Podcasts about First sergeant

Episode 253 of the Transition Drill podcast, explores Marine Corps combat service, life after injury, and veteran transition for military veterans and first responders navigating identity, trauma, and purpose after the job. You'll hear Marcus Wilson on surviving an IED blast, fighting his way back into uniform, and what it takes to rebuild a life when the mission changes.Marcus grew up in Dermott, Arkansas, with the Marine Corps already planted in his mind. His dad had served, and a photo of him in dress blues became a reminder of the path Marcus wanted. After graduating high school in 1994, he left for boot camp in San Diego, became an infantry Marine, and committed early to making the Marine Corps a career.His service took him from Camp Pendleton to Okinawa, Korea, Australia, Hawaii, Afghanistan, and Iraq. After 9/11, Marcus wanted to be where the fight was. In 2005, he deployed to Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines and experienced combat during a deployment that included Operation Red Wings in his unit's area of operations. Then came Iraq in 2006, where the pace and violence in Haditha were constant.On November 14, 2006, Marcus was serving as a QRF platoon sergeant when his vehicle was hit by an IED. Three Marines were killed. Marcus survived, but lost his left leg above the knee and suffered multiple serious injuries, including broken bones, fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, and a punctured lung. After 48 surgeries, years of rehab, and learning to walk with a prosthetic, he fought to stay in the Marine Corps instead of leaving at 12 years. He returned to active duty, became a First Sergeant, served at the School of Infantry, and retired after 21 years.But retirement brought a different fight. Marcus talks openly about depression, losing his sense of purpose, staying in bed for nearly a year, and finally getting help through the Veterans Center. Today, he's found purpose in the outdoors through Wounded Warrior Outdoors, guiding veterans and first responders on hunting and fishing trips across North America. His story is about dedication, mental health, brotherhood, and finding a new mission after service.CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulpantani/WEBSITE: https://www.transitiondrillpodcast.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpantani/SIGN-UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER:https://transitiondrillpodcast.com/home#aboutQUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:paul@transitiondrillpodcast.comSPONSORS:GRND Collective: Premium, veteran-owned sportswear built for those who show up, outwork the excuses, and give 100%. Score 15% off your order at thegrndcollective.com using promo code TRANSITION15 at checkoutBlue Line Roasting: Premium, law-enforcement-owned coffee roasted to fuel the shift. A portion of every order directly supports law enforcement families facing line-of-duty injury or loss. Save 10% at bluelineroasting.com with promo code Transition10Frontline Optics: Premium eyewear founded by a firefighter and built to withstand the job. Every single purchase helps support the First Responders Children's Foundation, serving families who've paid the ultimate price. Save 10% off your pair at frontlineoptics.com using promo code Transition10

Send us Fan MailWe start with NBA Finals heat, then pull the thread into a bigger talk about pressure, image, and what “hype” actually proves. From First Sergeant culture to Freemasons hazing stories to advice for brand new Master Sergeants, we keep coming back to one question: are you performing leadership or practicing it? • Spurs vs Knicks series reactions, Brunson as the matchup problem, Wemby frustration and inexperience • NBA Finals comeback history, the weight of losing two home games, “league narrative” talk • why the First Sergeant chant feels disconnected, when traditions fit, and why messing it up looks terrible • Freemasons recruitment story, initiation vs hazing, hygiene and respect as non-negotiables • First Sergeant Academy takes, why awards can promote fake behavior, what the school can and can't teach • guidance for new Master Sergeants, mentorship expectations, mess dress standard, leading without selfies • what to tell great people who don't get promoted, controlling the 24 hours after the list drops • Pentagon vs unit timing, learning your craft before trying to shape policy • meet-and-greet ethics, paying for celebrities, autograph-on-the-back debate, fan boundaries You can always leave us a voicemail as well, uh, and just ask questions or give comments. 

Sergeant Whitmore enlisted in the Army in 1977 and retired in 2013.  She began as a member of what was known as the "Women's Army Corps," where she served as a Teletype Technician. When the Corps disbanded in 1978, Carol transitioned to become an Army Nurse serving in many austere locations overseas, including Iraq, and held various assignments around the United States.  Since retirement she became a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars where today she serves as the VFW's National Commander-in-Chief.Our library of shows can be found at www.veteranscornerradio.comJoin us on Facebook at the page Veterans Corner RadioYou can contact our host Joe Muhlberger at joseph.muhlberger@gmail.com

It was an incredible honor having Hector on my show! In this episode we will discuss Hector's story on how he became a mental health professional as well as how we as a society can better support veterans. Dr. Hector R. Matascastillo is a multilingual and multicultural mental health professional with a background in military service, clinical social work, forensic psychology, and crisis negotiation. Born in Guatemala City and raised in Chicago, he joined the United States Army at age 17 and served for more than 18 years, including deployment to Iraq as a First Sergeant. After leaving the military in 2007, he earned his Master of Social Work degree from Augsburg College in 2010. He received formal training in EMDR, DBT, and Healing of Memories, and specializes in working with veterans, first responders, Latino communities, individuals with serious mental illness, and domestic abuse programming. Dr. Matascastillo also serves as a mental health consultant and crisis negotiator for the Minneapolis Police Department SWAT Crisis Negotiation Team and completed the FBI Citizen's Academy. He is the owner and executive director of ASC Psychological Services and has been completing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a specialty in forensic psychology. Hector's contact information ascpsychological.com/  hector.matascastillo@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/dr-hector-r-matascastillo-ph-d-msw-licsw-a26a0112 Sponsor CalmiGo Enter the code BHIPODCAST  for $30 off the device. calmigo.com?fid=614&utm_source=affiliatly&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=Jacob_Minnig-614&utm_content=facebook-ig&utm_term=BHIPODCAST&source=affiliatly&placement=facebook-ig&medium=influencer&aff_id=614&aff_name=Jacob_Minnig&coupon_code=BHIPODCAST

The Blasters & Blades PodcastIf you want to know how the military actually works, you don't ask the generals... you ask the E4s. This week, we're hosting a panel with the brilliant (and highly evasive) authors behind Tales of the E4 Mafia Volume 2. We're diving into the unique culture of the "Sham Shield," the art of looking busy while doing absolutely nothing, and how these writers translate the absurd, dark, and heartwarming reality of barracks life into unforgettable fiction. Secure your perimeter and tune in… just don't tell the First Sergeant. This was a fun interview, so go check it out. Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Grunt)Nick Garber (Super Grunt)Jana S Brown (Chief Shenanigator)We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling!Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's SponsorTales from the E4 Mafia by Henchman Press: https://a.co/d/0ghg3P3eTales from the E4 Mafia Volume 2 by Defiant House Entertainment: https://a.co/d/0fTKiBYMFollow Barb Caffrey on social mediaBarb's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00H8EROC8Barb's Website: https://elfyverse.com/Barb's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barb.caffrey.1Follow Dan Kemp on social mediaDan's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dan-Kemp/author/B0BCX1SLDWDan's Website: https://www.dankempauthor.com/Dan's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dan.kemp.authorDan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.g.kemp1/Dan's Tumbler: https://www.tumblr.com/dankempauthorFollow Jacob Sharp on social mediaJacob's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jacob-Sharp/author/B0F3WHJXBWJacob's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacob.sharp.writes/ Follow JR Handley on social mediaJR's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-R.-Handley/author/B01N0SEX3AJR's Website: https://jrhandley.com/JR's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sgt.jr.handley JR's Substack: https://jrhandley.substack.com/ Follow Keith Hedger on social mediaKeith's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keith-Hedger/e/B01N2V9383/ Keith's Website: https://www.keithhedger.com/ Keith's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeithHedgerAuthor/ Keith's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithhedgerauthor/ Keith's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@keithhedger6504/featured Keith's Twitter: https://x.com/KHedger30260 Follow Michael LaVoice on social mediaMichael's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/michaellavoice Michael's Website: https://michaellavoice.com/ Michael's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThatMichaelLaVoice Michael's Substack: https://michaellavoice.substack.com/ Michael's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/michaellavoice Follow Scott Reichek on social mediaScott's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-Reichek/author/B0CGXWBP31 Scott's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.reichek.author Scott's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottreichekauthor/#scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #CoffeeBrandCoffee #JRHandley #NickGarber #MadamStabby #JanaSBrown #JenaRey #OpalKingdomPress #TalesFromTheE4MafiaVolume1 #TalesFromTheE4MafiaVolume2 #E4Mafia #DefiantHouseEntertainment #HenchmanPress #DanKemp #GailSanders #BarbCaffrey #USMC #LanceCorporalUnderground

