Behind The Shield

Battalion Chief Steve Davis was recently terminated after refusing to impose discipline on an erroneous list of unvaccinated firefighters. Firefighter Jason Wheat was the trainer in charge of his department's fitness program before it was dismantled by his administration. We discuss the vaccine mandates that have been imposed on his department and many more around the globe, the mental health impa...

Ed Kressy overcame 20 years of drug addiction: incarceration, destitution, mental health challenges. He went from being arrested by the FBI, to being recognized with a community service award...by the FBI Director. We discuss his early life, martial arts, the business world, his powerful road out of addiction and so much more.

Cody Gately is a Louisiana firefighter who has teamed up with LSU researchers Amanda Weathers- Meyer and Adam Lowe. We discuss their latest research on the effect of yoga practice on the physical and mental health of firefighters, amongst many other topics.

Allen Clark is a Vietnam veteran, author, public speaker and Minister. We discuss giving both his legs for his country, the physical and mental rehabilitation journey, working with the VA, the spiritual arm of healing, the industrial military complex and so much more.

Chad Eldridge, DC is a Chiropractic Physician with a primary focus on performance enhancement, movement, and corrective exercise. We discuss the ailments that led him on the medical path, choosing chiropractic, functional medicine, foundation training, the obesity epidemic and so much more.

Keith Knotek is a law enforcement veteran and the author of "From Sorrow to Amazing Grace". We discuss his early life, the power of mentorship, defensive tactics, organizational betrayal, losing brother police officers, his mental health struggles, finding Christianity and so much more.

Alastair Macartney is a British Army veteran, world champion BASE jumper, author, speaker and the founder of Jump4Heroes. We discuss boading schools, living in Hong Kong, military logistics, his introduction to skydiving, overcoming fear through training diligence, his altruistic projects and so much more.

Dr Tasha Browning is a mental health counsellor specializing in Critical Incident Stress. We discuss her early life, traumatic brain injuries, mental health in first responders, counselling medical personnel through the pandemic, dance therapy and so much more.

Kevin Malahy is a martial artist and strength and conditioning coach working with the Canadian military. We discuss coaching young athletes, performance vs health, weight cutting, injury rehabilitation, mobility and much more.

Sara Wilkinson is a Crossfit coach and the widow of Chad Wilkinson. Chad was a member of the revered SEAL Team Six but tragically took his own life in 2018. We discuss their early lives, falling in love in high school, Chad's military journey, Crossfit, TBIs, suicide, he healing power of psychedelics and so much more.

Ricardo Roman is a veteran FDNY firefighter, Crossfit coach and the founder of the FDNY Barbell Club. We discuss his journey into the fire service, the good, the bad and the ugly of diversity, strength and conditioning in the tactical athlete, Crossfit competition, water rescue and much more.

Chad Lyman has combined his years of operational law enforcement and Mixed Martial Arts experience to emerge as one of the nation’s leading defensive tactics trainers. We discuss his journey into law enforcement, the importance of high training standards, combatives, excessive force vs improper technique and so much more.

Tom Satterly spent 25 years in the US Army, 20 of which serving with the elite Delta Force. Jen Satterly spend years embedded with the special forces as a Director of Video and Photography. We discuss Tom's journey through the military, Mogadishu, videography, mental health, suicide, their All Secure Foundation, writing and so much more.

Brian Mackenzie is an innovator in human performance on stress adaptation and a pioneer in the development and application of custom protocols to optimize human health and performance. In this second conversation, we discuss breathing and the tactical population, deregulating the nervous system, breathing health and COVID and much more.

Eric Siena was a veteran firefighter and special operations Lieutenant. Eric was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. His wife, Christy is also a fire Lieutenant. I sat down with them and Tom "Bull" Hill earlier this year when Eric was still undergoing treatment. We discussed his journey into the fire service, hazardous materials exposures, the cancer presumption bill, PTSD and much more. Eric Si...

Major Allison Brager is an Army neuroscientist, Crossfit competitor and astronaut candidate. We discuss advances in sleep research, transgender athletes, the mission to Mars, fitness testing and much more.

Roger Schei is an Idaho Police Chief, SWAT officer and jiu jitsu practitioner. We discuss his journey into law enforcement, strength and conditioning standards, combatives, using Echelon Front's principles in his department and much more

Melvyn Downes is a British Army veteran with 12 years spent in the SAS. We discuss his early life in England, the importance of mentorship, his journey into the military, mindset, reality television, Dubai living and much more.

Fahim Fazli is an Afghani native, American immigrant, actor and former interpreter for the US Marine Corps. We discuss the impact of the withdrawal on our veterans and the Afghani people, the ripple effect of previous conflicts, the industrial military complex, his latest film and much more.

Jeff Schwerdtfeger is a retired firefighter and the Vice President of Worldwide Peer Support. We discuss his journey into the fire service, gang violence, the addiction epidemic, special operations, his near death experiences, mental health in first responders and much more.

Jay Smith is a strength and conditioning coach and the president of the first responder testing and wellness company FitForce. We discuss his journey into coaching, entering the law enforcement community, the ADA and entry testing, wellness and injury prevention, forging longevity and much more.

Beth Bowersox is a former firefighter and resident of Paradise CA who was on duty as a dispatcher when the Camp Fire destroyed her community. We discuss her journey into the fire service, physical fitness, sleep deprivation, guilt from the inability to save, mental heath in dispatchers and so much more.

Dr Ellen Kirschman is an author and clinical psychologist who has spent her career working with the first responder professions. In this second interview, we discuss psychological testing, mental health in the wildland community, the importance of rituals, first responder families and so much more.

Richard Rice is one of the founding members of Delta Force with a career spanning Vietnam to Mogadishu. Jason McCarthy is a Green Beret veteran who served in Iraq. Emily McCarthy is a retired CIA case manager, serving in West Africa. In this unique episode, I sat down with all three to get their unique perspectives on recent events. We discuss the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the importance of tru...

Zar Horton is a retired Battalion Chief and a StrongFirst Master Kettlebell trainer. We discuss his transition out of the fire service, BMX racing, glycolytic training, exercise and the nervous system, fostering longevity, the importance of sleep and so much more.