The Debrief with Jon Becker

Capt. Trey Sorensen – Pasadena FD and Sgt. Bobby Crees Pasadena PD Just after 6pm on January 7th, the fire ignited in Eaton Canyon, California. In a matter of hours, powered by sustained 60 mile an hour winds, with gusts as high as 100 miles an hour, the fire spread through Pasadena and into the neighboring area of Altadena. In the days that followed, the Eaton fire grew to become one of the worst...

My guest today is Kim Pastore.  Kim’s husband Jorge Pastore was killed on November 11, 2023 while attempting to rescue hostages with the Austin, TX SWAT Team. This was a case we covered previously with the Team in Seasons 4 Episode 5 released on November 11, 2024.  However, Kim has graciously agreed to sit down with us and debrief the incident from her perspective.  This is an episode we have want...

My guest today is John Dowd. John is a former navy SEAL who 15 years ago started SOFware, LLC a company that develops software and consults with elite units in their assessment and selection processes.  John and his team work with many of the world most elite units assisting them in not only choosing the right people but also helping them develop over their entire careers.  John’s views on selecti...

My guest today is Casey Glass.  Casey is the founder of Warfighter Health and Performance and for the past 11 years has been a Special Operations Strength Coach for US SOF units.  Casey’s Grew up on a ranch in Texas.  In college, she played soccer at Texas Christian University and interned with the strength and conditioning staff her senior year.  While pursuing her master’s in health and Fitness...

On June 28, 2022, the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (aka GVERT) was working as a quick response team for narcotics surveillance when a call went out of an active bank robbery in progress.  Two suspects, covered almost completely in body armor and heavily armed with SKS rifles were robbing the Bank of Montreal branch in nearby Saanich BC.  The suspects had herded all of the bank patrons...

My guest today is a true legend in the field of decision making, Dr. Gary Klein.  Gary is the author of the book Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions, and five other books. His work includes groundbreaking research into the cognitive models we use for decision making including the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model, the Data/Frame model of sensemaking, the Management By Discovery model...

On November 11, 2023, Austin Texas Police officers responded to a call of a stabbing. The Caller advised that there were several subjects that had been stabbed. When officers arrived, they made contact with one of the victims who advised two additional family members were still inside the residence with the suspect. Patrol officers forced entry into the residence and were immediately met with gun...

Decision Making Excercise #3

On the afternoon of July 11, 2022, at about 1400 hrs, two Hamilton County Ohio Sheriff’s Detectives observed an escapee from the River City Correctional Facility in Cincinnati, in the parking lot of the Baymont Inn hotel.  Although they were unable to make a positive identification before the suspect entered the hotel, they contacted the Mason Police Department for support. A Mason officer learned...

Imagine if you could train your brain to give you better situational awareness, see and hear more, and improve your tactical decision-making abilities?  Although this sounds like science fiction, it is quickly becoming a science fact in the emerging field of brain training for tactical operators.  On this episode of The Debrief we will explore the science of brain training for tactical operators w...

The topic of resilience for first responders has fortunately become a more common discussion.  As the rate of suicides, addiction and burnout rise, discussions of grit or internal fortitude against adversity have become a frequent topic for articles, speeches and conference courses.  My guest today knows a great deal about this topic.   Justin Dodge is a 28-year veteran of the Denver Police Depart...

On February 14, 2018, an active killer attacked the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida killing 17 people and wounding another 17 people.  The shooter then managed to flee the scene by slipping in with other students.  The shooter was apprehended without incident over an hour later.  In the months and years that followed this incident there was a firestorm of media...

In this episode, Josh Wofford instructs a DME: Decision Making Exercise to accompany the Parkland episode of The Debrief. A decision making exercise places you in the position of a leader on scene at a critical incident, and allows you to make decisions as if you were there. The purpose of the decision making exercises is to tap into the collective knowledge of your team. Instructions: Listen to t...

For our final episode of 2024's "Summer Lookback" series, we revisit episode 4 featuring Brent Stratton and Marcus Sprague.  Brent is the Assistant Chief at a Southern California Police Department and the President of the California Tactical Officers Association (CATO).  Marcus is a recently retired Lieutenant at a Northern California PD and the Vice President of CATO.  Both Brent a...

This episode in our summer lookback series features Lt. Lee McMillion.  Lee is currently one of the two Lieutenants leading the Los Angeles Police Departments Metropolitan Division D-Platoon.  Which is also known as LAPD SWAT.  In total, Lee has spent 33 years as a Los Angeles Policeman of which 23 years have been spent at Metro, 21 with D-Platoon.  Lee is one of only three men to have ever served...

The third episode in our 2024 Summer lookback series features Buddy Brown.  Buddy works for the York County Sherriff’s Office in South Carolina. Buddy has worked patrol, narcotics and training and spent more than 18 years on the York County regional SWAT team. On January 16, 2018, York County responded to a domestic violence call that led a suspect on the run in the woods behind a residential area...

The second episode in our "2024 Summer Flashback" series features a legend in the tactical community with a list of career accomplishments that would take an entire podcast of their own. Mike Hillman was one of the original founders of LAPD SWAT, a Deputy Chief at LAPD, the Assistant Sheriff in Orange County California and a Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Port Police. He was one of...

The first episode in our "2024 Summer Flashback" series features not just the first episode of this podcast, but the man who inspired the project as a whole. Not only was Sid Heale a legend in the special tactics’ community, he was a retired CWO5 in the United States Marine Corps serving numerous combat deployments including the Vietnam War, The Gulf War, and Operation United Shield in S...

Season 3 of The Debrief featured an impressive roster of guests, including: Andy Stumpf of Cleared Hot Podcast, former Delta Force operator Pete Blaber, and Lionel D. of Belgium’s elite Group Dianne (DSU). These guests, and others, provided an extensive body of knowledge and experience surrounding leadership, tactical decision making, and cognitive performance. With this season now wrapped, and in...

My guest today is Brittany Loney the founder and CEO of Elite Cognition. Brittany has almost 20 years of experience training high performing operators from communities as diverse as elite SOF warriors, professional and Olympic athletes, high-level coaches, and corporate executives. She also has over 14 years of experience training Special Operations Forces (SOF) and was the first cognitive perform...

There may be no US tactical and rescue unit more well known than the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit or ESU. Featuring a mission set that ranges from high angle ropes work to water rescue, from high-risk search warrants to hostage rescue, and from CBRN response to counter terrorism, ESU has sometimes been described as 911 for NYPD.   My guest today is Joe Bucchignano (pron: Buck-ig-nano).  Joe start...