The O2X Podcast

-Trey Lachicotte is an O2X Lead Instructor and retired US Army Special Forces Operator (Green Beret) who worked as the Long-Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD) commander. -Prior to entering the Army, he attended the University of Tennessee, where he assisted in strength training for the National Championship University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball team. -He also competed on the Army Reserve Of...

 -Rob Kelly is an O2X Account Executive, Stage 3 Cancer Survivor, an IRONMAN Triathlon finisher, and former U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer -He is an Eagle Scout, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and also earned a Master of Business for Veterans (MBV) from the University of Southern California, Marshall school of Business. -Before joining the O2X team, he served for 11 years as a U...

-Lindsey Deppen is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) serving at the O2X Integrated Specialist Program with the U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Weapons School Atlantic -Originally from Long Island, New York, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Mount Saint Mary College before obtaining her Master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Springfield College -Pri...

-Joe Gamaldi is the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) National Vice President - the oldest and largest Police Union in the United States which represents over 370,000 LEOs -He’s a graduate of University of Hartford, where he earned a degree in Criminal Justice and earned Master’s Degree from Long Island University in Homeland Security Management. He was hired by the NYPD in 2005 where he worked as a...

- Today we’re joined two separate guests: Dr. Laurie Craigen, who specializes in Mental Health, and Dr. Allison Brager, who specializes in Sleep Performance. -Laurie Craigen is an O2X Clinical Resilience Specialist and an Associate Professor in the Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program at Boston University. -She is an active Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Boston, received h...

-Dr. David Meyer is an O2X Resilience Specialist and a licensed Clinical Psychologist with a focus on PTSD/trauma -While attending college for environmental science and psychology, he worked as an EMT/firefighter with the US Forest Service. In his 14 years of fire/EMS experience, he served as a wildland firefighter, EMT, engine foreman, and helicopter rappeler with the Jackson Helitack before deci...

-Jeremiah Wilber enlisted in U.S. Army after graduating high school in Las Vegas, NV. -After basic training, he attended the Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood. As an MP, he served two combat tours, served as a drill sergeant, completed the Sapper Leader Course and Army Ranger Course, and subsequently attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). -He was selected for the elite...

-James Byler graduated from Purdue University as member of the NROTC program and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps -Stationed at Camp Pendleton (CA) as an Infantry Platoon Commander, he was in charge of training, leading, mentoring, and preparing about 40 Marines for what was to be a very difficult deployment in Afghanistan -On October 17, 2010, he was leading...

-Mark Swinger is a retired Naval Aviator and former Left Wingman (#3) for the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels -After the completion of Officer Candidate School and U.S. Navy Flight School, he became Designated Naval Aviator in July of 2002, and went on to serve just under 23 years on Active Duty flying the F-14D Tomcat and all variants of F-18 Hornet and Super Hornet -He completed a total of 7 Aircraft Ca...

-Tim Bayley is an O2X Mental Performance Specialist with a background in elite athletics -He competed at a high level in cricket, soccer, and most notably track & field – ultimately winning the British Championships for the 800 meters in 2005 -This translated to getting recruited to the United States on a track & field scholarship to run at Iona University in New Rochelle, NY, where he bec...

-Zac Paugua currently competes in Light Heavyweight division of the UFC -He is a former NFL running back, having played college football at Colorado State University where he was eventually picked up by the Houston Texans. -Following his NFL career, he played professional rugby in two separate leagues and also served as a Law Enforcement Officer for the Wheat Ridge (CO) Police Department -Most rec...

In 2023, O2X executed over 250 training events to total over 500+ training days . During these engagements, we trained over 6100 tactical athletes and built over 200 new course curriculums. As compared to 2022, that is a 22.5% increase in the amount of events conducted and a 24% increase in the amount of tactical athletes trained. O2X’s Integrated Specialist Program doubled in size , with new prog...

-Erik Melanson is an O2X Lead Instructor who currently serves on active duty in the United States Marine Corps as an Intelligence Officer. -He has spent the majority of his career in the special operations community, deploying in support of combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. While serving in Marine Special Operations Command or MARSOC, he was introduced to human performance. From...

