol officers attempted to contact a suspect about moving an illegally parked automobile at the Three Rivers Mobile Home Park in Hastings, MN. As officers spoke to the suspect’s wife and two of his four children the suspect locked and barricaded the door to his trailer with his other two children inside. Over the course of the next 15 hours, in sweltering heat, the South Metro SWAT Team, in conjunction with Washington County SWAT, and Ramsey County SWAT, attempted to negotiate ...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 31
My Guest today is a true legend who is one of only three people to have served at all of the roles in LAPD D-Platoon: Chief Mike Albanese. Mike has spent 52 years in law enforcement with 37 of those spent at LAPD, 26 of which was spent in SWAT and Crisis Negotiation. Mike is one of only a handful of people to have ever served in the 10 David or SWAT commander role at LAPD. Since retiring from LAPD he has served as a Captain, Deputy Chief and is currently the Chief of Police for the Burbank Calif...
Sep 22, 2023•51 min•Ep. 30
My Guest today is a true legend who is one of only three people to have served at all of the roles in LAPD D-Platoon Chief Mike Albanese. Mike has spent 52 years in law enforcement with 37 of those spent at LAPD, 26 of which was spent in SWAT and Crisis Negotiation. Mike is one of only a handful of people to have ever served in the 10 David or SWAT commander role at LAPD. Since retiring from LAPD he has served as a Captain, Deputy Chief and is currently the Chief of Police for the Burbank Califo...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 29
My guest today is Dr. Kevin Menes. Kevin is an emergency room physician and tactical team doctor who led a team that managed to treat and save hundreds of patients following the active sniper attack in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017. Kevin’s insights into the Las Vegas attack are unique and offer us clear lessons learned in preparing for mass casualty. Too often active shooter preparation ends at the tactical level and fails to consider the effect on all involved agencies. This discussion with Kev...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 28
My guest today is Tom Satterly. Tom is a highly decorated combat veteran, having served in the Army 25 years, with the last 20 in the US Army’s most elite Tier One unit, Delta. During his career Tom was involved in, and led, some of our nation’s most important military campaigns including the Battle in Mogadishu portrayed in the film Blackhawk Down and the capture of Saddam Hussein. Tom is the recipient of numerous medals including a Silver Star, and 4 Bronze Stars, with 1 for Valorous acts. He ...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 27
My guest today is Chief John Perez. John recently retired as the Chief of Police for the Pasadena California Police Department. In his nearly 37 years of service to Pasadena, John served at literally all ranks in the department. During his career John worked patrol, narcotics, counter terrorism, and as a swat sergeant, lieutenant, and commander, John helped to form the first generation of Pasadena’s tactical team which had the challenge of deploying as a full-time gang enforcement team and a SWA...
Aug 02, 2023•40 min•Ep. 26
My guest today is a legend in the US tactical community Chief Phil Hansen. Phil recently retired after serving as the Chief of Police for the Santa Maria California Police Department. But prior to Santa Maria Phil retired as a Captain from the Los Angeles Country Sherriff’s Department where he served for 36 years. During his tenure at LASD he spent more than 24 years in full time tactical and emergency management positions, including nearly 20 years at the elite Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB)....
Jul 26, 2023•37 min•Ep. 25
My guest today is Jordan MacWilliams. Jordan is a 15 year member of the RCMP Lower Mainland Division Integrated Emergency Response Team, the second largest tactical unit in Canada. On November 7, 2012 Jordan fired a single shot which killed a hostage taker who pointed a gun at the team after a five-hour standoff at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster, British Columbia. Although it was a completely justifiable shooting, this incident began an almost three-year nightmare for Jordan and his fam...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 24
My guest today is Gareth Lock. Gareth spent 25 years in the Royal Air Force as a flight instructor, a navigator on C-130 Hercules, a systems engineer and a requirements manager. Following his retirement from the RAF in 2015 he started work in high-risk industries teaching Human Factors and Crew Resource Management (CRM). Eventually Gareth turned his attention to diving, applying a military systems approach to diving risk management by creating an organization called The Human Diver which is focu...
Jul 12, 2023•37 min•Ep. 23
Kevin Cyr is an Inspector with Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is the current commander of the RCMP Emergency Response Team in British Columbia, which is the second largest tactical unit in Canada. Kevin has been with RCMP for 22 years and has been with the team for 7 years. He has a master’s in law from Osgoode Hall Law School and is published internationally in law and criminology journals. He also teaches incident command at the Canadian Police College. Contact Info: LinkedIn Books Recommen...
Jul 05, 2023•35 min•Ep. 22
My guest today is Jordan Robison. This episode is a follow up to last week’s Critical Incident Review about the August 18, 2021, shooting that occurred when the San Bernardino Police Department’s SWAT Team attempted to arrest a suspect who had ambushed and attempted to murder a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy the day before. When the team performed a vehicle takedown the suspect immediately opened fire on the team with a 10mm handgun, striking Jordan in both forearms, his shoulder, his fe...
