Hard to believe it's already been three months (and then some) since I first sat down with Jake, but he's back, and we're picking up where we left off. Since the first conversation we had together, Jake has migrated to a new role with Herrington Arms working in sales, marketing, and even helping in customer service. Beyond that, in his role in law enforcement, Jake is currently going through the state approved instructor course for Ohio, to allow him to teach and qualify other officers. Througho...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 287
It's 2025, and after reviewing the way the year started, as well as obviously some of the lingering fears and concerns we've all formed over the past two to four years, it's well worth the time to re-evaluate ourselves. As prepared citizens, we're only as good as our level of training. We will inevitably fall back to our lowest level of individual preparation. How do we define that though? What does it look like to you? Further, how do we know, if we know enough to fairly and accurately make tha...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 3Ep. 286
Inauguration Day is here, and with it, we hope a sweeping wave of changes for the better to the United States. While politics, regardless of country, can be confusing and frustrating to say the very least, they are the driver behind so many of the key impacts to daily life. As this change holds the potential, as well as the hope for so many of us, I felt it only appropriate to share my thoughts and my feelings on what we may expect to see as the nation transitions from one President to the next....
Jan 19, 2025•56 min•Season 3Ep. 285
Carrying on from last weeks discussion I take away several of the points the Joe was able to make, and much of the information he provided. In the moment, when we may find ourselves in the midst of one of these "events", we truly do have to be our own first responder, and rely solely on ourselves to get through that experience. There's many misconceptions and outright poor habits that align us for failure, both as prepared individuals and as a society. I compare the New Orleans attack and skills...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 284
Joe Fasanella returns, to sit down with me and tackle a subject that I've wanted to explore for a few months now. Terrorism. Specifically, Terrorism and it's impacts on you and I as Americans, along with how it affects our day to day lives. In the wake of the shocking attack on New Years Eve in New Orleans, this topic and its many concerns, are once again at the forefront of many minds. Having spent two decades in multiple capacities fighting terror, Joe is able to share a lot of insight around ...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 56 min•Season 3Ep. 283
The year 2025 has arrived, and with it, so too comes our January SITREP discussion. Unfortunately, there is sour news to dig in to, as a terror attack has rocked the heart of New Orleans on Bourbon street. We bring this forward for discussion, as it is a sobering reminder that even though we in the continental United States enjoy a relative amount of safety and security in our day-to-day lives, there is a constant threat that exists amongst us. The more information that we all have, the better p...
Jan 05, 2025•51 min•Season 3Ep. 282
The year 2024 is rolling to a close, and there's been a lot that's happened in these past twelve months. Josh and I sit down to talk through the calendar, and give a summary of this calendars events, as well as some behind the scenes details and stories. We, as a team, have been fortunate to experience some fantastic growth and learn some truly valuable lessons. From different training opportunities, to community experiences and deepening relationships, there's a lot to get into, and much to be ...
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 44 min•Season 3Ep. 281
As we all have our unique differences, we do all certainly have struggles that we face day in and day out. In addition to striving to improve ourselves on the flat range, in the shoot house, in the field, often the more pressing and daunting of battles is the one we all fight internally. Constantly working on yourself, and finding ways to progress further down the road of righteousness, being a better man, is the effort we should all undertake. In this community, we find ourselves surrounded by ...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 280
If you've been hanging around the Night Vision scene the past five or so years, you know the name Low Light Innovations. Over the past few years they've brought forward a small handful of unique market offerings, to provide consumers with night vision housings that meet their various needs and demands. In this weeks episode, I sit down with Claude, one of the owners of LLI, and dig into the history of the company and the development that has brought them to where they are today. We spent time ta...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 45 min•Season 3Ep. 279
It's been less than ninety days since Hurricane Helene decimated the Southeastern United States. The aftermath, is no longer in the headlines, but is very much still a day to day effort for so many impacted and left without support. As a community, many of us rallied together to support those in their great need, even at times from many states away. Folks like Tyler, my guest this week, made the trek into western North Carolina to contribute to the relief efforts, in any way he could. He shares ...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 278
Josh Nelson is the owner of Force Frontier, a tactical training company in southern Ohio, and also a veteran law enforcement officer, as well as SWAT team member. Josh joins me as we sit down and get into a rather philosophical conversation around the importance not only of training, but quality training, and effective learning. We discuss ideas like balance, communication, preparation, and how impactful they all can be when planning a training day or a open enrollment course. Additionally, we p...
