Podcasts about parwan

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureTrump is bringing the country out of the Biden/Obama recession. The [CB] is trapped because they never expected Trump’s parallel economic system to be building at lightning speed. Trump is putting everything into place to transition the people from the [CB] which means we will not need the income tax. [DS] has now used one of it’s soldiers to begin the color revolution. The [DS] wants a civil war in the end and they are pushing it. Trump knows the playbook and this is why he took the path of waking the people up and building the counterinsurgency. The people must see who the true enemy is, only when the people see the enemy can we fight the enemy. Trump put all this into place for this moment. Economy https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1994238315730473327?s=20   Challenger Gray spiked +99,010, to 153,074, the highest since March. This also marks the highest monthly number for any October in 22 years. All while employees notified of mass layoffs via WARN notices tracked by Revelio rose +11,912 last month to 43,626, the 2nd-highest in at least 2 years. US layoffs are accelerating. https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1994222461252980749?s=20  percentage has persisted above 90% for 12 months. Such an elevated reading has been seen only a few times over the last 35 years. Over the last 2 years, global central banks have cuts rates 316 times, the highest reading in at least 25 years. To put this into perspective, there were 313 cumulative cuts in 2008-2010 in response to the financial crisis. Global monetary policy is easing. Amazing How Central Bank Money-Printing Reversed around the World after the Inflation Shock  Balance sheets of the Fed, ECB, BOJ, BOE, and central banks of China, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and India as % of GDP.  The major central banks around the world have been unwinding their balance sheets for the past few years, even the Bank of Japan, which got a late start in 2024. Their balance sheets had swollen to grotesque proportions during the global QE frenzy that started in 2008, and QE-mania during and after the pandemic. But that has been getting unwound. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an umbrella organization owned by its member central banks, released its latest quarterly data on central bank balance sheets today. We'll look at the decline of the balance sheets of nine major central banks: Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, People's Bank of China, Bank of England, Central Bank of India, Bank of Canada, Reserve Bank of Australia, and the Swiss National Bank. In normal times, central-bank balance sheets, including the Fed's balance sheet, grew with the economy, as measured by GDP; and the ratio of total assets as a percentage of GDP back then was low and roughly stable over the years. Years of QE then caused the ratios to explode. And years of QT have now caused the ratios to shrink dramatically.   They're all seeing the same thing: A continued threat of inflation and massive distortions and risks in asset prices, including dangerous housing bubbles that are now deflating in some markets. So they've been removing some of the fuel, to walk back from those risks. Source: wolfstreet.com (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1994194115467071830?s=20 Yes, President Trump did make that statement in a recent address (likely his Thanksgiving message to U.S. troops on November 27, 2025). Based on the video clip in the X post you linked, here’s the relevant excerpt from his remarks:“The next couple of years, I think we’ll substantially be cutting and maybe cutting out completely, but we’ll be cutting income tax—could be almost completely cutting it—because the money we’re taking in is going to be so large.”This aligns closely with the claim in the WatcherGuru post. Multiple news outlets have reported on the comments, confirming they are authentic and recent. For context, Trump has floated similar ideas about offsetting or replacing income taxes with tariff revenue multiple times during his campaign and presidency, though experts have questioned the feasibility due to the massive revenue gap (tariffs currently generate far less than income taxes). DOGE Geopolitical Globalist Germany's Firewall Against the AfD Collapses as Half the Country Now Open to Voting for Them For the first time since the party entered parliament about nine years ago, the anti-democratic cordon sanitaire around the right-wing, anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland appears to have cracked wide open. According to the latest INSA/Bild poll, fewer than half of all German voters (just 49%) now say they would “never” vote AfD—down from a staggering 75% only a few years ago, This is nothing short of a historic breakthrough. Despite years of state-funded smear campaigns, constant domestic intelligence surveillance (Verfassungsschutz), court cases, job dismissals, bank account closures, repeated violence against party members by left-globalist extremists, and even serious discussions about banning the party outright, ordinary Germans are finally seeing through the propaganda and recognizing the AfD as the only serious opposition to a failing system. Source: thegatewaypundit.com    all the Liars and Pretenders of the Radical Left Media are going out of business! At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our U.S. Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony. Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year. South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! War/Peace Zelensky sent aide to US talks to ‘protect’ him from corruption probe – media Zelensky appointed his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, to head Kiev’s negotiating delegation in Geneva last weekend after learning that anti-corruption investigators were preparing a suspicion notice against the aide,The report comes amid fallout from a massive $100 million graft scheme involving the Ukrainian leader’s inner circle, including long-time associate Timur Mindich, who has been charged with running a kickback scheme in the energy sector and fled before the authorities could detain him.Surveillance of the Mindich case by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reportedly captured conversations involving Zelensky and Yermak, potentially implicating both. Source: sott.net https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1994307774860189739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1994307774860189739%7Ctwgr%5Ee8d979a9c10fbfc326b32333d206fa988e9c3418%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F11%2Fnew-ukraines-anti-corruption-bureau-raids-home-andriy%2F   Zelensky's chief of staff. The latest raid comes days after a $100M bribery scandal rocked Ukraine's energy sector – but no official word yet if this is linked. Neither agency has commented on the raid yet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      NATO states considering ‘cyber offensive' against Russia – Politico NATO's European members are reportedly considering joint offensive cyber operations against Russia, Politico reported on Thursday, citing two senior EU government officials and three diplomats. Western governments are assessing cyber and other options in response to alleged “hybrid attacks” by Moscow, according to the publication. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze told Politico that NATO must “be more proactive on the cyber offensive” and better coordinate their intelligence services. “And it's not talking that sends a signal – it's doing,” she said. In late 2024, NATO unveiled plans to establish a new integrated cyber defense center at its headquarters in Belgium, which is expected to go online by 2028. Stefano Piermarocchi, the head of cyber risk management within NATO's chief information office, told Breaking Defense that the new hub would enhance Source: rt.com Russian President Vladimir Putin Gives Remarkably Detailed Explanation of Current Peace Negotiation Status – Either Ukraine Concedes Diplomatically, or We Will Win Militarily Source: theconservativetreehouse.com Medical/False Flags [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/1993883057414353293?s=20 https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1994206037998538849?s=20 https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1994194638421340290?s=20 https://twitter.com/VickieforNYC/status/1993899026651951335?s=20   foreign warzone. Yet almost every major lefty account is parroting this narrative. It’s bizarre. Like “of COURSE people are going to try and murder the National Guard, what did you expect to happen in Washington” Is this the narrative here? That Washington is Fallujah? Or is it that the left has declared a de facto state of war, and casualties are now just to be expected? It’s extremely bad either way. https://twitter.com/TheStormRedux/status/1994054785163522357?s=20  that the President said it's times to bring in more law enforcement to make sure that a city that had the 4th highest homicide rate in the country, that that violence was quelled. I'm not even gonna go there!” Liberals have been spending the last 12 hours trying to place the blame on Trump for bringing the NG to the city. Truly unbelievable how ungrateful these people are https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1993876798866653577?s=20 https://twitter.com/thevivafrei/status/1994116243154973175?s=20   intentions, everything takes on a whole new meaning. https://twitter.com/ZannSuz/status/1993859778414580217?s=20 https://twitter.com/JLRINVESTIGATES/status/1994214556671889810?s=20 https://twitter.com/DataRepublican/status/1994118842239610989?s=20   dive here. As always, patience as I pull together the thread: https://twitter.com/TPASarah/status/1994015487135514931 Sarah Adams@TPASarah Lakanwal, from Khost Province, Afghanistan, was a member of two CIA-supported units that operated under the National Directorate of Security (NDS) of the former Afghan Republic. Although these units belonged to the NDS on paper, their support and direction came directly from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He served in Unit 01, a special military-intelligence unit responsible for the central zone provinces (Kabul, Parwan, Wardak, and Logar). His agency training in 2007 took place at CIA's Eagle Base near the Deh Sabz district of Kabul province, a few miles from Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). Eagle Camp, originally built on an old brick factory site, became one of the CIA's most important counterterrorism training centers in the early 2000s. It trained the CIA-backed NDS units including NDS-01, NDS-02, NDS-03, NDS-04, NDS-KPF, and NDS-KSF, and also housed an ammunition depot and multiple facilities for sensitive operations. When U.S. forces left Afghanistan in 2021, Eagle Camp was among the final sites to be evacuated and demolished. It was later handed over to the Haqqani Network's suicide bomber brigade, the Badri 313. Badri 313 moved the suicide bombers through the gate areas of HKIA for the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 of our servicemembers and approximately 170 Afghans on August 26, 2021. After completing training at Eagle Base, Lakanwal was transferred to the team supporting CIA's Kandahar Base. The site had a long militant history: it housed Mullah Mohammad Omar from 1994–2001, Osama bin Laden from 1998–2001, and later Camp Gecko from 2002–2021, which was used by the CIA and NDS-03. It served as the headquarters of the Kandahar Strike Force, which led CIA-backed counterterrorism operations in Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Zabul provinces against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Lakanwal took part in counterterrorism missions alongside U.S. forces in Kandahar. After the attack yesterday on our National Guardsmen in Washington, DC, ISIS channels were the first to praise the incident largely because Lakanwal's half-brother (the son of his father's second wife, pictured left) had been a recruiter for the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP). His brother, Muawiyah Khurasani aka Hayatullah (pictured below), previously worked with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Orakzai Agency, Pakistan, before formally joining ISKP. He was killed in a targeted operation in July 2022 in Achin district, Nangarhar province. Some ISIS members claimed he was killed by Pakistan's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), though that remains unconfirmed. After the fall of Kabul in 2021, Lakanwal's unit the Kandahar Protection Force and the Khost Protection Force (KPF) became prime targets for both the Haqqani Network and ISKP, which sought either to blackmail or recruit former KPF members. Recruitment involved persuading them to join voluntarily; blackmail involved coercing them through threats to their families (many were left behind), exposure of past work with the U.S., or financial pressure. Both groups targeted these units specifically because of their close relationships on U.S. soil, particularly with former CIA officers. In addition, both groups, along with al-Qaeda, saw value in impersonating these units. A couple thousand fake documents and ID cards were produced so terrorists could claim affiliation with KPF/01/02 and other special units. This allowed some individuals to fraudulently move through the U.S. evacuation process by exploiting unsuspecting volunteers and taking advantage of weak vetting procedures. We have confirmed that Lakanwal's ID (pictured right) and employment were legitimate, but a full review is recommended, as terrorists have explicitly claimed using this route as a pipeline into the U.S. We cannot keep waiting for Americans to be killed again and again before we act against the Islamist terrorists who have arrived on our soil since 2021. This can no longer fall on the shoulders of a small handful of people sounding the alarm. Every American needs to be engaged: protecting their families, their communities, and our homeland. Please prepare today! https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1993925420329390316?s=20  action force of the AFN who fought directly alongside U.S. Special Forces against the Taliban. In addition, Fox News is reporting that Lakanwal worked with various other government entities from the United States in Afghanistan, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), specifically as part of the CIA-backed Kandahar Strike Force (KSF), known in most intelligence circles as NDS-03, which operated outside of U.S. and Afghan military chain-of-commands directly under the CIA, carrying out covert, clandestine, counterterrorism operations, including night raids and assassinations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. https://twitter.com/DataRepublican/status/1993878815349854361?s=20 CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that to Fox. “In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital. “The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration's catastrophic failures.” Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.” https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1994201842750837067?s=20 https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1993882348069552531?s=20 https://twitter.com/CannConActual/status/1993693224196604379?s=20  at a colour revolution. @ColonelTowner and@xAlphaWarriorx have done a good job documenting several. We have been overwhelmingly resistant to these efforts on our homeland through the use of NGOs funding widespread protests and subsequent riots. And as President Trump cut the head off their private sector funding apparatuses (USAID, NED, etc), they are becoming desperate. So they politicized the military, subverted the Constitutional authority of the Commander in Chief, and injected themselves in a chain of command they are NOT a part of. The desperate attempt to execute their plan. This is life or death for the Deep State. https://twitter.com/CynicalPublius/status/1993886979738460646?s=20 There are three phases to a Color Revolution. It’s important to understand this so you can see how the actions of the Sedition 6 fit into this pattern. PHASE ONE: -Form underground opposition networks. -Create strong slogans and powerful information operations as recruitment tools. -Upon a certain well-coordinated signal, well-funded, well-organized mass protests “spontaneously” appear. -The armed wing of the movement conducts carefully coordinated, precision attacks on certain government infrastructure. PHASE TWO:  -Discredit military, security, and law enforcement forces through information operations, coordination with friendly media (Jimmy Kimmel? Talkin’ to you, Komrade Kelly), strikes, civil disobedience, rioting, and sabotage. yOU ARE HER -Occupy civic facilities and refuse to leave until your demands are met. -Strengthen and grow a highly organized logistics support network. -Issue ultimatums to the government, threatening violent uprisings if demands are unmet. The goal is to either have the government acquiesce or engage in violent repression, in each case thereby delegitimizing itself. PHASE THREE:  -Overthrow the government in a “non-violent” manner that is actually quite violent. -Open attacks on authorities, seizure of government buildings, destruction of government symbols. -Coordinate media messaging. If the government attacks, media will accuse the government of attacking “peaceful protestors.” If the government makes concessions, it will appear impotent because protestors will not compromise. -Widespread delegitimization of the government is effective in the minds of the populace; the government either willingly cedes power or is violently removed. -The once underground opposition forces’ leadership now seizes control of the government.   prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens who, because of their beautiful hearts, do not want to openly complain or cause trouble in any way, shape, or form. They put up with what has happened to our Country, but it's eating them alive to do so! A migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family. The real migrant population is much higher. This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.). As an example, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone. The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst “Congressman/woman” in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc…    denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won't be here for long! Trump Orders Green Card Review in the Wake of Shooting by Afghan on Overstay President Trump's Plan (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

