Hazard Ground

Following a promising college football career at Notre Dame, Rocky Bleier was on his way to starting a pro career in the NFL. It was 1968, and Bleier, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, was nearing the end of his first NFL season when he received another draft notice. This time it was from the Army, and it was for a report date the morning after a Steelers game Bleier was suited up for. I...

Searching for a higher purpose, and a sense of selflessness and brotherhood, Rob Jones enlisted in the Marine Corps at 20, while still attending college at Virginia Tech. His sense of purpose and the warrior mentality that the Corps gave him were put to the test after he sustained devastating injuries on July 22, 2010 in Afghanistan. While sweeping a field for suspected IEDs, Jones stepped on a la...

Matt Klein grew up with vivid stories of his grandfather flying dive bomb missions in World War II. His grandfather had signed up shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Much like his grandfather, Klein joined the military shortly after 9/11. He signed up to serve in the Infantry - a job that would provide more than its fair share of hairy moments through two combat deployments to Iraq as the in...

It's safe to say that fate has been on Gary Wetzel's side since the day he stepped foot in Vietnam. He survived 5 helicopter crashes; he's a living recipient of the Medal of Honor from his time there; he was shot, stabbed, and blown up on the battlefield; and he's come full circle in meeting those who treated him after his 5th helicopter crash, decades later. That 5th crash and subsequent firefigh...

Strap in folks, because in this episode we go deep into the life and survival of Justin Lascek. Justin is a Green Beret Medic, who was blown up a little over a year ago while fighting in Afghanistan. The blast ended up taking both of his legs, and a couple of other vital parts which you’ll hear about in the episode. What the blast didn’t take was Justin’s indomitable warrior spirit, which is unden...

Joe Chenelly’s path to the Marine Corps started from a very unlikely place. As he describes it, his parents were hippies. And after initially finding college to be something he didn't necessarily have an affinity for, Chenelly enlisted in the Marines. Joining not long before 9/11, Chenelly would eventually end up at the forefront of America’s war on terror as a combat journalist. In fact, Chenelly...

Vincent "Rocco" Vargas thought his life would be baseball. He was on the path to take a stab at the majors, but academic ineligibility while playing college ball pushed him in a different direction. Inspired by military service and seeking a way to provide a stable means of supporting his first child, Vargas enlisted in the Army in 2003. He knew he wanted the most challenging job possible in the m...

Will Bardenwerper returns to the show, and goes back to Ranger School. Will graduated the Army's grueling combat leadership school in 2004, but returned recently to write a piece for Outside Magazine on Ranger class 05-19. Bardenwerper admits he's more often jolted from a deep sleep by a dream about Ranger School than he is by anything related to his own experiences in combat. Going back to chroni...

This week we're featuring another Special Guest, whose story is characterized by resilience as well as connected to recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. On April 15, 2013, Marc Fucarile was severely injured by the second of two bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon. He was attending the race as a spectator, watching a friend of his run, and was standing just a few feet away from...

A measured decision led Tom Kerr to pursue the Green Beret after 4 years in the Infantry. He wanted to do more in combat, serve with the elite, and know that what he was doing every time he deployed to a combat theater was not only challenging, but tangible. Following more deployments as a Green Beret, a back injury nearly sent Kerr out of the military and a job he loved more than anything. But, h...

Dr. Bob Adams is fifth generation career military, dating all the way back to the Civil War. His military career spans 30 years, and began at the U.S. Naval Academy. Following graduation, Dr. Adams served a few years in the Navy before pursuing his dream to become a Navy SEAL. He would serve 12 years as a SEAL before embarking on a career shift, enrolling in medical school, and becoming a doctor -...

He is credited with making roughly 5,325 rescues during his 20 year career in the Air Force. That's an average of approximately 5 rescues each week for 20 years straight! Mike Maroney joined the Air Force to become a PJ. He says he joined the military to earn his keep for living in a free country. And when you look at what he's done during his military career, it's clear he's done more than earn h...

