The War Locker Show

What happens when the people closest to the fight are empowered to solve the problems themselves? In Episode 332, Tom, Chuck, and special guest host Lt. Col. Clay Novak sit down with retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Green Beret Rob Leach to explore how innovation is changing the battlefield from the ground up. After 21 years with the legendary 5th Special Forces Group and multiple combat depl...

Some conversations become more meaningful with time. Originally released in September 2021, this episode features Chuck's dad, a veteran law enforcement officer who spent more than three decades serving on the road, from the State Police to the Highway Patrol. His stories aren't just about traffic stops, pursuits, and life behind the wheel. They're about duty, professionalism, humility, and what i...

****DISCLAIMER: Tom & Chuck Do Not Agree with or Endorse Anything This Guest Says.******* A former police officer and discredited law enforcement trainer surprises Tom and Chuck by making it through the screening process but Tom and Chuck hear him out until they can't help but push back. Join us for the only interview Tom said he almost walked out on. Remember to like, subscribe, and leave a r...

Most people finish college looking for the easiest path. Matthew Perry chose the opposite. After earning his degree from the University of Cincinnati, he joined the U.S. Army because he wanted to serve. That decision would shape every chapter that followed, from combat deployments to investigations, leadership, fraud prevention, and senior operations management. In Episode 331 of The War Locker Sh...

Former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins joins The War Locker Show for one of the most candid conversations we've ever had about justice, government power, prosecutorial discretion, and institutional trust. Bud discusses how information regarding Burisma first came to his attention, why he became involved in communicating information between foreign prosecutors and U.S. authorities, and the surprising eve...

Tom and guest co-host, Ret. Lt. Col. and Author of the Terry Davis books, Clay Novak sit down with Army combat veteran Matthew Perry to discuss military service, leadership, decision-making under pressure, and the difficult transition from military life back into the civilian world. Matthew shares his journey from the financial sector into the Army, his experience entering the Special Forces pipel...

In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Chuck, Tom and author Clay Novak sit down with former Washington State police officer and current San Diego School District internal investigator Carlos Rodriguez for a difficult but important discussion about juvenile sex trafficking, exploitation, and the realities investigators face behind the scenes.  We talk about Carlos' experiences as a street cop an...

In Part I of this two-part conversation, Marco and Chuck sit down with former Washington State police officer and current San Diego School District internal investigator Carlos Rodriguez for a difficult but important discussion about juvenile sex trafficking, exploitation, and the realities investigators face behind the scenes. Drawing from years of investigative work, Carlos explains how predator...

Dont miss part one of Adam and Dan. Two hard-charging Gang Officers who found themselves in a bad spot... more than once. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-war-locker-show--6767179/support . Join us for War Locker LIVE — formerly Locker Room Live! Stream (almost) every Thursday at 7:30 PM PST on YouTube , where we dive deep into current events, culture, and t...

Marco and Chuck sit down with former FBI bomb technician and author Barry Black for a conversation about operating in environments where there is no margin for error. Barry pulls back the curtain on what it’s like to approach explosive threats for a living, where every decision carries weight and hesitation can cost more than action. The discussion goes beyond the mechanics of bomb disposal and in...

In Episode 324, Tom is joined by guest co-host Clay Novak and Garrett, a deputy sheriff from Major County, for a conversation about what law enforcement looks like when distance is part of the threat matrix. With roughly 1,000 square miles to cover, a population density of just over eight people per square mile, and only an elected sheriff plus six deputies protecting the county around the clock,...

Episode 323 brings in a man who’s lived in the places most people only hear about after the fact. Special Forces veteran and author Wretched Descent, Rob Leach, sits down with Chuck and the crew to talk about what deployment actually looks like when the noise fades and reality sets in. From stories on the ground to the mindset required to operate in unstable environments, Rob breaks down the gap b...

What really happened when 4 cops tried to help the CHP arrest a man named Rodney King? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-war-locker-show--6767179/support . Join us for War Locker LIVE — formerly Locker Room Live! Stream (almost) every Thursday at 7:30 PM PST on YouTube , where we dive deep into current events, culture, and the real conversations shaping moder...

