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GRP 87-We have a very special and powerful episode for you guys. Back on the podcast is retired SARC Dan Brown, and retired Army Special Operations veteran Kevin Tretter. Dan served with Force Recon and the Marine Raider Battalions as a highly trained Corpsman. Kevin started out as a Combat Engineer 12 Bravo then went into Special Forces as an 18 Charlie Engineer Sergeant. He got picked up by a special unit to serve as a heavy breacher. He then went back into Special Forces in the Commanders in Extremis Force (CIF) which is the counter terrorist arm of the Green Berets.
During his time in the CIF he survived a helicopter crash in Iraq eventually retiring after 20 years of service. This episode is important because we discussed Traumatic Brain Injury in a deep and honest way as both Dan and Kevin have brain injuries due to the culmination of training in tight spaces with live rifle fire, explosives, airplane jumps and combative training. They have both received blast injuries in combat. We talked the negative effects of having physical brain damage, and how the government protocols for diagnosing PTSD and TBI are flawed. Discussed the positive effects of Cannabis on healing brain injuries. We talked about some problems and solutions with veterans who don’t need care for TBI or PTSD taking advantage of the government and sucking up resources from service members who need the treatment.
0:00-Intro
4:48-Kevin Tretter’s background. Combat Engineer 12 Bravo. 18 Charlie (Engineer Sergeant) with 3rd Special Forces Group. Worked as a Heavy Breacher with a special unit within the Army Special Operations Command.
8:08- Tretter joined the Commanders in Extremis Forces. Survived a helicopter crash in Iraq.
9:25-Understanding the compounding struggles of all of the concussions. Prolonged exposure, retirement, and realization
14:20- Medical Marijuana and creative output.
20:20-Issues with memory and placing memories in proper chronological order.
25:08-Difference between sports concussions and concussions received by blast waves.
27:00-New York Times article on PTSD being misdiagnosed most likely being TBI. Area’s of the brain damaged by TBI.
32:29-Doctors misdiagnosing TBI, and not factoring the cumulative effects of the blast waves on the brain.
44:05-Servicemembers who claim PTSD falsely, sucking up resources for induvial who need it. Solutions to fixing this issue.
1:02:28-Changing our approach to care for TBI. Potentially changing the name to Post Blast Wave Concussion Syndrome.
1:25:51-Finding a sense of purpose. Getting back to the basics. Utilizing creativity.
1:34:02-The positive effects of Cannabis on the brain, and the politics behind keeping Marijuana illegal when it heals.
Below are links for some of the articles referenced by Dan Brown during the podcast:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/what-if-ptsd-is-more-physical-than-psychological.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/military-misconduct-ptsd.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/sports/football/nfl-cte.html
Hemingway's Brain
Brain/Vestibular Therapy in Dallas
CBD/Canabis for Seizures sited research studies within article
https://www.projectcbd.org/article/medical-marijuana-seizures-sulak-saneto-goldstein
Penn State Neuroscientist and Engineers find link between Seizures and Migraines
http://news.psu.edu/story/332549/2014/10/30/research/link-seen-between-seizures-and-migraines-brain
Hormone therapy for TBI
Introduction audio is from the NRA series “Patriot Profiles” with Army Special Operations veteran Scot Spooner speaking: https://www.nratv.com/series/patriot-profiles/episode/patriot-profiles-season-3-episode-11-forward-march
Kevin Tretter:
https://www.instagram.com/warrior_woven
Dan Brown:
The Dangerzone Podcast on Sound Cloud, ITunes, and YouTube.
https://www.instagram.com/danielthebarbarian
Global Recon:
https://www.instagram.com/igrecon
https://www.instagram.com/blackopsmatter
https://www.facebook.com/GlobalReconPodcast/
Chantel Taylor:
https://www.instagram.com/mission_critical
https://www.instagram.com/altern8rv
Click the buttons below to access the full episode on ITunes (Apple users), or Sound Cloud (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.
On for this week’s podcast is a 20-year veteran of the Army Special Operations Command is the owner of Storm Tactical Consulting Fred. Fred served as a Special Forces Medic for a number of years before trying out and getting selected to serve as an operator in a Special Missions Unit. We discussed the oversaturation of the tactical training industry, and some of the core principles of being an effective gunfighter i.e. mastering the basics. We talked about combat medicine and the evolution of trauma protocols as the wars progressed.
I wanted to get Fred’s take on leadership. He shared a story of a time in Fallujah, Iraq where his Special Forces ODA could have easily avoided an ambush, but due to poor leadership, they walked right into one. Recently I’d listened to a popular podcast on iTunes where the host talked about how ISIS shocked everyone and kind of popped up out of nowhere. This couldn’t be further from the truth so Fred and I discussed a man named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who is the ideological founder of ISIS but was killed in 2006 in Iraq. His followers have continued on the path set forth by him and in recent years we’ve seen the rise of the Islamic State.
Over a long career, Fred has served as an Assaulter, Breacher, Sniper, Human Intel Specialist, and finishing up as a Dog Handler. We touched on PTSD and TBI to close out the episode.
