Podcasts about west point

I'm revisiting one of my favorite conversations with bestselling author Steven Pressfield, whose wisdom on fear, resistance, and creativity has inspired millions. If you've been sitting on an idea, delaying your next move, or wondering why the work that matters most feels the hardest to begin, this episode will give you the perspective—and the push—you need.When Steven Pressfield published The Legend of Bagger Vance, many called him an overnight success. What they didn't see were the 30 years of failed novels, unproduced screenplays, and stretches of homelessness that came before it.Few conversations left an impact on me as this one did. Steven is now in his eighties and still creating, doing what he loves, and showing no signs of stopping. I never thought about fear the same after this podcast, thanks to Steven's words. Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/K3Z8bcnvNlU "It's like the old story of an overnight success that only takes you 30 years." ~ Steven PressfieldIn This Episode:- Finding your authentic creative voice- How to work with the muse- A simple process for developing great ideas- Why resistance means you're on the right path- Self-doubt as a sign of growth- What a shadow career really isAbout Steven PressfieldSteven Pressfield is the author of The War of Art, which has sold over a million copies worldwide and has become essential reading for writers, artists, and entrepreneurs. His debut novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was made into a film starring Matt Damon and Will Smith. His other novel, Gates of Fire, is required reading at West Point. Before his breakthrough at 52, he spent decades failing as a novelist and screenwriter, at times living out of his car. His latest novel, The Arcadian, was released in May 2026.IG: https://www.instagram.com/steven_pressfield/ X: https://x.com/SPressfield Website: https://stevenpressfield.com/ Where to find me:IG: https://www.instagram.com/jen_gottlieb/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jen_gottlieb Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jenleahgottlieb Website: https://jengottlieb.com/ My business: https://www.superconnectormedia.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jen_gottlieb

In this episode of Beyond Rockets, Clark Dunn sits down with Clayton Hinchman, Chairman and CEO of IGNITE, to discuss his journey from West Point and Army service to leading one of Huntsville's fastest-growing companies. After surviving a life-changing IED explosion while serving in Iraq, Clayton transitioned into entrepreneurship, founded and sold his first company, and eventually became the leader of IGNITE.During the conversation, Clayton shares how military leadership shaped his approach to business, why discipline and culture are critical to long-term success, and how IGNITE has grown from a regional defense contractor into an international organization with employees across the country and around the world.They also discuss entrepreneurship, acquisitions, employee ownership, leadership during adversity, the importance of grit, and what it takes to build a company that lasts.Recommended Books Mentioned

Share this Video: https://youtu.be/_9P9AhVXt2U WestPoint Gold: TSX.V: WPG | OTCQB: WPGCF Website: https://westpointgold.com/ Corporate Deck: https://westpointgold.com/investors/ West Point Gold CEO Derek Macpherson breaks down the latest high-grade drill results and what they mean for the company future. See why this 66.2 meter intercept at 6.57 GPT Au is a critical indicator for the project's potential. Netting a 435 Gram/Meter is exceptional! This update is designed for investors tracking West Point Gold who want a clear view of the company capital structure, ownership, and current analyst coverage. We review the specific technical data from the recent drilling program to provide a grounded perspective on the robust vein system currently being tested. By evaluating these high-grade drill results, viewers will better understand how the company is positioning its assets within the broader gold mining stocks market. We focus strictly on the data provided by the CEO to help you assess the operational progress and the strategic outlook for the site. Subscribe for weekly mining investment analysis updates, and comment below on which exploration project you want us to cover next.

