Mentors for Military Podcast

Bram Connolly left his Adelaide home at sixteen to work on a sheep station. He joined the Australian Army as a seventeen year old and rose through the ranks to retire from Special Forces as a Major in 2011. In a distinguished twenty-year career (over fifteen years in Special Forces) Bram was deployed to Somalia, East Timor (twice) and Afghanistan (twice). In 1997 Bram was selected on Australia’s f...

Damian is currently serving on active duty with the U.S. Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (E7). He's served on multiple rotations to Afghanistan with most of his time in the Kandahar and Panjwai regions. At times, he has been attached in support of Army Special Forces ODA's and Navy SEAL platoons. He joins Robert Gowin and Mike Glover to talk about his training...

Bryce Mahoney joins Robert Gowin and Mike Glover on this podcast. We discuss the increase of special operations forces op tempo and the role they will play countering terrorism during the next administration. We discuss the transition of the SOF community (specifically Rangers and SF) and the difficulty some have assimilating into the private sector. There may be an opportunity to create a mentori...

Mylee Cardenas served in the U.S. Army as a civil affairs non-commissioned officer before volunteering to join the cultural support team (CST)initiative where she was assigned to the Special Forces in Afghanistan. While deployed, she noticed a lump on her breast, but ignored it so she could finish the eight-month tour. Mylee returned to the United States to find out that she had stage 3 invasive d...

Kinessa Johnson is a U.S. Army veteran. After separation from the military, she trained in weapons. She has always been passionate about saving the "big 5" animals from extinction in Africa. She talks about her previous trip to Tanzania and how that went terribly bad. She is currently preparing to revisit Africa with a different organization soon. We talk about her past, her military transition, h...

Aaron Williamson, works with actors, top athletes and other film personnel to help them achieve their fitness goals for films, competitive seasons or special events. Aaron is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran fueled by fitness & motivated by inspiring others! In 2000, Aaron was screened and selected for the Marine Corps World Famous Body Bearers where he spent nearly 4 years conducting funerals out of A...

"Do No Harm" is a short-film about a combat medic attempting to hold onto humanity in an inhumane situation. This is a noble and beautiful thing. But war is not always that. Do No Harm is a story about decisiveness vs. compassion. We talk to Bethany Levy and Marielle Woods who are directing the film and hoping to bring greater awareness of this challenging military role. They are working with a no...

Jason Carl Fox aka "Foxy" joined us. Foxy joined the Royal Marines at the age of 16 and after spending ten years with them, he joined the British Special Boat Service (Special Forces) and spent the next ten years on missions that took him across the globe. He separated from the military due to post traumatic stress (PTSD) in Apr 2012 and after working for a time in several positions, he and a frie...

Larry Moores was former US Army enlisted and began his career in 1982 with 1/75 Rangers in Savannah where he was deployed to Grenada. He then chose to go to officer candidate school (OCS) and following training was assigned to 3/24 ID at Fort Benning. In Feb 1992 he transferred into 3/75 RGR and found himself 8 months later leading a convoy in Mogadishu into an event that is now known as "Black Ha...

Bryan "Bam Bam" Marshall is the founder of Wishes for Warriors Foundation who has a mission of showing heroes that whether wounded of body and mind, they are still able to live out their passions; whether it is through the love of hunting, fishing, skydiving or anything that makes them feel alive again. Bryan is a U.S. Marine. He created the foundation after reflecting on the loss of a good friend...

Kristian Ritter (aka seastate21) joins Robert and Mike P. to talk about preparing for attendance at the USMC Basic Reconnaissance Course (BRC), the differences between Marine Reconnaissance Special Operations Command (MARSOC) and Force Recon, as well as preparing for US Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) Course at Fort Bragg, NC. Follow Mentors for Military: iTunes: http://apple.c...

We talk about the actions required by anyone who is placed in an active shooter situation. Mike Glover shares the steps a person should take that may save their life and those around them. We discuss an easy to use acronym of OFF and what that means. Learn how to take the appropriate steps in these types of stressful situations. Follow Mike at www.fieldcraftsurvival.com or on Instagram at www.inst...