0:00-Intro
2:30- Storm Tactical Consulting
3:37-The oversaturation of the tactical training industry
6:00-Mastering the basics, muscle memory
7:44- Fred’s background 20 years of service as an 18 Delta Green Beret Medic, and later as an operator in the Army’s Special Missions Unit
12:48-Special Operations Combat Medics Course(SOCM) Combat Trauma, Special Forces Medical Sergeant(SFMS) Dentistry, veterinary care, public sanitation, water quality, and optometry. TCCC
17:00-Great leadership
20:55-Story of an avoidable ambush in Fallujah, Iraq under poor leadership
31:38- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the rise of the Islamic State
38:15-Assaulter, Sniper, Breacher, and a dive into Special Operations Dog Handling
53:39-Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD
Storm Tactical Consulting:
http://stormtacticalconsu.wixsite.com/stormtactical
https://www.instagram.com/storm_tactical_consulting/
Global Recon:
https://www.instagram.com/igrecon
https://www.instagram.com/blackopsmatter
https://www.facebook.com/GlobalReconPodcast/
Chantel Taylor:
https://www.instagram.com/mission_critical
https://www.instagram.com/altern8rv
Click the buttons below to access the full episode on ITunes (Apple users), or Sound Cloud (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.
GRP 85- On for this week's podcast is retired Navy Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman (SARC), and the host of "The Dangerzone" podcast Dan Brown. SARC's are highly trained Special Operations Medical personnel who deploy mainly with the Force Reconnaissance companies and the Marine Raiders. There have been instances where SARC's have deployed with Naval Special Warfare Teams and Army Special Operations Teams. SARC's are trained as amphibious special operations personnel going through various schooling alongside Recon Marines to include: Army Basic Airborne School, Marine Combatant Diver school, Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman Course, and the Special Operations Combat Medicine Course.
Dan continued on to complete the second half of the Special Operations Medical Course that typically only the Green Beret Medics complete. SEALs and SARC's will also complete the full course to become Independent Duty Corpsman, but only the senior Corpsman go through the rest of the course. We talked about Dan running Village Stability Operations (VSO) in Afghanistan during his deployment with the Raider Battalion, and how that type of mission is incredibly complex as it requires the war fighter to play the role of a diplomat and warrior. Dan was wounded during an attack in Afghanistan resulting in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). We discussed TBI in some detail which is a topic I plan to cover extensively in future episodes.
0:00-Intro
11:00-SARC Pipeline
13:30-Special Operations Combat Medicine Course
16:28-SARC employment
17:34-Force Recon Battalion, Marine Raider Battalion
19:16-Independent Duty Corpsman
21:14-Prolonged Field Care
26:49-The positive effects of 15 years of war for trauma medicine in the United States
39:03-Village Stability Operations (VSO)
58:13-Running operations in Afghanistan, wounded in Afghanistan, Traumatic Brain Injury.
1:31:00-Outro
Dan Brown:
The Dangerzone Podcast on Sound Cloud, ITunes, and YouTube.
Instagram: DanielTheBarbarian
Global Recon:
IgRecon – Instagram
BlackOpsMatter- Instagram
Mission_Critical – Instagram
IgRecon- Twitter
Chantel Taylor:
Instagram: Mission_Critical
Facebook: Battleworn
Click the buttons below to access the full episode on Itunes (Apple users), or Sound Cloud (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.
GRP 84-On for this week's podcast is former Marine Corps and Navy SEAL veteran, Chris Osman. Chris is a successful business owner and entrepreneur. Chris was deployed into Mogadishu as a Marine, and later into Afghanistan during the early days of the war as a SEAL Team 3 sniper with Task Force K-Bar. His first deployment was in 1999 conducting Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations when Saddam was still in power violating U.N. sanctions. They were taking down Iraqi ships smuggling oil and drugs.
On September 11th, 2001 Chris was finishing up Marine Corps Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendleton when he was recalled by his command and rapidly deployed to the Middle East. The first mission they went on was to take down the ship that Al-Qaeda used to smuggle the explosives into Africa that were used at the two embassy bombings in Tanzania, and Kenya. Shortly afterward they deployed into Afghanistan. We talked about entrepreneurship as Chris has successfully started companies, as well as transitioning out of the military. Below is an excerpt:
Chris Osman: General Mattis was the ground force commander at the time so getting to meet him was pretty cool. We were given a mission to do a battle damage assessment(BDA) after B-52 bombing runs on the Zhawar Kili cave complex. We marked the entrances to the caves and we are clearing these pitch black caves without knowing what to expect. They could be rigged with explosives or have enemy fighters waiting to ambush. We were originally supposed to be on this op for 12 hours. We ended up staying out there for 9 and a half days. We had a Marine Corps infantry element with us. We patrolled out of a village that we took over. For day and night over 9 days we called in over 200 airstrikes. We ran into some enemy combatants coming out of a cave over 500 meters away and called in airstrikes killing them. After that mission, the op tempo ratcheted up. Because we were part of Task Force K-Bar we partnered up with the German KSK Commandos. That Task Force had Australian SAS, New Zealand SAS, the Canadians, and several allied nations SOF units.
Chris Osman:
Instagram:_Chris_Osman_Designs
Global Recon:
IgRecon – Instagram
BlackOpsMatter- Instagram
Mission_Critical – Instagram
IgRecon- Twitter
Chantel Taylor:
Instagram: Mission_Critical
Facebook: Battleworn
Music provided by Caspian: