The first major piece of legislation for the new Trump Administration has passed, and it's been dubbed "The Big Beautiful Bill" by many. For me, I think it's more cheeky to simply refer to it as the "T Triple B" for reasons only a few of you will understand (but shouldn't). In this bill, which numbers somewhere between 1,000 and 1,1000 pages approximately, are a number of very impactful changes to the country. Chief among those is the removal of the unconstitutional two hundred dollar tax attach...
Jul 09, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 317
We're officially kicking off the second half of 2025 with the July SITREP! It's Fourth of July weekend, and with that, comes obviously the fantastic celebration by all Americans (mostly) of our fight as armed and well regulated civilians fighting for independence and to defeat tyranny. Now, in the last several decades, that notion does seem to have faded a bit over time, but it's an ideal that is uniquely American, and one that holds more value than many realize. I do my best to articulate my ow...
Jul 06, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 316
A discussion many of you have asked for, I finally had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin, of Custom Night Vision fame, and cut it up. While our time together was shorter than I would have liked, we were able to dig in to a whole lot. From hearing the story of how Custom came to be what we know it to be today, to discussing the mindless postings and arguments on reddit, and beyond. Kevin has always been someone who's willing to share with folks his own thoughts and opinions, and has been a r...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Season 4Ep. 315
In a carry on discussion from Episode 313, JT and I sit down to get his perspectives and opinions on the question at hand. What really, if anything, is the difference between teaching, and sharing knowledge? Right off the rip we dive in, talking about the relevance of prior service, both in the Military and Law Enforcement, as well as what the expectations for maintaining that relevance could be, within the context of this question. This brings up a lot of points, including the passive and activ...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 55 min•Season 4Ep. 314
We have some very strict, and oddly defined "rules" within our community around who is allowed to "teach" a skill, and even further, what skills they're "allowed" to instruct. However, in the scope of simply sharing what one has learned, regardless of who you are and what you've done, that's deemed as acceptable. In the context of this conversation, it does appear that to most folks, the line of delineation between these two concepts, is financial compensation. My thought behind this is, that th...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 313
Drones. They've become a fascinating and popular topic as more and more battlefield video leaks out of the conflict in Ukraine. Over the past several years, this has taken a strong interest in the community, and helped it grow exponentially. To get a perspective on what we're seeing not only on the military front, but the civilian space as well, I'm sitting down in this episode with Rob from Constellation Response. We had a great conversation, and touched on everything from unconventional applic...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Season 4Ep. 312
This community, our way of life, the goals and missions we have for ourselves, can be all consuming. So many of us define our entire personality and daily life around training, and developing our skills. However, there's a huge miss in the one-dimensional nature of this over-dedication. It can lead to rifts, it can trigger failures in relationships, and cause waves of adverse impacts all around you. In this weeks discussion, I share my thoughts, insights, and personal experiences around this all...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 311
Hard to believe that June is already here, and summer is in full swing. But with the new month, comes a new SITREP. There's only a couple topics in this edition, but both I think are very impactful to those of us in the Second Amendment community. We have some community developments to discuss, involving one of the most influential brands and individuals of the last decade or so, and some changes that might see a different community in the coming months, and maybe even years. Additionally, there...
Jun 01, 2025•52 min•Season 4Ep. 310
Night vision for years was considered to be one of, if not the greatest, capabilities that the modern American warfighter had at their disposal. Having the tool however, is only part of the discussion. To dive further into this, I'm joined once again by Rick Hogg of War Hogg Tactical, to talk about Operating behind the tubes. While there's certainly been leaps and bounds of technical development over the past two to three decades, in the end, the experience of the user consistently comes through...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 4Ep. 309
Fresh out of the two day CQB Fundamentals course here in Michigan, I share my debrief on the class, what I learned, what I liked, and why it's all so important. As civilians, we're constantly told and reinforced that we can't or shouldn't learn skillsets like structure clearance, or CQB. Either we'll never use it, other than as a singleton, or that knowledge in the hands of "folks like us" is a unnecessary danger to law enforcement. Ironically, whenever we're told we can't or shouldn't have thin...