In this episode of People-First Builders, host Fletcher Wimbush sits down with Uri Pearl, owner of Nealon Insulation, a fast-growing home services company in Connecticut built on a powerful people-first philosophy. Uri's journey into construction is anything but traditional. With a background in capital markets, startups, and even serving as a First Sergeant in the Israeli Defense Forces, Uri entered the trades through entrepreneurship via acquisition—taking over a 50-year-old insulation business and transforming it into a rapidly scaling, culture-driven company. Together, Fletcher and Uri dive deep into what it really takes to build culture fast in a growing trade business. Uri shares how focusing on intangibles like integrity, ambition, and attitude—rather than just experience—has helped him recruit, train, and retain top talent in a competitive labor market. They also explore: Why hiring for character beats hiring for experience How to create a high-performance culture in blue-collar industries The importance of investing in people—even when it impacts short-term margins Practical strategies for attracting, filtering, and retaining the right team members How growth creates opportunity—and why it's a responsibility of leadership Uri's perspective is a refreshing reminder that great businesses aren't built on systems alone—they're built on people who care, grow, and take pride in their work. If you're a leader in construction, home services, or any growing business, this episode is packed with actionable insights on building a team that drives long-term success.

In this episode hosted by MWI's Charlie Faint, Retired Command Sergeant Major Curt Donaldson reflects on a career shaped by the 75th Ranger Regiment's relentless standards, emphasizing that true leadership begins with genuinely caring for people while holding them—and yourself—accountable. He discusses the Regiment's culture of meritocracy, where every Ranger meets the same standard and is continuously assessed, and explains how disciplined environments and strong leadership pipelines produce exceptional leaders over time. He also describes the Regiment's fighting platoon sergeant concept, and his own rise through the ranks to become the command sergeant major of the storied 75th Ranger Regiment. Through stories from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, Donaldson highlights the importance of calm, decisive leadership in chaos, the power of shared hardship in building trust, and the enduring value of culture, communication, and personal example—lessons he now carries into mentoring veterans and his life after military service. Chapters (00:00:00) - Command Sergeant Major Kurt Donaldson on the Battle of Fallujah(00:01:37) - The First Sergeant's Ball(00:01:49) - What Does Being a Leader Look Like?(00:03:13) - Kurt Langley on the Platoon Leader(00:07:17) - The Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Ranger Regiment(00:13:12) - Retiring Special Troops Battalion Commander(00:13:56) - Rangers: The Abrams Charter(00:20:47) - Rangers on the Army's Standards(00:24:57) - Likership vs Leadership in the Army(00:26:25) - Culture of 3rd Ranger Battalion(00:31:46) - Leadership in the Army(00:37:21) - Three 47s damaged beyond repair in 2002(00:37:44) - Marine Corps Veteran on Chasing Zarqawi(00:40:21) - Regimental Leadership: The Ranger Regiment(00:41:49) - Retired Army Ranger Kurt Miller on Giving Back in Retirement(00:44:04) - The Keynote Speech at the Infantry Ball

Omar tells his journey from Brooklyn to becoming a Ranger and First Sergeant, sharing how a mortar mistake became a key teaching moment about integrity, trust, and learning. He describes imposter syndrome, the grind of selection and Ranger life, and why humility and mentorship matter. The episode explores the Abrams Charter decision to leave the 75th Ranger Regiment for the 82nd Airborne, the challenge of living as a standard-bearer outside the Rangers, and how leaders can bring hard-earned standards and people-first leadership back to conventional units. _________ Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl #drones #AI #artificialintelligence #mentors4mil  #mentorsformilitary Mentors4mil Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Mentors4mil Patreon Support: https://www.patreon.com/join/Mentors4mil  Intro music "Long Way Down" by Silence & Light is used with permission. Show Disclaimer: https://mentorsformilitary.com/disclaimer/