Jared Bullock served with the U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a SFC/E7 18E (communications) Non-commissioned Officer while on active duty and he recently retired. He's a double amputee from an IED in Afghanistan that occurred in Nov 2013. He doesn't let his disability or anything stand in his way once he sets a goal. His current goal is to compete at a National Physique Committee...

Kristian Ritter is also known as "seastate21" on Instagram. We talk to him about what it's like to go from enlisting into the USMC and becoming a Force Recon Marine. He shares stories with us about going through the training, including Army airborne school, SERE training, the combat diver course, and Marine Corps free fall school. He also shares his own experience of going through military to civi...

Rob Principato is one of the founding members of Military Muscle, an apparel company that includes a non-profit foundation supporting PTSD and veteran suicide awareness. Bob Cicherillo joined as a guest host and we talk about veteran fellowship, role models, fitness after separation, and how fitness ties all branches together - especially after separation. Follow Mentors for Military: iTunes: http...

After receiving several requests and questions about military enlistment, the podcast team talks about the steps of enlisting into the Army and the Army Ranger contract. They also discuss Special Forces, the training, and how that differs from Rangers - including sniper school. Mike Glover of FieldCraft joins the team during this podcast and he will join on occasion going forward as a guest host....

Colin is a British SAS soldier. A current author and actor. We caught up with him to talk about his involvement with the SF Experience, where a small cadre of ex UK Special Forces (SF) soldiers are Directing Staff (DS) who challenge you to a series of 4 events which form part of the UKSF Selection process. Colin is also training to participate in amateur boxing matches between UK and US Special Fo...

Bob earned his pro card at the 2000 USA's after 13 hard years of competing in amateur contests. He started training when he was 12 and competed in his first contest when was 13 years old. He's been in several movies, but now spends his time emceeing professional bodybuilding events across the country and is known as "The voice of bodybuilding." We talk about how military fitness has crossed over i...

Karl Monger served in the Army as an officer and for a period of time with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He describes the genesis of what later became the non-profit, Gallant Few, and how it's mission is to prevent veteran isolation by connecting new veterans with hometown veteran mentors, thereby facilitating a peaceful, successful transition from military service to a civilian life filled with hope...

Mike was U.S. Army Special Forces with more than 18 years of military service. Mike has operated at the highest levels of Special Forces. He has served in the following positions: SF Weapons Specialist, SF Sniper, SF Assaulter/Operator, SF Recon Specialist, SF Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC), SF Team Sgt, and SF Operations SGM. We talk about FieldCraft, LLC, a company he leads that prepares t...

Kat and Robert attended the 2016 Ranger Hall of Fame indoctrination ceremony at Fort Benning, GA. They talk about the people they met and the individual stories. They met Larry Moores, a platoon leader in Mogadishu, whose story was in the film "Black Hawk Down." They also met Karl Monger, a Ranger that is the founder of Gallant Few. Follow Mentors for Military: iTunes: http://apple.co/1WaEvbB Soun...

Marcus Burleson deployed to Afghanistan in October 2011, and just two months later sustained life-threatening injuries while attempting to disarm an improvised explosive device (IED). His story is inspiring after receiving a visit from Chris Kyle (U.S. Navy SEAL) that set him on a course toward his purpose/passion. He now works for Boot Campaign. Follow Mentors for Military: iTunes: http://apple.c...

Brian "Tosh" Chontosh is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Major that was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism and was twice awarded the Bronze Star for valor. However, he is a humble leader that would rather focus on helping others find their sense of purpose and a feeling of being valued. He was recently selected to lead the Triumph Games that will be televised on CBS Sports, a multi-round...

Mike, Robert, and Kat catch everyone up on their current status. Mike discusses his challenge of attending a college masters program. Kat talks about how she's preparing for her 166.4KM hike in the UK to support veterans as well as her Top 25 nomination for Ms. Veteran America. The team also reflects on Independence Day since it was taped that morning. Follow Mentors for Military: iTunes: http://a...

Steve Heaney joined the British Army in 1986 and in January 1990 he undertook selection for X Platoon, more formally known as the Pathfinders, and at only twenty years old became the youngest soldier ever to pass the rigorous selection process. Trained in the skill sets required of an operator in this highly specialized unit including weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and reconnaissance, hi...