POPULARITY
Categories
Meet Christian Meador—a former Army paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne who joined the military at 26 to pay off student loans and pursue law enforcement. After serving in Iraq, he transitioned into satellite communications with the 19th Special Forces Group in the Utah National Guard. Medically retired in 2014, Christian has spent the last decade in telecommunications, while also serving as a city councilman and board president of a tourism alliance. His story is one of grit, growth, and giving back.Iraq combat veteran, 82nd Airborne, Utah National Guard, 19th Special Forces Group, satellite communications, Army veteran career path, military to civilian transition, telecommunications expert, veteran leadership, city council veteran, tourism alliance president, veteran reinvention, public service podcast guest, military communications specialist
Connect with Andru Ballota:@andru-ballotawww.andruballota.comtwitter.com/AndruBallotainstagram.com/aballotamixcloud.com/AndruBallota/tinyurl.com/Airborneradioplay.spotify.com/artist/7ptqPIUtY…&utm_medium=open#AirborneRadio 120 Tracklist: Shakedown – At Night (Patrick Krause Edit) Sidekick & Mindtone – Deep Fear (Stone Van Brooken Edit) Ferry Corsten – Lose Myself (Extended Mix) MORTEN Feat. Bonn – Take Me Home (Extended Mix) Avicii – Let's Ride Away (MEDUZA For Tim Remix) Anigma – Dreams (ID Remix) Calvin Harris – Blessings (Max Styler Remix) Ummet Ozcan – Era (Extended Mix) James Hype – Don't Wake Me Up (Mathame Extended Mix) Lowdown – Say Yeah! (Extended Mix) Stowers – Sonic State (Extended Mix) Argy (UK) & Will Rees – The Feelin (Extended Mix) Trance Wax – Your Fantasy (Extended Mix) Ben Hemsley – Angel (Original Mix) Hardwell – Echo (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix) David Guetta VS Ferry Corsten - Beautiful Inner People (Andru Ballota Mash Up) Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Right Round (FYAR Remix) MaRLo, Lockdown & EXA – Don't Stop (Original Mix) Anigma – Here On Earth (Extended Mix) Anigma – Time (Extended Mix)
Sam Broom discusses the spike in copper prices due to proposed tariff comments out of President Trump, the evolving landscape of the US mining sector, and the investment opportunities in various global jurisdictions. He shares insights on client perspectives regarding market trends and the future of precious metals, particularly platinum, which he believes is poised for significant appreciation.
He is one independent SOB. His name is Dave Scott, he was the general's driver in Vietnam in the Army 101st Airborne. Dave Scott makes his home in Central Oregon's Newberry Crater but he frequently takes off to places like the the Northwest Territories or Mongolia. He has paddled solo on some of the world's most remote rivers like the Mackenzie in the NW Territories, the Yukon, the Eg. And he has a lot to say about getting free. You can learn more at https://1indsob.com/If you want to support free speech and good hunting content in the Internet Age, look for our coffee and books and wildlife forage blends at https://www.garylewisoutdoors.com/Shop/This episode is sponsored by West Coast Floats, of Philomath, Oregon, made in the USA since 1982 for steelhead and salmon fishermen. Visit https://westcoastfloats.com/Our TV sponsors include: Nosler, Camp Chef, Warne Scope Mounts, Carson, ProCure Bait Scents, Sullivan Glove Company, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Madras Ford, Bailey Seed and Smartz.Watch select episodes of Frontier Unlimited on our network of affiliates around the U.S. or click https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+lewis+outdoors+frontier+unlimited
What does it take to lead at every level and shape the leaders of tomorrow? SUMMARY Long Blue Line podcast host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 sat with Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95, the U.S. Air Force Academy's vice superintendent, for a deep dive into leadership, humanity and building a world-class service academy. This episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned leaders alike. SHARE LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK GEN. SHERMAN'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS - Leadership is a human experience - focus on connecting with and caring about people. - Love what you do and love the people you lead; passion inspires others to follow you. - Embrace failures and challenges as opportunities for personal growth and development. - Set the right culture and values within your team to build trust and mutual support. - Be present and engaged with your team, understanding their motivations and experiences. - Leadership is about more than rank or position - it's about earning genuine trust and respect. - Invest time in understanding different generations, cultural nuances, and individual perspectives. - Balance professional excellence with personal growth and life experiences. - Support your team's development by providing encouragement and holding them accountable. - Your legacy is built through individual interactions and the positive impact you have on people's lives. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Major General Thomas P. Sherman 01:29 Choosing Leadership Over Flying 07:23 The Impact of Mentorship and Values 12:46 Heritage and Evolution of Security Forces 17:43 Personal Growth in Aviano, Italy 24:17 The Importance of Work-Life Balance 29:50 Culminating Command Experience at Bagram 42:25 The Role of Family in Leadership 51:29 Continuous Self-Improvement as a Leader 56:27 Embracing Failure as a Growth Opportunity 01:00:06 Legacy and the Impact of Leadership ABOUT GEN. SHERMAN BIO Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman is the Vice Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He is serving as the chief operations officer to the Superintendent and overseeing the Academy's blend of military training, academics, athletics, and character development for cadets. Gen. Sherman commissioned in 1995 from the Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. He built a distinguished career as a security forces officer. He's held command at nearly every level. His key assignments include leadership of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB and critical staff positions at the Pentagon. In May 2024, Gen. Sherman was tapped to serve as the Academy's Vice Superintendent CONNECT WITH GEN. SHERMAN LINKEDIN ALL PAST LBL EPISODES | ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95 | Host, Lt. Col. (ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:00 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99 today. I'm joined by a leader whose career has taken him from the flight line to the halls of Congress and now back to the very institution that launched it all. Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman currently serves as vice superintendent of the Air Force Academy, where he plays a critical role in guiding the development of our future officers and ensuring the Academy remains a world class institution for leadership, character and Day 1 readiness to win the future fight. A 1995 Academy graduate, Gen. Sherman has spent nearly three decades serving in key operational, strategic and command roles. He's led at every level, from squadron to wing command, and his assignments have included everything from nuclear security enterprise to homeland defense, policy development at the Pentagon, and legislative affairs at the highest levels of the Department of the Air Force. Prior to his role as vice superintendent, Gen. Sherman served in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, where he was a principal military assistant leading policy integration across joint staff, interagency services and combatant commands. He's perhaps best known in command circles for leading the 88th Air Base wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, one of the largest and most complex wings in the Air Force, with a focus on people first, leadership and mission excellence. Gen. Sherman, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad you're here too. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 01:32 It is great to be here. Thank you. Naviere Walkewicz 01:33 We're excited and we're going to dive right in, because I think what is so special for our listeners is really hearing these moments that have changed your life. I'd like to start at the Academy. You turned down a pilot slot. You were rated, but said no. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 01:48 Well, actually it was a little bit before that. You know, it's kind of interesting, because that was the draw that brought me here, is I just had this incredible passion to want to fly, and I love flying, and I truly enjoyed it, especially through all the different airmanship programs and things like and things like that we had here. The experiences were fantastic. But, you know, as I was starting to learn more about myself going through the Academy, I was starting to feel my heart getting pulled in a direction of wanting to really lead people and really spend a lot of time working with the enlisted. And I think that came from a couple different areas. I think it was some really unique exposure that I got during my ops Air Force time, which I went to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during ops, and just had our action officer that worked this, I think just did a phenomenal job. And I really started getting pulled to what was then called security police. That is actually when Laurie and I got together and started dating, because Laurie is here in Colorado Springs, but she grew up as an Air Force brat. My father-in-law is a retired Chief Master Sgt., and so there was a lot of mentorship that was taking place around dining room table when I was a young cadet. And I think one of the things that her parents really taught me was just the value of the enlisted force, and so I was feeling my heart really getting pulled. And so obviously, there's a conundrum. There's a conundrum on what were the root desires that brought me here — what were the things that I was learning as a cadet, my joy of flying, and also, particularly the culture at that time, was that that was really the job that you needed to aspire to be, that was the expectation of cadets. And so then to really kind of run counter to that strong current was really kind of a unique, you know, almost unnavigated area, right? And so to really kind of take the story out to its next level is that I'd really gotten to a point where talking with people there — we hadn't had the AMT program, but there were these NCOs that were kind of tangentially attached to cadet squadrons. And so I got a chance to talk to one of the master sergeants that was there who was a maintainer by background. And I was kind of pouring my heart out to him on, you know, what had I been talking to him with my now in-laws, about where was my heart pulling me? And so he said, ‘Give me just a second.' And he picked up the phone, and he called my AOC and he goes, ‘Hey, you're gonna be there for a little while.' And this was a Friday afternoon. He said, ‘I got a cadet that needs to come talk to you.' And he hangs up the phone and he goes, ‘Now you go tell your AOC what you just told me.' And so I ended up going to my AOCs office that day, and we had about a two-hour conversation about this. I sat down and really, kind of took the time to explain to him what was I feeling, And obviously, I really try to see the best in people. And so I think from a noble place, he was doing his best to convince me that I was making a grave mistake. And went on to talk to me about what his concerns were, the career field that I was looking at, things along those lines. And we can save that conversation for another time, but I think really where the foundation came in is where we started to talk about leadership. And you know, what I was asking him to do was to pull my rated recommendation form, so we had just submitted them, and I was asking him to pull my rated recommendation form. I didn't want to compete for it anymore. And so we started to talk about leadership. And he says, ‘Hey, Cadet Sherman, you need to understand that leadership in this Air Force is being the lead F-16 pilot on a bombing run, you know, putting iron on target.' And that's true. It's a very important part of leadership. It is a very important part of tactical operational leadership in this Air Force. So he's not wrong in that space. But I was looking at it from a different lens, and I was looking at it, I think, on a larger level. And what I don't think he realized is that 30 seconds before I walked into his office, he set me up for success. I just happened to be waiting outside the office, and all of a sudden, I looked on his cork board, and somebody, and I don't know who it was, had pinned a note that was written to Airman Magazineby an airman first class. And this airman first class titled this, “I need a leader.” And this A1C felt so strongly about what they were feeling — and I have no idea who this person was — felt so strongly about it that they put pen to paper, and this would have been the fall of 1994, and sent this into Airman Magazine, and it says, “I need a leader.” Commissioning sources. ‘Send us lieutenants that we can look up to that will hold us accountable when we do wrong, that will encourage us when we do well, that will be an example that we can look up to, that will care about us as human beings, because you are not sending them to us now. Air Force, I need a leader.' Like that 30 seconds just before I walked into his office — that changed my life, and it changed my life, because for me, at that moment, what I was getting ready to go ask my AOC to do, what I was looking at inside myself, that became my charge. And so as we spoke, you know, 20-year-old Cadet First Class Sherman — I might have been a 21-year-old at the time — Cadet First Class Sherman pushed back on my AOC, and I said, ‘Sir, I disagree.' I said, ‘I want to be that guy. I want to be that guy that that A1c is asking for on your cork board outside, because that's leadership in this Air Force.' And so, to his credit, he said, ‘Hey, I want you to go think about this over the weekend. You know, think about what you're doing. Come back to me on Monday. No questions asked. I'll pull it if you want me to.' And I left there, and I remember feeling like, not like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder, but I almost felt like this sense of like, ‘Now I've got my purpose,' because that little article has shaped me my entire career, and I mean to this day, and at a scale. You know, as a lieutenant, my scale is this big on what I'm affecting to help do and be what that A1C needs to a wing commander. I always keep it in the back of my head, and after all of these years, I am still thinking about, Am I doing right by that A1C that 31 years ago, felt so strongly about something that they wrote a note to Airman Magazine, and that became my charge. Naviere Walkewicz 08:09 That is incredibly powerful. I'm a little bit without words, because I'm thinking about, first off, being brave enough to disagree with an AOC. I mean, I think that takes courage in showing your leadership there. Were you always like that? Have you always been someone that is steadfast in a decision and being able to kind of speak out? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 08:30 So I get that from my parents. And, you know, I grew up in Corona, California. My mom and dad are amazing people. And we didn't grow up with a lot of money, and we grew up from a pretty meager background, and my mom and dad had made a decision early on in their marriage, when they had my sister and I, that my mom was going to focus to make sure that Nancy and I got an education, and my dad was going to work as many jobs as he had to to put food on the table. And sometimes my dad was holding down three jobs to make sure that we had nutritious food to eat, and my mom was working miracles to make sure that we were fed well, but that also that she was dedicated and had the time to volunteer for things like PTA, being involved as a class volunteer, making sure that we were involved in things and had exposure to things that what they did was they also instilled in me this really strong blue collar work ethic. And it was this aspect of, if I just roll up my sleeves and put in the work, anything is possible. And so on that line, this young kid growing up with a West Coast father and an East Coast mother, and just this, really neat family background that things for me, that I believed in I would go after with all of my heart and soul. And so I found out about the Academy when I was 12 years old. And so, you know, when I at 12 years — we were going to a community event there in Corona, and there was an officer recruiter — Capt. Craig. was her name — and we started talking. She says, ‘Hey, did anybody talk to you about the Air Force Academy?' And I said, ‘No, this sounds great.' So from there, I just made this decision as a 12-year-old, and I worked all the way through junior high and high school to get here, because to go to your point like, ‘I made a decision, I'm gonna see this thing through.' Naviere Walkewicz 10:30 Whoa. OK, so you knew you were going to the Academy before you graduated high school. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 10:35 Yes, in my mind, there was no other option. Naviere Walkewicz 10:39 And so anyone in your family serve, or were you the first one in your family to serve? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 10:43 So I am the first officer and career member of the family. My dad was drafted and went to Vietnam in 1967 and stayed through Tet of 1968. I had an uncle, Harry Lee Schmidt, who was a C-47 loadmaster in World War II and Korea, and my grandfather was actually a part of the initial kind of what was the foundation of the OSS and the Navy doing beach recon on beaches in the South Pacific, prior to island hopping campaign and island landings. And so there was this real heritage of service, right? Just not career service. But even then, as a kid, I always had in my mind, ‘OK, one way or another, I'm going to serve, and if I do an enlistment and then go to college afterwards —' but I had this idea that, ‘OK, I'm going to serve,' and then all of a sudden, this became this amazing conduit that got me here, right? Naviere Walkewicz 11:38 And they also had ties to aviation. How did they feel about your decision, your family? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 11:43 It was interesting, because they knew how passionate I was about aviation growing up. I mean, we did not miss an air show at March Air Force Base, the Chino air show, which was planes of fame, which was all historic aircraft. I volunteered as a high school student to work there, and we helped restore airplanes with me and my friends. You know, it was interesting, because my parents were very supportive in ‘OK, where's your heart leading you? And, what makes you feel so strongly about this?' Because when I first talked to him on the phone, I called him from Ramstein Air Base and said, ‘Hey, I think I know what I want to do in the Air Force. I want to go to security police. And my mom was like, ‘What's that? And, so, as time went by and I explained it, I think my parents probably all along knew that that was probably going to be a very good fit. And then after commissioning and at my first assignment, I think that they were certain of it, right? Yeah, they were absolutely certain. Naviere Walkewicz 12:37 That is amazing. Well, I want to dive into this profession a bit, because it's interesting. You know, you've mentioned, when you came in, it was security police, and, security forces and you hear people saying defenders and peacekeepers. So there's this lineage and this heritage. Can you maybe talk a little bit about that and then maybe lead us into that next transformational moment that you might have had in this role? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 12:58 OK, I'm very proud of the fact that, you know, I am part of an ever decreasing group of folks that came in when we were still security police, and that was really still the peacekeeper days, because this was all kind of the follow on on the Cold War. The peacekeepers were our cold warriors and that was a huge part. Our defenders came in and really, that name started to really grow in 1997 when the name changed from security police to security forces, and we were actually going back to some of our heritage that was in Operation Safeside, which was the combat security police squadrons in Vietnam. So when you think about the courage that was displayed during the Tet Offensive at places like Tan Son Nhat that those were safe side warriors that were a part of these combat security police squadrons. And so the very — part of the lineage of the very beret, and flash that we have is actually a tip of the hat to the lighter blue berets, and that flash with the Falcon and the crossed runways that goes back, actually, to our Safeside heritage days. The beret goes back even farther than that. It goes back to Strategic Air Command, Elite Guard back in the 1950s. So it's this great lineage. And so, you know, for me, part of it was like when I got my first beret, wow, that meant something to me. And then, you know, as we then kind of transformed along the way, and this amazing career field grew, and the aspects of this air based ground defense, which was really, I would say, was kind of the draw that got me into wanting to go into security police, was I really liked this idea of, ‘How do we do base defense?' The law enforcement side was intriguing to me, but it was based defense that just had me just had me captivated. Naviere Walkewicz 14:44 And was that something that you found out early in your career? After you graduate the Academy, you're now in security police. Is that when you kind of realized, ‘This is where I want to go in, air, base, ground defense.'? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 14:54 It even happened at ops. So as we were spending time with the security police squadron, I ended up spending time with a captain who was heading up the Elite Guard, and there was an interaction we had as I was doing a ride along. He's like, ‘Hey, you need to come see me.' And so I went and met up with him, and he took me around and introduced me to all of his airmen that were part of the guard. He knew something all about them. And then we went to his office and talked, and he had gone to Ranger School and Airborne and things like that, and said, ‘Hey, like, the future of the career field is actually us looking to the past.' And really kind of got me fired up on what we call back then, air base ground defense. So when I got to McChord — McChord Air Force Base was my first duty station. And the great thing about going to AMC first is it AMC is a mobility — I mean, it is all about mobility and the operations associated with it. And so the first thing that that my task was as the second lieutenant in that squadron was, I was the air base ground defense flight commander. So that was, I mean — we would go out to Fort Lewis, and we would bivouac for days. And I had, you know, a 44 person team that was a base defense sector. I had specialized K-9 units heavy weapons. And back in those days, we had 81mm mortar teams and fire direction centers that we would set up. So I just got completely on board with the air base defense piece. And so that was that was very passionate for me, which then made the next step to Korea an absolutely logical next location, going to the wolf pack at Kunsan, not only getting a chance to then stand up Gwangju as a part of the first Air Expeditionary Unit to go back to Korea since the Korean War, but then doing the mobile reserve aspect of it. And it was just a great assignment. Naviere Walkewicz 16:40 Wow. So you were right in from the very beginning. You got kind of just into it all. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 16:45 So when we go back, when you were talking to me about, ‘Hey, when you make your mind up...' So I had this five-year plan built out. And, you know, my five-year plan was ‘OK, I'm gonna do my first assignment at the first opportunity to PCS. I need to go remote. I need to go to Korea. And then, OK, how can I get another overseas assignment after that? And then what do I need?' So the thought was, “Let me get to as many match comms as I can, as fast as I can in my career, and use that as a place — OK, because I want to build my experience base out. Because even as a lieutenant and young captain, I didn't want to come across as a one-trick pony. So my thought was, “Let me just get as much as I could under my belt early on.' And so after I left Kunsan, I ended up going to Aviano Air Base in Italy, which, for me, when you look at like those moments in life that are transformational, this was transformational on a different level. You know, some assignments you go to are very much professional growth assignments. This assignment, for me, was very much a personal growth assignment. Naviere Walkewicz 17:52 OK, so tell me more. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 17:55 I mean, when you think about it, four years at USAFA, very uniquely focused on a plate that is overflowing with things that you need to get done. So you are, you're focused on, you know, everything from grades to military training to all of those things. And then I get to my first base, and I am just working, and I'm volunteering for everything, and we have got a heavy ops tempo of exercises and things like that. And my leadership was fantastic, because they were throwing me into every opportunity I could. And then, boom, I go to Korea, and that is a unique warfighting focused — and at Kunsan especially was heavily warfighting focused. So now all of a sudden I am spending really, when you think about it, the last almost seven years being uniquely focused on mission, right? And so I get to Aviano Air Base, Italy, and the first thing that happens is Operation Allied Force kicks off. So I get there in January, boom. Allied Force kicks off. I think it was in end of February, beginning of March. And wow, what? Again, what an amazing, mission focused experience. And then after we finished up Allied Force and the base returned back to more of its steady-state standpoint, it was the Italians that took me under their wings, that because I made a specific choice, because I grew up — my mom's side of the family are all Italian immigrants — and I was always at my Nonnie and Papa's house, and there was just a lot of that growing up, which is that whole, like, you know, West Coast dad, East Coast mom thing, but I didn't know, you know, my mom and her brothers never spoke Italian. And there was a lot of that, that thought back in those days that, you know, ‘Hey, we're here to be American, so we're going to learn English, and we're not going to speak, you know, the language that we came from,' right? And so my mom and her brothers really never learned to speak Italian. And so my thought was, ‘Gosh, I grew up with this as such a strong part of my childhood that I need to put myself in a position where I can learn the language and start to kind of get an appreciation on the culture. Together.' And so I specifically — and really lucked out on a location, but I was about 20 kilometers away from Aviano. I was in an amazing town. I was the only American living in the complex that I was in. So I was like, ‘If I'm going to learn, I need to just dive in the way that you do, in the way that I do, and just start learning.' And so I ended up kind of building this support group of Italian families that all kind of took me under their wings. Naviere Walkewicz 20:27 Wait, I have to ask you a question, because back when you're at the Academy, you said you spoke to your now in-laws. So was Laurie not a part of this? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 20:35 So Laurie and I, right. So that's an important part of the story. Laurie and I dated for two years while I was a cadet, and when I was in tech school, her and I made the very difficult decision — and as painful it was — to part ways, so her and I actually parted ways for a few years. I was single at the time. Laurie was still here in Colorado Springs, and I was getting a lot of assignments under my belt, which, to be honest with you, you know, in retrospect, it was very fortunate, because I may not have made the same assignment choices had I been married at the time. And because I wasn't married, there were no other variables that I needed to factor in, other than personal experience goals, right, that I wanted to play into, and so I could just put down whatever assignment I wanted, and that allowed me the opportunity to just focus on job. And while Laurie and I stayed in touch, and I stayed in touch with her parents over the years, I was in Aviano, and her and I were not together at that point, Naviere Walkewicz 21:39 That makes sense. I was like, why were you alone in Italy? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 21:43 It's a fair question. But I also think that being single in that environment allowed me — and that's where I think it helped me develop as a person. And so there are a lot of, I think, really wonderful things that happened during that time, and that was because I was so uniquely mission focused. It was these, this amazing group of Italian friends together, that really kind of taught me about there, there's a time to relax, you know, there's a time to work, there's a time to relax, and there's also a real human need to enjoy life and enjoy time together, which is quintessentially Italian. And so, as my pool of this, these amazing people — that by the way, for the last 25 years, we've been going to visit. It's the same families that took me under their wings when I was a lieutenant, are the same families that were all tuning in as we were doing a live stream of me pinning on my second star. And so I've never been stationed anywhere else in my career where I felt more at home. And so I think this sense of like, ‘Wow. This like independently as my own person, this feels like home.' And as time went by and I started to get an appreciation for actually things that were a part of my childhood. Because, you know, we would have these long, huge meals, we would spend four or five hours at the table as a family. And for me, this was all normal. Well, that was also a part of kind of normal Italian life and normal Italian culture. You're not going out to dinner with your friends unless you're investing at least three hours at the restaurant. But for me, this was all — this felt normal to me. And so it was about, you know, you don't need to eat your food in five minutes. Naviere Walkewicz So contrary to USAFA, by the way. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN You know, you don't need to chew no more than seven times and swallow. So it was about experiencing that, and learning even just some things that became personal passions. Like, you know, how wine is made and why wine pairing matters, and how is this process? And so all of a sudden, this personal experience — and I think growing as a human being was taking place there, and I was maturing as a human being because I had gotten all of this phenomenal job experience under my belt, but this was where I was growing as a human being. And you know what's interesting, as time has gone by, I have noticed just how impactful that time was, because there are things that I've noticed, even as a senior officer, that I feel very strongly about, that I don't think I felt as strongly about as a junior officer, and it was because of that experience, and it was the aspect of when people are on leave, let's let them take leave. There is a part of the human experience that you need to enjoy time with people that you care about, because what it does is you're not slacking off from work. You're not leaving everybody hanging. What's happening is that, because you're taking some time to just enjoy life with people you care about, when you come back, the restorative effects that have taken place because you simply breathe and you enjoyed what it was that you were doing and whatever your passion was, you know, unencumbered, you could enjoy that. And we all realize that there are times, especially as you get into positions of authority, that, hey, they're going to need to call you periodically. But what was interesting is that, especially, I mean, I'll give an example as a wing commander. As a wing commander, despite realizing how important that mission is and how big Wright-Patt was, we, Laurie and I took leave, and we took two weeks of leave, and we went back to Italia and visited our friends and enjoyed life, because the culture helps us to slow down. But what it also did is I gave my staff some parameters. ‘Hey, here are the things that I think are important, like on a scale of one to 10. Here are the things that I think are an eight. So an eight or higher, call me. Don't text me.' I said, ‘Physically call me, because I will answer the phone knowing it's for — and then you have my undivided attention.' But what it also does is it means that my vice wing commander who is there, that I am empowering my vice wing commander and showing to everybody else I trust this leader to lead this wing in my absence. And if it's something that really needs my involvement, they'll get a hold of me. But I think our junior leaders need to see that at the senior most levels, that I can physically trust and emotionally trust my vice, my deputy, to hold things down while I'm gone, and that I'm not irreplaceable, and that if I did my job as a leader, I set the conditions that allowed the wing to thrive in my absence, and didn't mean that the wing had to hang on every decision I made or every word that I said, that I set the conditions that allowed them to be successful and fostered the leadership that allowed them to lead in my absence. And I felt great while I was gone, because I knew the people that we had there, and I knew the investment that we made in them. So that was kind of a long, you know, trip around this… Naviere Walkewicz 27:26 I mean, I think it was so powerful that you kind of learned that about yourself in Italy. And then would you say that there was anyone that you saw emulating that? Or was it just something over time, you developed this realization that you need to enjoy life and you need to allow people the space to do so. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 27:43 So I would say the people that I was emulating in that aspect were a lot of the families that were there. I have been fortunate that I have worked for some commanders who, at different times in their life felt the same way. Conversely, I also worked for commanders that did not feel the same way. And, you know, an interesting case in point on something that on an experience I had in a command bill and after I had left Aviano — this is when Laurie and I were back together; we were married at this point. I had a group commander that was frustrated about me taking leave and called me every day at 1500; every day at 1500 I got a telephone call. And you know what that does is now all of a sudden, you're eating lunch, and the clock is getting closer to 1500 and you start to get that knot in your stomach and you're like, ‘OK, what are we going to talk about today?' And so, unfortunately you don't see some of the same appreciation for that across the board. So how do we deal with it? The best thing that we deal with it is that that's where the buck stops. We don't pass it down to our people. So after I got the call from him, I didn't call back to the squadron. I got the call from him. We went through the call, we answered the questions, and I didn't then immediately turn around and call back to my ops officer who was running the Squadron at the time, and say, XYZ. And we just left it there, because at that point in time, the bucks got to stop it at that point. So I think that that's kind of the, you know, the alpha and the omega of learning and then also having your own personal resilience and courage to say, ‘I accept that the buck stops here, and I'm not going to let this roll downhill to my people.' Naviere Walkewicz 29:41 That's an excellent leadership lesson, because I was going to ask you, ‘What does that look like, and how would you how would you handle that?' And so you went right into that. Thank you so much for that. So what has it been like leading security forces — defenders? What's it been like? Has there been a moment in time where — a particular assignment or something's really stuck into your mind or into your heart, because it's just really affected you? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 30:05 Absolutely. I will tell you, as we go back, as we were kind of talking about decisions that you make in your youth, and that critical decision that I made in the fall of '94 I mean, I have worked with some of the most amazing people I've worked in my life. I have gotten a chance to go to places I never thought that I would see. And so, when you kind of roll up, I would say it was my final squadron command, and I would say that that was a real culminating squadron command. So I commanded four squadrons, and we command early, and we command often, and there's a lot of responsibility that that's placed on us as young officers to command as a young officer. And so having the opportunity to command two times as a captain, or one time, you know, as a major-select, then as a major, then as a lieutenant colonel. So that culminating command would have been Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in May of 2012 to May of 2013 and you know, it was interesting because all of my previous squadron commands had all been vested in either the contingency response or the kind of combat contingency environments. And it was almost like all of those were leading me to this moment. So let me just kind of set the conditions on what Bagram was like at that point in time. We had grown the squadron to about a 1,200-person squadron, huge squadron. And what we were also responsible for is we had taken over battle space ownership from the Army. So the Air Force was controlling 220 square miles of battle space throughout Parwan province, which is a huge. I mean, it's twice the size of Washington, D.C., if you want to try to give a comparison, more or less is fair to look at that level as just a huge amount of terrain in which our airmen were responsible from everything from humanitarian operations and goodwill outreach to engagements to literal kinetic action and combat in the battle space. And so a part of this culmination was, was an environment where as the defense force commander — as that squadron commander to them as a lieutenant colonel at that point — I mean how we are weaving ourselves into their lives, and how we are working with their section commanders, and how we're working and managing the value of our perimeter defenses with our teams that were going outside of the wire doing legitimate patrolling and engagement and things along those lines, was huge. And I think that that is an example. And when you look in the rearview mirror to say, ‘Gosh, now this, a lot of this makes sense, like all of these assignments, whether by design or whether by fate, somehow gave me an experience that at this moment, I needed it most.' And I think, as I talk, we've really enjoyed being here with the cadets and talking to them about, how does a leader really develop trust, and how does trust really manifest itself? And so, through the time that we were there, and the engagement as their leader — not just the leader who's just simply circulating, because that's important, but they also need to see your decision making and your strategic thought. And how do you react under pressure? How are you reacting as we've got incoming in, and what do you do being the person in the joint defense operations center, helping to manage that, and how are you both taking care of people, and how are you managing mission? And they see that. And so I would say that the development of that level of trust, especially in an environment where you are literally dealing with high costs, is huge. And so I think there was one, situation that really rests on my heart that and I don't talk about this to give validation, but I think I talk about it on it's about how people connect, and why do I feel so strongly that leadership is a human experience, like this is a what we are doing as a human experience. And so I was retiring my chief. So I was asked by my chief at Bagram — this was some years later. He's out of the 105th Base Defense Squadron out of the New York Air National Guard, and him and I were a phenomenal team there. Dave Pritchard and I just made a great team. And so he was retiring, and asked me to come back and do his retirement. So we had done the retirement ceremony. We were at the VFW afterwards, having his after-party and so forth. And so I had gone into the bathroom for a comfort break and washed my hands and things like that. And I noticed, as I was kind of moving towards the bathroom, there was kind of a young man who was kind of floating. You know, floating around. And so I came out of the restroom as I was finished, and he was waiting there at the exit of the restroom for me, and kind of, you know, got in front of me, and he stood there, and he looked at me, and he goes, ‘Hey, sir, I just, I needed to let you know this, that I was one of the airmen in one of your patrols that got hit by an IED, and he said, your investment in us, and the words that you used and when you came to talk to us, and the faith that you had in us gave me the courage to go back outside of the wire when you asked us to go back outside.' And so why that rests so heavy is when you think about what, what is the what is the con? The consequence there is that somebody believed in you so much that when you spoke to them and said the word, they were going to go back out and do it again, in spite of what had just happened to you. And I don't think there is any stronger level of trust that you can ask from somebody than to have one of those moments. And so that moment just resides very, very heavy on my soul, because I think it puts into real, tangible context, what is the responsibility of leadership? What is your responsibility of leadership? Naviere Walkewicz 36:42 I'm letting that sit a little bit, because I can't even imagine the amount of feeling that you had first for him, the courage to share that with you. Because I'm sure that he really wanted to share that. I'm curious if you can remember perhaps, what he might have been referring to, like what you were sharing with the men and women there. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 37:02 So, you know, it was also a part of things that, in times after Bagram have really been used for me as a senior leader on why I reinforced the importance of values. And, this was one particular incident there that really comes to mind is, and I use this when I when I talk to people, because I again, it's the consequence, and it's why our responsibility as leaders to set the right conditions and culture and all of that is so incredibly valuable. And so I talked to people about a story about we had had a situation where we had some real destabilization in the battle space. There was a particular village that we were having some unique challenges with, and we were doing a lot of kind of battlefield shaping, and we were doing some particular village engagement, and the engagement just wasn't happening. And so we were now kind of starting to escalate our interaction with the village a little bit more and as we were doing that, we were now going to start doing more shaping operations. So it just so happens that one of these nights —this was in the late fall, early winter of 2012 — and we were sending one of our patrols outside to do some shaping and engagement operation there. But this was in the evening. This was a different aspect that we were working for this particular mission. And so mounted up that the airmen are ready to go. They're pushing outside, they're right on time, and everything is going according to plan, and they are getting close to what we call the objective rally point. So that was where they were going to rally up before they actually moved into the village after that. And so everything was going according to plan. And the only thing they needed to do before they got to the objective rally point was really kind of go down a small gully over a rise, and then they meet at their objective rally point at that point. And so teams are moving out. First truck over the rise, getting to the point. Second truck over, everything's going fine. Third truck over, fourth truck after that, BOOM, off goes the IED. And what had happened is, they were waiting for this opportunity, and they knew exactly what to do. And that is, if you hit the last truck in the movement, you've got three trucks that are gone ahead of time, and now we've got folks in a very precarious situation. And so what I talk to people about, when we talk about conditions and the real impact that a leader has, is I'll talk to them about who was in that truck, who was in that MRAP that we were sending down at that point in time. And inside that MRAP was the face of America. And the explosion was significant, and it did some considerable damage. It threw the engine out of it, penetrated the hole, ripped one of the doors off the side in the front. And so, you know, the truck commander was National Guard from, actually from Tennessee, and he had gotten injured, broken an arm because that door had peeled back. And as the door peeled back, his arm got caught and broke his arm. The driver, Asian American coming out of the state of California, active duty. He had injuries to his legs because of the penetration of the hole. We had a gunner up in the turret, African American female from the New York Air National Guard. She had a broken pelvis at the time, and she just stayed on the gun the entire time despite her injuries. We had our radio operator. European American female coming from the Midwest. She was actually Air Force Reserve. She had a case of TBI from the explosion, and she was still making calls on the radio. We had two of our riflemen in the back, both came from Hispanic heritage, one of them from Puerto Rican heritage, one of them from Mexican heritage. They were very fortunate that while they got tossed around the back and had some minor TBI issues, they were more or less bumps and bruises, and they were all by themselves. Yeah, because they were all alone, they were in the middle of Afghanistan, they had just gotten hit. And so for me, what's so important about that story is that if we did not set the right culture and the right values and the right expectations and be in a leader by example, and they were harassing each other on Bagram, and they were assaulting each other on Bagram, and they weren't respecting each other on Bagram, and they didn't care about each other on Bagram, they would have died out there that night. But they treated each other like a family, and they cared about each other like a family, and they took care of each other like a family that night, and they lived and they all came home. So for me, if we're going to talk about what is the true consequence of leadership — and I use consequence deliberately, because oftentimes that's used in a pejorative manner — but this is the true result of your actions, that if you don't set those conditions, then you are legitimately putting your people at risk. And so that whole experience at Bagram, and in so many ways that we all carry our scars and our bruises and things like that. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world, but that was tough. And I often describe it as a tale of two cities. You know, it was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Naviere Walkewicz 42:34 I think a lot of times, when leaders go through experiences like that, they have some more fortunate than others, but a support network. And I would guess it would be your family. How has your family played a role in these moments in your life, in helping you as a leader? