GRP 72-Raise The Black|Army Special Forces|ISOF

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GRP 72-Raise The Black. On for this week's podcast are two retired Special Forces Green Berets. Bryan Myers and Loren Schofield both have multiple combat deployments into Afghanistan and Iraq. The Army Special Forces which Bryan and Loren were a part of were responsible for standing up an Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force early on in the war. ISOF (Iraqi Special Operations Forces) has contributed in a tremendous way to the fight against Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and now ISIS. The ICTF (Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force) are a group of battle hardened Iraqi patriots who don't identify themselves as belonging to any particular tribe, or religious sect. They consider themselves Iraqi's and fight for their country. This is important as this region has been embroiled in religious and sectarian violence for many years. 

Raise The Black is a campaign started by Bryan and Loren to give back to the families of fallen ICTF Operators as they have been fighting constantly for over a decade. The ICTF is single handily responsible for stopping the ISIS advance on Baghdad, and they now lead the offensive to rid Iraq of the terrorist group. Here is the link to the Go Fund Me Account where you can contribute. They plan on moving away from the GoFundMe but are using it to kick start the campaign. 

https://www.gofundme.com/raise-the-black

Below is an excerpt from the podcast.

John: You guys spent a lot of time in Sadr city(Iraq) working with the ICTF. Can you share a story with the audience of your time there?

Bryan Meyers: It was a brutal time. It was decided to wall it off with these big tall Texas barriers. They wanted to limit the access to this dangerous area.  You were never going to have issues getting in. It was getting out that was the issue. This one night we went in to hit a target. We got our guy and are heading out. I'm manning a .50 cal on our Stryker at this point. An IED had gone off. I look up and I see the Abrams Tank hauling ass. It becomes apparent very quickly that we're missing a Bradley. We went from urgency to a panic. We call to an Apache Gunship. We're like hey man can you fly over Sadr and check if you see a rogue, Bradley. In the chaos, this Bradley had taken off. Just like a typical male instead of asking for directions they just kept driving. They ended up being as deep as you can get. All I can imagine is all of Sadr's army thinking this has got to be a setup. We were about to have an international incident. We linked up with the Bradley and began our exfil. We had an Abrams tank drive over one of the barriers and decided to exfil that way. The AO commander was pissed.

Raise The Black:
https://www.gofundme.com/raise-the-black

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/24/raise-the-black-former-u-s-special-forces-fundraise-for-the-families-of-fallen-iraqi-comrades/?utm_term=.bbe4af41435c

 
Loren Schofield: @loren_notaseal Instagram
@SpecialForces_INC Instagram
@Lorenkschofield Twitter
@spec_Forces_INC Twitter

Bryan Myers: @the_bearded_bryan Instagram
@thebeardedbryan Twitter

Global Recon:
www.globalrecon.net
IgRecon – Instagram
BlackOpsMatter- Instagram
Mission_Critical – Instagram
IgRecon- Twitter

GRP 71-Derek Carver| Leadership|Meeting the Queen|Terror In London

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GRP 71- Co-hosting for this podcast is Chantel Taylor. We have U.S. Army veteran Derick Carver on the podcast. Derick served as a Captain with the 82nd Airborne division. He was hit by a rocket during an ambush in Afghanistan. We discuss the transition process for him, leadership, and him becoming a better person after losing his left leg. He's an advocate for Medical Marijuana use for veterans. Derick is also the world strongest adaptive athlete.

Earlier today 3 people were killed in a terrorist attack in London. We'd like to send our condolences to the families of the fallen. One police officer was killed, and the attacker was subsequently shot and killed. This is being called the worst attack in over 10 years in the United Kingdom. Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

Derick Carver: I enlisted in 2005, I commissioned in 2007.

Chantel Taylor: Oh you were an officer?

DC: See. Even the British enlisted have that same "Oh well, go fuck yourself, sir" I went to Ranger School. Went to Ft. Bragg with the 82nd Airborne. I was opening a school in Afghanistan in 2010. We were ambushed and I got hit with a 107-millimeter rocket. It blew through my left leg completely into my right leg. I'm missing part of my index finger, my left elbow, and then two of my fingers on my right hand are fused. My left leg is amputated all the way up. Right leg's got like 50 percent soft tissue damage. I have about 300 pieces of shrapnel from my knee to my hip. Its in my arm and face.  Especially since I'm losing some weight it's more noticeable. I'm like ribbed for your pleasure. I've pulled 7.62 rounds out. I've pulled pieces as big as a lighter out. It's crazy the shit that falls out of you when you get hit by a rocket.

