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Episode 545 - Andrew Goldsmith - US Army Ranger School Graduate, The Mediocre Infantryman's Guide to Ranger SchoolAbout the authorAndrew Goldsmith grew up in Los Angeles, California. In 2004, he joined the US Army infantry where he served as a machine gunner, team leader, and squad leader during nearly five years of service. Andrew deployed to Iraq twice, in 2006 and 2008, and graduated US Army Ranger School in 2008.After leaving the Army in 2009, Andrew studied philosophy at the University of Hawaii. In 2011, he self-published his war-time memoirs, Zarqawi's Ice Cream: Tales of Mediocre Infantrymen. Later, he would go onto to earn his law degree from the Pepperdine School of Law and passed the California Bar Exam in 2016.Andrew has studied abroad in Spain and Uganda and adventured in many parts of the world including Iraq, Qatar, China, Mexico, and Western and Central Europe. He has spent time in almost every state in the United States, including touring the country by van, twice, and skateboarding down the entire coast of California in 2013.Presently, Andrew is a practicing attorney, small businessman, and author. He enjoys skateboarding long distances, spending time with his family, and has a black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.Book: The Mediocre Infantryman's Guide to Ranger School (Modern Military Memoirs)What do you do when you show up to Ranger School clueless, alone, and completely unprepared for the pain and suffering ahead? How are you going to survive one of the world's toughest military courses, earn the coveted Ranger Tab, and come home in one piece?Corporal Andrew Goldsmith isn't a super soldier—he's your average infantryman, and by his own admission, a pretty mediocre one at that. Yet through a twist of fate and dumb luck, he finds himself thrown into an ordeal designed to break even the most elite warriors. Severely sleep-deprived, perpetually starving, limping through injuries, and tormented by both the elements and the infamous Ranger Instructors, Goldsmith quickly realizes that surviving Ranger School will be the greatest battle of his life.The journey isn't always glamorous. There are no heroic montages, few dramatic triumphs— just the toilsome life of a ranger, and a lot of questionable decisions made under duress. With his comrades dropping like flies and his mental state teetering on the edge, Goldsmith has to dig deep to find a way through the madness, summoning the strength to endure a course so brutal that many describe it as worse than combat itself.In 'A Mediocre Infantryman's Guide to Ranger School,' Goldsmith shares his brutally honest, darkly funny, and surprisingly relatable account of his journey through one of the most notorious rites of passage in the U.S. Army. Part survival guide, part cautionary tale, this book isn't just for aspiring Rangers—it's for anyone who's ever faced down a seemingly insurmountable challenge and wondered, “Can I really do this?”https://a.co/d/7kVUVHfhttps://www.instagram.com/mediocreinfantryman/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca
In this episode of the podcast, leadership strategist Alan is joined by Brandon Young—Army Ranger veteran, leadership expert, and co-founder of Applied Leadership Partners. Together, they explore how leaders can develop the mindset and skill set to thrive, not just survive, through seasons of high pressure, deep uncertainty, and prolonged adversity. Brandon brings over 25 years of frontline leadership experience, from elite military operations to scaling nonprofits and navigating complex corporate restructures. This isn't a theoretical conversation—it's a grounded, real-world exploration of how mission-focused leaders can build perseverance, resist burnout, and lead with clarity in unpredictable environments. Topics Covered: Brandon's formative years in the Army and how special operations shaped his leadership foundation The difference between endurance and perseverance—and why the latter is essential for modern leaders Why leaders are facing “justification fatigue” and how to build speed to trust using the C.A.R.E. model (Candor, Authenticity, Reliability, Empathy) How to counter the loneliness of leadership through shared emotional load and intentional relational rhythms Strategic pauses vs. false finish lines: how tactical rest can save your mission The five pillars of perseverance: Change, Uncertainty, Acceptance, Choice, and Growth Why clarity—not certainty—is the real antidote to fear-based decision-making How to lead others through ambiguity using frameworks drawn from combat-tested leadership models Practical tips for shrinking your world to reclaim agency and make wise decisions under pressure Key Takeaways: Leadership doesn't have to be lonely—but it does have to be intentional. False finish lines will break your team. Build tactical halts into your rhythm. Clarity creates agency. Shrink your focus, extend your vision. Rest isn't quitting—it's preparation for longevity in mission-critical environments. The mission is greater than the moment. Don't mistake pressure for purpose. About the Guest: Brandon Young is a former US Army Ranger with four combat rotations to Afghanistan. He has spent over 25 years building and leading teams in the military special operations, corporate healthcare, and nonprofit sectors. He is the coauthor of Perseverance > Endurance: Lead With Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together. Brandon has built partnerships with some of the world's most iconic brands, including Nike, Walmart, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Amazon. He is the recipient of the Quest Diagnostics Regional Excellence Award for Commercial Leadership for his work in cancer diagnostics. He's been published in various magazines and peer-reviewed academic journals; assessed, mentored, and trained more than 1,000 Ranger leaders while serving in the 75th Ranger Regiment; and placed third in the 2006 Best Ranger Competition. Brandon lives in Littleton, Colorado, with his wife, Kelly. They have two adult children: Jaden is a Soldier in the US Army and Elliot is a student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Brandon holds a master of divinity in leadership from Denver Seminary, and his passions are faith, family, community, and adventure. Resources & Links: Get the book: Perseverance Is Greater Than Endurance Learn more about Brandon and Applied Leadership Partners Brandon on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonyoung14/ Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandon.young14/ Follow Stay Forth for more leadership tools and coaching: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCETGsJdac-zQu6yl5XFNJig Tune In If You: Lead a team through uncertain waters Feel the pressure of constant decision-making without clarity Want to shift from surviving the week to leading for the long haul Are seeking practical, real-world leadership insight with military-grade wisdom Subscribe and leave a review if this episode helps you lead with more clarity, conviction, and calm under pressure. This is the space for leaders who want to grow resilient, sustainable influence in a changing world.
What does it take to lead through chaos—and come out stronger? Brandon Young knows. With over 25 years of leadership experience across military, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors, he's transformed battle-tested grit into boardroom wisdom. As the co-author of Perseverance > Endurance: Lead with Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together., Brandon joins the podcast to explore how veterans—and professionals of all kinds—can lead with purpose, drive, and direction. Brandon, a former US Army Ranger with four Afghanistan deployments and co-founder of Applied Leadership Partners, unpacks the real-world tools that help teams push through pressure and grow through challenge. In this conversation, you'll discover: Why perseverance isn't about pain tolerance—it's about purpose. How Brandon reshaped his identity after military service. What it takes to build resilient, high-performing teams. How to adopt a leadership mindset that transcends industries. Whether you're scaling an eCommerce brand or navigating your next chapter, Brandon's insights are a masterclass in leading with intention—especially when the path forward isn't clear. Click here now to hear how to grow through adversity and win together. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr
In this episode, we dive into the five factors of perseverance with Brandon Young, a professional who has spent more than 25 years building and leading teams in the military, corporate healthcare, and nonprofit sectors. Brandon is the co-author of Perseverance > Endurance: Lead with Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together. This is a book that he wrote alongside Blayne Smith that provides key insights for leading teams through the battlefield of uncertainty – a narrative that explains why perseverance is necessary for navigating today's complex world… Brandon is a former US Army Ranger with four combat rotations to Afghanistan. He has been published in various magazines and peer-reviewed academic journals, has assessed, mentored, and trained more than 1,000 Ranger leaders, and placed third in the 2006 Best Ranger Competition. He is also the co-founder of Applied Leadership Partners, a consulting firm that shares hard-earned leadership wisdom with professionals navigating growth changes and adversity. Hit play to learn more about: How Brandon's diverse past has shaped his current ambitions. The ways that your work ethic can change when you make hard decisions. Various ways to cultivate a purposeful approach to life. How veterans reconcile their profound loss of identity after their service. To follow along with Brandon and his ongoing work, click here now! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/30PvU9C
In this gripping conversation, Jeff Struecker, a former US Army Ranger, recounts his harrowing experiences during the Battle of Mogadishu, a mission that would later inspire the film 'Black Hawk Down.' He shares the weight of decision-making in combat, the chaos of navigating a war-torn city, and the profound sense of duty that drove him and his men to risk their lives for one another. Struecker reflects on the emotional and psychological challenges faced by soldiers in battle, the importance of leadership, and the defining moments that shape a person's character in the face of overwhelming odds. In this conversation, the speaker reflects on their experiences during the Battle of Mogadishu, discussing themes of courage, responsibility, and the psychological impact of war. He shares personal stories of heroism, the chaos of battle, and the heavy burden of decision-making under fire. Struecker emphasizes the importance of camaraderie among soldiers and the lasting effects of combat on their lives. They also highlight their current mission to support and mentor future warriors.Head to https://drinkag1.com/andyrowe to order now and get yourself a free bottle of Vitamin D3 & K2 and 5 free travel packs with your first order.That's drinkag1.com/andyrowe – you'll also be helping out the podcast, so I can produce more of this content.00:00 The Weight of Decisions in Combat02:06 Navigating Chaos: The Battle of Mogadishu08:33 The Mission: A Surgical Strike12:27 The Unexpected Turn of Events18:29 The Fight for Survival22:52 Defining Moments: Choices in Crisis24:31 Leadership in the Face of Fear25:54 Courage in the Face of Fear27:21 Navigating Chaos: The Battle for the Crash Site29:19 Ambush and the Fight for Survival31:39 The Heavy Burden of Responsibility32:39 Heroism in the Face of Overwhelming Odds34:03 Processing the Aftermath of War36:11 Decision-Making Under Fire38:22 The Heart of a Warrior41:02 The Aftermath: Returning to Base43:10 Honoring the Fallen45:11 Lessons from Mogadishu46:40 The Long-Term Impact of War48:59 Life After Service: A New Mission Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Graduation Day. Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."You know nothing of what you speak of, Ishara, yet you now feel free to insult us," she simmered."Don't know, don't care. It was all before my time. I care about the 'here-and-now' as well as what we do in the future. What I am asking you is what concrete item or 'thing' can be provided to House Zorja to put this blood feud behind you. Name it and House Ishara will endeavor to procure it for you.""We are not merchants," Jana's eyes narrowed."No. I didn't imply you were. If you want new sandals for everyone in your House, I'll find you new sandals. If you want 100,000 acres of ranchland, I'll find you the land. Name it," I persisted."Our prestige cannot be bought," she 'explained'."No, but a blood feud with House Ishara can be avoided by making a request of us in the same way as expressing your desire to harm my daughter can be expressed by denying my offer," I hardened. "And 'fuck you very much' if you think I won't use every son, daughter, mother, aunt, and uncle of Ishara when I come gunning for House Zorja too.""You wouldn't dare bring outsiders into this," Klavdiya interjected."Why not? The offices of Ishara handed House Zorja the coup of the century ~ the capture of the People's Liberation Army Navy nuclear carrier. A member of House Zorja commanded that task, yet they did so by leading forces marshalled by House Ishara, outsider forces. You may wish to keep playing by old rules concerning who is and isn't part of a House, but I am not so constrained, sisters.""So Klavdiya, if House Meenakshi pursues its blood feud with House Zorja, House Ishara will gleefully join them in the pummeling. And we have Isharans in the 9 Clans, the Khanate and the Illuminati who will gladly help us out in slapping them around like the old-fashion curmudgeons they are showing themselves to be, or, House Zorja may request a gift from House Ishara and we will happily clear accounts between them and House Meenakshi in the name of our daughter, Parvati. Their choice.""You are still on the mats," Elsa reminded me. Sikia coiled protectively next to us."And you said something about a lesson being long overdue," Pamela smirked, "Kitten.""Cáel Ishara," Shawnee said in a soft voice, "perhaps it is germane to the argument: the fault of the blood feud rests with House Zorja, not House Meenakshi."I fell on my back, carrying Tad fi with me. She gasped out in surprise while remaining closely cuddled with me. Her right hand never left my lips."Why does no one tell me this shit?" I moaned."You are hard," Tad fi announced. "Are you ready to have more sex?" She was sounding upbeat about our prospects. She was also ignorant of our surroundings being deaf and blind to the mortal realm."Gossamer Wing," I created a pet name for the augur, "we are lying on the sparring mats of a large combat arena in the central Full-blooded training center for Havenstone with roughly 500 sisters in attendance (the audience had grown). While I am enticed by your scent, words, proximity and sweet memories of what we've shared, I'm probably going to be badly beaten up really soon for a terrific diplomatic snafu.""But then we can have sex?""Yeah. I'm totally up for having sex with you after they release me from Medical," I assured her. I looked around her to a very unhappy Mahdi."Can you find it in your heart to forgive House Zorja? Anything I can,""Yes," she abruptly cut me off.What the fuck?"At this time, my hatred of House Ishara, and you in particular, make any grievance I have with House Zorja pale in comparison. You have bewitched my only daughter. She bares your child, and it will be a wonderful child if the soiled augur you've stuck your cock in is to be believed," she ground out bitterly. "I want to go home. I want to find enemies to kill. And when I do, Cáel Ishara, know each and every one of them will carry your face in my mind."She turned to Jana. "Do you agree that we both hate Ishara enough to put aside our current differences?"Jana studied Mahdi, me, then Mahdi again and agreed. She stood. Mahdi stood. They clasped arms like Amazons, then hugged like sisters."Agreed. He is much worse."My thoughts on the matter. Woot! I was having sex! Oh, and I was making Aya happy by ending a blood feud."My admiration of you continues to increase," Krasimira looked at me. "This diplomacy stuff is harder than it looks yet you pull it off so effortlessly.""Yay me!" I muttered."Keeper, are we done?" Sikia asked Krasimira."I believe so," the older Amazon rose to her feet. Sikia was far faster in rising."Mahdi of Meenakshi, you have insulted me and my augur. Defend yourself," she snarled. If Tad fi hadn't been immediately present, Mahdi wouldn't have even warranted a warning no doubt."Had you done your job," Mahdi flowed into her fighting stance, "you both wouldn't be pregnant.""Whoa now," I struggled to rise while keeping Tad fi close and my body between her and the Meenakshi/Zorja side of the mat. "Sikia, I can't let you fight. You're pregnant too.""Don't be stupid, Cáel Ishara," Sikia retreated off the mat, so she could shed her jacket and footwear. "Amazons have fought pregnant for thousands of years.""Hold on now," NYPD Sgt. Larisa Kutuzov said in English as she moved forward. I was a millisecond too late. Larisa's foot touched down on the mat and Marlene Zorja popped her one, a hand chop to the larynx. The senior cop stumbled forward."Mom!" shouted Nikita. Marlene followed up with a leg sweep, putting Larisa face first on the mats, then a fist strike to the back of the head, knocking her out. Neat and tidy in less than two seconds.Nikita was about to charge in when Chaz stopped her."Footwear," he advised in the tone of voice I had learned to associate with him and imminent violence. The moment he stopped her, he was quickly removing his own socks and shoes. Virginia and Pamela were doing the same. I was allowed freedom of movement because I was holding Tad fi. Krasimira exited because of her unique status. The rest were already barefoot."Gale, could you please stay with Tad fi," I tried to hand her off."No," Gale looked me over. "I will fight." No hint on whose side she would be fighting on. Krasimira came to my rescue."I'll take her.""Tad fi," I told the augur, "I have to go get beaten up now, but I promise I will be back for you directly.""This is not your fight," Krasimira said. "The words and deeds are Sikia's.""A, she carries my child and B, the deeds being called into question are my fault.""You told me once they were the Will of Ishara," Krasimira mused."We are one in the same," I gave a lopsided grin."Be