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company’s position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year’s Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered.“Hey, don’t let your officers find you asleep.” The man didn’t move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man’s shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn’t want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they’d died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment’s position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs.“Comrade,” he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment’s hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion.“I know you can’t understand me,” he continued in German, “but if I don’t get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I’ll take you back to me fire.”The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn’t worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer’s trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn’t a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men’s position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile.“Halt,” hissed a voice in the twilight.“Gunner, I’m back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word,” Heinz instructed the private on picket duty.“What happened?” he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. “Who is with you?”“The 3rd Battalion is gone,” Heinz whispered back. “She’s the only one I could find.”“They left us? The bastards,” Gunner growled.“No, they are all dead. I didn’t find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here,” the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn’t been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn’t bother radioing Battalion until he’d made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them.“Sir, what do we do with the girl?” one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over.“We’ll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She’ll never survive out here on her own,” Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the ‘next’ village. It wasn’t much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German’s rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn’t like. The head man shrugged to the German’s.When Heinz went out to check the men he’d placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:“Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position,” snapped the colonel’s adjutant. Sergeants didn’t get to talk to the real 'powers that be’. “You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.”“Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.”“If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy,” the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on.“I can’t do it sir,” Heinz sighed. “What you want me to do can’t be done and I’m not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must.” There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes.“Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?” the adjutant asked.“I’m in a small village and I’ve got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?” Heinz asked.“We will do what we can,” the officer answered.“Unless they throw a battalion at me, I’ll hold this position Sir.”“I’ll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are,” was the man’s final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?’Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn’t seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan’ operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer.“Sergeant Klausenbach,” the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward.“That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?” Heinz asked in even tone.“No,” the SS man began.“Have you come to relieve us?” Heinz interrupted.“No,” the man continued.“Then why in the hell are you in my village?” Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture.“As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate,” he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal.“Like what, sir?” Heinz inquired.“A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene,” the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless.“Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died,” Heinz lied.“Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site,” the SS captain said with a white toothy grin.“Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can’t justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand,” Heinz protested.“First Sergeant, this wasn’t a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn’t be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of,” he grinned.“What does that mean?” Heinz asked.“That is not important to you,” the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath.“I’ve only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us,” Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers.“You need to stay here with the others,” Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. “Listen, I don’t know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that.” She looked into his eyes then past him.“Who is the woman?” Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent.“She is my woman,” Heinz offered.“You have good taste in woman. Too bad she’s a Slav,” Sierech noted contemptuously. “Woman, do you pleasure him?”“I prefer to think that she has good taste in men,” Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer.“She doesn’t speak much German, does she?” he smiled in that chilling way of his.“She doesn’t need to speak for what I want,” Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn’t stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer’s arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat.“Be careful with your next action, Sergeant,” hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn’t help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain’s chest heaved in anticipation.“Button up your pistol Captain,” Heinz said angrily. “As you said, be careful with your next action.” The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down.“Let me finish here and I’ll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir.”Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside.“Does this have anything to do with you?” Heinz asked. He got no reply. “If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?” Again, no reply.“Damn it,” Heinz pleaded, “I’m trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on.” By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. “I can’t be here to protect you,” which brought a smile to her lips. He’d even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn’t have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman’s footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village.“What did you do here?” the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him.“I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves for warmth. Finding no one I looted the officers for boots and coats to give to my men."Did you see anyone?” Sierech persisted.“I don’t understand the question; if it had been a Russian I would have shot them and you would see a dead Russian and if it had been a German solider I would have brought them back with me and you would be talking to him not me,” Heinz answered sarcastically. “Perhaps you mean wildlife?”“Was there any unusual wildlife,” the SS Captain snapped, clearly at his end with Heinz’s attitude.“None that I noted. There was absolutely no noise on my approach, no mice or birds, which was unusual. That implies a large number of men normally, living men, but I found no such thing.”“Have you seen much combat Klausenbach?” He asked.“I was in Poland then France then here. I’ve seen my share of dead bodies, virtually all of them being men capable of fighting back,” Heinz grinned.“Do you think you know more than the Supreme Authority of the Reich?” he said sweetly. Heinz began wondering if the man was gay. He looked at Heinz funny and not in a good way.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-thirty-sixth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.' Hosted by LTC Trevor Jones, the Battalion Commander of 1-509th IN (OPFOR) on behalf of the Commander of Operations Group. Today's guests are members of JRTC's infamous Opposing Force, Team Geronimo: CPT Jeremiah Cox, 1SG Terence Newby, and SFC Walter Jinks. CPT Cox is the Company Commander for Able Company, 1-509th IN. 1SG Newby is the First Sergeant for Easy Company, 1-509th IN. SFC Jinks is the Engineer Platoon Sergeant within Easy Company.   This episode explores how the JRTC Opposing Force—Geronimo—is evolving its tactics through what the unit calls “new forms of mass.” Rather than relying solely on traditional concentrations of combat power, the discussion highlights how OPFOR is integrating robotics, unmanned systems, electronic warfare, and precision effects to generate combat mass across multiple domains. Leaders describe how small multi-purpose equipment transports (SMETs), unmanned aerial systems, and remotely operated platforms are being used to conduct breaching operations, deliver precision fires, transport sustainment, and even serve as deception or targeting tools. These systems allow Geronimo to make first contact with machines rather than soldiers, reducing risk to personnel while increasing tempo and battlefield confusion for rotational units.    The conversation also focuses on how these technologies enable new ways of synchronizing effects during offensive and defensive operations. Examples include integrating electronic warfare and drone strikes into the suppress phase of a breach, using unmanned systems to obscure and reduce obstacles, and deploying robotic platforms armed with crew-served weapons to support maneuver. In the defense, robotic systems are used to extend screening operations, attrit enemy forces forward of the main battle position, and provide early warning. The episode concludes by discussing challenges such as maintenance, connectivity, and data transport while emphasizing that the future battlefield will require every soldier to understand and employ unmanned systems. Ultimately, Geronimo's experimentation is designed to force rotational units to confront a modernized threat capable of creating mass through distributed sensors, robotics, and precision effects across the battlespace.    Part of S11 “Conversations with the Enemy” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we'd like to thank our guests for participating. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Joseph J Fontenot, author of the book Sons of the Arghandab. Joseph “Fonty” Fontenot is a combat veteran who served 20 years in the US Army and retired as a First Sergeant, with combat deployments to Abu Ghraib, Iraq, and the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan. Before enlisting in the army, he was a successful musician who gave up his career to serve during the global war on terror. After his year in Afghanistan, he was a Drill Sergeant and won Soldier of the year in 2015. He subsequently suffered multiple career-ending injuries and, despite several years in the warrior transition unit, chose to return to the 101st airborne division. Fontenot earned a bachelor's degree in forensic psychology from Purdue Global University, and recently earned a certification as a Veteran Service Officer or VSO, to be able to continue helping veterans potentially with the VA.   In my book review, I stated Sons of the Arghandab is a memoir about his time in Afghanistan. This was not an easy read because conditions in the Arghandab Valley during 2010-2011 were anything but easy. From the temperatures, to the living quarters, to enemy fire, to losing buddies day in and day out ... I can't begin to comprehend what Joseph and his team went through. However, his book will help you get a better understanding of what our military endured and what they continue to endure now that they are back home.   By the end of the narrative, you will feel like you know the men Joseph knew, which will have you smiling when things go well and crying when they do not. My husband used to quote "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." I am beyond grateful that there are men like Joseph J Fontenot. What would our world be like without them?   As a nation, we need to do better by our returned soldiers, offering them the mental health care they need after seeing such violence and always working on the edge of certain death. Thank you, Joseph, for writing your memoir and helping the world understand what you did.   Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1   Join the Novels N Latte Book Club community to discuss this and other books with like-minded readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3576519880426290   You can follow Author Joseph J Fontenot FB: @Sons of the Arghandab Top Guns in the Devil's Playground Book Group IG: @SonsoftheArghandabbook   Purchase Sons of the Arghandab on Amazon: Paperback: https://amzn.to/4iHUJtQ Ebook: https://amzn.to/4oLo4VV   Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1   Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors   #josephjfontenot #sonsofthearghandab #memoir #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Aubrey Wrenn is a retired Marine Corps First Sergeant from Danville, Virginia, and was the owner ofProven Valor Professionals, a coaching, consulting, and training and development company thatalso provided digital marketing solutions through Google Business Profile and Google Adsservices. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on January 1, 2001, and retired in November of 2022. Prior to being a First Sergeant, Aubrey spent 16 years as an 0811, Field Artillery Cannoneer.Aubrey has 3 combat deployments (Iraq 2003 and 2004, Afghanistan 2009), 1 UDP to Okinawa,Japan and a deployment with Special Purpose MAGTF CENTCOM.Aubrey has held many positions during his time in the Marine Corps, notably from 2012-2016Aubrey served as a Combat Instructor and the Chief Instructor for Combat Instructor School. InIn 2013, Aubrey was recognized as Combat Instructor of the Year for the Marine Corps. Aubrey is apassionate and dedicated servant leader who loves nothing more than to add value and help thosearound him in any way he can.After retiring from the Marine Corps, Aubrey worked as an education specialist at the MCB CampLejeune Education Center, an Adjunct Faculty Instructor for the Sergeants Course DistanceEducation Course and an Instructional Systems and Education Specialist with the Marine ForcesSpecial Operations Command. Aubrey has a Bachelor of Science degree from Park University inInterdisciplinary Studies with a double concentration in Military Studies and Leadership Studies.Aubrey is dedicated to influencing positive change in the effectiveness, culture, and climate of theorganizations he has been a part of, by offering perspective, emotional intelligence, and support tothose he has been privileged to work with. Aubrey is married to Ashley R. Wrenn (MSgt USMC), andthey have 5 children together.New or upcoming ventures: Sept of 2024 became a stay-at-home dad who homeschools his 4-year-oldand 7yo. December 4th, 2025, he and his wife welcomed their newborn son into the world.

In this inspiring episode of Inside The Wolf's Den, Shawn and Joni Wolfswinkel sit down with one of Albuquerque's top real estate forces, Chris Tanner. A war veteran, devoted husband and father, and premier broker, Chris brings a rare blend of service, leadership, and market mastery to the mic. As the 2025 President of the Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® (GAAR), he now leads a thriving network of 4,500+ REALTORS® and he does so with the discipline and clarity honed from two decades of Air Force service and a relentless commitment to excellence. We dive into Chris Tanner's extraordinary journey: a University of New Mexico alum with a rich trove of experience, from a 20-year Air Force career culminating as a First Sergeant, to deployment in Iraq, to becoming one of the nation's top 1% real estate producers. In 2024 he closed 55 families, totaling $22 million in sales, and in 2025 he began shaping the future of Albuquerque real estate through RPAC leadership, MRP, C2EX, and NMAR directorship. In this episode you'll hear how Chris weaves together military service, education, and real estate into a single mission. The pivotal moment that steered him toward real estate after a storied Air Force career. His priorities as GAAR President and how he translates military leadership into industry wide impact. From competitive tennis and Muay Thai to mountain biking and marksmanship, Chris's life outside work reflects the same drive and integrity he brings to clients every day. Tune in for candid insights, practical advice, and a portrait of leadership in real estate that's shaping Albuquerque's market for years to come. Veteren Realtor Link: https://www.veteranrealtor.com YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/d6umT32idWg

This week on Minnesota Military Radio, we sit down with the Commander and First Sergeant of the 34th Military Police Company (Stillwater, MN) as the unit prepares to deploy in early January 2026 to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Mission: Customs operations The 34th will screen returning U.S. personnel and equipment for prohibited […] The post 34th Military Police Company Heads to the Middle East appeared first on Minnesota Military Radio.