What builds trust when you don't have a title or position of authority? SUMMARY According to Lt. Col. Joe Bledsoe '11, it's honesty, integrity, humility presence and action. Tune in as he shares practical leadership lessons learned from the Academy, combat aviation and years of mentoring others.   SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   COL. BLEDSOE'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS 1. Leadership starts before the title. People follow your example, ideas, and presence long before you get formal authority. 2. Informal leadership is as real as formal leadership. Class president, wingman, or peer—your influence, credibility, and support role matter even without rank. 3. Be “clay to be molded.” Show eagerness, humility, and effort; people notice fresh attitude and willingness to embrace hard things. 4. You can't lead alone—build a trusted team. Time management and heavy responsibility force you to delegate to people you trust and empower them. 5. Trust has two layers: inherent and earned. Start with inherent trust (shared values, shared background) and deliberately grow earned trust through behavior. 6. Five traits that build credibility fast: Honesty, integrity, humility, presence (actually being there, engaged), and decisive action. 7. Debrief like a fighter pilot: brutally honest, never personal. Separate the person from the performance, do root‑cause analysis, fix errors, and then move on—no re‑litigating. 8. Own your mistakes out loud. Saying “I'm sorry,” “I was wrong,” or “I don't know, but I'll find out” accelerates trust and models humility. 9. Mentors and mentees are non‑negotiable. Continuously seek guidance from those ahead of you and invest in those behind you to sharpen your own thinking. 10. Prioritize relationships and pride in the mission. Treat family and friends well, cultivate the Long Blue Line, and remember you're on the A‑team—act like it.   CHAPTERS 00:00:00 — Opening & Guest Intro Show open, Naviere introduces Lt Col Joe “Paveway” Bledsoe and his career highlights. 00:01:13 — Voluntold to Lead: Becoming Class President Basic cadet training, being “voluntold,” interview gauntlet, and getting elected class president. 00:04:09 — What a Class President Actually Does Informal vs formal leadership, picking the class exemplar (Robin Olds), dining‑ins, spirit missions, and accountability. 00:08:38 — From Future Doctor to Fighter Pilot Arriving at USAFA wanting to be a physician, loving biology and medicine, and the first seeds of doubt. 00:10:03 — Ops Air Force, Powered Flight, and the Pivot Deployed Ops Air Force in CENTCOM, exposure to flying in theater, powered flight, and choosing pilot training over med school. 00:12:22 — Mentors, Family, and Making a Hard Call Mentorship from family, upperclassmen, and permanent party; emotional weight of changing paths and family's reaction. 00:14:08 — Leading Without Rank: Credibility and Trust Informal leadership as a young wingman, lessons from time management and delegation as class president, inherent vs earned trust, and key traits (honesty, integrity, humility, presence, action). 00:22:06 — Fighter Pilot Debriefs & Radical Feedback Culture Brutally honest debriefs, owning mistakes, root‑cause analysis, safety and mission focus, and how that mindset translates beyond the cockpit. 00:27:48 — Leadership at Home: Marriage, Parenting, and ‘Knock It Off' High‑school‑sweetheart marriage, parenting, using accountability and humility with kids, and balancing “fighter pilot” mode with being a husband and dad. 00:30:30 — Future Conflict, Growth, and Pride in the Long Blue Line Risk and future fight, Institute for Future Conflict, exposure to other AFSCs and logistics, daily growth habits (mentors, mentees, reading, writing, running), advice to younger self, and closing message on being proud of USAFA and the A‑team.   ABOUT COL. BLEDSOE BIO Lt. Col. Joseph “Paveway” Bledsoe '11 is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and recognized leader whose career has spanned combat operations, advanced airpower development and service to the Long Blue Line. A native of rural Pennsylvania, Bledsoe graduated from the Academy in 2011 with a degree in biology before earning a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland.  He is Currently assigned to the Institute for Future Conflict at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he studies the future of airpower, emerging technologies and the challenges of great-power competition. Prior to joining the Institute, he helped lead training and operational planning efforts at the 366th Fighter Wing, contributing to major exercises and the wing's first deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. His work bridges the gap between today's operational realities and tomorrow's strategic challenges. A recipient of the Association & Foundation's Young Alumni Excellence Award, Bledsoe is widely respected for his emphasis on faith, family and service. Throughout his career, he has remained deeply connected to the Academy community through mentorship, alumni leadership and a commitment to developing the next generation of leaders. On this episode of Long Blue Leadership, he shares lessons learned from leading peers, building influence before authority and navigating high-stakes decisions in both the cockpit and the profession of arms.   CONNECT WITH JOE LINKEDIN   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LINE PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Please note: we are only considering USAFA graduates as guests at this time. Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org     ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE AT USAFA.ORG/LONGBLUELEADERSHIP AND ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     FULL TRANSCRIPT Guest, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Joe "Paveway" Bledsoe" '11  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99    Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz 0:01 Sometimes leadership begins long before you've ever been put in charge. It starts when people trust you enough to follow your example, your ideas or your vision. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99; Long Blue Leadership starts now. Well, Lt. Col. Joe “Paveway” Bledsoe the Third. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Lt. Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:20 Naviere, it's great to see you. Thank you for having me here today. I'm looking forward to the conversation. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:24 So, Joe, your career has been exciting so far, and you're still in it. You know, you have been operational leader, obviously an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. You've been deployed, you have been a researcher, you're a Young Alumni Excellence Award winner for our Association & Foundation, you've been an AOG board director and a fellow for the Institute for Future Conflict. And that, that's just, you know, a short little list, because you're a student heading back into, over to, is it North Carolina, right? Seymour Johnson.   Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:53 That's correct. Seymour Johnson, yep.   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:54 In the cockpit, yeah. Col. Joe Bledsoe 0:56 Yeah, we're super excited. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 0:59 Yes. Well, we're going to touch on probably many of those places, but I want to dial it back to something that only one graduate in every class experiences, and for you it happened shortly after Basic Cadet Training. Your class selected you as your class president. How did that come about? Col. Joe Bledsoe 1:14 How did that all go down? That's a great question. So there we were, right after basic training. I was in Cadet Squadron 19 for my freshman year, and I got the opportunity — this is one of those voluntold moments, right — where the upperclassmen and BCT cadre said, “Joe,” or “Cadet Bledsoe, report to H-1 during transition week.” That's when everybody's coming back, and you're like, “Sure, yep, yes, sir, yes, ma'am. Here we go.” So I show up with 40, 50 other fourth-class cadets, and we come to find out it was for us, and we were going to go through who was going to be the class officers. So first off, as I look back on that experience, a lot of respect and no humility being asked to go like represent Squadron 19, right? Like, I didn't volunteer, they just kind of pointed me in that direction, so we show up and got to interview with the upperclassmen, class officers, and there's funny interview questions, real serious interview questions. You know, I was just honest, right? Like, I'm here. This is what I think about what being a leader looks like, and how I could help serve the class, not thinking I would ever be selected, right? And as the night is going on, and ACQ is right around the corner, they kind of whittle it down to four or five of us, and we get up in front of the rest of the cadets and classmates that were there, and it was an open forum, like you know, back in Rome times, like you're standing in the gauntlet, Yeah, like it was like Roman voting, right? And asked a bunch of questions, and I remember standing up there with, you know, preppies, prior enlisted, and then me, just like straight off the street, and there's a couple other of us up there, and just answer the questions honestly, and at the end of that, there was a vote, and you know, they read the results, and I was like, "Holy smokes, I'm class president. How did this, how did this happen,” right? And I think there's a lot that — it was daunting at first, right? And then also, like, “This is awesome, I don't know what I'm getting into,” right? I just found out about it. I remember walking back on the Tizo. This was the first time I can say this now, because you know, grad, and I didn't run the strips because the upperclassmen and class officers walked me back, and I distinctly remember to — back to my squadron to — Jordan Kraft and Forrest Underwood walked back and were given some mentorship to me, like here's how to succeed, here's things we would recommend, and it was just an awesome opportunity to like kind of learn what pure leadership looks like, what it means to be in this not org chart that is unique to the Academy, and that's where the, that's where the adventure started for class president. I'm still, I haven't been fired yet, and I still proudly serve the Class of 2011 — Robin Olds' class — as their class president, and it's one of the best jobs that I have the privilege of doing. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 4:10 My goodness. I mean, just to unpack that a little bit, obviously, in basic cadet training, you did enough to impress your cadre, I'm sure that there was probably some sort of cadre selection to bring however many of them forth first. Would you say that you would you agree with that, or is that — am I way off? Col. Joe Bledsoe 4:28 Yeah, I would say —I think when I look back my time at basic training, like I wanted to come to the Academy since I was in your school, right? So, like, I thrived — I'm not saying it was easy by any means, right? We all know that, but I thrived in like this new adventure, right? And I took everything, I embraced everything. I think that may have been something they saw, right? Like I was clay to be molded, right? And I had some prior opportunities in basic to show that to my BCT cadre, and they picked up on it. It wasn't that I was trying, but I think looking back on that experience, there was moments of like my freshness, my eagerness, my like pride in that I made it to basic training, that I wanted to just try as hard as I could, and I think some of that probably shown through, and ultimately may have been why I was selected to go try that interview process, right? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 5:20 So that interview process, at the end of the day, you were elected by your peers, and you know it — to your point — you said in that unusual, the not normal org chart, right, the one that doesn't exist, but yet you have leadership of your class. What did that look like? How did that translate? Because not many of us are class president, I'm certainly not my class president, and so I'm not sure what that leadership role looks like. Can you share a little bit more about some examples? Col. Joe Bledsoe 5:46 Yeah, I think that that leadership role was very different each year, right? As a freshman and a sophomore, as a four-degree and a three-degree, before any official academy leadership position starts to present themselves, that they do for two-degrees and firsties, it was a lot of helping the class stay as a collective whole, right? So one of the first big things as freshmen was selecting our class exemplar, right? And running like — how do, who do we select? How do we come together and figure that process out? How do we then, once we have a name, once we selected Robin Olds, how do we have a formal dining in? Things that I had never even heard of, right? As well as on the other side, the shenanigans, right? So, the spirit missions, right? There was many times I've had to go to the commandant's office and say, I don't know where the class crest is, like, out of pure honesty, right? But, like, that is, that was like a way, as an underclassman, that we kind of got that informal leadership, but also you're the leader by default here, so we're gonna, we're gonna make you accountable for your class. So I got to see both sides, that transitioning a little bit more to two-degree and first a year was now taking a little bit step back in writing in the informal leadership position, so I looked as myself as like a supporting agent, supporting member to our cadet leadership, and I always presented that like, “Hey, if you need our class to do something, I will do that, but if militarily you own that, like, I'm not ever going to step on your toes or push back,” right? The other thing we got, I was able to do is also help provide, like, morale inputs, right? Like you kind of had the pulse of morale, I think, more as the class president sometimes than in the official leadership, so could help provide some inputs along those ways, and there are some, say more shenanigans or morale events that we get to help put forth and present those to the cadet leadership for official approval later on as we firsties. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 8:04 Gosh, well, that was, I mean, it's really insightful for us to understand some of the roles that a class president and class cabinet plays, and so understanding that it's — I like how you put it as a supporting agent to the formal leadership. And we're gonna touch on this a lot more, because I think there's going to be times when you'll share how you build that trust and credibility throughout, both when you're a cadet and as an officer. But before we jump there, I happen to find out, Joe, that you weren't coming to the Air Force Academy to become a fighter pilot, but to become a physician. Can we talk about that for a moment? Col. Joe Bledsoe 8:37 Absolutely, that's absolutely a — I came to the Air Force Academy, wanted to be a doctor. I knew I wanted to be a biology major. I declared, I think, the first day I could declare and went through the gauntlet of getting ready for med school applications, and I loved every second of it. It was awesome. Even my fellow classmates would say he was a huge nerd and studying all the time, because that was my goal, right? I came into the Academy, and I wanted to be a doctor, and I knew the gauntlet that is, that that is required to do such a thing. And I still love medicine, right? I still love — I think medicine is fascinating. Every time my probably get there someday, or in the conversation, but anytime my kids have to go to the ER, like I'm like, “Can I scrub in,” right? All that kind of stuff. Yeah, put me in. I love medicine, and it wasn't till the summer between my two-degree and firstie year did I have that midlife crisis at the age of 21 and then firstie year is when that crisis kind of came to a head, and new doors opened, and here we are today, right? So that, yes, you're absolutely right. Always wanted to be a doctor. I was still fascinated by medicine, but now I'm just a pilot. So, there we go. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 9:57 So, can we, can you expand a bit more on it? So, was it a decision you wanted to make or a decision you had to make? Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:03 Yeah, yeah, that's great. It was a decision I had to make, ultimately, myself. Right? No one, no one said, “Joe, you can't be a doctor.” So, the summer — there's two key things that really happened that helped influence that decision. The first one was the summer between two-degree in firstie year, I had the opportunity to deploy to the Middle East, and we've heard of Ops Air Force. You know Ops Air Force. Well, at that time we had a deployed Ops Air Force, so they sent cadets overseas to deployed locations to see what was, you know, to get the full experience in a deployed location. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:40 Wow. Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:40 So I had the opportunity to do that. Spent the summer in CENTCOM and kind of opened my eyes to… Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:47 Oh, Central Command. Col. Joe Bledsoe 10:47 Yeah, sorry, Central Command, and got to experience — I got attached to a C-130 unit, right, and I got to see what flying looked like in a deployed environment, and I kind of opened my eyes, where I've been hyper focused on medicine, right? Like, you know, so focused on this is what it takes to be a doctor. I kind of like put my blinders on to what the rest of the Air Force did, right? So I was like, “This is pretty, this is, these guys and gals are doing awesome stuff, like this is this is the pointy end of what was going on.” And that planted a seed, that planted a seed. So it came back, firstie year was doing the med school applications, going through, I had some free time in my academic calendar, and I got to go down to the airfield and do the powered flight program. So, I got to see flying over the summer, and then I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to go fly an airplane, and I was like, “OK, the seed was planted, let's see if I get air sick, like, let's see if there's anything else here that might make me not want to do this.” And I loved it. Right, I fell in love with flying down at the airfield. I came back, and I was like, I'm gonna pause the med school applications and put my name in the hat for pilot training, and the rest was history, right? So, doors open, doors close, right? But that was my story, and I loved getting to talk to cadets about that, because so many can be — so many times we see some that are hyper focused, and like there's always other options out there, and it's OK to have a crisis we can talk you through. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 12:23 I think that's a fantastic lesson that you actually learned early, because you know it's interesting — had you not been sent to Ops Air Force at a deployed location, you might not have taken Alex flight, and so you know when you think about leadership opportunities and lessons, this is one of those moments where it actually steered you in a new direction. So, as we think about that, I'm curious, how your family responded to that, because, you know, you had come to the Air Force Academy to be a doctor. Were they happy for you? Were they surprised, a little nervous? Col. Joe Bledsoe 12:57 Yeah, there was a ton of mentorship there, right? Not just from my family, but from upperclassmen peers, permanent party, like, “What are you doing? Like, you came here telling us this was your goal. Where did this new goal come from?” So, there was a lot of time talking that through, and I needed that myself. It wasn't, as you know, in any decision, like, it wasn't a snap decision. So, a lot of time walking through that decision process and leaning on mentors and kind of asking the questions, like I knew what four years of med school, and then residency, but I knew what that like, what does pilot training look like? How long does that take, right? So, a lot of questions to help answer, or to find answers through, and ultimately, my family was super supportive, super supportive, and they still joke, like, “Hey, how come you're not doctor.” Well, because I fly F-15s now, right? But all supportive all throughout the process, right? And that's where you lean on others, right? Lean on others, because it very much felt like a crisis, like I still have scar tissue over it. But looking back on it, it wasn't just me making — I ultimately made the decision, but they helped me through it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 14:08 That's fantastic. You know, I think about you as an officer, as a fighter pilot, and obviously there's a lot of steps you took to get there on the road was certainly not easy. Often, though, I think that there can be some misconceptions, or maybe this is accurate, that earlier in your pilot life or your aviator life, there's probably not a lot of leadership lessons where you're leading others. Maybe, maybe that's a misperception, and we'd love to talk about that. You know, how do you find the leadership opportunities then when you are, you know, you're party of one, right? You don't necessarily have any direct reports. What does leadership look like there? Col. Joe Bledsoe 14:43 Yeah, can we take that back to like some lessons I learned at the Academy?   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 14:46 Oh, absolutely.   Col. Joe Bledsoe 14:47 Right, I think, I think that's where I've leaned most heavily in, like, not in there's this difference between formal leadership and informal, positional versus informal, and I was blessed enough at a pretty young age to learn the plus — the how to succeed and how to fail in informal leadership. I've tried to carry that throughout my career. So when you say like the younger days of being a wingman in the F-15 community, it's a lot about credibility. It's a lot about that peer leadership. How do you build the credibility? How do you build the trust to be someone that others look up to in that informal system, right, in that informal system. When they look down their phone, like, “Who do I call? Who do I have to call? Who do I want to call?” Right? and I think that's where you have to balance some of that stuff, and I spent time thinking about that, and trying to lean on lessons that I learned from the Academy, and while formal leadership positions were never handed to me, that doesn't mean you're not a leader, right? Like, you can't beat it, doesn't mean you don't just get to sit back and not lead. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 16:02 Can you share an example of a time when you learned that about yourself, or what that looked like?   Col. Joe Bledsoe 16:09 In the flying world? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 16:11 Or as a cadet?   Col. Joe Bledsoe 16:12 Yeah, as a cadet, I think the biggest one was — I'll take it back to, like, freshman, sophomore year, where I learned one of the key pillars that I'm convinced the Air Force Academy teaches all us grads about is time management, right? And I thought I was pretty good at time management, and then when you're now the president of 1,000 other cadets, your inbox fills up very quickly, right? Or you're like, “I thought I was good at time management.” And I learned very quickly that you can't do it alone, right? You can't do it alone, and I had to learn to surround myself with people that I trusted and that I could delegate or hand tasks off to, and just say, “I need this accomplished,” and I did that to my friends that I knew would get the mission done, right? And I had to have that level of trust, and I think that is translated throughout my career, where I inherently trust people with a project, right? I think there's two versions of trust, inherent trust and earned trust. When I look at the graduate network, whether that's the Air Force Academy, Navy, West Point, and I see a class ring, I'm like, “I inherently trust you,” and I can, I believe, or I see some other veterans have on — like, “I inherently trust you,” and then in other cases where I've had to learn and work with people, it's now, “I'm earning your trust, and I hope you're earning mine as well,” and that is this unique balance of I inherently trust you, I learned that at the Academy. Now let's build on that as a foundation and get this earned trust to as high as we can. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 17:54 What does some of that earned trust or becoming more credible look like when young leaders don't have the benefit of time? Right, so I, the more time I work with you, the more I learn about you. You build that credibility, etc. How does one accomplish that, maybe either shorten the gap or do that a little quicker or impactfully earlier? Col. Joe Bledsoe 18:18 Yeah, time is always — like we always need more time, right? How often do you say, like, “I only have 24 hours, but I need more time,” right? So, if we're always fighting time, like, and everybody's fighting time, then, like, that's a constant. So, let's not worry about time. So, I look at it as, like, what traits do people bring to the table, or what traits can we can we sharpen? Honesty, right? Honesty is huge. You have to be honest, and that's a pillar of trust. Integrity, right? Integrity first and showing people that you display integrity is really important. Humility, I think, is also really important. Humility is really important. I was listening to a podcast the other day, and it really struck home to me, a sense of humility is — if a leader is able to say three things, they're gonna — I know I could, I can build that trust, no matter what that time gap is. “I'm sorry,” “I was wrong,” or one of the seven basic responses: “I don't know, but I'll find out,” right? I think that's really important with humility. The other one is presence, not with a T, like we're not giving presents, but presence. Being present is really important character trait in my mind, and the fifth one that I try to reflect on a lot is action. Right? I think defaulting to not doing something is not what we want. That doesn't help build trust. Taking action with what knowledge you have and making a decision is really important, and I think those are the traits that help build that credibility, help build that trust in that time gap, whatever that looks like. If you can hit those, the five that I try to hit home. If you can do that, hopefully you're building that relationship that is going to foster — have great fruition out of it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 20:06 That's outstanding, and that's really helpful, I think. I love how you took out the constant of time being an excuse, right? Like, we don't always have the benefit of time, whether it's time and getting more experience or just time in general, I think those are outstanding examples of how you can build credibility. So, thank you for sharing that. You know, one of the things that I also would love to kind of dig into a little bit of your experiences, Joe — because they've been really vast, right? So, I don't believe that everyone has the same kind of path. How have you grown as a leader in these different experiences that really, again, aren't positional leadership roles? I'm just curious, how your growth has been in that space. Col. Joe Bledsoe 20:47 Think a lot of it's been through failure. I think a lot of it's been through failure. These might not be huge, like we lost a million dollars, or like, not through those kind of failures, but relationship failures, or conversation failure at the micro level, and how I've tried to handle that is surround myself with people that will tell me that the emperor — I'm gonna go back to the, I'm gonna go back to the old fairy tale, or fable, right? If you surround yourself with people that are able to come up to you, and you trust them, and you trust their feedback, that is something I've tried, that was Cadet Bledsoe, advice given to me is Cadet Bledsoe. Surround yourself with people that you will listen to and take their feedback honestly. And sometimes that means if I don't have that person in the room and I know I fumbled a conversation or I made a poor decision, it's going to that individual and saying, “I messed up, I'm sorry, I was wrong,” or “I don't know,” right. And that's how I try to use that to present humility, I think, and that's important, because we're all fallible, we all make mistakes, and if I can't admit that, then, like, we're off to the wrong foot right away. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 22:06 Do you think some of that that skill that you've developed over time has been something that you've learned in, and forgive me, I don't know if it's a fighter pilot community, specifically, or you know, I think about when you do your sorties and you have some sort of debrief, right? I feel what I've heard, I've not actually sat in one, but they're very real. Like, there's no, it's not about making you feel good about it, like it's about the safety and the mission, and so I'm curious, if that skill of humility, and you know, calling a spade a spade, and calling it I'm wrong and I'm wrong, did that come from some of that experience, and maybe you can talk through what that's like, because not everyone, I think, practices at that level of transparency. Col. Joe Bledsoe 22:46 Yeah, the fighter pilot debrief. I learned some of the importance of that through mentorship as a cadet, and then that was sharpened as a fighter pilot. And I learned the importance of that through the form, my formal job, right, the mission, the lives at stake, aircraft, that kind of stuff. And I think I've tried, I've only honed that skill through Air Force training, right? The Air Force has trained me to think like that, and I've tried to translate that into my personal life and leadership positions, because I think there's tons of value to that. There is tons of value in being willing to find a mistake, own up to that mistake with the knowledge and hope that it doesn't happen again, right? And if that is like, if you, if that's your north star, we don't do this again, like, why wouldn't you want to be on that team? Why wouldn't, why don't you want to be? That's how we get better, right? And I think that seed again was planted as a cadet. Like, let's, I tell cadets all the time, like, you're joining the A-team, so put in A effort, right? Like, if you're going to join the A-team, I don't want B-players, and this is what we got to get, like, let's go, right? It's a motivating factor in my mind. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 24:08 What are some of the ways to approach that in a leadership conversation for someone who would be interested in taking on some of those, those learned lessons? Col. Joe Bledsoe 24:18 Yeah, I think the first thing is transparency and honesty right up front. Like this, Naviere, if we were flying together, right and you were my instructor, your job is not to degrade me as a human, but to prove to me that I made a mistake with the ultimate goal of making me better, right? Your job is to always, like — and the relationship you and I have as an instructor and a student is my — I'm gonna sit here in the debrief and go, and Naviere is here to make me better, right? Like, that's your, that's your job, right? Right. So, once you start that as the foundation, like, it can only get better if I know your job is to make me better, and your job is I'm supposed to make this guy better, right. And often we can, when feedback is provided, you're like, this could be a personal attack, or, like, that's all left out, that's all left outside the debrief room, right? Like, we're here to make everybody better, and I think that's where it starts: with that transparency and honesty up front of the expectation. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 25:15 So you'll actually say that. You would actually… Col. Joe Bledsoe 25:17 No, I think that's just a common, that's a common theme, right? That's the expectation in the community. And not just in the fighter community. I think it's throughout the Air Force, right? I think that's what makes us really, really unique. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 25:32 Because feedback is something that we, we do — although maybe some can do it better than others — I think that's a really fantastic way — before you're giving someone feedback, you're really clear on this is what we're hoping to accomplish by having this time together. And so, I think what you just said can make feedback so much more impactful, because it's not about the person, it's about what are we trying to accomplish and helping you, I guess. It is about you, but ultimately helping you. Col. Joe Bledsoe 25:59 Absolutely, right? Like the where every debrief starts is we had a mission objective and we had tactical objectives. Did we do them? If we didn't, let's figure out why, right? So translating to the business world or private sector, it's a root cause analysis, right? It's a root cause analysis, and we will get down to the nitty gritty of like, what type of error — did you make a decision error? Did you perceive the environment wrong? Did your actions cause the error, right? And we get down to that level, so that when the student, student Paveway walks away, Naviere, knows, Naviere, you gave me the exact, like, you decided wrong, because X, Y and Z; don't do that again. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 26:43 Right. Col. Joe Bledsoe 26:44 Here's your fix. You know, that debrief can take hours, and that's the beauty of it, right? “We're gonna sit there, and we're not gonna let anything not be uncovered, because we're gonna go do this again tomorrow, and we can't make the same mistake tomorrow,” right? “We can't make the same mistake.” Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:01 No, that's, that's fantastic. I mean, to have it that clear, and to know it, like, OK, we're not gonna, we don't stay in that space. We've addressed it, we know we've identified a fix, and we move forward. Is that what you said? Col. Joe Bledsoe 27:12 Absolutely. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:13 There's no like, continue to revisit, like… Col. Joe Bledsoe 27:15 Yep, that's the point, right? Like, “I've learned something, I know, I've acknowledged my mistake. Let's move on. This wasn't personal, this was you making me better.” Iron sharpens iron, right? So, here we go, and then move on. And now that translates, as you asked kind of a couple minutes ago, right, that can translate to so many things in your life, right? And I try to do that sometimes, like my wife will tell me, I go too fighter pilot, but there's versions of that that translate as we are not in a fight or pilot debrief. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:50 You literally got in my head because I was gonna say, now I want to put you on the spot, because Joe, you are married to your high school sweetheart, you make a 2% club, right? Like, you actually started the Academy with a sweetheart and ended with the same sweetheart. And now you have three amazing, beautiful children. How do you translate that to, you know, feedback to your family or your personal life? And I love how your wife said too fighter pilot, but how about to your kids? Col. Joe Bledsoe 28:15 Yeah, married my high school sweetheart, Alicia. We started dating our sophomore year, and we've been together ever since. So she is not a grad, but she has a lot of Air Force in her blood, so that's great, and the kids, I would say there's a couple things when it comes to taking some things I've learned or been trained in the Air Force, translating on the home front. The first one goes to accountability, right? I think accountability is really important because in an aircraft, you have to be accountable for your actions, and I think that translates to being a parent, as well as trying to teach the kids some humility. Right, where to be humble, when to own up to your mistakes, and sometimes that works in the fighter pilot way, sometimes it doesn't, and I think that's leadership, right? You can have leadership skills and be consistent in some, in some ways, but other times adaptability is really important, especially with the kids, and each one of my kids is very unique, and we have to cater to each one of them and their unique skills. I will say about my wife, I love her with all my heart, but she knows the words “knock it off” as well, right, because that's a sacred word, not just in the military, but on our, in our homefront, and that usually means stop being a full fighter pilot, like go back to being Dad, right? So she knows, she knows the words and how to make that all go down. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 29:47 I love that it's another language, right? You have your, your fighter pilot language, and you have a home front language. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. You know, I'd like to switch gears a little bit to your time operationally, and maybe this translates into now your work at the Institute, or your most recent work at the Institute for Future Conflict and preparing cadets for the future fight. I'm curious, how all of these skills that you've learned, and these leadership traits that you've continued to develop in yourself, have translated in moments of, you know, like, real conflict, real distress, like when the stakes are high, and how you prepare cadets to think that way, even though maybe they've not experienced that. I'm just curious, what that looks like. Col. Joe Bledsoe 30:31 Yeah, it is hard to translate — like cadets love war stories, right? Like, “So there I was…” but it's hard to translate some of, like, the putting, having the cadets put themselves in the shoes of someone that has 15 years of flying under their belt, right? Like, that's hard for them to grasp, and I understand that, and that's not what I'm asking of them to do, but there are certain skills that I think are really important, and that I've got to experience and talk to cadets and research and spend time thinking about at the Institute for Future Conflict at the IFC. One is risk, right? How do we, how do we think about risk, right? Are we risk prone? We risk adverse? How do we think about risk, not just in this moment, but how does our decision today affect five days from now, a month, right? And, as you remember, because I know it happened to you as a cadet, like you're just in the, like, “What's my next problem,” right? What's my next — OK, how does, like, fixing this problem affect next week? Right. And I think that's what I've got had the opportunity to think a lot about the IFC, as well as try one thing I've learned being back here at the Academy was my experience as a cadet is not the same experience as the cadets now. And what do I mean by that is when I graduated, GWOT, Global War on Terror was the thing we knew what we were getting into. I very much knew flying, going to the Middle East. Now the cadets looked to me and other permanent party, and like, what's our fight going to look like? And right, the question mark is, I don't know, but let me tell you, think about this, and I could be wrong, and I think that is where I've had a lot of time to think about future conflict and what's problems, maybe not nations or adversaries, but like big meta level things they'll have to think about, information access, information sharing, trust, right? How do you, how do you help develop some of these skills in the cadets? And that's where I've spent a lot of time the last two years trying to think and spend, spend some brain bytes, like what does air power look like in this unknown environment? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 32:52 And as you're about to step back into it, I'm thoughtful of that, and so now you're taking what you've helped cadets start to hone in and think about. How are you different now as a leader going back into the cockpit than you were when you came to the Academy? Col. Joe Bledsoe 33:09 Yeah, let me get back to the cockpit, and everyone can tell me what, how I'm different. We'll use that as the test. But here's one thing I think — I've reflected on this recently, going back to the Strike Eagle community. One has been my exposure here in Colorado Springs and at the Air Force Academy, meaning I've learned a lot about what others do that I wasn't — I knew other jobs existed, I knew other AFSCs did things, but not being in a flying day-to-day ops tempo, I've had the opportunity to sit down and, like, “What do you say you do?” “Oh, that has some effects here, here, and here,” and I use a specific vignette would be, I've got to spend a lot of time in the management department and helped teach in the global logistics minor, and like, I knew there was logisticians in the Air Force, and like, that's yeah, right? That's how stuff got here, but like, understanding the importance of, like, that's how my bombs got here, this is how the b…, right, like, truly understanding their frustrations, I think will make me get less frustrated in my day to day, right, and I think that has been one thing that the Academy has given back to me the second time I've been here, is a little bit more exposure to the Air Force, as well as the Space Force, being here in Colorado Springs, like seeing what each team member, like each cog in the machine brings to the fight, right? And I think that's been a blessing here. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 34:42 So those that you will begin to get back working with — your men and women in your community — they won't have had that exposure, and so I'm now going back to our where we started with the sense of informal leadership. How do you help others gain that experience and thought, and maybe thought process informally, since they haven't really been exposed to that? How would you help them navigate it? Col. Joe Bledsoe 35:09 Naviere, I think the best way to do stuff like that is, like, you raised your hand when you said logistics officers, like Naviere, we're doing a podcast with my next squadron, you're coming to talk, right? Col. Naviere Walkewicz 35:19 Right, it's like that was like a long time ago, we need someone more recent. Col. Joe Bledsoe 35:24 But, OK, Naviere, it's not you, but you know people, that's how stuff gets done, right, that's how stuff gets done. And while I by no means want to stand up in front of everybody and say I'm the expert on logistics, but I, I'm not that person, but I trust Naviere, Naviere's contact here, and that's how, like, you create this network of knowledge and this network of trust and credibility. And to my, to the fighter pilots that I'll be flying with, it's somewhat like throwing mud at the wall sometimes, like we're gonna keep throwing mud and see what sticks, but at least they know it's there, right? Like, we're gonna, your job is still to go kill things and blow things up, but at the same time, you know there's this other network out there that you can lean into. But let me be a conduit to make that happen. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 36:15 That is awesome. That's fantastic. So I want to go into this period now, where we talk about you and your continued growth as a leader. What is something, Joe, that you're doing every day to be a better leader? Col. Joe Bledsoe 36:30 I have mentors, and I've tried to find mentees. I think that is where growth can happen, leaning on others for mentorship and mentees to try to talk through some things you've thought through and give experience and exposure to others, right? And that's that network we were just talking about, right? Other things I think are really important is reading and writing. Read a lot, write a lot, nobody writes good anymore, right? Thanks, ChatGPT. But being able to communicate in the written form is really important. So, writing and reading. And the other thing, too, is as a leader, just find an outlet, find something, find a hobby, find something that's fun to do, right. So, I got into running here at the Academy, because we're at high elevation, and I'm, why not, right? But find something that, like, rounds you out, right? It's fine, find an outlet that helps give you some relief from all the stresses that can happen in leadership. That's where I would say I spend a lot of time, or what I think about trying to sharpen my skills. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 37:34 Daily. So, what are you reading right now? Col. Joe Bledsoe 37:37 Oh, that's a great question. I have a couple books that are on the table. Mask of Command is one that I'm reading as I get ready to go back and potentially be in a leadership role. There's a couple other books that come to mind. I'm reading a baseball coaching book, because I coach my baseball, it's a basketball book by Coach K from Duke, as I go back to North Carolina, but it's a book, how to coach kids, right, Leadership on the Court, and it's fun to just think about training and coaching kids and how to keep them inspired. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 38:18 Oh, that's awesome. So, speaking of kids, if you were to go back in time, and talk to younger Joe Bledsoe, the third, what advice would you give him? Col. Joe Bledsoe 38:30 Yeah, if I had to go back, I would say it's worth it. Every second, work hard at the Academy, right? The doors that it opens, that's where my mind went when you asked the question, like, younger me at the Academy. Be good to Alicia, my wife, right? Be good, because she's going to be with you for a long time. So be good to her, as well as foster your, foster your friendships. They're going to mean a lot to you in the future, right? The relationships you build on that hill are going to come back in ways you have no idea years to come. So take time and prioritize the people that you meet. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 39:10 Those are really great reflections. Joe, is there anything that we haven't covered in our conversation that you would love to share with our Long Blue Leadership listeners and viewers? Col. Joe Bledsoe 39:24 Absolutely, be proud of this institution. I'm proud of it. I know you are too, Naviere. Proud of this Academy. Be proud of the cadets, be proud of the permanent party that work here. There's an A-team out there, and this is this is where it starts, right? And it's not just if you're serving in blue or in the Space Force, right? If you're out there doing awesome things for our country on the private, in the private sector, thank you. Keep doing what you're doing. There's no shade of blue in the Long Blue Line, that's my, my phrase for that one. There's no shade of blue. Serve your country, be proud. And that's — just be proud to be an Academy grad. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 40:07 That's fantastic. So, you know, in our time together, I have loved this, this, this leadership conversation, because we really span an area that I don't think a lot of people talk about, and it's, how do you demonstrate leadership in an informal way, you know, without titles and without necessarily key positions or in the hierarchical structure, and so some of the things that really stood with me, Joe, that you've covered, have been being credible, being present, and humble. I really like that, and you didn't say this in these words, but what I took from that was, you know, being honest and truthful is almost one of the most kind ways you can be right, because you're actually helping someone be better, and that really stuck with me, you know. I don't, we have an A-team, we don't need B-players, that I think you exactly said that, so definitely stuck with me. But watching the way that you have led, not with your class, not just the cadets, and, you know, certainly not the squadron that you will have here shortly as a director of operations, but I think you've continued to just be who you've always been, which is someone who leads with integrity through those pillars and certainly by example. So this has been an incredible conversation, and for anyone that is watching us and listening to this, for others that are in their leadership journeys, this is another one you're going to want to share, because it's not just about, you know, Lt. Col. Bledsoe's journey right now, it's been all of these moments and experiences and memories and they really do connect with anyone on a leadership journey. So, be sure to join in on longblueleadership.org or wherever you get your podcasts, not just to see this one, but all of our other conversations. So, Joe, thank you so much for joining us today. Col. Joe Bledsoe 41:46 Thank you Naviere. Go Air Force! Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:48 Go Air Force!   Col. Joe Bledsoe 41:49 There we go. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:50 Absolutely, until next time, we'll see you on Long Blue Leadership. KEYWORDS informal leadership, peer leadership, Air Force Academy leadership, USAFA class president, fighter pilot debrief culture, building trust and credibility, leadership humility, future conflict and airpower, Long Blue Leadership podcast, military leadership lessons.     The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation          

