15 Minutes Prior (2024)

04/05/2023

Ep 43. IC2 Mike "Snake Wake" Weiler was in the Navy from 89-94 where he did Interior Communication aboard submarines. Mike talks about the day to day life aboard a ship as well as how he got his rate and becoming Submarine Warfare qualified earning his dolphins. Mike explains the many positions within a sub and some details of multiple ways they surface, including breaking through ice in the Arctic and getting his "Blue Nose". After his departure from the Navy Mike also spent 2 years in the PA Guard.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4viBZufpwdFL5z0U4VCcfM?si=KYsxWPSCQwGj5iTVA9xMJg

31/03/2023

Today marks 1 year since our initial upload of episodes. I started out doing a basic intro of my experiences, to give people a baseline of where my perspective comes from. I have my views, but overall I feel very privileged to have gone the path I did and learn what I have along the way. Now doing this podcast, talking to other vets with varying experiences and outlooks, has also helped me as an individual to process some things from even more angles. I’d like to thank everyone who’s been on, as well as everyone else who listens to these. I don’t have a huge following by any means. But to say nearly 2000 people have listened to these is pretty cool to me. I’d love to expand and grow, and find more vets with more varying job and MOS experiences. I have a fascination with learning of other jobs and even types of billets people have held. People from 40 countries have listened in, and I’d love to have vets from even more countries on. Tell your friends, ask around. No matter how simple of an enlistment, or how obscure, I want to talk about it. Thanks again everyone. I could only tag so many people, and several don’t have Instagram that I’ll add to the FB post.

31/03/2023

Ep. 42-SGT Chris Naganuma was an Infantryman in the Army from 2003-2008. In 2004 he deployed to Mosul Iraq in Strykers. Chris talks about a few events during this deployment that stood out to him. After the deployment he had an injury that eventually led to him getting out. After getting out he learned to run and operate his business, S3F solutions, and worked with Na**lm Cannabis. Chris currently works on running the page covering the war in Ukraine. He's also helped with gear acquisition and spent 3 weeks in country conducting interviews and covering the war. We got to talk about the use of drones and how effective they've become in the fight against the Russians.

https://spotify.link/xtT2eyGtCyb

19/02/2023

Ep. 41 LT “Whiz” Buckley

Matthew "Whiz" Buckley was an F/A-18 fighter pilot in the US Navy. After getting commissioned in the early 90's he spent his time on aircraft carriers in support of Operation Southern Watch as well as Operation Noble Eagle. He discusses places he's traveled to as well as discussing what it was like to be an adversary pilot at the Top Gun school. While on ship and not flying, he spent his time as a Landing Signal Officer. After getting out he started a career in trading and consulting and wrote the book "From Sea Level to C Level". We touch on some recent events with the balloon situation as well as Ukraine.

He started the .fallen.heroes foundation to help give vets and first responders an alternative to help with mental health. We get into this quite a bit as it's not a standard option readily available to us here. There are options coming forth which he talks about as well. He is very open about the Medicines used and the benefits of psychedelics in these treatments. Visit the website for more information. https://nofallenheroesfoundation.org

Follow the socials to follow along with his own journey

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2CWhOfADNzWuZ3OX8oeq3m?si=yYNYGoCgSt-SgkfAfey2YA

05/02/2023

Ep. 40- Our guest is Chris Bentley who enlisted in the Marines in 1999 and got out in 2013. His MOS was 0431- Logistics/Embarkation Specialist. Throughout his enlistment he went on 6 total deployments and spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as time aboard ship. Gunny talks about the places he got to travel to and explains a bit of what his responsibilities were. He talks about one of his deployments of being on an embedded Afghan training team and his experience with that.

After getting out he started a company called Bellatorum Resources, which he talks about the success of and the ultimate shut down. He is currently awaiting sentencing in a fraud case in relation to the company. Chris has a book called "Burning Bellatorum" which talks about this at length

https://open.spotify.com/episode/60LTHeIAHxMmZiNTuVvjFs?si=dOp3iwYbTL-SA_OxOoAZ5Q

17/12/2022

Started this podcast nearly 9 months ago and just reached 1500 downloads according to buzzsprout. Doesn’t seem like much, but for something I just decided to do while injured to pass my time, has turned into something extremely fun to do and personally fulfilling. Thanks everyone for listening, help us find more guests and share the episodes to grow some more.

