Mike Drop

MARSOC - an elite component command of the United States Special Operations Command that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Just take it from Christian - he was one of the first Marines admitted into the Corps' elite program. Since his days in deployment, he's pivoted; a turn as a Texas State Trooper on Border Patrol and a police officer in Austin certainly don't hurt his already o...

Christian Holloway was just a mild mannered, all-American, belt-fed marine, right up until he found himself being deployed as infantry to the second battle of Fallujah. It was far from the only time he'd find himself in a tough spot - Christian's got more than one story of close calls, stray squirters, and unexploded rocket-propelled grenades courtesy of Saddam's best and brightest. Eventually his...

Last week on the podcast, Mike talked to Greg Anderson about his background and military service - after a turn as an Army Ranger with 14 overseas deployments and some additional work in private contracting, Greg stepped into law enforcement as a U.S. Marshall, and later a Police Officer for the Port of Seattle in Washington. All of these moments are things that would define anybody else's biograp...

'No one is coming to save you.' It's not quite as dour as it sounds - to Greg Andseron, it's a phrase that he says all the time at his Electric North Jiu Jitsu Academy in Washington. It reminds him to chart his own course; that you yourself are truly the only person blazing the trail for your own life. And it's perfect for him too - not all that long ago Greg was an Army Ranger with 14 overseas de...

Zach Garner's career as a Green Beret was on thin ice. Following his first seizure, he quickly discovered that something deeper was beginning to rise to the surface - a cavalcade of medical maladies that nobody could've predicted. Fortunately, Zach's no quitter, so he shifted gears, transitioning seamlessly into contract work and participating in Iron Man marathons around the country. But sometime...

Resilience is a word that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to describing the warriors and veterans that fight for our freedom, but few embody the term moreso than Zach Garner. On the surface, he's a retired Green Beret from 7th Special Forces Group that completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But a peek under the hood tells a different story - surgeries, seizures, multiple-mo...

Know thyself - that's what Micah Fink says. And out on his Double-H Ranch deep in the backcountry of Montana, that's exactly what he's teaching combat veterans to do - providing a solution that doesn't include prescription medications or even traditional psychotherapy, but rather the opportunity to use tools to rediscover their own inner strength. But Micah didn't just up and decide to create an e...

Micah Fink is on a mission - to un-program the programmed. Deep in the backcountry of Montana, out on the Double-H Ranch, that's exactly what's happening - every year, 32 male applicants are hand-picked from a pool of thousands to join Micah at Heroes & Horses to unpack the human mind; to uncover the true meaning behind this vast experience we all call life. Considering Micah's background as a 10...

On Episode 134, Scott Mann talked about his humble beginnings - enlisting in the Army, working his way up to Special Ops, and discovering some of the most untold parts of the world in a way only a good soldier can. But Scott's leadership, and the struggles that came with it, were only small part of that story. In Part 2, Scott digs into the challenges that come with leading, and the often absurd p...

Lt. Col. Scott Mann is a retired Green Beret with over twenty-two years of Army and Special Operations experience around the world. Over the course of his career he's deployed to Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He's also an award-winning author, speaker, CEO, playwright, and actor, and that's all when he's not being a loving father and husband. He's appeared on Fox News, CNN, and o...

Venezuela. Ukraine. Burma. Africa. A former Navy SEAL Sniper, Ephraim Mattos is the founder of Stronghold Rescue & Relief, a humanitarian aid organization dedicated to protecting families in conflict zones all over the world. Keen listeners of the show may recall that Ephraim's actually been in the studio before - way back on Episode 53, when he was just getting started and finding his way. Now, t...

Towards the peak of his military career, Bryan Ray had achieved nearly everything he'd set out to do. He'd excelled as a solider, embraced command, and been entrusted with the kind of decision-making that only the bravest dare to reach. But as any mountaineer knows, with the highest highs come the lowest lows, and it's all too easy for a leaders mind to wander when lives are at stake. Part 2 of Br...

Bryan Ray always wanted to be the best soldier. He served 20 years in the U.S. Army, 15 of which were in Special Forces. He's deployed to Afghanistan, Africa, and Iraq, going from the most inexperienced infantry to ultimately running teams as command. He's also a mountain man, schooling amateurs on everything from moderate hiking to ice climbing at some of the highest elevations on earth. Over the...

