15 Minutes Prior

We had the lucky opportunity to talk to Bob Smith from Lebanon PA about his time in the Army Air Corps in WW2.  Born in 1924, Bob recently turned 100 years old.  During his time in the service, he was in communications doing Morse code, Cryptography, and working radar as time went on.  Mr. Smith was part of the Normandy invasion as an assistant on the boats headed to the beach.  He explained his d...

Fox was in the Army from 1988-1991 with an MOS of Chapparal Air Defense.  we talk about what his MOS school was and how he learned to ID aircraft so they could use the Chapparal to potentially target planes.  He Mentions a time at MOS school of seeing a UFO, his time in Germany, and what it was like being part of Desert Storm.

On this episode we talk to LCPL Spencer Schultz who was a 0231 Intelligence Specialist. He spent his time in from 2008-2012.  He spent time in multiple units and deployed to Afghanistan where he ended up in Marjah in 2010.  we had a very open and honest discussion about the lifestyle many of us live while in the Marines.   

We had the opportunity to have a quick conversation with Nate Boyer who was a Green Beret in the US Army.  Boyer spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan. After getting out he walked on to the Texas Longhorns as a long snapper, eventually landing in Seattle for a season in the NFL. This one's short and sweet but we appreciate the time Nate gave us.  

Shaun joined the British Army Infantry and did some time in Northern Ireland doing counter terrorism operations.  After his time in, he spent some years being out and running a business. Fast forward to the current war in Ukraine, Shaun joined the guard after he moved there. Shaun then went into the Ukraine Marines and talks about his time in Mariupol and the 7 weeks they held off the Russian inva...

This episode we are fortunate enough to interview an Afghan interpreter. we talked a little about growing up, and how he got involved to be an interpreter.  He explains some of where he worked, what his job was, and how he lived during these years.  

Mikael cook spent 5 years in the Army reserves after enlisting at 27 years old.  We talk about his path to Afghanistan and what it was like as an engineer in country.  After he returned home, and the withdrawal of Afghanistan happened, Mikael did what he could to help those he knew and others get out of the country.  Working with what was known as "Digital Dunkirk" to navigate the papers...

IC2 Mike "Snake Wake" Weiler was in the Navy from 89-94 where he did Interior Communication aboard submarines.  Mike talks about the day to day life aboard a ship as well as how he got his rate and becoming Submarine Warfare qualified earning his dolphins.  Mike explains the many positions within a sub and some details of multiple ways they surface, including breaking through ice in the...

SGT Chris Naganuma was Infantryman in the Army from 2003-2008. In 2004 he deployed to Mosul Iraq in Strykers.  Chris talks about a few events during this deployment that stood out to him.  After the deployment he had an injury that eventually led to him getting out.  After getting out he learned to run and operate his business, S3F solutions, and worked with Napalm Cannabis.  Chris currently works...

Matthew "Whiz" Buckley was an F/A-18 fighter pilot in the US Navy.  After getting commissioned in the early 90's he spent his time on aircraft carriers in support of Operation Southern Watch as well as Operation Noble Eagle. He discusses places he's traveled to as well as discussing what it was like to be an adversary pilot at the Top Gun school.  While on ship and not flying,...

Our guest is Chris Bentley who enlisted in the Marines in 1999 and got out in 2013.  His MOS was 0431- Logistics/Embarkation Specialist. Throughout his enlistment he went on 6 total deployments and spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as time aboard ship.   Gunny talks about the places he got to travel to and explains a bit of what his responsibilities were.  He talks about one of his...

Steve joined the Army in 1973 and managed to get assigned to the White House Communications Agency in DC.  We talk a good bit about getting into a job most people don't know about and what that entails and how it helped lead to more opportunities he got along the way.  After getting out he applied and got into the Secret Service and goes into what was involved with getting in and some stories...

Elegance Bratton was in the Marines from 2005-2010. leading up to his enlistment he was homeless at the age of 16 for about 10 years after being kicked out of his home for being gay. We talk about struggles and what led him to the Corps. He explains getting to Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii, getting to travel to Thailand and Korea, and connecting to other cultures through his camera.  After his time i...