Some people say hey you're lucky. There were seven of them and it was daisy chained into a complex ambush. Soldiers died. I got wounded. It was a bad day at work. I told my girlfriend I don't even remember what my left leg looked like.

   Check out our website at www.globalrecon.net

Follow us on Facebook at FB Recon

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Any questions, or comments send an email to podcast@globalrecon.net

Follow Chantel on Instagram @Mission_Critical

Her Facebook is @battleworn

Follow Derick on Instagram @Derick_Carver

Intro speech: Winston Churchill

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 70-Karolyn Smith|Iraq|Combat Wounded

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GRP 70- On for this week's podcast is retired Army veteran, Karolyn Smith. Karolyn was an MP (Military Police) who deployed to Iraq in 2004. She'd lost some of her closest friends in combat and survived several IED explosions while on security patrols. After getting wounded during one of these explosions she got out of the Army and became a security contractor for close to a decade. Karolyn struggled with PTSD, and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) for a long time and was unable to receive the help she needed from the VA. Michael Schiltz a well-known combat wounded Marine told her about a program at UCLA called Operation MEND.

Folks in Liberal Hollywood donate millions of dollars to this top tier program which take care of our warfighters with surgeries paid for, travel cost to California paid for, and continuing care post surgery all paid for and free of charge to the warfighter. Our second article has been published in the newly revamped article section on our website. Written by Gold Star Wife Alexandra McClintock. Alexandra's husband Matthew was killed in action last year in Afghanistan. Matthew is a Green Beret with multiple combat rotations and died protecting his wounded teammate. Alexandra details what it was like to learn of his death as well as some of the struggles she's faced. Here is a link to the article: http://www.globalrecon.net/articles/2017/3/14/hxi6jb8jd1j4m4g6ztc8h94udbp170

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

Karolyn Smith: Iraq was pretty bad. Everything was a daily struggle. IED's, car bombs. September 7th, 2004 my Lieutenant and I were dismounted and a sniper shot him in the face and killed him. He died right next to me. Lieutenant Tim Price with the 127th MP's. He After that you become a different person. As a woman, i had to learn to compartmentalize. April 15th of 2005 a fuel tanker transport needed an MP convoy. A shaped charge was on the back of a light pole. It blew right threw the blast shield of my SAW. I knew that there were things that were wrong, but at that point in time, i just wanted to go back to Germany.

I'm trying to give one veteran something that they can use. We're all closely related because we all served. It's our oath to each other that we have to uphold.  I'm open about how suicidal I was. There was nowhere for me to go. I thought how pissed off would LT be at me if I took that way out. His father, his mother, his brother would kill for him to just be in pain and have a bad day. You don't ever want to disappoint your buddies. You have to take one more step. That's your oath to everyone who didn't come home.

Check out our website at www.globalrecon.net

Follow us on Facebook at FB Recon

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Any questions, or comments send an email to podcast@globalrecon.net

Keep up with Karolyn Smith at http://www.3pawsup.com/

Introduction speech by General Colin Powell

Introduction music provided by Caspian. Song title is Gone in Bloom and Bough.

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 69-The Terrorist Whisperer |Iraqi Military CSM Hamody Jasim| Counter Terrorism

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GRP 69-This episode is co-hosted by Chantel Taylor. We have the honor of having the youngest Command Sergeant Major in Iraqi Military history on the show, Hamody Jasim. CSM Jasim was recruited by U.S. Intelligence after saving an American Military officer who was nearly abducted by al-Qaeda. His intelligence information changed the battle for the Marines in the Fallujah/Ramadi area by taking out one of al-Qaeda’s main operatives. On this episode, he shared several stories of his time in Iraq.

We are proud to announce that our articles section is fully up and running. We have a special group of veteran writers. Our first article went up last night written by my friend retired Australian SAS Major Dr. Dan Pronk. Be sure to check it out at www.globalrecon.net/articles. Sign up to receive email updates where we will keep you up to date with what we have going on, and information on products we will have available in collaboration with Special Operations veterans. Below is an excerpt from the episode.