careful," Tad fi pleaded. "Your future is a chaotic jumble, I cannot see,""Eh, I've been very bad. We'll talk about it later. Gotta go," I headed onto the mats.Pamela was giving the ground rules to the 'normals': No 'fair warnings'. No 'fair play'. No 'time outs'. You fought until unconscious, or you surrendered."This is going to suck," Virginia assessed our odds. Two Amazons had removed Larisa from the mats and were tending to her. Nikita was kneeling by her side until she heard Virginia, then came our way.Besides Sikia, we had Pamela, Chaz, Virginia, myself and Nikita. Oneida stepping up was nice. She wasn't a great combatant, but we dearly needed the help. Gale joining us was, unsettling. Amazons don't play fair, so this could be a ruse.Against us were all three Zorja and both Meenakshi ~ I imagined Rhada felt she had something to prove to her mother. They'd picked up ten other Amazons and Rhonwenn Nemain. Klavdiya joined them to counterbalance her baby sister. Eight to seventeen ~ ouch."Damn," a familiar voice from my first days on the job spoke up from behind me, "we almost missed this." I didn't dare look over my shoulder. Desiree stepped between Chaz and Virginia. Rachel came up on my left and Tiger Lily on my right. At the tail end of our line was Mona, Meridian, Brielle and Wiesława. Fifteen to seventeen was looking much better, especially considering Desiree had brought five Security Detail warriors with her, all of whom were moving to further bolster our numbers."Rachel," Elsa looked to her underling, "you have no idea why you are fighting.""It is for Cáel. So it must be for a better tomorrow," Rachel laughed."Very well," Elsa smirked."You!" Mahdi pointed at me, and we both charged. It was a jumbled nightmare of clashing bodies, war cries and flashes of movement all around. Our side had two main advantages -While Chaz was by no means the best hand-to-hand combatant present, he knew the basic Amazon style and most Amazons didn't know his. Added to his overall height and bulk advantages, he bought us time.Of greater importance, Rachel, Tiger Lily and Mona had extensive training working as a team, which none of the opponents had.Elsa was the most dangerous individual on the mat. Pamela was the second most dangerous, so Elsa grabbed a couple of partners and ganged up on her to drive her off the mats. Chaz went next, out-Elsa'ed and beaten unconscious. The issue was, it took her too long to accomplish those two feats. By the time she rounded on me, Rachel and Tiger Lily, our half of the field had wiped out theirs. It was six of us (me, Rachel, Tiger Lily, Gale, Wiesława and Desiree) versus four of them (Elsa, Marlene, Klavdiya and Rhonwenn).Still, I was facing Elsa, so a judicious bit of treachery was required."Gale," I huffed and puffed, "please retire. I don't want you to fight your sister.""What?" Gale snapped. She'd taken a beating, yet remained feisty."No, fighting her sister is okay with me," Desiree scowled. "We are still facing fucking Elsa.""All the other women you have mated with have failed. I remain," Gale trumpeted."Oh, you are right," I half-turned. "All the reason you are more precious to me.""Really?""Of course," I deepened my introspective appreciation of her."Oh," and Klavdiya punched Rhonwenn. That was an 'oh, Cáel Ishara must actually care for my baby sister and not be just a Playa' on Klavdiya's part. Yeah. I'm a horrible fucking person at times.Rachel, Tiger Lily and I rushed Elsa. Marlene pivoted to ward against Klavdiya while Gale and Wiesława stormed in against her. Desiree helped Klavdiya finish drubbing Rhonwenn before they combined to force Marlene off the mats. Elsa chose to go down swinging in a dogpile of bodies. I took an ear-ringing blow to the head which allowed Rachel to apply a chokehold and it was lights out for the Head of SD.After some water bottles went around and those concussed returned to wakefulness, the resolution of the brawl was decided. Mahdi apologized to Sikia. It was short, terse and sparing of any empathy, yet was within the bounds of Amazon etiquette. She departed with Rhada, which left me to pick up the pieces, starting with Nikita's mom."Oh," the older woman moaned then, "Ms. Fredrickson? What are you doing here?""Avenging you, Mother," Nikita fluffed up the truth. "She, Cáel and the others cleaned house on the woman who jumped you and her allies.""Desk Sergeant," Desiree gave a curt nod."This isn't over," Larisa winced as she moved to a sitting position."Mrs. Kutuzov, it is over," I headed off a colossal waste of time. "This is my daily life and part of your daughter's life with JIKIT. You will find scant witnesses and no tape recordings of these events. This craziness is just another day in the life here at Havenstone. You stepped on the mat and thus became fair game to any physical confrontation an opponent cared to mete out. Consider this sovereign soil of an independent nation-state.""We," she looked around. "You kicked their asses?""Definitely," Pamela gave a feral snarl."This is plain nuts," she shook her head, winced in cranial pain, then put her aching head in her hands."One of the reasons we've put our dating in hiatus," Nikita comforted her mother while looking at me, and smiling affectionately.Ah, for fuck sakes! I was engaged to someone else and having a dozen kids by ten different women. How could I still possibly be considered viable dating material? Oh yeah, martial valor, laughing at death, I hung out with truly exceptional cool people and I would always be in need of saving, a plus for a crusader like Nikita.I had so many allies to tend to, but only one who seemed to be making an exit. I swooped down on Tad fi long enough to place her fingers to my lips."I'll be right back, friend of a friend in need," and off I went. I caught Tavi of House Stolgos just outside the door. She wasn't avoiding me. She'd been observing Chaz and he had been otherwise occupied.My British companion had played a pivotal role in the combat and taken his beating like a man. He'd been rendered unconscious. So had many others, so no stigma was attached to his loss. Post-battle, he had chosen to sit on his haunches, knees up, talking to several of the Amazons, both kneeling and standing. A few had been bystanders and a few others foes.He stayed on his ass to reduce his height advantage. Letting Amazons make eye contact while not having to look up at you created definite benefits. His good natured approach to his role in the fight and pummeling earned him positive vibes as well. He made it clear the tussle to him was not macho-personal. He was my 'brother / sister / sibling' spiritually-speaking via Pamela adopting us both as her 'grandsons', so my fights were his fights. Sikia had my (Cáel's) child, so that bond extended to her as well ~ family.Pamela and I had schooled him on Amazon psychology and those lessons were now paying serious dividends. 'The Male' hadn't wanted to fight them ~ 'Amazons are tough' he'd confessed, he knew this because he worked with several every day on JIKIT~ but family was on the line, so he fought. Mahdi had apologized, so the matter was settled. The other Amazons he'd fought? They had fought for their reasons and he was okay with not questioning them about it.Why? He was conscious of his conspicuous status as a 'guest', knew he was in no way an Amazon, and was not privy to what motivated them. He didn't want to be an Amazon. He had his own, much younger, martial tradition he was proud of, yet was eager to learn from the vastly greater Amazon war lore because 'winners' didn't have a gender-bias and no other tradition could compete with the Amazons' 3,000 years.Under normal circumstances, the women around him wouldn't have given credence to his praise. He was a male after all. Through the tiny tear I'd created in their insulating social fabric, Chaz was building upon his own exploits. In the after-battle analysis, the Amazons reflected on the realization Elsa had concentrated on him as her number two objective, second only to Pamela who scared everyone who knew anything about her. That bolstered Chaz's appeal.For the Amazons who thought a male would get all pouty and cry over being beaten up by a girl/girls, Chaz was breaking the mold. He wasn't angry. He was amused. The fight had been a learning experience and he'd felt honored to watch, no matter how briefly, a warrior of Elsa's caliber fight. He'd explained 'I', Cáel Wakko Ishara, considered Elsa one of the top 5 combatants I'd ever seen, which included Ajax the Unconquered. The others were Sakuniyas, reborn Amazon and former Queen of Assyria, Saint Marie, the Golden Mare, and Pamela, the Cliff-walker.More happy Amazons because the list's only non-Amazon was a dead Hero from the Trojan Wars and it was well known I 'got around' (aka dealt with violent outsiders.) Chaz was telling the truth, almost. The 'fifth' person on the list was Alal, but explaining him would be difficult, so Chaz edited him for this particular audience. Good man.In the hallway, "Tavi, a moment," I called out. She slowed down, took a few more steps allowing me to catch up."Yes Ishara?" she gave me her best neutral look. Yep. She was jealous."I beg two favors from you," I quickly went down to one knee in her path. That caught her off guard and left her in the awkward position of me being terribly close and staring up at her."I, I will listen," she muttered."I would like to know if you are pregnant," I asked very softly. Yes, she was, but she didn't want to tell me. She contemplated pushing past me. It would be very easy. "I know I am stepping beyond the boundaries between warriors. Please. My destiny has brought you two together. I am at fault here." 'Fault' was the key word."If I have a son, he will be given to the Queen," Tavi's face was stern and unforgiving. "He will live.""That's not what he's worried about," I shook my head. "He wants to be a father to your daughter, Tavi. He wants to introduce you to his mother and grandmothers, maybe his sisters too, if that can be arranged.""Huh?""He is not like me, Tavi. There is no other in his life, but you.""I, I will not leave my House for him," she protested angrily."He would never ask you. That doesn't mean he doesn't want to remain at your side for years to come. He can be a father to your child and not be a part of House Stolgos in the same way you can be a mother to your child and not be a part of Clan Tomorrow.""Oh," she furrowed her brow. "How would this possibly work?""I have an 'in' with the Queen," I winked. "I'll work out something.""He knows I will never stop being an Amazon," she elucidated intensely."Absolutely. He is an intelligence operative after all. He's figured a few things out for himself.""Why doesn't he tell me these things?""Tavi, he threw his body on top of me to shield me from a bomb blast, so he's undoubtedly brave, but telling you what is in his heart is scary for him. As his brother, I see behind his silence,""Oh, what should I do?" she was vexed."Go back in there, demand to speak with him and tell him the truth," I stood up."The truth?""That you are going to have a little StolgosTomorrow-ite running around sometime next year," I exuded confidential friendliness."Cáel Ishara," she tilted her head slightly, "you don't know much about infants, do you?""Nope," I pseudo-confessed. I actually did know something about newborns. I'd studied up so I could make a move on a cute girl whose free time was eaten up by babysitting, so I 'helped out'. Oink."They aren't 'running around'," she turned to head back into the gym, "until the ninth month at the earliest. Normally, running doesn't happen until the eighteenth month.""My fiancée has a three-year old, so she should be able to help me through some of the hardest parts," I babbled along. Tavi didn't give a crap.In we went. Tavi stormed straight toward the bevy of Amazon babes concentrating on 'her' Chaz."Color Sergeant Tomorrow," she abruptly interrupted. "A moment of your time.""Ladies," Chaz uncoiled himself from the surrounding women. The Amazons were either mildly put off, they thought they were about to get laid, or pissed off, they were sure they were about to get laid, and Tavi was stomping on their happy."Yes, Ms. Gentry," Chaz linked his hands behind his back in a 'rest easy' stance. 'Gentry' was the fake last name Tavi used in the outside world. She motioned toward the windows with her head. Off they went. I couldn't hear what was being said, but my lip reading skills were up to the task.T: (I am pregnant)C: (I love you)T: (Oh) ~ stunned. Go Chaz!C: (Well, I don't imagine the Amazons have a marriage ceremony and an Anglican service would be inappropriate, so perhaps we could research a Scythian ritual which could make both families happy) ~ delivered in the patented smooth Chaz style.T: (Marriage? To you?)C: (I will not submit to being anyone's slave nor would I ever ask you to submit to me. Outside of that, will you be my partner and my partner alone until the cliffs separate us?)T: (Amazons are not monogamous)C: (I am)T: (I will, I mean, can I think about this?)C: (I am not going anywhere, Tavi){Pause}T: (Did you put Ishara, Cáel Ishara up to this?)C: (Yes)T: (Why?)C: (I imagine he explained what I am feeling better than I could)T: (Oh, do you want me to meet your mother and grandmothers?)C: (Absolutely)T: (Okay)C: (Okay ~ you would like to meet my Mother and Grandmothers?)T: (No, yes, I mean, yes I would like to meet them and I am okay with you being with no other woman until the cliffs separate us, and I will do the same, no other males)C: (If I pick you up, hug you and kiss you, will your sisters freak out?)T: (I don't know)So Chaz swept Tavi up until her head was higher than his (a feat, considering their 8" height differential) and kissed her deeply. Mumbled words followed. Tavi wrapped her legs around Chaz's waist and out they went. Around me were angry murmurings of the 'did that Amazon just run off with our man' variety. Not my problem. I had plenty of different Amazons wanting my attention. Hallelujah!{8:00 pmDon't try this at home.I covered my face with a pillow and pressed down hard. I'd already tried breathing exercises, meditation and even contemplated more cranial trauma before thinking up this particular crazy idea. It took some mental effort and accessing some of my Alal-'pain sorting' skills to accomplish, but in the end, I felt myself 'let go'.I sat up."Hello," Tad fi beamed."Hey," I took a deep breath. Since we were talking, I must have passed out. Her eyes wandered over the room."Is this the world as you see it?" she wondered. Oh yeah, I had to be creating the environment for her to enjoy.Sikia was kneeling on the bed a foot away, her gaze moving between the two of us. The 'grayness' of her form suggested she was wholly in reality and not in the 'Ishara-space' the goddess had shown me and I was now sharing with my augur."This is how you see me?" she examined her fingers, her wrists, then some long locks of her hair."You are more beautiful," I answered. The impact of my words crossing over drew her eyes back to me. It was the magic of hearing for the normally deaf girl. I concentrated, peeled back some fantasy and attached a realistic form to Sikia. Tad fi followed my gaze."Your hair," she addressed her guardian, "It is lighter than I imagined."Sikia said something I couldn't understand, muffled as it was by my dreaming."I cannot hear you, but I see you through his eyes," the augur carried on her conversation. They touched. It had to be somewhat bizarre for Sikia. As she reached for Tad fi's hand, her friend intercepted the extended member. Their fingers intertwined before completing the journey to the guardian's lips."Don't cry, no, we couldn't have, no, we shouldn't have knocked him out sooner. I don't think he was aware of this discipline when we first met. Were you, Cáel?""No. Perhaps if I had understood more about the consequences of seeing ghosts, I might have," I tapered off. "Now that we know. I can try this more often.""Your health?" Tad fi worried."I might be immortal," I confessed. I was confessing because I was desperately seeking a way to share some of my genetic quirkiness with her ~ some strength to carry her through this pregnancy and spare her life, Dot Ishara be damned."And you would seek a way to spare me," she graced me with her gentle presence. Lying in the 'spirit' world was a whole lot tougher than in the flesh."Yeah. I've got some arcane lore rattling around in my head, plus I have a few outside sources I can ask for help. I'm not giving up on you.""I have foreseen my death.""Well, un-foresee it," I scolded her. "Dot Ishara told me we see what might happen, though nothing is guaranteed. So even your death isn't an absolute. Since it hasn't happened, I see no reason to let it happen. You are going to live to hold our daughter. If not, my immortality is worthless.""You can never save everyone. Sometimes you must let a few go to save the rest," she advised."If I find someone I'm not attached to, I'll let them go. I promise. Until then, I'm, ugh, I'm fading, and I'm keeping you.""We shall see," she murmured. I fell back into my body and into wakefulness."Now we have sex," Tad fi announced in a melodic voice."He is ready to perform," Sikia agreed. She was fondling my balls with one hand while her breath played across my rod. I sat up to see the augur climbing up the bed between my thighs. She kissed my glans, licked across its top, then kissed it again."I've got it from here," she told Sikia."What?" Sikia was confused. Tad fi's lips began to engulf my sceptre."Sikia, come here," I gently pulled on her arm. She was conflicted yet up some came.We started out with tender kisses on the lips. I kept drawing her toward me. My lips and tongue migrated down her chin and throat to her breasts. When she thought my target was her breasts, she was all onboard. That was a mere stop-off point on my journey, though I played around for a while.At the same time, I had to use subtle movements with my hips and clenches with my gluts to school Tad fi on her fellatio. Thankfully, I was doubly-blessed. This wasn't my first time schooling two girls at once and Tad fi could determine more from such minimal reactions due to her heightened sense of my muscle contractions through her touch than any other woman I'd ever met.When I began running my tongue in large lashes underneath her breasts, I confused Sikia once more. She was resistant as my hands on her hips pulled her higher so that my lips and teeth could tease her taut stomach while I twirled my tongue in her belly button. She giggled.I had been slowly wiggling down the bed, backing Tad fi up, so when it came time to mount Sikia on my face, I had the