Behind The Shield

Liz Carmouche is a Marine Veteran and one of the first professional female fighters in the UFC. We discuss her journey into the military, serving in Iraq, homophobia, transgender athletes, underwater fitness training, mental health, overcoming injuries, service dogs and so much more.

A Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche is an American Mixed Martial Arts fighter currently competing in the bantamweight division. Born in Lafayette, LA, she grew up on Okinawa the daughter of an Airman. During her five year enlistment, Liz Before was an Aviation Electrician during which time she completed three tours in Iraq. Carmouche started training MMA to ease her transition.

She began her professional fighting career in 2010, and was named the WMMA Press Awards Newcomer of the Year in the same year. In February 2013, Carmouche was recognized as the first openly gay fighter in the UFC and has served as a positive role model throughout the MMA community. She is also the FIRST woman to NOT be arm-barred by Ronda Rousey and the first fighter in UFC history to win at Madison Square Garden.

Jeff “Bones” Bonner is a former combat fighter pilot, squadron commander, airline captain, keynote speaker, and creator of The Debrief Advantage™ System. Drawing from decades in high-pressure aviation environments, Jeff teaches leaders and teams how fighter pilots use debriefing, reflection, and intentional adjustment to improve performance, strengthen culture, and grow through adversity.

Jeff is the author of The Daily Debrief™ and a Harvard-trained performance strategist whose work centers on one core belief: experience alone doesn’t make us better — reflection followed by adjustment does. Through his speaking and writing, he helps leaders across public safety, healthcare, athletics, aviation, and business build habits and cultures of continuous improvement.

His mission is simple: help people navigate pressure with greater clarity, resilience, humility, and purpose.

https://debriefadvantage.com/

Jason McCarthy enlisted in the Army after 9/11 because of 9/11 and served in Special Forces in Iraq and the Sahel region of West Africa. In 2007, while visiting Emily in war-torn West Africa, Jason built Emily a “go-ruck” for her to keep in her vehicle and at home, ready to go at all times. This was the origin of what is now GORUCK.

Former Central Intelligence Agency case officer, Emily McCarthy, served her country on the frontlines of the Global War on Terrorism. In the years following 9/11, she operated in war-torn Africa where she was responsible for recruiting human sources and collecting intelligence in the interest of national security.

Richard Rice retired from the U.S. Army as a Special Forces Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in 1994 after 30 years of service. The last 25 years of which were spent in various Special Operations Forces (SOF) assignments. He was a Program Coordinator, Director and Vice President at Fayetteville Technical Community College from 1994 to 2015.

https://www.goruck.com/

Kory Flowers is a 27-year veteran Captain with the Greensboro Police Department. Captain Flowers trains law enforcement officers nationwide on various subversive criminal groups, leadership, tactical communication, and has written articles and conducted podcasts for publications including Police1, Police Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and National Public Radio. He is a frequent guest on numerous law enforcement podcasts, and guest television host on On Patrol Live.

We discuss his childhood in North Carolina, the addiction crisis, reducing recidivism, the power of mentorship, losing brother police officers, the impact of Hurricane Helene, community, the Run Well programme and much more.

Carmen Ordoñez is a TV host, lifestyle expert and the widow of Miami firefighter Fernando Ordonez. We discuss their parents' immigration stories, their romance story, the birth of their son, Fernando's cancer diagnosis, grief, growth, community and so much more.

Carmen is a TV Host and on-air lifestyle expert. She was married to City of Miami firefighter, Fernando Ordoñez, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2014 and passed away 10-months later at the age of 34. Carmen found herself a young widow at the age of 31, left behind to raise their 2-year old son.

Tim Mickelson is a professional golfer, caddie and the CEO of Cedar Valve. We discuss growing up in a golfing family, training the youth athlete, midfullness and performance, his brother Tim's success, caddying, learning from the tragic Cedar fire, innovating engine operations and so much more.

Tim Mickelson brings over 20 years of experience in both the sports industry and small business. After officially retiring in 2024, he returned in 2025 driven by his belief in Cedar Valve’s potential to transform fire industry standards. His objective: to put this innovative device on every fire engine in the United States and help protect countless firefighters, communities and structures.

https://www.cedarvalve.com/

Nate Morgans is National Guardsman, Tusla Fire Department Deputy Chief and the CEO of the Casey Skudin 343 Fund. We discuss his journey into the military, joining the fire service, combat deployments, his battle with alcoholism, the healing power of Ibogaine, fighting for plant medicine treatment in Oklahoma and so much more.

Nate has devoted his life to serving others, both in uniform with the U.S. Army National Guard and on the frontlines of the Tulsa Fire Department. He enlisted young, commissioned in 1998, and soon transitioned to the National Guard while beginning his career at the Tulsa Fire Department, following in his father’s footsteps. In 2003, Nate deployed to Afghanistan for a year, leaving just days after the birth of his first child. When he returned, he pushed ahead without processing the emotional toll of deployment and new fatherhood. Looking back, he can see this was when he started leaning on alcohol to cope.