Jun 28, 2023•52 min•Ep. 21
On August 18, 2021, the San Bernardino California SWAT Team was assigned to locate and arrest a suspect who had ambushed and attempted to murder a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy the day before. When the team located and attempted a vehicle takedown the suspect immediately opened fire on the team with a 10mm handgun, striking Officer Jordan Robison 8 times and Officer Chris Shipley once. Officer Robison was hit in both forearms, his shoulder, his femur, his stomach below the armor and a t...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 20
Description My guest today is Bob Koonce. Bob is the founder of High Reliability Group, which he created after serving 20 years in the United States Navy. Bob's distinguished naval career included serving on five different nuclear fast attack submarines and culminated with him being given command of the USS Key West, a $2 billion nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine. Following his retirement from the Navy, Bob has worked in a variety of leadership roles, primarily in the energ...
Jun 14, 2023•33 min•Ep. 19
Starting next week The Debrief will be introducing a new series called Battle Proven Leadership (or BPL). In contrast to the long format and wide-ranging interviews of The Debrief, BPL episodes will be shorter and deeply explore a single topic in leadership with a goal of providing specific/actionable information that you can use to improve your leadership skills. My guests will be subject matter experts who operate in high stress environments both inside and outside the tactical community. Rega...
Jun 07, 2023•1 min
My guest today is John Mattingly. John is a retired Sgt. from the Louisville Police Department who led the search warrant service at the home of Breonna Taylor on March 13, 2020 and was shot in the leg by her boyfriend Kenneth Walker before returning fire along with another officer resulting in the death of Ms. Taylor. This event, of course, became a huge catalytic event for protests, riots, lawsuits, death threats against the officers and, tragically, the shooting of two more officers in respon...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 18
My guests today are Thor Eells and Don Kester from the National Tactical Officers Association or NTOA which is the largest tactical organization in the United States. Thor is a retired commander from the Colorado Springs Colorado Police Department where he served for 30 years. The majority of which was in tactical response including serving as a swat operator, a swat team leader and a team commander. Thor is currently the Executive Director for NTOA after serving many years as a board member and...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 17
Description This is a very special joint episode between the CATO Podcast and the Debrief hosted by CATO President Brent Stratton and Jon Becker. Our guest today is Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee. MSgt Plumlee received the Medal of Honor for his actions on August 28, 2013 in Afghanistan. We were extremely lucky to sit down with MSgt Plumlee after he spoke at the CATO Conference this year. In this episode we will hear the story of his amazing actions that day, talk about ...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 16
My guest today is a legend in the US tactical community Chief Phil Hansen. Phil recently retired after serving as the Chief of Police for the Santa Maria California Police Department. But prior to Santa Maria Phil retired as a Captain from the Los Angeles Country Sherriff’s Department where he served for 36 years. During his tenure at LASD he spent more than 24 years in full time tactical and emergency management positions, including nearly 20 years at the elite Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB)....
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 15
Description On November 13, 2015, Paris experienced a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks. These attacks took place over three separate areas of the city and were carried out by multiple teams of attackers. Almost four hours after they began the events ended with a dramatic and successful hostage rescue that will be the topic for today’s discussion. This episode of the debrief will have a slightly different format. My guest today is an active member of France’s elite Brigade for Res...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 14
Description Kevin Cyr is an Inspector with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is the current commander of the RCMP Emergency Response Team in British Columbia, which is the second largest tactical unit in Canada. Kevin has been with the RCMP for 22 years and has been with the team for 7 years. He has a master’s in law from Osgoode Hall Law School and is published internationally in law and criminology journals. He also teaches incident command at the Canadian Police College. Timestamps 1:00 -...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 13
Description My guest today Is Buddy Brown. Buddy works for the York County Sherriff’s Office in South Carolina. Buddy has worked patrol, narcotics and training and spent more than 18 years on the York County regional SWAT team. On January 16, 2018, York County responded to a domestic violence call that led a suspect on the run in the woods behind a residential area. By the time the night was over Det. Mike Doty would be murdered by the suspect and three other members of the agency would be shot ...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 12
Description My guest today is Kris Allshouse. Kris is the Executive Director of The Regional Training Center (formerly LA County Regional Training Center), a nonprofit organization that provides advanced training to Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement and other first responders as well as military units and international agencies. Kris is a former tactical operator for a large Southern California agency with extensive operational experience. Under his guidance, RTC/LACRTC has emerged as one...
Oct 12, 2022•37 min•Ep. 11
Description My guest today is Dana Vilander. Dana spent 32 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with 26 of those years spent with the elite Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB). In his time at SEB, Dana worked as a K-9, a SWAT operator, and spent 18 years as a tactical paramedic, diver, crew chief, and hoist operator with the Emergency Services Detail. Because of his extensive and unique experience, Dana has taught TEMS/TCCC/tactical medicine, vertical access, ropes, and rural oper...
Sep 28, 2022•56 min•Ep. 10
Description My guest today is Chief John Perez. John recently retired as the Chief of Police for the Pasadena California Police Department. In his nearly 37 years of service to Pasadena, John served at literally all ranks in the department. During his career, John worked patrol, narcotics, counter-terrorism, and as a SWAT sergeant, lieutenant, and commander, John helped to form the first generation of Pasadena’s tactical team which had the challenge of deploying as a full-time gang enforcement t...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 9
Description My Guests Today are the creators of the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) Decision Making Exercise Program (DME), Capt. Toby Darby and Lt. Josh Wofford. Toby is a 27-year veteran of law enforcement with 20 years spent in tactical units. Toby is a Board Member for the California Association of Tactical Officers and one of the facilitators of the CATO Strategic Leadership Program (SLP). Lt. Josh Wofford is an 18-year veteran of law enforcement and current SWAT team lea...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 8
