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Click the buttons below to access the episode on ITunes, or Soundcloud. Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.
GRP 65-On for this week's podcast is Tim Kolczak of the Veterans Project and G from Zulu Foxtrot. Tim is an Army veteran, and G is a Marine Corps veteran. Both have trips to Iraq. G was in Fallujah, and Ramadi during the worst of the fighting there and he shares a story from his time in the country. We discuss the transitional process and the struggle that G experienced once he separated from the Marine Corps. We discuss what it takes to be successful as a veteran coming out of the military, and as a civilian. G talking about his struggles is very powerful and I suggest you guys check this episode out. Below is an excerpt:
John: You have two trips into Iraq during some of the heaviest fightings. Can you share a story of your experiences over seas?
G Zulu Foxtrot: We were in Ramadi. It was the deadliest city in the world at that point. The enemy was not afraid to show themselves. We had a couple of blocks that belonged to us. It was our green zone. The minute you ventured out the entire city came down on you. We went out with our platoon. During those days you have to literally run from one spot to the other. The minute you stopped you were taking fire. We get to the Ramadi hospital. Anyone who's been there has fond memories of that. There's a huge open parking lot. We spread out because we don't want to take fire and lose four guys in one shot.
I'm not going to mention any names because he was that asshole dude. We had a new guy it was his first deployment. I looked out the corner of my eye and I saw dust lift off his flak jacket and the kid just dropped. He's yelling "I'm hit, I'm hit". We all dove for cover. We're trying to figure out what happened. We think it's a sniper. My SGT is like" go get em" and I'm like "fuck you, you go get em, dude". What happened was this Iraqi kid threw a rock at him from a window.
G-Zulu Foxtrot:
Facebook-Zero Foxtrot
Instagram-ZuluFucxs
Tim Kolczak:
Social Media: The Veterans Project
Music provided by Caspian:
Intro audio: Inky Johnson
Ending audio: Bruce Lee
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GRP 64- First and foremost I want to send out my condolences to the family, friends, and teammates of Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill. Owens died after he was wounded during a nighttime raid on an al-Qaeda-held village in southwestern Yemen on Saturday. He was a U.S. Navy SEAL who served with distinction for over 15 years.
This episode was co-hosted by Chantel Taylor. Back on for this episode is my friend Tu Lam from Ronin Tactics. Because of the experiences of Chantel, and Tu I thought it would be a good idea to discuss Africa. We discuss the difficulties of the natural terrain, of the animals that inhabit Africa. We talked transnational terrorism and groups that rotate between Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia. Africa is a complex region. Tu spends several years in Africa fighting in Libya, and several other areas that are considered terror hotbeds. Bot he and Chantel share several stories of their time in the service. Below is an excerpt.
John: The Sudan was a safe haven for Osama Bin Laden prior to 2001. There's a whole bunch of training camps with different groups like Boko Haram. Look at the Philippine’s where the terrorist would filter into the country, get some training and filter back into the middle east and conduct operations there. Now with the rise of ISIS, a lot of these groups in Africa are pledging allegiance to them which can cause problems down the line.
Tu Lam: What I see John is the majority of these future terrorists they don't have an out, man. You have to put yourself in their shoes. I could be the guy who goes in and hates the enemy and drops a 500 lb JDAM(bomb) or goes out and do direct action missions but I see the bigger picture. These are the guys that when they're 8 years old these rebel forces go into their villages hand you an AK, and say gun down your mom and dad then hack your sister up with a machete, or we'll hack you up with a machete. Just like the Philippine’s, Abu Sayyaf. They don't have an out, man.
