Mentors for Military Podcast

Doug Kiesewetter is the content director at SOFLETE, a company of human performance specialists helping tactical athletes realize their full potential, but he's also an Engineer and Weapons Sergeant in the National Guard's Special Forces with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa. _______________ If you enjoy our content and you want to help support our show, visit https://www.patreon.com/j...

Three former US Army Special Forces (Green Beret's) along with George Luz Jr., the son of the legendary Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division portrayed in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers", pay tribute and talk about the role the French Resistance played in WWII. We also share an audio clip of George Luz Sr. sharing a personal story of ju...

Kyle Neal was recently on Episode 252 and returns to discuss a procedure, an injection of a long-acting local anesthetic, using ultrasound or fluorpscopic guidance, is made in the right side of the neck around the main nerve that controls the “fight or flight” response (the sympathetic nervous system), that he had performed to help him with his traumatic brain injury. _______________ If you enjoy...

John "Rain" Waters is a seasoned fighter pilot with more than 960 combat hours in the MC-12W and the F-16 flying combat missions as part of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve. He joined Robert and Paul on this episode. John is the host of The Afterburn Podcast. _______________ If you enjoy our content and you want to help support our show, visit https://www.patreon.com/...

Chris VanSant served at the tip of the spear as an operator in the U.S. Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (aka "The Unit", "Delta Force", "CAG", "Task Force Green") with over 500 combat operations, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, and taking part in eleven combat deployments over his 20+ year career in special operations. Chris sat down with Robert and Paul to discuss...

Ryan joined the Army and served in the infantry for 6 years before joining Special Forces. He has deployed multiple times to SE Asia and the Middle East. Losing friends and teammates in combat and then through suicide takes a toll and Ryan knew he needed to do something in his own life. "The art of interpersonal communication and connection is quickly being lost on our generation" said Ryan. "What...

A simple car accident changed the path of 6-year-old Sean Rogers’ life forever. His single mother checked into the hospital as a vibrant young woman and checked out as a full-blown opioid addict. From that day forward, Sean’s life became a silent nightmare of abuse, neglect, chronic hunger, and slow, helpless withdrawal from everything and everyone he loved. Green Beret Sean Rogers chronicles the...

Ryan Hendrickson is a Special Forces Engineer in the U.S. Army. Ryan transferred over to the Army in 2008 after completing enlistments in both the Navy and Air Force. He has many military deployments including Iraq, Afghanistan, and several South and Central American countries. In 2010, while serving as an 18C on his first deployment as a Green Beret, he survived an IED blast. He recalls, “my tib...

Staff Sergeant Josh Porter entered the U.S. Army from the Army Reserves in 2009 as a Parachute Rigger (92R) and after initial training, including airborne school, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade, the 507th PIR and the command exhibition parachute team "The Silver Wings" at Fort Benning. He's served on multiple deployments, including with the 7th Special Forces Gro...

Jon Macaskill, MMT, is a Navy SEAL Commander who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the coast of Somalia, and in Panama. Jon started his Navy career as an Aircrew Survival Equipmentmen (PR), occupational specialty A450, responsible for keeping parachutes, life rafts, personal flight gear, and other aviation survival gear in proper working condition. As a high performer and special operations com...

LT Kellie Hall grew up in a Navy household, her dad is still serving in the Navy Reserve, and the Navy has always been the "family business". Growing up she moved from California, to Virginia, to Sicily, Italy, and back to Virginia throughout her dad's Naval career. Now she's blazing her own trail as an active-duty Navy Lieutenant, woman in uniform, model, former pageant contestant, and entreprene...

Errol Doebler is a 1991 Graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. During his time as a Naval Officer, Errol served as Assistant Operations Officer onboard the USS Monongahela, Assistant Platoon Commander at SEAL Team FOUR, and a Platoon Commander at Seal Team ONE. After spending time in the private sector as a sales leader, Errol joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)...

Functional medicine is a form of alternative medicine whose proponents claim that it focuses on the "root causes" of diseases based on interactions between the environment and the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems to develop "individualized treatment plans". In some circles it is described as a pseudoscience or as quackery. However, functional medicine is gaining traction, especially...

Nick Dunn served as a member of the British Army Parachute Regiment. After service he became a maritime security guard on British vessels employed to protect them against Somali pirates. In October 2013, he and the crew of the British merchant ship MV Seaman Guard Ohio were intercepted off the Indian coast accused of being illegally armed in Indian waters. It was all a big misunderstanding, but it...

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) is a special operations force of the United States Army that provides helicopter aviation support for general purpose forces and special operations forces. Its missions have included attack, assault, and reconnaissance, and these missions are usually conducted at night, at high speeds, low altitudes, and on short notice. The motto of 160th SOAR...

Kyle was on a routine patrol as a Cavalry Scout with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED). We talk about everything that led up to that day, what happened after, and spend time talking about traumatic brain injury (TBI) and a new procedure that Paul (a retired US Army Ranger) recently had performed days prior (Stellate G...

Captain Ben Harrow is a 2005 graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an accomplished officer and leader of U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) soldiers, and a decorated combat veteran. Ben's life would forever be changed on May 15, 2012 while deployed with 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Leading a team of Special Forces soldiers on an anti-terroism mission, he stepp...

AJ Powell is a retired United States Army NonCommissioned Officer who served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. His professional military experience spans the full-spectrum of aviation operations, to include general, tactical, combat, SAR/CSAR/PR and MEDEVAC, VIP/DV operations, teaching, training and instruction, and special operations and special missions aviation operations. His book "Tactical...

Chief Master Sergeant Stefan Blazier "Blaze" is currently the Command Chief Master Sergeant for the 37th Training Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. He is the primary advisor to the commander on all matters affecting training, performance, discipline, safety, readiness, and health of more than 18,000 students and permanent party Airmen. The Wing encompasses 9 wing staff agencies, three...

Rick Hogg is a 29-year US Army Special Operation Combat Veteran with 13 combat deployments, in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  In this episode Rick sits down with Robert and talks about his time as a Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat instructor in the early GWOT days, becoming a K9 handler while in 7th Special Forces Group, and his time as an instructor at Special Forces Assessment and Selection (S...

Nick Norris is a graduate of both the United States Naval Academy and Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL (BUD/S) Class 247. Upon completion of SEAL training in 2004, Nick assumed progressively higher positions of leadership within Naval Special Warfare. His deployed roles included combat advisor to Iraqi and Afghan military units, Cross Functional Team Leader, and Ground Force Commander during com...

Megan Henry is an officer in the US Army Reserve and also an Olympic athlete for the United States. "I was born two months premature by an emergency C-section and went straight into the ICU. Many didn’t think I would make it; and as my parents say, I have been fighting my way ever since", said Megan.  While at the peak of her career, she suddenly found herself fighting for her life once again. Pat...

Byron, Ryan, and Robert discuss the concerns they all share on the alarming number of veteran suicides, especially within the last twelve months. Veteran suicide continues to climb despite the best efforts by the veterans administration or the thousands of nonprofits focused on post traumatic stress, military sexual trauma, and suicide prevention.  More troops have died by suicide from 2005-2017 t...

John Sherbert is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant with over 20 years of Special Operations experience having served with 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and 7th Special Forces Group, at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School as a Special Forces Urban Combat Course instructor, Unconventional Warfare Instructor, and 4 years as a sworn NC Law Enforcement Officer...

Psychological Operations Specialists plays a significant role in the special operations community. They operate in small, autonomous teams or with other Special Operations Forces as influence experts, who assesses the information needs of a target population and craft messaging to influence and engage target audiences.    Listen to this episode to hear from active duty members of the psychological...