What does it take to lead at every level and shape the leaders of tomorrow? SUMMARY Long Blue Line podcast host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 sat with Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95, the U.S. Air Force Academy's vice superintendent, for a deep dive into leadership, humanity and building a world-class service academy. This episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned leaders alike.   SHARE LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   GEN. SHERMAN'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS  - Leadership is a human experience - focus on connecting with and caring about people.  - Love what you do and love the people you lead; passion inspires others to follow you.  - Embrace failures and challenges as opportunities for personal growth and development.  - Set the right culture and values within your team to build trust and mutual support.  - Be present and engaged with your team, understanding their motivations and experiences.  - Leadership is about more than rank or position - it's about earning genuine trust and respect.  - Invest time in understanding different generations, cultural nuances, and individual perspectives.  - Balance professional excellence with personal growth and life experiences.  - Support your team's development by providing encouragement and holding them accountable.  - Your legacy is built through individual interactions and the positive impact you have on people's lives.   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Major General Thomas P. Sherman 01:29 Choosing Leadership Over Flying 07:23 The Impact of Mentorship and Values 12:46 Heritage and Evolution of Security Forces 17:43 Personal Growth in Aviano, Italy 24:17 The Importance of Work-Life Balance 29:50 Culminating Command Experience at Bagram 42:25 The Role of Family in Leadership 51:29 Continuous Self-Improvement as a Leader 56:27 Embracing Failure as a Growth Opportunity 01:00:06 Legacy and the Impact of Leadership   ABOUT GEN. SHERMAN BIO Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman is the Vice Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He is serving as the chief operations officer to the Superintendent and overseeing the Academy's blend of military training, academics, athletics, and character development for cadets. Gen. Sherman commissioned in 1995 from the Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. He built a distinguished career as a security forces officer. He's held command at nearly every level. His key assignments include leadership of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB and critical staff positions at the Pentagon. In May 2024, Gen. Sherman was tapped to serve as the Academy's Vice Superintendent   CONNECT WITH GEN. SHERMAN LINKEDIN     ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS       TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95  |  Host, Lt. Col. (ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz  00:00 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99 today. I'm joined by a leader whose career has taken him from the flight line to the halls of Congress and now back to the very institution that launched it all. Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman currently serves as vice superintendent of the Air Force Academy, where he plays a critical role in guiding the development of our future officers and ensuring the Academy remains a world class institution for leadership, character and Day 1 readiness to win the future fight. A 1995 Academy graduate, Gen. Sherman has spent nearly three decades serving in key operational, strategic and command roles. He's led at every level, from squadron to wing command, and his assignments have included everything from nuclear security enterprise to homeland defense, policy development at the Pentagon, and legislative affairs at the highest levels of the Department of the Air Force. Prior to his role as vice superintendent, Gen. Sherman served in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, where he was a principal military assistant leading policy integration across joint staff, interagency services and combatant commands. He's perhaps best known in command circles for leading the 88th Air Base wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, one of the largest and most complex wings in the Air Force, with a focus on people first, leadership and mission excellence. Gen. Sherman, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad you're here too.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  01:32 It is great to be here. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz  01:33 We're excited and we're going to dive right in, because I think what is so special for our listeners is really hearing these moments that have changed your life. I'd like to start at the Academy. You turned down a pilot slot. You were rated, but said no.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  01:48 Well, actually it was a little bit before that. You know, it's kind of interesting, because that was the draw that brought me here, is I just had this incredible passion to want to fly, and I love flying, and I truly enjoyed it, especially through all the different airmanship programs and things like and things like that we had here. The experiences were fantastic. But, you know, as I was starting to learn more about myself going through the Academy, I was starting to feel my heart getting pulled in a direction of wanting to really lead people and really spend a lot of time working with the enlisted. And I think that came from a couple different areas. I think it was some really unique exposure that I got during my ops Air Force time, which I went to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during ops, and just had our action officer that worked this, I think just did a phenomenal job. And I really started getting pulled to what was then called security police. That is actually when Laurie and I got together and started dating, because Laurie is here in Colorado Springs, but she grew up as an Air Force brat. My father-in-law is a retired Chief Master Sgt., and so there was a lot of mentorship that was taking place around dining room table when I was a young cadet. And I think one of the things that her parents really taught me was just the value of the enlisted force, and so I was feeling my heart really getting pulled. And so obviously, there's a conundrum. There's a conundrum on what were the root desires that brought me here — what were the things that I was learning as a cadet, my joy of flying, and also, particularly the culture at that time, was that that was really the job that you needed to aspire to be, that was the expectation of cadets. And so then to really kind of run counter to that strong current was really kind of a unique, you know, almost unnavigated area, right? And so to really kind of take the story out to its next level is that I'd really gotten to a point where talking with people there — we hadn't had the AMT program, but there were these NCOs that were kind of tangentially attached to cadet squadrons. And so I got a chance to talk to one of the master sergeants that was there who was a maintainer by background. And I was kind of pouring my heart out to him on, you know, what had I been talking to him with my now in-laws, about where was my heart pulling me? And so he said, ‘Give me just a second.' And he picked up the phone, and he called my AOC and he goes, ‘Hey, you're gonna be there for a little while.' And this was a Friday afternoon. He said, ‘I got a cadet that needs to come talk to you.' And he hangs up the phone and he goes, ‘Now you go tell your AOC what you just told me.' And so I ended up going to my AOCs office that day, and we had about a two-hour conversation about this. I sat down and really, kind of took the time to explain to him what was I feeling, And obviously, I really try to see the best in people. And so I think from a noble place, he was doing his best to convince me that I was making a grave mistake. And went on to talk to me about what his concerns were, the career field that I was looking at, things along those lines. And we can save that conversation for another time, but I think really where the foundation came in is where we started to talk about leadership. And you know, what I was asking him to do was to pull my rated recommendation form, so we had just submitted them, and I was asking him to pull my rated recommendation form. I didn't want to compete for it anymore. And so we started to talk about leadership. And he says, ‘Hey, Cadet Sherman, you need to understand that leadership in this Air Force is being the lead F-16 pilot on a bombing run, you know, putting iron on target.' And that's true. It's a very important part of leadership. It is a very important part of tactical operational leadership in this Air Force. So he's not wrong in that space. But I was looking at it from a different lens, and I was looking at it, I think, on a larger level. And what I don't think he realized is that 30 seconds before I walked into his office, he set me up for success. I just happened to be waiting outside the office, and all of a sudden, I looked on his cork board, and somebody, and I don't know who it was, had pinned a note that was written to Airman Magazineby an airman first class. And this airman first class titled this, “I need a leader.” And this A1C felt so strongly about what they were feeling — and I have no idea who this person was — felt so strongly about it that they put pen to paper, and this would have been the fall of 1994, and sent this into Airman Magazine, and it says, “I need a leader.” Commissioning sources. ‘Send us lieutenants that we can look up to that will hold us accountable when we do wrong, that will encourage us when we do well, that will be an example that we can look up to, that will care about us as human beings, because you are not sending them to us now. Air Force, I need a leader.' Like that 30 seconds just before I walked into his office — that changed my life, and it changed my life, because for me, at that moment, what I was getting ready to go ask my AOC to do, what I was looking at inside myself, that became my charge. And so as we spoke, you know, 20-year-old Cadet First Class Sherman — I might have been a 21-year-old at the time — Cadet First Class Sherman pushed back on my AOC, and I said, ‘Sir, I disagree.' I said, ‘I want to be that guy. I want to be that guy that that A1c is asking for on your cork board outside, because that's leadership in this Air Force.' And so, to his credit, he said, ‘Hey, I want you to go think about this over the weekend. You know, think about what you're doing. Come back to me on Monday. No questions asked. I'll pull it if you want me to.' And I left there, and I remember feeling like, not like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder, but I almost felt like this sense of like, ‘Now I've got my purpose,' because that little article has shaped me my entire career, and I mean to this day, and at a scale. You know, as a lieutenant, my scale is this big on what I'm affecting to help do and be what that A1C needs to a wing commander. I always keep it in the back of my head, and after all of these years, I am still thinking about, Am I doing right by that A1C that 31 years ago, felt so strongly about something that they wrote a note to Airman Magazine, and that became my charge.   Naviere Walkewicz  08:09 That is incredibly powerful. I'm a little bit without words, because I'm thinking about, first off, being brave enough to disagree with an AOC. I mean, I think that takes courage in showing your leadership there. Were you always like that? Have you always been someone that is steadfast in a decision and being able to kind of speak out?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  08:30 So I get that from my parents. And, you know, I grew up in Corona, California. My mom and dad are amazing people. And we didn't grow up with a lot of money, and we grew up from a pretty meager background, and my mom and dad had made a decision early on in their marriage, when they had my sister and I, that my mom was going to focus to make sure that Nancy and I got an education, and my dad was going to work as many jobs as he had to to put food on the table. And sometimes my dad was holding down three jobs to make sure that we had nutritious food to eat, and my mom was working miracles to make sure that we were fed well, but that also that she was dedicated and had the time to volunteer for things like PTA, being involved as a class volunteer, making sure that we were involved in things and had exposure to things that what they did was they also instilled in me this really strong blue collar work ethic. And it was this aspect of, if I just roll up my sleeves and put in the work, anything is possible. And so on that line, this young kid growing up with a West Coast father and an East Coast mother, and just this, really neat family background that things for me, that I believed in I would go after with all of my heart and soul. And so I found out about the Academy when I was 12 years old. And so, you know, when I at 12 years — we were going to a community event there in Corona, and there was an officer recruiter — Capt. Craig. was her name — and we started talking. She says, ‘Hey, did anybody talk to you about the Air Force Academy?' And I said, ‘No, this sounds great.' So from there, I just made this decision as a 12-year-old, and I worked all the way through junior high and high school to get here, because to go to your point like, ‘I made a decision, I'm gonna see this thing through.'   Naviere Walkewicz  10:30 Whoa. OK, so you knew you were going to the Academy before you graduated high school.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  10:35 Yes, in my mind, there was no other option.   Naviere Walkewicz  10:39 And so anyone in your family serve, or were you the first one in your family to serve?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  10:43 So I am the first officer and career member of the family. My dad was drafted and went to Vietnam in 1967 and stayed through Tet of 1968. I had an uncle, Harry Lee Schmidt, who was a C-47 loadmaster in World War II and Korea, and my grandfather was actually a part of the initial kind of what was the foundation of the OSS and the Navy doing beach recon on beaches in the South Pacific, prior to island hopping campaign and island landings. And so there was this real heritage of service, right? Just not career service. But even then, as a kid, I always had in my mind, ‘OK, one way or another, I'm going to serve, and if I do an enlistment and then go to college afterwards —' but I had this idea that, ‘OK, I'm going to serve,' and then all of a sudden, this became this amazing conduit that got me here, right?   Naviere Walkewicz  11:38 And they also had ties to aviation. How did they feel about your decision, your family?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  11:43 It was interesting, because they knew how passionate I was about aviation growing up. I mean, we did not miss an air show at March Air Force Base, the Chino air show, which was planes of fame, which was all historic aircraft. I volunteered as a high school student to work there, and we helped restore airplanes with me and my friends. You know, it was interesting, because my parents were very supportive in ‘OK, where's your heart leading you? And, what makes you feel so strongly about this?' Because when I first talked to him on the phone, I called him from Ramstein Air Base and said, ‘Hey, I think I know what I want to do in the Air Force. I want to go to security police. And my mom was like, ‘What's that? And, so, as time went by and I explained it, I think my parents probably all along knew that that was probably going to be a very good fit. And then after commissioning and at my first assignment, I think that they were certain of it, right? Yeah, they were absolutely certain.   Naviere Walkewicz  12:37 That is amazing. Well, I want to dive into this profession a bit, because it's interesting. You know, you've mentioned, when you came in, it was security police, and, security forces and you hear people saying defenders and peacekeepers. So there's this lineage and this heritage. Can you maybe talk a little bit about that and then maybe lead us into that next transformational moment that you might have had in this role?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  12:58 OK, I'm very proud of the fact that, you know, I am part of an ever decreasing group of folks that came in when we were still security police, and that was really still the peacekeeper days, because this was all kind of the follow on on the Cold War. The peacekeepers were our cold warriors and that was a huge part. Our defenders came in and really, that name started to really grow in 1997 when the name changed from security police to security forces, and we were actually going back to some of our heritage that was in Operation Safeside, which was the combat security police squadrons in Vietnam. So when you think about the courage that was displayed during the Tet Offensive at places like Tan Son Nhat that those were safe side warriors that were a part of these combat security police squadrons. And so the very — part of the lineage of the very beret, and flash that we have is actually a tip of the hat to the lighter blue berets, and that flash with the Falcon and the crossed runways that goes back, actually, to our Safeside heritage days. The beret goes back even farther than that. It goes back to Strategic Air Command, Elite Guard back in the 1950s. So it's this great lineage. And so, you know, for me, part of it was like when I got my first beret, wow, that meant something to me. And then, you know, as we then kind of transformed along the way, and this amazing career field grew, and the aspects of this air based ground defense, which was really, I would say, was kind of the draw that got me into wanting to go into security police, was I really liked this idea of, ‘How do we do base defense?' The law enforcement side was intriguing to me, but it was based defense that just had me just had me captivated.   Naviere Walkewicz  14:44 And was that something that you found out early in your career? After you graduate the Academy, you're now in security police. Is that when you kind of realized, ‘This is where I want to go in, air, base, ground defense.'?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  14:54 It even happened at ops. So as we were spending time with the security police squadron, I ended up spending time with a captain who was heading up the Elite Guard, and there was an interaction we had as I was doing a ride along. He's like, ‘Hey, you need to come see me.' And so I went and met up with him, and he took me around and introduced me to all of his airmen that were part of the guard. He knew something all about them. And then we went to his office and talked, and he had gone to Ranger School and Airborne and things like that, and said, ‘Hey, like, the future of the career field is actually us looking to the past.' And really kind of got me fired up on what we call back then, air base ground defense. So when I got to McChord — McChord Air Force Base was my first duty station. And the great thing about going to AMC first is it AMC is a mobility — I mean, it is all about mobility and the operations associated with it. And so the first thing that that my task was as the second lieutenant in that squadron was, I was the air base ground defense flight commander. So that was, I mean — we would go out to Fort Lewis, and we would bivouac for days. And I had, you know, a 44 person team that was a base defense sector. I had specialized K-9 units heavy weapons. And back in those days, we had 81mm mortar teams and fire direction centers that we would set up. So I just got completely on board with the air base defense piece. And so that was that was very passionate for me, which then made the next step to Korea an absolutely logical next location, going to the wolf pack at Kunsan, not only getting a chance to then stand up Gwangju as a part of the first Air Expeditionary Unit to go back to Korea since the Korean War, but then doing the mobile reserve aspect of it. And it was just a great assignment.   Naviere Walkewicz  16:40 Wow. So you were right in from the very beginning. You got kind of just into it all.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  16:45 So when we go back, when you were talking to me about, ‘Hey, when you make your mind up...' So I had this five-year plan built out. And, you know, my five-year plan was ‘OK, I'm gonna do my first assignment at the first opportunity to PCS. I need to go remote. I need to go to Korea. And then, OK, how can I get another overseas assignment after that? And then what do I need?' So the thought was, “Let me get to as many match comms as I can, as fast as I can in my career, and use that as a place — OK, because I want to build my experience base out. Because even as a lieutenant and young captain, I didn't want to come across as a one-trick pony. So my thought was, “Let me just get as much as I could under my belt early on.' And so after I left Kunsan, I ended up going to Aviano Air Base in Italy, which, for me, when you look at like those moments in life that are transformational, this was transformational on a different level. You know, some assignments you go to are very much professional growth assignments. This assignment, for me, was very much a personal growth assignment.   