Hazard Ground

Renford Ligon is a US Army Special Forces “Green Beret” Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (MSG Ret.) with 25 years of experience. A proven track record during many national level crisis events while serving as a US Army Special Operations Senior Operator and Military advisor (Contractor) previously assigned Central and South America worked years supporting the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Renford co...

Brian Hester enlisted in the Army as an infantryman in 1990, completing his first assignment with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. He went on to serve in roles based in North Carolina, Louisiana, Maryland, Hawaii, South Carolina and Iraq, fulfilling numerous leadership responsibilities and completing three tours in Iraq, two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Kosovo. Hester holds a bach...

Mark “Matz” Matzeldelaflor grew up exploring the wilderness in the backwoods of New Hampshire, camping, hiking through the mountains, and climbing trees until the weekend after high school graduation when he joined the Navy to become a SEAL. He served in combat deployments to Baghdad and Ramadi, Iraq, and trained the West Coast SEAL Teams in combat skills before leaving active duty service in 2009...

Former Green Beret Nate Boyer returns this week to the podcast with a specific purpose: to discuss the film that he wrote, directed and starred in titled "MVP." Boyer co-founded his non-profit MVP (Merging Vets & Players) with Jay Glazer of FOX Sports to bring together combat veterans and former professional athletes as they both share a bond of the tough transition when the uniform comes off. The...

David Truesdale has worked very closely with military members and military units, spending about 27 years in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. David had combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as deployments around the world; working in Counter Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. At certain points in his career, David was in charge of military troops and military units. David i...

Tomas Cruz served in the U.S. Army for over 25 years and deployed to Kosovo in 1999 as well as to Iraq and Jordan over his military career. Tomas claims he was a soldier that thought he could take care of everything on his own and had all the answers until it all came crashing down on November 3rd 2010, the day that changed his life. He felt he could not handle the pressure of doing everything on...

Mary Tobin is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the New York Institute of Technology. Mary is a proud combat Veteran, having served 10 years in the United States Army as a communications officer, including two combat tours in Iraq. She currently serves in the Biden-Harris administration as the Senior Advisor for Wounded Warrior, Veteran, and Military Family Initiat...

Keith Parry is a native of Palmerton, Pennsylvania and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1989, spending 30 years in the military. Keith spent the latter half of his career in the special operations community within the Marine Corps. He has seven deployments in the War on Terror and four additional deployments, all overseas. Keith currently works for the state of Texas and is an ambassador on The Hon...

Amy Forsythe started her military career as an enlisted Marine Combat Correspondent working as a military journalist while on active duty and in the Marines Reserves before becoming a Navy Reserve Public Officer in 2010. Amy served five combat tours over the past 20 years and won many awards for her reporting while deployed as she covered combat operations and military exercises in places like Ira...

Earl Porter joined the military at the age of 17 as a 4-year Army ROTC scholar and would go on to spend 10 total years in the military. Earl is a former Army captain and was also a Ranger, spending time in both active duty and the guard. During his service, Earl had deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Post-military career, Earl got his law degree, works in commercial real estate and also establis...

Jaime Martinez spent 26 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a Lt. Colonel, spending time on both the enlisted and the officer side. Jaime had multiple combat deployments including Panama, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He was also part of the federal force called up to the L.A. riots in the early 90s. Jaime also worked on the personal staff of both Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. Hilla...

Fred Galvin served twenty-seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps, beginning as a seventeen-year-old who rose from the enlisted ranks to become an officer. During his time in the Marines, Fred served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. Following his retirement, he became a business entrepreneur, nonprofit executive director aiding families of service members killed in action, and a consultant...

Jim McDonough spent 26 years in the United States Army and retired as a Colonel. Jim was originally commissioned as an Air Defense Artillery Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School, Class 1-82 on March 11th, 1982. He had combat deployments in both the Gulf War and the invasion in Iraq. In Jim's post military career, he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Veteran's Outreach Center...