13/12/2022

Ep. 39. Steve Stratton. Steve joined the Army in 1973 and managed to get assigned to the White House Communications Agency in DC. We talk a good bit about getting into a job most people don't know about and what that entails and how it helped lead to more opportunities he got along the way. After getting out he applied and got into the Secret Service and goes into what was involved with getting in and some stories of traveling around. Steve Has also worked in the contracting industry and we talk a bit about how volatile that world can be. He also spent time in the Guard and getting to do counter drug missions. Steve is currently writing; his book Shadow Tier is available.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TbfA0GYnO9CNAqtmJHc82?si=iXMrKVMgRZeyZ_a4XH_9oA

29/11/2022

Ep. 38. SFC Abuzaid. Josh Abuzaid is currently a SFC in the Army and nearing retirement but started his career in the Marines in 2005. Working in Legal on Camp Smith in Hawaii until 2009, he then got out and went right into the Army where he works in corrections and detention. He worked in Leavenworth for 2 years, spent some time in Germany and Afghanistan. He also spent time as a Drill Sargeant and talks about what it's like to mold and train civilian kids into soldiers and the toll a career can take on relationships. Josh goes into detail about his deployment to Asadabad Afghanistan where he got his purple heart. He gets into some deep detail about the mentality of a tough deployment and being wounded, and the realities of what comes with those experiences, and the mental aspect of people wishing their deployments were different or wanting these tough deployments without knowing what that means and what comes with it.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mwG8DZH0VlXyLaCkOaNUz?si=eKw_co1OSJWlhkf-gwrI2g

17/11/2022

Ep. 37 - Elegance Bratton was in the Marines from 2005-2010. leading up to his enlistment he was homeless at the age of 16 for about 10 years after being kicked out of his home for being gay. We talk about struggles and what led him to the Corps. He explains getting to Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii, getting to travel to Thailand and Korea, and connecting to other cultures through his camera. After his time in Hawaii he went to New York as part of guard duty. After getting out, he applied and got accepted into Columbia University and after graduating from there he got into Tisch grad film at NYU. during his school days and leading into after, he began working on films and worked on a show for Viceland called "my house". He then made a documentary called "Pier kids" and is currently awaiting the release of his film "the inspection" that he wrote and directed based on his life experiences.
"Greatest lessons to be learned in life, are learned through self-sacrifice".

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VwemVF6ZBHb3FeTjsNraH?si=-5qs9_F5Qj2N6fEiUXax2A

11/11/2022

Episode 36. LtCol David Peters, SR71 Pilot.

Born in 1942, David Peters started his Air Force career flying F-4's doing 3 tours in Vietnam in '67, '68, and '69. Afterwords, he instructed on the T-38 and in 1974 he found his way into the SR-71 program whereby 1977 he found himself in Japan flying missions over the Korean DMZ and the Chinese coast. Dave talks about the cold war mentality and the main mission of a jet that flies at 85,000 feet at Mach 3+. Dave talks about a few mission stories and being able to see the curvature of the earth as well as some technical stuff about the aircraft. He retired in 1986 and went on to fly for American Airlines

image 1. Dave pictured in the cockpit of an SR-71, image 2. Dave on the right receiving The Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy in 1979

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4YxiOWkNvPImUEOKamqDF8?si=E1Ode1BJT4C9SqnRYIwWhg

03/11/2022

As we all know. It’s the simple things that keep us grounded. I wore this hat everyday in Afghan as a simple reminder of home. Now we’re here at the series. .

03/11/2022

Simple things keep us grounded. I wore this same hat everyday In Afghanistan for over a year as a reminder of home.