Naviere Walkewicz  17:52 OK, so tell me more.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  17:55 I mean, when you think about it, four years at USAFA, very uniquely focused on a plate that is overflowing with things that you need to get done. So you are, you're focused on, you know, everything from grades to military training to all of those things. And then I get to my first base, and I am just working, and I'm volunteering for everything, and we have got a heavy ops tempo of exercises and things like that. And my leadership was fantastic, because they were throwing me into every opportunity I could. And then, boom, I go to Korea, and that is a unique warfighting focused — and at Kunsan especially was heavily warfighting focused. So now all of a sudden I am spending really, when you think about it, the last almost seven years being uniquely focused on mission, right? And so I get to Aviano Air Base, Italy, and the first thing that happens is Operation Allied Force kicks off. So I get there in January, boom. Allied Force kicks off. I think it was in end of February, beginning of March. And wow, what? Again, what an amazing, mission focused experience. And then after we finished up Allied Force and the base returned back to more of its steady-state standpoint, it was the Italians that took me under their wings, that because I made a specific choice, because I grew up — my mom's side of the family are all Italian immigrants — and I was always at my Nonnie and Papa's house, and there was just a lot of that growing up, which is that whole, like, you know, West Coast dad, East Coast mom thing, but I didn't know, you know, my mom and her brothers never spoke Italian. And there was a lot of that, that thought back in those days that, you know, ‘Hey, we're here to be American, so we're going to learn English, and we're not going to speak, you know, the language that we came from,' right? And so my mom and her brothers really never learned to speak Italian. And so my thought was, ‘Gosh, I grew up with this as such a strong part of my childhood that I need to put myself in a position where I can learn the language and start to kind of get an appreciation on the culture. Together.' And so I specifically — and really lucked out on a location, but I was about 20 kilometers away from Aviano. I was in an amazing town. I was the only American living in the complex that I was in. So I was like, ‘If I'm going to learn, I need to just dive in the way that you do, in the way that I do, and just start learning.' And so I ended up kind of building this support group of Italian families that all kind of took me under their wings.   Naviere Walkewicz  20:27 Wait, I have to ask you a question, because back when you're at the Academy, you said you spoke to your now in-laws. So was Laurie not a part of this?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  20:35 So Laurie and I, right. So that's an important part of the story. Laurie and I dated for two years while I was a cadet, and when I was in tech school, her and I made the very difficult decision — and as painful it was — to part ways, so her and I actually parted ways for a few years. I was single at the time. Laurie was still here in Colorado Springs, and I was getting a lot of assignments under my belt, which, to be honest with you, you know, in retrospect, it was very fortunate, because I may not have made the same assignment choices had I been married at the time. And because I wasn't married, there were no other variables that I needed to factor in, other than personal experience goals, right, that I wanted to play into, and so I could just put down whatever assignment I wanted, and that allowed me the opportunity to just focus on job. And while Laurie and I stayed in touch, and I stayed in touch with her parents over the years, I was in Aviano, and her and I were not together at that point,   Naviere Walkewicz  21:39 That makes sense. I was like, why were you alone in Italy?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  21:43 It's a fair question. But I also think that being single in that environment allowed me — and that's where I think it helped me develop as a person. And so there are a lot of, I think, really wonderful things that happened during that time, and that was because I was so uniquely mission focused. It was these, this amazing group of Italian friends together, that really kind of taught me about there, there's a time to relax, you know, there's a time to work, there's a time to relax, and there's also a real human need to enjoy life and enjoy time together, which is quintessentially Italian. And so, as my pool of this, these amazing people — that  by the way, for the last 25 years, we've been going to visit. It's the same families that took me under their wings when I was a lieutenant, are the same families that were all tuning in as we were doing a live stream of me pinning on my second star. And so I've never been stationed anywhere else in my career where I felt more at home. And so I think this sense of like, ‘Wow. This like independently as my own person, this feels like home.' And as time went by and I started to get an appreciation for actually things that were a part of my childhood. Because, you know, we would have these long, huge meals, we would spend four or five hours at the table as a family. And for me, this was all normal. Well, that was also a part of kind of normal Italian life and normal Italian culture. You're not going out to dinner with your friends unless you're investing at least three hours at the restaurant. But for me, this was all — this felt normal to me. And so it was about, you know, you don't need to eat your food in five minutes.   Naviere Walkewicz  So contrary to USAFA, by the way.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN You know, you don't need to chew no more than seven times and swallow. So it was about experiencing that, and learning even just some things that became personal passions. Like, you know, how wine is made and why wine pairing matters, and how is this process? And so all of a sudden, this personal experience — and I think growing as a human being was taking place there, and I was maturing as a human being because I had gotten all of this phenomenal job experience under my belt, but this was where I was growing as a human being. And you know what's interesting, as time has gone by, I have noticed just how impactful that time was, because there are things that I've noticed, even as a senior officer, that I feel very strongly about, that I don't think I felt as strongly about as a junior officer, and it was because of that experience, and it was the aspect of when people are on leave, let's let them take leave. There is a part of the human experience that you need to enjoy time with people that you care about, because what it does is you're not slacking off from work. You're not leaving everybody hanging. What's happening is that, because you're taking some time to just enjoy life with people you care about, when you come back, the restorative effects that have taken place because you simply breathe and you enjoyed what it was that you were doing and whatever your passion was, you know, unencumbered, you could enjoy that. And we all realize that there are times, especially as you get into positions of authority, that, hey, they're going to need to call you periodically. But what was interesting is that, especially, I mean, I'll give an example as a wing commander. As a wing commander, despite realizing how important that mission is and how big Wright-Patt was, we, Laurie and I took leave, and we took two weeks of leave, and we went back to Italia and visited our friends and enjoyed life, because the culture helps us to slow down. But what it also did is I gave my staff some parameters. ‘Hey, here are the things that I think are important, like on a scale of one to 10. Here are the things that I think are an eight. So an eight or higher, call me. Don't text me.' I said, ‘Physically call me, because I will answer the phone knowing it's for — and then you have my undivided attention.' But what it also does is it means that my vice wing commander who is there, that I am empowering my vice wing commander and showing to everybody else I trust this leader to lead this wing in my absence. And if it's something that really needs my involvement, they'll get a hold of me. But I think our junior leaders need to see that at the senior most levels, that I can physically trust and emotionally trust my vice, my deputy, to hold things down while I'm gone, and that I'm not irreplaceable, and that if I did my job as a leader, I set the conditions that allowed the wing to thrive in my absence, and didn't mean that the wing had to hang on every decision I made or every word that I said, that I set the conditions that allowed them to be successful and fostered the leadership that allowed them to lead in my absence. And I felt great while I was gone, because I knew the people that we had there, and I knew the investment that we made in them. So that was kind of a long, you know, trip around this…   Naviere Walkewicz  27:26 I mean, I think it was so powerful that you kind of learned that about yourself in Italy. And then would you say that there was anyone that you saw emulating that? Or was it just something over time, you developed this realization that you need to enjoy life and you need to allow people the space to do so.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  27:43 So I would say the people that I was emulating in that aspect were a lot of the families that were there. I have been fortunate that I have worked for some commanders who, at different times in their life felt the same way. Conversely, I also worked for commanders that did not feel the same way. And, you know, an interesting case in point on something that on an experience I had in a command bill and after I had left Aviano — this is when Laurie and I were back together; we were married at this point. I had a group commander that was frustrated about me taking leave and called me every day at 1500; every day at 1500 I got a telephone call. And you know what that does is now all of a sudden, you're eating lunch, and the clock is getting closer to 1500 and you start to get that knot in your stomach and you're like, ‘OK, what are we going to talk about today?' And so, unfortunately you don't see some of the same appreciation for that across the board. So how do we deal with it? The best thing that we deal with it is that that's where the buck stops. We don't pass it down to our people. So after I got the call from him, I didn't call back to the squadron. I got the call from him. We went through the call, we answered the questions, and I didn't then immediately turn around and call back to my ops officer who was running the Squadron at the time, and say, XYZ. And we just left it there, because at that point in time, the bucks got to stop it at that point. So I think that that's kind of the, you know, the alpha and the omega of learning and then also having your own personal resilience and courage to say, ‘I accept that the buck stops here, and I'm not going to let this roll downhill to my people.'   Naviere Walkewicz  29:41 That's an excellent leadership lesson, because I was going to ask you, ‘What does that look like, and how would you how would you handle that?' And so you went right into that. Thank you so much for that. So what has it been like leading security forces — defenders? What's it been like? Has there been a moment in time where — a particular assignment or something's really stuck into your mind or into your heart, because it's just really affected you?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  30:05 Absolutely. I will tell you, as we go back, as we were kind of talking about decisions that you make in your youth, and that critical decision that I made in the fall of '94 I mean, I have worked with some of the most amazing people I've worked in my life. I have gotten a chance to go to places I never thought that I would see. And so, when you kind of roll up, I would say it was my final squadron command, and I would say that that was a real culminating squadron command. So I commanded four squadrons, and we command early, and we command often, and there's a lot of responsibility that that's placed on us as young officers to command as a young officer. And so having the opportunity to command two times as a captain, or one time, you know, as a major-select, then as a major, then as a lieutenant colonel. So that culminating command would have been Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in May of 2012 to May of 2013 and you know, it was interesting because all of my previous squadron commands had all been vested in either the contingency response or the kind of combat contingency environments. And it was almost like all of those were leading me to this moment. So let me just kind of set the conditions on what Bagram was like at that point in time. We had grown the squadron to about a 1,200-person squadron, huge squadron. And what we were also responsible for is we had taken over battle space ownership from the Army. So the Air Force was controlling 220 square miles of battle space throughout Parwan province, which is a huge. I mean, it's twice the size of Washington, D.C., if you want to try to give a comparison, more or less is fair to look at that level as just a huge amount of terrain in which our airmen were responsible from everything from humanitarian operations and goodwill outreach to engagements to literal kinetic action and combat in the battle space. And so a part of this culmination was, was an environment where as the defense force commander — as that squadron commander to them as a lieutenant colonel at that point — I mean how we are weaving ourselves into their lives, and how we are working with their section commanders, and how we're working and managing the value of our perimeter defenses with our teams that were going outside of the wire doing legitimate patrolling and engagement and things along those lines, was huge. And I think that that is an example. And when you look in the rearview mirror to say, ‘Gosh, now this, a lot of this makes sense, like all of these assignments, whether by design or whether by fate, somehow gave me an experience that at this moment, I needed it most.' And I think, as I talk, we've really enjoyed being here with the cadets and talking to them about, how does a leader really develop trust, and how does trust really manifest itself? And so, through the time that we were there, and the engagement as their leader — not just the leader who's just simply circulating, because that's important, but they also need to see your decision making and your strategic thought. And how do you react under pressure? How are you reacting as we've got incoming in, and what do you do being the person in the joint defense operations center, helping to manage that, and how are you both taking care of people, and how are you managing mission? And they see that. And so I would say that the development of that level of trust, especially in an environment where you are literally dealing with high costs, is huge. And so I think there was one, situation that really rests on my heart that and I don't talk about this to give validation, but I think I talk about it on it's about how people connect, and why do I feel so strongly that leadership is a human experience, like this is a what we are doing as a human experience. And so I was retiring my chief. So I was asked by my chief at Bagram — this was some years later. He's out of the 105th Base Defense Squadron out of the New York Air National Guard, and him and I were a phenomenal team there. Dave Pritchard and I just made a great team. And so he was retiring, and asked me to come back and do his retirement. So we had done the retirement ceremony. We were at the VFW afterwards, having his after-party and so forth. And so I had gone into the bathroom for a comfort break and washed my hands and things like that. And I noticed, as I was kind of moving towards the bathroom, there was kind of a young man who was kind of floating. You know, floating around. And so I came out of the restroom as I was finished, and he was waiting there at the exit of the restroom for me, and kind of, you know, got in front of me, and he stood there, and he looked at me, and he goes, ‘Hey, sir, I just, I needed to let you know this, that I was one of the airmen in one of your patrols that got hit by an IED, and he said, your investment in us, and the words that you used and when you came to talk to us, and the faith that you had in us gave me the courage to go back outside of the wire when you asked us to go back outside.' And so why that rests so heavy is when you think about what, what is the what is the con? The consequence there is that somebody believed in you so much that when you spoke to them and said the word, they were going to go back out and do it again, in spite of what had just happened to you. And I don't think there is any stronger level of trust that you can ask from somebody than to have one of those moments. And so that moment just resides very, very heavy on my soul, because I think it puts into real, tangible context, what is the responsibility of leadership? What is your responsibility of leadership?   Naviere Walkewicz  36:42 I'm letting that sit a little bit, because I can't even imagine the amount of feeling that you had first for him, the courage to share that with you. Because I'm sure that he really wanted to share that. I'm curious if you can remember perhaps, what he might have been referring to, like what you were sharing with the men and women there.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  37:02 So, you know, it was also a part of things that, in times after Bagram have really been used for me as a senior leader on why I reinforced the importance of values. And, this was one particular incident there that really comes to mind is, and I use this when I when I talk to people, because I again, it's the consequence, and it's why our responsibility as leaders to set the right conditions and culture and all of that is so incredibly valuable. And so I talked to people about a story about we had had a situation where we had some real destabilization in the battle space. There was a particular village that we were having some unique challenges with, and we were doing a lot of kind of battlefield shaping, and we were doing some particular village engagement, and the engagement just wasn't happening. And so we were now kind of starting to escalate our interaction with the village a little bit more and as we were doing that, we were now going to start doing more shaping operations. So it just so happens that one of these nights —this was in the late fall, early winter of 2012 — and we were sending one of our patrols outside to do some shaping and engagement operation there. But this was in the evening. This was a different aspect that we were working for this particular mission. And so mounted up that the airmen are ready to go. They're pushing outside, they're right on time, and everything is going according to plan, and they are getting close to what we call the objective rally point. So that was where they were going to rally up before they actually moved into the village after that. And so everything was going according to plan. And the only thing they needed to do before they got to the objective rally point was really kind of go down a small gully over a rise, and then they meet at their objective rally point at that point. And so teams are moving out. First truck over the rise, getting to the point. Second truck over, everything's going fine. Third truck over, fourth truck after that, BOOM, off goes the IED. And what had happened is, they were waiting for this opportunity, and they knew exactly what to do. And that is, if you hit the last truck in the movement, you've got three trucks that are gone ahead of time, and now we've got folks in a very precarious situation. And so what I talk to people about, when we talk about conditions and the real impact that a leader has, is I'll talk to them about who was in that truck, who was in that MRAP that we were sending down at that point in time. And inside that MRAP was the face of America. And the explosion was significant, and it did some considerable damage. It threw the engine out of it, penetrated the hole, ripped one of the doors off the side in the front. And so, you know, the truck commander was National Guard from, actually from Tennessee, and he had gotten injured, broken an arm because that door had peeled back. And as the door peeled back, his arm got caught and broke his arm. The driver, Asian American coming out of the state of California, active duty. He had injuries to his legs because of the penetration of the hole. We had a gunner up in the turret, African American female from the New York Air National Guard. She had a broken pelvis at the time, and she just stayed on the gun the entire time despite her injuries. We had our radio operator. European American female coming from the Midwest. She was actually Air Force Reserve. She had a case of TBI from the explosion, and she was still making calls on the radio. We had two of our riflemen in the back, both came from Hispanic heritage, one of them from Puerto Rican heritage, one of them from Mexican heritage. They were very fortunate that while they got tossed around the back and had some minor TBI issues, they were more or less bumps and bruises, and they were all by themselves. Yeah, because they were all alone, they were in the middle of Afghanistan, they had just gotten hit. And so for me, what's so important about that story is that if we did not set the right culture and the right values and the right expectations and be in a leader by example, and they were harassing each other on Bagram, and they were assaulting each other on Bagram, and they weren't respecting each other on Bagram, and they didn't care about each other on Bagram, they would have died out there that night. But they treated each other like a family, and they cared about each other like a family, and they took care of each other like a family that night, and they lived and they all came home. So for me, if we're going to talk about what is the true consequence of leadership — and I use consequence deliberately, because oftentimes that's used in a pejorative manner — but this is the true result of your actions, that if you don't set those conditions, then you are legitimately putting your people at risk. And so that whole experience at Bagram, and in so many ways that we all carry our scars and our bruises and things like that. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world, but that was tough. And I often describe it as a tale of two cities. You know, it was the best of times. It was the worst of times.   Naviere Walkewicz  42:34 I think a lot of times, when leaders go through experiences like that, they have some more fortunate than others, but a support network. And I would guess it would be your family. How has your family played a role in these moments in your life, in helping you as a leader?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  42:54 So I will say it's primarily my wife. I have got this wonderful support of parents and my in-laws and so forth. And what's been truly fortunate is how close I am with my in-laws. Because when Laurie and I were dating while I was a cadet, anytime I had an overnight or weekend pass, I was over at her mom and dad's house and so I think that being married to somebody that has truly known you from the beginning, you know, where, whether we got a training weekend going on, or something like that, or I'm working first BCT or whatnot, that Laurie was a unique part of all of these things. And I would say that it has been incredibly heartwarming to watch her interact with the cadets here, because it's fun, because her and I do everything together. And so as we're going to events, I'll have a group of cadets that I'm talking to, and then I'll look over and Laurie's surrounded by a group of cadets who are asking her just very insightful questions about our experiences together, and ‘Was it tough sending them away on deployments?' Or how, you know, in those tough times, ‘How do you how do you keep your marriage together?' Just really insightful questions to ask, but she has just been so central to everything that I do. And so going back a little bit and talking about, like the strength of our relationship and how much that helps, we actually needed to have that breakup period as horribly painful as that was, and wow, was I carrying a torch for her all of those years. I mean, I remember, you know, as time was going by, I would talk to my mom, and I'd be like, ‘Mom, I just wish that Laurie could see the man that I become.' But we needed that time because oftentimes, and what we found in ourselves, we didn't know it at the time, because you're living in your environment and you can't see it, right? Is that in youth, things are often absolutes. And you often will get to a place where you're starting your marriage, your relationship is growing. And if you start to talk about marriage, there are things that we have found were absolutes for us. You know, certain things that we did, how we practiced our faith. Did we open up presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but the expectation was somebody was going to have to give up their particular tradition to conform to the tradition of one of the spouses. And in your youth, that seems reasonable, and I think we needed that time to be apart, having had that time together at such an important time in each of our lives here. But we needed that time apart, because I think we needed that frame of reference as we grew as people into adults. Grew as young adults. And now all of a sudden here I'm getting multiple assignments, and now being thrust into leadership positions with accountability and authority, and then coming back to that, all of a sudden, you're realizing, ‘Gosh, the world just isn't always in absolutes. And maybe a marriage doesn't have to be zero sum, but maybe a marriage can be positive sum.' And do we really have to make somebody give up something that is important to them, that is a part of their identity? Because somehow you feel like you have to conform your marriage into one side or the other. And so, I think for us that was that was so incredibly important. So to kind of get to that story is that, you know, I left Aviano and I went to Al Dhafra. I was in Al Dhafra actually for September 11. It was my first squadron command, but it was a squadron command I wasn't expecting, because I came there as a chief of security forces for about a 70-person security forces flight as a part of the 763rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Al Dhafra. And then all of a sudden, 9/11 happens, and we went from about 400 people on Al Dhafra to about 4,000. And you know, U-2s came in, ISR platforms came in. Everything changed. And all of a sudden, this 70-person security forces flight that I had grew into about a 350-person security forces squadron. And AFSET said, ‘Hey, Sherman, you built it, you keep it, and we'll replace you with a major when you leave.' And I was a six-year captain, and so then finishing up that assignment, and I got picked up for — there was a point to that story — but it was about coming back, is that, hey, I got these new, unique experiences that grew me under my belt. And then I came back to do an AFIT program at Cal State San Bernardino. And that was the moment that brought Laurie and I back together.   Naviere Walkewicz  In what way?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN And so, I had a health scare. Nobody knows what it was. We never figured it out. Doctors never figured it out. But it was one of those things, like, all of a sudden, I shotgun something out to everybody I knew. I said, ‘Hey, doctors are a little bit concerned, you know, keep me in your thoughts.' And so Laurie, Laurie is like, ‘Holy cow, you can't just send a one liner and leave it at that.' So she called my mom and dad and said, ‘What's his phone number?' And so it started to turn into ‘Hey, give me all of your test results after you get it back.' Then pretty soon we're talking a couple times a week, and then pretty soon we're talking every other day, and then we are talking every day. And the beauty of this was that we already knew each other, so we already knew what everybody's favorite color was — by the way, Laurie's is purple. We knew what music each other liked. We knew things about each other. And some of the things that actually drew us together when we were dating here was, you know, we had things like some common family traditions, like, you know, Italian fish on Christmas Eve and sitting around the table for hours and stuff like that were all things that we had in common. So we already knew that about each other. Now, her and I on the phone, we're getting into some real, like substantive discussions, children, faith. How do you how you raise children? How do you know, what are we going to do for different traditions? What happens if I have to take a remote; what does that mean? And so we were getting into these really, deep conversations. And, you know, I would come back from either class or then when I PCs to the security forces center out at Lackland, you know, I would come home from work, and this was in the old flip phone days where you had a battery that came off the back. So I would have one battery in the charger, and then I would have an earbud in, and I'd have the phone in my pocket. Yeah, and I'd come home and to call her, and we would just go throughout the evening. So I'm ironing BDUs at the time, shining my boots and stuff like that, and so, and we were just talking. And then we were just kind of like living life together. And, after that point, it became very clear that those two young people who sincerely cared about each other, now, each of us grew up and had experiences in a place that allowed us to really appreciate each other and really love each other. And you know, we were married just a little over a year after that. And it has been phenomenal, her support. And I think one of the great testaments to that was, 10 days after we got married, I went to Baghdad, but she's like, ‘I grew up in the Air Force. I know how this works. We're gonna move the house. I'll get the house put together.' And she's also a professional in her own right, which is great. So she was working in a legal office here as a paralegal and legal assistant here in Colorado Springs, and has been a GS employee for the last 18-plus years. So what's great is she, too has her own aspect of service. What I love about it is that in the jobs that she's in and then the jobs that I'm in, we can talk shop, and then we cannot talk shop, right? And so she's the first person I go to if I have to ask a question, she's the first person that I'll go to say, ‘Hey, did I do that right? Or do I need to backtrack on that a little bit?' Because she knows me, and she knows me completely, and that level of trust and love and faith that we have for each other has truly enabled me to be able to serve our airmen on a level that I don't think would have been possible without her.   Naviere Walkewicz  51:59 Would you say that she's had a role in your development as a leader, in the way that you lead.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  52:05 Oh, absolutely, absolutely, because, and I love it, because her experience as a brat and her dad as a chief gives her a very unique lens to look through. And so the advice that she gives me she can give me from her teenage self in some way, you know, from that experience, watching how her dad interacted with something or knowing her aspect about this. And then as she's developed professionally, working on the E-Ring at the Pentagon a couple different times, working for very senior leaders, knows how to navigate that space. So then I'll go to her for advice, like, ‘Hey, how did your boss handle something like this?' ‘Well, let me tell you what, how we work through this...' And so I would absolutely say that that Laurie has uniquely influenced and helped me to become the best version of myself that I can be.   Naviere Walkewicz  53:03 Wow. Well, I want to ask you a little bit about developing yourself as well, because one of the questions we like to ask is, what are you doing every day to make yourself a better leader? Can you share what that might be?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  53:17 I've said it a couple times during this: I truly believe that leadership is a human experience, so for me, it's about the interaction. And so oftentimes, advice that I've given to people — like there are amazing resources abound that can help people, give people leadership perspectives, and we can either learn it from history, or we can learn it through study. We can learn it through analysis. We can learn it through books. And I've always talked to people about use the external tools that help to grow you, but make sure that you're using it to influence the personality that you already have. Because oftentimes what happens is, is that people will have this really strong desire to say, “OK, I want to make sure that I do this right. And so in doing this right, let me make sure I've got my checklist, and so I'm going to greet them, I'm going to ask them how their family is, I'm going to ask them if the kid did all right in the baseball game. And I'm going to go through my checklist, and if I do that, I fulfill my leadership obligation.' Now not everybody does, and I'm making generalities on but, but I think that there can oftentimes be the allure that when you are focusing on what may be the theory or the principle of the day, and not using it to supplement and grow and mature your personality, that there is a strong allure to want to wholesale replicate what it was that you learned, and you're doing it in a noble place. It's not nefarious. It's being done in a noble, genuine place. But there's that allure to say, ‘OK, good, I really like what I've learned. I'm going to do these things and step through.' And so why I talk so much about the experience, and why I talk so much about the interaction, is that the more that you know the people that you may be influencing by just simply being there and understanding what that means. It means you're eternalizing the value of your presence. You're listening to their stories, and you're understanding for them, what are the things that are motivating them? What are the things that they value? Because each generation, each environment, each condition is going to require something a little bit different from you, and if you don't take the time to understand your environment or generation or cultural nuances or things like that on where you're at, then you are missing that opportunity to develop trust, where they start to believe in you as a person, and not just the rank and position that you hold, because they'll do the right thing for the rank and position that you hold. That's the caliber of people that we have in this Air Force of ours. They'll do the right thing. But if you transcend that in the fact that they believe in you wholeheartedly and trust you, oftentimes with their own lives, it means that you've invested something into them, where they truly know that you care. And that goes back to that A1C on the cork board that said, ‘I need somebody who cares about me as a person.'   Naviere Walkewicz  56:41 You know, as I think about what you've experienced through your career and the lessons you've learned, both professionally and personally, what would you say to yourself back then that you should be doing back then to get to where you're at now? Because we have listeners that are like, ‘What can I start planting today, that will bloom down the road?'   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  57:03 Absolutely. And so I think if I was to go back and put my arm around Cadet First Class Sherman, I think what I would do is — because it is, it is oftentimes easy to look in the crystal clear mirror of hindsight, right? But I think instead, what I would do is I would put my arm around him and say, ‘Keep following your heart and let the failures happen, because the failures are going to grow and let the stumbles happen and enjoy the triumphs with people and be appreciative for what got you there.' And I think it would be more of the encouragement of like, ‘You have laid out a path for you take the path wherever it goes, the joy, the pain, the triumph, the failure, all of those things, because all of that helps to develop the leader.' And oftentimes you want to go back and say, gosh, if I was going to talk to my previous self, then I would say, ‘Ah, don't do that one thing,' right? But I'm looking at it saying that if I didn't do that one thing, then I'm not sure that I would be where I'm at at a time to make sure I didn't do that thing at a moment that was incredibly catastrophic. And so while we have this desire to want to prevent ourselves from the failure, I think that what we have to do is say you're going to fail and you need to fail, and it's going to sound — relish in the failure, because it is often emotionally troubling, especially those of us that come here because we are Type A perfectionist, and that's part of the draw of coming to this amazing place. Is there a certain personality traits that help us to be successful here, but not all of those personality traits make us uniquely successful in all situations outside, and so you've got to have that failure at some point in time. And the failure that you can get up and say, ‘OK, I did this. This happened. My soul is bruised. My ego is bruised. I may have to take a little bit of accountability for this. OK, now I need to have the courage to take the next step forward again.' Because I could easily retreat back to a safe place, and I could become risk averse, and all that does is hurt the people around you. OK. I have to have the courage to breathe and take the step again and get back in there. So I would tell my — I don't think I would want to prevent myself from doing anything. I think even the growth that took place while Laurie and I were apart — and, like I said, that torch that I carried for her — I think if I had whispered in my ear and said, ‘Hey, just relax, you're gonna marry her.' I think I needed that torch, because that in my own mind and my own emotion was me needing to become a better man, and so I think I needed to go through — like, sometimes you need the struggle, and sometimes the things that are most valuable are the things that you had to go through the struggle for, right? And I think that's where my blue collar ethics background comes in. It's like, I'm just going to roll up my sleeves and I'm going to work through the struggle.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:00:36 Wow. Well, we took a look back. I just want to ask you a question forward. So do you think about legacy? And what do you want your legacy to be? Is that something that plays in your mind as you wake up each morning or go to lead people?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:00:50 I think the way that I look at it is, I look at it in a in a different aspect, and the way that I look at it is in a very confined point to point. It's not about what is going to be Tom Sherman's legacy when he retires someday, but was that interaction that I had with somebody to give them some encouraging words when they fell down, did that matter to them at that moment? Because there are people for me in my failures that were commanders, that were leaders, that were mentors, that were senior enlisted, that, you know, grabbed that lieutenant by the arm and helped to lift me up. And their memories are etched in my fabric. And so I think that it's about that individual event that your legacy will live in the people in which you made a difference to them.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:01:49 Well, I'll share with you, I was telling my son — he's a cadet, a third-class cadet, actually, now he's about to be a C2C — that I was doing this podcast with you, and he said, ‘What an incredible leader, Mom, he motivates me. He's so inspiring.' So your legacy is already through my son—   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:05 Thank you! That means — thank you so much for sharing.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:02:10 —that you really made an impact. So we're going to get to your final thoughts here in a little bit. But before we do, I want to make sure that you know our podcasts publish on every second Tuesday of the month, and you can certainly listen to Gen. Sherman in any of our other podcasts on longblueleadership.org. So Gen. Sherman, what would you like to leave our listeners with today? This has been incredible, by the way. Thank you.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:32 I have truly enjoyed this, and it's just been — it was just wonderful having the conversation with you, and it's in real honor to be a part of this. I truly believe in what you're doing here.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:02:43 Thank you. It's my pleasure to help share your story and help inspire others. And is there anything we might leave with our listeners that that they can part with tonight?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:51 I think, for me, you need to love what you do and love I think, is one of the most powerful words in language. And I don't just say the English language. I say in language because of the strength behind the meaning and how wide the meaning can be impactful. If you love what you do, people will feel that your very presence will make a difference. They'll feel that if you love what you do, then you're being, you know, internally, inspired by the love that you have for what you're being a part of, right? If you love and care about your people, they will follow you to the ends of the Earth, because they know the passion that you have and the belief that you have in them. So I think that as we go back to these things, we oftentimes look at the terms of courage and love may seem diametrically opposed, and I would attest that you can be most courageous and that your courage will be most effective only when it's buttressed by the love that you have in what you do and who you do it with.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:04:08 Thank you, sir, for that. Thank you for being on Long Blue Leadership.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:04:11 Absolutely. Thank you. This was a wonderful time. It was a real honor.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:04:14 Thank you. Well, until next time, I'm Naviere Walkewicz. We'll see you on Long Blue Leadership.     KEYWORDS Leadership, Air Force Academy, Major General Thomas P. Sherman, mentorship, personal growth, security forces, work-life balance, family support, continuous improvement, legacy       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation        

