Permission To Speak Freely

About Our Guest:   Theresa Carpenter is an active-duty Navy Commander, with 10 years of enlisted time and where she has served for 28 years. Her passions include helping people succeed, protecting animals, moving past traumatic experiences, speaking up for positive change, and the professional development of the craft of public relations. As a reflective writer, she discusses the human experience...

Recently retired Senior Chief Yeoman, Coby Turner joins the podcast to talk about retirement. He and Damo highlight how they met as CPO Season leads for their respective commands. He details a rare story about how the Navy messed up his government name at MEPS. The pod has a small discussion about planning and executing a CPO Initiation season. Coby reflects on what made him choose to retire when...

Tisha kicked out the guys for our Women’s History Month panel and the ladies chop it up on this one! The panel, hosted by Tisha, includes ABE2 Marina Griffin, YN1 Ashlie Beaver, LCDR Emily Curran, YNCS Ashley Williams, and LS1 Stephanie Confer. They discuss the importance of having female representation in male-dominated fields. Ashlie Beaver talked about the challenges of being one of the boys wh...

No guests in this episode, so let the shenanigans ensue. Damo led his first FLDC and had an eye-opening experience. Damon is supporting local businesses. Tisha is telling men if they are men or not. Should Damo get OC sprayed for the culture? Damon reminisces all his OC horror stories. The trio revisits the idea of a 4-Day work week as the Bernie Sanders-led bill moves to Congress. Another topic i...

Mental Health Advocate, Active Duty Naval Officer, Mother, and Wife - LCDR Alexis Travis joins Tisha and Damo on this episode. Damon is on travel, making the Navy a better place. This episode opens with some jokes about being married. LCDR Travis discusses her past as a distance runner and what motivates her. She discusses the very special reason why she joined the military and how that impacts he...

About our guest: Paul Kingsbury is a retired Fleet Master Chief (U.S. Fleet Forces Command) with 31 years of service. He currently serves as the Director of Uniformed Service Relations at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. He’s the host of the ‘Cutlass Podcast,’ a podcast specializing in leadership lessons and guidance. He’s authored or co-authored the 2nd Edition of the Chief Petty Officer’s...

**LISTEN TO EPISODE 104 BEFORE LISTENING TO THIS* Please forgive us for any issues, however, the final 12 minutes was cut off of Episode 104 (Feat. Captain Gervy Alota) and we want to make sure you hear it. Sorry for any confusion. 

Captain Gervy Alota joins the show for an obviously epic episode! He starts from the beginning - Southeast, San Diego. He recounts stories of escaping a lifestyle in the streets and getting into football at an early age. He speaks about how his Father introducing him to football turned into him becoming a starter on the USNA Football team where he became a team captain and was later inducted into...

Damo and Tish have the helm on this one, opening the episode up with a discussion on some of the latest uniform policy changes (NAVADMIN 031/24). One of the major changes is that Sailors can now put their hands in their pockets, but do we really care? Damo reads a message from a Sailor regarding DMAP Phase IV before a deep dive into the new NAVADMIN (017/24) and what it means for Sailors. Is this...

AZ1 Charlie Lee Jr, professionally known as “Chalee Jr” is an actor, a comedian, and an active-duty Navy Sailor. He became one of the first military social media content creators with his comedy skits in the mid-2010s and has since taken his show on the road. As he is on his way to retirement, he can be found on the stage as a member of the DDTOUR14.   Chalee Jr joins the podcast and discusses eve...

Damon, Damo, and Tish start this episode joined by the Navy Personnel Command Force Master Chief, FORCM (SW/AW) William P. Houlihan. They open the conversation addressing NAVADMIN 006/24, Policy For the Assignment of Pregnant Sailors and Sailors Who Experience Perinatal Loss. FORCM discusses the feedback that was received after the release of the NAVADMIN and what’s been being done to address some...

*Recorded in October 2020 in Damon's dining room in California - "Where it all started"* You know how we always say that we started the podcast with the second episode that we recorded? Well, in commemoration of our 100th episode, we decided to finally release the episode that we thought was so bad that we didn't want you to hear it in the first place.  We really hope you enjoy this.  As always, k...

