Fisher House Chairman & CEO Ken Fisher is carrying on the wonderful program first created by his great uncle Zachary Fisher. To date, the Fisher House has provided support to over 430,000 military and Veteran families in the form of free lodging and travel. Neither Ken nor Zachary served in the military. But when Zach heard the USS Intrepid was going to be scrapped he led an initiative to have the ship preserved and converted to a museum that hosts [...]
The transition from military to civilian life is the principle focus of our regular Havok Journal update with Editor Scott Faith. The transition can be more difficult for some than it is for others. Scott himself is retiring from the Army soon after 28 years in service. Several articles on the topic have been published on Havok Journal and we discuss highlights of each. “Observations of a Transitioning Officer – Time to Go” by Josh McKaskill “A Green Beret Leaves [...]
Traumatic Brain Injuries have been diagnosed in more than 450,000 service members between the years 2000 and 2021. These “invisible wounds” can cause physical, mental and emotional damage. A recent short film titled “Brainstorms” shows the impacts that these wounds can have upon the victims and their families. Two medical professionals join us to discuss this issue. Dr. Chrisanne Gordon is founder of the Resurrecting Lives Foundation and Dr. Josh Appel is Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Southern Arizona [...]
Operation Pineapple Express will likely go down as one of the greatest rescue missions in history. What makes it even more interesting and inspirational is the fact that it was mostly organized by civilians – retired Special Forces operators, Congressional staff, and state department personnel. In the midst of the horror and chaos of our withdrawal from Kabul, Pineapple Express was able to get approximately 1,000 Afghan allies and their families on evacuation flights. It was just one among several [...]
Six words sum up Col. Scott Mills’ philosophy on how he wants all his airmen to be treated and how they should prepare accomplish their mission. Many of these concepts are adaptable to civilian teams as well. He organizes these six words into two categories of three; Respected, Protected, Connected & Fight, Fit, Family. Scott expands upon the meanings of each of those words for our listeners. Scott is always asking his airmen “Are you ready?” The correct answer should [...]
“Black Snow; Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo and the Road to the Atomic Bomb” is author James M. Scott’s latest release. In some ways it is a sequel to his previous book “Rampage” about the battle for Manila. I consider James to be one of the greatest historical writers of our generation. There are many fascinating historical characters presented in this book but principally focuses on Curtis LeMay – one of the Army Air Corps, later Air Force’s most [...]
“The Shot: The Harrowing Journey of a Marine in the War on Terror” tells the story of Sgt. Bill Bee’s narrow brush with death and the challenges he faced post- service. It is co-authored by Sgt. Bee and Daily Mail editor Wills Robinson. Bill was deployed with his unit in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan when Goran Tomsevic, a Serbian embedded reporter from Reuters joined them. Bill did not have much respect for “embeds” after his first reporter requested to [...]
Cobra gunship pilot Lew Jennings flew 726 missions in Vietnam, receiving over 50 combat decorations including three Distinguished Flying Cross citations for Valor and 36 Air Medals. He published a memoir about helicopter combat in Vietnam named “19 Minutes to Live”. He joins us as part of our partnership with the Distinguished Flying Cross Society. Vietnam was considered the first “helicopter” war. Over 12,000 helicopters flew 5.25 million sorties. Eighty percent of the light observation helicopters, forty seven percent of [...]
9/11 survivor & FDNY Veteran Tim Brown lost nearly 100 of his friends in the September 11 terrorist attacks, including his two best friends. He has made it his mission to assure that our nation never forgets. Tim is no stranger to the face of terrorism. He responded to the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing and was dispatched to help with the recovery efforts following the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. But nothing could have prepared him for the events [...]
Irv Brandt’s evolution from a Navy torpedo man to law enforcement was an awkward transition but it worked out. Irv served with the US Marshal Service for more than 20 years. After leaving the Navy, he went to college to study business. After Black Monday no one was hiring business majors, but there were lots of opportunities in Law Enforcement. “I went into law enforcement and it turns out I was really good at it.” As a member of the [...]