CSM Hamody Jasim: I was sent on a few missions with the first Iraqi Divisions. I was sent to Bagdad. We went on a mission to recover the bodies of 25 dead Iraqi military recruit’s. The terrorist was coordinating with the Bus driver who had taken them into Haifa Street. They were all executed. I took about 30 of my soldiers. We had pick up trucks to load the bodies up. The terrorist aim was to capture Iraqi soldiers alive and behead them on TV. We drove into Haifa Street. It is normally a very busy street. It was like a ghost town that day. We immediately felt that something was wrong. In 2004 this was probably the most dangerous 2 miles in the world. I told my commander something doesn’t look right about this. The plan was to load the bodies and leave as soon as possible. We were ambushed. They had a sniper up in a tall building for anyone who got out of the initial kill zone. We were there for about an hour and 45 minutes. Our QRF left the Iraqi base to come support us. They immediately hit an IED in Haifa Street.

Most of us ran out of ammo. It took an American unit about an hour to get to us. We had 9 soldiers left by that time. I was shot in the knee. I had a shrapnel would above my right eye. That day will probably be the worst day of my life. Losing my guys. I slept next to these guys. One of my best friends was shot by the sniper trying to recover one of our soldiers. It was rough. My Platoon commander was captured alive, and as I was leaving I saw his body was beheaded.

Check out the new and improved article section:

www.globalrecon.net/articles

Command Sergeant Major Hamody Jasim:

https://www.theterroristwhisperer.com

Chantel Taylor:

Facebook-Battleworn

Instagram: Mission_Critical

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Battleworn-Chantelle-Taylor/dp/1532003854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488418274&sr=8-1&keywords=battleworn

Introduction audio: American Military Officers/ General David Petraus/ Intelligence Officers talking about Hamody Jasim

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 68- Codename: Johnny Walker|Chantel Taylor|Global Surgical Medical Support Group|

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GRP 68- We have a very special episode for you this week. Co-hosting is British Army Combat Medic Chantel Taylor. Our special guest is Johnny Walker. Johnny is an Iraqi who served with the Navy SEAL Teams in Iraq for a 6-year period during the height of the Iraq war. He worked as an interpreter going on over 1000 combat operations during his operational service.  We discussed his upbringing in Mosul, how he ended up working with Naval Special Warfare. Johnny shared a few stories during his time with the SEALs. We discussed terrorism in the region and the proxy war that is currently being fought in Iraq and Syria.

My good friends at the Global Surgical Medical Support Group who have been on the podcast previously have been doing incredible work providing top tier surgical support for communities battling against ISIS. From very reliable sources we now know that critically injured US personnel on an intelligence collection deployment in Iraq would not have survived if it wasn't for the swift intervention of GSMSG trauma surgeons. They were able to stop otherwise lethal hemorrhaging and other severe injuries by providing Role 4 level care right at the tip of the spear.  They were also able to return the less critically injured US personnel to service right away after medically clearing them in the field. This is probably a first in history that a US-based non-profit humanitarian organization provided life-saving surgery in an austere environment that saved the lives of US service members and personnel. One way you can support them is by buying one of their few remaining T-shirts from their website at www.GSMSG.org/shop.  If you insert promo code "IGRecon" you will get 20% off your order.  So if you want to directly save US lives.  If you want to support the only nonprofit group in history to be there at the tip of the spear saving American lives, then help the good guys at GSMSG out.  Lastly, they are always recruiting SOF veterans, medics, nurses and physicians.  Go check out their website and do something for our boys downrange. Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

Johnny Walker: I went to the base and met with one of the officers. He says you have to be careful. I said why whats up? He says the terrorist killed an interpreter with the same name was me. What he didn't know was I was heading to the base and an assassination attempt was made on me by a foreign terrorist. I saw a guy with a long beard driving a car with a male in his 20's as the passenger. In our tradition this is unusual. We always respect the religious man by driving the car and taking care of him. So I assumed the worst case scenario was playing out. I was ahead of them in my car and I pressed the break and they drove passed me. The passenger pulled out a pistol and shot me. I stopped completely. I took my AK-47, shot and killed both of them. I started to yell Allah Akbar those guys work with the Americans they are interpreters. The Iraqi Police came and conducted an investigation with the results of those investigations were sent to the American base. So they thought I was killed.

John: After you killed these two guys you made it seem like they were working for the Americans in order to get out of there right?

Johnny Walker: Yes.

Click the link below to support the Global Surgical Medical Support Group. Enter the code “IgRecon” which is my Instagram handle to receive a 20 percent discount.

http://www.gsmsg.org/shop

Johnny Walker’s book:

https://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Johnny-Extraordinary-Everything/dp/0062267566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488418317&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+walker+book

Chantel Taylor:

Facebook-Battleworn

Instagram: Mission_Critical

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Battleworn-Chantelle-Taylor/dp/1532003854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488418274&sr=8-1&keywords=battleworn

Introduction audio: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net