headboard room. I kept her muscular thighs securely in hand because the moment I had her happy, I pushed her up. She looked down, seeking guidance and I motioned her to turn around. She did the eye-ball math, realized she'd be facing her augur, and hastily obeyed. Of course, her movement on the bed alerted Tad fi through mattress vibrations.Sikia was sitting on my face, leaning down so she could run her hands through Tad fi's hair and along her face and lips (and my phallus). I kept my hands pressed between our bodies. My right made the sojourn to my pubic area to play around and give them both something else to suck on, my fingers. My left loitered around between Sikia's breasts and her clitoris when my lips were otherwise occupied.I could cup her clit with my tongue in a U-shape, rubbing it along my taste buds. Most of my time was taken up with my tongue broad lashing her vulva or tightly-twisted and delving into her cunt and my nose pushing against her brown hole. I could tilt myself up so I could make tongue-intrusions into her back passage as well. The first time, she squealed.Before she could decide if she wanted to make me stop (she did, virtually all first timers always default to asking their partner to stop, so you have to distract them), Tad fi wanted to know what had brought her reaction on. Then came Sikia's troubled revelation of what I was doing, how the augur shouldn't suffer through it, despite the increasing pleasure she was receiving, only to finally be unable to supply the answer as to why Tad fi shouldn't experience it too.Sikia shot me a treasured look of bewilderment. I'd brought her to orgasm with my tongue alone. I was a guy after all."Switch?" I suggested. Tad fi was still administering one of the slowest, most considerate blowjobs I'd ever experienced. She wasn't rushing toward anything. Sure, she was unschooled, but was devoting her incredible sensitivities to my pleasure and taking pleasure in her ability to bring me to such excitement."Change places?" she mused. "Okay." Tad fi's lips slid off me with one final, loud 'pop', then she used her spider-like fingers to climb up my body while Sikia traveled south. She lavished butterfly kisses on my face ~ childish, yet so very appropriate between us ~ and I mirrored the gesture.With some reluctance, she mounted me, facing Sikia. My tongue flicking across her clit on its first exploration brought out a joyous gasp. It only got better from there.The Long Slide Into Domestic Life:"Twins?" Hana snuggled into my arms. We were at her place, naked in bed together after a late late-night unscheduled meeting with some VIPs. Despite the late/early hour, she was alert, tense even. It had been a mentally stimulating late night encounter which had brought me to her bed."Yes. That is what Tad fi predicted," I inserted between raining kisses down on her forehead. Hana liked non-distracting attention when she was in this kind of mood. She was exhausting herself mentally as she was building up to being amorous."Ana-Călina and rp d?" she worked over the names on her tongue. "They have a special meaning?""Only if you are Hungarian and Romanian," I teased her. She elbowed me slightly. " rp d was the semi-mystical pagan warlord who led the Ten Tribes who became known as the Hungarians ~ the Magyar peoples ~ into the Carpathian Basin, present day Hungary. Ana-Călina was born a Byzantine princess of the storied House of Basarab; she married Radu Negru, thus becoming the first Princess of a free Wallachia ~ the foundation for a free Romania. She was also the great-grandmother of Dracula.""So they are famous names with regional historical significance, did they live long, happy lives?"" Árpád, no one knows for sure. His kids were quarrelsome, but they did manage to found a dynasty at the start of the second millennia which ruled for three centuries.""Ana-Călina, yeah. I think so," I continued. "She lived into her seventies and her eldest son left his country stronger, richer and safer than when he received it. She did out live her husband by over fifty years, and got to see her youngest grandson bury most of his rivals, the kids from her husband's first marriage.""Ah, what?" Hana rose up until we were eye to eye. Since she was naked, her boobs swayed slightly as she did so. My eye flickered. "Eyes forward, Mister," she playfully barked. "What happened to all her other grandsons?""Wallachia in the 15th century was a tad rough and tumble," I evaded."They killed one another?""Mostly they were killed by conspiracies amongst their boyars, nobles of the time.""Why does, Tad fi want to dredge up these names again?" she kept eye contact."Not a clue," I pleaded."But you think it is important?""No. I think you are important. Screw Fate. It can name its own kids. We can chose whatever names make you happy, except 'Up'. Up's been taken.""You've named another of your offspring 'Up'? That's cruel, or does that mean something in another language I'm unaware of?" she shifted her shoulders so her boobs wobbled again. Of course, I broke eye contact. I hadn't had sex in hours and her boobies were right there, damn it!"Actually, Pamela and I named this secret agent in Hungary that, just to fuck with his head," I divulged."Oh. Pamela. I should have known," she slowly smiled. "You are being very well behaved," she added. Woot! She noticed I wasn't throwing her down and pawing her delectable flesh. "One more thing before the nookie.""Name them. Their dead," I pledged."Not necessary," her sigh turned into a giggle. "If I'm going to be having twins, I'm going to be rather big come late March. We need an earlier wedding date."Oh, fuck me!"What do you have in mind?" I tried to keep the creeping dread out of my voice."New Year's Day?" she suggested. I did a quick calculation. That was annihilating 78 days out of what remained of my bachelor life. In 114 days my life would cease having any meaning whatsoever. I'd be a Mr. to someone's Mrs. The end"Sure, I can arrange to be killed before then," stumbled out of my mouth."What was that?" Hana pouted."Nothing Dear. Cosmic psychic intersection with an Al -demon; don't know what came over me," I fibbed."Man up," Hana bit my nose. "Our marriage won't be that bad if we both work at it. It isn't like I'm demanding celibacy from you." Then she mouthed 'yet'."Wait. Did you mean celibacy, as in no fun at all, or monogamy, as in only 'happy time' with you?" I desperately sought clarification."Oh," she pursed her lips. "I meant monogamy. I didn't mean to scare you.""Oh, thank goodness," I sighed."Here," her gaze turned tender. "Let me make it up to you." Hana placed one hand on my shoulder and rose up my body until my face was gently nestled in her bosom. Then she wiggled back and forth, basically because I'm a big baby and easy to please. I was alternating which nipple I was kissing in no time."Mmm," she murmured. "I've missed you." Her other hand's fingernails coasted down my abdomen and found 'Mr. Happy' had risen to attention. Okay, he'd been hopping up and down on my groin since she'd said we were 'going to bed' 30 minutes ago. Hana decided wrap up my shaft with her hand, then applied a few tender strokes. I reciprocated by cupping her left tit in one hand, forming a mound with her areola at the center, and began to twirl from the outside inward to her hardened nipple with just the tip of my tongue.It was 4 a.m. Why was I taking it slow when I had my final work review with Katrina in three hours? Hana deserved this and more. Why was Hana doing it? She was her own boss, plus her life was careening wildly outside of anything she'd imagined before she'd first laid eyes on me. Half of the financial empire she shared with her father was suddenly in the hands of a military dictatorship, her beloved father was dealing with the murder of her hated step-brother and she was marrying a Prince in a European cathedral which required someone high in the Vatican's approval process to use.Yeah, her life had gone nuts. Worse, she loved me. And I wasn't the kind of man she ever thought she'd love. She'd thought she'd never love anyone again after her life with her asshole of an ex-husband and their bitter, contentious divorce. I was barely someone she could classify, and Hana was a terribly ordered and organized person. Saying my life was messy was being generous. I was some mysterious warrior-diplomat-playboy-aristocrat who hung out with people more bizarre than me.Hana picked up her tempo. I switched breasts. Her motor was really starting to hum. Any other night, I could have moved straight to revving her up to an orgasm. I had the time to make it two without any problems. A good one and Hana would be happy and drift off to sleep. Instead, I intuited she wanted more, so we developed our own game of cat and mouse with her climax, and its suspension, being our ultimate goal.My left hand danced down the back of her ribcage like playing keys on a piano. It was a light, teasing gesture. Her hair the color of tarnished gold cascaded down as she began placing her own kisses upon my crown. Each move by one partner evoked a response by the other. Hana ran my glans over her glistening labia, getting it nice and slick. I worked down her waist, cupped her ass, and then glided over her thigh to the back of her knee where I started tickling her. She snickered."You are distracting me," she murmured. I wasn't. I knew these things."I like to get the feel of every inch of your flesh," I responded. More mirthful noises from her. Slowly, her gooey vestibule rubbed against and over the top, until I felt myself entering. There, she hesitated. I propelled my hips an inch up, twisted right then left before falling back down, a micro-fuck."Ah," she emoted her approval. "My turn." Hana's knees spread to the side, making a memorable sound on the silk sheets as she impaled herself. This time she rolled her hips forward, back, then did a slow 360 with me inside her, letting the slow progress over her spark memories for her to savor. "I never believed sex could be like this," Hana hiccupped."How so?" I knew the answer, but wanted her to put her chaotic passions to words. It would make her happier."Experimenting, silly. Stopping in the middle and doing, this," she reversed her hip rotations this time. "I never imagined a lover having such patience, or,""Yourself as being so openly sexually adventurous?" I finished."Yeah," she huffed. "I really, really owe your college professor, plus you and all your diligence, for this," at the last moment, she encountered the gateway to her G-spot. I knew precisely where that gem was. Previously, Hana had gained a vague idea where it was from the perspective of masturbation and our prior lovemaking. Now I had let Hana rediscover that joy with my cock as her tool to utilize as she wished."You realize pregnant women want even more sex," she hummed. She was vigorously working my cock now. Hana had bridged a huge gap, sexually. Normally, a woman of Hana's quality tried to please her man first with the hope her orgasm would soon follow. I was different. My greatest sexual gratification came from her ecstasy. She was confident in that now. By bringing herself to climax, she was making me excited for what would come next."That's okay," I propped myself up on one elbow now that Hana was riding me cowgirl-style. "I dig big chicks." The open-palm slap to the chest was a given."Hercege, you, you are horrible," she growled around a feral smile. The lip-biting, tongue-sucking kiss was equally vicious, primal and leading Hana to the end of her tether. Not only was Hana's sexual trust in me/us expanding, she was putting extra effort into her physical workout regime too. She might still have a ways to go to compete with an Amazon, but it was still going to be a great night."Hercegn , I am nothing but a twisted shadow of masculine lust whose every contour is cast by your muliebrous glow," I teased. Her eyes twinkled. Yes, definitely still going to be a great night."Okay," Hana yawned, "I give up. What does 'muliebrous' mean?" She'd been holding on to that for an hour and a half. It was five-thirty and I was dressing in my biking clothes before heading into work."From the Latin 'muliebri' which means 'womanly'," I answered. Her sleepy eyes drank in both my response and my physique. I had discovered another thing Hana liked and that was to expand her academic/linguistic frontiers. She was enchanted with the idea that I liked to engage her mind along with her body, sparking on all cylinders.She'd crawled over to my side of the bed, her head resting on my pillow, soaking up my scent as she watched me. I knelt down, kissed her on her ear, cheek and finally the side of her lips. Hana was beat."Have a good day and be careful," she mumbled. Her eyes closed. Her chest rose with one last, waking breath before her sleep rhythms took her."Ditto," I whispered. I snuck into Annela's room and planted a kiss on her head as well. The craziness of my life had a way of cascading over to the ones I loved. Loved? Oh boy,7:00 am Monday, September 8th, Graduation Day!Brielle and her buddy were humming along as the elevator doors closed. Once more, my 'hellish' schedule demanded I change in the elevator. I'd gone to gun practice with my bike clothes on, so I absolutely had to change into business attire in the magic box, in front of them.Juanita adjusting my tie was a less than subtle attempt to strangle me. I was about to be late to my final 'start of day' meeting as an intern in Executive Services, so her chastisement would have to wait. Who would have thunk it? Juanita would have to wait outside for this ceremony. Paula raced with me to be the last one in, only to have Daphne grace us with the 'news':"The meeting won't start for another fifteen minutes," she grinned. "Katrina is bringing up the 'new hires' for the fall program."I finger-flicked my head. The 84 days as an intern was merely the 'training wheels' period. To really be a member of ES was at least a two year training process. The Amazons around me had started their training for this gig when they were fifteen and were eighteen and nineteen now, their ID's said they were older for legal purposes.In theory, my four years in college was counted as 'preliminary' training and provided things such as acclimation to outsider culture ~ aka 'acting normal'. Logically, I would train under someone like Desiree or Buffy for a year before being a full-fledged member of the service."How many this time?" I asked Daphne since she seemed to be in the know."Twenty," she grinned. "We are getting two."I noticed there was still only my tiny desk in Katrina's office. That meant the new guys would be out in the office pool with everyone else. Probably for the best. The ladies were now used to having a male around, so would be careful in what they did and didn't say. I yawned."Tired," Fabiola smirked."Oh yeah," I stifled another yawn. "Met an emissary from the Pope." Fabiola glowered. "No. Seriously. I met an emissary from Holy See. I let Hana know I wanted to get married in a highly improbable place, a ruined cathedral, so she contacted the Catholic Church and one of their guys wanted to meet with me.""That had to be fun," Tigger grinned. "What does the Cult of the Nazarene think of you and the Goddess Ishara?""We actually discussed polytheism and the place of an omnipotent, omnipresent being in the scope of things," I placed my hands behind my back and rocked back and forth. "It was quite interesting. The guy knew his shit."By that, I meant he was probably with the Pope's Secret Service as well as a Brainiac with a PhD in something. He'd promised to be in touch as soon as he heard back from his superiors. He had this hot chick with him who I suspected was a nun. And if his driver wasn't ex-military, it was because he was still in the service. On the plus side, Hana had been beaming when we left, which assured me the meeting had gone well, so we had sex from 4 AM until 5:30, thus my current fatigued state."Are you going to abandon your faith?" Fabiola taunted me."I don't have faith, Fabiola of Minerva. Faith would imply I don't know there are supernatural entities screwing with our lives. I know they do exist, I've met a few. To satisfy your disingenuous curiosity, we discussed the nature of the Weave and it being the possible manifestation of God's Will.""How did that go?" Paula appeared interested."He strongly suggested I should 'revisit my Catholic roots' soon. By that, I think he meant I'm supposed to start attending church regularly," I shrugged. "The Pope is sending an envoy to the Great Khan too, so odds are good I'm getting married," I pronounced the last bit as the doom-laden prediction it was."Oh, yes," Fabiola reached passed Paula and smacked me in the chest with the back of her hand. "That is for insinuating you and I had intercourse to my Mother and the Council.""Was that chastising me for lying, or for not making it so?" I winked."Ah, no!" she pouted. "Stop lying about me."I looked down at my phone."We've got twelve minutes," I double-pumped my eyebrows. "Want to go to Katrina's bathroom?""What! No!" Fabiola
Brandon Young - is a former US Army Ranger with four rotations to Afghanistan, principal at Applied Leadership Partners, and coauthor of Perseverance > Endurance. For over 25 years, he has built and led teams in the military, corporate healthcare, and nonprofit sectors. Brandon placed 3rd in the 2006 Best Ranger Competition, assessed, mentored, and trained over 1,000 Ranger leaders at the 75th Ranger Regiment, is a Quest Diagnostics Regional Excellence Awardee for Commercial Leadership, holds a master of divinity in leadership from Denver Seminary, and serves on the board of directors for GallantFew. In this episode, Brandon Young joins Bobby Marshall in the studio for an in-depth conversation about leadership, warfighters, writing, life in Colorado, his personal journey with life pre and post-combat, and the broader faith-leed lifestyle. Tune in for valuable insights and stories from a seasoned expert who embodies the spirit of adventure and resilience. Be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media for updates on new episodes, upcoming events, and exclusive content.www.TheMountainSidePodcast.comShow Links www.simonandschuster.com/books/Perseverance-Endurancewww.gallantfew.orgwww.appliedleadershippartners.comAffiliates LinksSponsor Linkswww.BulletProof.comMountain Side listeners Use Discounts code: MOUNTAINSIDE to receive 20% off all Bulletproof products!www.Knicpouches.comMountain Side listeners Use Discounts code: MOUNTAINSIDE15 to receive 15% off all K-Nic products!www.ONNIT.comMountain Side listeners use Discount code TMS to receive 10% off ONNIT products!