Damon, Damo, and Tish celebrate reaching the 100th episode milestone by reminiscing on the early days of the ‘Permission To Speak Freely’ podcast. Damo gives an update on the baby and upcoming guests. Guess what guys, it’s an election year! Do we care? Do we not care? Who the hell are you voting for anyway? Tisha asks the guys what major life experiences happened to them since starting the podcast...

Welcome to our last podcast episode in double digits. Damo Starts by shouting out the people who are a few weeks late on their New Year’s resolutions. It’s time to get it going. Damon and Damo take a moment to give Tisha her flowers in celebration of her hitting the year mark as a PTSF host. We have a conversation about understanding the fact that men and women speak two different languages and ho...

Happy MLK Day. Find a moment in your day to reflect on the heroism, leadership, and brave acts of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Tish is back and ready for Valentine’s Day already! It’s time to start submitting packages for selection boards and Damo isn’t that motivated due to recent changes in selection and screening processes. The trio ponders how diffe...

The guys start by getting caught up on how they bought in their New Year’s. Damon’s turning over his roles as he’s waiting to hear what his next command is. Damo talks about returning to work following an extended period of leave. He also talks about coming back and having to directly deal with adversity. The internet was set ablaze last week with the unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents and Katt Wi...

Happy New Year People! We wanted to start this episode off by talking about some Navy stuff. However,  Damo had a weird exchange on Twitter and wanted to share the story. Additionally, another crazy thing happened; a brother shoots his brother for killing their sister because she stopped them from arguing over Christmas gifts. The guys chop it up about Senior Enlisted Marketplace Expansion and the...

First off, Merry Christmas! The guys kick off this special holiday episode with Christmas vibes! From a holiday song to discussing their Christmas memories as they’ve transitioned from junior enlisted to senior enlisted Sailors. Oh my, how time changes things. Damon and Damo reminisce about their grandmothers who are no longer here. Remember, to cherish your family and cherish these moments. The g...

After discussing scams and their warning signs, Damon, Damo, and Tisha debate whether the glorification of liberty can potentially hurt the outlook of Sailors.   If you want to watch/hear full episodes of Permission To Speak Freely, check out our merchandise, or connect with us on social media, please visit our website. https://linktr.ee/Ptsfpodcast

Tish went to go see the new Beyoncé movie.  Of course, Damo has some pressure for her fandom. It’s commissioning ceremony season. Congratulations to everyone making their transitions! What’s a food you love that you weren’t introduced to until you joined the military? Damon shows up a little late and fires off from the jump! How old is too old for ‘Big Mama’ to be in the kitchen? Our President jus...

Congratulations are in order for all of our newly promoted Shipmates!   Since this is the episode before Thanksgiving that won’t be heard until after, the guys and Tish discuss thanksgiving plans that will be memories by the time you hear this. What would it take for you to eat thanksgiving dinner on your ship if you’re not on duty or a member of the Triad? Shout out to the duty sections holding i...

On this episode, the trio are joined by active-duty Yeoman Second Class Petty Officer Alonzo “Lonzo” Robinson for a conversation about culture and some differences between Senior and junior enlisted Sailors. Veteran’s Day deals are briefly covered. Congratulations to all Sailors of the Year, but why is Damo so tight? A discussion around the privileges of rank comes up. Should rank have its privile...

It’s our 3-Year Anniversary! No shots this time but please celebrate with us. 3 years of sea stories and poop tales. The trio begins the episode discussing their most memorable moments of the year. They also talk through some of their favorite episodes and least favorite moments. They discuss the expectations vs the reality of hosting a podcast that is primarily based on military topics. Let’s tak...

Damo and Tisha show up on this Halloween episode. They get right to it starting with a brand new #DoBetter segment. Both of these are focused on the Khaki Ball. Damo had to learn him something about Air Department on the Carrier and give them their flowers. During a recent trip to the Airport, Tisha finds out that she’s been “cut off” from her active duty perks. The USS Carney downed 3 land attack...

No Tisha on this one as Damon and Damo start this episode talking about RA duty. Damo has an update on the five year old feedback report that he’s been dealing with. The two discusses their most embarrassing moments as Chiefs, that happened in front of junior Sailors. It’s about time to finally address why you always see Chiefs hanging out at the places that they tell you to stay away from. Do Bet...