Mike Durant is a retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 and Master Black Hawk pilot with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers). Inspired by his father, a First Sergeant in the Army National Guard, and a family friend's helicopter flight, Durant enlisted in 1979. After studying Spanish at the Defense Language Institute and serving as a voice intercept operator in Panama, he graduated from flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, becoming a Warrant Officer in 1983. He flew over 150 medical evacuation missions in South Korea with the 377th Medical Evacuation Company and later served as an instructor pilot with the 101st Aviation Battalion. Joining the elite 160th SOAR in 1988, Durant flew in Operations Prime Chance, Just Cause, Desert Storm, and Restore Hope. During the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu (Operation Gothic Serpent), his MH-60 Black Hawk was shot down, leaving him severely injured and held captive by Somali militia for 11 days. Despite doctors' doubts, he recovered, ran the 1995 Marine Corps Marathon, and returned to duty, retiring in 2001. Mike's awards include: Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross (second award), Bronze Star w/ Valor device, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal w/ Valor device (third award), Army Commendation Medal (fourth award), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Prisoner of War Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Bronze Arrowhead Device (second award), Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ Bronze Service Star, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2nd Award), United Nations Medal, United Nations Medal-Operations in Somalia, Kuwait Liberation Medal-Government of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Liberation Medal-Government of Kuwait, Master Aviator Badge, and Air Assault Badge. In 2008, Durant founded Pinnacle Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama, a defense contracting firm specializing in military training simulators and veteran employment. He co-authored In the Company of Heroes, focusing on survival and leadership. He also led veterans' efforts for George W. Bush's 2004 and John McCain's 2008 presidential campaigns. He ran in the 2022 Republican primary for Alabama U.S. Senate. Married to Lisa, raising a blended family with six children, Durant enjoys mountain climbing, skiing, hockey, watersports, and running. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Receive 30% off your first subscription order. Go to https://armra.com/SRS or enter SRS to get 30% off your first subscription order. Right now, you can try Aura free for 14 days when you visit http://aura.com/SRS Our listeners get 10% off at https://BetterHelp.com/SRS. Head to http://DRINKAG1.com/SRS you'll get the welcome kit, a Morning Person hat, a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2, and a AG1 Flavor Sampler for free. Mike Durant Links: LI - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-durant-14a0157 Book - https://a.co/d/9OB6ujI SOWF - https://specialops.org/sowf-home-mobile Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Veterans encounter physical, mental health, and substance use challenges at a greater rate than the general population. Rebekka Cary discusses helping them access the benefits and assistance they are rightfully due. Rebekka is a County Veterans Service Officer for Columbia County in Portage, Wisconsin. She was a First Sergeant in the Illinois Air National Guard and is a member of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers. The Wisconsin Association of County and Tribal Veterans Service Officers website can be found at County and Tribal Veterans Service Officers (CVSO/TVSO) - Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. The NACVSO (National Association of County Veterans Service Officers) can be reached at Organization - National Association of County Veterans Service Officers. The State of Wisconsin's Dose of Reality campaign is at Dose of Reality: Opioids in Wisconsin. More information about the federal response to the ongoing opiate crisis can be found at One Pill Can Kill. The views and opinions of the guests on this podcast are theirs and theirs alone and do not necessarily represent those of the host or Westwords Consulting. We're always interested in hearing from individuals or organizations who are working in substance use disorder treatment or prevention, mental health care and other spaces that lift up communities. This includes people living those experiences. If you or someone you know has a story to share or an interesting approach to care, contact us today! Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Subscribe to Our Email List to get new episodes in your inbox every week!

This might be one of the wildest Marine Corps stories we've ever had on the show. Retired Marine First Sergeant Randall Parkes sat down with Urban Valor to share some of the funniest, most unbelievable, and downright fcked up* moments from his 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. From barracks inspections gone wrong, to combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a real-life rescue that helped spark the Abraham Accords — this episode has everything.Randall gets brutally honest about what it's like to lead Marines, deal with chaos as a First Sergeant, and balance discipline with dark military humor. He shares raw, hilarious, and emotional moments from his time in recon, MARSOC, boot camp, and even his post-military life — from real estate success to landing a job at Anduril.

Part One of a 3-Part Series for 2025 as we approach the anniversary of Operation Gothic Serpent - "Black Hawk Down" In this episode, Tara Harris, daughter of First Sergeant Glenn Harris, talks about her father and all of the men who served with him as part of Operation Gothic Serpent in Mogadishu, that became known as The Battle of Black Hawk Down based on the movie. Today, Tara gathers photos, interviews, and archives to preserve the stories of her father, but also of all of B Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion before and after Operation Gothic Serpent, Somalia — including the Somalia deployment, the training and daily lives of Rangers of that period, and life then and now at the B Company 3/75 day room. She digitizes records and connects veterans and families so the Rangers' experiences and legacies from Task Force Ranger are remembered and shared. If you or someone you know has 75th Ranger Regiment photos, especially those from Mogadishu, email Tara at tharris75thrgrhistory@gmail.com __________ Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl #taskforceranger #operationgothicserpent #armyrangers #mentors4mil  #mentorsformilitary Mentors4mil Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Mentors4mil Patreon Support: https://www.patreon.com/join/Mentors4mil  Intro music "Long Way Down" by Silence & Light is used with permission. Show Disclaimer: https://mentorsformilitary.com/disclaimer/

Newport Police Chief Alex Lee is here as we talk about National Night Out on the Newport Town Common, the conviction of Ryan Barbin for child sex crimes, jail Vs prison, School Resource Officer Shawn Seymour was promoted to First Sergeant in the 1st Squadron 172nd Cavalry Regiment, Vermont Army National Guard, and more.

What kind of a reaction should you expect when your First Sergeant arrives and you're screwing around? Is it possible for infantry guys to learn how to be MP's?  Find out, the answers to these questions and more on this weeks "sode" of The Cammo Comedy Show Podcast! If you have any funny military stories of your own that you would like to share, drop us a line at:stories@cammocomedy.com  or  Leave a voicemail at (531) 222-6146  Sadly, the voicemail will only record in 2 minute blocksWe are here to make you laugh, but behind this there is the imbedded philosophy of, "No One Left Behind." Sadly, 22 vets per day commit suicide, approximately 67,500 vets are homeless and thousands struggle with everyday life after service.  What we hope to accomplish is providing a fun place to gather that will have a similar feel to the conversations that happen at the VFW or American Legion between vets.  Since the latest generations of vets are not really going to these places anymore, we are making it happen online.  We believe that the sense of community will help some who struggle, while providing stories about the good times that we can all laugh at!An additional part of this show is capturing the oral history of the military over the past few decades, so if you happen to know a veteran who served during WW2, Korean War or Vietnam eras, we would love to hear from them.  Obviously, we want to hear stories from all eras, but we have special respect for the older generations.  

Send us a textWe discuss a thought-provoking scenario involving a Tech Sergeant who lost all her belongings to a fraudulent moving company during a PCS. When she requested funds for a dining room table through Operation Warm Heart, all First Sergeants voted yes except one who claimed she "made a stupid decision."• Debating whether choosing a DITY move constitutes a poor decision or a reasonable choice gone wrong• Exploring the purpose of Operation Warm Heart and leadership's responsibility to airmen in need• Questioning if helping service members after risks encourages bad behavior or fulfills our commitment• Discussing creative alternatives like community donations versus direct financial assistance• Examining how personal values influence leadership decisions when policy allows discretionThe podcast also covers Chief Master Sergeant initial mission command training, military decorations criteria, and Master Sergeant promotion rates reaching 23.42% this year. The show concludes with a celebration of being ranked among the top military leadership podcasts.

Operation Frequent Wind: Remembering the end of the Vietnam War THE INTERVIEW Air Force veteran Josh White hosts the award-winning podcast Hero Front, which focuses on mental health awareness and resiliency. Josh shares inspiring stories of veterans, authors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and other heroes. The storytelling podcast emerged from White's 20-year military career in the U.S. Air Force in maintenance, medical and military funeral honors. SCUTTLEBUTT If Hooters goes out of business, dining off base will never be the same Not just for Veterans: Medical breakthroughs that began at VA Special Guest: Josh White.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the ninety-eighth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience. Hosted by the Task Force Senior for the TF-1 (IN BN), LTC Charles “Chuck” Wall on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today's guest is the First Sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company of Operations Group, 1SG Will Pogue. 1SG Pogue was previously a Company Team First Sergeant Observer-Coach-Trainer at the JRTC.   In this episode, we focus on warfighting fundamentals at the team through platoon level during large-scale combat operations (LSCO), emphasizing the gap between familiarity and true proficiency. A central issue discussed is how units often rush through collective training gates without ensuring mastery of basic tasks. This “check-the-box” mentality results in units arriving at the JRTC underprepared, especially when it comes to troop leading procedures (TLPs), indirect fire integration, support-by-fire shifts and lifts, and graphic control measures. The lack of unit-wide standard operating procedures (SOPs) and insufficient repetitions in home-station training were identified as key friction points. Best practices emphasized include deliberate, planned retraining windows; leader certification on SOPs; and daily reinforcement of team through company-level standards—especially through structured sergeant's time training.   Another focal point is the inconsistency within and across units when it comes to weapons squad performance, patrol base occupation, and movement to contact. The discussion notes that some platoons within a company display exceptional coordination and fire discipline, while others show significant knowledge gaps. The causes include high leader turnover, lack of doctrinal grounding, and insufficient focus on junior NCO development. Recommendations include certifying leaders before executing training, embedding retraining as a standard step in the 8-step training model, and reinforcing collective standards through battalion-wide forums or training events. The episode closes with a reminder that excellence in LSCO starts with discipline in the fundamentals—fieldcraft, communication, tactical planning, and leadership—and that repeated, standards-based training at home-station is the only path to achieving real warfighting proficiency.   Part of S03 “Lightfighter Lessons” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we'd like to thank our guests for participating. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