When Jeremy Staat was drafted out of Arizona State by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1998 NFL draft, it looked as if his life for the foreseeable future would be based solely around pro football. He was a standout player, but after four seasons in the NFL Staat decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and serve in the military. Staat enlisted in the Marine Corps, and served...

If you're looking for motivation, or simply inspiration to never, ever quit, then you should listen to this episode with Green Beret, Nick Lavery. Nick enlisted in the Army to become a Green Beret after he graduated college in 2007. Since earning his Special Forces tab, Lavery took shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade to his shoulder, leaving a sizable wound; he was shot in the face; and ultim...

Following in the footsteps of his father and both grandfathers, Thomas Gibbons-Neff joined the military at the end of his senior year in high school. He enlisted in the Marine Corps. Like many of his contemporaries, he just wanted to get in the fight. He was in 8th grade when 9/11 happened. So any doubt that he would follow his family into the military, and eventually war, vanished when his countr...

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a Special Forces Medic, Robert Patrick Lewis can certainly tell you. They are some of the most highly trained field medical professionals in the world. Lewis signed up to become one after 9/11, and deployed multiple times to Afghanistan, Iraq, and North Africa, eventually finding himself on the receiving end of field medical care. He received the Purple...

Originally, Terry Wilson wanted to be a Marine. But, following a brief education on the recruiting business, Terry opted for the Army instead when he learned his "guaranteed" MOS wasn't so guaranteed with the Marine Corps. He would eventually become a Combat Engineer with the Army, deploying to Afghanistan where his job was lead Husky vehicle driver, searching for IEDs during route clearance opera...

There are Marines...There are Recon Marines...And then there is Rudy Reyes. At the age of twenty-six, Rudy joined the Marine Corps out of a desire to serve his country and honor the warrior mentality he had built within himself through years of rough upbringing and various physical challenges. After graduating Parris Island, Reyes earned a coveted spot to try out for Marine Force Reconnaissance. H...

Brad Thomas returns to the show! Brad is a musician and retired 1st SFOD-Delta operator, who also fought in the Battle of Mogadishu - better known as "Black Hawk Down" - as an Army Ranger. Brad's band, "Silence & Light", were featured in Episode 58, just before they were getting ready to head into the studio to record their first album. Their self-titled debut album was released on December 20, 20...

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the conclusion of Operation Just Cause, this week we bring you an incredible story of combat and survival from that campaign. David Reeves was a Ranger fire team leader with Charlie Co, 3rd BN, 75th Ranger Regiment during the invasion of Panama. His company's mission was to seize the airfield at Torrijos Airport, the international airport of Panama City. During...

As someone who was rising through the ranks and performing at a very high level in the Army's top tier, elite special operations unit, Patty Collins never thought she would suffer an injury that would end up taking her leg, when she wasn't serving in a war zone. But, in 2006, while riding her bike to work on Fort Bragg, she was struck from behind by an automobile. The marathon runner and triathlet...

Born prematurely due to drugs and alcohol, to a mother he would never meet, Kionte Storey spent the first 10 years of his life raised by his second cousin. He would spend 8 more years in foster care, before he found the Marine Corps. Joining the Marines was a form of escape, but also a way to prove something to himself, and possibly a chance at a better life. Unfortunately, his time in the Marine...

As an Infantry Marine, Geoff Hopf experienced a unique side of the Persian Gulf War we rarely hear about. Hopf's relatively small team was tasked with forming the first line of defense if Saddam Hussein decided to invade Saudi Arabia during the buildup of coalition forces prior to Operation Desert Storm. Left in the desert for week's on end, Hopf's team literally ran out of food at one point, whil...

Anytime combat photographer Kevin Wallace was involved in a firefight, he often had a critical decision to make: shoot back at the enemy, or pick up his camera and take a much different shot. The decision could be painstaking, but Wallace knew the importance of documenting combat, while still trying to help those to his left and right. The process weighed on him so much that he spent hours and hou...

There isn't much we can say about Kyle Carpenter to further accentuate just how special a human being he is. He served as a Marine in combat and received the military's highest award for valor with humility, strength, and optimism - qualities that were certainly tested by the years of pain and frustration that followed his exit from combat. Kyle was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Af...