Global Recon

GRP 149-My guest for this podcast is Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Ronald Shurer. Ron passed away due to complications from Lung Cancer on May 14th, 2020. He was 41 years old. I want to extend my condolences to his wife, Miranda, his two boys, my buddy Ryan, his teammates, and co-workers from the Secret Service. Ron deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Medic in the 3rd Special Forces Group with ODA 3336. During his second deployment, while conducting an operation in the Shok Valley,...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is a retired Marine Special Operations Task Force Commander Fred Galvin, and Army veteran, gold star wife, and current spouse to a MARSOC Raider Destiny Draher. On January 1st, 2019 Gunnery Sgt. Joshua Negron, Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Draher and Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet were assaulted by a drunk former Green Beret working as a civilian contractor in Erbil, Iraq during a night out. One of the Marines threw a punch back knocking the contractor out. The...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is Author and Navy SEAL, Will Chesney. Chesney served for three years at SEAL Team 4 before screening and being selected to serve as a Tier 1 Operator. He has deployed multiple times as a Dog Handler and Operator until he was medically retired after getting blown up in Afghanistan. The book is the story of Will and his SEAL dog Cairo. Cairo served with Will for multiple rotations, including after getting shot by an enemy fighter wielding an AK-47. Cairo was...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is author and veteran of the war in Syria, Ed Nash. Ed is a civilian from the United Kingdom who spent his early 20’s traveling the world. He would eventually go on to work with the Free Burma Rangers(FBR). The FBR is a volunteer organization led by a former American Special Forces Officer, which provides aid to civilians in war zones around the globe. After a few stints with the FBR as an information officer, Ed went on to join up with the Kurds in the...

GRP 145-Defender That Shall Not be Seen My guest for this week's podcast is Tomer Israeli. Tomer is A veteran captain of the Israeli Defense Forces with over 20 years of both combat and instructional experience. He began his army career in the Sayeret Matkal - '92 Yuval which is Israel's Tier 1 counter-terrorism unit. He later served as a team member in a special recon team (Sayeret Golani - Orev '92 Dotan). As a reserve officer, Tomer led his team at a special forces recon unit deep behind...

GRP 144-Wherever you go, go with all your heart: A MACV-SOG Team Leader at war Co-hosting for this podcast is retired Chief Warrant Officer and 20 year Navy SEAL veteran Ron Mahrs. Our guest is Dr. Henry Thompson. Thompson served for 21 years in the United States Army in various leadership roles. He began his career as a Green Beret joining MACV-SOG running recon operations during the Vietnam war. Dr. Thompson became the 1-0 or team leader of Recon Team Michigan, taking over the team from a...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is former CIA counterterrorism officer Dan Gabriel. He served at the Agency for a decade until the killing of Osama Bin Laden when he decided it was time to pursue another passion of his: Film making. The film “Mosul” is entirely in Arabic. Written and directed by Gabriel, it shows the journey of a journalist from Bagdad as he documents the retaking of Mosul from ISIS. Ali Mula embeds with the Iraqi Special Forces as they fight ISIS house to house, and...

GRP 142-The Operator Foundation: The story of Ron Mahrs A Counter-Terrorism Operator Joining me for this episode is Ron Mahrs. He served in the Navy for 27 years with over 20 as a SEAL and 15 as an operator at the counter-terrorism organization. Ron founded the Gethin Group and The Operator Foundation both providing unique services to veterans with Gethin, and gold star families with the Foundation. Mahrs, deployed into combat 14 times in a tier 1 capacity where he served at various levels...

GRP 141-Easy Day: A conversation with Navy SEAL Jason Higgins On for this week’s podcast is former Navy SEAL and owner of Easy Day Hemp Jason Higgins. Jason served as a SEAL for nine years before rotating into a government security job. It wasn’t until his transitioning out of combat where he started to experience difficulty. During this process, he hit personal lows and realized he needed to make a change. Using natural remedies including Yoga, Cannabis, and hemp he was able to overcome his...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is Hussain Abdul-Hussain. Hussain is the bureau chief for the Kuwaiti Daily and has been a journalist covering the middle east for over 20 years. His childhood was spent between Iraq and Lebanon. I first took notice of Hussain when he countered the narrative of the mainstream media in the immediate aftermath of the Soleimani killing by translating the Arabic news reports coming out of Iraq. We discussed the killing of Soleimani, the Iranian nuclear deal,...