>Join Jocko Underground< Daniel L. Pinion is a military veteran of the Cold War, Operation Joint Endeavor (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and multiple tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served in numerous Infantry, Armor and Cavalry units and leadership positions during his 28-year career. CSM (R) Pinion has served as Squad Leader, Section Sergeant, Drill Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant, Instructor, Operations Sergeant Major, and Command Sergeant Major. Born in Ohio, raised in Andover, NJ, CSM (R)Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content

The Purple Star School program is designed to help schools respond to the challenges military-connected children face during their school transitions.  Listen to Mr. Hovet Dixon, Jr., and Mr. Jason Fowler discuss how schools, districts, and community organizations are working to support military families.   This podcast is made possible by generous funding from Alabama State Department of Education State Fund.  Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.   Show Notes: Resources: Alabama State Department of Education- Purple Star Schools https://www.alabamaachieves.org/al-pssp/     South Carolina Department of Education-Purple Star Schools https://ed.sc.gov/districts-schools/student-support/family-community-engagement/family-and-community-engagement/military-information/     Military Child Education Coalition-Purple Star Schools https://militarychild.org/programs-and-initiatives/purple-star-schools/#:~:text=The%20Purple%20Star%20School%20program,workforce%2C%20and%20life%2Dready   The South Carolina Department of Veterans' Affairs https://scdva.sc.gov/   Bio: Hovet Lee Dixon, Jr. currently serves as a high school principal in Huntsville, Alabama. He is a proud graduate of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University several times over, holding degrees in Elementary Education and Education Administration and Supervision. Principal Dixon has almost 25 years of teaching and leadership experience collectively, and prides himself on advocating for the communities he serves.    In his capacity as principal, Principal Dixon has earned various recognitions on the local, state, and national levels for his commitment to his school community and progressions, having most recently been named the Alabama Association of Elementary School Administrators District X's Outstanding Elementary Administrator of the Year. Much of his focus has entailed providing a warm and inviting learning environment for our military families and communities. Principal Dixon values his longstanding partnership with MCEC.    He has been married to a fellow educator for 24 years and is the father of two adult daughters and a high school son. Their pride and joy is their American Bully named Ace.      Jason Fowler (Jay) joined the South Carolina Department of Veterans' Affairs in October of 2022 as the Military Affairs Coordinator. Jason retired from the South Carolina Army National Guard AGR program in February 2018 after 25 years of service to the country, culminating as the First Sergeant of the 43rd Civil Support Team (SCARNG).    Jason served both on active duty in the Army and dedicated almost 15 years of his career to assist Federal, State, Local, and Tribal authorities as a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard's highly distinguished and decorated 43rd Civil Support Team (CST). He served on the National CST Training Working Group as the Personnel, Senior Enlisted Advisor and was the quarterly Senior Enlisted speaker for the CST Pre-Command Course in Washington DC. Upon retirement he has spent much of his time as a contractor for L2 Defense Group, training with and evaluating the CSTs nationwide alongside US Army North.   Assigned to the Military Affairs Division at SCDVA, Jason works on Quality-of-Life Issues such as Military Child Education, Military Child Care, Military Spouse Employment and provides Base Support to the military installations that are located in South Carolina and Fort Eisenhower just across the state line. The Military Affairs Division strives to sustain and enhance the military presence in South Carolina.   Jason is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts History program at Arizona State University and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from American Military University in Homeland Security. Jason is a member of several Veterans' based organizations and enjoys volunteer work in his community.  

Podcast Hosts:Grant Broggi: Marine Veteran, Owner of The Strength Co. and Starting Strength Coach.Jeff Buege: Marine Veteran, Outdoorsman, Football Fan and LifterTres Gottlich: Marine Veteran, Texan, Fisherman, Crazy College Football Fan and LifterJoin the Slack and Use code OKAY:https://buy.stripe.com/dR6dT4aDcfuBdyw5ksCheck out BW Tax: https://www.bwtaxllc.comBUY A FOOTBALL HELMET: https://www.greengridiron.com/?ref=thestrengthcoTIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Tres' Big Update07:17 - ROLL CALL17:36 - Matthew Tomaszewski Joins The Show!19:26 - Marine Career27:09 - Being A Drill Instructor39:05 - Getting Injured47:38 - Fishing53:50 - Being A Dad01:04:06 - Transitioning to First Sergeant 01:06:38 - AI Coaches01:13:30 - Leaving The Military01:16:59 - OKAY MATTHEW!01:26:19 - Super Bowl01:30:31 - Sign Off

First Sergeant Steve Buckley of the Indiana State Police spoke with us early in January about the Delphi murders case.Pre-order our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company's position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year's Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered."Hey, don't let your officers find you asleep." The man didn't move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man's shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn't want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they'd died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment's position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs."Comrade," he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment's hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion."I know you can't understand me," he continued in German, "but if I don't get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I'll take you back to me fire."The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn't worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer's trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman's lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn't a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men's position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile."Halt," hissed a voice in the twilight."Gunner, I'm back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word," Heinz instructed the private on picket duty."What happened?" he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. "Who is with you?""The 3rd Battalion is gone," Heinz whispered back. "She's the only one I could find.""They left us? The bastards," Gunner growled."No, they are all dead. I didn't find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here," the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn't been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn't bother radioing Battalion until he'd made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them."Sir, what do we do with the girl?" one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over."We'll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She'll never survive out here on her own," Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the 'next' village. It wasn't much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German's rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn't like. The head man shrugged to the German's.When Heinz went out to check the men he'd placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:"Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position," snapped the colonel's adjutant. Sergeants didn't get to talk to the real 'powers that be'. "You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.""Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.""If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy," the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on."I can't do it sir," Heinz sighed. "What you want me to do can't be done and I'm not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must." There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes."Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?" the adjutant asked."I'm in a small village and I've got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?" Heinz asked."We will do what we can," the officer answered."Unless they throw a battalion at me, I'll hold this position Sir.""I'll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are," was the man's final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?'Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn't seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan' operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer."Sergeant Klausenbach," the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward."That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?" Heinz asked in even tone."No," the SS man began."Have you come to relieve us?" Heinz interrupted."No," the man continued."Then why in the hell are you in my village?" Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture."As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate," he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal."Like what, sir?" Heinz inquired."A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene," the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless."Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died," Heinz lied."Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site," the SS captain said with a white toothy grin."Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can't justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand," Heinz protested."First Sergeant, this wasn't a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn't be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of," he grinned."What does that mean?" Heinz asked."That is not important to you," the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath."I've only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us," Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers."You need to stay here with the others," Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. "Listen, I don't know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that." She looked into his eyes then past him."Who is the woman?" Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent."She is my woman," Heinz offered."You have good taste in woman. Too bad she's a Slav," Sierech noted contemptuously. "Woman, do you pleasure him?""I prefer to think that she has good taste in men," Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer."She doesn't speak much German, does she?" he smiled in that chilling way of his."She doesn't need to speak for what I want," Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn't stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer's arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat."Be careful with your next action, Sergeant," hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn't help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain's chest heaved in anticipation."Button up your pistol Captain," Heinz said angrily. "As you said, be careful with your next action." The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down."Let me finish here and I'll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir."Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside."Does this have anything to do with you?" Heinz asked. He got no reply. "If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?" Again, no reply."Damn it," Heinz pleaded, "I'm trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on." By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. "I can't be here to protect you," which brought a smile to her lips. He'd even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn't have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman's footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village."What did you do here?" the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him."I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves f