This edition features stories on Afghan and international security forces killing insurgents during an attack in Zabul province, Afghanistan, the discovery and destruction of a cache of mortar grenades and the Afghan government and the Parwan provincial reconstruction team building a wall to save an aqueduct from collapsing and to prevent the erosion of the Salang River canal and the resulting floods that harm the local farming industry. Hosted by Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Jackson.

Afghan National Police in Parwan province undergo immersion training giving them the skills to protect their local community.

Package about the US military police from ISAF training the Afghan National Police in Parwan province the skills to safely run a range and improve their marksmanship in Afghanistan. Produced by Ruth Owen.

This edition features stories on an Afghan International Security Force detaining an individual suspected of insurgent activity in Kandahar province, Afghanistan and Soldiers from the Vermont National Guard visiting with local leaders in the Koh-e Safi District of Parwan province in an effort to secure the area from Taliban influence and control. Hosted by Marine Cpl. Bryan Lett. Includes soundbites from Spc. Ross Galemore of Company Intelligence Support.

This edition features stories on an Afghan International Security Force capturing a key Taliban official who is threatening security in Baghlan province, Afghanistan and service members with Regional Support Team - East visiting a school in Parwan province, Afghanistan to hand out school supplies to the neediest children at the school. Includes a soundbite from Army Master Sgt. Patrick Seiler, Regional Support Team East Manager. Hosted by Senior Airman Barbara Patton.

Package made from B-roll "The Release Shura" about detainees at the Parwan detention facility having their cases reviewed. Those who no longer pose a threat, attend what's known as a 'release shura'. Produced by Melissa Preen.

One of the challenges in Afghanistan is finding ways to develop some of the more remote villages. Lance Cpl. Benjamin Harris tells us how one Army company found a unique way to raise money for a Parwan province village. Includes sound bites from Spc. Jared Watson, Combat Engineer, 832nd Engineer Company, Fort Madison, Iowa.

A plot to kidnap the chancellor by Eval Moralo that has been thwarted…?  The Jedi decide to form their own plot.  Obi Wan is shot and falls to his apparent death.  We know falling is a jedi's greatest skill, but what this episode presupposes is, maybe it isn't?  Obi Wan has a funeral and Anakin is absolutely losing his shit.  Meanwhile Rako Hardeen starts bragging in a bar that he shot Obi Wan to general acclaim.  Yoda and Mace are worried and Obi Wan is alive!?  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a soccer flop and 10 being Mankind in the ‘98 Hell in a cell match, our scientific survey gives Obi Wan's performance a 7.4.  Obi Wan undergoes a Face/Off procedure and takes the place of Rako Hardeen who was employed by the jedi the whole time.  Faako and crew make it to Nal Hutta and promptly crash into a swamp. Anakin and Ahsoka show up on Nal Hutta.  Palpatine tells Mace and Yoda where Anakin went and suggests that they have more faith in him.  Yoda immediately wilts and suggests they come clean because he doesn't have the stones for the Great Game.  Lord Palmerston he is not.  Anakin and Ahsoka arrive in time to see a behatted figure entering a space ship and Ahsoka correctly deduces it's Cad Bane because, and I quote, ‘who else would wear a hat like that.'  She's the best.  A cool battle with Cad Bane happens and Faako runs right into Anakin.  Anakin promptly knees Obi Wan right in nuts which just proves that he knows subliminally that it's actually Obi Wan.We open on bounty hunters arriving on Serrano where a brutal contest is about to take place.  Obi-Wan, as Rako Hardeen, henceforth known as Fauxbi-Wan (not Fako), and Cad Bane are introduced to Dooku where they accept the challenge ahead. They're going to enter the eponymous box, a towering cube in front of them. With the final five selected, Dooku reveals the plan to capture the Chancellor on Naboo during a festival and using this as leverage to release Sepratist prisoners.Obi-Wan as Fauxbi-Wan travels to Naboo with the other bounty hunters to capture Chancellor Palpatine at the festival of light.  Dooku and the final five go over their plan, and "slip into" their holo-disguises as clone guards.  Fauxbi-Wan, now free from prying eyes and ears, radios Mace and informs him of the plan. Palpatine takes the podium, surrounded by ray shields.  The Parwan bounty hunter is able to slip through the shields and causes an explosion.  Mace orders two guards to get him out of there on a nearby speeder.  The two guards create a bait-and-switch with Palpatine and escape.  Anakin, coming face to face with an altered Fauxbi-Wan, is angry he's been lied to by the council and wonders how many other lies they've told him.Obi-Wan, questioning potential lies told to him by Dooku and Eval, discovers a bug in his sniper rifle case and knows Dooku has heard everything.Meanwhile, Anakin and Palpatine are surprised by Dooku and some droids.  Dooku and Anakin fight while Palapatine is restrained.  Obi-Wan, showing up just in time, helps Anakin to save the day.  Dooku, in a final attempt to plant seeds of lies and anger in Anakin by feeling undervalued by the jedi council, proceeds to levy some expert level snark on Anakin to rile him up.Episodes on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/video/c639cb21-5137-4090-a440-8f84a171d235https://twitter.com/ClosingCrawlhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/closing-crawl/id1530133296https://www.closingcrawl.com/Merch at: https://bit.ly/spacetimetm

THE RESISTANCE TRAITOR IS FOUND AND LEIA HIRES A ROGUE JOURNALIST! Mike goes through the story of the third volume of Poe Dameron comics; Legend Lost, which starts with a funeral & some touching dialogue, before The Resistance plan a fuel heist, track down the traitor in their midst, plan to record the First Order doing no-good all while trying to avoid dying in the process! Plus Mike delves into the Squamatan & Xexto species and gives info on Y-Wings! Volume 3 of Poe Dameron is set around 32ABY (2 years before The Force Awakens, 28 years after Return Of The Jedi). Poe Dameron 14 was released May 2017, issue 19 was released September 2017 and the trade paperback collection was released November 2017. Charles Soule is the writer of these comics, with Angel Unzueta as artist and Arif Prianto as colour artist! Make sure you listen to episode 85 of SWCIC for volume 1 of Poe's comics and ep 88 for volume 2, also check out ep 4 for an introduction to Poe's parents, ep 7 for the Allegiance mini-series (set between The Last Jedi & The Rise Of Skywalker) and ep 56 for the Age Of Resistance Poe comic! Check out last week's SWCIC episode, where Mike released another spoiler-free book review from the High Republic era, with the final book in the second wave (of the first phase) being Out Of The Shadows by Justina Ireland – the young adult novel which is set shortly after The Rising Storm & Race to Crashpoint Tower, with a bunch of new and familiar characters from Into The Dark, A Test Of Courage and more! To listen to one of Mike's Patreon episodes for free, check out the first in Mike & Megan's Tom Hanks rewatch here: https://bit.ly/TomHanks1 In the previous release of SWCIC (ep 90), Mike tackled the second volume of High Republic Adventures comics, where two padawans & an ancient jedi master head to Nal Hutta along with crew from The Vessel, plus after Race To Crashpoint Tower, characters are reunited all while Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana is attacked by the Nihil with only a single jedi there to defend! Plus Mike delves into the Parwan, Kyuzo and Rancor species all while giving plenty of connections to other content! Also check out Mike's Patreon, for exclusive Star Wars book reviews AND weekly “Afterthoughts” episodes, plus there are unsplit full-length episodes of GCC, additional photos (including early access to photos of comics for this very show) and more, so if you want to support the show and get more content, check it out at http://patreon.com/genuinechitchat Guest spots Mike has been involved in: Mike was on the fourth episode of the Comics In Motion Book Club, featuring the first volume of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, listen on the feed of Comics In Motion, here: https://spoti.fi/36esba4 Mike returned to Star Wars Timeline to talk about accents in the Star Wars universe here: https://youtu.be/1X0PyXkQZGg Intro & outro reads by BZ The Voice: http://www.bzthevoice.com Intro theme arranged by Mike Burton, backing music by Eric Matyas at www.soundimage.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2022/03/22/people-at-gulghundi-arghawan-hill-parwan-province/