Most people have heard of the "dark web," but what exactly is it? Is it really a hidden corner of the internet where criminals and bad actors operate beyond the reach of law enforcement? And what about the "deep web"—is that the same thing? These terms are often used interchangeably, but they mean very different things. Understanding the difference offers a fascinating glimpse into how the internet really works. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/what-dark-web You often hear that fewer people are getting married, that younger generations have lost interest in marriage, or that marriage itself is slowly fading away. The reality is much more interesting. Marriage is not disappearing—it is evolving. People are marrying later, expecting different things from marriage than previous generations did, and redefining what a successful marriage looks like. At the same time, marriage remains one of the most important relationships in people's lives. So what is changing, what isn't, and what does the future of marriage look like? For some answers we turn to Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families and author of For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage (https://amzn.to/440TQpK). We've all seen people who seem to possess an extraordinary level of confidence. Elite athletes, military leaders, top executives, first responders—people who perform under enormous pressure yet appear calm, focused, and absolutely certain they can handle whatever comes next. According to Dr. Nate Zinsser, the kind of confidence is a skill that can be deliberately built, strengthened, and maintained. Drawing on decades of experience training soldiers, athletes, executives, and emergency personnel, Dr. Zinsser explains where genuine confidence comes from, and how anyone can develop the mental habits that lead to stronger performance under pressure. Dr. Zinsser is Director of the Performance Psychology Program at West Point and author of The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance (https://amzn.to/4xAOwqS) Most dog owners believe a hug is a universal sign of affection. Your dog may not agree. While dogs are often expressive about their emotions, humans frequently misread what those emotions mean. Understanding how dogs communicate—and how they interpret our behavior—can help prevent misunderstandings that sometimes lead to stress, anxiety, or even aggression. Source: Stanley Coren, author of How to Speak Dog (https://amzn.to/4e07aAL). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS POCKET HOSE: For a limited time, when you purchase a new Pocket Hose Ballistic, you'll get a FREE 360 degree rotating pocket pivot and a FREE thumb drive nozzle! Just text SYSK to 64000 AIR DOCTOR: Head to ⁠https://AirDoctorPro.com⁠ and use promo code SYSK to get $250 off select AirDoctor air purifiers, including the 3500, 4000, and 5500 models. Plus, you'll receive a free 3year warranty!  RULA: Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Rula.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. QUINCE: Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! SHOPIFY: It's time to turn those "what ifs" into CHA CHING with Shopify Today! Sign up for your $1 per month trail and start selling today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Shopify.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant Demaree of Onebrief joins Nick to discuss The Future of Military Planning: Defense Tech Beyond the Bubble, AI Software as Combat Power, and the Rise of AI Wargaming. In this episode we cover: West Point and Army Background's Impact on Founding One Brief Challenges and Insights in Military Planning Co-Founder Relationships and Founder Mode Future of One Brief and Defense Tech Defense Tech and American Hegemony Military Staff of the Future Guest Links: Grant's LinkedIn Grant's X Onebrief's LinkedIn Onebrief's Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.   Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Gene Zannetti talks with Nebraska state champion JT Smith about starting with Wrestling Mindset in eighth grade to fix a confidence problem that was holding him back despite having the technique and athleticism to beat top-level guys, how shifting from a prey mindset to a predator mindset unlocked his aggression on the mat, pinning his first two state tournament opponents in a combined 35 seconds, and his goals of graduating from West Point and making a U20 Greco or freestyle national team.Timestamps:1:41 - Started with Wrestling Mindset with a confidence problem2:54 - The prey mindset: going in timid, not ready to attack or score3:18 - Feels ready at 100% almost every time he steps on the mat5:23 - Got sick mid-season, had to come back and rebuild conditioning6:23 - Teched everyone at districts, pinned first two state opponents in under 50 seconds combined8:36 - Two best friends lost in the state finals right before his match10:11 - Took an injury timeout in the finals, refocused, and pulled away to win 11 to 214:52 - Going to West Point, wants to be an All-American and make a U20 national team