What kind of a reaction should you expect after you gain a little weight in the military? Is it possible for the First Sergeant to correct a young soldier in a constructive way?  Find out, the answers to these questions and more on this weeks "sode" of The Cammo Comedy Show Podcast! If you have any funny military stories of your own that you would like to share, drop us a line at:stories@cammocomedy.com  or  Leave a voicemail at (531) 222-6146  Sadly, the voicemail will only record in 2 minute blocksWe are here to make you laugh, but behind this there is the imbedded philosophy of, "No One Left Behind." Sadly, 22 vets per day commit suicide, approximately 67,500 vets are homeless and thousands struggle with everyday life after service.  What we hope to accomplish is providing a fun place to gather that will have a similar feel to the conversations that happen at the VFW or American Legion between vets.  Since the latest generations of vets are not really going to these places anymore, we are making it happen online.  We believe that the sense of community will help some who struggle, while providing stories about the good times that we can all laugh at!An additional part of this show is capturing the oral history of the military over the past few decades, so if you happen to know a veteran who served during WW2, Korean War or Vietnam eras, we would love to hear from them.  Obviously, we want to hear stories from all eras, but we have special respect for the older generations.  Give Send Go Fundraiser: https://givesendgo.com/VeteransLaughterTherapy?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=VeteransLaughterTherapyWe took great pleasure in animating these short videos with fresh new music and some fun character models. We hope that you will enjoy them and share this message with your friends and loved ones.Animated Video Sympathetic:https://rumble.com/v5a3ujh-cammo-comedy-community-outreach.htmlAnimated Video Bad Ass:https://rumble.com/v5a69h9-cammo-comedy-rocken-outreach.html

In this week's Urban Valor episode, retired Marine First Sergeant Mark Wheatley shares gripping stories from his 24 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps (1975–1999). Born at Kirtland Air Force Base, Mark grew up in a military family but broke tradition by joining the Marines instead of the Air Force.Mark reveals truths about his time as a Drill Instructor, the challenges of transforming civilians into battle-ready Marines, and what separates good instructors from the bad. He also opens up about his transition to civilian life, the mental resilience it requires, and his advice for veterans struggling to adapt. 

This episode continues a theme of bringing on guest's who crossed paths with Alex in the Army and helped shape his perspective on human performance. SGM Jaime Espinoza's career started with troubles involving weight gain, mental health, alcohol abuse, and more. But thanks to help from several people along the way (some human performance professionals, but also just fellow soldiers) he managed to overcome those hurdles and excel professionally. He joined us to talk about how, and how lessons he learned in the process can help improve outcomes for people experiencing the same challenges. Sergeant Major Jaime Espinoza is a native of Azusa, CA. Upon enlisting in the Army in August 2006, he attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, followed by advanced individual training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. After completing advanced individual training, he was awarded the MOS 35F Intelligence Analyst. His assignments, in ascending order, were with HHC 2-6 IN, 2 BDE, 1st AD, Baumholder, GE; Bravo Company, 304th MI, Fort Huachuca, AZ; HHD, 525th MP BN, Guantanamo Bay, CU; HHC, 4 BDE, 1st CAV DIV, Fort Hood; HHT, 1-9 CAV, 1st CAV DIV, Fort Cavazos; HHC, 4th BDE, 1st CAV DIV, Fort Hood; HHC, 3rd BDE, 4th ID Attached to Foundry Fort Carson, CO; Delta MI Company, 299th BEB, 4th ID, Fort Carson, CO; HHD, 1ST IO CMD Land, Fort Belvoir; United States Special Operations Command (USASOC). He has deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). He served in a variety of leadership and technical positions, including Junior Analyst, Targeting Analyst, S2 NCO, ASAS-L Master Analyst, Special Security Representative, Detainee Mail Analyst, S2 NCOIC, Senior Intelligence Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant, Operations NCO, Observer Controller and Trainer, Foundry Instructor, Operations Sergeant Major. SGM Espinoza's military education includes the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy (Class 74). Other schools include the Small UAV Course, Army Basic Instructor Course, Foreign Disclosure Officer Course, Military Police Pre-Service Course, Army Space Cadre Basic Course, Master Fitness Trainer Course, Critical Thinking Course, Integrated Data Sources and Enhanced Analytics Course, Information Operations Capabilities, Application and Planning Course, Army Operations Security Program Manager / Officer Certification Level II Course, Anti-Terrorism Officer Basic Course Airborne Course and SERE course. He holds an Associate of Arts degree in Applied Sciences in Intelligence Operations from Cochise College, a Bachelor of Arts in History with a concentration in Military History from Southern New Hampshire University, and a Master of Arts in International Relations from New England College. SGM Espinoza's awards and decorations are the Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Award), Army Commendation Medal (7th Award), Army Achievement Medal (6th Award), Army Good Conduct Medal (6th Award), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (1 Campaign Star), Iraqi Campaign Medal (2 Campaign Stars), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal,Humanitarian Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal (2nd Award), Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (5th Award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (3rd Award), NATO Medal, Luxembourg's International March of Diekirch Medal, Presidential Unit Citation (2 nd Award), Meritorious Unit Citation (3rd Award), Army Superior Unit Award. He has earned the Parachutist Badge, Army Basic Space Badge, Canadian Jump wings, Italian Parachutist Badge, German Bronze Parachutist, Polish Parachutist Jump wings and Netherlands Parachutist Jump wings, Norwegian Foot March Badge, Driver's badge with wheel and track clasps. SGM Espinoza is a recipient of the Military Intelligence Corps Association Knowlton Award.

In this episode, Joe sits down with retired Army Sergeant Major, coach, and motivational speaker, Roy Lewis. With a 36-year military career, including a significant tenure as a Drill Instructor and First Sergeant, Roy's leadership experience is deeply rooted in discipline and motivation. Roy shares insights into his transition from military life to entrepreneurship, discussing the challenges of finding a traditional job that fully utilized his unique skill set. He emphasizes the freedom and opportunities that entrepreneurship offers, allowing him to share his real-life experiences and military leadership style with a broader audience. Joe and Roy delve into the distinctive qualities of military leadership and explore the business side of coaching. Listen in to gain valuable perspectives on leadership, transition, and the entrepreneurial journey. Episode Resources:  https://speaksgtroy.com/   About Our Guest    Sgt. Roy is a retired Army combat veteran with 36 years of service. His leadership roles have varied from executing Special Operations missions in Iraq to training thousands of recruits as a Drill Instructor at Fort Jackson, SC. He is a United States Sergeant Major Academy graduate in El Paso, TX. His other accomplishments include being a Master Fitness Trainer and Personal Life Coach in Charlotte, NC. He is a published author of the book Broken Things, a Christian motivational book about managing personal brokenness. He is a featured speaker at colleges and universities such as UNCC and Tuskegee University.   About Our Sponsors Navy Federal Credit Union   November is a special month for all veterans as we honor veterans day. At Navy Federal Credit Union, every day is Veterans Day. They're proud to have served the Military community for over ninety years. Navy Federal serves more than 2 million Veterans by providing the support they need to succeed financially. They offer members exclusive rates, discounts and perks and 45% of their employees are directly tied to the military, so Navy Federal understands the needs of the Veterans they serve. Learn more here.  At Navy Federal, our members are the mission.      Join the conversation on Facebook! Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests and other listeners. A place where you can network with other like-minded veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship and get updates on people, programs and resources to help you in YOUR transition to entrepreneurship.   Want to be our next guest? Send us an email at interview@veteranonthemove.com.  Did you love this episode? Leave us a 5-star rating and review!  Download Joe Crane's Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470. Veteran On the Move podcast has published 500 episodes. Our listeners have the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane. The podcast features people, programs, and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship.  As a result, Veteran On the Move has over 7,000,000 verified downloads through Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, iTunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Send us a textIn this episode of Journeys Through Leadership, we sit down with an extraordinary leader whose heart and mission are firmly rooted in the service of others.  SMSgt Matthew Brewer is the First Sergeant of 1st Air Force, he embodies the values of purpose and passion, channeling his energy into supporting people and educating the force.From the moments that shaped his leadership philosophy to the challenges he's overcome in fostering a culture of trust and accountability, Matt shares insights that will inspire and motivate.  Tune-in as we unwrap how his dedication to mentorship and education drives innovation, builds resilience, and leaves a lasting impact on those he serves.Purpose, Compassion, Family