30/10/2022

Brittany Butler spent 9 years in the CIA as a targeting officer from 2005-2014. She talks about getting into the CIA and the role of a targeting officer and working alongside the military. We also get into detail of women in the Agency and what it's like to work around other cultures. We also talk about the fall of Afghan and what it means for women and young kids who are still there. check out her socials and her upcoming book, the syndicate spy.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vBgGrHdC71xGLFqc9olnq?si=7qXRKA_jS-iy8jo_LWDrsg

16/10/2022

Joe Lombardo was in the Marines from 2007-2012 as an 1812 M1A1 Tank Crewman. He was with 1st tanks out of 29 palms. he deployed in 2010 for the first time, and a 2nd time in 2012. In 2012 he deployed with tanks to Afghanistan, something that was only done for a short time throughout the war. He talks about how he got the tank MOS, what school was like, the different jobs within the tank and what the day to day was with workups and on deployment. Joe goes into detail about his second deployment and how the enemy tried to fight against the tanks. He also walks us through the experience of using his tank to take out an enemy attack and draw fire away from the other incapacitated tanks, which resulted in him being awarded a NAM with "V" Device. Joe then talks about going to flight school for helicopters when he got out, working that job, and having a crash landing in New York.
We also get into a lot of detail about the struggles he had once getting out. Joe left his deployment early due to EAS and got out quickly after returning, and we discuss how that contributed to not having the best help to deal with the deployment and how to manage it as time continued.

I'm very thankful for joes' story and being able to have all 3 Lombardo brothers on the show. I think it's safe to say that the Lombardo family has done more than their fair share..

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HDdvQKWYSTLcJkTz9jQex?si=VZ0ob_MxRpSg-sKmKs70VQ

05/10/2022

Sgt Nick Lombardo was in the Marines from 2002-2006. He was a Mortarman in 1/7 weapons company out of 29 Palms. We go over his first impressions of getting to 29 palms and what his day to day was like in his new unit, what they did in the short time before deploying in 2003, and what it was like leaving the line of departure in Kuwait headed to Baghdad nearly 20 years ago. He goes over the differences of his 2 Deployments to Iraq, and what he got into after getting out...for the first time... in 2010 after hearing his younger brother was deploying, he attached to reserve unit 3/25 Kilo to deploy to Afghanistan. We touch on the importance of being prepared, and how the Marines teach you leadership traits at a young age. Plenty of stories from his time out before going back in and him ultimately being out for good. Nick currently flies helicopters for a living and feeds sharks as a diver..

https://open.spotify.com/episode/42bChOPr6kX34zAOp5qO8o?si=M93IFf0PTTybJc6CQRFKQQ

01/10/2022

SSGT Dillon spent 12 years in the Marines from 1998-2011. She talks about her family history of service to the country and how that influenced her to go in and join herself. She spent her time as an aircraft maintenance data specialist and eventually became a Drill Instructor on Paris Island. She talks about the time in the Corps when it went from peacetime duty, to after 9/11 and the focus shifted to the war effort. She gets into becoming a drill Instructor and what life was like on the Drill field, as well as her time spent being a PMI. We talk about getting out and trying to find a new purpose to push forward with, and in her case, she's continued the path of being a fi****ms instructor.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6bUJScxPwzJ5lL2H8e0tIz?si=x4aSe0zbRp2WLVp6-MBvzA

26/09/2022

newest episode with Greg Coker.
Greg Coker enlisted in 1986 as an infantryman in the US Army where he spent his enlistment in the 101st. He applied to flight school and got accepted in 1989. Once he completed flight school in 1990, he went to Korea, during his time as a pilot he flew the Cobra and Apache helicopters. in 93 he put in his package to go to selection for the 160th, he got accepted and completed his training and flew the AH-6 Little Bird. Greg talks about his time doing all of this and gives a history of what the 160th is and why it's an important part of Special Operations and their mission. Greg was in while our countries latest wars were just starting, and he talks about what it was like to be one of the first people into Iraq and Afghanistan and what that time was like. During a deployment in Iraq, he was shot down, and he goes into detail about this experience. Greg retired in 2008, making his career span 22 years that included 11 deployments. As always, we discuss the transition to the civilian world, and Greg talks about the struggles he had adjusting. Now Greg is exploring other opportunities to help fellow vets and has written a book about his experiences. his book is called "death waits in the dark"

https://open.spotify.com/episode/62r8YTtkU5T4QQ8aqcdtHN?si=AqQZ9oAaR22PP-FbFV-QPQ