In this latest episode of the World War I Podcast, we are joined by Lillian Pfluke, a retired U.S. Army major and a member of the pioneering first class of women to graduate from West Point in 1980. After her military career, she spent ten years working for the American Battle Monuments Commission as the Private Memorials Administrator of the European Region before founding American War Memorials Overseas, an organization dedicated to identifying and preserving the thousands of U.S. war memorials found around the world. In this conversation, we discussed the many private World War I memorials overseas, what they commemorate, and why they continue to matter more than a century later. Learn more about American War Memorials Overseas.Links to photos of memorials discussed: WWI Medal of Honor awardee in Montenegro: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=1379&MemID=1812Dudley Tucker: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=155&MemID=235Aviation Training Center Monument with 171 training accident death: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=614&MemID=897&keyword=paudyIs-sur-Tille: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=227&MemID=350&keyword=is+sur+tilleMurville link: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/admin/images/memorials/1369759936Murville(2).JPG.Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can read texts, but we cannot respond.) Follow us:Twitter: @MacArthur1880 Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClarkFacebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorialwww.macarthurmemorial.org 

This is what patriotism looks like. The Marc Cox Morning Show welcomes Army veteran and Folds of Honor board director Ray Wagner and retired Marine Sergeant Rocky Sickman — a man who spent 444 days as an Iranian hostage — live from Whitmore Country Club. Ray breaks down how the Suntrop family alone has funded 370 scholarships and $2.8 million for local military families, and how 2,200 scholarships have gone to students at 60 Missouri colleges and universities. Then Rocky delivers a moment that stops the room — he didn't know until he came home that eight American soldiers died trying to rescue him in Operation Eagle Claw, and every single morning he wakes up earning the day in their memory. He also delivers a chilling warning about the Iran negotiations: the Islamic Republic told him to his face during interrogation that they just wait out American presidents. Ray Wagner adds a West Point moment — his classmate Major Nicholas Dockery just received the Medal of Honor at the White House. If you love this country and the warriors who defend it, you cannot afford to miss this segment. HASHTAGS: #MarcCoxMorningShow #FoldsOfHonor #RockySickman #RayWagner #IranHostage #OperationEagleClaw #MedalOfHonor #NicholasDockery #MilitaryFamilies #SuntropFamily #ConservativeRadio #STLConservative #MarcCox #PatriotVoices #HonorTheirSacrifice

Hour 3 of the Marc Cox Morning Show is one for the ages. Live at Whitmore Country Club, Marc sits down with two American heroes — Army veteran and Folds of Honor board director Ray Wagner, who watched his West Point classmate receive the Medal of Honor at the White House, and retired Marine Sergeant Rocky Sickman, who spent 444 days as an Iranian hostage and delivers a chilling warning: Iran told him to his face they just wait out American presidents. Then Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, breaks down the unanimous Supreme Court marijuana gun ruling and drops a bombshell — birthright citizenship and biological men in women's sports decisions could land as soon as this week. Dan Buck brings the number one downloaded song of the weekend — Tom McDonald's "Remember Who You Are" — and makes the case that the silent majority is done being shamed into silence. And Matt Schwartz, president of Missouri and Southern Illinois Folds of Honor, reveals 150 qualified scholarship applicants didn't get funded this year — and every $5,000 changes a military family's life forever. Missouri Attorney General Katherine Hannaway joins next hour. Don't go anywhere. HOUR HASHTAGS: #MarcCoxMorningShow #Hour3 #FoldsOfHonor #RockySickman #RayWagner #HansVonSpakovsky #SupremeCourt #DanBuck #TomMcDonald #MattSchwartz #BirthrightCitizenship #MilitaryFamilies #ConservativeRadio #STLConservative #MarcCox #PatriotVoices HOUR 3 GUEST LIST: Ray Wagner — Army veteran and Folds of Honor board director, discussing the organization's local scholarship impact and his West Point classmate's Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House Rocky Sickman — Retired Marine Sergeant and former Iranian hostage, warning that Iran's negotiators told him directly they simply wait out American presidents Hans von Spakovsky — Senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, breaking down the 9-0 marijuana gun ruling and previewing blockbuster Supreme Court decisions expected this week Dan Buck — The Buck Stops Here contributor, spotlighting Tom McDonald's #1 hit "Remember Who You Are" and the left's double standard on racial pride Matt Schwarz — COO and President of Missouri and Southern Illinois Folds of Honor chapters, revealing 150 qualified scholarship applicants went unfunded and how listeners can help

They came to honor America's warriors — and the Marc Cox Morning Show delivered one of the most powerful Monday mornings in recent memory. Broadcasting live from Whitmore Country Club in St. Charles County for the eighth annual SunTrip Folds of Honor Golf Tournament, Marc Cox and Kim St. Onge spent four hours doing what they do best: honoring the people who deserve it, exposing the people who don't, and giving conservative Missouri exactly what the mainstream media refuses to provide. The morning opened with Marc dismantling the narrative that Iran won anything — a country with no Navy, no Air Force, 85-90% of its missiles destroyed, and its uranium on the negotiating table. While JD Vance worked the room in Switzerland, Democrats like Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, and Cory Booker rushed to cameras to root for failure — and Marc Cox called every single one of them out. Then Chuck Schumer accidentally admitted the SAVE Act might remove 25 million people from voter rolls, Rosie O'Donnell returned from Ireland to push election cancellation conspiracy theories, and Kamala Harris demanded 13 Supreme Court justices on the Don Lemon show. Kim St. Onge took over Kim on a Whim with a deep dive into the left's war on American history — from the Christopher Columbus statue that vanished from Tower Grove Park to Confederate monuments quietly returning to Baltimore to the 1619 Project sneaking into Missouri classrooms. Then the Marc Cox Morning Show played the audio of Joe Biden proving he had absolutely no idea what Juneteenth was — right before he made it a national holiday. Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, broke down the unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court marijuana gun ruling and warned that birthright citizenship and biological men in women's sports decisions could drop as early as this week. Dan Buck brought the number one downloaded song of the weekend — Tom McDonald's "Remember Who You Are" — and made the case that the silent majority is done being shamed into silence. Nicole Murray delivered the business headlines including oil prices dropping as Iran peace talks progressed and SpaceX stumbling after its blockbuster IPO. The emotional heart of the morning came when retired Marine Sergeant Rocky Sickman — who spent 444 days as an Iranian hostage — delivered a chilling warning live on air: Iran's interrogators told him directly during captivity that they simply wait out American presidents. He revealed he didn't learn until he came home that eight American soldiers died trying to rescue him in Operation Eagle Claw, and that every single morning he wakes up earning the day in their memory. Army veteran and Folds of Honor board director Ray Wagner added that his West Point classmate Major Nicholas Dockery had just received the Medal of Honor at the White House. Matt Schwartz, president of the Missouri and Southern Illinois Folds of Honor chapters, revealed that 150 fully qualified scholarship applicants went unfunded this year — and every $5,000 changes a military family's life forever. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway drove out to Whitmore Country Club and delivered back-to-back bombshells across two segments — a June 25th deadline to Major League Baseball over suppressing Bible verses while forcing Pride logos, a full appeal of the judge's ruling gutting 179 Missouri abortion safety laws, an urgent warning to parents about Lorex baby monitors feeding audio and video to Chinese military-linked servers, the shutdown of kratom-derived 708 that has killed 161 Missourians and targets kids in recovery, and the news that 18,000 of Missouri's estimated 25,000 illegal slot machines have been shut down. Marc's son Brad Cox closed the show with the news that 350 golfers across two courses — Whitmore and Persimmon Woods — are projected to raise $400,000 for Folds of Honor in a single day. Four hours. One location. Countless reasons to be proud to be an American. This is the Marc Cox Morning Show — and ...