On today's episode of Uncommon Sense with Ginny Robinson, we're joined with the incredible Justin (J Hans) from X. Justin is a 20 year military veteran, retired US Army First Sergeant, Bronze Star recipient, with five combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan as a Black Hawk helicopter crew chief. Now a prominent voice on social media, Justin delivers important political commentary and an invaluable perspective. Today, we're discussing the upcoming election, exploring the pressing issues shaping this presidential race—and we're also tackling the crisis of America's plummeting health and how we can (and will) head in a different direction to help the future of our people. — https://policecoffee.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorN9Z4DTToEjcK_mPWUkfmV6lL3XLBpMOA0TQNcOf5o632mk9rs— Follow Justin on X: https://x.com/blackhawkce457

It's been an amazing personal journey for the mission-driven Amanda Held. Overcoming significant odds, Amanda figured out how to merge her love/respect for horses with her military experience to found H.O.O.V.E.S., a nonprofit that provides equine-assisted therapy and intensive programming for veterans and others navigating trauma. For the past 13 years, she has leveraged her extensive knowledge of horse and human behavior to provide high-impact retreats and workshops aimed at helping veterans manage PTSD and find a path forward. She is also co-producer of the award-winning documentary H.O.O.V.E.S. – Healing our Veterans. Prior to running H.O.O.V.E.S., Amanda served in the Air Force in various roles associated with human resources. After finishing active duty in the Air Force, she joined the Air National Guard and is currently a First Sergeant for the 127th Medical Group at the National Guard base in Selfridge, Michigan. Amanda has received numerous recognitions for her life-saving work including being selected as one of Success Magazine's People of Influence, Hometown Hero (3 times), and the Toledo Community Impact Award.    Host/Executive Producer; Brad Rieger, Audio Engineer/Production Coordinator; Kerry Schwable, Social Coordinator; Tim McCarthy, Graphic Designers: Stephen Shankster/Jeremy Thomas. Content made possible by Cooper-Smith Advertising LLC 2023

On the final Friday of every month we honor a local law enforcement professional who has went above & beyond the call of duty representing "The Best of The Badge". This month we honor First Sergeant Mike Berry of the Virginia State Police who quite possibly has the coolest job on the force as he is in charge of the dive/scuba team! Mike and Jeff have a wonderful conversation about his journey becoming an officer and locking in to God's will for his life. Please take a moment and help us honor First Sergeant Mike Cherry of the Virginia State Police who is the August recipient of the Lieutenant Jan McTernan Blue Friday Award. Thank you for your service to our community Mike! 

JB, a First Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who is close to retirement after a distinguished career of service.In this candid and insightful conversation, JB shares his wisdom on leadership, accountability, and the importance of adapting and evolving in order to genuinely connect with and mentor the younger generation. We dive into the challenges of bridging the generational gap when it comes to mental resilience and mindset.JB emphasizes how critical it is for leaders to maintain perspective, be transparent, and offer real solutions rather than just harkening back to how things were done in the past. We discuss the risk of leaders becoming obsolete or even toxic if they fail to understand and value the unique experiences of junior members.This episode is all about building authentic relationships, engaging in active listening, and taking the time to see things from others' point of view. JB shares powerful examples from his own leadership journey of the impact our actions and words can have.Let our sponsor BetterHelp connect you to a therapist who can support you - all from the comfort of your own home. Visit https://betterhelp.com/meechspeaks and enjoy a special discount on your first month. Grab a “Be Gentle to Your Mental” T-Shirt at https://rarebandy.com/products/be-gentle-to-your-mental-x-meech-speaks

We reached out to our guest for this week's episode after he testified before Congress and used the opportunity to repeatedly highlight military human performance programs. He was also our first guest to tune in from the Pentagon Briefing Room. Troy Black is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, making him the most senior NCO in the entire United States military. We were particularly interested in having him on when we saw that the #2 priority on his strategy document is Holistic Human Performance. SEAC Black assumed his current post as the 5th SEAC on Nov. 3rd, 2023 following his selection and service as the 19th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in April of 1988 and attended the School of Infantry and Marine Corps Security Force School. Throughout his career, SEAC Black has been assigned numerous duties to include: Machine Gunner, Machine Gun Squad and Section Leader; Weapons Platoon Sergeant and Weapons Platoon Commander; Drill Instructor, Senior Drill Instructor, Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) Platoon Sergeant and Operations Chief, Series Gunnery Sergeant, DI School Instructor, and RTR Drill Master; First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, 3d Bn, 7th Marines, Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Logistics Group, and Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He has deployed in support of Operation Just Cause, Operation Sea Soldier, Desert Storm/Desert Shield, and Sea Angel; Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF), Operation Bright Star, Operation Iraqi Freedom IV (OIF) ; Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010; WESTPAC 14.2 and Operation Inherent Resolve. SEAC Black has a Bachelor of Science in Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies from National American University and graduated from the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy December of 2011.

What kind of a reaction should you expect when you threaten your First Sergeant? Is it possible to party hard and remember where the bathroom is?  Find out, the answers to these questions and more on this weeks "sode" of The Cammo Comedy Show Podcast! If you have any funny military stories of your own that you would like to share, drop us a line at:stories@cammocomedy.com  or  Leave a voicemail at (531) 222-6146  Sadly, the voicemail will only record in 2 minute blocksWe are here to make you laugh, but behind this there is the imbedded philosophy of, "No One Left Behind." Sadly, 22 vets per day commit suicide, approximately 67,500 vets are homeless and thousands struggle with everyday life after service.  What we hope to accomplish is providing a fun place to gather that will have a similar feel to the conversations that happen at the VFW or American Legion between vets.  Since the latest generations of vets are not really going to these places anymore, we are making it happen online.  We believe that the sense of community will help some who struggle, while providing stories about the good times that we can all laugh at!An additional part of this show is capturing the oral history of the military over the past few decades, so if you happen to know a veteran who served during WW2, Korean War or Vietnam eras, we would love to hear from them.  Obviously, we want to hear stories from all eras, but we have special respect for the older generations.  

Lyle Rosen shares his journey from growing up in a small farming community to joining the Air Force as an aircraft weapons maintainer. He later cross-trained as a paralegal and became a first sergeant. He discusses his experiences as a first sergeant in Camp Bucca, Iraq, and the challenges of managing the welfare of 626 security forces members. He emphasizes the importance of relying on trusted individuals and building a strong team. He also mentions his involvement with POVAD (Project One Bed at a Time) and the relationships he formed with Linda Fraker and Command Chief Bill Turner. Project One Vet at a Time (POVAT) is a nonprofit organization that helps veterans and active duty service members navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to receive the compensation and pension they deserve. The organization was founded by Chief Master Sergeant Will Markham and a team of dedicated individuals. They provide assistance to referred veterans, covering the costs of filing claims, medical visits, and other expenses. POVAT relies on fundraising efforts to support their mission and help as many veterans as possible. The average cost to put someone through the project is around $10,500, but the increased lifetime financial benefit to the veteran can range from $460,000 to over $1 million. The organization is committed to raising awareness and revenue to continue their work. Project OVAT is a non-profit organization that helps veterans navigate the process of receiving VA compensation and pension ratings. They provide assistance to veterans who have been referred to them by fellow veterans. The organization is dedicated to ensuring that veterans receive the benefits they deserve based on their individual circumstances. They offer support and guidance throughout the entire process, from filling out intake forms to gathering medical records. Project OVAT emphasizes the importance of each veteran's unique experiences and the need for individualized care. They also provide resources and events to raise funds for their mission.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Welcome01:30 Lyle Rosen's Background and Early Years06:18 Transitioning to the First Sergeant Role13:15 Deploying as a First Sergeant in Camp Bucca, Iraq25:20 The Origin of the Term 'Shirt' for First Sergeants30:08 Lessons Learned from Chief Larry Similton35:41 Experiencing Rocket Attacks in Camp Bucca40:55 Involvement with POVAD and RelationshipJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9aFBBZoBcQk8UUN_pO7nDA/joinCollabs:Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code: 1ReadyAlpha Brew Coffee Company - Promo Code: ONESREADYATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code): ATACLeteCardoMax - Promo Code: ONESREADYDread River - Promo Code: ONESREADY Eberlestock - Promo Code: OR10Hoist - Promo Code: ONESREADYTrench Coffee Company - Promo Code: ONESREADYThe content provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The host, guests, and affiliated entities do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. The use of this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship, and the...