-Billy Cushing is a 17 year veteran of the Braintree (MA) Police Department and the President & Founder of the K9 Kit Foundation -He is a 2-time recipient of George Hannah Award for Valor among other honors and is a highly respected member of not only BPD, but the K9 community and the law enforcement field as a whole -11 of his 17 years of service have been spent as a patrol K9 Handler, where...

-Wayne Sasso is an On-Site Mental Performance Specialist and Program Manager for Arlington County (VA) Police Department. In his role, he applies his experience in Performance Psychology to support sworn and unsworn members of the department in the areas of performance improvement, stress management, leadership and organizational development. -For over 8 years, he has been working in the human per...

- Stephen Scrobe joined O2X with over 15 years of Law Enforcement experience including time as a K-9 Officer, SWAT Team Leader, and Training Detective during his tenure -Currently he is the Co-Owner of Heart and Sol, LLC, where he coaches families to take charge of their health and fitness through online and in-person training, classes, and educational workshops. With almost 20 years in the fitnes...

On December 5, 2005, Air Force Special Ops Paratrooper Israel Del Toro’s life changed completely when, returning to his base, the Humvee he was in ran over an IED. The resulting explosion and fire burned Del Toro over 80% of his body. He survived, somehow, and was transported back to a U.S. hospital. Against enormous odds, his trials and tribulations to live were just beginning. For the next four...

-Kim Vesey is the President, General Counsel, and member of the Board of Directors at Building Homes for Heroes (BHH) -She is a 2006 graduate of Hofstra Law School and joined the Suffolk County District Attorneys’ office as an Assistant District Attorney after graduation -Then, in 2008, she began volunteering for Building Homes For Heroes in an effort to help the organization grow and progress. Af...

-Kirstie Ennis is a USMC veteran, Amputee, Mountaineer, and Founder of the Kirstie Ennis Foundation. -While on deployment to Afghanistan in 2012 as a USMC Helicopter Door Gunner and Air Frames Mechanic, she was involved in a helicopter crash which ultimately lead to the amputation of her left leg above knee. -Determined to redefine the notion of a "disabled athlete”, she has since gone on to...

-The following citation is an account of the actions that earned Dakota Meyer the Congressional Medal of Honor: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8, Regional Corps Advisory Command 3-7, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on 8 September 2009. Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patr...

-Jared Cheselske is an O2X Lead Instructor, United States Army Combat Veteran, and Captain with San Diego Fire-Rescue Department -Prior to joining the fire service, he served in the U.S. Army where he deployed to Iraq during Desert Shield / Desert Storm -Since then he’s logged 27 years in the fire service, 21 of which were with San Diego Fire-Rescue Department -He is currently assign to Station 21...

-Matt Cable is United States Air Force Veteran, 2x Cancer Survivor, as well as a 1st Phorm and Transcend Sponsored Athlete -After enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 2012, he was diagnosed with Leukemia - which resulted in an 18-day medically induced coma. Crediting fitness for his recovery, he eventually went on to beat cancer and compete on the first season of NBC’s Titan Games -Then, 5 years lat...

-Will Castillo is a U.S. Army veteran and the captain of Team USA’s Para Bobsled team -During a 2007 deployment to Iraq his truck was hit by an IED, killing the trucks driver David Kirkpatrick and the trucks gunner Eddie Tamez.  -Although he lived through IED blast, his wounds resulted in the amputation of his leg and a traumatic brain injury. He spent the following two years at Walter Reed Army M...

-Keith Eckert is an ultra runner and endurance athlete who’s raised close to 400k for veteran and first responder non-profit organizations -He’s a 2014 graduate of the United States Naval Academy where he majored in Political Science and was a self described “practice scrub” with the Naval Academy wrestling team -After being medically discharged from the Navy in 2016, he picked up ultra racing. Si...

-Michael Mellinger is an O2X Mental Performance Specialist -Throughout the last 7 years, he has worked in various roles ranging from a humble research assistant to the Director of Performance Psychology Operations within the US Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) -Since 2016, he has helped build independent human performance focused departments at both the United States Naval Academy and the...