El talento no es lo que te va a llevar lejos, es el Grit. Un estudio con 11.000 personas lo confirma. Hoy descubrís las tres mentiras que creemos sobre el talento y por qué la gente más exitosa no es necesariamente la más dotada, sino la que tiene algo diferente que muy pocos desarrollan. Además, te dejamos un test para que descubras tu propio nivel de Grit. 00:00 Comienzo 00:54 Mentira 1: Los exitosos nacieron diferentes03:52 Mentira 2: Si tengo talento, ya está06:43 Mentira 3: La motivación es lo que me va a sostenerAbrazá un propósito. ¡Desafía al mundo e inspirá a otros!Recordá que si querés enviarnos tus preguntas, consultas o sugerencias podés hacerlo a podcast@emprendeconproposito.com.arTambién podés seguirnos en las otras redes:Web: emprendeconproposito.com.ar IG: @sebasosaemprende @somosecp YT: Emprende con propósito TikTok: @somosecp  Te dejo un resumen del podcast: ¿Alguna vez empezaste algo con toda la energía del mundo y lo abandonaste a las pocas semanas? Un estudio con 11.000 personas demuestra que la razón casi nunca es la falta de talento. Hoy hablamos de tres mentiras que creemos sobre el talento y que nos frenan justo antes de lograrlo.Mentira 1: Los exitosos nacieron diferentesEn West Point, la escuela militar más exigente de Estados Unidos, 14.000 candidatos compiten por 1.200 lugares. Para ingresar necesitás años de preparación, los mejores promedios y recomendaciones de congresistas. Lo paradójico es que muchos de esos elegidos abandonan en las primeras siete semanas, sometidos a jornadas de 5 de la mañana a 10 de la noche sin contacto con el exterior. West Point usaba una fórmula que medía talento, liderazgo y condición física para predecir el éxito, pero no podía predecir quién iba a abandonar. Angela Duckworth descubrió que faltaba algo: el grit, una combinación de pasión y perseverancia que no tiene traducción exacta al español pero que define mejor que el talento quién llega lejos.Mentira 2: Si tengo talento, ya estáDuckworth propone dos fórmulas. Primera: talento por esfuerzo igual a habilidad. Sin esfuerzo, el talento es solo potencial. Segunda: habilidad por esfuerzo igual a logro. El esfuerzo aparece dos veces, lo que lo convierte en el verdadero multiplicador. David Ruda, cofundador de Tarjeta Naranja, era profesor de educación física sin talento natural para los negocios. Arrancó vendiendo 12 pares de zapatillas en consignación, identificó que la gente no podía pagar y creó un sistema de crédito que se convirtió en la tarjeta que todos los argentinos conocemos, adquirida años después por Banco Galicia.Mentira 3: La motivación es lo que me va a sostenerLa motivación sola no alcanza. Lo que sostiene en el tiempo es el grit, y se construye con cuatro elementos. Primero, el interés genuino: no el enamoramiento inicial con una idea, sino el que sobrevive a las preguntas difíciles y los escenarios incómodos. Segundo, la práctica deliberada: hacer las cosas de forma intencional, buscando feedback, equivocándose con estrategia. Tercero, el propósito: conectar con algo más grande que uno mismo, como Ruda que no quería vender zapatillas sino lograr que más chicos pudieran tenerlas. Cuarto, la esperanza activa: creer que podés crecer, que el tropiezo es temporal y que mañana volvés a intentarlo.Angela Duckworth dejó 12 preguntas para medir tu propio grit. Mientras más honestas sean tus respuestas, más valiosa será la información. El talento importa, pero el grit vale por dos.Si querés saber tu escala de Grit, te dejamos un test haciendo click acá. #escalabilidad #crecimiento #desarrollo #Pymes #gritt

Today in the US, we celebrate Juneteenth, the commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in America. It's wonderful to note the moments of historical progress like Juneteenth. But we have to remember that beautiful language pales in comparison to beautiful acts.In today's episode, Ryan talks with General Ty Seidule about memory, monuments, and what it means to tell the truth about the past. They discuss the difference between memory and nostalgia, why commemoration should reflect our values, and how American history is full of heroes worth honoring. Ty Seidule served in the U.S. Army for more than three decades, retiring in 2020 as a brigadier general. He is a professor emeritus of history at West Point and received its distinguished faculty award. In 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appointed Seidule to the Congressional Naming Commission tasked with redesignating Department of Defense assets which honor Confederates, where he was elected vice chair.Follow Ty on Instagram | @tyseidule

The United States Military Academy at West Point is the foundation of the US Army. Along the cliffs, through the halls, and on the fields America's best and brightest are trained to lead not just soldiers, but America. But behind the tradition and pageantry, West Point understands that athletics of any level create disciplined warriors prepared to lead in any situation. In this episode, Fran Racioppi sat down with Tom Theodorakis, Director of Athletics at West Point, to discuss how one of the most respected athletic programs in the country directly supports the mission of the United States Military Academy and helps develop the next generation of Army leaders.With more than 30 Division I programs and over 1,200 cadet-athletes, Tom explains what makes Army West Point different from every other program in college athletics. Cadet-athletes are not just balancing Division 1 sports and rigorous academics; they are simultaneously preparing to become officers in the United States Army where they will lead soldiers and shape national security strategy for decades to come.We discuss the demanding reality of being a cadet-athlete, the recruiting process, and what it takes to attract elite competitors to an institution built around service before self.Tom also addresses the realities behind funding Army athletics, correcting the misconception that the program is fully government funded, and explaining how external support and partnerships help sustain the mission of Army West Point Athletics.Finally, we discuss the opportunities available to cadet-athletes after graduation, including pathways to world-class and professional athletics, and most importantly serving as officers in the United States Army.Highlights0:00 Introduction2:09 Welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast3:43 Athletic Director Responsibility6:01 Recruiting Athletes to West Point8:31 Competing at the D1 Level11:14 Funding Athletics12:06 NIL Impact13:08 Defining Sustainability14:04 West Point Cadet-Athlete Experience18:18 West Point Pro Athletes19:58 Coaching Cadet-Athletes22:54 Creating Warriors25:26 Defining Success26:50 Cadet to LieutenantQuotes:“It's very humbling and also a tremendous responsibility .”“We want to win. If we're going to keep score we want to win.”“That atmosphere of winning is something that's paramount.”“We need to continue to just recruit and put ourselves on the biggest stage possible.”“We want to make sure to create the best area, the best resources for our athletes to just grow.”“The idea is that when someone comes here, they say ‘they care about athletics.'”“We need to continue to be innovative.”“We sell not the transactional experience, but it's the transformational experience.”“What are we doing now to make sure we're in a good position in the future?”“This place is about challenging our athletes.”“Every cadet here is an athlete.”“The key word here is ‘path.'”“You have to fully embrace this place and love this institution.”“You got to win too. Results matter.”“These are all things athletics can teach you on the field.”“There's so many things that we do here at West Point that now more than ever help us.”“That's the best part of the job.”The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by OneBrief; enabling military leaders to make innovative, informed and deliberate decisions faster than ever before. Superhuman command wins wars.Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Colonel Douglas Macgregor to the show. Douglas is a Retired U.S. Army Colonel and a Decorated Combat Veteran. In their discussion, Macgregor assesses the leaked 14-point MOU between Iran and the United States as an admission of strategic defeat, signaling that Iran has emerged victorious from the conflict. He emphasizes that the war is not over, predicting Israel will soon resume its offensive, prompting an Iranian counterattack and forcing President Trump to reengage militarily, albeit briefly, before ultimately disengaging. Macgregor argues that the United States was doomed to lose due to Iran's mastery of integrated surveillance and strike capabilities, which render traditional naval and air superiority ineffective without robust ground forces, a capability he claims the U.S. currently lacks. Shifting to economic implications, Macgregor advises a focus on energy, metals, minerals, fertilizer, and food as the only secure investments in the current climate, dismissing AI and SpaceX as speculative bubbles. He warns that the Strait of Hormuz remains at risk, ensuring oil prices will surge again as global demand outpaces supply, with countries racing to build strategic reserves. The depletion of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the potential for further conflict will drive inflation and economic instability, likening the coming effects to a tsunami. He foresees a structural reset where American military hegemony retreats, leading to the collapse of artificial state boundaries in the Middle East and the rise of Iran and Turkey as dominant regional powers, which will reshape alliances and likely end Israel’s long-term viability. Macgregor also discusses the financial front, projecting that gold will reemerge as the ultimate reserve currency, with prices potentially reaching $10,000, while Bitcoin may serve as a transactional alternative to the dollar. He underscores that the geopolitical shifts will redirect American focus inward, forcing a painful but necessary reorientation toward domestic prosperity and core industries. Overall, his analysis presents a bleak near-term outlook marked by military defeat, economic disruption, and profound global realignment. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:45 – Iran US MOU Assessment 00:06:00 – Energy Metals Commodity Focus 00:08:50 – Oil Prices and Reserves 00:11:50 – Rise of Iran & Turkey 00:20:14 – Trump Pressures & MOU 00:23:30 – Gold and Bitcoin Outlook 00:27:56 – U.S. Strategic Petro Reserve 00:31:38 – Sulphuric Acid, Urea, & Ag. 00:34:47 – Use of Ground Forces? 00:37:08 – Gold In A Tsunami 00:38:50 – Purchasing Power Gold & BTC 00:40:01 – Substack and Final Remarks 00:42:11 – Concluding Thoughts Guest Links: Website: https://douglasmacgregor.com X: https://x.com/DougAMacgregor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasmacgregorTV Articles: https://breakingdefense.com/author/doug-macgregor/ Substack: https://substack.com/@coloneldoug Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, an author of five books, a PhD, and a defense and foreign policy consultant. Macgregor was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1976 after 1 year at VMI and 4 years at West Point. In 2004, Macgregor retired with the rank of Colonel. In 2020, the President appointed Macgregor to serve as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, a post he held until President Trump left office. He holds an MA in comparative politics and a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia. Macgregor is widely known inside the U.S., Europe, Israel, Russia, China and Korea for both his leadership in the Battle of 73 Easting, the U.S. Army's largest tank battle since World War II, and for his ground breaking books on military transformation: Breaking the Phalanx (Praeger, 1997) and Transformation under Fire (Praeger, 2003). Macgregor's recommendations for change in Force Design and “integrated all arms-all effects” operations have profoundly influenced force development in Israel, Russia and China. In 2010, Macgregor traveled to Seoul, Korea to advise the ROK Ministry of Defense on force design. In 2019, Transformation under Fire was selected by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, Chief of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), as the intellectual basis for IDF transformation. His fifth book, Margin of Victory: Five Battles that Changed the Face of Modern War from Naval Institute Press is available in Chinese, as well as, English and will soon appear in Hebrew. In 28 years of service Macgregor taught in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, commanded the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, and served as the Director of the Joint Operations Center at SHAPE during the 1999 Kosovo Air Campaign for which he was awarded the Defense Superior Service medal. In January 2002, at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's insistence the USCENTCOM Commander listened to Colonel Macgregor's concept for the offensive to seize Baghdad. The plan was largely adopted, but assumed no occupation of Iraq by U.S. Forces. Macgregor has also testified as an expert witness before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and appeared as a defense analyst on Fox News, CNN, BBC, Sky News and public radio. He is fluent in German.

