“Damn the Valley” was written by Will Yeske and describes his deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley has seen its share of conflict. From Alexander the Great up to the Russians – and now Americans. To US troops it became known as “the meat grinder”. Will was posted there with Bravo Company of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne. During their time there, his unit suffered a 52% casualty rate. Damn the Valley [...]
Holiday separations are an unfortunate but necessary part of military service. As civilians we should recognize that the reason we are able to spend our holiday peacefully and safely with friends and family is because members of our military and first responder communities have volunteered to be apart from theirs. This burden is particularly heavy upon those forces who, by the nature of their work, have a higher than normal deployment tempo. The Air Force Pararescue community falls into this [...]
Rick Kaiser always had a fascination with the sea, so at the age of 17 he visited the Navy recruiter with the intention of joining the submarine service. However, while sitting in the office, he picked up a pamphlet about the SEALs and decided that was the course he would rather follow. Rick would go on to serve with both SEAL Team 2 and SEAL Team 6. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Navy SEAL [...]
Veteran Powered Films was the brainchild of accomplished actress and Navy Reservist Julia Ling. Julia has starred in over twenty independent films and is best known for her roles in the NBC series “Chuck”, “E.R.”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House”. The mission of Veteran Powered Films is to empower Veterans and service members to create and tell their stories through film. 2016 was a rough year for Julia. She lost a couple of shipmates and knew several other Veterans who were [...]
When Andra Kniep entered the US Air Force Academy, women were prohibited from flying in combat. Two months before she graduated, the rules were changed and she became the third woman assigned to fly the A-10 attack fighter. Andra was awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals on two consecutive days and joins us as part of our partnership with the Distinguished Service Cross Society. She chose the A-10 because her brother was a West Point graduate and she appreciated the [...]
Historical Officer Joe Winslow served 21 years in the US Marine Corps. Part of his duties included a posting in the Marine Corps History Division. The mission of an artifact and historical officer is to accompany assault units in combat zones and record what they are doing. This includes recording first person oral histories and gathering relevant artifacts. For example, if a Marine was awarded a Medal of Honor, it would be Joe’s job to track that Marine and record [...]
Special Forces Veteran Rick Lamb is somewhat of a legend in the community. He has led soldiers in operations spanning across 49 countries and 5 continents. He was involved in almost every major battle from Operation Eagle Claw to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rick is a member of the SOCOM Commando Hall of Honor, the Ranger Hall of Fame and was 2015 recipient of the Bull Simmons Award for soldiers who embody the true spirit, values, and skills of a Special [...]
With Them Frontlines will be so much more than just a video game. While featuring actual missions undertaken by actual warriors is pretty cool, merging the game with other technologies to gain insights into PTSD treatment is a REAL game changer. The US video gaming market is a $97.6 billion industry and a technology readily embraced by many Global War on Terror Veterans. With Them Frontlines is being produced by Austin based ORE System and in this episode we are [...]
A-10 fighter pilot Kim Campbell picked up many leadership lessons over the course of a 24 year Air Force career. Some came in a “crucible moment” over Baghdad on April 7, 2003. While providing close air support for troops in contact, her aircraft was struck by a surface to air missile, knocking out all of the plane’s hydraulics. Ejecting over Baghdad was not a preferred option. In a matter of seconds she was able to analyze the situation and switch [...]
Greg Drobny started writing in the early days of “blogging” as a full time contributor to The Rhino Den, an element of the Ranger Up company. Today he is one of the most prolific contributors to The Havok Journal. His piece “The Sheepdog Analogy Is Deeply Flawed” is the focus of our discussion. The Sheepdog concept was first formed by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in his book “On Killing”. His theory is that everyone falls into one of three categories; [...]