Putting lives back together after the battle.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.Either you embrace Change and are destroyed by it, or you resist Change and are overwhelmed by it. What is your choice? (The Politics of 'Not' Being Dead)The rest of the trip was made in silence. They dropped us off at the edge of Miercurea Ciuc, home base of the 61st Mountain Troops Brigade, of Professor Loma and from whence all this craziness had originated. The meeting was already awkward before I arrived. It only got worse. Where to begin? Well, Russia, the United States, the UK, Romania, Hungary and Ireland were now all interested parties. And I had gained two personal distinctions:1.) Not only was I now heralded (and not really joking anymore) by some sources as Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege, I was thereby re-awakening old nationalistic and territorial fears. Hungary didn't want a Prince, yet they did have an anemic Monarchist party. I might not be a Hapsburg (the last royal house of Hungary), but I could possibly be misconstrued as a long-lost Árpád scion (first King and founder of the Hungarian state), which would be even better.A crisis was looming in my ancestral crucible. It seems I already had a webpage in Budapest and six hundred "friends" within 24 hours. Worse, they had some pictures of me. Besides being 'of regal bearing' in the descriptions, I was sexy-hot and a soldier of fortune, a modern day 'Wild Geese, (Goose?)' who was wanted for questioning in a, or perhaps multiple, murder(s) involving either a duel over a woman's honor or killing a dozen armed gangsters who prayed on young innocents newly arrived to the big city.I wasn't alone. My trusty companion was A.) an ascetic Jedi Mistress (my own, personal Yoda), B.) an ancient witch schooled in the necromantic arts (apparently the reason I couldn't die), or C.) a Cold-War Era SMERSH (too much James Bond) assassin repaying an old debt to the descendent of an anti-communist partisan she'd killed years ago, eerily close to the truth for once. That, plus the TEK investigation, were Hungary's main points of concern involving me.2.) I was now a person involved in significant events for half a dozen nations on the world scene.Let's start with Romania. Okay, foremost, I was responsible for the single deadliest day in modern (post-WWII) Romanian Land Forces history. There was no covering this up. Close to one hundred men and women had died in combat, and then you added the forty-some dead Amazons, many of them apparently tortured, and this was a political and public relations nightmare.No one doubted their troops behaved heroically. That wasn't the problem. The political conundrum was how could they explain Ajax and his fifty seasoned killers penetrating into central Romania with no one being aware of the danger? A few politicians wanted to blame Székely nationalists (by that, they meant the ethnic minority who 'vaguely' wanted Transylvania to rejoin Hungary), except they had me, the Hungarian Prince, leading the charge.Life would have been so much easier for them if I had died. Yes, I could read the minds of those politicians. Screw a girl, then her younger sister, and then his wife, who all say they love me, and you'll recognized the emotional intent a father directs your way. (I'd only done that once, and once was enough.) I was getting that vibe again.Unfortunately for them, I wasn't dead and three big time foreign governments (and Ireland) seemed really curious about me, my performance and my mortality. So dragging me out back for a firing squad wasn't going to happen. Riki Martin of the US State Department was there and she told me a representative of the US Military Mission was on his way up to debrief me. Russia's sexy military attaché was still on site and looking happy for some reason. Flaviu, who had some experience with me, was soon to be gone; replaced by some person who had some serious lettuce before his actual name and didn't know me from didly. Not good.The UK had one of their diplomats coming up as well, just so I didn't get lonely. They weren't driving up with the Irishman, or the American. No one considers their carbon footprint in a crisis, I swear. But wait! It gets better. My Romanian Special Force dudes had brought the rest of their company (around a hundred new buddies) with them, they seriously didn't want me to get homesick and wander off (because, you know, I liked living and freedom).The Romanian army shouldn't have worried. It seemed that there were some US Army Rangers with NATO in Kosovo, Albania, or Bosnia and Uncle Sam was expressing a desire for them to 'stop by'. Maybe they could share their C-130 with the British paratroopers who were equally concerned about my well-being. I just hoped everyone was going to play nice when the Spetsnaz arrived. Putin was suddenly (and surprisingly to me, anyway) my new pal. I had a feeling I'd soon be discovering my secret Russian heritage if I wasn't careful. I was thinking maybe I could squeeze an Order of Lenin, or a Hero of the Soviet Union out of him. I heard they both looked nice, were obsolete and came without an actual pension.If Katrina wouldn't let me write off this calamity as PTO, I was going to be irate. I was on the verge of having a large family to support after all, unless you considered me marrying a billionaire's heiress to be compensation enough. The only group involved who weren't trying to actually see me was the Khanate.Temujin most likely had some shamanistic mojo that would let him know if I croaked. That bit smacked of paganism, so it was kept under wraps because he had to appear dutifully Islamic for the masses. Still, some koumiss would have been nice. Heck, right then I could have gone for an 'atta boy', perhaps even a 'two thumbs up'.Oh yeah; the general of the 4th Romanian Division wanted me to stop by when I had the chance (if I didn't, he'd send men to kill me, or so it was insinuated). The 61st Mountain Troops was part of his division's combat command and if the General Staff went looking for someone to crucify, he was making damn sure it wasn't going to be him.It occurred to me that I could send a handsome-looking Spetsnaz (if there was such a thing) to go in my place. They were brother Slavs, right? I was sure that between the 'Fall of the Berlin Wall', Moldavian Independence and Romania joining NATO, they would have much to discuss. Out of the blue, Pamela smacked me on the back of my head, Jethro Gibbs' style. My 'more-evil Russian doppelganger' idea must have been poorly thought out.Before I could implement that silliness, or trigger the big brouhaha, there was a preamble: I had three compatriots. Of greater importance, I had three heavily armed/gravely-serious bodyguards who wouldn't surrender their weapons and/or abandon me. So I thought "play nice" thoughts to myself.Diplomacy, sovereignty and legality all reared their ugly heads. I wasn't really an Irish diplomat. My paperwork was still valid, but the Romanian government hadn't permitted my entry into their country under the standard diplomatic protocols. Ireland wanted to talk to me about that, why was I running around armed and killing people in two Central European countries? I was acting more like an Irish adventurer from the 17th century, than a genteel civil servant from the 21st.Then there was the niggling little complication that involved me, my friends and our criminal possession of military-grade hardware. Chaz had the dubious excuse of being an official British government agent on assignment. That meant he could hope for a prisoner exchange within the next decade. Rachel and Pamela were private citizens with painfully sketchy proofs of US citizenship.When the Romanian legal system finished buggering them, it would be off to Hungry and its serious inquiry into all the dead bodies we'd left in our wake. Who was I kidding? What I was really worrying about was how many members of the Romanian penal system would die when they escaped. Their flimsy identities gave no clue to how dangerous they actually were. Hell, they'd beat me home.I had the added difficulty of Ireland and their questions about who the fuck I was and why I had their gold filigree on something I didn't deserve sitting snugly in my back pocket.So first off, this new band of 'Eagles' wanted to disarm and separate us."Don't insult me," I scoffed. "I am your Prince. Don't make me explain it to your widow.""I'm not married," the Lieutenant snarled back, daring me."Well, rush out and marry somebody. I haven't got all day. We don't want me to be caught in an idle boast now do we?" I grinned. Verbal sparring apparently wasn't in his repertoire."What?""Shut the fuck up, Carl," Chaz blithely inserted himself into the conversation."But you don't even speak Romanian," I countered. "How do you even know what I said?" The Romanians didn't know English, but they knew Carl. The tension between us ebbed."By the expression on the officer's face, Hercege," he winked. "It's universal to the brotherhood.""Who is he with?" The officer questioned me."You and he are the same," I answered."You cannot go any farther armed," he returned to his mission parameters."I don't envy you going in and telling the Colonel to come out here, but so be it," I held my ground."We could kill you and take them off your corpses," he studied my reaction."You are the second handsome man to tell me that today," I shook my head. "I'll tell you what I told him: 'you sure are cute, just not my type'." Pause then laughter."You are a madman," the lieutenant snorted. "I'll go talk to the Colonel."I was a jerk, loved maidens and was a master of bullshit. Did that make me a modern day Minotaur? The lieutenant came back out, then ushered me inside; Riki had to wait for the moment. He motioned my team come along. In the staff room of the 61st were a handful of officers and several suits."Mr. Nyilas," the Colonel gazed upon me. "I don't know what to make of you.""You and my Mother both," I mumbled. Despite the somber atmosphere, a few of the men and women let their moods lighten. They didn't hold my levity against me. I'd been there, on the battlefield and if humor was how I dealt with the experience, so be it."Ha," the greying man mused. "It is wholly my fault that I disregard most of the information you supplied my staff. You were unerringly accurate in your assessment of our enemy's capabilities. I know my men and I know how good they are. Veteran commanders can barely describe what my troops endured. You warned us and I didn't believe you. I was wrong and my men died because of it," he sighed."Sir, I do not believe you could have done anything else and succeeded," I interrupted."Succeeded? Is this what you consider success?" he hardened."Absolutely, Sir. Had you been slower to respond, those men would have most likely come here, to Miercurea Ciuc, and you would have fought the same battle, except your civilians would have been caught in the mix," I lied.If Ajax had escaped he'd have hunted me down. The location would have been irrelevant to him. How he knew where to be was a question for later and something to be presented to smarter, more experienced minds."Perhaps," he allowed. "They were heading north when we encountered them.The Alal in me was going back over the plan. It had been sound."Sir, you had every reason to doubt my military experience and to believe I exaggerated the threat. I was right and I take no joy in that, nor do I think anyone can hold your decisions against you," I stated.Now he gave a bitter laugh. Yes, they could hold all the deaths against him."We both know your men and women didn't die for their country, they killed for it. Quite frankly, I believe they killed some of the most vicious creatures to ever walk the face of the Earth. Fuck them for taking so many of us. Pile their bodies up and burn them," I suggested."They deserve no more Romanian soil than a spot to inter their ashes," I concluded."You do not sound like any diplomat I've ever met," the Colonel regained his gruff exterior."I'm not. I'm a fraud. I know as much about Ireland as I do about being a prince," I confessed. "That said, I didn't come here to kill anyone. I came to save lives.""How has that worked out for you?" a sitting woman in a suit questioned, in Romanian. She was slender, waspish and didn't sound comfortable speaking English, though she knew enough to get by."I am not a fortune-teller. I don't know how this is going to work out," I said."That's not what I asked," she prodded."Yes it was," I corrected her. "You wanted to know if I thought the price of your dead countrymen was worth the life of me, my friends and the lives of your countrymen I came to save. I can't measure the promise of those lives against the loss of all the dead. Don't play games with me. I'm have a degree in Philosophy and I eat morally ambiguous people like you for lunch."Pamela laughed aloud and lively."Kimberly and Katrina would be so proud of you right now," she chortled."I don't think you grasp the deep pit your find yourself in, Friend" the suit stayed chillingly calm."Oh, I think we all know we both screwed the pooch big time," I smirked. "The difference is me and mine are all happy to be alive after two of the most trying, fun-filled days of our lives. You want to throw us in prison. The Hungarians want to throw us in prison. I'm sure if I get back to the States, they will want to put us in prison too. Have I missed anyone?""I'm glad you will confess. It will make it easier on us," she grinned like sexy weasel."Wait," Rachel put a restraining arm on me. "I've wanted to say this for some time." To the weasel, "Blow it out your ass, dipshit.""Rachel, you don't know what she said," Pamela faux-gasped."I don't know the words, but I know what he meant," Rachel glowered. She missed Charlotte so much, she was willing to court pain and death. "I want to go back in time and slap her mother repeatedly for not strangling her in the crib. Is that succinct enough?""I apologize for ever meeting you, Rachel. I've brought you to a bad end," I gave her a tender look."It's okay. I never thought I'd live long enough to sleep with you anyway," she smiled back.Phifft, sigh. It was so sad that I recognized the sound of a low-caliber, silenced round."Listen up, dipshit," Pamela snickered. "Good one, Rachel. If you don't believe the next one is going through your skull, you clearly haven't been listening to us. You are fucking with the wrong monkeys. You have this bizarre idea that if I kill you, your government won't replace your worthless, bullet-riddled hide with someone we find more agreeable. My grandson sent in motion a half million combatants a few hours ago, he nearly died leading your soldiers against your nation's enemies and you want him to kiss your shoes as if you matter at all in the grand scheme of things?" she snarled. "Think again."No one was moving because Pamela had her silenced 22 Beretta out and pointed at Weasel's head. The SF's were caught flat-footed, as was everyone else. No guards came rushing in because the closed doors further muffled the sound. "I think this is a good time for us to get a drink," Chaz advised as he slowly reached out and lowered Pamela's gun hand.It was Pamela's gunboat diplomacy yet again. She hadn't meant to kill the women. Hell, she'd been a random target of opportunity. What Pamela had done was clear up the doubts in the room. Everyone on the staff could self-consciously let themselves off the hook for not being in the front lines, risking themselves with their comrades. Thanks to Pamela, they too had confronted violence.'Crazy' Grandma had fired off her piece and everyone sighed with relief when Chaz got her to lower it. I was pretty sure Chaz was in on this dangerous game. It resided with the Colonel as to how to resolve this hiccup in our dispute."Mr. Nyilas, why don't we take a walk outside, just the two of us?" he 'requested'.I nodded because I'm not always as dumb as I look. He was letting my people off with incredible temperance and I could honorably send them away. They'd scoped out the scene and believed I'd be safe enough. He, in turn, had an excuse to take a step away from his political watchdogs."I think that is for the best," I nodded. "Do you want me to leave my guns behind?""No, Mr. Nyilas, we might run into trouble out there and one of my Captains has suggested you are a man who can take care of himself," he replied. That was very nice of him indeed. If I did do something stupid, he had a ton of troops about who would make my regrets rather temporary. I decided to behave as if I had a passing acquaintance with sanity.His first questions were about the fighting at the ruins. I peppered our exchange with my interest in what had happened to the advance force of the 22nd. It was bleak news, yet the Colonel felt a sense of relief. He was coming to accept the lethality of his enemies, which in turn, led to an understanding, if not acceptance, of the carnage his men had been subjected to.He was in a cycle of context, grief, context. He'd gambled on me and men died. Once the battle was joined though, his soldiers had done precisely the right thing under considerable stress. He could be proud without dishonoring the dead. Only Pamela and I had engaged Ajax earlier. Only I had talked with the man.The Colonel had to look into my eyes to get the spark that led to understanding the mind and ruthlessness of his opponent. The name 'Ajax' never came up. That was more than a rational mind could accept at the moment. He knew his men had fought and killed the best and that helped him cope a tiny bit. Our interview ended when the first of the unwanted guests arrived.Only when I walked inside did it occur to me that this had been my first soldier to soldier chat. We had respected one another and discussed matters like men who knew the score. That was depressing in its own right. It was well passed nightfall when we went back inside. In our absence, Riki had started to redeem my existence. My salvation lay in Romantic Americana Symbolism.Translation: I was a Horatio Alger, a working class kid raised by a widower father, who earned a scholarship to a quiet New England college, graduated near the top of my class and gotten an excellent job (salary and benefits not disclosed). That was the was the first part of the Americana, proof positive that America was still the land of opportunity and a place where poor children could still reach the highest levels of society (umm, okay?).The second Americana Part: my Father had been murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Those heavily-armed foreign corporate/rogue governmental-sponsored terrorist mercenaries (their exact origin was shrouded in double-dealing misinformation) had ruthlessly murdered my Pa to cover up their error. Like any true Son of the American Dream, I had sworn vengeance.The Symbolic Part: My compassionate, understanding government (the good governmental servants of Republican Democracy, not the bad, hires the covert, secret, black-bag, unaccountable private contractors/ pawns of the Wall Street Elite bureaucrats) allowed me to participate in a multi-national taskforce. These selfless guardians of the freedom had formed a coalition which had hunted down the villains.With the priceless assistance of two Central European countries, who currently had to remain nameless (cough: Hungary and Romania), we'd achieved a final, violent confrontation in which my allies and I had emerged bloody, scarred, yet victorious. Once more, free men and women had answered the call of duty and some had made the ultimate sacrifice.See, I had a good government that cared enough about me to let me become a gun-toting menace to the civilized world. Like a Hollywood Western hero of the 1950's, 60's and 70's, I had taken personal revenge against the forces of wickedness, exit the railroad tycoons and cattle barons, enter the shadowy world of private security forces and uncontrolled corporate capitalism.