Dec 04, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Season 3Ep. 277
December is here, the final month of 2024, and with the start of a new sheet on the calendar, so too comes another SITREP. As we exit election season, and roll into the holidays, there's plenty to talk about. Thanksgiving has obviously come and gone, and interestingly enough, this year it brought some protests at the annual Macys parade, followed by a day of large protests in major cities. I dive into the motive behind these, why black Friday of 2024 was actually not randomly chosen as a day of ...
Dec 01, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 276
After better than two years, I sit down with Jared Arceneaux of Orion Training Group, and catch up on the growth behind OTG. Now, having had the opportunity to be taught by Jared in multiple classes, I have a much better understanding of so much of what I had questions about in our original sit down. Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed my experiences learning from Jared and have been looking forward to being able to catch up and hear about the growth that Orion has experienced over the past two ...
Nov 27, 2024•2 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 275
Had some early audio issues in the first few minutes of the interview this week, but worked through it. If you've been running NODs for any amount of time, you know how essential having a good laser module is to being effective. As civilians though, we've been restricted to lower power devices, that make our capability and overall experience, less than desirable. Over the past few years however, we've seen the emergence and popularization of VSCEL technology on devices, that allow normal folks t...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 274
Many of us, find ourselves making turns in our journey, that bring us to places we didn't ever think we would end up. This is exactly the case for Jeremiah August, the owner and founder of Teardown Systems. In 2020, when the world shut down for all of us, he decided to take a chance combining a childhood passion for sewing, and drive to be a more prepared, and more capable individual, and launch a nylon company, Teardown Systems. This discussion takes us into research and development work, time ...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 273
Personal Security, Personal Protection, Executive Protection, we hear these terms used almost completely interchangeably, and all generally referring to the role of a bodyguard. For better or for worse, it's something we see overly glamourized by Hollywood and media, In reality however, this is a real job, a real career path, and it involves a lot of training, and a unique mindset. Jonah Norman returns, and is kind enough to sit down with me, as we tackle this subject for the first time on the p...
Nov 06, 2024•1 hr 52 min•Season 3Ep. 272
As we are running out of days before the 2024 Presidential Election, we have arrived at our November SITREP. It seems like this has been all we've been able to talk about for the last few months, and there have been some very serious events that have led us all to arrive at this point. Given the almost certain impacts the outcome of the polling carries with it, I find it extremely important to review some key parts of the last three and a half years, as well as talk about some of my feelings and...
Nov 03, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 271
Jake Hocevar is a former 12B in the Army National Guard, works as a part-time LEO, and also is one of the cadre at Defender Series Training Group while running his own endeavor, Redline Consulting. More specifically, Jake is a firearms trainer, who has a passion for learning, as well as teaching. While continuing to teach, he keeps a ever-present mindset of "staying a student" and striving to learn new and better ways to help train those who seek him out. We sit down for this weeks episode, and ...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 3Ep. 270
Being a contributing member of our community is something I believe many yearn for, but very few ever really attain. I say this, not to indicate that it can't be had by anyone who wants it, but to point out rather than we are typically very closed off when we think of how we can help the larger community around us. As we all have different life experiences, and have taken unique paths to arrive at our individual points in life, we have varying skills we can leverage. Too often we look at pulling...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 269
As the 2024 Presidential Election grows closer, so builds the concerns that many of us have for what may come to pass. We've all now seen and potentially experienced the chaos that can be triggered by politically motivated events across the continental U.S. None of us are eager to put ourselves, or our loved ones through any more of that than is absolutely necessary. To this point, Jon and I sit down and talk about some of the concerns that we have as we near Election Day. There are a variety of...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 3Ep. 268
In this installment, I have the opportunity to sit down with Collin Underdahl, whom some of you may know from his appearances with Dirty Civilian, or his work with Modlite. Collin is also a former Marine. We sit down, and have a very satisfying discussion around cultural misperceptions, self awareness, mental health, education, and a lot more. Many of our conversations on this podcast take us to some fascinating topics around the preparedness community and the online 2A ecosystem. This, however,...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 53 min•Season 3Ep. 267
We roll into October, and there world is spinning. We're a day away from the anniversary of the October 7th massacre, Hurricane Helene has decimated the Southeastern United State, specifically in North Carolina, and we have our election approaching in just four weeks time. There's so much going on, inside and outside of our country and oddly, almost all of it is tied together through strange connections and coincidence. As I break down these current events, I also share my thoughts around some o...