TMC Program Staff Adam Borneman and Adam Mixon speak with the Rev. Sherrad Hayes (Union Baptist Church, West Point, GA) about the "long game" of spiritual transformation, the difference between the immediate and the urgent, and the importance of our core identity in Christ.Episode Transcript.

Samir Patel bought his first hotel as a junior at West Point. Two decades later, he runs Trophy Point Capital, a private debt fund that has originated over 1,500 loans. In this episode, Samir joins host Alex Perny to break down how debt funds generate yield, why he keeps 8 million dollars of his own money in a first-loss position, and what separates a well-run lender from a risky one.Key Points- How Samir went from buying a hotel as a West Point cadet to managing a top 100 private lender- The difference between fix-and-flip bridge loans and DSCR loans, and why Trophy Point sticks to short-term lending- How institutional money has pushed private lending rates down to the 9 to 11 percent range- Why Samir keeps 8 million dollars of personal capital in a first-loss position behind every investor- The hidden incentive problems in debt fund fee structures, including who keeps origination points- What Samir looks for when evaluating whether a debt fund manager can actually get money backChapters00:00 Introduction to Samir Patel and Trophy Point Capital07:10 Why velocity matters more than price in lending markets10:51 Bridge loans, fix and flip, and why Trophy Point avoids DSCR14:25 Skin in the game and the 8 million dollar first-loss position15:59 How institutional money has changed private lending rates23:16 Securitization and where hard money loans fit into Wall Street28:43 What is really driving demand for rehab and construction lending32:38 The biggest pain points for borrowers and operators right now39:48 How Trophy Point structures its fund and pays investors44:23 Why fast capital raises lead to bad lending decisions45:42 Foreclosure, disposition, and getting paid back50:58 Why debt is easier to value than equity inside an IRASubscribe to our YouTube channel and join our growing community for new videos every week.If you are interested in being a podcast guest speaker or have questions, contact us at Podcast@AdvantaIRA.com.Learn more about our guest, Samir Patel: https://trophypointcapital.comLearn more about Advanta IRA:Website: https://www.AdvantaIRA.comSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/AdvantaIRALinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advantairaTwitter: https://twitter.com/AdvantaIRAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdvantaIRAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/advantaira#DebtFundInvesting #PrivateLending #AlternativeInvesting

Our guest Colonel Douglas MacGregor is a retired US Army colonel. He has had a distinguished military career having held important operational roles during the Gulf War and was a top strategic planner for General Wesley Clark as NATO's commander during the invasion of Yugoslavia. More recently Col. Macgregor has been the president and CEO of The National Conversation -- a non profit organization for "the politically homeless" with a mission to restore civic dialogue in America that challenges the duopoly ruling Washington and hopefully to lead to a new and viable political party.   Since retiring Col Macgregor has been an author, consultant and media commentator who appears regularly on Judge Napolitano's Judging Freedom and Dialogue Works.  Colonel MacGregor has written several books on military strategy and the history of warfare. He is a graduate of US military academy at West Point and later received a doctorate in international relations from the University of Virginia. His websites are DouglasMacgregor.com and TheNationaConversation.org, and you can read his writings on his substack at MacgregorWarrior. substack.com

Join Dr. John Mueller, Co-Founder & CEO of Orion Edge Group, for a candid conversation on building a defense technology company from the ground up — and why the future of modern warfare is being decided in the electromagnetic spectrum.John co-founded Orion Edge alongside a fellow veteran after seeing firsthand the gaps in tactical electronic warfare: systems that were too detectable on the spectrum, deployed too high up the chain, and never in the hands of the small units that needed them most. "This is stuff we wish we had in the field when we were still on active duty," he said. In this episode, we dig into how Orion Edge is growing fast — across both government and commercial markets — and what it takes to build a defense startup that gets systems into the field.

My guest today is Cait Conley. Cait is running for Congress in NY District 17, determined to stop Donald Trump and cowards like Mike Lawler who enable him. Cait was born and raised in the Hudson Valley, graduated at the top of her class at West Point, served 16 years as an Army officer, and broke barriers as one of the first and only women in Special Operations leadership and was awarded three Bronze Stars. Cait's career as a public servant continued at home, protecting security and democracy while serving as Director of Counter-Terrorism on the National Security Council at the White House. She later helped safeguard our critical infrastructure and election systems at CISA, defending our democracy by standing up directly to Trump's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen.  Cait is dedicated to bringing dignity and courage back to Congress. She is fighting to lower costs, clean up corruption, reign in ICE, address climate change as a national security crisis, protect our elections and stop Trumps' unlawful and authoritarian agenda. I am impressed with her strength, courage and proven leadership and have been motivated to have as many people as possible hear from Cait directly, so they can make an informed decision when voting in the primary. Early voting started June 13th and the primary is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a critical election, so please spread the word and get out and vote!  Check out the Show Notes for Cait's conversation with Ali Velshi on MSNOW as well as Cait's website. There you will find links to donate, upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. Enjoy the podcast! Links: Cait Conley's Website Ali Velshi-MSNOW

Celebrate America's aviation heroes:

Henry Ossian Flipper made history on June 14, 1877, when he became the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. His achievement came despite years of isolation and racism and remains a powerful symbol of perseverance and breaking barriers. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed with the latest news from a leading Black-owned & controlled media company: https://aurn.com/newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode (187) began streaming on June 15, 2026.On the June 2026 episode of Crossroads of Rockland History we turned our attention to the complex story of Peggy Shippen Arnold. Historian Char Weigel joined host Clare Sheridan to discuss the wife of America's most notorious traitor, Benedict Arnold. Char's research centers entirely on primary source documentation, offering a nuanced and fascinating look at Shippen's role in the infamous plot to surrender West Point to the British.Char Weigel will be coming to the Historical Society in September to speak about Peggy Shippen, so this will be an interesting sneak preview for that upcoming program.  About the speaker: Char Weigel is the vice-president of special projects for Revolutionary Westchester 250, Westchester County's nonprofit working to encourage and amplify commemoration of the upcoming Semiquincentennial. She presents regularly and is the author of numerous articles on Westchester County history, the most recent of which, “Boot Papers: Double Betrayal in Documents Found in John André's Footwear,” was published in New York State Archives Magazine. She is widely recognized for her primary-source research.  Weigel is also a member of the board member of the Friends of Odell House Rochambeau HeadquartersCrossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, starts streaming new episodes on the third Monday of each month at 10am.   From October 2010 to May 2025, the program aired after the morning show on WRCR radio 1700 AM and www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month. Our recorded broadcasts are also available for streaming on all major podcasts platforms and at our website.The Historical Society of Rockland County is a nonprofit educational institution and principal repository for original documents and artifacts relating to Rockland County. Its headquarters are a four-acre site featuring a history museum and the 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, New York.www.RocklandHistory.org

The first African American cadet graduated from West Point on this day in 1877. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where in the brain is that little something that makes top performers feel so confident in their ability? Can that confidence be developed in someone who is naturally more timid? Dr. Nate Zinsser, director of West Point's Performance Psychology Program and author of The Confident Mind, explains how a sense of mastery develops, and why butterflies in your stomach are a signal from the brain when you're about to do something great. Plus… why Ted Lasso wants us all to be a little more like goldfish.   For transcript and further information, use this link:  https://bit.ly/4ocC0cE 

Mike Schopp and the Bulldog discuss Alex Tuch's contract negotiations and a recent conversation with Marty Biron before sharing stories about exploring various sports stadiums and campuses. They recount experiences of walking onto fields and into rinks at places like Notre Dame, West Point, and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 01:00 - Alex Tuch Contract Talk 03:48 - Visiting Notre Dame Campus 09:04 - Las Vegas Racetrack Story

This episode of the Armed Forces & Society AI podcast series is a conversational-style AI summary of Morten G. Ender, Ryan Kelty, and Irving Smith's article entitled, 'Sociology at West Point'. All podcasts, videos, and content listed below are AI-generated adaptations of scholarly articles originally published in Armed Forces & Society. These derivative products are intended solely as supplementary means of engaging with academic research. The content was generated using Google's NotebookLM and does not constitute an authoritative or complete representation of the original article. While care has been taken to reflect the themes and arguments of the source material, AI-generated summaries may contain omissions, simplifications, or inaccuracies. Use the original articles to verify all claims and to cite the work. The AI-generated media is not for citation. Audiences seeking a full, accurate, and nuanced understanding of the research should consult the original published work. The authors have elected to give permission for Armed Forces & Society to derive AI-generated videos and podcasts from their work. Because of the possibility for AI to misconstrue or misrepresent the author's original work, Armed Forces & Society and Sage absolve the authors from all responsibility for the AI-generated statements and inferences. All rights to the original articles and any derivative media are reserved by the authors, Armed Forces & Society, and Sage Publishing.

In this inspiring episode of The Greatness Machine, host Darius Mirshahzadeh sits down with legendary author Steven Pressfield to discuss his newest novel "The Arcadian" and dive deep into the creative process. Pressfield, author of over 20 books including "The War of Art," "The Legend of Bagger Vance," and "Gates of Fire," shares his journey from a 30-year struggle to published success at age 52. The conversation explores the spiritual and practical aspects of creativity, the concept of resistance, and the warrior mindset needed for artistic achievement. In this episode, Darius and Steven will discuss: (00:00) Introduction to Steven Pressfield (01:05) Steven's Origin Story and Journey to Writing (04:02) Reflections on Past Struggles and Regrets (06:57) The Creative Process and the Role of the Muse (10:02) Uncovering Ideas: The Artist's Journey (12:08) The Impact of 'The War of Art' and Resistance (15:01) Understanding Self-Sabotage and Resistance (18:00) The Spirituality of Creativity vs. Blue Collar Work (21:06) The Importance of Grit and Hard Work (23:54) Expectations vs. Reality in Creative Work (27:05) The Process of Writing and Overcoming Perfectionism (29:54) The Long View: Building a Body of Work (33:02) Channeling Creativity and Letting Go of Outcomes (34:21) The Power of Surrender and Channeling Creativity (37:34) Warrior vs. Mother: The Duality of Creative Virtues (41:58) The Arcadian: A Journey Through Time and Identity (46:31) Striving for Agency: The Artist's Quest (49:41) Making the Unconscious Conscious: The Role of Art (53:10) Reincarnation and Relationships: A Storytelling Device (55:05) Mortality and Legacy: Reflections on the Creative Journey (57:50) AI and Authenticity: The Future of Creativity (59:26) The Grind: Overcoming Barriers to Greatness Steven Pressfield is the bestselling author of The War of Art, with over a million copies sold worldwide. His historical novel Gates of Fire is required reading at West Point and on the recommended reading list of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The author of more than 18 books, Pressfield lives and writes in California. Connect with Steven: Website: https://stevenpressfield.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steven_pressfield/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StevePressfield/  Connect with Darius: Website: https://therealdarius.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmirshahzadeh/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imthedarius/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thegreatnessmachine  Book: The Core Value Equation https://www.amazon.com/Core-Value-Equation-Framework-Limitless/dp/1544506708 Write a review for The Greatness Machine using this link: https://ratethispodcast.com/spreadinggreatness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when a decorated combat veteran survives war, an 18-hour brain surgery, and a successful corporate career—yet still finds himself battling invisible wounds nobody can see?In this powerful inspirational episode, Reginald D sits down with decorated Army veteran, West Point graduate, finance executive, mental health advocate, and author Omar Ritter for a deeply honest conversation about leadership, PTSD, mental health, resilience, purpose, and personal growth.Omar shares his incredible journey from growing up as a military child and attending five different high schools to earning acceptance into the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point and leading soldiers during the initial invasion of Iraq. He opens up about combat leadership, split-second life-and-death decisions, and the realities of serving under extreme pressure.Omar also shares insights from his powerful book, West Point to Wall Street: My Journey to Mental Wellness and explains why mental health conversations are more important now than ever before.The conversation takes a powerful turn as Omar discusses surviving an 18-hour brain surgery, learning how to walk again, transitioning into high-level corporate leadership roles at major financial institutions, and silently battling PTSD, anxiety, and mental health challenges for years while appearing successful on the outside.In this motivational and inspirational conversation, you'll discover:Leadership lessons from combat and corporate AmericaThe truth about PTSD and mental health strugglesHow trauma can hide behind achievement and successWhy asking for help is a sign of strengthThe importance of resilience and self-awarenessHow to overcome adversity and rebuild your lifeLessons learned from military service and leadershipThe power of vulnerability and authentic growthWhy mental wellness matters for everyoneHow purpose can emerge from life's hardest challengesPress play now to hear this powerful motivational and inspirational conversation and discover how resilience, leadership, mental wellness, and purpose can help you overcome life's greatest challenges.Omar's Contact Info:Website: https://www.omarritter.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-ritter-cpa-sphr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omar.ritter.9Send us Fan MailSupport the showFor daily motivation and inspiration, subscribe and follow Real Talk With Reginald D on social media:Instagram: realtalkwithreginaldd   TikTok: @realtalkregd  Youtube: @realtalkwithreginald  Website:  https://www.realtalkwithreginaldd.com Real Talk With Reginald D  -  MerchandiseReal Talk With Reginald D is a faith-based globally ranked inspirational and motivational podcast designed to motivate, empower & transform lives through powerful motivational speeches, authentic conversations, and real-life inspirational stories. Each episode delivers motivational and inspirational coaching focused on self improvement, leadership, healing, resilience & purpose. Rooted in faith and motivation, this Christian-based platform blends practical growth strategies with biblical wisdom, helping listeners strengthen their mindset, deepen their faith, and walk boldly in their calling.  Check out Reginald D's powerful motivational speeches today!`

