Touching the Dragon is what James Hatch calls the process he had to complete in order to banish his demons. It is also the title of a book he recently published. James was part of a team dispatched to try and rescue deserter Bowe Bergdahl. On that mission an AK-47 round tore through his femur and out the back of his leg. Military working dog REMCO was killed in that same action. Had it not been for REMCO, it is likely [...]
Has the budget sequester hurt our fighting forces? The 2013 Congressional sequester cut $500 billion from military budgets. In 2017 testimony to Congress, Air Force Chief of Staff General David Golfien stated: “If we cannot move past sequester in its current form, we are going to break this force.” We have the greatest fighting forces on the planet. But what if they were no longer mission capable? Retired Air Force Lt. General Tom Jones is an expert and shares his [...]
Echo in Ramadi is definitely NOT your typical book about war. Instead, author Scott Huesing wanted to give readers a look into the power of human connection and brotherhood that allowed his company of Marines to fight and win in one of the deadliest regions on the planet. Capt. Scott Huesing calls in a "danger close" GMLRS strike in Ramadi Scott served a total of 24 years in the Marine Corps, both enlisted and as a commissioned officer. [...]
BBG with Doug Stanton Doug Stanton probably never thought he would see his name in lights. But that is precisely what happened when the movie “12 Strong” debuted in January. The film is based upon Doug’s second bestselling book “Horse Soldiers”. His first book, “In Harm’s Way” (recounting the World War II sinking of the USS Indianapolis) spent more than six months on the New York Times bestseller list. In this episode we talk with Doug Stanton about [...]
The 2nd Battle of Fallujah was the bloodiest of the Iraq War. So then why don’t more people know about it? Donald Baker is a Marine Veteran with 9 years of service including three deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. His path to becoming a Marine was set forth by two elements; his father’s service as a Force Recon Marine in Vietnam and Donald’s dream of becoming a filmmaker. One of his early films about World War I won [...]
When you are a pilot for the Army’s elite 160th SOAR Night Stalkers, there is no such thing as a “normal day”. But November 27, 2006 was a day David Cooper won’t forget. Cooper was flying an AH-6 “Little Bird” as lead in a six helicopter formation delivering Special Operations Forces on a mission north of Baghdad. The Night Stalkers earned their nickname as the first unit to fly using night vision equipment. That day they were flying in broad [...]
Charles Faint wanted to provide his West Point cadets with a real life examples of team building. But he had to get approval before he published the article “Competition, Call of Duty and ‘Naked Chicks with Guns’; Lessons on Team building from an Elite Special Operations Unit”. The issue also caused quite a bit of controversy around his family dinner table – particularly for his daughter Emily. Emily shares HER perspective to begin our show. This excellent article highlights Charles’ [...]
Lt. General Thomas Keck On September 11 Lt. General Thomas Keck was conducting an exercise at Barksdale AFB. Before long the President of the United States would be making an unannounced visit to his base. As Commander of the 8th Air Force, Keck had just begun the Global Guardian exercise when a Captain handed him a note stating a plane had hit the World Trade Center. General Keck informed the Captain that all messages should begin with “Sir, [...]
Hamayon with Major Mike Kelvington Thousands of Afghan interpreters served with the US Military. They were promised safe conduct to the US. However, the process has not met the promises. Thousands find themselves stuck in bureaucratic red tape, often waiting years. While waiting, they are being hunted by our enemies. Hamayon learned English in high school and also spent six months in the US at the Defense Language Institute. Despite returning to a comfortable job in Afghanistan, when [...]
It’s called the Silent Service. I have learned the phrase does not only apply to the stealthy nature of the mission but also to the tight knit families of the submarine community and how little the general public knows about these implements of war. Our guest is retired Navy Captain Kevin Peppe. He served on 5 submarines, commanding one and later served as Commodore for a squadron of 8 submarines. After retiring from the Navy, Kevin was an executive with Raytheon’s [...]