Welcome to Carter Ranch, a 40,000-acre natural spring-fed slice of heaven nestled in the western slope of Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains. On Carter Ranch, owner RC Carter is raising a family, honoring his legacy, and hanging his hat on the premise that the best tasting beef has to be raised slowly and with respect to the truth, which is nature. But respecting nature takes more than simply raising ca...

Cody Alford served as a Marine Scout Sniper for more than 15 years, including assignments with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1) STA, 1st Force Reconnaissance, and all three Marine Raider (MARSOC) battalions. Now, he's an entrepreneur and speaker, helping others to work through post-traumatic stress and helping to dispel the stigmas associated with mental health awareness, all while running a merch...

What if you served a cruel and powerful dictator to provide for your family? Witnessed a top-secret meeting that could cost you your life? What if death notices showed up at your front door and assassins hunted you? Meet Mohammed Sulaiman: VIP Pilot of Saddam Hussein, father of four beautiful children, and keeper of secrets. Across his career, Mohammed's had a number of wild adventures, both on th...

Kelly Sayre is Founder & President of The Diamond Arrow Group, a company that builds women's self-confidence with realistic tactics and tools to help them live life safely and on their own terms. She's the author of 'Sharp Women', a thought-provoking read designed to break down ways for women to deal with everyday situations using their best self-defense weapon - their intuition. She's a speaker,...

Nick Lavery is an Active-Duty U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret. He's a six-foot-six warrior through and through, with a thorough list of awards that includes the Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, two Bronze stars, the Special Operations Command Excalibur Award, and more. He's also considered the first Green Beret to return to combat as an above the knee amputee - a record-setter with a flair f...

Staff Sgt. Julian McDonald served nine and a half years in the army, predominantly as a Ranger and a Ranger K9 Handler, with eight deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan, and a Purple Heart to match. He's also Layka's handler, who, if you haven't heard, is one of the most famous dogs to come out of the military in recent memory. With Julian in tow, MPC Layka's graced the cover of National Geogra...

Artificial Intelligence? Nowadays most folks think AI is coming to take their jobs, but Rob Huberty doesn't think so. He's a retired member of SEAL Team 4 with three combat tours under his belt, not to mention a startlingly impressive sniping record at a range of over 1700 yards. Today, Rob's the Chief Operating Officer of ZeroEyes, a bleeding-edge security company that's using AI to detect firear...

Scott Huesing is a retired United States Marine Corps Infantry Major with 24 years of service, including 10 deployments to over 60 countries worldwide. He has led hundreds of combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa, and since then he's authored the bestselling book, Echo in Ramadi, which tells the story of his experiences and the sacrifices of his fellow Marines during the Sec...

Who is Chad Robichaux's JSOC interpreter Aziz? During their eight deployments together in Afghanistan, Chad and Aziz saved each other's lives more times than either could count, providing invaluable intel and establishing connections all over the region. But when the Afghan government fell and interpreters began being hunted by the Taliban, suddenly Aziz and Chad had bigger problems. Because it wa...

Tyler Grey grew up in Bakersfield, California, joined the army in 1998 and quickly advanced from training into the 75th Ranger Regiment, 2nd Battalion, spending most of his time there as a Sniper. He spent the rest of his career at Ft. Bragg. Grey deployed four times - two each to Afghanistan and Iraq - before he became disabled from an explosion that occurred during a late-night house raid that t...

In 1993, U.S. Special Operations Forces were sent to Somalia to capture war criminal Mohamed Farrah Aidid - a mission made famous by the movie "Black Hawk Down". For many, the movie's a glimpse into what really happened - but for Jeff Struecker, it's merely a shadow of a memory he's been remembering for 29 years. Because Jeff Struecker was there during the Battle of Mogadishu, and he remembers eve...

What's happening in the Russia-Ukraine war? Retired Recon Marine Mark Turner might have the answer. He's a founder of The Overwatch Foundation, a humanitarian nonprofit that's been assembling teams of U.S. Military Veterans to provide critical natural disaster relief and urgent humanitarian response communities all over the world. Mark isn't just sending heroes to help - he's been there, on the gr...