Join host's Robert & Sean as he sits down with guests Blayne and Brandon, authors of "Perseverance is Greater Than Endurance." Brandon Young is a former US Army Ranger with four combat rotations in Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Blayne Smith is a West Point graduate and former US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) officer with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this episode, Brandon and Blayne delve into their military backgrounds and how those experiences shaped their careers and leadership philosophies. Learn about the five key factors of perseverance: change, uncertainty, acceptance, choice, and growth, and discover how these principles can be applied not just in the private sector but throughout one's life journey. With engaging stories and insightful discussions, this episode explores the path from endurance to perseverance and shares strategies for thriving amidst challenges. Whether you're a veteran, a business leader, or anyone facing uncertainty, these lessons offer valuable guidance for your own life and career. ____________ Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl #ranger #green beret #mentors4mil #mentorsformilitary Applied Leadership Partners Video Links: Brandon's Story: https://youtu.be/ygbTDZy2byE Blayne's Story: https://youtu.be/Lxwwlt4Nr4I Website and Book: https://www.appliedleadershippartners.com/ ____________ Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl #mentors4mil #mentorsformilitary Mentors4mil Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Mentors4mil Patreon Support: https://www.patreon.com/join/Mentors4mil Intro music "Long Way Down" by Silence & Light is used with permission. Show Disclaimer: https://mentorsformilitary.com/disclaimer/
Dave Grossman was born in Frankfurt Germany and is a retired Lt Colonel in the Army. He is a US Army Ranger, paratrooper, and former West Point Psychology Professor. He has a Black Belt in Hojutsu and has been inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. In 1995, he wrote On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society which has sold over half a million copies and is required reading both in the Marine Corps and FBI. Since his retirement in 1998, Colonel Grossman is now a NY Times best-selling author and has written a number of other books including On Combat, Warrior Mindset, Bulletproof Marriage, and On Spiritual Combat to name a few. He is one of our nation's leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations including working with mental health professionals after school shootings. He has been cited by the President, had articles published in the Harvard Journal of Law, and been an expert witness in state and federal courts and has testified before congressional committees. He has spoken out against video game violence, done deep research on PTSD, and coined and trademarked the term sheepdog.In this wide ranging interview, we talk at length about what it means to be a warrior for God, training in weapons and preparation, and the Sheepdog concept Dave famously trademarked in his book On Killing. We also talk about gun violence, school shootings, PTSD, and the psychology of killing. Dave talks at length about his love for the Lord and the role he sees for Biblically masculine males. This is a fascinating conversation with a man who is truly a psychological expert in combat, killing, and violence. He has some fascinating insights that there are few other people in the world qualified to bring. Check out all Dave's books and see what he is up to by clicking here.Follow Dave on Facebook.Follow Dave on LinkedIn.Follow Dave on Instagram.Click here to learn more about Mindset Mastery. Click here to learn more about Legacy Navigators 2025. Get your own Freedom Plunge by clicking here. Use code IMPOSSIBLE to save $500!!Check out the unique growth focused content on our blog at https://www.theimpossible.life/blog. Grow to the next level by joining us in Mindset Mastery. We will teach you how to apply so much of what you hear on the podcast so you can transform every area of your life. Click here to learn more.Sign up for our Mission Ready Mindset Once-A-Week Motivational EmailInstagram - @theimpossiblelifeYouTube - @TheImpossibleLifePodcastFacebook - @theimpossiblelifepodcastemail - info@theimpossible.life
Raising Healthy AthletesIn this enlightening episode of the Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show, we dive deep into the world of youth training and the crucial role it plays in long-term health and athletic development. Joined by Judd Leinhard, former Army Ranger, collegiate lineman, and expert in speed training, we explore how training children differs from adults, debunk common myths, and reveal the surprising truth about building strength and resilience in kids.We dive into:Why strength training and weightlifting are safe—and even essential—for children.Practical advice for parents on encouraging active lifestyles and modeling healthy behavior.The overlooked benefits of teaching kids proper breathing and stability for better athletic outcomes.Insights into how children's nervous systems adapt and protect them during training.If you're a parent, coach, or simply interested in the foundations of youth fitness and development, this episode will open your eyes to how early interventions in movement and strength training can significantly impact health and performance for years to come.Who is Judd Lienhard?Judd is the founder of MASS Method, a performance-based workout program dedicated to improving Movement, Athleticism, Strength, and Speed. He has worked as a Speed and Performance Coach in Austin, TX, for the past twelve years. Judd's nontraditional approach to fitness was vastly shaped by his background as a collegiate athlete (middle linebacker at Truman State) and time in service as a US Army Ranger. During Judd's military career, he completed three deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon completion of his service obligation, Judd decided to focus his career efforts on coaching and fitness. In addition to MASS Method, Judd coaches a private community dedicated to personal development based on his ethos: Always Be An Athlete. Judd is a proud dad, avid writer, history buff, and of course, a lifetime athlete.
The first Army Reserve woman, and third to graduate from US Army Ranger school is in town for the FFA convention and shares her story with us! Find her book here; Delete the Adjective: A Soldier's Adventures in Ranger School: Jaster, Lisa: 9781544536446: Amazon.com: BooksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.
Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.
I was hired to find lost Nazi gold. I found Ariella instead.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.The shiny, black, Mercedes X-Class pickup slowly worked its way down the road about a hundred meters from where I was crouched behind a rock. The fact the pickup was alone and had an M 60 machine gun on a pintle mount in the bed told me this wasn’t some unit of the Argentine Army. The Argentine Army might have been driving a Mercedes pickup, but it would have been OD green and the machine gun would have been an FN Mag.The woman nudged me then.“They’ll be on top of us in a few minutes. I’ll take out the truck driver and the M 60. That’ll slow them down while they’re trying to figure out where the shots came from. They might run then, but if they don’t it’ll take both of us to take out the rest. Are you ready for that?”I was ready, because I knew if we didn’t take out all of them, we’d be running for our lives. I’d experienced that before. I was a former US Army Ranger with two tours of Afghanistan under my belt before I decided civilian life would be a whole lot healthier.I had no reservations about what we had to do, though it was going to be tough. With it’s short barrel, iron sights, and a tendency to overheat if fired quickly, the HK G 36 C carbine I carried lost accuracy fast after about two hundred meters, so they’d have to be closer than that. I could use the old “spray and pray” technique used by some US Army soldiers before the M4 came out with a selector switch for a three round burst instead of just full-auto fire. The problem with that was I only had a hundred and twenty rounds and they wouldn’t last long if I did that. After that, all I had was a 9 millimeter Browning pistol. They’d have to be a lot closer before I had any chance of putting even one down with that.The woman was in better shape for long range shooting. The Israeli M 89 SR rifle she was crouched behind was accurate out to about a thousand meters if she knew what she was doing, and if she did, the thirty rounds in her magazine would be more than sufficient.She let the truck get to about seventy-five meters from our position and then put one 7.62 millimeter round through the windshield. The driver slumped down in the seat at the same time her second shot hit the M60 just behind the operating handle and effectively froze the action. The truck turned sharply into a rock and then the engine died. The whole thing couldn’t have taken more than about five seconds. The woman definitely knew her way around a rifle.The three guys in the truck bed and the one left in the cab bailed out, got behind the truck, and started looking for the shooter. They were going to have a difficult time finding us. The suppressor on the M89SR effectively hid any muzzle flash and any dust caused by the gasses exiting the barrel. It also reduced the sound enough that it would be difficult for the guys to pinpoint it since the echo from the mountains made the sound seem to come from all directions.The woman and I watched them for the next five minutes, and it became obvious they weren’t battle-trained troops. They were probably considered a serious threat by the local population, but to me they were just amateurs; well-equipped amateurs, but still amateurs.They were well equipped because they had money, and money was the reason I was in Argentina in the first place. Meeting the woman was just a lucky accident. Well, that’s what I thought at the time. I later found out it was no accident.How it all started.The whole thing started six weeks before I found myself with the woman crouched behind a rock and waiting to see what the guys behind the truck were going to do next.After separating myself from the US Army, I needed some way to keep myself indoors and fed. When I looked at what I knew how to do, planning for close combat and then executing that plan was all I could come up with.Given the domestic and political climate at the time, a lot of former military men were running self defense schools. After reading about a few of the schools, I decided I could make some money that way too.I’d been deployed for much of my Army career so most of my Army pay was sitting in my bank. I used half of what I had as a down payment on fifty acres in Eastern Tennessee with a house and barn on it, and built a pistol and rifle range.I was doing OK, teaching a class a couple times a week in basic gun safety and giving the Tennessee concealed-carry class and test. The other days, I taught advanced courses in long-range rifle shooting and rapid-fire pistol shooting. I also sold targets and ammunition. I wasn’t getting rich, but I was able to make the mortgage payments, put food on the table, and keep my fridge stocked with beer.One afternoon after I’d finished up my class on accurate rapid pistol fire, I was policing brass from the range when a guy in a suit and tie walked up and stuck out his hand. He introduced himself as Marcus Richter.“Mr. Dale Stevenson; did I get your name right? Ah, good. Mr. Stevenson, I understand you have somewhat of a unique background, a background I would find useful if you agree to my proposal.”I figured he’d gotten that information from my web site. I thought “US Army Ranger” sounded better than “former military” like some of the school web sites used.I shrugged.“I can teach you how to fire a weapon and how to defend yourself in an emergency if that’s what you mean.”He shook his head.“No, though the thought has crossed my mind. Fortunately, I have people who take care of those duties for me."No, I’m a successful business man in a rather unique business. I trade in world currencies. It is that business that resulted in my visit to your establishment today. I fear the explanation of that business will be quite lengthy, so would it be possible to find a place where we might sit down and out of the sun?”I’d converted part of the barn into a classroom for my classes, so I led the man there. Once we were seated, he cleared his throat.“As I said, I am a trader in world currencies and that includes gold and silver in its many forms, from coinage to bullion. My business is of necessity rather secretive, for were some in the precious metal market to have advanced knowledge of my activities, it would have an impact upon the world pricing of said precious metals. It is such advanced knowledge I hope to exploit to my advantage if you agree to perform a service for me, a service for which you will be very well compensated.”I wasn’t entirely convinced this guy was on the level, but I had no reason to stop listening to him.I smiled.“It sounds like you have some sort of secret mission you want me to do for you.”He smiled.“Yes, secrecy is of the utmost importance. When you hear the details, you will understand why."As you probably know, in the last stages of World War Two, many high-ranking members of the Nazi party and German military realized any favorable outcome to the war was an impossibility. Germany would be defeated and given the atrocities committed, those same people would be prosecuted for war crimes, found guilty, and imprisoned or executed."They began making plans to escape before they were captured by the Allies. Argentina was neutral during the war and indeed declared war on the Axis powers a month before the war in Europe ended, but many in Argentina were still sympathetic toward Germany. As a result, Argentina was viewed as a possible haven by those attempting to escape what would surely be their ultimate fate."Argentina, in fact, encouraged those high-ranking people to come there. It is well known that many were able to successfully leave Germany and take up residence in Argentina. The efforts of some Israeli organizations that were able to locate some of them and transport them back to Israel for trial is a testimony to that fact."What is not well known is how those same people funded their escape and managed to live in Argentina until they were able to find employment. There are suspicions of the transfer of gold either before or after their escape, but no proof. What is known is there were large caches of gold the Nazi’s looted from the countries and people they overran in the early stages of the war."While much of that gold was gold bars plundered from the repositories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, a significant amount was in the gold taken from individuals. To date, some of that gold has been recovered, but a sizeable portion has not and there are only rumors as to its location, until about a month ago."Ah, shall we say, a friend of a friend mentioned he had been offered a small bar of gold bullion bearing the imprint of the Heraeus Corporation of Germany. I do not know if you know of this German company, but Heraeus has been in the business of refining and producing precious metals since the late 1800’s when they discovered a method of melting platinum."During World War Two, one small gold smelting facility of the Heraeus corporation located on the outskirts of Hanau, Germany was taken over by the Nazi party, managed by Nazi party members, and slave labor was used for the smelting process. They began melting the gold looted from the countries occupied by the German Army into bullion. The bullion was stamped with the hallmark of the Heraeus corporation in order to make it appear to be legitimate, though the Heraeus company per se had nothing to do with the operation."This knowledge has been common since the war ended, but what happened to the gold bullion produced by the Nazi controlled factory has been unknown until this single bar of bullion was offered to this friend of my friend. The offer was made in somewhat secretive circumstances and the design of the hallmark dated to the period of the Second World War. These two things intrigued this friend of my friend and also intrigued me."My interest was passing until I spoke to a man who wished to buy gold as an investment. He related a tale told by his grandfather of watching U-boats berthed at Helgoland, Germany when he was twelve years old. His grandfather had watched the U-boats before as they were fueled, armed, and then sent back out to sea. On a few occasions, this was not the case."According to his story, over the course of a week, several men in prison uniforms loaded six submarines with wooden cases that appeared much too heavy to be supplies and not large enough to hold munitions. He thought it unusual that they did not load any torpedoes as they always had before, but assumed the submarines were supply submarines used to re-supply U-boats at sea."Once the submarines were loaded, the men in prison uniforms were taken away and a few men in the uniform of the German navy went on board, but not in the same numbers this man had seen before. Instead of a full crew, a number of men in business dress also boarded the submarines. The submarines then left port. Three months later, those same six submarines were again docked in Helgoland and were being once again loaded as before. This cycle was repeated two more times before he witnessed the same submarines being loaded with torpedoes and manned by full crews of the German Navy."Another very interesting event happened in Argentina at the end of the war. Juan Peron was elected president and set about nationalizing industries and services while at the same time raising the wages of workers. Most importantly, he paid off the entire amount of externally held Argentine debt."Because Argentina does mine native gold and silver ore, I have people there to keep me informed about the latest developments. When I heard the stories about the bar of gold bullion and the German submarines and put that story into the context of what I know about the country, I asked my people there to do some research into the matter. The report I received a few weeks ago offered some tantalizing conclusions."At the end of the war, Argentina had external debt amounting to about two hundred million US Dollars. When Peron was elected President, he settled the national debt with payments in gold bullion, which is understandable because gold is the currency of the world. What is not understandable is where Peron was able to find enough gold to do that without bankrupting the country. The entire gold reserves of Argentina at the time were about two hundred and fifty million US dollars. He would have had to drain most of those reserves, but apparently did not. He continued to implement his policies by using that same gold reserve."My people were not able to identify how that situation changed so rapidly once Peron was in office nor the source of the gold with which he paid the Argentine debt. They were able to report that prior to settling that debt, the Argentine government ceased operations of a small, older smelter in the foothills of the Andes near Mendoza to bring that facility up to the level of current technology. They learned this from an old man who had been employed at the smelter in his youth. He said he was sent home and told to not report for work for two months."The man was interested in what changes were going to be made so over the course of seven weeks, he watched the activities at the smelter. He related to my people that the first week, he saw many trucks drive into the smelter and each truck had armed guards who were all tall men who looked European. He could not see what they did in the smelter, but he did notice the smokestack continued to emit smoke just as it had when the smelter was operating."A week before his two month furlough was to end, he witnessed those same trucks with the same armed guards drive out of the smelter and take the road that led to Buenos Aires. He also said when he returned to work, there was little difference from how the smelter had operated before.”I wasn’t sure what all this had to do with me. When I asked, his face became grim.“What I and my people believe is that a very large amount of gold was shipped to Argentina by the Nazis on submarines and used to pay the Argentine government for allowing them to stay there. That is the only explanation for how Peron was able to find the gold to pay off the national debt. It is also an explanation for the unusual loading of the submarine and for the bar of gold bullion offered to, as I said, a friend of a friend. The smelter was shut down in order to melt the Nazi gold and then recast it into bullion that bore the Argentine hallmark.”I was still confused.“OK, that’s all well and good, but again, what does that have to do with me?”He placed his hands on the table between us and smiled.“I want to pay you to find the rest of the Nazi gold.”Now, I was confused again.“The rest? I thought you said they melted it all down and recast it.”He shook his head and chuckled.“I said they melted and recast enough to pay off the Argentine debt, not that they melted and recast all the gold. The total amount of gold plundered by the Nazis is not accurately known, but it has been estimated at nearly two billion US dollars in the currency of the day. About a fourth of that can be reasonably accounted for as it was transferred to various banks in neutral countries, though some of those transfers are disputed. The rest has never been found."It is my estimate that the Nazis shipped at least four hundred tons of gold to Argentina on those submarines. In the currency of the day, that would be about half a billion US dollars. In 1945, the Argentine debt was about two hundred million US dollars. That leaves us with a difference of about three hundred million which would be a little over one and a half billion US dollars at today’s market price.”I said I didn’t think that was feasible because of the weight of gold. It wouldn’t fit on a submarine. He smiled.“Yes, gold is heavy but also very dense and does not require much space. The normal armament for a U-boat of the type loaded at Helgoland was fourteen torpedoes that weighed a little over a ton and a half each. Each submarine could have carried over twenty tons of gold if the torpedoes were not on board. The six submarines making four trips could have carried that much gold and many passengers. With a range of about nine thousand nautical miles, they could easily have made the trip from Germany to Argentina and back in about three months at sea.It sounded like another Nazi conspiracy theory to me, but it was interesting so I decided to play along for a while."So, you want me to find this gold and then what? Hire a bunch of trucks to bring it back to the US?”He smiled and shook his head.“No. I only want you to confirm its location from the information my people have developed after almost a year of research. Near Mendoza in Mendoza province, my people located the ruins of what they described as a replica of The Berghof, Hitler’s residence in Bavaria. The surrounding area is mostly unpopulated now, but was once the site of a now closed led mine. We believe the building was built to house German Army and SS officers who fled Germany and surmise the gold must have been secreted in the led mine. Once you have confirmed the gold is indeed at that location, others will orchestrate its removal and transport.That little bell in your head that tells you something’s not right started to ring."Mr. Richter, if your people know where it is, why don’t those others you talked about confirm the gold is there and then remove it?”He pursed his lips.“My people in Argentina are carefully watched by the Argentine government to detect any financial dealings they might attempt. It is highly likely some in the Argentine government are also aware of their findings. Were my people to investigate that mine, well, the current government of Argentina would consider the gold to be the property of Argentina. It is not, but Argentina would be very upset were they to find it has been discovered and removed from the country.”The little bell in my head was now clanging.“So what you’re asking me to do is illegal? I don’t much like the idea of spending time in an Argentine prison.”He shook his head.“Your involvement will only be to locate and enter an abandoned and unguarded mine, confirm with photographs that the gold is there, and then bring those photographs and an accurate location back to me. It will be as if you were a tourist seeing the countryside and just happened upon the mine during your travels. There is nothing illegal about that."You will be well compensated for your efforts. I am prepared to offer you transportation to and from Argentina, a vehicle and other equipment for your use while there, and the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I have arranged for twenty thousand dollars to be transferred to your bank account immediately upon your arrival in Argentina and commencement of your search. You will, of course, be provided with a small sum for travel expenses. The balance will be transferred upon your return, assuming you are successful. If not, the transfer will be for an additional twenty thous