This week Mike is doing another spoiler-free book review from the High Republic era, with the final book in the second wave (of the first phase) with Out Of The Shadows by Justina Ireland – the young adult novel which is set shortly after The Rising Storm & Race to Crashpoint Tower, with a bunch of new and familiar characters from Into The Dark, A Test Of Courage and more! In more detail, Mike begins by confirming where OOTS sits in the High Republic timeline, as well as confirming what other SW content Justina Ireland has released, before providing his fully spoiler-free review of the book. Mike then reads the blurb & crawl of the book and gives his thoughts on the themes & characters (some who have appeared previously in THR) which features some minor spoilers, including some interesting lore on Hyperspace. After providing these thoughts, Mike finishes his review by providing more-detailed thoughts on the book and confirms the general plot (including the ending) of the book so any listeners who aren't going to read the book still have an idea of what happens and it's impact in the High Republic era. Out Of The Shadows was released July 27th 2021 and is by Justina Ireland. For The High Republic, she also wrote the junior novel A Test Of Courage, the manga Edge of Balance and Mission To Disaster (Phase 1, Wave 3). She also wrote the non-High-Republic SW books Lando's Luck, Spark Of The Resistance and the one-shot comic War Of The Bounty Hunters: Jabba The Hutt 1. Out Of The Shadows is the young adult novel of the second wave of the High Republic's first phase along with the “adult” novel The Rising Storm (reviewed in November 2021) and the junior novel Race To Crashpoint Tower (reviewed in February 2022), all set in 231BBY. Wave 3 (out now) includes Claudia Gray's “adult” novel The Fallen Star plus junior-novel Mission To Disaster by Justina Ireland and Daniel José Older's young-adult novel Midnight Horizon. Mike has also reviewed the Wave 1 books in 2021, which are Light Of The Jedi (reviewed March), A Test Of Courage (August) & Into The Dark (October), all of which take place in 232BBY. To listen to one of Mike's Patreon episodes for free, check out the first in Mike & Megan's Tom Hanks rewatch here: https://bit.ly/TomHanks1 Mike was recently on the 4th CiM Book Club, this time about Sandman Vol 1 - listen on this very feed! In the previous release of SWCIC (ep 90), Mike tackled the second volume of High Republic Adventures comics, where two padawans & an ancient jedi master head to Nal Hutta along with crew from The Vessel, plus after Race To Crashpoint Tower, characters are reunited all while Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana is attacked by the Nihil with only a single jedi there to defend! Plus Mike delves into the Parwan, Kyuzo and Rancor species all while giving plenty of connections to other content! Also check out Mike's Patreon, for exclusive Star Wars book reviews AND weekly “Afterthoughts” episodes, plus there are unsplit full-length episodes of GCC, additional photos (including early access to photos of comics for this very show) and more, so if you want to support the show and get more content, check it out at http://patreon.com/genuinechitchat Mike returned to Star Wars Timeline to talk about accents in the Star Wars universe here: https://youtu.be/1X0PyXkQZGg Intro & outro reads by BZ The Voice: http://www.bzthevoice.com Intro theme arranged by Mike Burton, backing music by Eric Matyas at www.soundimage.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/support

FARZALA & QORT HEAD TO THE HUTT HOMEWORLD WHILE THE NIHIL PREPARE TO ATTACK! For the second volume of High Republic Adventures comics, two padawans & an ancient jedi master head to Nal Hutta along with crew from The Vessel – this journey brings plenty of reflection and lessons learned. Plus after the events in Race To Crashpoint Tower, Zeen & Lula are reunited with their friends while Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana is attacked by the Nihil with only a single jedi there to defend! Plus Mike delves into the Parwan, Kyuzo and Rancor species all while giving plenty of connections to other content! These High Republic comics are set in 231BBY, in the first phase & second wave of the High Republic. The High Republic Adventures 6 was released 21stJuly 2021, issue 8 was released 1st September 2021, the 2021 Annual was released 15th December 2021 and the trade paperback collection was released 22nd February 2022. Daniel José Older is the writer of these comics, with Rebecca Nalty as the colour artist for issues 6-8, Harvey Tolibao as artist on issues 6 & 7, Pow Rodrix also helped with the art on issue 6 and Toni Bruno was artist for issue 8. The 2021 HRA Annual has 5 short stories each written by a different author; Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older & Cavan Scott, with artwork by Sam Beck, Jason Loo, Megan Huang, Yael Nathan, Jesse Lonergan & Stefano Simeone. Mike tackled the first volume of High Republic Adventures comics in ep 86 of SWCIC and he tackled the first volume of High Republic comics (by Cavan Scott) in episode 84 of SWCIC, with volume 2 in episode 88. Mike's High Republic book reviews are found on Comics In Motion's feed and on Mike's YouTube: Light Of The Jedi was released March 13th 2021, A Test Of Courage: August 14th 2021, Into The Dark: October 2nd 2021, The Rising Storm: November 13th 2021 and Race To Crashpoint Tower was released February 5th 2022 - Out Of The Shadows should be released later in March 2022. To listen to one of Mike's Patreon episodes for free, check out the first in Mike & Megan's Tom Hanks rewatch here: https://bit.ly/TomHanks1 Mike was recently on the 4th CiM Book Club, this time about Sandman Vol 1 - listen on this very feed! Check out last week's SWCIC (ep 89), where Mike tackled the 2nd volume of the Poe Dameron comics, where he & C-3PO search for a droid operative with the location of Snoke, all while trying to find who's feeding information to the First Order. This story also includes Terex' flashbacks to the Battle Of Jakku and a familiar droid for any Aftermath trilogy fans returns! Also check out Mike's Patreon, for exclusive Star Wars book reviews AND weekly “Afterthoughts” episodes, plus there are unsplit full-length episodes of GCC, additional photos (including early access to photos of comics for this very show) and more, so if you want to support the show and get more content, check it out at http://patreon.com/genuinechitchat Guest spots Mike has been involved in: Mike returned to Star Wars Timeline to talk about accents in the Star Wars universe here: https://youtu.be/1X0PyXkQZGg - Check out Mike & Ben's discussion on The Force Awakens here: https://youtu.be/c4VMXeBU3W4 The Last Jedi here: https://youtu.be/7dGEsdfSMkYand The Rise of Skywalker here: https://youtu.be/9fZWXji7_Jo Intro & outro reads by BZ The Voice: http://www.bzthevoice.com Intro theme arranged by Mike Burton, backing music by Eric Matyas at www.soundimage.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/comics-in-motion-podcast/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2021/11/26/%f0%9f%9a%a8national-resistance-front-parwan-paki-border/

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2021/10/24/%f0%9f%9a%a8big-breaking%f0%9f%9a%a8-resistance-begins-in-another-afghanistan-province-of-parwan%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f%e2%98%9d%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%87%a6%f0%9f%87%ab%f0%9f%a4%b2/

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2021/10/13/nrf%f0%9f%9a%a8big-breaking%f0%9f%9a%a8-shinwari-district-of-parwan-province-liberated-by-national-resistance-forces-%e2%98%9d%ef%b8%8f%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%87%a6%f0%9f%87%ab%f0%9f%a4%b2/

La rápida ocupación del poder por parte de los talibanes tras la retirada de Estados Unidos y el resto de fuerzas internacionales ha devuelto a Afganistán los fantasmas del pasado. El miedo a represalias de los fundamentalistas se extiende por ciudades y pueblos, sobre todo entre quienes trabajaban por la apertura al mundo, el conocimiento y el empoderamiento de las mujeres. Este recorrido evocado por un país actualmente imposible de visitar toma como símbolo y referencia a Fátima, su primera y única guía de turismo mujer. Desde la seguridad de Italia, a donde logró ser evacuada in extremis en uno de los últimos vuelos de agosto, esta excepcional joven comparte con nosotros los detalles de su angustiosa huida. Ella era objetivo talibán no solo por trabajar, estudiar y estar en permanente contacto con extranjeros; también por su compromiso con la formación de las niñas y el activismo a favor de las afganas. Dos españoles que contribuyeron al éxito de su salida, el viajero Carlos Ferrer y la responsable de comunicación de la empresa GuruWalk, Clara Estrems, nos explican la complejidad de esta peligrosa operación, que les mantuvo en vilo durante muchos días. La alegría por su éxito, sin embargo, queda amortiguada por la preocupante situación de los miles que no consiguieron plaza en aquellos aviones. Esa sensación la conocen bien afganos como el periodista Subot Kohi y su esposa Roya Subot, desde cuya casa en la localidad madrileña de Nuevo Baztán reflexionamos sobre el presente y futuro de esa nación con seis mil años de historia. Paseamos la imaginación por Kabul y sus mercados, el encanto rural de la provincia de Parwan y el precioso valle del Panjshir. En Mazar-e Sharif nos dejamos inundar por la serenidad azulada del santuario de Hazrat Ali en compañía de una antigua residente de esa ciudad norteña, Farina Abdulfatah. Con Mad Aidar conocemos la turística zona de Bamiyán, hogar de los tristemente desaparecidos budas gigantes, antes de adentrarnos en Herat, la ciudad donde vivía y trabajaba la guía Fátima. Cerramos este especial homenaje con el viajero y escritor Juan Pablo Villarino, que dedicó un mes a recorrer Afganistán a dedo para demostrar que en ese país –como en todos– hay más gente buena que mala. Escuchar audio

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://afghannewswire.com/2021/04/20/paik-e-roz-part-2-poor-quality-of-projects-in-parwan-sparks-criticism/

As the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan nears its completion, the Afghan army is quickly losing ground throughout the country to the Taliban. To bolster its military, the government is arming militias to help in the fight. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson traveled to two provinces near the capital -- Parwan and Logar -- to meet militia men who have Afghan leaders worried about a new civil war. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

As the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan nears its completion, the Afghan army is quickly losing ground throughout the country to the Taliban. To bolster its military, the government is arming militias to help in the fight. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson traveled to two provinces near the capital -- Parwan and Logar -- to meet militia men who have Afghan leaders worried about a new civil war. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Les forces américaines se retirent progressivement d'Afghanistan. Les États-Unis se sont donnés jusqu'au 11 septembre pour quitter le pays qu'ils ont envahi vingt ans plus tôt au lendemain des attentats contre le World Trade Center. Alors qu'une délégation envoyée par Kaboul à Doha va tenter de relancer les discussions de paix au point mort avec les talibans, les américains enchaînent les étapes de retrait.  Bagram, la principale base militaire américaine dans le pays va être restituée dans les prochains jours aux forces afghanes. Située à 50 km au Nord-Est de Kaboul, dans la province de Parwan, la base construite par les soviétiques lors de leur occupation (entre 1979 et 1989) a abrité jusqu'à 30 000 troupes et civils américains et des forces de l'Otan - y compris françaises - au plus fort de leurs opérations, en 2011. Sur place, c'est le grand ménage sur la base militaire. Aucun accès n'est accordé aux journalistes mais RFI a pu se rendre dans le voisinage de la plus grande base américaine en Afghanistan, à la rencontre de la population. Dans son entrepôt à ciel ouvert, Daoud slalome entre des transformateurs électriques, des ventilateurs cassés, des morceaux de carrosseries blindées, des amas de plastiques estampillés de marques américaines. Tout vient de la base aérienne de Bagram qui se trouve à 500 mètres et qui s'étend derrière des murs anti-explosions surmontés de barbelés. « Ça, ça vient d'une citerne américaine. Voici des climatiseurs américains. Ces climatiseurs coûtent 700 dollars. Comme ils sont cassés, ils ne valent pas plus de 2000 afghanis, 25 dollars. Voilà le travail des américains ! » explique-t-il. Cela fait 17 ans que Daoud revend ce qui est jeté par les militaires américains. Depuis que les États-Unis ont annoncé le retrait accéléré de leurs troupes, il dit entendre chaque jour des détonations à l'intérieur de la base : « Ils rassemblent tous leurs équipements qui viennent de différentes bases, celles de Kandahar, de Helmand, de Mazar ici à Bagram. Ils les détruisent tous, même ceux qui sont neufs et ils les jettent. » « Ils détruisent tout pour que nous les Afghans nous ne puissions rien utiliser » Il lance un regard chargé d'amertume en direction de la plus importante base militaire d'Afghanistan qui se détache sur les montagnes ocres de Bagram. « Ils détruisent tout pour que nous les Afghans nous ne puissions rien utiliser de ce qu'ils laissent ici. Regardez ce qu'ils ont fait en Irak et en Syrie. Quand ils sont partis, ils ont laissé le pays dans une situation terrible. Ils veulent faire la même chose ici. Ils veulent que l'on se retrouve dans le chaos. » Dans son petit entrepôt, Azim montre des boulons en tout genre récupérés également à l'extérieur de la base militaire. Il a aussi des lits de camp militaires couleur kaki, des frigos qui ne fonctionnent pas, des cordes et de nombreux câbles. « Vous voyez ça c'est pour attacher les sacs de blé par exemple sur les camions, c'est pour le transport de marchandises. On s'en fiche qu'ils partent parce que nous croyons en Dieu. Il nous protégera. Nous avons déjà vécu ça. Avant les Américains il y avait les russes. La situation était très mauvaise. Mais nous avons survécu », dit-il. Dans la ruelle voisine, les hommes se pressent à la mosquée du village dont les murs et le dôme sont criblés d'impacts. Il y a un an, un kamikaze s'est fait exploser à bord d'un véhicule bourré d'explosifs à l'entrée de la base militaire. Un vieil homme s'approche. Il veut rester anonyme. « En 20 ans ils n'ont pas réussi à apporter la sécurité dans le pays. Nous nous en chargerons mieux qu'eux. Nous ferons face aux talibans, à Daesh, à quiconque. C'est notre terre, nous la connaissons mieux que personne », indique-t-il. Dans le pays, les combats font rage. Loin de relâcher la pression, les talibans accentuent leurs attaques sur les forces de sécurité afghanes.