May 21, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 308
Joe Dawson is the owner/founder of Bruiser Industries, and a former Navy SEAL who has made it his life's work to teach and mentor others. Going back even to his time prior to serving in the Navy, from a young age, Joe had a interesting in counseling and helping others learned. Progressing through his military career, additional opportunities for instructing and educating others helped bring about what we all know today, as Bruiser Industries. Joe and I talked about the principles to teaching. No...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 50 min•Season 4Ep. 307
Perception. The state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses. In 2025, this often means, believing what you see and hear. Regardless of accuracy and fact, we as a society build "our truth" off of our perceptions. For those of us trying to build support, to correct misinformation, about our 2A community, it means fighting the colossal battle against public perception. As the adage goes, perception is reality. Whether things heard in the news or seen on social media ...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 306
Spring is here, and it's time for the May SITREP. This time, I actually have some PMP news to share, with the upcoming structure clearance course with Orion Training Group, here in Michigan, as well a teaching opportunity for me. Additionally, I dive into the news of the recent raid in Colorado Springs that resulted in the arrests of a hundred illegal immigrants with ties to various known criminal and terrorist organizations. As the reality of this problem continues to set in, we as prepared ind...
May 04, 2025•45 min•Season 4Ep. 305
Community First Project is a unique effort, created and headed by Andrew Sullivan. A former Navy SEAL, Sully brings almost two decades of military experiences and lessons with him as he carries out his mission to better train and enable law enforcement around the country. However, this isn't your average training company. C1P is actually a non-profit organization, fueled through fundraisers and grant funds, to bring training and knowledge to departments and agencies that couldn't otherwise affor...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 304
In the greater pursuit of personal capability and skill, many of us get distracted by the bright, shiny new things that are constantly dangled in front of us. Our community, or more properly identified, industry, has a vast array of solutions available for any of the challenges we may face, regardless of our path of life. While this is a tremendous advantage, it also becomes the downfall of many. In the grand scheme, your ability to problem solve, the strength of your skill sets is what really c...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 303
Hunter Freeland is a former National Guardsmen, Contractor, and Law Enforcement Officer. He's also the owner of Hunter Freeland Shooting, and is regarded by many as one of the top firearms instructors in the country. We spend our time talking about the reality and relevancy of performance based shooting, and separate out some of the community propaganda that promotes a dichotomy between competition and tactical applications. Additionally, we really spend time talking about the mindset and attitu...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 48 min•Season 4Ep. 302
As we charge past our 300th discussion, it's time for another SITREP. As a community, we have to work harder than ever it seems, to stretch our dollars to make every purchase count, and put ourselves, and our families in the best positions we can. With some of the recent events, and decisions made by our current administration, we could potentially see some much needed relief on the horizon. To provide context, I dive into some of the recent news revolving around the DOGE effort, and yes, I get ...
Apr 13, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 301
As another benchmark passes, I feel it important to take a look at what's led to some successes and how the future will look. The mission here has always been to share information, and provide a common learning experience. As a concerned citizen and prepared civilian, this journey has been one of tremendous trial, and outstanding reward. To me, it's important to occasionally, stop and reflect on things. In this very important episode, I share a lot about the past, as well as the future, and what...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 300
Making better information, more consistently accessible is a huge hurdle in the training community. What's even more difficult, is having a space to practice that information, and the associated skillsets. Checkmate Group in Texas has brought a unique spin to the effort, but building their own facility, and granting access to their students to continue their training and growth. Forrest Dohrmann, one of the owners is a dedicated civilian, like many of us, and has invested in his own personal pre...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 3Ep. 299
Night Vision is one of the most popular ways for those invested in their personal capability, to "level up" by simply adding a device to their gear. As civilians, this is even more true, as while it's more accessible now, perhaps more than at any other time in history, it is still very expensive and out of reach for many. To dive into the reality that many of us face in affording such tools, I sit back down with Duncan Greene. Duncan and I have gotten into a pair of previous discussions on the N...