Chantel Taylor:
https://www.amazon.com/Battleworn-Memoir-Combat-Medic-Afghanistan/dp/1491725281
Facebook: Battleworn
Instagram: Mission_Critical
Tu Lam:
Social Media: RoninTactics
Introduction words by Bruce Lee
Music provided by Caspian:
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GRP 63-On for this week's podcast are U.S. Marines John Brown, the President of the Recon and Sniper Foundation, and Lt. Colonel Drew Ralston, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Battalion. We talked about the Recon and Sniper Foundations event at Shot Show in Las Vegas a few days ago which was a huge success, as well as the role and mission of the Foundation. We talk about leadership, what it takes for young Marines to become Reconnaissance Marines in dealing with and overcoming hardships and adversity.
Very shortly the Global Recon's veteran team of writers will begin to release articles with topics to include transnational terrorism, geopolitics, veteran-related issues, military history, and tactical medicine. Our writers are very smart, and accomplished individuals with a lot to offer. We will announce start the article publishing early February. Below is an excerpt from the podcast.
John: You guys met and worked together under some unique circumstances. Can you guys talk about that?
Lt. Colonel Ralston: As a reserve Commander my unit is over in Mobile Alabama, but I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In August of last year, we suffered some of the worst flooding’s on record in this area. Within about 48 hours a group of gentlemen from the Recon and Sniper Foundation had mobilized and got guys down here to help with getting myself and a number of other Reconnaissance Marines back on our feet. There's another reserve unit here in Baton Rouge that was affected by the flood and we got to work. We found retired Marines who needed help. A gentleman who was a Korean War Vet was at the Chosin Reservoir with Chesty Puller had his house decimated by the flood we did a lot of work to get him back on his feet.
We ended up helping the first responders who were out not fixing their homes, but out on the street helping civilians. One of the most rewarded moments for me was one of my former Marines his parent's house was destroyed. We spent 3 days at their house alone. At some point, this Marine's mother looks at her husband and says "You know baby it's going to be ok, the Marines are here.''
John Brown:
http://www.reconsniperfoundation.org
Social Media: ReconSniperFoundation
Introduction speech was by Colin Powell.
Music provided by Caspian:
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GRP 62- Back on for this week's podcast is my good friend retired British Army Combat Medic Chantel Taylor. We discuss the process of becoming a Combat Medic in the British Army, as well as discuss some of her experience's as an Army Medic, and as a Medic working as a contractor in several conflict zones post military.
The second conversation I had is with a former U.S. Navy Corpsman named Cris, who spent the duration of his career attached to the U.S. Marine Corps for multiple combat rotations into Afghanistan. Chris shares a story of a mass casualty event in which he was leading the quick reaction force into a potentially dangerous situation. Cris has since retired from the Navy and is now working with an incredible organization called the Global Surgical Medical Support Group (GSMSG). The GSMSG is an organization that provides medical training and treats soldiers fighting ISIS in Northern Iraq, and elsewhere. They have surgeons, doctors, and military medics working around the clock to train the Kurdish Peshmerga medics, as well as performing surgery on Peshmerga soldiers, and Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF). GSMSG is now recruiting SOF Medics for a trip into Syria. If you’re interested, apply on their website http://www.gsmsg.org
Below is an excerpt.
John: Can you share a story of a time you treated a casualty in combat?
Cris: My second deployment to Afghanistan we were supporting the Afghan’s as they took the lead in the fighting over there. We had a lot of mass casualty events. A couple of their vehicles struck an IED and we were the quick reaction force. I was with three other Marines. They could all do the basic interventions to help save lives. Putting on tourniquets, occlusive dressings, needle decompressions. There were 20 casualties total. When we got there the scene was total chaos. We started triaging. Who's alive? who needs care right now? we got everything from a triple amputee to minor burns. Having all my Marines trained to the standard that they could all perform casualty care efficiently was great. Each of us had four casualties. We were able to get them medevac'd and taken to a higher level of care.
Global Surgical Medical Support Group:
Facebook: Global Surgical Medical Support Group
Instagram:Global_Surgical_Medical_Support_Group
Chantel Taylor:
Facebook: Battleworn
Instagram: Mission_Critical