05/09/2022

Episode 30: SSGT Flannery who spent 20 years in the Marines from 2001-2021. starting as an 0311 and then going 0321-reconnaissance Marine. He talks about the ins and outs of the recon and force units, and during his time in, was when they started to stand up MARSOC and he explains how that affected the recon unit structures. He Talks about decision making and choices he had along the way, as well as a story of having to hitch a ride when first landing in Okinawa.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3kZokkn23jhp4H7ad3HrsM?si=Y-PLkPxITLu8CBpi_RiDyw

10/08/2022

Our newest episode is up with Australian Army Officer and Chaplain, Major Roger Marsh. We spend a bit of time talking typical army life experiences. But he dives into his time spent in Afghanistan and his duties there, and his time spent doing family notifications as well… we talk some of the mental aspects of this experience, how we as fellow veterans, despite being from different countries feel like we have a more similar culture amongst us than we do with our local civilian populations. Roger has written 2 books- Echos in the Wind, and A Wind of Bitter Tears.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XjOQ4Y5Ij6cxUKxSgfXrm?si=VKey8MfYQMiRrUIIPXADNg

03/08/2022

Gunny Keyes spent 20 years in the Marines. He started as an 0311 and eventually designated an 0341. Along the way he went on multiple deployments to 50 countries aboard multiple ships including being on the USS Peleliu across Asia and the USS Tortuga off the coast of Africa. He talks about becoming a Drill Instructor and what that tour was like. He later gets into his time spent at the University of Idaho as the assistant Marine instructor to train ROTC. He brings up being a company gunny and standing in as a battalion 1st Sgt leading up to him retiring. As always, we talk about the transition to civilian side.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QkTuI3F54LCoWrt4kc0bB?si=TM4t6doQS0iExmQeomkwoA

24/07/2022

Thanks to A Captain's Log for being on and making a great episode. We talk about her career as an officer in the Army as an MP and getting her commission from West Point in 2012 and getting out in 2020 where she got into conservation work in Washington state and ultimately Costa Rica, Belize, and Kenya. We talk about her year of van life to help the transition process as well. Wishing her luck on her journey to work with Soldiers For Wildlife

https://open.spotify.com/episode/032MIxFDtJUOPUYNXZDVUO?si=QdjHMyYaSHqSGScFAHSzUA

18/07/2022

This episode features a guest who is from the same hometown as we are in eastern Pennsylvania, who had an extensive 25-year career in the Navy as a SEAL from 1987-2012. After finishing college, he enlisted and made his way to SEAL team 2 where he went on several deployments. During one of which he experienced being in a helicopter that made a crash landing in the ocean. In 1993 he went to and passed selection for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU); or as most will know it: SEAL team 6. He spent the majority of his career within DEVGRU where he eventually became the Command Master Chief of the team from 2009-2011.
He talks about the basic pipeline of becoming a SEAL and what the typical team mentality is, which we touch on quite often and how it differs from the conventional big military type of mentality. We talk about ways to succeed and what to do with failures, including being able to look at shortcomings and be honest about them so you can improve and succeed in the future.
We get to talk about a few of his missions he was part of and helped plan, one of which was when he took a team into eastern Europe undercover to search for and snag a war criminal. Another we get into is one most people are familiar with, the raid into Pakistan to go after Osama bin Laden... He talks about the weeks leading up to the raid, things that made it more difficult, and how they worked around those hurdles. Amongst his many awards, they include 6 bronze stars, and 1 silver star for his services.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2W05NekH3wAp1WwOSzVF5B?si=SNDrjoQzSCGYTj4RmUnmYA

16/07/2022

Got to do an episode with Colin of The Unconventional Soldier Podcast. We got to talk about the typical experiences of having to much fun as a young soldier, to his multiple deployments to Northern Ireland, support of Desert Storm, Bosnia, and missions during OIF in Iraq. We also got to touch on some of the contractor world, and when to be honest with yourself about when to say your time is up and to move on. Thanks again