I was hired to find lost Nazi gold. I found Ariella instead.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.The shiny, black, Mercedes X-Class pickup slowly worked its way down the road about a hundred meters from where I was crouched behind a rock. The fact the pickup was alone and had an M 60 machine gun on a pintle mount in the bed told me this wasn’t some unit of the Argentine Army. The Argentine Army might have been driving a Mercedes pickup, but it would have been OD green and the machine gun would have been an FN Mag.The woman nudged me then.“They’ll be on top of us in a few minutes. I’ll take out the truck driver and the M 60. That’ll slow them down while they’re trying to figure out where the shots came from. They might run then, but if they don’t it’ll take both of us to take out the rest. Are you ready for that?”I was ready, because I knew if we didn’t take out all of them, we’d be running for our lives. I’d experienced that before. I was a former US Army Ranger with two tours of Afghanistan under my belt before I decided civilian life would be a whole lot healthier.I had no reservations about what we had to do, though it was going to be tough. With it’s short barrel, iron sights, and a tendency to overheat if fired quickly, the HK G 36 C carbine I carried lost accuracy fast after about two hundred meters, so they’d have to be closer than that. I could use the old “spray and pray” technique used by some US Army soldiers before the M4 came out with a selector switch for a three round burst instead of just full-auto fire. The problem with that was I only had a hundred and twenty rounds and they wouldn’t last long if I did that. After that, all I had was a 9 millimeter Browning pistol. They’d have to be a lot closer before I had any chance of putting even one down with that.The woman was in better shape for long range shooting. The Israeli M 89 SR rifle she was crouched behind was accurate out to about a thousand meters if she knew what she was doing, and if she did, the thirty rounds in her magazine would be more than sufficient.She let the truck get to about seventy-five meters from our position and then put one 7.62 millimeter round through the windshield. The driver slumped down in the seat at the same time her second shot hit the M60 just behind the operating handle and effectively froze the action. The truck turned sharply into a rock and then the engine died. The whole thing couldn’t have taken more than about five seconds. The woman definitely knew her way around a rifle.The three guys in the truck bed and the one left in the cab bailed out, got behind the truck, and started looking for the shooter. They were going to have a difficult time finding us. The suppressor on the M89SR effectively hid any muzzle flash and any dust caused by the gasses exiting the barrel. It also reduced the sound enough that it would be difficult for the guys to pinpoint it since the echo from the mountains made the sound seem to come from all directions.The woman and I watched them for the next five minutes, and it became obvious they weren’t battle-trained troops. They were probably considered a serious threat by the local population, but to me they were just amateurs; well-equipped amateurs, but still amateurs.They were well equipped because they had money, and money was the reason I was in Argentina in the first place. Meeting the woman was just a lucky accident. Well, that’s what I thought at the time. I later found out it was no accident.How it all started.The whole thing started six weeks before I found myself with the woman crouched behind a rock and waiting to see what the guys behind the truck were going to do next.After separating myself from the US Army, I needed some way to keep myself indoors and fed. When I looked at what I knew how to do, planning for close combat and then executing that plan was all I could come up with.Given the domestic and political climate at the time, a lot of former military men were running self defense schools. After reading about a few of the schools, I decided I could make some money that way too.I’d been deployed for much of my Army career so most of my Army pay was sitting in my bank. I used half of what I had as a down payment on fifty acres in Eastern Tennessee with a house and barn on it, and built a pistol and rifle range.I was doing OK, teaching a class a couple times a week in basic gun safety and giving the Tennessee concealed-carry class and test. The other days, I taught advanced courses in long-range rifle shooting and rapid-fire pistol shooting. I also sold targets and ammunition. I wasn’t getting rich, but I was able to make the mortgage payments, put food on the table, and keep my fridge stocked with beer.One afternoon after I’d finished up my class on accurate rapid pistol fire, I was policing brass from the range when a guy in a suit and tie walked up and stuck out his hand. He introduced himself as Marcus Richter.“Mr. Dale Stevenson; did I get your name right? Ah, good. Mr. Stevenson, I understand you have somewhat of a unique background, a background I would find useful if you agree to my proposal.”I figured he’d gotten that information from my web site. I thought “US Army Ranger” sounded better than “former military” like some of the school web sites used.I shrugged.“I can teach you how to fire a weapon and how to defend yourself in an emergency if that’s what you mean.”He shook his head.“No, though the thought has crossed my mind. Fortunately, I have people who take care of those duties for me."No, I’m a successful business man in a rather unique business. I trade in world currencies. It is that business that resulted in my visit to your establishment today. I fear the explanation of that business will be quite lengthy, so would it be possible to find a place where we might sit down and out of the sun?”I’d converted part of the barn into a classroom for my classes, so I led the man there. Once we were seated, he cleared his throat.“As I said, I am a trader in world currencies and that includes gold and silver in its many forms, from coinage to bullion. My business is of necessity rather secretive, for were some in the precious metal market to have advanced knowledge of my activities, it would have an impact upon the world pricing of said precious metals. It is such advanced knowledge I hope to exploit to my advantage if you agree to perform a service for me, a service for which you will be very well compensated.”I wasn’t entirely convinced this guy was on the level, but I had no reason to stop listening to him.I smiled.“It sounds like you have some sort of secret mission you want me to do for you.”He smiled.“Yes, secrecy is of the utmost importance. When you hear the details, you will understand why."As you probably know, in the last stages of World War Two, many high-ranking members of the Nazi party and German military realized any favorable outcome to the war was an impossibility. Germany would be defeated and given the atrocities committed, those same people would be prosecuted for war crimes, found guilty, and imprisoned or executed."They began making plans to escape before they were captured by the Allies. Argentina was neutral during the war and indeed declared war on the Axis powers a month before the war in Europe ended, but many in Argentina were still sympathetic toward Germany. As a result, Argentina was viewed as a possible haven by those attempting to escape what would surely be their ultimate fate."Argentina, in fact, encouraged those high-ranking people to come there. It is well known that many were able to successfully leave Germany and take up residence in Argentina. The efforts of some Israeli organizations that were able to locate some of them and transport them back to Israel for trial is a testimony to that fact."What is not well known is how those same people funded their escape and managed to live in Argentina until they were able to find employment. There are suspicions of the transfer of gold either before or after their escape, but no proof. What is known is there were large caches of gold the Nazi’s looted from the countries and people they overran in the early stages of the war."While much of that gold was gold bars plundered from the repositories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, a significant amount was in the gold taken from individuals. To date, some of that gold has been recovered, but a sizeable portion has not and there are only rumors as to its location, until about a month ago."Ah, shall we say, a friend of a friend mentioned he had been offered a small bar of gold bullion bearing the imprint of the Heraeus Corporation of Germany. I do not know if you know of this German company, but Heraeus has been in the business of refining and producing precious metals since the late 1800’s when they discovered a method of melting platinum."During World War Two, one small gold smelting facility of the Heraeus corporation located on the outskirts of Hanau, Germany was taken over by the Nazi party, managed by Nazi party members, and slave labor was used for the smelting process. They began melting the gold looted from the countries occupied by the German Army into bullion. The bullion was stamped with the hallmark of the Heraeus corporation in order to make it appear to be legitimate, though the Heraeus company per se had nothing to do with the operation."This knowledge has been common since the war ended, but what happened to the gold bullion produced by the Nazi controlled factory has been unknown until this single bar of bullion was offered to this friend of my friend. The offer was made in somewhat secretive circumstances and the design of the hallmark dated to the period of the Second World War. These two things intrigued this friend of my friend and also intrigued me."My interest was passing until I spoke to a man who wished to buy gold as an investment. He related a tale told by his grandfather of watching U-boats berthed at Helgoland, Germany when he was twelve years old. His grandfather had watched the U-boats before as they were fueled, armed, and then sent back out to sea. On a few occasions, this was not the case."According to his story, over the course of a week, several men in prison uniforms loaded six submarines with wooden cases that appeared much too heavy to be supplies and not large enough to hold munitions. He thought it unusual that they did not load any torpedoes as they always had before, but assumed the submarines were supply submarines used to re-supply U-boats at sea."Once the submarines were loaded, the men in prison uniforms were taken away and a few men in the uniform of the German navy went on board, but not in the same numbers this man had seen before. Instead of a full crew, a number of men in business dress also boarded the submarines. The submarines then left port. Three months later, those same six submarines were again docked in Helgoland and were being once again loaded as before. This cycle was repeated two more times before he witnessed the same submarines being loaded with torpedoes and manned by full crews of the German Navy."Another very interesting event happened in Argentina at the end of the war. Juan Peron was elected president and set about nationalizing industries and services while at the same time raising the wages of workers. Most importantly, he paid off the entire amount of externally held Argentine debt."Because Argentina does mine native gold and silver ore, I have people there to keep me informed about the latest developments. When I heard the stories about the bar of gold bullion and the German submarines and put that story into the context of what I know about the country, I asked my people there to do some research into the matter. The report I received a few weeks ago offered some tantalizing conclusions."At the end of the war, Argentina had external debt amounting to about two hundred million US Dollars. When Peron was elected President, he settled the national debt with payments in gold bullion, which is understandable because gold is the currency of the world. What is not understandable is where Peron was able to find enough gold to do that without bankrupting the country. The entire gold reserves of Argentina at the time were about two hundred and fifty million US dollars. He would have had to drain most of those reserves, but apparently did not. He continued to implement his policies by using that same gold reserve."My people were not able to identify how that situation changed so rapidly once Peron was in office nor the source of the gold with which he paid the Argentine debt. They were able to report that prior to settling that debt, the Argentine government ceased operations of a small, older smelter in the foothills of the Andes near Mendoza to bring that facility up to the level of current technology. They learned this from an old man who had been employed at the smelter in his youth. He said he was sent home and told to not report for work for two months."The man was interested in what changes were going to be made so over the course of seven weeks, he watched the activities at the smelter. He related to my people that the first week, he saw many trucks drive into the smelter and each truck had armed guards who were all tall men who looked European. He could not see what they did in the smelter, but he did notice the smokestack continued to emit smoke just as it had when the smelter was operating."A week before his two month furlough was to end, he witnessed those same trucks with the same armed guards drive out of the smelter and take the road that led to Buenos Aires. He also said when he returned to work, there was little difference from how the smelter had operated before.”I wasn’t sure what all this had to do with me. When I asked, his face became grim.“What I and my people believe is that a very large amount of gold was shipped to Argentina by the Nazis on submarines and used to pay the Argentine government for allowing them to stay there. That is the only explanation for how Peron was able to find the gold to pay off the national debt. It is also an explanation for the unusual loading of the submarine and for the bar of gold bullion offered to, as I said, a friend of a friend. The smelter was shut down in order to melt the Nazi gold and then recast it into bullion that bore the Argentine hallmark.”I was still confused.“OK, that’s all well and good, but again, what does that have to do with me?”He placed his hands on the table between us and smiled.“I want to pay you to find the rest of the Nazi gold.”Now, I was confused again.“The rest? I thought you said they melted it all down and recast it.”He shook his head and chuckled.“I said they melted and recast enough to pay off the Argentine debt, not that they melted and recast all the gold. The total amount of gold plundered by the Nazis is not accurately known, but it has been estimated at nearly two billion US dollars in the currency of the day. About a fourth of that can be reasonably accounted for as it was transferred to various banks in neutral countries, though some of those transfers are disputed. The rest has never been found."It is my estimate that the Nazis shipped at least four hundred tons of gold to Argentina on those submarines. In the currency of the day, that would be about half a billion US dollars. In 1945, the Argentine debt was about two hundred million US dollars. That leaves us with a difference of about three hundred million which would be a little over one and a half billion US dollars at today’s market price.”I said I didn’t think that was feasible because of the weight of gold. It wouldn’t fit on a submarine. He smiled.“Yes, gold is heavy but also very dense and does not require much space. The normal armament for a U-boat of the type loaded at Helgoland was fourteen torpedoes that weighed a little over a ton and a half each. Each submarine could have carried over twenty tons of gold if the torpedoes were not on board. The six submarines making four trips could have carried that much gold and many passengers. With a range of about nine thousand nautical miles, they could easily have made the trip from Germany to Argentina and back in about three months at sea.It sounded like another Nazi conspiracy theory to me, but it was interesting so I decided to play along for a while."So, you want me to find this gold and then what? Hire a bunch of trucks to bring it back to the US?”He smiled and shook his head.“No. I only want you to confirm its location from the information my people have developed after almost a year of research. Near Mendoza in Mendoza province, my people located the ruins of what they described as a replica of The Berghof, Hitler’s residence in Bavaria. The surrounding area is mostly unpopulated now, but was once the site of a now closed led mine. We believe the building was built to house German Army and SS officers who fled Germany and surmise the gold must have been secreted in the led mine. Once you have confirmed the gold is indeed at that location, others will orchestrate its removal and transport.That little bell in your head that tells you something’s not right started to ring."Mr. Richter, if your people know where it is, why don’t those others you talked about confirm the gold is there and then remove it?”He pursed his lips.“My people in Argentina are carefully watched by the Argentine government to detect any financial dealings they might attempt. It is highly likely some in the Argentine government are also aware of their findings. Were my people to investigate that mine, well, the current government of Argentina would consider the gold to be the property of Argentina. It is not, but Argentina would be very upset were they to find it has been discovered and removed from the country.”The little bell in my head was now clanging.“So what you’re asking me to do is illegal? I don’t much like the idea of spending time in an Argentine prison.”He shook his head.“Your involvement will only be to locate and enter an abandoned and unguarded mine, confirm with photographs that the gold is there, and then bring those photographs and an accurate location back to me. It will be as if you were a tourist seeing the countryside and just happened upon the mine during your travels. There is nothing illegal about that."You will be well compensated for your efforts. I am prepared to offer you transportation to and from Argentina, a vehicle and other equipment for your use while there, and the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I have arranged for twenty thousand dollars to be transferred to your bank account immediately upon your arrival in Argentina and commencement of your search. You will, of course, be provided with a small sum for travel expenses. The balance will be transferred upon your return, assuming you are successful. If not, the transfer will be for an additional twenty thous
Today, I am joined by Jack Swift, CEO of Liminal Collective, for a fascinating and pertinent conversation on how to thrive in our increasingly complex world. After a career as a US Army Ranger, elite athlete, and successful serial founder, Jack is now focussing on helping humans to develop what they need to keep up with the pace of change set by AI through his work as CEO of Liminal Collective. Jack, and the rest of the Liminal crew have worked with some of the highest performers in the world. From Cirque Du Soleil artists, to Red Bull athletes and US Special Operators. Through these learnings, they now help teams, founders and execs rapidly develop the core skills and virtues necessary to thrive in an increasingly volatile, unpredictable, chaotic and ambiguous world. Through experiences such as their vision quest rituals, and Cirque du Soleil style training, Jack and the Liminal team take individuals to their growth edge, creating a space for them to safely explore and unlock new frontiers in personal development. In this episode, you can expect to understand; - How leaders can thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world - Why creativity & imagination are crucial skills for the next decade - How business school didn't prepare him for today's leadership challenges - How to rapidly transform your mind and skills as a leader - And how to build teams that thrive under pressure and uncertainty If you enjoy the episode then please like, share and subscribe so others can do the same. Thanks as always for listening, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jack as much as I did.