Sergeant Major (ret) Sarita Dyer served in the U.S. Army for nearly three decades of faithful service to our country. Sarita served in a multitude of leadership positions across the globe in a productive and exciting military career. She is a two-time Bronze Star Award combat veteran and achieved the highest enlisted rank of Sergeant Major with culminating assignments serving as a Congressional Fe...

Alan C. Mack is a Master Aviator with more than 6700 hours of flight time, of which over 3200 were flown with Night Vision Goggles. Alan C. Mack's desire to see the world as a U.S. Army helicopter mechanic took him to West Texas, the Republic of Korea, and the Federal Republic of Germany before attending Warrant Officer flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Alan took part in Operation Desert Shie...

Jaymes Poling grew up in Warren, Ohio and enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina as an infantryman. During his eight years with the division, he spent three years fighting in Afghanistan as a Machine Gunner and Squad Leader. In May 2018, Jaymes earned a finance degree at John Carroll University. He would go on to draw...

After graduating college in 2004, Jason Wood was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and served seven years of active duty. During that time, he completed three combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2011, Jason completed his service in the Army and began working as a Department of Defense contractor. After his military service, Jason discovered that signing up for enduranc...

LTC (R) Dave Taylor enlisted in 1992 and served 24 years in the U.S. Army while deploying eight times in support of the Global War of Terror. After graduating from West Virginia University, Dave received his commission as an Infantry Officer spending most of his career with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Special Operations Command, and finished his career with what he calls one of the most humbli...

Aaron Futrell is a retired Army Staff Sergeant who joined the U.S. Army right after high school in 2000 where he attended basic training in Fort Jackson, SC. Aaron spent over 22 years both in active duty and in the Ohio National Guard. He has three total deployments overseas including his final deployment to Iraq in January 2020 where he sustained a traumatic brain injury during the Iranin's balli...

A Junior in high school on 9/11, Josiah Guthland made the decision to join the military in the weeks following the attacks on his country. Josiah enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 2003, spent 6 years in the Army, and served 2 combat deployments in Iraq as a Combat Engineer. He is currently the Director of Veteran and Military Services at the University of Baltimore. Support the podcast by supportin...

Alex Plitsas spent eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves, in a post-9/11 world. Alex had three different deployments overseas as a soldier, a contractor, and as a DA civilian. He spent time working with the Secretary of Defense and also helped evacuate Afghans from Afghanistan as part of Digital Dunkirk. Alex currently works in the tech industry in the civilian sector. Support the podcast by suppo...

Tim Fedrick spent 31 years in the U.S. Navy with 28 of those years inside the U.S. Navy SEALs and inside Naval special warfare. Tim retired from service as a Lieutenant Commander and he is now an Executive Producer and Host for JUL-TV "Veterans in Transition". Tim is also the ambassador of the organization, Warriors & Whiskey Club. https://warriorsandwhiskey.com/ Support the podcast by supporting...

Stephanie Gattas is a United States Navy Veteran who served two overseas tours on the USS Simon Lake. Stephanie is both a Gulf War and Post 911 Veteran. After service, Stephanie followed her passion of giving back to the military community and its veterans and founded The Pink Berets in 2015. The Pink Berets is an organization that assists women of the U.S. Armed Forces who struggle with the invis...

Jason Kander is a former U.S. Army Captain who spent a little over 8 years in the military and had one deployment in the Military intelligence field overseas. Following his military service, Jason turned to American politics and was on his way to becoming Mayor of his hometown of Kansas City. Jason pulled out of the race right before the election to seek help for his PTSD. Focusing on his PTSD and...

MAJ Tony Mayne served 21 years in the U.S. Army and deployed eight times in support of the Global War of Terror. After graduating from The Ohio State University in 1998, Tony enlisted as an infantryman and as a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, he participated in the initial combat airborne operation into Afghanistan on October 19th, 2001. Of Tony's awards and decorations, none is more important...