A devoted father of three, Nate tried to manage the demands of firefighting, military service, and family life. By 2019, after deployments to Ukraine, mounting pressures at work, and the collapse of his marriage, his drinking spiraled. A DWI and a near-blackout incident resulted in a two-rank demotion and derailed the future he’d been building. In the years that followed, he tried everything – AA, leadership programs, two rounds of inpatient rehab, and repeated detox attempts through the VA. Doctors prescribed Ativan to manage his withdrawals until a psychiatrist told him they could no longer continue. Terrified of detoxing alone, Nate began flying to Mexico to buy the medication without a prescription, doing whatever he could to survive a cycle he desperately wanted to break. Everything changed when he learned about ibogaine therapy from a close friend and fellow firefighter. He applied to the 343 Fund for a first responder grant and was approved the next day.

Ibogaine was the intervention that finally broke the cycle he’d been trapped in for years. During his ibogaine treatment, he saw flashes of memory that helped him understand how he’d gotten so stuck. In the days that followed, years of guilt and shame began to lift, and the compulsion to drink finally disappeared. He describes ibogaine as “smoothing out the ruts” in his brain – and credits the 343 Fund’s integration program with helping him build new pathways and stay grounded in recovery. When he returned to work, coworkers told him he looked ten years younger. Nate went straight to the fire union and said, “This is going to save lives.” He has since helped connect multiple firefighters to treatment and now serves as a Board Advisor to the 343 Fund, working to expand healing pathways for first responders and their families. Today, Nate is grounded, present, and hopeful. His three children are proud of him, and his mission is renewed. Nate took his last drink on November 21, 2024 – and is now celebrating one year of sobriety. He also serves as an Ambassador for Americans for Ibogaine and is proudly helping lead the charge to help legalize Ibogaine for therapeutic use in his home state of Oklahoma.

https://343fund.org/

Ryan Scalmanini is a U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and the Director of VA Disability Compliance and Analytics for Veteran Benefits Guide (VBG). In his role, Ryan manages the training and development for VBG’s VA disability claims manager team to ensure they are equipped with the information and resources they need to successfully support the company’s Veteran clients. He is also responsible for end-to-end quality control of the claims support process.

Prior to joining VBG, Ryan was a Rating Veteran Service Representative, or Rater at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), where he became an expert on the VA’s Disability Compensation System. Ryan also served in the U.S. Coast Guard for four years, where he was an engineer and rescue swimmer while attached to a law enforcement and rescue unit.

Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Phoenix. Outside of VBG, Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife, playing beach volleyball and assisting Veterans/first responders in finding their path of healing and purpose.

Frank Wright was one of the original Marine Raiders who fought on both Guam and Iwo Jima in WWII. We discuss his journey into the Marines, special forces selection, hand to hand combat, facing banzai attacks, his powerful mental health story, writing his book and so much more.

"I fought like mad as the Japanese stormed down the hill yelling 'Malians you die, Malians you die.' I emptied my rifle magazine, twice. Out of ammo I slashed and plunged my bayonet into as many as I could until…"

Battles in the Pacific is Wright’s autobiographical account of his four years of enlistment in World War II, including two years in the South Pacific. On January 21, 1942, Wright entered the U.S. Marine Corps by lying about his age. His was Sixteen at the time and living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He reported to boot camp on January 24, 1942 at the 12th Recruit Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Platoon 150, in San Diego, California.

Like many war veterans, Wright’s traumatic experience in war left him in a battle with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His detailed description of his teenage years shows why he still feels the effects several decades later. Wright’s hope is that other veterans will find hope and help through his book and perhaps be inspired to write about their own experiences.

Frank S. Wright was born on July 5, 1925, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and as a member of the 4th Marine Raiders Special Forces with Colonel James Roosevelt as commander. He fought in four major battles, traveled between islands on eleven different Navy ships, was wounded by a bayonet in the stomach while recapturing Guam, and was shot in the chest and arm by machine gun fire on the island of Iwo Jima. He spent the last six months of his enlistment as a Marine drill instructor training new recruits.

Wright’s personal awards include a Purple Heart with two stars, the Presidential Unit Citation with two stars, Navy Unit Commendation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign with three service stars, the Fleet Marine Force with four stars, the Marine Corps Expedition Medal, Combat Action with four stars, the Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

Joseph Sullivan is the founder of Active911, the emergency response platform trusted daily by first responders across the country for real-time incident coordination. He also founded Alyrica Networks, Nova Dynamics, and Daxbot, where his work focuses on deploying autonomous robotic systems into real-world environments. His background spans communications infrastructure, emergency operations, and robotics, with multiple patents in autonomous navigation and multi-agent decision-making systems. Sullivan currently serves as Director of Nova Dynamics and remains deeply involved in building operational technology for high-consequence environments.

Active911 is a respected leader in emergency communications and software, providing alerting, mapping, and scene resources for over 500,000 first responders worldwide. Based out of Western Oregon, we are proud to offer our services to the people that depend on us. Our focus is to take care of our brother and sister responders while our drive is to make sure you get the tools you need to get the job done and save lives easily and without distraction.

https://active911.com/