We dive into Solo - A Star Wars Story. The sexiest and funniest of the Star Wars films. We also make Parwan Nutricakes and a Hyperdrive mocktail from The Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook. Recipe Credit- Parwan Nutricakes and The Hyperdrive were introduced in the 2019 recipe book Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, which was authored by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Marc Sumerak. #SoloAStarWarsStory #StarWars #HanSolo #Lando #Chewbacca #DarthMaul #BlackSpireCookBook #MakeSolo2 #L3 #AldenEhrenreich #DonaldGlover #PhoebeWallerBridge #PaulBettany #RonHoward #RonHowardRules #ClintHoward #vegetarianrecipes #veganrecipes #nonalcoholicdrinkrecipes #HanShotFirst #DisneyStarWars #moviereviews #recipereviews --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dinnerwithnate/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dinnerwithnate/support

Streamed live on Aug 30, 2020 Powerful cataclysms around the world I Second half of August 2020 In this episode: ⛆

“For some years I continued averse from mentioning this event, deeming it so horrible that I shrank from recording it and ever withdrawing one foot as I advanced the other. To whom, indeed, can it be easy to write the announcement of the death-blow of Islam and the Muslims, or who is he on whom the rememberance thereof can weigh lightly? O would that my mother had not born me or that I had died and become a forgotten thing ere this befell! Yet, withal a number of my friends urged me to set it down in writing, and I hesitated long, but at last came to the conclusion that to omit this matter could serve no useful purpose.   I say, therefore, that this thing involves the description of the greatest catastrophe and the most dire calamity which befell all men generally, and the Muslims in particular; so that, should one say that the world, since God Almighty created Adam until now, has not been afflicted with the like thereof, he would but speak the truth. For indeed history does not contain anything which approaches or comes near unto it… Nay, it is unlikely that mankind will see the like of this calamity, until the world comes to an end and perishes, except the final outbreak of Gog and Magog. For even the Antichrist will spare such as follow him, though he destroy those who oppose him, but these Mongols spared none, slaying women and men and children, ripping open pregnant women and killing unborn babes.”    So begins the famous excerpt from Ibn al-Athir on the Mongol invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire. Living in Mosul, in northern Iraq, ibn al-Athir was just outside the range of Mongol armies as they annihilated the neighbouring Khwarezmian Empire in just a few short  years. Daily, news must have come into Mosul of stories of Mongol devastation and atrocities, suddenly Mongol armies were operating hundreds of kilometres farther west than previously thought, or how they were now doubling back, terrified townsfolk wondering if Mosul was next. The writers who lived through the Mongol invasion or just  after it, such as ibn al-Athir, Nasawi, Juzjani, and the most well known, Juvaini, all describe the invasion in near-apocalyptic terms, the Mongols a punishment sent by God. For how else, if not divine retribution, could one explain how every city could all fall so swiftly to these strange people from the north?    Today, we present the Mongol Invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire. I’m your host David and this the Ages of Conquests presentation of…The mongol invasions.   In our previous episode, we discussed in detail the period from 1216-1219, after Chinggis Khan returned from north China and entered into initial diplomatic contact with the Khwarezmian Empire. War between the Khwarezmian and Mongol empires came from three factors which occurred over this short period. The first was the breakdown and absorption of the empire of Qara-Khitai, which had served as a buffer state separating the two empires. Mongol forces under Jebe Noyan took most of the eastern half of the empire, while the Khwarezmians seized the territory from the Ferghana Valley westwards. The second was a battle between Mongol forces  under Jochi and Subutai against the Khwarezm-shah Muhammad II sometime in late 1218 or early 1219. And finally, the massacre of a Mongol trade caravan at the Khwarezmian city of Otrar by its governor, Shah Muhammad’s uncle Inalchuq. An envoy Chinggis Khan sent afterwards to try and solve the dispute was then executed by Muhammad. Coupled with the engagement with Jochi and Subutai, it seemed that the Khwarezm-shah had declared war on the Mongols, and with the fall of Qara-Khitai, now shared a border with them in what is now eastern Kazakhstan.       Though the Khwarezmian Empire now holds a reputation as a giant with feet of clay, this would not have been apparent from Chinggis Khan’s position. The Khwarezmians controlled a vast territory. Originally based in the Khwarezm region in modern Uzbekistan, south of the Aral sea, where their house’s founder, Anushtegin (Anush-te-gin) Gharchi (gar-chi), was appointed governor in 1077 by the final Great Seljuq Sultan, Malik-Shah I. Anushtegin’s successors expanded to incorporate Transoxania, central Kazakhstan, and south into Afghanistan, most of Iran and even Azerbaijan, though much of this territory south of modern Turkmenistan had only been taken since 1200, and Khwarezmian control was loose. Much of their military was Turkic Qipchaq-Qangli peoples from the steppe, fighting in similar fashion to the Mongols: horse archers, heavy cavalry, and supported by various Iranian peoples as infantry.  The Qipchaq-Qangli also made up a significant portion of the administrative and upper bureaucracy of the empire.    Having spent the early 12th century as vassals of the Seljuqs and then the Qara-Khitai, the house of Anushtegin showed themselves to be consistently ambitious and treacherous. In the 1190s, Muhammad’s father Tekesh, in alliance with the Caliph,  defeated and killed the final Seljuq Sultan Toghrul III, allowing Khwarezmian expansion into western Iran, but beginning their rivalry with the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. The disintegration of the Ghurids in 1206 brought Khwarezmain rule to the northwestern borders of India, and the collapse of the Qara-Khitai due to Kuchlug’s usurpation extended Khwarezmian authority east into the Ferghana Valley.       With this massive expansion of the empire in a three decade period, Khwarezm-shah Muhmmad, ruling since 1200, could, quite rightly, feel he was among the most powerful sovereigns on earth, which may in part explain his haughty treatment of Chinggis Khan’s ambassadors. From the Mongol perspective, the Khwarezmians were acting antagonistically, and as a rapidly expanding empire, it seemed possible they would try and seize the new Mongol controlled territory of the former Qara-Khitai.       Internally, the Khwarezmian state was not as strong as it appeared. Since most of the empire was so newly taken, how reliable it would prove in the face of invasion would be questionable. The Qipchaq-Qangli in the administration and military not only mistreated the urban Iranian population, but many of them were essentially mercenaries, or held more loyalty to Muhammad’s mother, Terken Khatun, than him. Indeed, Muhammad and his mother were often at odds, and with Terken Khatun often issuing orders that conflicted with those of her son. Officers across the empire would receive contrasting orders from both, and would follow whichever arrived later. The antagonism between mother and son would hamstring the Khwarezmian defense.    Neither had Muhammad’s actions in the last two decades made him friends outside of the empire. From Baghdad to Delhi, the Khwarezm-shah had a reputation as greedy, unreliable and driven to conquer. Few tears would be shed for him, should he face calamity. Most of the contemporary sources lay the blame for the invasion squarely on Muhammad Khwarezm-shah, ibn al-Athir for instance, directly citing Muhammad’s conquest of the local kingdoms, leaving him as the sole defence, as the reason for the speed of the Mongol conquests. Most sources also cite his treatment of the merchant caravan and envoys, and present the Mongol invasion as something he brought on himself, and was equally unsuited to defend against.       With that background on Khwarezm, and the reasons for the war between the two empires, let’s get into the actual invasion, shall we?       Chinggis Khan made his preparations and set out in summer 1219. The general Mukhali with 20,000 Mongols, and several tens of thousand of Khitan, Jurchen, Chinese and Tangut soldiers, was left to maintain pressure on the Jin Dynasty, while Chinggis’ brother Temuge [te-mew-guh] was left with a small force keep Mongolia secured. The remainder of all available forces were to be taken west against Khwarezm. This was not just Mongolian cavalry, but subject Uighurs, Qarluqs, Khitans, and Jurchen horsemen, with Chinese siege engineers and doctors. 100-200,000 armed men are the common range for estimates, not including families and attendants who would have accompanied the army. Additionally, herds of horses and remounts for the soldiers, hundreds of thousands of sheep and goats to feed the men, and oxen and camels to haul wagons, gers, supplies and materials to construct siege weapons. The total animals brought may very well have approached a million.       Orders had also been sent for the Tangut to provide troops for the western campaign, but with the rise of the anti-Mongol minister in the Tangut court, Asa Gambu, they declined and told off the Mongol envoys. Now, this was not the cause for the later destruction of the Tangut, spoiler alert, by the way, as is often reported: the Tangut did provide troops for Mukhali’s campaigns, occurring at the same time. But it was the start of an insubordination, and finally independence, which would lead to the utter destruction of the Tangut state. But that is getting ahead of ourselves.   Shah Muhammad did not sit idle, and convened a war council at his new capital of Samarkand to decide the defense. One strategy proposed was by Muhammad’s valiant son, Jalal al-Din Mingburnu, who suggested the full might of Khwarezm should be levied and meet the Mongols in a titanic clash on the Syr Darya River, a formidable barrier where crossings would be limited. Muhammad balked at pulling all his garrisons north,  for in their absence his southern territories could assert independence. His fear at meeting the Mongols in open battle may have played a role as well. Ultimately, it was decided to spread garrisons across the major cities of Transoxania, Khwarezm and Khurasan: the northeastern frontier which would face the brunt of the Mongol assault, while Muhammad stayed south of the Amu Darya River to ensure the south of the empire didn’t rebel.    Though this plan has been criticized in the decades and centuries that followed, it wasn’t totally without merit. Just mostly. Attacks by steppe tribes were hardly new, but generally they lacked the siege equipment to take the walled cities of the region, and would contend themselves with pillaging the countryside. Muhammad assumed the Mongols would do the same, and in theory a long march without succeeding in taking any cities would smother the flame of Mongol wrath quickly. Transoxania, the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, or Oxus and Jaxartes as these rivers were known in antiquity, marked the most important geographic barrier to the Mongols in the northern half of the empire. Crossings over each river were limited, and much of the expanse in between them was marked by the harsh Qizil Qum Desert. There would be reason enough to expect that it would slow them down, and perhaps even prevent, Mongol passage, or at least limit it to a few select routes which could be guarded. Unfortunately, Muhammad didn’t comprehend the significance of the experience the Mongols gained in China from 1211-1215, or that they now came west with a large body of Chinese engineers to build their siege machines, or that if the Gobi desert proved no barrier to the Mongols, then neither would the Qizil Qum.   Chinggis Khan’s armies reached the Khwarezmian border city of Otrar in autumn 1219, where the trade caravan had been massacred. With strong walls and a stout defence, Chinggis left a force to besiege Otrar while his armies split and marched up and down the Syr Darya river. Otrar fell after a difficult, five month siege, and its governor Inalchuq was captured. In famous tradition, when Inalchuq was brought before Chinggis, the Khan saw fit to punish him by pouring molten silver into his eyes and ears. It doesn’t often pay to defy Khal Drogo...I mean Chinggis Khan.    That Mongol armies split up after reaching Otrar proved a major issue for the Khwarezmian defenders: had the full force stayed encamped outside of Otrar, waiting to starve it out, the possibility was there that the Khwarezmians could bring their weight to bear upon them. But now, with Mongol armies ravaging both up and downstream of the Syr Darya, while keeping Otrar under siege, it was impossible to combine against them. Further issues came when Chinggis Khan himself suddenly crossed the Syr Darya and Qizil Qum desert: it had been expected he would have take the route directly to Samarkand, protected by a mighty garrison, while the Qizil Qum was thought too difficult for a large army to pass. The Mongols and their horses were sturdy, and they passed in winter with the assistance of local guides. In the early months of 1220, Chinggis Khan had appeared behind enemy lines. The towns of Zarnuq and Nur were the first Khwarezmian settlements to fall, shortly followed by the major centre of Bukhara. A sortie by the garrison was quickly destroyed, the citadel holding out only a little while longer. It is at Bukhara that Chinggis Khan, for the only time we know for certain, entered a city, and allegedly gave a famous speech, calling himself the punishment of God, if we are to believe Juvaini.   Bukhara’s population, particularly young men, were forced into the hashar: a forced levy used by the Mongols essentially as arrow fodder. Driven before the main army, Mongol lances pointed at their backs, the hashar would push siege equipment, fill in moats and be sent against the gates and walls of cities. In these highly exposed positions, they soaked up arrows which would have otherwise fallen onto valuable Mongol warriors; it served to frighten and demoralize the garrison and other populations; it made the Mongol army appear larger; and ground down a segment of the population most likely to resist later. Such multifaceted psychological tools were favourite weapons of the Mongols. The hashar of Bukhara and other settlements on the route were driven to Samarkand, the chief city of the region and Muhammad’s capital. With strong walls and a garrison of fierce Turkic warriors supported by war elephants, Samarkand would be a fearsome target to force. Chinggis arrived before it in March 1220, where he was reinforced by his sons Chagatai and Ogedai, who had taken Otrar and brought the captive Inalchuq. Three days into the siege, Samarkand’s garrison rode out to attack the Mongols, and were cut down to the last man. The city surrendered by the end of week, its citadel holding out until a nearby dam was destroyed, its floodwaters undermining its walls.    Craftsmen and artisans were put aside for Mongol service; women were taken as slaves; and the remainder were forced into the hashar. Unexpectedly quickly, the jewel of the northern half of Shah Muhammad’s empire had been snatched away. Near the ruins of Samarkand, Chinggis divided his forces again, divisions crisscrossing across the empire. On the advice of a Khwarezmian defector, Chinggis Khan had letters forged and sent to top Khwarezmian generals, making it seem that the Mongols were cooperating with Muhammad’s mother, Terken Khatun. This further paralyzed whatever still remained of Khwarezmian leadership. Chinggis sent his generals Jebe, Subutai and Toquchar after Shah Muhammad, whose courage had fled almost immediately. As Samarkand burned, Muhammad fled south.    Muhamamd Khwarezm-shah spent the remainder of his life on the run, Jebe and Subutai hot on his heels. Across Khurasan he rode, then northern Iran, where Terken Khatun was captured. He rode until December 1220 when the bedraggled Shah died on an island in the Caspian Sea, his final days spent suffering from pneumonia, awarding titles and lands to his sons. Titles and lands that were no longer his to give. So ended the reign of Ala ad-din Muhammad bin Tekesh, Shah of Khwarezm, whose actions signed the deathwarrant for many untold hundreds of thousands of people. Beside him had been his son, Jalal al-Din Mingburnu, who took his father’s title and would lead a resistance against the Mongols. This was not the end of Jebe and Subutai’s great voyage, but we’ll give that tale its own episode and focus on the main campaign here.   Once Mongol armies crossed the Amu Darya, the southern river of Transoxania, and Muhammad fled west, the fate of Khwarezm was sealed. The names of the cities change; the length of the sieges change; but the outcome rarely does. Cities that resisted were forced  open, their garrisons massacred, the populations enslaved. For strenuous resistance or the death of a Chinggisid prince, like that of Toquchar outside of Nishapur, then the entire population would be put to the sword, the city destroyed. These served as a stark message; resist, and you will perish. In contrast, those who surrendered immediately were largely left untouched. Often, they were ordered to dismantle their walls, provide food and tribute, and sometimes men for the Mongols and accept a Mongol appointed overseer, a daruqachi (da-roo-ka-chi), basqaq (bas-kak) or shahna (sha-nah), as they were known in Persian sources. Beyond that, the Mongols cared little for the internal affairs of towns, and they were left to their own devices. If they revolted afterwards though, as happened in Merv did, a spectacular example would be made of them- it is from these cases where we see stories of towers of skulls made from the inhabitants.    Did Chinggis Khan at the outset intend on conquering the Khwarezmian Empire? It is hard to say- certainly not even he would have anticipated how quickly the Khwarezmian defence would fail. Each city was essentially left to its own defence, ensuring the Mongols could surround and bring their weight to bear on individual sites. As Muhammad had fled, accompanied by Jalal al-Din, there was noone to organize any greater unity among the Khwarezmian amirs. After his father’s death at the end of 1220, Jalal al-Din and his brothers returned to the mainland, making their way to Gurganj, the original Khwarezmian capital. There, Jalal al-Din attempted to organize things, but some amirs, even in this crisis, refused to recognize him, as Terken Khatun had wanted another of Muhammad’s sons, a more malleable individual, to succeed him. With assassination attempts against him, Jalal al-Din abandoned Gurganj. Not long after he left, Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedai surrounded and destroyed the city after a lengthy siege.    Jalal al-Din fled southeast to Afghanistan, the former Ghurid territory which was his patrimony and where Mongol armies had not yet arrived. There, he was able to gather an army of Qangli, Qarluqs, Khalaj, Afghans and Ghuris, perhaps 60,000 in total. Jalal al-Din was a capable general, and led this army to defeat two Mongols forces. One of these, at Parwan, was a sizable force led by Shigi Qutuqu (tchut-oo-tchoo), the grand judge of the empire and Chinggis’ adopted son. The victory at Parwan late in summer 1221 set off a series of revolts in Khurasan, cities like Herat and Merv which had submitted previously, threw off Mongol rule. Chinggis Khan’s youngest son Tolui was sent to punish them severely for this. For Jalal al-Din, he suffered a catastrophic defection in his victory: a conflict over loot from the battlefield between some of his commanders led to one abandoning him, taking half the army with him. Unfortunately for the Khwarezmian prince, this coincided with Mongol forces converging upon Chinggis to march against him. Jalal al-Din, with now only half of his army, was to face the full might of the Mongol invasion.    Jalal al-Din attempted to flee to India, but the Mongols moved quickly, and caught him on the Indus river around November 1221. The Khwarezmian prince fought fiercely, his army backed up to a cliff over the river. Commanding the centre himself, even while his flanks crumpled under Mongol arrows he held firm, but fate could not be avoided. With a final charge, he pushed back the Mongols, then spurred his horse around, and in full armour, spear still in hand, lunged off the cliff into the river. Mongol archers rushed to the cliffside to send arrows after him, but according to Juvaini, Chinggis Khan personally ordered them to hold, and watched Jalal al-Din and horse swim across the river to India.  Then, turning to his sons he said:   “This is the kind of son that every father dreams of! Having escaped two whirlpools-  water and fire- and reached the bank of safety, he will commit many a glorious deed and  cause innumerable misfortunes. How can a man of reason but reckon with him?”   Chinggis Khan always appreciated heroic acts and Jalal al-Din, for his courage, earned the respect of the Khan. The other Khwarezmian soldiers were not so lucky, and those also trying to make the river crossing were sunk by Mongol arrows. The Battle on the Indus River essentially marked the end of the Khwarezmian Empire. Though Jalal al-Din escaped, and spent some years in India before making his way back to western Iran and resisting there, the state effectively ceased to exist. Most of Iran would be left in the hands of local dynasties for the next two decades, Khurasan left a ruinous buffer while Transoxania was absorbed into the empire, the threat of the return of Mongol forces hovering over all.    It is impossible to say how many were killed in the invasion. Sources like Juvaini often give grealy inflated numbers for those killed in certain cities, recording 2.4 million killed at Herat or 1.3 million at Merv, while another source gives 1.7 million lost at Nishapur. These numbers are certainly exaggerations, more to give an idea of total destruction than specific losses. It is doubtful that any city in the Khwarezmian Empire approached one million inhabitants, even when flooded with refugees fleeing the Mongols. Juvaini’s work will also mention 1.3 million killed at Merv, then have the Mongols return not long after and find another 10,000 to kill. It is also hard to distinguish how many were killed directly from Mongol arrows, or from the famine and spread of disease following the invasion. Many of the irrigation canals needed for sustaining agriculture around these cities were either directly destroyed, or had the people who knew how to maintain them killed or driven off. The starvation which set in following the reduction in agricultural production must have claimed many thousands.    Beyond that, we have mention of internal fighting, cities using the Mongol invasion as a chance to carry out old grudges, and following the Mongols’ withdrawal, the fighting between local dynasties, bandits and rebels would have claimed yet more lives. That many tens or hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes, fleeing the Khwarezmian empire entirely or carried back east as slaves, must not be discounted.    Gaining a truly accurate tally of the dead is impossible, but easily at least 1-3 million people were killed during, or because of, the invasion. It left not just a physical and demographic scaring, but a mental one as well, the Mongols becoming a byword for incomparable calamity even today. It is no wonder so many sources present the invasion in apocalyptic terms, though efforts at recovery and reconstruction under Mongol rule will be something we will explore in future episodes.   With Jalal al-Din Mingburnu’s defeat, Chinggis began the slow journey back to Mongolia. The campaign had been a victory beyond his wildest dreams, and it is at this point that the Mongols likely began to develop the belief that it was Heaven’s Will for them to conquer the world. For how else could one explain what had happened? Everywhere they went, military victory soon followed. The authority of Chinggis Khan among the Mongols was near absolute, though he still had the matter of the succession to deal with, as well as unfinished business in North China. Contrary to some statements, Chinggis did not immediately turn about from the Indus to attack the Tangut- it was not until after 1223, with the death of the general Mukhali, that the Tangut would openly rebel, and earn their own destruction.   Our next episodes will be discussing the great expedition of Jebe and Subtuai through the Caucasus and battle against the Rus’ and Qipchaq at the Kalka River, as well as Chinggis Khan’s final years, so be sure to subscribe to Ages of Conquest: A Kings and Generals podcast and to continue helping us bring you more outstanding content, please visit our patreon at www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. Thank you for listening, I am your host David and we will catch you on the next one!