Oct 06, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 266
Hard to believe it's already been eight months since I was able to first sit down with Rob and get to pick his brain on performance pistol shooting. Back in February, we had an outstanding conversation about training, competition shooting, and self improvement through self diagnosis and dedicated practice. Fast forward now to October, and here we are once more. We pick right up where we were last time, and get into shot calling, building a good grip and presentation, mental perspective and more....
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 3Ep. 265
Culture can be defined as the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. We, within our unique ecosystem, have a wide array of cultural beliefs and interpretations. Many are good, and all can be embraced, however some do carry negative connotations and hurt our community. In this episode, I talk about the different cultural sects which we can observe both in-person, taking classes, and taking part in community events like the HTA R...
Sep 25, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 264
We made the trek out to Templeton, Pennsylvania, for our second Human Trafficking Awareness Range Day event. If you've been listening for a while, you've no doubt heard us rave about the experiences we had last year, both good and bad. We doubled down on the experience this year and got a AirBnB and added two dudes to our crew. We split ourselves up and took even more individual courses than last year, and have a ton to speak on in this debrief conversation. From Breaching, to pistol grip and vi...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 52 min•Season 3Ep. 263
In the realm of training and preparedness, until relatively recently, civilian has been a dirty word. Many of us have been through a poor experience, where we're talked down to, or treated poorly simply for a lack of service. This ties back to the assumption that no time of service, correlates directly to no time training. That however, in 2024, is simply no longer the case. In this weeks episode I talk about the value of determined, passionate learning and development, and the knowledge and pro...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 262
Randy is back, joining me for another discussion, as we take a more philosophical look at training and self improvement. We talk about the important of defining not just why you're doing the things you're dong, but evaluating what you're doing, and what you're trying to achieve. Throughout the conversation, we talk on some very important ideas, like personal accountability and its importance, the constant battle against confirmation bias, the toxic nature of comparison, and more. Keeping things ...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 261
September is upon us and it is "unofficially" the beginning of fall! As we do every month, I bring you my thoughts and beliefs around key current events, and the potential impacts they carry to you and I. In this installment of the SITREP series, we get into a critical legal decision by a three judge panel in the 5th circuit court, reversing a critical previous ruling that illegal immigrants have rights and protections under our Second Amendment. Not only do we talk about the ruling, but we tie ...
Sep 01, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 260
While we don't talk a lot about homesteading on the pod, it's got to be one of the humbling and valuable endeavors that one can undertake for themselves. To that end, I sit down in this weeks episode with Mark Bonnalie, who runs the Modern Rural Civilian channel, and dive into his journey of moving off the grid. Greater self sustainment is a responsibility taken by less and less folks these days, and it makes Mark's knowledge and story all the more valuable for those of us looking to grow in tho...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Season 3Ep. 259
As hard as it is to believe, its been just over three months since Josh has been on for a conversation, but he's finally back, and we have a lot to catch up on. From a training rotation to the dirty south, to our upcoming trip back to Ben Franklin Range for the annual HTA range day event, we get into what we've been doing both with the podcast, as well as the community, and what we have in store for some of our next steps. The last time we heard from Josh, we had just completed the three day Ori...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Season 3Ep. 258