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3cDL6daiRRS7hxK2zefo0d?si=PUKMJtQHQ4-Vnl8EwOP8aA

10/07/2022

We had on SPC Ecker of the PA National Guard who did her time out of Fort Indiantown Gap as a 15Q, Air Traffic Control Operator.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3JadfjDhKUXgU6PfFTSeXM?si=2Qk5MlQySMW_6Y20bnOCaQ

29/06/2022

I’ve been very excited about this episode as soon as we had it scheduled. We have on Adjudant Charles Stoeng who spent 15 years in the French Foreign Legion from 1985-2000. Charles is from Norway and talks about what it was like to get to France, join the legion, what the selection was like and ultimately what life in the legion is all about. He touches on the various places he got to go, multiple places in Africa, the Middle East, and former Yugoslavia. We get into detail about how the sense of belonging and family living a hard life together can bring members of many cultures together as well as put things in a perspective you may not have ever thought about. I personally have always had a fascination with the legion, and I feel very lucky to have someone like Charles on who was willing to share and educate me on a lot of details. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did. Thanks again Charles.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RD4St4IiAGjqyQnNQb1lh?si=ttXeC5RLSo6wcnaP0q0d2w

18/06/2022

Earlier this past week we had the great opportunity to interview a fellow Pennsylvania veteran, Cpl Joe Barna, who served his time in the Korean War as a US Marine from 1951-1953. Joe talks about being drafted at 21 years old, what ship life was like going to Korea, and his time spent in the mountains outside of Panmunjom. Panmunjom has historical significance as it’s where the peace talks and ceasefire was signed on July 27th, 1953. This is the day Joe left Korea for his journey home. Cpl Barna explains after arriving in Korea they gave him a flamethrower as his primary weapon and what it was like having to defend his position. Joe is currently 92 years old, he resides in his hometown of Freeland PA and is active in many veteran groups and programs.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ggeHXzDuMdIv3k1kMN17e?si=1GkIdt6PQ5aScDWHXyKuWg

12/06/2022

Next up is yet another 2111… I know we’ve had plenty lol, but Waldron’s experience is a bit different as he was in a 3rd echelon shop. We discuss that difference as well as his time spent as a full time range personnel and his eventual time on the Pacific Division Shooting Team. We get into a lot of detail on this one, so if you’re into listening to a good bit of gun talk and about shooting then this is a great one for you.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5hdGBNHUlyXRZcFiuQQYXS?si=m4GHoi3pQn65SJCjpQeN_w

05/06/2022

Newest episode is up finally, we had the opportunity to learn of MSgt Defazio’s extensive career that started in the Army and finished in the Air Force after a span of 30 years. He provided pictures of his time in that show him as a shooting instructor, his time in tanks and a few of his time spent doing armorer work for the international shooting team. We then get into our time spent together contracting and traveling repairing weapons for the SARET missions across the US.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1WNvun1us7nHCeEyhw4Big?si=Bn_jl8PeQbCgycOKvvrARw

28/05/2022

Next up is Cpl Burford who spent time in legal services. He spent a little time stationed on Pearl Harbor and then Camp Smith

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0PiijjlOI445u6yDuFzLqU?si=0j_7XpHVQzK19rDxFgMLaw

26/05/2022

Did a little upgrading to our setup. Makes my life much better and productive

15 Minutes Prior

04/05/2023

31/03/2023

31/03/2023

19/02/2023

05/02/2023

17/12/2022

13/12/2022

29/11/2022

17/11/2022

11/11/2022

03/11/2022

03/11/2022

30/10/2022

16/10/2022

05/10/2022

01/10/2022

26/09/2022

05/09/2022

10/08/2022

03/08/2022

24/07/2022

18/07/2022

16/07/2022

10/07/2022

29/06/2022

18/06/2022

12/06/2022

05/06/2022

28/05/2022

26/05/2022

Address

Website

Alerts

Videos

Shortcuts

Share