This show is dedicated to: Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Sheldon Morris, 37, and Spc. Wyatt Joseph Martin, 22, were killed Friday, December 12, 2014, in Parwan province when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle. Defending the Republic with Annie "The Radio Chick" is an ongoing discussion of recent events, issues and the upcoming elections. Special Guest: Pastor Michael Green ** Disclaimer:  Mr. Green has provided interesting input to this episode.  However, there have been some questions of his credibility and we apologize for the unfortunate circumstances.  We thank you for your understanding and hope you remain a valued listener. https://www.facebook.com/JUSTICEforJESSICALANE Informative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey! It's a battle of Conservative values and principles in defense of our Republic! Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.

This show is dedicated to: Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Sheldon Morris, 37, and Spc. Wyatt Joseph Martin, 22, were killed Friday, December 12, 2014, in Parwan province when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle.Defending the Republic with Annie "The Radio Chick" is an ongoing discussion of recent events, issues and the upcoming elections.Special Guest: Pastor Michael Greenhttps://www.facebook.com/JUSTICEforJESSICALANEInformative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey!It's a battle of Conservative values and principles in defense of our Republic!Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.

This show is dedicated to: Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Sheldon Morris, 37, and Spc. Wyatt Joseph Martin, 22, were killed Friday, December 12, 2014, in Parwan province when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle.Defending the Republic with Annie "The Radio Chick" is an ongoing discussion of recent events, issues and the upcoming elections.Special Guest: Pastor Michael Greenhttps://www.facebook.com/JUSTICEforJESSICALANEInformative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey!It's a battle of Conservative values and principles in defense of our Republic!Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.

This show is dedicated to: Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Sheldon Morris, 37, and Spc. Wyatt Joseph Martin, 22, were killed Friday, December 12, 2014, in Parwan province when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle.Defending the Republic with Annie "The Radio Chick" is an ongoing discussion of recent events, issues and the upcoming elections.Special Guest: Pastor Michael Green** Disclaimer:  Mr. Green has provided interesting input to this episode.  However, there have been some questions of his credibility and we apologize for the unfortunate circumstances.  We thank you for your understanding and hope you remain a valued listener.https://www.facebook.com/JUSTICEforJESSICALANEInformative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey!It's a battle of Conservative values and principles in defense of our Republic!Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.

NATO Channel visits the surgery of Dr Mohammad Shirzad who is a doctor offering alternative treatment for skin diseases like vitiligo and epilepsy in Parwan, Afghanistan. The doctor who claims thousands of satisfied patients, uses the venom which he extracts from scorpions and snakes in his medicines. The doctor and his family have been working as alternative medical practitioners for over 215 years, despite their lack of formal medical training. The story follows Dr Shirzad as he diagnoses a patient and also prepares a fresh batch of medicine, using freshly harvested scorpion venom. Also available in high definition

In Afghanistan mines are quite literally everywhere. Along with other explosive remnants of war or ERWs, they are responsible for the serious injury or death of more than thirty Afghan civilians every month. NATO TV ventures to Parwan province in central Afghanistan to meet the men whose job it is to unearth and destroy an enemy that lives beneath the ground. Teaser: In Afghanistan, mines are a plague that terrorize rural communities, with children their primary targets. Clearing mines is a secluded, dangerous and high-pressure task that requires nerves of steel. Produced by Jake Tupman, Parwan, Afghanistan. Also available in High Definition.

Afghans are being taught how to gather forensic data at a site in Parwan. The Criminal Techniques Academy was set up last year by a US Task Force. Hundreds of students are taking lessons on how to collect fingerprint, DNA and ballistic evidence. Also available in high definition

Package made from "Detention Facility Releases Inmates" b-roll about a detention facility releasing inmates in the Parwan province. Produced by Staff Sgt. Lance Heinzelman. Also available in high definition.

This edition features stories on Afghanistans' new Army Commandos, school supplies and humanitarian assistance to people of the Parwan province and a new Air Force medical procedure. Hosted by Tech Sgt. Deb Decker.

In September 2005, women from across the globe gathered for the 10th annual International Women and Health Meeting in New Delhi. Representing a variety of age groups, ethnicities, religious beliefs and countries the women assembled to share their thinking and tackle issues affecting their lives, their health, their families and their futures. From the rise of religious fundamentalism and the implementation of the "global gag rule" to neo-liberal economics and environmental justice, the common thread running through the weeklong gathering was improved human rights for women. Featuring: Adatoun Illomoka, founder and executive director of the Empowerment and Action Research Centre; Rashida Bee, survivor of the 1984 Union Carbide chemical disaster in Bhopal, India; Adela Barroquilla, Filipina "comfort woman"; Vasma Farouk, Afghan Women Skills Development Center in Kabul; Coudou Bop, Senegalese feminist scholar; Alibhe Smyth, director of the Women's Education, Research and Resource Center at University College Dublin, Ireland; Manisha Gupta, feminist health and civil rights activist in India. This week's host: Tena Rubio. Producer: Sarah Olson. For more information: 10th International Women and Health Meeting Sama – Resource Group for Women and Health c/o N.B.Sarojini G -19, 2nd Floor, Saket New Delhi – 110017 India Phone: +91-11-55637633 www.10iwhmindia.org Afghan Women Skills Development Center (AWSDC) House #1267 Str.1 Near Mujahed Workshop, Parwan-e-3 Kabul-Afghanistan awsdc_kabul@hotmail.com; www.afghanwomensnetwork.org Empowerment And Action Research Centre (EMPARC) 1 Wegbo Street (off 56, Iwaya Road) Iwaya, Yaba, Lagos Nigeria Phone: +234-1-864656 Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre at University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone: +353-1-7167777 www.ucd.ie/werrc/ The post Making Contact – March 3, 2006 appeared first on KPFA.