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 42:54 So I will say it's primarily my wife. I have got this wonderful support of parents and my in-laws and so forth. And what's been truly fortunate is how close I am with my in-laws. Because when Laurie and I were dating while I was a cadet, anytime I had an overnight or weekend pass, I was over at her mom and dad's house and so I think that being married to somebody that has truly known you from the beginning, you know, where, whether we got a training weekend going on, or something like that, or I'm working first BCT or whatnot, that Laurie was a unique part of all of these things. And I would say that it has been incredibly heartwarming to watch her interact with the cadets here, because it's fun, because her and I do everything together. And so as we're going to events, I'll have a group of cadets that I'm talking to, and then I'll look over and Laurie's surrounded by a group of cadets who are asking her just very insightful questions about our experiences together, and ‘Was it tough sending them away on deployments?' Or how, you know, in those tough times, ‘How do you how do you keep your marriage together?' Just really insightful questions to ask, but she has just been so central to everything that I do. And so going back a little bit and talking about, like the strength of our relationship and how much that helps, we actually needed to have that breakup period as horribly painful as that was, and wow, was I carrying a torch for her all of those years. I mean, I remember, you know, as time was going by, I would talk to my mom, and I'd be like, ‘Mom, I just wish that Laurie could see the man that I become.' But we needed that time because oftentimes, and what we found in ourselves, we didn't know it at the time, because you're living in your environment and you can't see it, right? Is that in youth, things are often absolutes. And you often will get to a place where you're starting your marriage, your relationship is growing. And if you start to talk about marriage, there are things that we have found were absolutes for us. You know, certain things that we did, how we practiced our faith. Did we open up presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but the expectation was somebody was going to have to give up their particular tradition to conform to the tradition of one of the spouses. And in your youth, that seems reasonable, and I think we needed that time to be apart, having had that time together at such an important time in each of our lives here. But we needed that time apart, because I think we needed that frame of reference as we grew as people into adults. Grew as young adults. And now all of a sudden here I'm getting multiple assignments, and now being thrust into leadership positions with accountability and authority, and then coming back to that, all of a sudden, you're realizing, ‘Gosh, the world just isn't always in absolutes. And maybe a marriage doesn't have to be zero sum, but maybe a marriage can be positive sum.' And do we really have to make somebody give up something that is important to them, that is a part of their identity? Because somehow you feel like you have to conform your marriage into one side or the other. And so, I think for us that was that was so incredibly important. So to kind of get to that story is that, you know, I left Aviano and I went to Al Dhafra. I was in Al Dhafra actually for September 11. It was my first squadron command, but it was a squadron command I wasn't expecting, because I came there as a chief of security forces for about a 70-person security forces flight as a part of the 763rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Al Dhafra. And then all of a sudden, 9/11 happens, and we went from about 400 people on Al Dhafra to about 4,000. And you know, U-2s came in, ISR platforms came in. Everything changed. And all of a sudden, this 70-person security forces flight that I had grew into about a 350-person security forces squadron. And AFSET said, ‘Hey, Sherman, you built it, you keep it, and we'll replace you with a major when you leave.' And I was a six-year captain, and so then finishing up that assignment, and I got picked up for — there was a point to that story — but it was about coming back, is that, hey, I got these new, unique experiences that grew me under my belt. And then I came back to do an AFIT program at Cal State San Bernardino. And that was the moment that brought Laurie and I back together. Naviere Walkewicz In what way? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN And so, I had a health scare. Nobody knows what it was. We never figured it out. Doctors never figured it out. But it was one of those things, like, all of a sudden, I shotgun something out to everybody I knew. I said, ‘Hey, doctors are a little bit concerned, you know, keep me in your thoughts.' And so Laurie, Laurie is like, ‘Holy cow, you can't just send a one liner and leave it at that.' So she called my mom and dad and said, ‘What's his phone number?' And so it started to turn into ‘Hey, give me all of your test results after you get it back.' Then pretty soon we're talking a couple times a week, and then pretty soon we're talking every other day, and then we are talking every day. And the beauty of this was that we already knew each other, so we already knew what everybody's favorite color was — by the way, Laurie's is purple. We knew what music each other liked. We knew things about each other. And some of the things that actually drew us together when we were dating here was, you know, we had things like some common family traditions, like, you know, Italian fish on Christmas Eve and sitting around the table for hours and stuff like that were all things that we had in common. So we already knew that about each other. Now, her and I on the phone, we're getting into some real, like substantive discussions, children, faith. How do you how you raise children? How do you know, what are we going to do for different traditions? What happens if I have to take a remote; what does that mean? And so we were getting into these really, deep conversations. And, you know, I would come back from either class or then when I PCs to the security forces center out at Lackland, you know, I would come home from work, and this was in the old flip phone days where you had a battery that came off the back. So I would have one battery in the charger, and then I would have an earbud in, and I'd have the phone in my pocket. Yeah, and I'd come home and to call her, and we would just go throughout the evening. So I'm ironing BDUs at the time, shining my boots and stuff like that, and so, and we were just talking. And then we were just kind of like living life together. And, after that point, it became very clear that those two young people who sincerely cared about each other, now, each of us grew up and had experiences in a place that allowed us to really appreciate each other and really love each other. And you know, we were married just a little over a year after that. And it has been phenomenal, her support. And I think one of the great testaments to that was, 10 days after we got married, I went to Baghdad, but she's like, ‘I grew up in the Air Force. I know how this works. We're gonna move the house. I'll get the house put together.' And she's also a professional in her own right, which is great. So she was working in a legal office here as a paralegal and legal assistant here in Colorado Springs, and has been a GS employee for the last 18-plus years. So what's great is she, too has her own aspect of service. What I love about it is that in the jobs that she's in and then the jobs that I'm in, we can talk shop, and then we cannot talk shop, right? And so she's the first person I go to if I have to ask a question, she's the first person that I'll go to say, ‘Hey, did I do that right? Or do I need to backtrack on that a little bit?' Because she knows me, and she knows me completely, and that level of trust and love and faith that we have for each other has truly enabled me to be able to serve our airmen on a level that I don't think would have been possible without her. Naviere Walkewicz 51:59 Would you say that she's had a role in your development as a leader, in the way that you lead. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 52:05 Oh, absolutely, absolutely, because, and I love it, because her experience as a brat and her dad as a chief gives her a very unique lens to look through. And so the advice that she gives me she can give me from her teenage self in some way, you know, from that experience, watching how her dad interacted with something or knowing her aspect about this. And then as she's developed professionally, working on the E-Ring at the Pentagon a couple different times, working for very senior leaders, knows how to navigate that space. So then I'll go to her for advice, like, ‘Hey, how did your boss handle something like this?' ‘Well, let me tell you what, how we work through this...' And so I would absolutely say that that Laurie has uniquely influenced and helped me to become the best version of myself that I can be. Naviere Walkewicz 53:03 Wow. Well, I want to ask you a little bit about developing yourself as well, because one of the questions we like to ask is, what are you doing every day to make yourself a better leader? Can you share what that might be? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 53:17 I've said it a couple times during this: I truly believe that leadership is a human experience, so for me, it's about the interaction. And so oftentimes, advice that I've given to people — like there are amazing resources abound that can help people, give people leadership perspectives, and we can either learn it from history, or we can learn it through study. We can learn it through analysis. We can learn it through books. And I've always talked to people about use the external tools that help to grow you, but make sure that you're using it to influence the personality that you already have. Because oftentimes what happens is, is that people will have this really strong desire to say, “OK, I want to make sure that I do this right. And so in doing this right, let me make sure I've got my checklist, and so I'm going to greet them, I'm going to ask them how their family is, I'm going to ask them if the kid did all right in the baseball game. And I'm going to go through my checklist, and if I do that, I fulfill my leadership obligation.' Now not everybody does, and I'm making generalities on but, but I think that there can oftentimes be the allure that when you are focusing on what may be the theory or the principle of the day, and not using it to supplement and grow and mature your personality, that there is a strong allure to want to wholesale replicate what it was that you learned, and you're doing it in a noble place. It's not nefarious. It's being done in a noble, genuine place. But there's that allure to say, ‘OK, good, I really like what I've learned. I'm going to do these things and step through.' And so why I talk so much about the experience, and why I talk so much about the interaction, is that the more that you know the people that you may be influencing by just simply being there and understanding what that means. It means you're eternalizing the value of your presence. You're listening to their stories, and you're understanding for them, what are the things that are motivating them? What are the things that they value? Because each generation, each environment, each condition is going to require something a little bit different from you, and if you don't take the time to understand your environment or generation or cultural nuances or things like that on where you're at, then you are missing that opportunity to develop trust, where they start to believe in you as a person, and not just the rank and position that you hold, because they'll do the right thing for the rank and position that you hold. That's the caliber of people that we have in this Air Force of ours. They'll do the right thing. But if you transcend that in the fact that they believe in you wholeheartedly and trust you, oftentimes with their own lives, it means that you've invested something into them, where they truly know that you care. And that goes back to that A1C on the cork board that said, ‘I need somebody who cares about me as a person.' Naviere Walkewicz 56:41 You know, as I think about what you've experienced through your career and the lessons you've learned, both professionally and personally, what would you say to yourself back then that you should be doing back then to get to where you're at now? Because we have listeners that are like, ‘What can I start planting today, that will bloom down the road?' MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 57:03 Absolutely. And so I think if I was to go back and put my arm around Cadet First Class Sherman, I think what I would do is — because it is, it is oftentimes easy to look in the crystal clear mirror of hindsight, right? But I think instead, what I would do is I would put my arm around him and say, ‘Keep following your heart and let the failures happen, because the failures are going to grow and let the stumbles happen and enjoy the triumphs with people and be appreciative for what got you there.' And I think it would be more of the encouragement of like, ‘You have laid out a path for you take the path wherever it goes, the joy, the pain, the triumph, the failure, all of those things, because all of that helps to develop the leader.' And oftentimes you want to go back and say, gosh, if I was going to talk to my previous self, then I would say, ‘Ah, don't do that one thing,' right? But I'm looking at it saying that if I didn't do that one thing, then I'm not sure that I would be where I'm at at a time to make sure I didn't do that thing at a moment that was incredibly catastrophic. And so while we have this desire to want to prevent ourselves from the failure, I think that what we have to do is say you're going to fail and you need to fail, and it's going to sound — relish in the failure, because it is often emotionally troubling, especially those of us that come here because we are Type A perfectionist, and that's part of the draw of coming to this amazing place. Is there a certain personality traits that help us to be successful here, but not all of those personality traits make us uniquely successful in all situations outside, and so you've got to have that failure at some point in time. And the failure that you can get up and say, ‘OK, I did this. This happened. My soul is bruised. My ego is bruised. I may have to take a little bit of accountability for this. OK, now I need to have the courage to take the next step forward again.' Because I could easily retreat back to a safe place, and I could become risk averse, and all that does is hurt the people around you. OK. I have to have the courage to breathe and take the step again and get back in there. So I would tell my — I don't think I would want to prevent myself from doing anything. I think even the growth that took place while Laurie and I were apart — and, like I said, that torch that I carried for her — I think if I had whispered in my ear and said, ‘Hey, just relax, you're gonna marry her.' I think I needed that torch, because that in my own mind and my own emotion was me needing to become a better man, and so I think I needed to go through — like, sometimes you need the struggle, and sometimes the things that are most valuable are the things that you had to go through the struggle for, right? And I think that's where my blue collar ethics background comes in. It's like, I'm just going to roll up my sleeves and I'm going to work through the struggle. Naviere Walkewicz 1:00:36 Wow. Well, we took a look back. I just want to ask you a question forward. So do you think about legacy? And what do you want your legacy to be? Is that something that plays in your mind as you wake up each morning or go to lead people? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 1:00:50 I think the way that I look at it is, I look at it in a in a different aspect, and the way that I look at it is in a very confined point to point. It's not about what is going to be Tom Sherman's legacy when he retires someday, but was that interaction that I had with somebody to give them some encouraging words when they fell down, did that matter to them at that moment? Because there are people for me in my failures that were commanders, that were leaders, that were mentors, that were senior enlisted, that, you know, grabbed that lieutenant by the arm and helped to lift me up. And their memories are etched in my fabric. And so I think that it's about that individual event that your legacy will live in the people in which you made a difference to them. Naviere Walkewicz 1:01:49 Well, I'll share with you, I was telling my son — he's a cadet, a third-class cadet, actually, now he's about to be a C2C — that I was doing this podcast with you, and he said, ‘What an incredible leader, Mom, he motivates me. He's so inspiring.' So your legacy is already through my son— MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 1:02:05 Thank you! That means — thank you so much for sharing. Naviere Walkewicz 1:02:10 —that you really made an impact. So we're going to get to your final thoughts here in a little bit. But before we do, I want to make sure that you know our podcasts publish on every second Tuesday of the month, and you can certainly listen to Gen. Sherman in any of our other podcasts on longblueleadership.org. So Gen. Sherman, what would you like to leave our listeners with today? This has been incredible, by the way. Thank you. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 1:02:32 I have truly enjoyed this, and it's just been — it was just wonderful having the conversation with you, and it's in real honor to be a part of this. I truly believe in what you're doing here. Naviere Walkewicz 1:02:43 Thank you. It's my pleasure to help share your story and help inspire others. And is there anything we might leave with our listeners that that they can part with tonight? MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 1:02:51 I think, for me, you need to love what you do and love I think, is one of the most powerful words in language. And I don't just say the English language. I say in language because of the strength behind the meaning and how wide the meaning can be impactful. If you love what you do, people will feel that your very presence will make a difference. They'll feel that if you love what you do, then you're being, you know, internally, inspired by the love that you have for what you're being a part of, right? If you love and care about your people, they will follow you to the ends of the Earth, because they know the passion that you have and the belief that you have in them. So I think that as we go back to these things, we oftentimes look at the terms of courage and love may seem diametrically opposed, and I would attest that you can be most courageous and that your courage will be most effective only when it's buttressed by the love that you have in what you do and who you do it with. Naviere Walkewicz 1:04:08 Thank you, sir, for that. Thank you for being on Long Blue Leadership. MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN 1:04:11 Absolutely. Thank you. This was a wonderful time. It was a real honor. Naviere Walkewicz 1:04:14 Thank you. Well, until next time, I'm Naviere Walkewicz. We'll see you on Long Blue Leadership. KEYWORDS Leadership, Air Force Academy, Major General Thomas P. Sherman, mentorship, personal growth, security forces, work-life balance, family support, continuous improvement, legacy The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation
For the first time in our Veterans Breakfast Club history, we're shining a spotlight on an essential but often invisible force in America's recent wars: military contractors. Join us for this important livestream conversation with Ron Farina, Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and author of Out of the Shadows, and a panel of former contractors who served alongside U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones under Department of Defense contracts. We also welcome Rob Kugler, a Marine Corps veteran, whose brother, Mike, served as a military contractor and was killed in Iraq in 2007. This profound loss propelled Rob into a mission of healing and storytelling. In his memoir, A Dog Named Beautiful, Rob chronicles his cross-country journey with his three-legged chocolate lab, Bella. This heartfelt narrative captures the essence of love, loss, and the road to recovery. Through his travels, Rob found solace and a renewed purpose, connecting with countless individuals and sharing stories that underscore the human cost of war. Also joining us are Traci Protzenko and Colette Protzenko Sparks, sisters of Paul Protzenko, who was killed in action on July 9, 2011 in Panjshir, Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Paul dedicated his life to the service of his country and its people. He proudly served in the Army's 82nd Airborne stationed overseas in Vicenza, Italy, retiring with the rank of Sergeant. Upon receiving an honorable discharge, he spent the next 21 years as a State Trooper. He earned the Life Saving Medal twice during his tenure. Immediately upon retirement from the State Police in 2009, he left for Afghanistan to become part of a Police Mentoring Team that trained the Afghan National Police Force. Paul was stationed for the better part of 2 years in the Panjshir Province of Afghanistan. During this time, he was instrumental in bringing the first Crime Scene Investigation Class to the Afghan National Police Force. This innovative class was well received and written up in the Army magazine, “Stars and Stripes.” Paul was killed on July 9, 2011 on the way to the Darah Police Station by an Afghan National Directorate of Security. This growing reliance on civilian contractors raises fundamental questions: Are contractors part of the military profession? Do they share the same code of conduct, sense of duty, and social obligation? How do they view their roles—and how do traditional military personnel view them? Research shows that many contractors come from law enforcement or prior military backgrounds, but often operate with different motivations, typically driven more by economic incentives than by the vocational calling traditionally associated with military service. Their training and operational directives are frequently dictated by government contracts, but they exist outside the chain of command and military legal structure. This “securitized management of violence” blurs the line between soldier and mercenary—and challenges long-held notions of military professionalism. Despite their integral role, contractors often return home to no welcome, no resources, and no community. They lack access to VA services, often receive no formal recognition, and are largely absent from public memory. As Ron Farina emphasizes in his work, these “invisible warriors” bear many of the same wounds as veterans—PTSD, moral injury, survivor's guilt—but without the support structure uniformed veterans rely on. This program will feature the voices of those contractors. They'll speak about their motivations, missions, relationships with military personnel, and the personal struggles they've faced in service and upon returning home. We'll also discuss the broader ethical, legal, and economic implications of America's unprecedented reliance on private military firms—some of which now rival the defense budgets of small nations. Let's give voice to those who served without a uniform but with no less courage, commitment, and consequence. We're grateful to UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!
Mike and Christian lose their surfboards and have to move to Cincinnati to follow the adventures of Airborne - a sad teenager doomed to wander the Earth, rollerblading
Today we continue our conversation on community and public service with Paul Van Haute. Paul grew up just outside the Philadelphia area, where he attended Villanova University, part of a long family tradition. He later had a career in the military which he describes as "awesome"! He served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, 21st Chemical Company.... He was stationed on a remote, one-square-mile island in the middle of the Pacific, dealing with chemical agents. Paul made 72 jumps during his military career, though his last jump unfortunately resulted in an injury that led to 70 operations! After his military service and a career as a sales engineer, Paul transitioned into public work, earning a Master's in Public Administration from Kennesaw. He even served as mayor of Holly Springs, Georgia, where he focused on improving zoning and addressing community issues, helping the town grow significantly. Since January 2010, Paul has been serving as the County Manager for Putnam County, overseeing 300 employees and working daily for the over 20,000 citizens. Under his leadership, the county has become financially envied by others similar in size, proactively managing infrastructure, like roads, and dealing with several major challenges. He's also been instrumental in exploring some innovative road materials, which promises roads that are "as hard as concrete, if not harder" and can last 20 or more years.... Paul is committed to strong city-county relations, fostering mutual respect and honest discussions. Paul brings a unique blend of experience and dedication to his role, viewing his team as a "second family" focused on the mission of serving the community. We're excited to hear more about his insights and experience. Todays Guest: Paul Van Haute - Putnam County Manager Website: https://www.putnamcountyga.us/ Address: 117 Putnam Drive; Eatonton, GA 31024 Phone: 706-485-5826 Sponsors: ProSouth Services https://prosouthservices.com/ Tim Broyles State Farm https://mydowntownagency.com/Habitat for Humanity of Putnam Reynolds Community Radio https://reynoldscommunityradio.com/
Stealth takes us straight into the Cold War cockpit on a Navy E-2 Hawkeye as he stood the watch during some of America's most tense moments. From scrambling on alert after Reagan was shot, to deploying over the North Atlantic in DEFCON 2, to narrowly avoiding catastrophe when a 'friendly' dropped a bomb on a U.S. cruiser—this episode is packed with edge-of-your-seat stories. Stealth shares what it was like controlling the airspace above the fleet, even spotting submarines that were 'never there' from 15,000 feet, and managing chaos (and comedy) from the radar station. It's a mix of Cold War intensity, humor, and reverent remembrance for shipmates lost. Don't miss this look into the flying saucer dome of naval aviation.
This is the VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America. SUBMITTED BY: Mike Marfell from the Bluff City Outdoors Show _____________________________________________________________ Hey Mike Marfell here from the Bluff City Outdoors Show submitting this in behalf of my late Father 32 years in the Illinois Air National Guard. Allen E Marfell was born July 20th, 1937 and passed August 12th 2019. Allen joined the Air National Guard 183rd Tactical Fighter wing unit in 1955 at the age of 18 Allen served in this Unit based out of Springfield, Illinois for 31 years where he then retired as Master Sergeant on the flight line. He had multiple deployments overseas including Great Britain, France and Italy. He was also active during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He loved his service and made lifelong friendships. As his children we have great memories of seeing him in his uniform and feeling great pride in his service. Every summer he would spend a month in Wisconsin with his Unit and we would follow and vacation there. Also there were innumerable air shows we attended as a family sitting on the flight line and feeling tremendous pride that our father was part of this. When he passed many years later in 2019 many fellow service members attended his funeral with military rites. Some of these men we had never met but they came to show their respect 20 some years after his retirement. They shared great stories of him and his service, one of our favorites of him driving a truck on the flight line with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Serving their country together had built lifelong friendships and an unbreakable bond. Two of Allen's grandsons followed in his footsteps with military service. Tyler A Robinett served 11 years in the 82nd Airborne ending rank of Captain & Graduated Ranger School. Spencer Marfell currently serving in Idiana Army National Guard Airborn Infantry C Co 2-134 IN (ABN) Rank - Specialist with 3 years served and a 1 year deployment to Kenya Africa. ________________________________________________________________ This is today’s VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America on NewsTalkSTL. With support from our friends at: DG FIREARMS - PATRIOT HEATING AND COOLING - BEST BUY FLOORINGSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is the VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America. SUBMITTED BY: Mike Marfell from the Bluff City Outdoors Show _____________________________________________________________ Hey Mike Marfell here from the Bluff City Outdoors Show submitting this in behalf of my late Father 32 years in the Illinois Air National Guard. Allen E Marfell was born July 20th, 1937 and passed August 12th 2019. Allen joined the Air National Guard 183rd Tactical Fighter wing unit in 1955 at the age of 18 Allen served in this Unit based out of Springfield, Illinois for 31 years where he then retired as Master Sergeant on the flight line. He had multiple deployments overseas including Great Britain, France and Italy. He was also active during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He loved his service and made lifelong friendships. As his children we have great memories of seeing him in his uniform and feeling great pride in his service. Every summer he would spend a month in Wisconsin with his Unit and we would follow and vacation there. Also there were innumerable air shows we attended as a family sitting on the flight line and feeling tremendous pride that our father was part of this. When he passed many years later in 2019 many fellow service members attended his funeral with military rites. Some of these men we had never met but they came to show their respect 20 some years after his retirement. They shared great stories of him and his service, one of our favorites of him driving a truck on the flight line with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Serving their country together had built lifelong friendships and an unbreakable bond. Two of Allen's grandsons followed in his footsteps with military service. Tyler A Robinett served 11 years in the 82nd Airborne ending rank of Captain & Graduated Ranger School. Spencer Marfell currently serving in Idiana Army National Guard Airborn Infantry C Co 2-134 IN (ABN) Rank - Specialist with 3 years served and a 1 year deployment to Kenya Africa. ________________________________________________________________ This is today’s VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran, during Veterans Month in America on NewsTalkSTL. With support from our friends at: DG FIREARMS - PATRIOT HEATING AND COOLING - BEST BUY FLOORINGSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Send us a textU.S. Army Special Operations Command Sergeant Major JoAnn Naumann returns to the podcast—this time from the range at Fort Bragg—for a conversation on leadership, transformation, and enabling the next generation of special operations forces.With nearly three decades in uniform and two years as the senior enlisted leader of USASOC, CSM Naumann shares the mindset shifts, hard-won lessons, and bottom-up insights that have shaped her time in the seat. She opens up about the transition from doer to enabler, why modeling honest feedback is non-negotiable for leaders, and how she's staying grounded while helping shape the future of Army Special Operations.In this episode, they explore:Why she believes she has the best job in the Army—and how she stays energized by the Soldiers around herWhat it means to lead across 80+ countries, and how she stays connected to the ground truthHow USASOC is driving transformation in structure, tech, and human performance—and why speed and soldier feedback are essentialThe challenge (and opportunity) of going from “operator” to enabler—and how shifting mindset scales impact across 36,000 teammatesWhy NCOs must be willing to say “that's a dumb idea”—and the importance of modeling that kind of candor for the forceThe value of reading, curiosity, and lifelong learning in sustaining leadership at the highest levelsHow she adapts her approach to different commanders—and what it really takes to make that relationship workWhether you're an NCO navigating your first staff job, a commander looking to build trust across the chain, or a lifelong learner looking for leadership insights forged under pressure, this episode delivers a front-row seat to how transformation happens—one question, one conversation, one Soldier at a time.Command Sergeant Major JoAnn Naumann currently serves as the Senior Enlisted Leader for U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), where she advises on matters affecting over 36,000 Soldiers across the special operations enterprise.Born and raised in New Jersey, CSM Naumann graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in American Studies and Government before enlisting in the Army in 1996 as a 35P Voice Language Analyst. She completed the Arabic Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute and Advanced Individual Training at Goodfellow Air Force Base.Over nearly three decades of service, CSM Naumann has held a range of leadership positions, including assignments with the 311th MI Battalion, the 344th MI Battalion, and Special Mission Units. She has deployed 14 times across CENTCOM and AFRICOM, and previously served as the Senior Enlisted Leader for Special Operations Command–Korea (SOCKOR), and as the Command Sergeant Major for the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Intelligence Brigade.She is a graduate of the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy and has completed numerous military schools, including the Military Freefall Course, Airborne and Air Assault Schools, and the SOF Intel Leaders Course.CSM Naumann's awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (1OLC), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, and the Order of Saint Michael. She is married to SGM (Ret.) Thomas Baird, who most recently served as the TRADOC G3 Sergeant Major.