Join us for our second Memorial Week Show as we welcome US Army CSM Retired Harold Reynolds. CSM (R) Harold Reynolds is a native of Clarks Grove, Minnesota. He entered the Army on November 26, 1986, as a Combat Engineer. He attended One Unit Station Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. His assignments include: A & B/37th EN BN Fort Bragg, NC; 6th EN CO Fort Richardson, AK; Sapper Leader Course Det., Fort Leonard Wood, MO; B/44th EN BN Camp Howze, Korea; B/307th EN BN Fort Bragg, NC; A/2nd STB, 2 BCT Fort Bragg, NC; Student USASMA (CLS 58); 92nd EN BN Fort Stewart, GA; 2BSTB, 2 BCT Fort Campbell, KY; 3-364 EN BN Fort Bliss, TX; United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, Texas. Retired 2017 and began as a Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton (Booz Allen) firm in FORSCOM HQ BLDG, G3/5/7 department, Engineer DIV, AW C-IED. Currently working as the Training Development Services Lead for Booz Allen on the Army's Emerging Threat Training and Readiness Capability program based in Fayetteville, NC. CSM (R) Reynolds has served in numerous leadership positions to include Team Leader, Squad Leader, Operation Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant, Battalion Operations Sergeant Major, Battalion Command Sergeant Major (x2), and Sergeants Major Course Director. He has deployed to three Campaigns (Desert Storm/Shield, OIF, and OEF) for a total of five operational deployments. He has deployed as a Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant, 1SG, and as a CSM. Of note, the Sapper Leader Course Distinguished Leadership Award (DLA) is named the “CSM Harold A. Reynolds Jr. DLA”. His military and highest civilian education includes Basic Leader Course, Advance Leader Course, Senior Leader Course, Ranger School, Sapper Leader Course, Pathfinder Course, Air Assault Course, Mountain Warfare Course (Summer and Winter), Jumpmaster Course, Airborne School, graduate of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, Class 58. He holds a Master of Science in Management Degree from Excelsior College.

Show SummaryOn today's episode, we feature a conversation with Army Veteran and Gold Star Family Member Jennifer Ballou, Chief of Staff of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, an organization that is guiding the development of a national memorial that honors the service and sacrifice of all who have contributed to global counterterrorism efforts since September 11th, 2001.  About Today's GuestJennifer R. Ballou is originally from Mentor, Ohio. In June of 1994, three weeks after her high school graduation, she enlisted in the United States Army as a Dental Assistant. Jennifer served for almost 21 years, retiring in May 2015. She held numerous leadership positions throughout her Army career, culminating as the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the United States Army Resilience Directorate, Army G1, Pentagon. She also served as First Sergeant, 257th Dental Company (Area Support), 44th Medical Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was during this assignment, while deployed to Afghanistan, that her husband, SSG Edwardo Loredo, was Killed in Action. Some of Jennifer's awards and decorations include the Secretary of the Army Public Service Award and the Legion of Merit. She is currently enrolled at Maryland University of Integrative Health, pursuing a Master's Degree in Yoga Therapy. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and is an alumnus of the 2022 Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program through the President George W. Bush Presidential Center. Jennifer initially joined the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation as the Gold Star Fellow. She was previously the Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, she is a Certified Professional Life Coach, and a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, specializing in trauma-sensitive, therapeutic, and adaptive yoga. Jennifer is the wife of Omari Ballou, Command Sergeant Major, US Army Retired, and is the proud mother of Alexis, Eddie, and Sophia.Links Mentioned In This EpisodeGlobal War on Terrorism Memorial FoundationPsychArmor Resource of the WeekThis week's PsychArmor resource of the week is the blog post, The Silent Plea of Monuments. This blog article is a reflection on the words of the Gettysburg Address, which includes some additional thoughts on why memorials and monuments are important, not only for remembrance, but for reminding us of our responsibilities to the memories of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.  You can see find the article here:  https://veteranmentalhealth.com/monuments/ Episode Partner: This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor. PsychArmor is the premier education and learning ecosystems specializing in military culture content PsychArmor offers an. Online e-learning laboratory that is free to individual learners as well as custom training options for organizations. Contact Us and Join Us on Social Media Email PsychArmorPsychArmor on TwitterPsychArmor on FacebookPsychArmor on YouTubePsychArmor on LinkedInPsychArmor on InstagramTheme MusicOur theme music Don't Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com  

The courage to face one's truth can be a harrowing journey, especially within the rigid confines of tradition and expectation. Today, we are humbled to share the raw, unfiltered story of First Sergeant Beth Abbott of the United States Marine Corps, who bravely navigated the waters of coming out as gay to her parents at 28. Her tale isn't just about the struggle for acceptance; it's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, underscored by her gripping experiences in the military, including surviving IED blasts, subsequent battles with survivor's guilt, and being charged with a DUI, hitting two teenage pedestrians. Wrapping up our emotional roller coaster, we reflect on the healing process and the integral role of a strong support system. Beth's insights on self-love and the organic filtering of fair-weather friends during adversity leave us with an empowered perspective. Your journey to self-discovery might begin with the wisdom our remarkable guest, Beth Abbott imparted.Support the show Watch: Unarmored Talk Playlist Mario's Socials: Parade Deck Support My Nonprofit: Still Serving, Inc. Email: host@unarmoredtalk.com

Author James McLean Jr. dropped in for his first podcast appearance to talk about his latest Savas-Beatie release, "The Bullets Flew Like Hail": Cutler's Brigade at Gettysburg, from McPherson's Ridge to Culp's Hill. The first day of the battle has, for too long, been brushed over for various reasons, but it is still a brutal day of fighting with many of the units involved being nearly destroyed.  July 1, 1863 is held in the top 20 of single-day battle casualties. Cutler's Brigade is one unit that had a hard slog in the fight and James' book is about just that.    Grab your copy here and be sure to let them know you heard about them on AG for a 20% discount.  Support Addressing Gettysburg by becoming a Patron over at www.patreon.com/addressinggettysburg. Here's what the different ranks get: Private- our heartfelt thanks and 20% off all items in our store, in perpetuity First Sergeant- same as above, plus you can submit questions for Ask A Gettysburg Guide episodes Sergeant-Major- all of the above plus two premium episodes per month 2nd Lieutenant- all of the above plus four premium episodes per month 1st Lieutenant- all of the above plus BTS videos, livestreams of recording sessions so you can get the information months ahead of everyone else as well as participate in the shows and more! All ranks get early access to and discounts on ticketed events. So, join the Officers' Club today!   

Robby Lewis has a unique and extensive career in the AF. From his time as a weapons loader to MQ-1 sensor operator to First Sergeant, to instructor at the Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Instructor, Robby has a lot of experience to share!Thanks to Robby for his willingness to sit down and talk through all things SUAS and the rest of his remarkable career! #military #airforce #podcast 00:00 - Atalcete.com and onesready.com for all your training needs! 01:54 - Robby's Intro 13:00 - Aviators during TICs26:52 - Deep dive into the course and systems, organic overwatch and ISR38:50 - Integration on the teams and different AFSCs47:30 - Advice and how to email Robby and the SUAS schoolhouseDon't forget to subscribe to the Podcast on your favorite player! http://bit.ly/2OG2OlfHave a question?  Email us at info@onesready.comFollow us on Instagram http://bit.ly/2OeNoFIAs always, THANK YOU for your support, we truly appreciate it.The views and opinions expressed by the OnesReady team and all guests are those of the team and themselves, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the DoD. Any content provided by our Podcast guests, bloggers, sponsors, or authors is their opinion and is not intended to malign the DoD, any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone.Collabs:18A Fitness - Promo Code: 1ReadyAlpha Brew Coffee Company - Promo Code: ONESREADYATAC Fitness - Promo Code: ONESREADYCardoMax - Promo Code: ONESREADYEberlestock - Promo Code: OR10Hoist - Promo Code: ONESREADYStrike Force Energy - Promo Code: ONESREADYTrench Coffee Company - Promo Code: ONESREADYGrey Man Gear - Promo Code: ONESREADY The content provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The host, guests, and affiliated entities do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. The use of this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship, and the podcast is not liable for any damages resulting from its use. Any mention of products or individuals does not constitute an endorsement. All content is protected by intellectual property laws. By accessing or using this you agree to these terms and conditions.