Born in 1942, David Peters started his Air Force career flying F-4's doing 3 tours in Vietnam in '67, '68, and '69.  Afterwords, he instructed on the T-38 and in 1974 he found his way into the SR-71 program whereby 1977 he found himself in Japan flying missions over the Korean DMZ and the Chinese coast.  Dave talks about the cold war mentality and the main mission of a jet that...

Brittany spent her time in the CIA as a targeting Officer from 2005-2014. she goes over how she got into the agency and what a Targeting Officer does. She explains how working alongside the military works and other facets of the job as well.  I wanted to reach out and have her on, because of the scale of the wars, and the reach it had amongst govt entities, to see what a different perspective was...

Joe Lombardo was in the Marines from 2007-2012 as an 1812 M1A1 Tank Crewman.  He was with 1st tanks out of 29 palms. he deployed in 2010 for the first time, and a 2nd time in 2012. In 2012 he deployed with tanks to Afghanistan, something that was only done for a short time throughout the war. He talks about how he got the tank MOS, what school was like, the different jobs within the tank and what...

Sgt Nick Lombardo was in the Marines from 2002-2006. He was a Mortarman in 1/7 weapons company out of 29 Palms. We go over his first impressions of getting to 29 palms and what his day to day was like in his new unit, what they did in the short time before deploying in 2003, and what it was like leaving the line of departure in Kuwait headed to Baghdad nearly 20 years ago. He goes over the differe...

SSGT Dillon spent 12 years in the Marines from 1998-2011. She talks about her family history of service to the country and how that influenced her to go in and join herself.   She spent her time as an aircraft maintenance data specialist and eventually became a Drill Instructor on Paris Island.  She talks about the time in the Corps when it went from peacetime duty, to after 9/11 and the focus shi...

Greg Coker enlisted in 1986 as an infantryman in the US Army where he spent his enlistment in the 101st.  He applied to flight school and got accepted in 1989.  Once he completed flight school in 1990, he went to Korea, during his time as a pilot he flew the Cobra and Apache helicopters.  in 93 he put in his package to go to selection for the 160th, he got accepted and completed his training and f...

On this episode we have Blake Flannery who spent 20 years in the Marine corps, starting as an 0311 and then transitioning to 0321-reconnaissance Marine.  Enlisting in 2001, 9/11 happened while he was on Paris Island, and he ended up waiting in Kuwait to cross the border to Iraq.  working his way through Iraq and into Baghdad he made his way to Saddam's palace, as well as having experienced Fa...

Roger spent his time in the Army from 2006-2019 as a Chaplain. Roger discusses his pipeline of becoming a chaplain and what some of his duties were. He talks about the duties while in Afghanistan and working with people there, as well as explaining what it was like doing Family notifications for fallen soldiers once back in Australia.  He was medically discharged after dealing with the mental toll...

Gunny Keyes spent 20 years in the Marines.  He started as an 0311 and eventually designated an 0341.  Along the way he went on multiple deployments to 50 countries aboard multiple ships including being on the USS Peleliu across Asia and the USS Tortuga off the coast of Africa.  He talks about becoming a Drill Instructor and what that tour was like.  He later gets into his time spent at the Univers...

Our guest is Army Captain, Kayla Hodges who spent her time in from 2012-2020. She started her career at West Point Academy. She gives us detail about her experience at the academy and what genral life is like there.  We get into a good bit of detail about bureaucracy and the overall mindset of the military to do things the way they've always done it and how that can hinder unit sucess.  She w...

This episode features a guest who is from the same hometown as we are in eastern Pennsylvania, who had an extensive 25-year career in the Navy as a SEAL from 1987-2012.  After finishing college, he enlisted and made his way to SEAL team 2 where he went on several deployments.   During one of which he experienced being in a helicopter that made a crash landing in the ocean.  In 1993 he went to and...

Colin Ferguson spent 22 years in the British Army from 1985-2007. he finished his career as a Regimental Sergeant Major. He talks about his time on Two deployments to Northern Ireland when the IRA was active, Time spent during the first Gulf war, missions to Bosnia and ultimately supporting OIF. we talk a lot about the typical life of a young soldier/Marine and how looking back we realize better w...