In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we shine a light on a unique community tucked away in South Louisiana: veterans who find healing, camaraderie, and fun on the ice rink. Our guests, Eric Iorio and Danielle ("Dani") Francis, share their inspiring journeys from military service to building a new mission at home — through Acadiana Veterans Hockey. “I was born here in Lafayette, Louisiana. Graduated from Teurlings back in 2008, which seems like forever ago,” Eric begins. After joining the 101st Airborne in 2013 and deploying to Afghanistan, he recounts how life changed on July 28, 2013, when his base came under attack and he took two rounds from a sniper. “I always say it could have been a lot worse. I have all my digits,” he says humbly, remembering the buddy he lost that day. Eric was the recipient of the Purple Heart in honor of his service to our country and sustaining injuries due to enemy action. For Dani, the path started in Illinois. “I actually went into the military right out of high school. I did a bunch of sports in high school and then didn't know what I wanted to do,” she shares. Inspired by her older brother, she became a military police officer, serving in Guantanamo Bay and later alongside Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq where she was one of four females selected. “It was truly incredible because it was the sense of I was actually doing something with a purpose. There was a bigger purpose at the end of that mission.” Both Eric and Dani's stories highlight the resilience and discipline they built in uniform — and how they carried that into civilian life. Now, they channel that same spirit into Acadiana Veterans Hockey — an open-arms, non-contact league for veterans of all ages and skill levels. “For us as an organization, being able to play hockey together is absolutely amazing, for physical reasons and mental health,” Eric explains. “If they didn't have hockey here… they don't know where they would be at this point.” Dani laughs about how she was pulled onto the ice by Courtney Dugas, who along with her husband, Max, are active with the team: “I said, Courtney, I've never played hockey before. She goes, it's okay, come on out. Next thing I knew, I was meeting her and the team at the rink on a Tuesday night and they were giving me all the gear.” Eric also recounted how fun it is to play with his dad, Angelo ("Pops") Iorio, who is retired from the Lafayette Police Department. "He is known as a Goon, someone that is like an enforcer. They go out and hit people on the ice. He's not meaning to do it. He just can't stop. So he uses other people to stop for him. We'll have to let the other teams know, hey, he didn't mean that, you know? It's just he's learning." More than just a game, Acadiana Veterans Hockey is a lifeline. The group connects veterans to resources, benefits, and — most importantly — each other. They help with VA ratings, build wheelchair ramps for local VFWs, and make sure no one feels alone. “We want everyone to feel included… call us at two, three in the morning if you're having something wrong and someone's going to be there,” says Eric. But ice time and equipment aren't free. The team welcomes local support — whether you can sponsor a practice, donate gear, or come cheer them on at their next scrimmage. “Hockey is very expensive, from just the ice alone to the gear involved,” Dani points out. “Any donation or sponsorship truly helps.” Save the Date:
Today, I'm thrilled to have a guest who has a deep understanding of community and public service: Paul Van Haute. Paul grew up just outside the Philadelphia area, where he attended Villanova University, part of a long family tradition. He later had a career in the military which he describes as "awesome"! He served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, 21st Chemical Company.... He was stationed on a remote, one-square-mile island in the middle of the Pacific, dealing with chemical agents. Paul made 72 jumps during his military career, though his last jump unfortunately resulted in an injury that led to 70 operations! After his military service and a career as a sales engineer, Paul transitioned into public work, earning a Master's in Public Administration from Kennesaw. He even served as mayor of Holly Springs, Georgia, where he focused on improving zoning and addressing community issues, helping the town grow significantly. Since January 2010, Paul has been serving as the County Manager for Putnam County, overseeing 300 employees and working daily for the over 20,000 citizens. Under his leadership, the county has become financially envied by others similar in size, proactively managing infrastructure, like roads, and dealing with several major challenges. He's also been instrumental in exploring some innovative road materials, which promises roads that are "as hard as concrete, if not harder" and can last 20 or more years.... Paul is committed to strong city-county relations, fostering mutual respect and honest discussions. Paul brings a unique blend of experience and dedication to his role, viewing his team as a "second family" focused on the mission of serving the community. We're excited to hear more about his insights and experience. Todays Guest: Paul Van Haute - Putnam County Manager Website: https://www.putnamcountyga.us/ Address: 117 Putnam Drive; Eatonton, GA 31024 Phone: 706-485-5826 Sponsors: ProSouth Services https://prosouthservices.com/ Tim Broyles State Farm https://mydowntownagency.com/Habitat for Humanity of Putnam Reynolds Community Radio https://reynoldscommunityradio.com/
En septembre 1944, les Alliés lancent l'opération Market Garden, un pari audacieux pour pénétrer rapidement en Allemagne par les Pays-Bas. Conçue par Montgomery, l'offensive repose sur la prise de cinq ponts stratégiques via des parachutages massifs et une progression au sol. La 101e Airborne, dont la Easy Company, se distingue au sud, mais les troupes britanniques, à Arnhem, se heurtent à une résistance féroce. Mal préparée, mal renseignée, l'opération s'enlise : mauvaise météo, retards logistiques, communications défaillantes. Surtout, deux divisions SS bloquent la route. À Arnhem, les paras britanniques, isolés, tiennent héroïquement avant de succomber. L'échec coûte la vie à des milliers de soldats et civils, précipite une famine aux Pays-Bas, et prolonge la guerre. Market Garden reste un symbole d'héroïsme… et d'imprudence stratégique. Merci pour votre écoute Vous aimez l'Heure H, mais connaissez-vous La Mini Heure H https://audmns.com/YagLLiK , une version pour toute la famille.Retrouvez l'ensemble des épisodes de l'Heure H sur notre plateforme Auvio.be :https://auvio.rtbf.be/emission/22750 Intéressés par l'histoire ? Vous pourriez également aimer nos autres podcasts : Un jour dans l'Histoire : https://audmns.com/gXJWXoQL'Histoire Continue: https://audmns.com/kSbpELwAinsi que nos séries historiques :Chili, le Pays de mes Histoires : https://audmns.com/XHbnevhD-Day : https://audmns.com/JWRdPYIJoséphine Baker : https://audmns.com/wCfhoEwLa folle histoire de l'aviation : https://audmns.com/xAWjyWCLes Jeux Olympiques, l'étonnant miroir de notre Histoire : https://audmns.com/ZEIihzZMarguerite, la Voix d'une Résistante : https://audmns.com/zFDehnENapoléon, le crépuscule de l'Aigle : https://audmns.com/DcdnIUnUn Jour dans le Sport : https://audmns.com/xXlkHMHSous le sable des Pyramides : https://audmns.com/rXfVppvVous aimez les histoires racontées par Jean-Louis Lahaye ? Connaissez-vous ces podcast?Sous le sable des Pyramides : https://audmns.com/rXfVppv36 Quai des orfèvres : https://audmns.com/eUxNxyFHistoire Criminelle, les enquêtes de Scotland Yard : https://audmns.com/ZuEwXVOUn Crime, une Histoire https://audmns.com/NIhhXpYN'oubliez pas de vous y abonner pour ne rien manquer.Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement. Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
This week we have NEW Rock and Roll music that DESERVES to be heard from Jack Starr, Cicadastone, Jeff Keith, Glenn Hughes, The Dead Daisies, Inglorious, Airborne, Infamous Stiffs, Bloody Dice, and Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown. Plus music from Spinal Tap, Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes, and Red Voodoo! Treat your soul to some Rock and Roll!Songlist:Spinal Tap - Bitch SchoolJack Starr - Tonight We RideJeff Keith - Hold OnCicadastone - Long Way DownGlenn Hughes - ChosenGlenn Hughes - Midnight MeditatedThe Dead Daisies - Black BettyInglorious - Eat You AliveAirborne - GutsyInfamous Stiffs - Evel MannBloody Dice - The Bitch Is CrazyTyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Bloodshot BabyJimmy Page & The Black Crowes - Hard To HandleRed Voodoo - Bring It Back
Connect with Andru Ballota:@andru-ballotawww.andruballota.comtwitter.com/AndruBallotainstagram.com/aballotamixcloud.com/AndruBallota/tinyurl.com/Airborneradioplay.spotify.com/artist/7ptqPIUtY…&utm_medium=open#AirborneRadio 119 Tracklist: Maesic, Marshall Jefferson & Salomé Das – Life Is Simple [Move Your Body] (SCRIPT Extended Remix) David Penn, Crusy, Kadoc – The Night Train (Extended Mix) Cirez D – On Off (Sgt Slick ReCut) Giuseppe Ottaviani pres. OTTAGON feat. SGNLS – Right Now (Extended Mix) Anigma Ft. Aylin – Here On Earth (Extended Mix) Anyma, Chris Avantgarde – Atmosphere (Extended Mix) Len Faki – Jancen-Morgana (Original Mix) Morgan Page feat. Will Sparks x Lissie – The Longest Road (To The Ground) (Extended Mix) Solarstone vs Scott Bond – 3rd Earth (Ehren Stowers Extended Remix) Talla 2XLC – Fragma – Toca's Miracle (RRAW Extended Remix) Toni Alvarez – Super Groovin Tiesto – Lethal Industry (No Comment & DanaDin Remix) Odymel – My Favourite Game (Extended Mix) Will Atkinson – La La La (Extended Mix) Showtek – FTS (Sub Zero Project Extended Remix) John Summit ft. Hayla – Where You Are (D-Block & S-te-Fan Remix) Phase 303 – Rock Right Now (Extended Mix) Bryan Kearney feat. Plumb – God Help Me (Extended Mix) Cosmic Gate, Emma Hewitt – Not Enough Time (Taglo Extended Remix) Anigma – Time (Extended Mix)
Originally from Hawaii, Patrick Naughton is a United States Army officer and a Military Historian. He is currently teaching at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 2012, he received the Army’s General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. He has had unique opportunities to serve as an Interagency Fellow with the Department of Labor, a Legislative Liaison to the U.S. Senate, and a Congressional Partnership Program Fellow with the Partnership for a Secure America—all in Washington, D.C. He also served as a Senior Leadership Fellow with the Center for Junior Officers at West Point. Patrick holds a Master of Military Arts and Science degree in History from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he was recognized as an Art of War Scholar. He also holds a Master of Science in Crisis and Emergency Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he was named an Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. Patrick Naughton’s first book, “Born from War: A Soldier’s Quest to Understand Vietnam, Iraq, and the Generational Impact of Conflict,” is now available in hardcover or eBook format through Amazon, directly from Casemate Publishers, and from a variety of other booksellers. The book compares his father’s time in Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne and advising the South Vietnamese Army, to Patrick’s own experience during the Global War on Terror and in Iraq. Though decades of history and politics separate their service, the similarities between their experiences are undeniably striking. The result is an engaging and eye-opening narrative that weaves together the combat experiences of two generations of soldiers. From the failure of grand strategies to personal combat stories, the memories of those lost, and the evolving social challenges facing today’s military—America’s wars against communism and terror are laid bare through the lens of one family’s service.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, retired US Army Brigadier General John Aarsen, Director of the 82d Airborne Division War Memorial Museum, joins me to talk about the 82d Airborne in Operation Market Garden.LinksMother of Tanks website (http://www.motheroftanks.com/podcast/) Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/c/motheroftanks)
A new UC San Diego study finds harmful chemicals in the air. And insurance claims after last week's plane crash could get complicated. Then, a conversation about the impacts of broad government austerity on communities. Also, Voice of San Diego's Scott Lewis says the city's budget fight could be setting up a serious show-down between the city council and mayor. Finally, San Diego Unified is looking for student and family feedback on a proposed policy that would further limit students' access to their cell phones at school.
Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
To remind us that civilizational alliances are not merely transactional, Robert Edsel tells personal World War II stories from the rural province of Limburg. Before dawn on May 10, 1940, Hitler's forces invaded the Netherlands, shattering more than 100 years of peace. The Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until September 1944, when American forces reached Limburg—the last portion of Europe west of Germany to be liberated by the Allies. Edsel follows 12 main characters over a six-year span, including Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama just to face more indignities; and Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who fell in love with an American soldier. Drawing on letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, capturing both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude by revealing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums and chapters at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this conversation, Benny Carreon, Dennis, and Brett Wade discuss the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on small businesses. They explore how AI can enhance productivity, streamline operations, and provide opportunities for small business owners to focus on their strengths. The discussion covers practical applications of AI, tools available for small businesses, and strategies for integrating AI into daily operations. Brett Wade works with companies on strategy execution and process efficiency through automation, artificial intelligence, and organizational alignment. After several years managing operations, Brett began his 15-year consulting career, where he has guided large organizations making drastic pivots and smaller firms experiencing high- growth. He specializes in process design, developing execution plans based on company strategy, and driving results based on those plans. He is an Airborne veteran of the Iraq War and received his MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.Contact Information Brett Wade 615-305-7416 or feel free to email at bwade@ ai-solutions-consulting.com.Benny Carreon- Velocity Technology Group- benny@velocitytechnology.group;https://velocitytechnology.group/Dennis Jackson-WorX Solution- dennisj@worxsolution.com ; www.worxsolution.com
Remember Us, by Robert Edsel-#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men (which was turned into a blockbuster film with an all-star cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett) -begins in the pre-dawn hours of Hitler's invasion of Western Europe on May 10, 1940, when his forces rolled into the small rural province of Limburg in the Netherlands shattering more than 100 years of peace. Their freedom gone, the Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until American forces reached Limburg in September 1944, the last portion of Western Europe liberated by the Allies before their advance on Nazi Germany slammed to a halt.Like The Monuments Men, Remember Us is an ensemble piece that follows twelve main characters over a six-year span, zeroing in on ordinary people including Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama for yet another indignity-digging graves.Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, on the battlefields and inside American homes. In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, he captures both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude, showing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. Remember Us is exactly the book we need-a reminder that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all want to be remembered, somehow, someway, by somebody.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Join us for a thrilling addition to our 80th anniversary VE Day episode. We uncover the extraordinary tale of Joseph "Jumpin' Joe" Beyrle, a WWII paratrooper whose courage defined a generation. From heart-pounding D-Day jumps with the 101st Airborne to a remarkable chapter fighting alongside the Soviet Red Army. Beyrle's rare WWII dual service makes his story unforgettable. What drove this fearless soldier to bridge two armies in the fight for freedom? Dive into this gripping WWII podcast episode to uncover the legend of Jumpin' Joe. Listen now to our true WWII stories podcast and subscribe for more epic tales of the Greatest Generation! [Listen on Spotify] | [Listen on Apple Podcasts] | [Video on RUMBLE] Listen now and subscribe for more epic "Leaducation"! Jumpin' Joe Beyrle WWII podcast VE Day episode
Remember Us, by Robert Edsel-#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men (which was turned into a blockbuster film with an all-star cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett) -begins in the pre-dawn hours of Hitler's invasion of Western Europe on May 10, 1940, when his forces rolled into the small rural province of Limburg in the Netherlands shattering more than 100 years of peace. Their freedom gone, the Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until American forces reached Limburg in September 1944, the last portion of Western Europe liberated by the Allies before their advance on Nazi Germany slammed to a halt.Like The Monuments Men, Remember Us is an ensemble piece that follows twelve main characters over a six-year span, zeroing in on ordinary people including Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama for yet another indignity-digging graves.Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, on the battlefields and inside American homes. In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, he captures both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude, showing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. Remember Us is exactly the book we need-a reminder that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all want to be remembered, somehow, someway, by somebody.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.
Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Major General William M. Matz, Jr, U.S. Army (Ret), was appointed as the eighth Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission in January 2018 by President Donald Trump, a position he held until March 2021. General Matz is a highly decorated combat veteran of the United States Army with a distinguished military career spanning four decades. As an infantryman, he served in Korea and Panama, and as a company commander with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action in the 1968 Tet offensive. He served multiple tours in the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions and was executive secretary to two secretaries of defense, Caspar Weinberger and Frank Carlucci. During the Vietnam War, he served two years with the Navy/Marine amphibious forces in the Pacific and deployed with the 7th Infantry Division to Panama during Operation JUST CAUSE in 1989. Upon retirement from the Army in 1995, General Matz worked nine years in the defense industry. He was first employed by Raytheon Company as vice president, Army Programs; and later as general manager for Vinnell/Northrop Grumman’s Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, returning to the United States in June 2004. In 2005, President Bush appointed him to the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission, where he served until the commission rendered its report to the Congress in 2008. He is also past President of the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS), a national veteran’s organization that advocates in Congress for service members, veterans and their families. He is on the Eisenhower Institute National Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Airborne and Ranger Schools, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Gettysburg College and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of San Diego. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security. Among his military service awards and decorations are the Distinguished Service Cross (second highest award our nation bestows for valor on the battlefield), Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge. General Matz was born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Linda, reside in Naples, FL, and have three children and seven grandsons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join Sunshine, Chelster, Airborne, and Punkie as they discuss their favorite camp activities, trying new things, and getting outside our comfort zones at GAC. This year's summer theme is Try Something New, so it's a great summer to really lean into our value of getting outside our comfort zone! We chose this year's summer theme, […] The post Episode 84: Try Something New appeared first on Gold Arrow Camp - California Summer Camp and Traditional Sleepaway Camps for Children.
Send us a textIn this empowering episode of Security Halt!, host Deny Caballero sits down with Jess Tandler—a West Point graduate, former infantry officer, and trailblazing female leader in the military. Jess shares her raw and inspiring journey through the ranks, from her early days in a military household to tackling the challenges of Ranger School, Airborne School, and leadership in male-dominated environments like SOCOM and the 82nd Airborne.With humor and grit, Jess opens up about navigating identity, resilience, and leadership as a woman in uniform. She reflects on the power of mentorship, coping with adversity, and the critical role of support systems in maintaining mental health and wellness in the military. The conversation also explores her transition into entrepreneurship, where she now channels her passion into creating natural wellness products for the veteran and civilian communities alike.This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in authentic leadership, women in combat, military transition, and building a life of purpose beyond service.Don't forget to follow, share, like, and subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts to stay updated on powerful stories that inspire strength and healing.
Security news for this week: RDP and credentials that are not really revoked, and some RDP bitmap caching fun Some magic info on MagicINFO Vulnerability Management Zombies There is a backdoor in your e-commerce Airborne: vulnerabilities in AirPlay Bring your own installer - crafty EDR bypass The Signal clone used by US government officials: shocker: has been hacked AI slop vulnerability reporting Bricking iPhones with a single line of code Hacking planet technology Vibe hacking for the win? Cybersecurity CEO arrested for deploying malware Hello my perverted friend FastCGI - fast, but vulnerable Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/psw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-873
We catch up on news after a week of BSidesSF and RSAC Conference. Unsurprisingly, AI in all its flavors, from agentic to gen, was inescapable. But perhaps more surprising (and more unfortunate) is how much the adoption of LLMs has increased the attack surface within orgs. The news is heavy on security issues from MCPs and a novel alignment bypass against LLMs. Not everything is genAI as we cover some secure design topics from the Airborne attack against Apple's AirPlay to more calls for companies to show how they're embracing secure design principles and practices. Apiiro CEO & Co-Founder, Idan Plotnik discusses the AI problem in AppSec. This segment is sponsored by Apiiro. Visit https://securityweekly.com/apiirorsac to learn more about them! Gen AI is being adopted faster than company's policy and data security can keep up, and as LLM's become more integrated into company systems and uses leverage more AI enabled applications, they essentially become unintentional data exfiltration points. These tools do not differentiate between what data is sensitive and proprietary and what is not. This interview will examine how the rapid adoption of Gen AI is putting sensitive company data at risk, and the data security considerations and policies organizations should implement before, if, and when their employees may seek to adopt a Gen AI tools to leverage some of their undeniable workplace benefits. Customer case studies: https://www.seclore.com/resources/customer-case-studies/ Seclore Blog: https://www.seclore.com/blog/ This segment is sponsored by Seclore. Visit https://securityweekly.com/seclorersac to learn more about them! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-329
We catch up on news after a week of BSidesSF and RSAC Conference. Unsurprisingly, AI in all its flavors, from agentic to gen, was inescapable. But perhaps more surprising (and more unfortunate) is how much the adoption of LLMs has increased the attack surface within orgs. The news is heavy on security issues from MCPs and a novel alignment bypass against LLMs. Not everything is genAI as we cover some secure design topics from the Airborne attack against Apple's AirPlay to more calls for companies to show how they're embracing secure design principles and practices. Apiiro CEO & Co-Founder, Idan Plotnik discusses the AI problem in AppSec. This segment is sponsored by Apiiro. Visit https://securityweekly.com/apiirorsac to learn more about them! Gen AI is being adopted faster than company's policy and data security can keep up, and as LLM's become more integrated into company systems and uses leverage more AI enabled applications, they essentially become unintentional data exfiltration points. These tools do not differentiate between what data is sensitive and proprietary and what is not. This interview will examine how the rapid adoption of Gen AI is putting sensitive company data at risk, and the data security considerations and policies organizations should implement before, if, and when their employees may seek to adopt a Gen AI tools to leverage some of their undeniable workplace benefits. Customer case studies: https://www.seclore.com/resources/customer-case-studies/ Seclore Blog: https://www.seclore.com/blog/ This segment is sponsored by Seclore. Visit https://securityweekly.com/seclorersac to learn more about them! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-329
Take a Network Break! This week we catch up on the Airborne vulnerabilities affecting Apple’s AirPlay protocol and SDK, and get an update on active exploits against an SAP NetWeaver vulnerability–a patch is available, so get fixing if you haven’t already. Palo Alto Networks launches the AIRS platform to address AI threats in the enterprise,... Read more »
Take a Network Break! This week we catch up on the Airborne vulnerabilities affecting Apple’s AirPlay protocol and SDK, and get an update on active exploits against an SAP NetWeaver vulnerability–a patch is available, so get fixing if you haven’t already. Palo Alto Networks launches the AIRS platform to address AI threats in the enterprise,... Read more »
Take a Network Break! This week we catch up on the Airborne vulnerabilities affecting Apple’s AirPlay protocol and SDK, and get an update on active exploits against an SAP NetWeaver vulnerability–a patch is available, so get fixing if you haven’t already. Palo Alto Networks launches the AIRS platform to address AI threats in the enterprise,... Read more »
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India by as early as next year. Apple's rumored plans for its next Vision Pro device are starting to become clearer, with a chance of it being released by the end of this year. And the EU is hitting Meta and Apple with hefty fines. Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China. 20th anniversary iPhone likely to be made in China due to 'extraordinarily complex' design. Apple begins breaking up its AI team with robotics, Siri changes. New Apple Vision 'Air' product could launch this year, per report. iOS 18.5 release date: Your iPhone's next update is coming soon. Oligo researchers detail AirBorne, a set of vulnerabilities in Apple's AirPlay SDK that could affect 10M+ third-party devices; Apple has patched its own devices. The European Union hits Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines. Sleeping with the Apple Watch. Picks of the Week: Jason's Pick: Kindle Paperwhite SIgnature Edition. Alex's Pick: Common Ground Andy's Pick: Free Comic Book Day! Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: 1password.com/macbreak storyblok.com/twittv-25
