15 Minutes Prior

Mikael cook spent 5 years in the Army reserves after enlisting at 27 years old.  We talk about his path to Afghanistan and what it was like as an engineer in country.  After he returned home, and the withdrawal of Afghanistan happened, Mikael did what he could to help those he knew and others get out of the country.  Working with what was known as "Digital Dunkirk" to navigate the papers and processes for those Afghans that helped us through the war and get our allies out.  We discussed the tribalism and how the Taliban takeover has impacted those who still remain behind.  For those of us who spent any time there, we acknowledge the connection we all have to this area and its people, and how this withdrawal has impacted us as well.  Mikael has a book talking about getting these people out called "Life And Death At Abbey Gate".  he also has a podcast called "The Afghanistan Project Podcast"

IC2 Mike "Snake Wake" Weiler was in the Navy from 89-94 where he did Interior Communication aboard submarines.  Mike talks about the day to day life aboard a ship as well as how he got his rate and becoming Submarine Warfare qualified earning his dolphins.  Mike explains the many positions within a sub and some details of multiple ways they surface, including breaking through ice in the Arctic and getting his "Blue Nose". After his departure from the Navy Mike also spent 2 years in the PA Guard.  

SGT Chris Naganuma was Infantryman in the Army from 2003-2008. In 2004 he deployed to Mosul Iraq in Strykers.  Chris talks about a few events during this deployment that stood out to him.  After the deployment he had an injury that eventually led to him getting out.  After getting out he learned to run and operate his business, S3F solutions, and worked with Napalm Cannabis.  Chris currently works on running the Project Leaflet page covering the war in Ukraine.  He's also helped with gear acquisition and spent 3 weeks in country conducting interviews and covering the war.  We got to talk about the use of drones and how effective they've become in the fight against the Russians.  

Matthew "Whiz" Buckley was an F/A-18 fighter pilot in the US Navy.  After getting commissioned in the early 90's he spent his time on aircraft carriers in support of Operation Southern Watch as well as Operation Noble Eagle. He discusses places he's traveled to as well as discussing what it was like to be an adversary pilot at the Top Gun school.  While on ship and not flying, he spent his time as a Landing Signal Officer. After getting out he started a career in trading and consulting and wrote a book "From Sea Level to C Level".  We touch on some recent events with the balloon situation as well as Ukraine.  He started the "No Fallen Heros Foundation" to help give vets and first responders an alternative to help with mental health.  We get into this quite a bit as it's not a standard option readily available to us here. There are options coming forth which he talks about as well.  He is very open about the Medicines used and the benefits of psychedelics in these treatments.  Visit the website for more information https://nofallenheroesfoundation.org/

Our guest is Chris Bentley who enlisted in the Marines in 1999 and got out in 2013.  His MOS was 0431- Logistics/Embarkation Specialist. Throughout his enlistment he went on 6 total deployments and spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as time aboard ship.   Gunny talks about the places he got to travel to and explains a bit of what his responsibilities were.  He talks about one of his deployments of being on an embedded Afghan training team and his experience with that.  After getting out he started a company called Bellatorum Resources, which he talks about the success of and the ultimate shut down.  He is currently awaiting sentencing in a fraud case in relation to the company.   Chris has a book called "Burning Bellatorum" which talks about this at length

Steve joined the Army in 1973 and managed to get assigned to the White House Communications Agency in DC.  We talk a good bit about getting into a job most people don't know about and what that entails and how it helped lead to more opportunities he got along the way.  After getting out he applied and got into the Secret Service and goes into what was involved with getting in and some stories of traveling around.   Steve Has also worked in the contracting industry and we talk a bit about how volatile that world can be.  He also spent time in the Guard and getting to do counter drug missions.  Steve is currently writing; his book Shadow Tier is available.

Josh Abuzaid is currently a SFC in the Army and nearing retirement but started his career in the Marines in 2005. Working in Legal on Camp Smith in Hawaii until 2009, he then got out and went right into the Army where he works in corrections and detention.  He worked in Leavenworth for 2 years, spent some time in Germany and Afghanistan. He also spent time as a Drill Sargeant and talks about what it's like to mold and train civilian kids into soldiers and the toll a career can take on relationships.  Josh goes into detail about his deployment to Asadabad Afghanistan where he got his purple heart. He gets into some deep detail about the mentality of a tough deployment and being wounded, and the realities of what comes with those experiences, and the mental aspect of people wishing their deployments were different or wanting these tough deployments without knowing what that means and what comes with it.

Elegance Bratton was in the Marines from 2005-2010. leading up to his enlistment he was homeless at the age of 16 for about 10 years after being kicked out of his home for being gay. We talk about struggles and what led him to the Corps. He explains getting to Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii, getting to travel to Thailand and Korea, and connecting to other cultures through his camera.  After his time in Hawaii he went to New York as part of guard duty. After getting out, he applied and got accepted into Columbia University and after graduating from there he got into Tisch grad film at NYU.  during his school days and leading into after, he began working on films and worked on a show for Viceland called "my house". He then made a documentary called "Pier kids" and is currently awaiting the release of his film "the inspection" that he wrote and directed based on his life experiences."Greatest lessons to be learned in life, are learned through self-sacrifice"

Born in 1942, David Peters started his Air Force career flying F-4's doing 3 tours in Vietnam in '67, '68, and '69.  Afterwords, he instructed on the T-38 and in 1974 he found his way into the SR-71 program whereby 1977 he found himself in Japan flying missions over the Korean DMZ and the Chinese coast.  Dave talks about the cold war mentality and the main mission of a jet that flies at 85,000 feet at Mach 3+.  Dave talks about a few mission stories and being able to see the curvature of the earth as well as some technical stuff about the aircraft.  He retired in 1986 and went on to fly for American Airlines

Brittany spent her time in the CIA as a targeting Officer from 2005-2014. she goes over how she got into the agency and what a Targeting Officer does. She explains how working alongside the military works and other facets of the job as well. I wanted to reach out and have her on, because of the scale of the wars, and the reach it had amongst govt entities, to see what a different perspective was and how we all worked together to achieve the mission goal.We get into the role and importance of women in the agency, and what that was like when overseas and talking to sources of another culture. Which leads to her talking about how important it is to be prepared and how that set her up for success.  We also talk a bit about the fall of Afghanistan and what that means as a whole for young girls and women who are still there, as well as the Zawahiri strike and what that means.Shes written a book, The Syndicate Spy, so check that out as it releases soon