Marty Skovlund, Jr. served in the US Army Rangers. He is journalist, photographer, and filmmaker who has reported on conflict in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, and is the author of several books.Marty's latest book, written with Jo Kent, is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Send-Me-Incredible-Story-Mother/dp/0063039893Thank you to this episode's sponsor, Hamilton Gold Company: https://www.hamiltongoldcompany.com/Support the Show.
Delta Force Operator and author Pete Blaber joins the boys to break down Pat Tillman's death. Former NFL star turned US Army Ranger was killed in action in Afghanistan, however, there were many unanswered questions. What happened on that mission? Was it friendly fire? Were there any contributing factors? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Matt and Daniel talk to former US Army Ranger, Co-Host of Colonial Outcasts and State of Play for Mint Press News, Greg Stoker. With the Trump assassination attempt in the rearview; they discuss IDF rank inflation, destroying tanks in flip flops, and the Nuseirat camp operation casualties.All Greg's Links: https://linktr.ee/greg.j.stokerSEE MATT DO STAND UP AT THE SAN FRANCISCO PUNCHLINE JULY 24-27. Matt will be featuring for the hilarious Helen Hong! Buy tickets here.Will you be in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention? So will I! Me and my wife Francesca Fiorentini have a couple of live shows we are doing! On Monday and Tuesday August 19 and 20, Francesca and I will be doing shows at Lincoln Lodge in Chicago. Monday will be a live Bitchuation Room Podcast with me and some other great guests, and Tuesday will be a live stand up show with us and some friends.August 19th Live Podcast Tickets August 20th Live Stand Up TicketsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/bad-hasbara/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Judd Lienhard has more than 34,000 training hours under his belt, with 12+ Years as a Speed and Human Performance Coach. Judd has used this experience, as well as his time as a college football player and US Army Ranger, to develop a unique approach to training that has proven to be effective among athletes ages 9 to 79 of all levels. Judd Lienhard: https://www.juddlienhard.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juddlienhard Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JuddLienhard - Austin Fitness Community: - Website: https://www.austinfitnesscommunity.com/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinfitnesscommunity/ - Podcast Links: https://anchor.fm/austinfitnesscommunity - Josh Job: https://www.instagram.com/thejoshjob/ Austin Fitness Community Podcast Brought To You By: Level Up Physiques: https://levelupphysiques.com/ Gameday Men's Health:https://linktr.ee/gamedaybooking.ATX.CP.AFC --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/austinfitnesscommunity/support
Dean Stott is a former soldier in the Special Boat Service (SBS), published author, World Record holder, and is currently starring in the Netflix Show - Toughest Forces on Earth.His military career was ended by a parachuting accident in 2011. He quickly transitioned to the private security sector, where he carved out a reputation for being willing to take on any job, no matter how dangerous. From extortions to kidnapping, civil war, pirates, and military coups, Dean has seen it including single handedly evacuating the Candadian embassy in Libya rescuing 22 people in 2014. He has since become a record-breaking explorer and adventurer, while establishing a successful career as a motivational speaker. He emphasizes his belief that, with the right mindset and plan, the impossible simply means it hasn't been done yet. He published his book, Relentless, in 2019 – a book that recounts his experiences and life as a Special Boat Services soldier and when faced with the impossible, he proves that anything is possible. He is also a passionate mental health campaigner, and set himself with the task to raise a million pounds for charity on behalf of his bike ride across The Pan American Highway which is over 14k miles. He set 2 world records on that and completed it in only 99 days, 12 hours, and 56 minutes breaking the previous record by 17 days! He is on the newly released Netflix show Toughest Forces on Earth that Follows three former special operations soldiers - US Army Ranger, British Special Forces operator, and US Navy Seal - travel the world on a mission to go deep inside the most elite and secretive military units on the planet. Follow Dean on Instagram by clicking hereGet Dean's book Relentless by clicking hereWatch Toughest Forces on Earth on Netflix by clicking hereCheck out Dean Stott's websiteGet your own Freedom Plunge by clicking here. Use code IMPOSSIBLE to save $500!!Be sure to sign up for Mindset Mastery and check out all the latest and greatest at https://www.theimpossible.life/. Get your own ice bath delivered to your door by Freedom Plunge. They're half the price of popular makes and can be custom designed with any design you can imagine! Mention the Impossible Life Podcast and save $100. Contact Chris@freedomplunge.com to get more information.Got a show idea or something you'd like us to cover? Please get in touch!Sign up for our Mission Ready Mindset Once-A-Week Motivational EmailInstagram - @theimpossiblelifeYouTube - @TheImpossibleLifePodcastFacebook - @theimpossiblelifepodcastemail - info@theimpossible.life
President Joe Biden gave a speech in Normandy, France in remembrance of a daring D-Day raid by US Army Rangers, after announcing new aid for Ukraine. Prosecutors have rested their case against Hunter Biden. US job growth was stronger than expected last month – we'll tell you what it could mean for the Federal Reserve. Severe heat is still scorching the Southwest. Plus, Pat Sajak ends his 40-year run at Wheel of Fortune. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The extraordinary story of American special operator and trailblazer Shannon Kent, who hunted high value targets on classified missions in the most dangerous locales on earth while trying to balance her life as a wife and mother. Of the 1.3 million active-duty service members in the US military, only a tiny fraction are selected as "operators." Shannon Kent was one of the first women to serve at this level and was widely recognized as one of the best. Shannon served as a Navy cryptologic technician, responsible for signals intelligence and electronic warfare, but her proficiency with language set her apart. She was assigned to a unit so secretive that its name can't even be printed here, where she worked clandestinely to hunt the most wanted terrorists in the world. Send Me is Shannon's heroic life story, revealing the truth of both her work and the challenges she faced while trying to raise a family with her husband Joe, himself a Special Forces soldier. He and Shannon met in a war zone, their love forged during a special operations training course, their dedication spanning multiple combat deployments and the birth of their two boys. It is the legacy of an extraordinary woman who rose to the apex of the military, working with the most elite forces in the world, lifting the veil from the life of a Special Forces family to share their duty, sacrifice, and humanity. Drawing on their own extensive experience in special operations, Joe Kent and Marty Skovlund Jr. bring Shannon's heroic story to life, while providing a rare peek into the secretive world of special ops intelligence and a glimpse into the complexities of domestic life for a Special Forces family.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.
The extraordinary story of American special operator and trailblazer Shannon Kent, who hunted high value targets on classified missions in the most dangerous locales on earth while trying to balance her life as a wife and mother. Of the 1.3 million active-duty service members in the US military, only a tiny fraction are selected as "operators." Shannon Kent was one of the first women to serve at this level and was widely recognized as one of the best. Shannon served as a Navy cryptologic technician, responsible for signals intelligence and electronic warfare, but her proficiency with language set her apart. She was assigned to a unit so secretive that its name can't even be printed here, where she worked clandestinely to hunt the most wanted terrorists in the world. Send Me is Shannon's heroic life story, revealing the truth of both her work and the challenges she faced while trying to raise a family with her husband Joe, himself a Special Forces soldier. He and Shannon met in a war zone, their love forged during a special operations training course, their dedication spanning multiple combat deployments and the birth of their two boys. It is the legacy of an extraordinary woman who rose to the apex of the military, working with the most elite forces in the world, lifting the veil from the life of a Special Forces family to share their duty, sacrifice, and humanity. Drawing on their own extensive experience in special operations, Joe Kent and Marty Skovlund Jr. bring Shannon's heroic story to life, while providing a rare peek into the secretive world of special ops intelligence and a glimpse into the complexities of domestic life for a Special Forces family.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Friend of Trace - Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a Retired (1998) US Army Ranger, a paratrooper, and a former West Point Psychology Professor. He has become one of our nation's leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations. He has a Black Belt in Hojutsu, the martial art of the firearm, and has been inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Lt. Col. Grossman has five patents to his name, published many books including his bestseller "On Killing" and a New York Times best-selling book co-authored with Glenn Beck. He is well-known for his research, has been cited by the President of the United States, and has presented papers before the national conventions of the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Today, Lt. Col. Grossman is the director of Grossman On Truth, LLC. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he has written and spoken extensively on the terrorist threat with articles published in many leading law enforcement journals. He has been inducted as a “Life Diplomate” by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security, and is a “Life Member” of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute. Parents Know the Danger Violence has on Your Kids Trace Embry, Michelle Hill and our friend Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who is an expert on human aggression and violence, together discuss the potential negative effects of violent video games on children. They also speak about other dangers of technology on our young people. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman shares his research and knowledge that the addictive nature of video games, combined with the violent content, can lead to serious issues such as sleep deprivation, impaired judgment, and increased aggression. He also criticizes the video game industry for fighting against regulations that would limit children's access to violent games. Trace Embry and Lt. Col. Grossman agree that parents need to be proactive in monitoring their children's gaming habits and enforcing age-appropriate content. They also recommend resources like Lt. Col. Grossman's book "Assassination Generation" and the website of our friend Melanie Hempe, ScreenStrong.org, for parents seeking guidance on this issue. Episode Highlights: How has technology affected how we parent our kids? Is social media designed to be addictive? How sleep deprivation affects our behavior. Do you believe video games generate violence? How can parents push back on big tech and social media? Is violence tolerated more today than 5o years ago & how does it affect our emotions? Image from Canva
Friend of Trace - Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a Retired (1998) US Army Ranger, a paratrooper, and a former West Point Psychology Professor. He has become one of our nation's leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations. He has a Black Belt in Hojutsu, the martial art of the firearm, and has been inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Lt. Col. Grossman has five patents to his name, published many books including his bestseller "On Killing" and a New York Times best-selling book co-authored with Glenn Beck. He is well-known for his research, has been cited by the President of the United States, and has presented papers before the national conventions of the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Today, Lt. Col. Grossman is the director of Grossman On Truth, LLC. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he has written and spoken extensively on the terrorist threat with articles published in many leading law enforcement journals. He has been inducted as a “Life Diplomate” by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security, and is a “Life Member” of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute. Parents Know the Danger Violence has on Your Kids Trace Embry, Michelle Hill and our friend Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who is an expert on human aggression and violence, together discuss the potential negative effects of violent video games on children. They also speak about other dangers of technology on our young people. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman shares his research and knowledge that the addictive nature of video games, combined with the violent content, can lead to serious issues such as sleep deprivation, impaired judgment, and increased aggression. He also criticizes the video game industry for fighting against regulations that would limit children's access to violent games. Trace Embry and Lt. Col. Grossman agree that parents need to be proactive in monitoring their children's gaming habits and enforcing age-appropriate content. They also recommend resources like Lt. Col. Grossman's book "Assassination Generation" and the website of our friend Melanie Hempe, ScreenStrong.org, for parents seeking guidance on this issue. Episode Highlights: How has technology affected how we parent our kids? Is social media designed to be addictive? How sleep deprivation affects our behavior. Do you believe video games generate violence? How can parents push back on big tech and social media? Is violence tolerated more today than 5o years ago & how does it affect our emotions? Image from Canva
A powerful conversation with CSM (R) Jimmy Carabello, a decorated combat Veteran of more than 32 years of honorable service to America. Along the way we talk about "Black Hats and Boot Black" (10:20), Richard Gere (14:00), R.I.P. (17:20), Ranger History (19:00), "Master Blaster" (37:45), the power of Ranger Buddies (51:25), "Stallions, Thoroughbreds, and Donkeys" (53:15), and PFC Andrew Small (1:01:00). Donations for scholarships targeted to the families of US Army Rangers can be made through this website - LukeLeaders1248.com Music from the works of the blues master, Kenny Kilgore. Low Riders and Beautiful Rainy Day.
On today's Zero Limits Podcast I am joined for a chat by David Nielsen former US Army Ranger and Delta Force Operator and podcast host of the @thechristologypodcastDave Nielsen served in the U.S. Army for 16 years. The majority of that time was spent in Special Operations. Dave served in the 75th Ranger Regiment before passing selection to serve in the Army's Special Missions Unit, where he would deploy numerous times. Dave worked in various roles at the Unit, including as an assaulter, breacher, K-9 handler, and sniper team member.His story was featured in Channing Tatum's HBO documentary "War Dogs” retelling the story of three dog handlers and their canine counterparts from the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He shares stories of his dog "Pepper" who was killed while rooting out an enemy from a sewer hole in Iraq on the banks of the Tigris River and searched for her all night but had to leave once the sun was coming up as they were in enemy-held territory. Dave co-hosts a brand new show called the Christology Podcast. After leaving the Army, he got a theology and biblical studies degree.Website - www.zerolimitspodcast.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/zero.limits.podcast/?hl=enShow Sponsors www.3zeroscoffee.com.au Discount code 3ZLimitswww.getsome.com.au Discount code ZEROLIMITS
Three US Military Veterans - A former US Army Ranger, a Field Artillery Officer, and an Intelligence Officer walk into a podcast to discuss IDF targeting, government corruption, and interpretations of the word "Terrorist." As we watch the brutal prosecution of the civilian population of Gaza, we are wondering if you have any veterans in your life who are still on the fence about the morality of what's happening on the ground. If so, please send them this. Thanks to special guest Josephine Guilbeau for coming on! You can follow her on instagram for similar content: https://www.instagram.com/josephine.guilbeau/ Also check out Veterans For Peace at: https://www.instagram.com/veteransforpeace/ #israelpalestineconflict #ceasefire #decolonize #antiimperialism #globalaffairs #foreignaffairs #humanrights #israelhamaswar #counterterrorism #militaryindustrialcomplex #militaryintelligence #militaryintervention #uspolitics #bidenvstrump #independentjournalism #militaryhistory #veteran #veteransforpeace
Aron welcomes Bruno Fallon back to the podcast. Bruno is the Director of Operations for Born Primitive Tactical, retired military serviceman with 40+ years for active duty and DOD service. As training, fitness, and health are paramount for both Bruno and Aron, they dive into diet, exercise, the sugar epidemic, and the importance of daily water intake. Little more about Bruno: Bruno retired in 2023 from a combined 40+ years of active duty and DOD government civilian service. His active-duty service was as a US Army Ranger, Special Forces operator, and Night Stalker flight lead. Bruno accumulated over eight years of combat/imminent danger service while on active duty. He then spent over a decade as a civilian with Naval Special Warfare Development Group in their operations directorate and as the director of urban training. Bruno was recruited by Born Primitive in late 2022 to develop our Tactical apparel and create a line best suited for law enforcement and global military units to better conduct their mission.
Are you struggling to get good results in your real estate investing business, such as raising capital and generating leads, despite your marketing efforts? Dive into this interview with Jesse Futia, a LinkedIn branding expert and an investor, to discover more about LinkedIn and its power in growing your brand and online presence.Jesse provides high-powered tips on utilizing your LinkedIn account as an investor, content postings, email campaigns, newsletters, and more. Don't miss out on this episode to start claiming your reputation in the competitive world of social media!Key Points & Relevant TopicsHow Jesse started from a small project to getting involved in student housing, commercial space, and syndicationsSome ways to differentiate yourself from other student housing owners and landlordsBenefits of transitioning from student housing to larger asset classesWhat makes LinkedIn a powerful platform for investors and other professionalsWhy consistency is important in LinkedIn content postingAuthenticity and why it matters for your online presenceDrip campaign newsletter: What it is, how it works, and how to nurture itJesse's perspectives on constantly sending emails, texts, and outreach messages to people for marketingHow to identify real or fake (spammers, scammers, etc) people who reach out on LinkedInThe advantage of upgrading your LinkedIn to a premium accountThe importance of taking consistent action in getting positive results on social media brandingResources & LinksApartment Syndication Due Diligence Checklist for Passive InvestorAbout Jesse FutiaJesse Futia is the Principal and CEO of Executive Equity Investing. Jesse grew up in Albany NY and graduated from the University of Albany. He was commissioned as an officer in the US Army and served as a US Army Ranger from 2019-2021. Jesse Began investing in real estate during college where he and his family built one of the largest student housing portfolios in Albany, NY. In 2021, Jesse made the transition to commercial real estate with the goal of investing in mobile home parks, apartment buildings, and self-storage deals to achieve incredible returns for investors. Get in Touch with JesseLinkedIn: Jesse FutiaWebsite: https://www.execequityinvesting.com/ / https://www.finghost.io/ To Connect With UsPlease visit our website www.bonavestcapital.com and click here to leave a rating and written review!