Joining me for this week's podcast is Andrew Coussens. Andrew is an author and has written two books. His first is "A failed State," and his second is "Relapse." Andrew served in the U.S. government security services for 21 years. He began his career working with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, where he worked his way up to an Aerial Interdiction Unit Leader. He later spent time working with the agency's BORSTAR unit, conducting search and rescue operations all along the border. The 2002...

GRP 138-For this week's podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Fred Burton. Mr. Burton is one of the world's foremost authorities on security and terrorism. He oversees Stratfor's analysis of global security developments. Before joining Stratfor, Mr. Burton served as a counterterrorism agent with the U.S. State Department from 1985 to 1999. Mr. Burton was deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service, where he was in charge of preventing and investigating...

GRP 137-Deeds not Words: A discussion with a Canadian Tier 1 Sniper Joining me for this week's podcast is Jeff Depatie. Jeff served in the Canadian Army before going to selection for their Tier 1 Special Forces unit JTF2. Serving for over a decade as an Assaulter, and Sniper Jeff saw combat across the globe. During the emergence of ISIS, the JTF2 were some of the first western forces on the ground, engaging ISIS on the battlefield. We discussed the common ancestor of American and Canadian...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is Nims Dai. Nims grew up in Nepal before joining the famed Gurkha's. The Gurkha Brigades recently celebrated 200 years of service in the British Army. Upon returning from a combat deployment to Afghanistan Nims, decided to go on selection for British Special Forces. Upon passing selection he would continue to serve as an operator in the SBS for another 10 years. In 2016 on pre-deployment leave Nims took out a loan from the bank and went to Nepal to climb...

GRP 135-Wherever you go, go with all your heart: A Special Missions Operator at war - We have a very special guest on for this week’s podcast. Joining me on today's episode is retired, Sergeant Major Jamey Caldwell. SGM Caldwell began his career as an Army Ranger before he went to selection to join the Army’s Special Missions Unit. On September 11th, 2001 he was forward deployed overseas. Within the coming weeks and months, his unit would be amongst the very first Americans to enter into...

My guest for this week’s podcast is retired Navy SEAL, Andy Stumpf. Andy is the host of the Cleared Hot Podcast. He’s also a sponsored Base Jumper and Skydiver. We walked through his career in the Navy including his time as an Operator at SEAL Team Six. While conducting combat operations in Iraq Andy was shot at close range by a terrorist with an AK-47. Several Americans were badly wounded during this operation. We talked about his long road to recovery, becoming an officer in the SEAL...

Joining me for this week’s podcast is former British Special Forces Operator James Glancy. James served for a number of years in the Royal Marine Commandos where he deployed into different areas around the world including Afghanistan. After a few combat deployments he went onto Special Forces selection and joined the Special Boat Service. During his operational service in Special Forces he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. Since getting out of the military Glancy has hosted shows...

On with me for this week’s podcast is recently retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mike Rutledge. Rutledge has had a unique career path having served for 30 years in the United States military. He entered the Navy as a Search and Rescue crewmen deploying around the world in that capacity. He later became a Navy SEAL where he served for 8 years. He’s always had a passion for flying. After serving in the SEAL Teams Mike went on to serve as an Aviator in the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation...

This week’s podcast was recorded in July 2017 with Kurdish fighter Joanna Palani. Joanna is currently in prison in Denmark due to their laws against Danish citizens traveling to Syria to fight. Joanna’s family is from the western region of Iran. She was born in a U.N refugee camp in the desert of Ramadi, Iraq. Growing up there were sections of the road her brother and his peers traversed en route to school that was littered with IED’s. During a commute to school, he was killed by a roadside...

On for this episode is author and former U.S Navy SEAL Remi Adelake. Remi has a unique story growing up in Nigeria. Shortly after his father passed away his mother moved him and his brother back to the Bronx. Growing up poor and in a violent section of NYC he learned the ways of the streets at an early age. It wasn’t until years later where he was working undercover as a SEAL that he realized some of those tough lessons learned in the South Bronx helped him stay alive in combat. Since making...