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 3Ep. 298
Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. We can simultaneously have a burning desire to improve ourselves and develop greater individual capability, while being the single greatest blocker on our own road to achievement. All of us, regardless of skill, regardless of experience, will find ourselves in a rut. Finding ways out of those slumps, persevering and overcoming those challenges, can be somewhat difficult as they often manifest themselves in abstract ways. In this episode, I dive in and sh...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 297
Precision shooting has become a recent interest of mine, and as I get deeper and deeper into the subject matter, I'm realizing that while it's the same as all other shooting, it's also very different. More so in the precision application than most others, your rifle's makeup and construction can have tremendous impact on your relative level of success. So, to truly dissect this issue, I've invited J.T. back to sit down and talk about what a good blaster should or shouldn't include. The internet ...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Season 3Ep. 296
Rick Hogg is a 29 year Army Veteran, having spent most of that time in Special Operations. Since leaving our military, Rick has dedicated himself to sharing the lessons he learned, with those seeking to improve themselves. As owner of War Hogg Tactical, Rick has platform he's able to use to train both Law Enforcement and Civilians alike, who desire a higher level of personal capability, and accountability. In our conversation with Rick, we deep dive into training approach, mindset, and address m...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 3Ep. 295
March is upon us, the weather is warming up, and we have a new Director of the FBI. With all of this, and even more going on, it's obviously time for another SITREP to bring current events and awesome opinions to all of you. In this iteration, we of course take time to talk about Director Patel being confirmed as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and also as the acting Director of the ATF. Both of these carry significant importance and impact, and we take time to talk ab...
Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 294
Artificial Limitations. False Confidence. Self Imposed Barriers. These are all issues that plague many of us in the preparedness community, and too often they can be easily traced back to the quality of our mindset, and the caliber of our individual training. Being more adaptive, or perhaps even simply willing to adapt, can have exponential impacts on our individual growth and development. In this episode, I dive into the idea of moving beyond the fundamentals, past the basics, and talk about ho...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 293
Garrett Neel is one of the founders and co-owners of RAS Training Group. In addition to RAS, Garrett also has a decade of experience in Law Enforcement, which is oddly, where his inspiration for higher standards and execution came from. Having a realization that his own qualifications for work didn't meet the imagined expectations he had for himself, Garrett has since dedicated himself to become not only a better, more proficient shooter, but a stronger teacher. We were able to get in to several...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 59 min•Season 3Ep. 292
Its been years since I sat down and re-hashed the significance and execution behind building, and training with, a carbine. As the most common platform of the day, its critical that we as prepared citizens know not only to set up a proper blaster for our own success, whatever that may be, but more importantly, how to use it. Everyone's needs and use cases will likely be different, but there are some omnipresent similarities, and fundamental concepts behind this that I dig back in to, and bring b...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 291
It's Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm back already, with an impromptu SITREP to discuss some vitally important news around President Trump's most recent Executive Order. Just a couple days ago, on February 7th, 2025, President Trump issued potentially one of his most impactful orders to date, and what you potentially lead to the largest 2A victory since the very inception of the Second Amendment itself. The order, issued directly to the Attorney General, is essentially to launch an exploratory effort ...
Feb 09, 2025•54 min•Season 3Ep. 290
This week, I get an opportunity to sit down and talk with someone who's own journey closely parallel's my own, coming from a musical background, being now, immersed in the training community. Cam Perry is the bass guitarist for the band Attack Attack, and has become an avid shooter, training and growing his own capability. Sharing a lot of common experiences in our background, we were able to talk about the similarities we've each been able to find in our individual practice and development musi...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 3Ep. 289
As we roll into February, we have our latest SITREP for you, and no shortage of interesting news and on goings to discuss. From a somewhat humorous Bill being introduced to add Trump to the Mt. Rushmore monument, to the equally laughable idea of granting a third Presidential term, there's a lot to talk about. The big item in this months report though, comes from a very recent interview with Erik Prince, formerly of Blackwater. As the Trump administration has recently declared Mexican Cartel orga...
Feb 02, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 288