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by investigative journalist Jasper Craven to discuss his new book, *God Forgives, Brothers Don't: Inside the Violent, Hypermasculine World of America's Military Schools*. The conversation ranges far beyond military academies to explore how the US military has become the defining institution of American manhood – and what that means for democracy, violence, and the soul of the nation.**Jasper's journey into this subject began with a tip about a dysfunctional military school near Philadelphia, rife with abuse and corruption. That story opened a window onto a broad network of military education – from elite officer training at West Point to reform schools for troubled boys – all peddling the same promise: that rigid hierarchy, discipline, and violence can forge a real man. The military, Jasper argues, has filled a void left by the collapse of other pathways to meaning and middle‑class security.We trace the historical roots of America's uneasy relationship with standing armies – the founders' distrust of a professional military versus the lionisation of the revolutionary war veteran. That tension has been resolved decisively in favour of the soldier. Today, militarism permeates American culture, from a defence budget larger than the next ten countries combined to the reflexive adoration of anyone in uniform. This “secular faith” has produced a generation of veterans who feel their sacrifices are acknowledged only in hollow, abstract gestures – never in a genuine willingness to confront the ugliness of war.The conversation turns to Pete Hegseth, Trump's defence secretary and a walking embodiment of hyper‑performative masculinity. Jasper traces Hegseth's own insecurities – shame at his “soft” father, a desperate need to prove himself – and shows how the military offered him a ready‑made identity. But that identity is brittle, built on a foundation of alcohol abuse, misogyny, Islamophobia, and a deep fear of being seen as weak. Hegseth, Jasper argues, is not an aberration but the “inevitable conclusion” of decades of imperial blowback.We also discuss the role of military schools in channelling working‑class boys – disproportionately white, often struggling with learning disabilities or juvenile justice issues – into a system that promises redemption through submission. The long‑term consequences are devastating: high rates of suicide, PTSD, domestic violence, and extremist radicalisation. Jasper notes that the mob that stormed the Capitol on 6 January was composed largely of military veterans – a fact that was briefly discussed, then quietly forgotten.Topics covered:- Jasper's investigative journey from a single dysfunctional military school to a national network- The economic and social drivers of military recruitment- How military schools weaponise masculinity as a recruiting tool- America's historic tension between distrust of standing armies and adoration of soldiers- The failure of post‑9/11 wars to deliver meaning or victory- Pete Hegseth as a case study in fragile, performative masculinity- The 6 January insurrection and the role of radicalised veterans- The hollow abstraction of veteran worship- Graham Platner's Senate campaign as a test of whether voters can face the real wounds of war---*Jasper Craven's *God Forgives, Brothers Don't* is out now. Please consider buying from an independent bookshop or directly from the publisher.**If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Secretary of Defense (or ‘War’, as he prefers) Pete Hegseth is a poster child for the way military education likes to inculcate recruits and students into a macho culture of masculinity.  The Pentagon has a vast educational network through which to teach these lessons.  It includes basic training, service academies like West Point, JROTC, ROTC and dozens of military schools and war colleges.  This has given the military brass outsized power in shaping our young men and, by extension, society at large.  In “God Forgives, Brothers Don’t: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood,” investigative journalist Jasper Craven explores how the military formed and fuels increasingly volatile strains of American masculinity. While many people benefit greatly from the structure and discipline of military training, others have scars from it having been cut off from the development of the other traits that define men, like empathy and caring for others.  It’s provocative exploration of men in our society as the messaging about the training and service focuses more and more on a warrior culture.

For years, healthcare organizations focused on securing digital channels while treating phone calls as a trusted service channel. That assumption no longer holds true.  In this episode, Sandy sits with Jason Barr, the Vice President of Strategic Sales for Healthcare at Pindrop, who explains how AI-powered voice cloning, deepfakes, and synthetic identities are transforming the cybersecurity landscape. Jason shares how healthcare organizations can defend against AI-driven fraud, verify identity in real time, and protect patients, providers, and employees in a world where even a familiar voice may not be what it seems. In this episode, they talk about: AI has transformed the phone from a trusted service channel into a rapidly growing cybersecurity threat vector for healthcare organizations. Cybercriminals can now use AI-powered tools to launch thousands of voice-based attacks per day, dramatically increasing the scale and efficiency of fraud attempts. Many attackers use voice channels not for immediate theft, but for reconnaissance, collecting sensitive information that can later be used to target providers, payers, and patients. Traditional identity verification methods such as knowledge-based questions and one-time passcodes are becoming increasingly vulnerable to modern fraud tactics. Continuous identity verification is emerging as a new security model that validates users throughout an interaction rather than only at the point of authentication. Pindrop analyzes thousands of signals during voice interactions to determine whether a caller is who they claim to be, whether they pose a risk, and whether they are even human. Healthcare organizations are facing a growing challenge in distinguishing between legitimate automation and malicious AI-powered bots. Deepfake technology is now sophisticated enough to mimic both voices and video, creating new risks across hiring, workforce management, and patient-facing operations. Help desks and support centers remain attractive targets because attackers often use social engineering tactics to pressure employees into resetting credentials. Voice-based security solutions can reduce fraud while simultaneously improving operational efficiency and the customer experience. One healthcare organization achieved a 90% reduction in fraud after implementing voice authentication and risk detection technology. Healthcare leaders must begin evaluating voice security as part of their broader cybersecurity strategy, as AI-enabled attacks continue to grow at an unprecedented pace.  A Little About Jason: As a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army Officer, Jason brings the operational rigor, discipline, and leadership foundation of combat-tested command into the boardroom and the GTM arena. He thrives where GTM transformation is mission-critical: aligning strategy to investor outcomes, building high-performing teams, and delivering predictable growth.

This episode of the Armed Forces & Society AI podcast series is a conversational-style AI summary of Morten G. Ender, Ryan Kelty, and Irving Smith's article entitled, 'Sociology at West Point'. All podcasts, videos, and content listed below are AI-generated adaptations of scholarly articles originally published in Armed Forces & Society. These derivative products are intended solely as supplementary means of engaging with academic research. The content was generated using Google's NotebookLM and does not constitute an authoritative or complete representation of the original article. While care has been taken to reflect the themes and arguments of the source material, AI-generated summaries may contain omissions, simplifications, or inaccuracies. Use the original articles to verify all claims and to cite the work. The AI-generated media is not for citation. Audiences seeking a full, accurate, and nuanced understanding of the research should consult the original published work. The authors have elected to give permission for Armed Forces & Society to derive AI-generated videos and podcasts from their work. Because of the possibility for AI to misconstrue or misrepresent the author's original work, Armed Forces & Society and Sage absolve the authors from all responsibility for the AI-generated statements and inferences. All rights to the original articles and any derivative media are reserved by the authors, Armed Forces & Society, and Sage Publishing.

Veterans, corporate burnout survivors and anyone who has ever confused suffering in silence with being strong will find something worth hearing in this one. This episode is for the people who are fine, totally fine, definitely fine... and haven't slept properly in three months.More info, resources & ways to connect - https://www.tacosfallapart.com/podcast-live-show/podcast-guests/omar-ritterOmar Ritter has lived more than most people will ever face in a lifetime. West Point graduate, Bronze Star recipient, combat veteran from Iraq and Kosovo, twenty-year Wall Street executive, brain tumor survivor. He's also someone who spent years hiding the fact that he was falling apart on the inside while everything looked great from the outside. In this episode of Even Tacos Fall Apart, Omar sits down to talk honestly about PTSD, burnout, identity loss and what it actually took to get better.Omar's breaking point didn't come on a battlefield. It came in boardrooms, in sleepless nights at JP Morgan, in a moment when he left his wife home alone with their week-old baby to go deliver documents to his boss at 3am. He was the guy who always got things done, no matter what it cost him. And that identity, the guy who never cracks, is exactly what nearly killed him.He opens up about his gunner from Iraq, a man who appeared fine on Facebook, who was chatting and checking in, and who then took his own life and the lives of his children after an untreated mental health crisis hijacked everything he was. Omar doesn't sugarcoat it. He calls PTSD what he believes it is: a hijacker in the cockpit of your brain, making you do things the real you never would.The conversation covers what burnout actually looks like versus just being tired or stressed, and why veterans in particular are so reluctant to get help. Omar is blunt about the stigma, but he's equally blunt about the excuses. TriCare covers treatment. Corporate benefits packages cover therapy. You can schedule a session on your lunch break and nobody needs to know. The resources exist. The harder part is deciding you're worth using them.One of the most powerful threads in this episode is the difference between powering through and real resilience. Omar held a gun to his own temple while powering through a job he hated in a city he never wanted to live in. He knows the difference from the inside. Resilience, he says, is bouncing back. Powering through with an untreated mental health condition is just damage accumulating until your body or your brain forces the issue.He also talks about the identity crisis that hits veterans when they leave service and walk into corporate America leading with their rank and their medals, only to find out nobody in the room knows what a combat action badge is or why it should matter to them. The reframe he had to learn was painful but necessary.Omar now teaches accounting and finance at UNC Charlotte, sits on veteran entrepreneur boards, and wrote the book West Point to Wall Street: My Journey to Mental Wellness. His audiobook just dropped. His message is simple: raise your hand, make the call, and deal with the rest once you're healthy. Everything else can wait.

THE REPUBLIC HAS ALWAYS HAD CHARLATANS. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE NOW IS THEY HAVE PODCASTS, CABLE NEWS CONTRACTS, AND MILLIONS OF FOLLOWERS. Today on Wake Up America, we trace the charlatan problem from the founding era to the modern media machine. Dr. Benjamin Church spied for the British. Benedict Arnold was grifting before West Point. The Conway Cabal tried to remove George Washington through anonymous attacks. James Wilkinson commanded the U.S. Army while secretly taking Spanish money. Then we bring the pattern forward to Hunter Biden, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Scott Pelley, Ro Khanna, and the modern system that rewards the costume long after the record has fallen apart.

Where in the brain is that little something that makes top performers feel so confident in their ability? Can that confidence be developed in someone who is naturally more timid? Dr. Nate Zinsser, director of West Point's Performance Psychology Program and author of The Confident Mind, explains how a sense of mastery develops, and why butterflies in your stomach are a signal from the brain when you're about to do something great.

Martha Raddatz, ABC News' chief global affairs correspondent and 'This Week' co-anchor and the author of The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2026), highlights the courage and heroism of members of the U.S. military.Photo: Kyle Osterhoudt, U.S. Military Academy, Celebration Time: Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy celebrate as the Army's newest officers during a commencement ceremony at West Point, N.Y., May 24, 2025. For the Class of 2025 Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Matt Louis, is one of the nation's leading experts in career transition for members of the military community. He coaches individuals on their transition efforts and advises employers on hiring programs designed to successfully assimilate this valuable talent pool. He is the author of the award-winning and best-selling HarperCollins book, Mission Transition, a practical guide for veterans in career transition, their families, and their employers. His second book, Hiring Veterans, is a practical guide for organizational leaders on how to build programs to successfully assimilate veterans and military spouses. He is a Member of Louis Advisors LLC, a veteran-owned small business, was President of Purepost, Inc. and spent 17+ years at Deloitte where he became a Senior Manager and Practice Leader. Matt is a retired officer, US Army Active Duty and Reserve, 1991 to 2012. He graduated from the Military Academy at West Point and received his MBA at Indiana University – Kelly School of Business. Matt in discussion with Don Hutcheson:  "On average, today's transitioning veterans will be unemployed for 22 weeks before they find a job. And when they do, they are simply looking to replace a revenue source. They'll take a job to get any job – and it is usually not the right one. They'll rotate out of that job within the first year and a half, and they'll continue to job hop and job hop and job hop. So much so that by their sixth post-military job, 50 percent, yes, half of transitioning veterans are still not in their optimal career field. I would peg that their sixth job is between three to five years from when they re-entered civilian life.  That's alarming." "Why would I raise my right hand and enlist if today's service members are not finding full-time employment? And suicide rates continue to be at unacceptable levels. There is a direct correlation with all of these things."