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India by as early as next year. Apple's rumored plans for its next Vision Pro device are starting to become clearer, with a chance of it being released by the end of this year. And the EU is hitting Meta and Apple with hefty fines. Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China. 20th anniversary iPhone likely to be made in China due to 'extraordinarily complex' design. Apple begins breaking up its AI team with robotics, Siri changes. New Apple Vision 'Air' product could launch this year, per report. iOS 18.5 release date: Your iPhone's next update is coming soon. Oligo researchers detail AirBorne, a set of vulnerabilities in Apple's AirPlay SDK that could affect 10M+ third-party devices; Apple has patched its own devices. The European Union hits Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines. Sleeping with the Apple Watch. Picks of the Week: Jason's Pick: Kindle Paperwhite SIgnature Edition. Alex's Pick: Common Ground Andy's Pick: Free Comic Book Day! Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: 1password.com/macbreak storyblok.com/twittv-25
Melissa Ziobro began her career as a civilian historian, archivist, and curator for the US Army in 2004 prior to returning to her alma mater, Monmouth University, to teach full-time. She has taught over a dozen different courses, including Intro to Public History; Oral History; Museums and Archives Management Basics; NJ History; and the Vietnam War. In August of 2023, she became curator of the University's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, after having worked with the Center for many years in her faculty role (to include curating the Center’s first traveling exhibit, Springsteen: His Hometown, with the Monmouth County Historical Association in 2019). Her most recent publications include Fort Monmouth: The US Army’s House of Magic (2024) and The Battlin' Bastards of Bravo: Bravo Company, 1/506th, 101st Airborne, in Vietnam and Beyond (2025).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
D&P Highlight: KC speedboat crew goes airborne at 200mph!! full 520 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 18:56:00 +0000 X5j4GUYnxafypJF2cRl7fc2FrhesHR3M news The Dana & Parks Podcast news D&P Highlight: KC speedboat crew goes airborne at 200mph!! You wanted it... Now here it is! Listen to each hour of the Dana & Parks Show whenever and wherever you want! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India by as early as next year. Apple's rumored plans for its next Vision Pro device are starting to become clearer, with a chance of it being released by the end of this year. And the EU is hitting Meta and Apple with hefty fines. Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China. 20th anniversary iPhone likely to be made in China due to 'extraordinarily complex' design. Apple begins breaking up its AI team with robotics, Siri changes. New Apple Vision 'Air' product could launch this year, per report. iOS 18.5 release date: Your iPhone's next update is coming soon. Oligo researchers detail AirBorne, a set of vulnerabilities in Apple's AirPlay SDK that could affect 10M+ third-party devices; Apple has patched its own devices. The European Union hits Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines. Sleeping with the Apple Watch. Picks of the Week: Jason's Pick: Kindle Paperwhite SIgnature Edition. Alex's Pick: Common Ground Andy's Pick: Free Comic Book Day! Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: 1password.com/macbreak storyblok.com/twittv-25
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India by as early as next year. Apple's rumored plans for its next Vision Pro device are starting to become clearer, with a chance of it being released by the end of this year. And the EU is hitting Meta and Apple with hefty fines. Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China. 20th anniversary iPhone likely to be made in China due to 'extraordinarily complex' design. Apple begins breaking up its AI team with robotics, Siri changes. New Apple Vision 'Air' product could launch this year, per report. iOS 18.5 release date: Your iPhone's next update is coming soon. Oligo researchers detail AirBorne, a set of vulnerabilities in Apple's AirPlay SDK that could affect 10M+ third-party devices; Apple has patched its own devices. The European Union hits Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines. Sleeping with the Apple Watch. Picks of the Week: Jason's Pick: Kindle Paperwhite SIgnature Edition. Alex's Pick: Common Ground Andy's Pick: Free Comic Book Day! Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: 1password.com/macbreak storyblok.com/twittv-25
D&P Highlights: Liverpool wins the Premier League, KC Star photographer wins sports snapshot of the year, speed hits 200mph, goes airborne full 322 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:56:00 +0000 3653rrOsVYjLqwGdGKsPBarzUW8XMDYM news The Dana & Parks Podcast news D&P Highlights: Liverpool wins the Premier League, KC Star photographer wins sports snapshot of the year, speed hits 200mph, goes airborne You wanted it... Now here it is! Listen to each hour of the Dana & Parks Show whenever and wherever you want! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News
PREVIEW: Colleague General Blaine Holt, USAF (Ret) explains the significance of two E-3 Sentry Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft deployed from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma to the Area-of-Responsibility of US Central Command. More later. 1902 PERSIA
Here's the trick on how to forget you don't have a window seat: spend an entire flight doing speed tests on Starlink. Another trick? How to actually get a mobile boarding pass on BA's ever-buggy app. When business becomes first, or the final trick to access the Al Safwa First Class lounge in Doha. KLM gives you a timeline of service on the IFE, and a LOT of (good) food. CDG T1 is the Circle of Doom, but there are views on the 11th floor if you can find it. Heathrow shuts down after a fire, earning its "operational challenges" nickname. The UK has introduced the electronic travel authorization (ETA), no questions asked. The bonus of not having doors in business class: the gossip, here whether a pilot should be allowed to drink champagne or not. The rather surreal experience of airport hotels, and the reset of coming back to commuter airports.Check-ins, touchdowns, unexpected connections, with turbulent weather and turbulent IT — Happy Flying! —Follow us, and comment on: Instagram - Bluesky - Threads - Mastodon - Twitter/XComment on each episode, and rate us, on SpotifyReview, and rate us, on Apple PodcastsComment, like, review, and rate us, on FacebookComment on YouTube (there's no video, just audio!)Search for "Layovers" on any podcast service (some direct links are on our website)If we're missing one, or if you have any feedback, let Paul know on Instagram - Threads - Mastodon - Bluesky - Twitter/X
Combat Veteran Turned Motivational Speaker In this week's powerful episode from Team Never Quit, Marcus and Melanie meet with Evangelo “Vann” Morris—a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander, global speaker, and devoted patriot whose service spans over 30 years across the military and government sectors. From humble beginnings in Folsom, Louisiana, to elite missions across 45 countries, Vann's journey is a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and purpose. Vann began his career aboard nuclear-powered submarines, receiving intensive training in nuclear propulsion and thermonuclear weaponry before commissioning as an officer. As a Naval leader, he directed high-risk Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) missions in volatile waters, including a record-setting Colombian drug seizure of 14 metric tons of cocaine. His distinguished career includes deployments on nearly every type of Navy vessel—from aircraft carriers to submarines—and pivotal roles at the Pentagon, Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne, and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). In his final assignments, he served as Combat Systems Officer, Anti-Terrorism Officer, and Tactical Action Officer aboard the USS McCampbell. Since retiring in 2014, Vann has continued to serve by mentoring Special Operations Forces as an Information Operations Subject Matter Expert. He's also a passionate public speaker, dedicated to honoring veterans and inspiring the next generation with the enduring message of freedom. In this episode, we discuss: Life aboard a ballistic missile submarine Lessons learned from serving alongside the 82nd Airborne and SOCOM How public speaking became his next mission field Connect with the legacy. Be inspired by the leadership. Learn from the life of Evangelo “Vann” Morris. In This Episode You Will Hear: • I'm one of 16 kids on my biological mother's side, and one of 8 kids on my biological father's side. (6:09) • My mother was a sharecropper in Selma, Alabama. (11:47) • [my brother] Martin was riding on a bike with his big brother. They were crossing the street to get to a general store. As they were crossing the street, here came a car. Within a second, the car was on them. It broke both of [my big brother's] s legs. He was almost able to do it, but the car clipped his legs broke both of his legs. The car hit Martin, broke his back, snapped his neck and went up into the air, came down, bled out, and died immediately. The car kept going. Our mother was notified, and we never knew what happened. (13:28) • In my 2nd year as a seventh grader, I was chatty in class and the teacher said: “You see son this is why you're not gonna be anything in life. This is why you're gonna be a total failure. As a matter of fact, you're not gonna do any better than your dad. (15:58) • The commanding officer starts talking. I called you [twelve] here today to let you know that your grades are phenomenal, your physical fitness test – through the roof, and your attitudes are exactly what we're looking for. I want all of you to consider becoming a commissioned officer. (28:09) • I had a metamorphosis of the mind. A paradigm shift had happened in my life. And all of the sudden, what had happened to my big brother - back broken, neck snapped – forgiven; The teacher telling me to go out and bale hay – forgiven, the other teacher saying I'd never be anything and be worse than my father – forgiven. These guys were saying something very different. Goodness overcame all the bad things that had happened. (28:53) • I'm taking trauma, and I'm channeling it to purpose. (30:27) •I really believe that when we die – if we should make it to heaven, I believe that God will take us personally, take us under his arms and say “Let me show you all the people you impacted and knew nothing about.” (32:19) • You're gonna have tough times. Don't think you'll understand why people are putting you to work in a certain kind of way. (41:39) • There's no more dangerous place than to have warfare in the mind. (41:49) • Don't give up. (42:21) • Hard work pays off. You can't give up. (53:19) • Even if the reward is not coming to you, and if you are in a position to help them, for the love of God, Help them. (55:28) • [Melanie] “A lot of times, when we're in a dark spot, we're in our own bubble, and we don't think anybody else sees the work we put in.” (57:12) • [I told my son] Listen: you can go in the Air Force, you can go to the Marines, you can go to the Army. Just remember this. That Navy paycheck is what fed you. (61:40) • I am really on a mission to be part of that wave to heal America. (68:48) • I need to honor the veterans and those who have served. (78:50) Socials: - Bio: Evangelomorris.com - instagram: evangelomorris Support TNQ - IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13 - https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit Sponsors: - WARFARE IN THEATERS APRIL 11th Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JER0Fkyy3tw First Look Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DWuqiAUKg&t=3s - - PXGapparel.com/TNQ - bruntworkwear.com/TNQ - Selectquote.com/TNQ - Groundnews.com/TNQ - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com - selectquote.com/TNQ - shipsticks.com/TNQ - Navyfederal.org - Robinhood.com/gold - strawberry.me/TNQ - stopboxusa.com {TNQ} - ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ] - kalshi.com/TNQ - joinbilt.com/TNQ - Tonal.com [TNQ] - greenlight.com/TNQ - PDSDebt.com/TNQ - drinkAG1.com/TNQ - Shadyrays.com [TNQ] - qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ] - Hims.com/TNQ - Shopify.com/TNQ - Aura.com/TNQ - Policygenius.com - TAKELEAN.com [TNQ] - usejoymode.com [TNQ]
Send us a textIn this special episode, Joe sits down with Lieutenant General Greg Anderson, Commanding General of XVIII Airborne Corps, to discuss one of the most significant structural changes to the airborne community in decades. With 22,000 paid parachutist positions on the table for reclassification, LTG Anderson explains the data-driven process behind the decision, what it means for readiness, and how the Army is adapting to modern operational demands.They explore how emotional reactions to change can cloud understanding, why building consensus through transparency and method matters, and what this transformation says about leadership in complex organizations. Whether you're a paratrooper, a leader managing change, or someone passionate about the future of the force, this episode offers a rare inside look at how the Army balances tradition with transformation.A Special Thanks to Our Sponsors!Veteran-founded Adyton. Step into the next generation of equipment management with Log-E by Adyton. Whether you are doing monthly inventories or preparing for deployment, Log-E is your pocket property book, giving real-time visibility into equipment status and mission readiness. Learn more about how Log-E can revolutionize your property tracking process here!Meet ROGER Bank—a modern, digital bank built for military members, by military members. With early payday, no fees, high-yield accounts, and real support, it's banking that gets you. Funds are FDIC insured through Citizens Bank of Edmond, so you can bank with confidence and peace of mind. Visit ROGER today!
In the 1930s, two scientists made a very important discovery, but their breakthrough idea failed to spread. In large part because the two were considered so deeply annoying. Reporter Carl Zimmer brings us a story of the scientific process and its very human constraints. Airborne by Carl Zimmer Apply to work with Search Engine Support the show To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today we uncover an invisible killer hidden, for over a hundred years, by reasonable disbelief. Science journalist extraordinaire Carl Zimmer tells us the story of a centuries-long battle of ideas that came to a head, with tragic consequences, in the very recent past. His latest book, called Airborne, details a largely forgotten history of science that never quite managed to get off the ground. Along the way, Carl helps us understand how we can fail, over and over again, to see a truth right in front of our faces. And how we finally came around thanks to scientific evidence hidden inside a song.EPISODE CREDITS:Reported by - Carl ZimmerProduced by - Sarah Qariwith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Natalie MiddletonEPISODE CITATIONS:Books - Check out Carl Zimmer's new book, Airborne (https://zpr.io/Q5bdYrubcwE4).Articles - Read about the study on the Skagit Valley Chorale COVID superspreading event (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32979298/).Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.