For most of us, dog training is a hobby. Something we are passionate about and enjoy doing but it's not a life or death activity for us. However, there are a few people in the world who truly depend on their dog's performance. Their dog's preparedness and training can truly have an impact on whether someone lives or dies. For these dogs and their handlers, mission success is far greater than a ribbon or plaque to hang on the wall. In order to operate at this high of a level, it's a requirement to remain proficient and knowledgeable on the most effective ways to train these dogs. This week we sit down with Randall Lykens of Liberty Canine. Randall is the previous kennel master for the US Army Rangers and provides us with a ton of new perspectives as it pertains to dog training and how lessons learned in the working canine space can be directly applied to gun dog training. At the end of the day, the principles of dog training are the principles of dog training regardless of the individual dog's job. So why not try and learn from individuals who's training has such high stakes? How does one become an Army Ranger Kennel Master? Drives and building the operant dog first E-collars are a gas pedal. Not a brake Tug and the value of it even in the gun dog world Transitioning from military working dogs into a civilian professional trainer Training and donating a finished dog to a veteran Discussed in Episode: K9s of Valor Foundation Ep. 101 Trackin yet?!? ALM Tug For Purchase - Presented By: Standing Stone Supply | Use Code: GDIY to save 15% onX Hunt Maps | Use Code: GDIY20 to save 20% Final Rise Upland Gun Company - Other Partners: BPro Kennels Eukanuba [What I Feed My Dogs: Premium Performance 30/20] Bird Dog Society - GDIY Links: Patreon | Instagram | Facebook | Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is a special episode- I was a Guest on my good friend Zoon's New Legacy Podcast. See the video for this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsB24HYOCf0 Zoon and I sat down after the Conquer Gala- a day full of celebrating the students and staff of Conquer Academy. We talk about everything, from my beginnings as a failed high school athlete and college dropout, to my transition into a leader in the Ranger regiment and entrepreneur. I talk about my warrior's call, as a young soldier in Iraq on my first deployment, and I give my best advice to help young leaders stretch themselves in pursuit of their dreams. Join us as we tackle life, achievement, lessons, success, and commitment in episode 21 of the New Legacy Podcast.
We investigate the special operations that occurred ahead of the D-Day landings of over 130,000 Allied troops on the Nazi-controlled beaches of northern France We look at the role of special troops who parachuted into Nazi-occupied France ahead of the D-Day beach landings. With help from a very special expert guest, we focus on a mission for US Army Rangers at a headland near the beaches, called Pointe du Hoc. After the end theme music you'll find these questions, followed by the outtakes: Which Allied countries took part in the D-Day landings? What was this operation called? Why did Allied special forces parachute into France before the D-Day beach landings? Why was it important to disrupt railway lines and German communication centres? Why was Pointe du Hoc an important piece of land? What challenges did the US Rangers face? Our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media, is https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/ - where you can also listen to episodes. For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad's World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad's first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II. Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app! Podcast cover art by Molly Austin All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2023 © BBC
Trung Nguyen is a Vietnamese immigrant, US Army Ranger veteran and former SWAT officer. We discuss his family's powerful immigration story, growing up in Chicago's ganglands, his journey into the military, war, LAPD, The Defund movement in Chicago, organisational betrayal, the Mercy Hospital shooting, his company We Go Home, his non-profit and so much more.
In this episode, we welcome Vincent “Rocco” Vargas to the show. He is a retired US Army Ranger (2nd Battalion of the 75 Ranger Regiment) and former Federal Agent with the Department of Homeland Security. He is also an entrepreneur, actor, writer, producer, and speaker. He is most known for his depiction of the character Gilly Lopez on the show Mayans M.C. (an offshoot of Sons of Anarchy). Additionally, he is the author of the new book Borderline: Defending the Home Front. This book details his time spent protecting the southern border of the United States as a member of the US Border Patrol. In this interview, we discuss why he was interested in becoming an Army Ranger, the long process of becoming a border patrol agent, the day-to-day tasks that border patrol agents perform, why Americans struggle to differentiate between border security and immigration, whether or not the US should build a wall across the entire border, whether or not we should consider militarizing our southern border, what it was like for a hispanic man to work keeping other hispanics from entering the US, what should be done about the “Dreamers”, what it was like transitioning from the Border Patrol to acting, and much more. Let's get into it… Episode notes and links HERE. Try out the Relay Recovery app HERE. Donate to support our mission of equipping men to push back darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Robin Bartlett is the author of "Vietnam Combat: Fire Fights and Writing History." Robin served a 12-month combat tour as an officer in the US Army Rangers and was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant after only one year, Robin Bartlett at 22 assumed the leadership of the 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Over the next seven months, Robin led a platoon on more than sixty helicopter combat assaults and search and destroy missions.Connect with Author / Vietnam Combat Veteran Robin Bartlett:Website: Robin Bartlett (Author Site)Book: "Vietnam Combat: Fire Fights and Writing History." "Life is Built, Not Born."Joe Ciccarone#Episode119
Forrest Cooper is a former US Army Ranger and Special Forces operator, plus Philosopher, Journalist, and Security Consultant. Today he hosts the Redacted Culturecast, discussing the interaction between violence and values in Gun Culture. Topics: Guilt, Shame, and the Red Pill Masturbating Your Sense of Morality Gun Culture vs. Masculinity Culture Revolution and Reformation Ted Kaczynski vs. the Gospel Orcs Don't Have A Culture MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper https://www.oriontraininggroup.com/ "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" - Joseph Campbell https://a.co/d/jihap9V CONNECT WITH FORREST https://redactedllc.com https://www.instagram.com/redactedllc https://twitter.com/foxroe DIGITAL CONFERENCE - THIRD EDITION Saturday November 11 9am-5pm Pacific on Zoom https://renofmen.com/conference Use code RENOFMEN for $5 off THE RENAISSANCE MENTORSHIP https://renofmen.com/mentorship SPONSOR Reformation Coffee.com Use code SUBFREE for one free 12oz. bag with subscription LINKS https://x.com/renofmen https://instagram.com/renofmen https://youtube.com/@renofmen https://renofmen.com
https://www.nickdevlincoaching.com/aboutNick's bio:"I am a transformational life coach, entrepreneur, father and former US Army Ranger. My mission is to empower you to live your life as an adventure - with peace, passion and intention. I do this by helping you embrace uncertainty and envision the life you want to live (your adventure). I guide you through first steps and hold you accountable for taking action. In addition to coaching sessions by phone and in person, I take you out in the wilderness for "adventure coaching sessions" to get you out of your head and into your heart. I listen, reflect, and support you to grow. I celebrate your successes and push you to be brave, go farther, and we do it together.Throughout this bold and adventurous life, I have won and lost. I have played with the fear of the deep unknown. I have tasted the sweet victory resulting from dedicated effort and hard work. I have felt the pain of trying to control things beyond my control. As a recovering “control addict” and former corporate employee (asleep at the wheel of my life), I have felt the struggle of living disconnectedly – void of true purpose – a vassal to the grind and societal expectations. I've been stuck in the preservation zone, playing safe and playing small. I got unstuck when a life coach, and friend, asked me one pivotal question. It was the question that cut deep and shook me to the core. It shook me awake - wide awake. I grabbed the wheel, and redirected my course towards passion and purpose. I chose to live with intention and explore the possibilities of my most adventurous life. With critical guidance from my coach – I now live my adventure. It's my turn to help you live yours! "
Father, Veteran, Mentor, and U.S Border Patrol Advocate. In this week's Team Never Quit Podcast, Marcus is honored to host Vince "Rocco" Vargas, a multi-talented individual with a rich background in military service that spans three combat deployments with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, a decade of service with the U.S. Border Patrol, and his current roles as an entrepreneur, author, actor, writer, and producer. His unique perspective as a military veteran and federal agent sets the stage for a deeper understanding of the issues at the U.S./Mexico border. Vince is also an author, and his book, "Borderline: Defending the Home Front," serves as both a memoir and a critical examination of the U.S. Border Patrol. The narrative combines personal experiences with the extensive history of the organization, shedding light on a frequently misunderstood government agency. Vince paints a comprehensive picture of the challenges faced by those tasked with securing the U.S. borders. Sponsors: - GoodRX.com/TNQ - vincentroccovargas.com "BORDERLINE" By Vince Vargas out Nov. 14th Photo Cred: - IMDb In this episode you will hear: • To apply for the Border Patrol is a 2-year process. Once you get in, it still takes two years to become a journeyman. After testing and field training, you're eligible for the programs that the Border Patrol has. (9:52) • Bortac is the tactical unit of the border Patrol. They are the swat team of the Border Patrol. (10:47) Borstar are the para rescue jumpers of the Border Patrol - search trauma rescue medics. (10:58) • It's incredible to see how overwhelmed they [Border Patrol] are at the moment. The morale of the Border Patrol is pretty low. (16:04) • Too many people want to blame the Border Patrol for everything. In our immigration system, the Border Patrol's only job is to apprehend any individuals crossing the border illegally. (16:50) • In this book, "Borderline: Defending the Home Front,” I tell my story as a Border Patrol agent in detail to humanize the badge. These are Americans who have chosen to defend our nation on our own soil. (18:04) • So you have 20,000 people coming across saying “Political Asylum.” Then we take them in and investigate that. There's no system in place that can house that many individuals. There's no system to hold them for the time being till they determine who's actually a political asylum case and who's not. (21:19) • So we have to host all these individuals, find a way to feed the, give them medical attention, and hold them as if they're seeking asylum until we can determine if it's real or not. (22:56) • I'm not against immigration, but the part of what's in place now is immigration policy and we have to protect our nation, but we also have to be a nation that is gracious towards immigration. (22:24) • To see the number of murderers, rapists, and pedophiles that we actually catch – it's pretty intimidating to think to think of how many we actually miss. Seeking asylum means that they have critical fear for their life. It's a blanket statement to help people come across illegally, and right now it's working. It shouldn't be. (30:17) • [Melanie] Kids under the age of 13, by our policy, are not allowed to be fingerprinted or DNA, which to me is legalizing human trafficking. (31:37) • There's been a massive influx in the Del Rio Sector. Close to 11, 000 have come across in the past ten days (37:01) • If I can be here to do the righteous thing for our country, for my God and for my family, I hope to teach them [my children] in the same sense. (41:45)
We learn about teaching horses to wear a neck collar. Former US Army Ranger Reid Albano shares his experience riding the Mongol Derby as an amputee. Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion author Sanoma Blakely stops by for a chat. AERC VP Kelly Williams Stehman has an update.Link for sight impaired – Click HereThe HORSES IN THE MORNING Crew: Coach Jenn and Karen ChatonImage Credit: Horses in the MorningGuest: Reid AlbanoGuest: Sanoma Blakely, Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion Guest: AERC VP Kelly Williams StehmanFollow Horse Radio Network on TwitterAdditional support for this podcast provided by: Sentinel Horse Nutrition, The Distance Depot and Listeners Like YouTime Stamps32:20 – Reid Albano50:27 – Kelly Williams Stehman1:08:35 – Sanoma Blakely
We learn about teaching horses to wear a neck collar. Former US Army Ranger Reid Albano shares his experience riding the Mongol Derby as an amputee. Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion author Sanoma Blakely stops by for a chat. AERC VP Kelly Williams Stehman has an update.Link for sight impaired – Click HereThe HORSES IN THE MORNING Crew: Coach Jenn and Karen ChatonImage Credit: Horses in the MorningGuest: Reid AlbanoGuest: Sanoma Blakely, Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion Guest: AERC VP Kelly Williams StehmanFollow Horse Radio Network on TwitterAdditional support for this podcast provided by: Sentinel Horse Nutrition, The Distance Depot and Listeners Like YouTime Stamps32:20 – Reid Albano50:27 – Kelly Williams Stehman1:08:35 – Sanoma Blakely
Would you ride with me? Should I ride with you? What does it take to be a great riding companion, or even know one when we meet one? Meet Bubba Eisenhauer, a former US Army Ranger officer who knows a thing or two about rolling with people you can trust. On the road as in combat, skill and reliability turn out to be mere table stakes. An inspiring conversation that reveals what being a great riding buddy really means, and the rewards that can only come from sharing what Bubba calls “one of the most beautiful things in the world.”
Evan Hafer hosts Black Rifle Coffee Company OG Jariko Denman — a retired US Army Ranger who deployed to combat 15 times in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2002 to 2012, amounting to 54 months of total combat experience as part of a Joint Special Operations Task Force. In this episode, they get into how to live an epic life post-service, the difference between life abroad and life in the US, guilty pleasures, the downside of the carnivore diet, and @barfly5432 making beef jerky in a hotel room. Plus, a call to listeners: get on IG and send Evan Hafer and Jariko Denman the dumbest $h!t you can find on the Internet. Winners will be called out on future podcasts! https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Follow the show on Instagram and Twitter: IG: @blackriflecoffeepodcast Twitter: @brccpodcast Follow the guys: @evanhafer @laidbackberserker #podcast #blackriflecoffee
What are the keys to building a successful business? In this episode of Weiss Advice, we welcome Jesse Futia. Jesse is the Principal and CEO of Executive Equity Investing. Jesse grew up in Albany NY and graduated from the University of Albany. He was commissioned as an officer in the US Army and served as a US Army Ranger from 2019-2021. He began investing in real estate during college where he and his family built one of the largest student housing portfolios in Albany NY.Tune in to this episode as Jesse shares his advice on digital branding strategies for growing businesses![00:01 - 01:36] Opening SegmentWe welcome, Jesse Futia!Jesse is the Principal and CEO of Executive Equity Investing[01:37 - 27:15] Maximizing Engagement By Repurposing ContentDigital branding building has an immense reachFinding a balance between portraying an authentic self and ghostwritingInvesting time in copywriting skills to make sure the content is authenticEstablishing a niche and brand by showing up consistentlyRepurposing content is a great way to save time and get more leads[27:16 - 32:41] THE FINAL FOURWhat's the worst job that you ever had?Worked as a bouncer in his college townWhat's a book you've read that has given you a paradigm shift?“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch AlbomWhat is a skill or talent that you would like to learn?Learn how to play the guitarWhat does success mean to you?Jesse says, “It's not defined by how much money we make while we're here on the earth. It's going to be defined by the people that we impact.“Connect with Jesse Futia: Website: Executive Equity InvestingLinkedIn: Jesse FutiaTwitter: @JesseFutiaInstagram: @JesseFutiaLEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW by clicking this linkWHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?Be sure to follow me on the below platforms:Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or Stitcher.LinkedInYoutubeExclusive Facebook Groupwww.yonahweiss.comNone of this could be possible without the awesome team at Buzzsprout. They make it easy to get your show listed on every major podcast platform.Tweetable Quotes:“There is no better time, in my opinion, than right now to invest in your digital brand, if that's LinkedIn, if that's Twitter, if that's TikTok or something else because the deal flow is a lot slower for many investors and syndicators out there.” – Jesse Futia“If you miss the point, if you miss the mark on the hook, then the entire post is going to fall off.” – Jesse FutiaSupport the show
Israel Wright is a former Green Beret and Cameron Fath is a former US Army Ranger. They are the hosts of the Pop Culture Field Manual Podcast. Israel shares his bad jumps and close calls with death, while Cameron goes over his choice for the best Army Ranger unit—his very own 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Israel and Cameron then talk about pop culture and how this unites people regardless of their differing viewpoints on politics, religion, or anything else. They started the Pop Culture Field Manual Podcast to engage listeners based on this principle. Today, out of uniform, they continue to take the spirit of their experiences and celebrate them with their growing community. Check out the Pop Culture Field Manual Podcast: Website: https://pcfm.buzzsprout.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PopCultureFieldManual Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcfmpodcast/?hl=en Join the SOFREP Book Club here: https://sofrep.com/book-club See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jason Everman is a musician and military veteran. Prior to his service as a US Army Ranger and Green Beret, Everman was a guitarist in Soundgarden and Nirvana. Learn more about Team Supernautiloid and Race to Alaska 2023 at www.supernautiloid.com.
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