Former Action Guys Podcast

Dave "Rage" James is a former Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and currently mentors civilians interested in joining the military to become part of special operations. Prior to joining the Marine Corps, James served an enlistment in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer. Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com

Matt Caples is an Air National Guard JTAC qualified TACP. Prior to serving in the ANG, Caples was a motor transport mechanic in the Marine Corps and did a tour at Parris Island as a Drill Instructor. Caples details the steps he took to leave the Marines and join the Air Force's TACP program. We go into detail about the TACP training pipeline and compare and contrast the Air Force program with the...

Dave "Rage" James is a former Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and currently mentors civilians interested in joining the military to become part of special operations. Prior to joining the Marine Corps, James served an enlistment in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer. James details his path to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in the 80s and some of the obstacles he overcame to achie...

Retired Deputy Sheriff and owner of Gold Hill Canine, Ashley Smentek, is back on the show to talk about some current events in order to add a police perspective to the conversation. It was an interesting and thought-provoking conversation. If you haven't heard Smentek's full story then check out Ep. 041 for more information. As always, make sure to subscribe and share the show! Support the show ht...

This episode features my buddy from the past, Nick Davison. He currently works in law enforcement but we met as organizational mechanics in the Marine Corps for a 2009 deployment to Al-Taqaddum (TQ) airfield in Iraq. Davison breaks down his time in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and we compare and contrast that component with being on active duty. We also discuss the military occupation s...

David Armstrong is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps. He was an artillery and tank officer on active duty and the reserves and gives great insight into the reservist side of the Marine Corps. We also get into the restructuring of the Marine Corps by the current commandant and what effects that decision could have across the fleet. Another really great show with an in...

Salvador Lara was a Marine infantry assaultman, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veteran. During his first deployment to Iraq he earned two purple hearts for separate improvised explosive and suicide bomber attacks that caused multiple injuries; including, almost losing vision in one eye. He also had his helmet shot off his head by a sniper and and was involved in multiple en...

On this episode of the podcast, I interview my father for Father's Day and learn more about the family's history. My grandfather served in the Army Air Corps towards the end of WWII and during the occupation afterwards in Japan and eventually transferred to the newly formed Air Force. We also discuss my dad's time being stationed in Germany with the Army in the mid-70's. Following his active servi...

John Carughi is a former Marine infantryman that spent four years at Marine Corps Base Hawaii; however, Carughi recently became known internet-wide after a video of him disarming a rioter that had taken possession of a police rifle went viral during the height of the George Floyd protests. Today, Carughi joins me to briefly discuss his 4-year stint in the Marines and some of the training he receiv...

Joson and Andrew are back on the show to catch up and to tell some stories from their time working together at 1st ANGLICO. As always, make sure to subscribe and share the show! Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com

SSgt Alex Barlow is a Recon Marine that recently retired from the United States Marine Corps. During his service, he worked on teams at 1st and 2nd Recon Battalion and deployed multiple times to Operation Enduring Freedom, South America, and elsewhere. Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com

LtCol David Armstrong is on the podcast with us this week. David is a former Marine artillery officer whose career took many interesting turns over the years. Armstrong was at Ft. Sill during planning for the Gulf War and missed out on deploying because of how quick the war ended. He eventually got what he asked for and was sent to Somalia as an attachment from 11th Marines and was able to conduct...

Sgt Sean O'Brien is a former Fire Support Marine that served with 1st and 5th Battalions from 10th Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment during Operation Enduring Freedom and 1st ANGLICO. O'Brien left the Marine Corps in 2017 and is now an over-the-road trucker. As always, make sure to subscribe and share the show! Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramerg...

Alex is back on the show and we discuss some of his most memorable fire missions from Syria, how his transition has been during the COVID-19 pandemic, protests and riots taking place across the country, and much more. Great conversation as always and make sure to check out Ep. 040 for Alex's full military history. As always, make sure to subscribe and share the show! Support the show https://patre...

HM2 Tyler Fogg is a US Navy Corpsman that I worked with at 1st ANGLICO and has had some interesting billets during his ongoing career. Prior to being assigned to 1st ANGLICO, Fogg worked with the US Customs and Border Patrol on the southern border and was involved in emplacing sensors to monitor human and drug trafficking as well as assisting in the apprehension of illegal immigrants, human traffi...

I'm joined again by my friends and fellow Marines Tracy Offutt and Michael Farrell. Check out their previous interviews as well. Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com

Sgt Matthew Moyer is a Marine Corps Fire Support Man that served with 2nd ANGLICO and 5th Battalion 10th Marine Regiment during his shortened Marine Corps career. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Moyer was medically retired after sustaining a severe non-combat related back injury in Afghanistan. For his first duty station, Moyer, was assigned to 2nd...

Christopher Harper is attending Auburn University under the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) but previously served with 1st and 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, MARSOC, and 2nd Maintenance Battalion. Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com

Maj Grant "Emilio" Mauritzson was a United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier pilot that served with VMFA-211 and VMFA-311. He is an Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve veteran and we worked together while deployed with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Emilio gives a good breakdown of how a flight contract Marine may progress through flight school and what was perceived to...

GySgt Joshua Gage is a Marine Corps JTAC and Fire Support Man currently serving with 2nd Marine Division. Prior to that, Gage was Special Operations Capabilities Specialist (SOCS) at Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC). He served with MARSOC for five years as a team JTAC for multiple Marine Special Operations Teams (MSOT) during three deployments. He also completed two deployments to Afghan...

Quentin Brown and Levi Slife were both fire support men and JTACs in the United States Marine Corps and now both are firefighters in the real world. We discuss their roles as JTACs during their deployment together to Afghanistan but the bulk of the episode revolves around their career as firefighters. If you want to hear a more in-depth episode about their military careers then check out Ep. 014 (...

Matt Koetting served in the United States Marine Corps as an assaultman, machine gunner, joint terminal attack controller (JTAC), Marine Corps instructor of water survival (MCIWS) and Reconnaissance Marine. Matt served with 1st Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment during two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. During his deployment to Afghanistan, Matt took part in Operation Moshtarak which was m...

Geraint Jones is formerly part of the British Army Reserves and completed two deployments to the Iraqi city of Basra and one deployment to the Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Following his service in the military, Geraint worked as a private military contractor helping to defend naval vessels from pirates off the coast of Africa. Geraint is now using his experience as an infan...

Vanessa Hulsey is a mixologist and hospitality professional that has worked in the industry at establishments in New York, Chicago, Miami, Nashville and most recently Milan, Italy where she resides with her husband and child. Vanessa is also my cousin and I thought it would be interesting to have an American living in a city that was hit hardest by COVID-19 to come on the show and discuss what has...

In this episode of the Former Action Guys Podcast, we talk to Ashley Smentek, a retired deputy sheriff who now runs Gold Hill Canine in Northern California. Ashley served as a patrol officer, a member of a helicopter team, and for 3 years within the jail system. We discuss recent officer-involved shootings and other incidents that have put the spotlight on the men and women in blue. Ashley's persp...