Joined on this episode by the one and only Tom Richardson, retired FDNY Chief of Department!Chief Richardson walks the walk, serving 42 years with the FDNY, rising through every rank to lead as the top uniformed officer in the busiest fire department in the nation. A lifelong firefighter, he's been a volunteer in Deer Park since 1978 (serving as Chief of Department there in 1999-2000 and 2009-2011) and currently serves on the Board of Fire Commissioners. He holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School - Center for Homeland Defense and Security, along with extensive leadership training including the FDNY Advanced Leadership Course, Fire Officers Management Institute, and West Point's Combating Terrorism Center. We're going deep into leadership in the fire service - everything from command presence, to the critical importance of trust in the firehouse and on the fireground, building crews that operate with implicit authority (no constant micromanaging), the make-or-break role of the first hoseline, staffing and response challenges facing the volunteer fire service, and effective communication with the troops. Hard-earned lessons from the highest levels of command, and practical wisdom that applies to every firefighter and officer out there. As always, the live audience one hundred percent light this one up with questions, and we go wherever the conversation takes us. Because we all know that's what makes The Scrap the absolute best live firefighter podcast out there!  

Preston Stewart is a highly successful YouTube host, who makes videos about the military, national security and foreign affairs. His desire is to make these topics more accessible and easier for the public to understand. He studied International Relations and Terrorism at West Point and from there entered the Army as a Field Artillery officer. Today, he calls Murfreesboro, Tennessee home.----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------LINKS:https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart https://www.linkedin.com/in/prestonstewart1/ https://x.com/prestonstew_https://www.patreon.com/prestonstewhttps://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstewhttps://x.com/prestonstew_https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_ UNCLASSIFIED Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPodhttps://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=917d2d83cea844f6&nd=1&dlsi=afc05340aab14acc----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------

Kenny O'Mary is the Assistant AD – Director of Sports Performance at Sacramento State. Prior to relocating to the west coast, O'Mary served in a similar role as the associate athletics director/director of student athlete high performance at William & Mary since 2021. Before joining the Tribe, he was the director of strength & conditioning at Howard University for three and a half years. O'Mary primarily worked with the football, volleyball, track & field, and women's soccer programs in addition to overseeing the 19 Bison varsity programs. O'Mary began his career at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University, as an intern coach from 2009-2010 before being promoted to graduate assistant, from 2010-2012 and eventually full-time assistant from 2012-2013. Additionally, O'Mary garnished experience as an intern coach at Louisville in 2011 between his roles at EKU and later joined the staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he worked from 2013-2017. O'Mary is active himself in the weight room and continues trains while balancing the rigors of the collegiate coaching schedule. He is an avid lifter and enjoys golfing and hanging out with his dog, Coach, when he is not training in the weight room. Samson EquipmentSamson Equipment provides Professional Weight Room Solutions for all your S&C needs.Cerberus StrengthUse Code: STRENGTH_GAME at Cerberus-Strength.comSport KiltUse Code: TSG at SportKilt.comDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Are you a business owner feeling like the biggest bottleneck in your own company? Do you dream of financial freedom but find yourself buried in 20−an−hourtasks?InthisinsightfulepisodeoftheSpeakingPodcast,wesitdownwithBlazMarolt,anex−militaryofficerandWestPointgraduatewhohastransitionedhishigh−stakesleadershipexperienceintoamissionforbusinesssystematization.Blazhelpsentrepreneursscalingpastthe20-an-hour tasks? In this insightful episode of the Speaking Podcast, we sit down with Blaz Marolt, an ex-military officer and West Point graduate who has transitioned his high-stakes leadership experience into a mission for business systematization. Blaz helps entrepreneurs scaling past the 20−an−hourtasks?InthisinsightfulepisodeoftheSpeakingPodcast,wesitdownwithBlazMarolt,anex−militaryofficerandWestPointgraduatewhohastransitionedhishigh−stakesleadershipexperienceintoamissionforbusinesssystematization.Blazhelpsentrepreneursscalingpastthe500k mark to build robust operational infrastructures, allowing them to stay in their "zone of genius." We discuss the "two-week vacation test," the 80/20 rule of profitability, and why even the most successful companies often operate in a state of hidden chaos. Whether you're a solopreneur or leading a team of 20, Blaz provides actionable strategies to fix your systems, empower your team, and finally achieve the freedom you started your business for.     Timestamps Timestamp Topic Description 0:00 Welcome & Introduction to Blaz Marolt 0:45 Blaz's Mission: Helping business owners stay in their zone of genius 1:56 The Bottleneck Founder: Why things break down after $500k 2:43 Military Roots: Graduating from West Point and the Slovenian Military 3:42 Transitioning to Business: Boosting production by 50% in electronics 4:34 The IT Leap: Getting hired with only Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills 5:21 Scaling a Food Delivery Giant: Growing 59x in the Balkans 6:22 The Chief of Staff Role: Doubling revenue for a US coaching company 7:03 The Young Founder Challenge: Overcoming perceptions in leadership 8:16 Military vs. Business Organization: The shocking reality of corporate chaos 9:53 The 80/20 Rule in Sales: Identifying loss-makers vs. profit-makers 11:37 Minimum Order Quantities: Why selling 100 components can be a disaster 12:54 Educating the Sales Team: Making them suffer through the production process 14:13 The Key Person Risk: Why your business shouldn't depend on one individual 15:52 The Soviet Machine Analogy: Planning for capacity and quality 31:19 The 250-Page SOP Trap: Why simple, one-page processes win 33:05 AI in Business: Using it as an assistant, not a replacement for thinking 35:01 The Amazon AI Mistake: Why quality assessment still requires humans 38:42 The 90-Day Operational Audit: What to expect in the first three months 40:53 Educating Employees: Why change management takes longer than system setup 42:52 The 20-Time Rule: Why you have to repeat instructions to be heard 60:42 Blaz's Final Advice: Defining your goals as a founder 61:16 Where to Find Blaz: LinkedIn and networking conversations 61:42 Outro: RoyCoughlan.com and the PodFather Network      

Fifty thousand troops. Zero reporters on a ship. Zero reporters on a base. That's the reality of the Iran deployment under Trump and acting secretary of culture war Pete Hegseth — and it's the kind of information vacuum that's never existed in modern American conflict. Paul is joined by ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, one of the most respected and trusted voices in military journalism, for a no-BS briefing on what happens when the Pentagon shuts the press out of a shooting war. This is a conversation about more than access. It's about trust — the trust the American public places in a non-political military, the trust troops place in journalists who actually show up, and the trust that gets shredded when a defense secretary turns a West Point graduation into a culture war rally. Paul and Martha walk through the Memorial Day lines that got crossed, why embeds matter, what the rank and file actually think about the politics being shoved down their throats, and why the easiest way to stop the truth is to never let anyone see it in the first place. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join IVA and stand up to Trump's Forever Wars. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Presented by StrangeBrew Coffeehouse, Cannon Ford of Starkville/Cannon Chevrolet GMC of West Point, Pip Printing and Signs of Ridgeland - State gets a tremendous outing from Tomas Valincius, and the offense starts rolling in the middle innings.

Indy Duggan Out of Mich Gov Race. New Indy in Illinois Gov race. QB Jaxon Dart Endorsed Trump. Trump Attacks Colbert. Hochul Misses a Layup. Lander & Mamdani Attack Open Primaries in NYC. RIP, Rob Base.  It's episode 535 and Paul Rieckhoff is flying solo on a Friday — no guest, just a no-BS rapid-fire briefing on a week where the wheels kept coming off. Trump is still dangling a tentative Iran deal that looks suspiciously like the Obama agreement he tore up, while the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, the regime stays in place, and the nukes stay unsecured. Fourteen wounded American troops are at Walter Reed. The president walked the same halls for his own physical and didn't stop in. Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Romania — NATO territory — and the silence from this White House has been deafening. From there Paul takes the briefing into Pete Hegseth's culture-war speech at West Point and his cheesy green-screen propaganda videos pitching a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget, Trump's jealous AI dumpster video attacking Stephen Colbert, Jaxon Dart's locker-room-dividing endorsement, and a revealing sidewalk confrontation outside his kids' public school with Brad Lander — who openly admitted he opposes open primaries. This is the rigged two-party system in full color, and the Angry Middle is the story. Paul closes with what's still working: game sevens, the Spurs, 500 kids headed to a Mets game, and the reminder that joy is still a form of resistance. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join IVA and stand up to Trump's Forever Wars. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThe ‘Broadview Six' case was one of the Trump administration's prominent prosecutions of anti-ICE protesters. Federal prosecutors in Chicago brought felony charges to fanfare, then curiously dropped them, keeping only misdemeanor counts. Now we know why: they engaged in egregious misconduct to obtain the felony indictments, which they then sought to conceal from the judge, who is not amused.For all subscribers, we discuss that and US Attorney Andrew Boutros, who issued a weird memo promising reform, and the news that his office is apparently running a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, examining whether she lied in a deposition hundreds of miles from Chicago.For paying subscribers (upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show) this week, there's also:* Kilmar Abrego Garcia's big and unusual win on vindictive prosecution, which is already inspiring the Southern Poverty Law Center.* A sordid case involving an Eleventh Circuit judge whose sofa cushion required forensic testing after clerks asserted she was noisily carrying on an affair in chambers.* A free speech win for West Point faculty.* An interesting new insider trading case involving Polymarket.* A probably-too-clever motion attacking the “anti-weaponization fund,” and* More bad news for ex-JP Morgan banker Chirayu Rana.

“PLEASE do not suffer in silence…”After graduating from West Point, Omar Ritter's rock-solid military career plan took an abrupt turn when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor during a routine Army physical. This turn caused Omar to pursue and obtain his MBA, begin his Doctorate, and make a career pivot to Corporate America - ALL WHILE quietly battling PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety for over 2 decades.Tune in, as Omar & Aubrey talk about:Overcoming the stigma of military leaders fighting PTSD and DepressionThe importance of advocating for yourself to doctors when you don't feel quite right.Omar's lessons learned in his switch to working in Corporate AmericaOmar's urge for Mental Health conversations to become an everyday topic; and urge for Veterans to not suffer alone.Insights from his book, “West Point to Wall Street: My Journey to Mental Wellness”.To connect with Omar, learn more about his great work, and pick up a copy of his book, visit www.omarritter.com

In this episode we have a conversation with reporter Jasper Craven about his new book, God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood, which is a made-for-KYE feat of research that offers a fascinating way into perennial themes of this show: masculinity, U.S. empire, the relationship between violence and civilization, and the surprising camp of conservatism. Along the way we discuss Donald Trump, the mob, Peter Brian Hegseth, Graham Platner, and more. Sources: Jasper Craven, God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood (2026) — "Battle of the Sexes: Pete Hegseth's War on Women," The Baffler, Sept 2025 Dan Gilgoth, The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War (2007) Dr. James Dobson, Dare to Discipline: A Pyschologist Offers Urgent Advice to Parents and Teachers (1970) ...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

The U.S. State Department reached a new settlement committing to strictly enforce the Taylor Force Act, a measure Congress first passed in 2018, which bans U.S. economic aid to the Palestinian Authority until they end their "pay-for-slay" policies that compensate imprisoned terrorists or their families. The Palestinian Authority "Pay-for-Slay" policy gained wide public attention when Taylor Force, a West Point graduate who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was savagely knifed to death by a Palestinian terrorist on March 8, 2016, while on a tour of Israel. This new settlement is to remain in effect for 10 years. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Stuart Force, father of Taylor Force, who says his son would be proud of the efforts to stop American taxpayer money from getting to terrorists. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Memorial Day weekend. Americans are visiting Arlington, honoring generations who stepped forward with integrity, sacrifice, and honor. And days before that solemn marker, the President of the United States floated cash payouts to the domestic terrorists who violently attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Not a pardon. A payout. Paul Rieckhoff and the panel break down why this isn't a tantrum or a distraction — it's strategy. Call it Plan C: when the military won't move and ICE is uncertain, you incentivize the insurrectionists themselves. You signal to every desperate, despised foot soldier that violence against the government will be rewarded. From there the conversation pivots to the other sucking chest wound of the week: House Republican leaders scrapping the Iran war powers vote because they didn't have the votes. Congressman Pat Ryan, a West Point grad and combat veteran, says out loud what veterans across the country are feeling — a generation of chicken hawks is sending other people's kids to die again, with Cuba teed up next and an aircraft carrier already in position. The panel maps the fracture lines: Massie carving out an anti-war, anti-tariff, pro-transparency lane; the manosphere abandoning the regime-change crowd; and the 45% of Americans who are independent and unaffiliated, looking for someone — anyone — who will speak for the angry middle. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Join IVA and stand up to Trump's Forever Wars. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.