A 25-year career in law enforcement means stacking calls most people never see—shootings, wrecks, partners going down, and moments that don’t leave when the shift ends. Like a lot of cops, he kept moving… until one call finally brought everything to the surface—years of buried trauma, depression, and the kind of thoughts nobody says out loud. Chuck steps in as more than a host on this one—breaking...

Tony Storey is a former Marine who went on to serve with the Columbus Sheriff’s Office in Ohio—until his career took a turn that raises hard questions about how agencies handle PTSD and their own people. In this episode, Tony shares his experience navigating the aftermath of service, being pushed out of his department, and what it looks like when the system meant to support you doesn’t. Then the s...

Most people know the drug war from movies. Ken Behr lived it. In this episode of The War Locker Show, Chuck and I sit down with Ken Behr, author of One Step Over the Line: Confessions of a Marijuana Mercenary. Ken walks us through the wild rise of the South Florida smuggling world in the 1970s and 80s — a time when cigarette boats outran the Coast Guard, cocaine moved by the ton, and the line betw...

Marco was a little nervous going into this one. When the guest is a Lt. Colonel, combat veteran, and published author, it suddenly feels like you’re sitting at the big-boy table. In Part 2 with Lt. Colonel Clay Novak, the conversation picks up where the first episode left off—diving into leadership under pressure, decision-making when the stakes are real, and the lessons that only show up when res...

Chuck sits back down with the psychologist known as “The Terrorist Therapist” for Part 2 of one of the most unusual conversations we’ve ever had on the War Locker Show. In this follow-up episode, the discussion dives deeper into the psychology behind violent extremism, the mindset of people drawn into terrorist networks, and the uncomfortable truth about how radicalization actually works. Instead...

Tom and Chuck sit down with Nick Brokhausen and Jeff Miller, special operations veteran OG's of units like MACV‑SOG veterans and also authors of Vagabonds: Tourists in the Heart of Darkness. They dive into stories they don’t tell at parties—deadly missions, secret martial arts mastery, and moments that define a lifetime in the shadows. Expect humor, respect, and insight only operators who’ve been...

Sergeant Matthew Brunnemann spent a year fighting in Helmand Province. After that first deployment, he had a deep and unsettling desire to get back in the battle. He hadn’t installed enough tracking devices, 400 helicopter-borne raids were not enough, he hadn’t captured enough Taliban… there was still a fight to be had. So he returned to the Graveyard of Empires, spending a total of five hundred d...

You guys... Chuck and Tom sat down with the FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FRIGGIN ATF! Former Dep. Director Thomas Chittum joins us to discuss his journey to becoming a Deputy Director at the second most disliked federal agency, following his experience at the IRS, the most disliked agency. And don't worry... Tom asks THE question.... Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/po...

Retired Lt. Colonel and three-time Bronze Star recipient Clay Novak returns with more tales from his 5 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also talks about the latest novels he has released in the Terry Davis series.   Join us tonight for War Locker LIVE — formerly Locker Room Live! Stream (almost) every Wednesday at 8:30 PM PST on YouTube , where we dive deep into current events, culture, an...

An interview with Kevin, a former SWAT Medic and now Flight Medic, shares stories from his adventures training with his local SWAT element, running calls as a medic, what it means to be good, and transitioning to working on a flight crew. Join us tonight for War Locker LIVE — formerly Locker Room Live! Stream (almost) every Wednesday at 8:30 PM PST on  YouTube , where we dive deep into current eve...

Chief Marcia Harnden from Albany PD in Oregon talks about the taboo subject of first responder mental health. Chief Harnden talks about the lessons she's learned about taking care of people the right way in her career which started at the Bellevue Police Department in Washington State in 1993. She isn't even afraid to tackle the hard question you were hoping Tom would ask... Join us tonight for Wa...

Marine Corps veteran and PeakNeuro co-founder Tony Crescenzo joins us to talk about how his personal experiences in the Marine Corps have shaped his life and his focus, culminating in his co-founding of PeakNeuro.  "Peak Neuro is a neuroscience-based intervention platform that moderates brainwave activity to encourage targeted performance or recovery states..." is how the smart people describe it,...