Episode 049 begins with a piece written by Matthew “Griff” Griffin through the voice of the Taliban watching the withdrawal of US forces in Afghanistan. This conversation was recorded August 19, 2021 -- important context given more recent events. Jason and Rich are joined by fellow veterans Griff and Blayne Smith to share their perspectives and recommendations for action for those who have served as well as civilians. It is a “license to feel” through surreal, confusing, frustrating events, as well as a call to take care of those that have borne the brunt of the wars of the last 20 years.

Griff is a 2001 West Point Graduate; Army Ranger, Combat Veteran with the 75th Ranger Regiment (3x Afghanistan, 1x Iraq); and CEO of Combat Flip Flops, which he co-founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Blayne, of Episode 006 of Glorious Professionals, is also a graduate of West Point; former Green Beret combat veteran of 3rd Special Forces Group in Afghanistan in 2009; former Executive Director of Team Red White & Blue; and co-Founder of Applied Leadership Partners.

Links:

• VeteranCheckIn.org
• Original Post on Combat Flip Flops
• Episode 006 - Blayne Smith
• “Pet” - A Perfect Circle
• SIGAR.mil
• Ben Bunn Instagram Post and Episode 021
• VA Veterans Crisis Line, GetHeadstrong.org, Cohen Veterans Network, Vets4Warriors
• Learn more about GORUCK
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“As for me, after seeing what I’ve seen, I’m always gonna bet on freedom to win out in the end.”

Episode 048 is the first in a series of episodes on Afghanistan. Former Green Beret and Ranger Battalion Sniper Aaron Hand joins Jason and Rich to talk about his late night FB post on his current feelings and outlook -- which Jason reads to start the podcast -- as well as his time in country, the current situation of withdrawal, historical parallels, the taste of freedom and reasons to have hope for the future. 

Aaron grew up in Boston, enlisted in the Army infantry in 1992, and was eventually stationed in the 3/75 at Fort Benning as a sniper. He deployed to Somalia in 1993 and was part of the vehicle convoy there that became known as Blackhawk Down. He then went through Special Forces Qualification and was at Fort Campbell in “The Legion” of 5th SF Group on 9/11. He, with ODA 543, was one of the first soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan as part of Task Force Dagger and the larger Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001. 

Aaron provides historical context to the current situation in Afghanistan -- both from his time served there as well as the time before. Rich (also a member of The Legion) was in Afghanistan in the 1980’s, notably in “Charlie Wilson’s War” carrying stinger missiles to the mujahideen. Before that, Rich was also on a special forces team who evacuated people during the fall of Saigon in the mid 70s and talks through the comparisons to those events.

Throughout, there is measured, important conversation for both the average American citizen trying to understand what is going on, as well as veterans who might have strong feelings about current events -- particularly in the lead up to the 20th anniversary of 9/11.  

Links:

• Episode 038 - Rich on “Charlie Wilson’s War” 

• Rich Introduction and history in Vietnam - Episode 003

• Learn more about GORUCK

• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“I don’t think anyone can live this life and not be affected.”

Sara Wilkinson, gold star wife of Navy SEAL Chad Wilkinson, joins Emily and Jason in Jacksonville for Episode 047 in hard, honest conversation about growing up in a military family, her and Chad’s love story, the life of deployments as a military spouse, being a mom to Kinsley and Hudson, and Chad’s death by suicide in 2018 and the birth of Chad 1000x.

SCPO Chad Wilkinson was born into the Navy. Both his uncle and father were SEALs (before his dad became a Marine One helicopter pilot) and Sara says it was what Chad was born to do. As a fellow military kid he, with his two brothers and sister, grew up on bases and he ultimately graduated from Camp Lejeune HS. After a year at UCF, Chad enlisted in the Navy and successfully completed BUD/S. After three deployments with SEAL Team Eight, Chad left service for almost three years. He re-entered and (as Sara recounts) rejoined and was selected to join SEAL Team Six out of VA Beach. Among many deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and various places in Africa, Chad served for 21 years and was the recipient of the Silver Star. Chad was on active duty in Virginia Beach when he died by suicide on October 29, 2018. 

Sara met Chad on her first day of 9th grade on a base in Quantico, VA. It was the 14th of 15 K-12 schools she would attend as “a military kid born and bred,” daughter of a Marine. Chad’s signature “hey” started a surprise Homecoming invitation her sophomore year and a long, somewhat tumultuous courtship. Separations, breakups, and life changes punctuated their teenage and early adult years, culminating in a proposal and elopement right before Chad’s second deployment. Throughout, Sara says, “I wanted to be where he was.” Two great kids, a separation and reenlistment in the Navy, cross country moves, climbing mountains and finding community in CrossFit followed. 

Sara talks about the unique personality required to survive and thrive to be married to the guys who do this work: fearlessness, independence, resilience. And the terrible toll that it can take on tier one operators as well as “their first responders.” She talks through the “what ifs” and all the looking back she has done to see if there were signs of Chad’s unseen injuries which ultimately led to his death. “There’s so many questions you’re never going to get answers to.” 

Finally, as one who knows what it feels like to have her person gone, Sara talks about her call to suicide-prevention advocacy, community with other widows, and the search for the multiple answers for others as well as finding some healing for herself. She, with Jason and Emily, share the story of the birth of Chad 1000x and The StepUp Project and how the ripple effects of Chad’s life and death continue to move outward. 

This is a long conversation so some timestamps to help navigate it:

0:00 - Introduction and excerpts from Sara’s speech at the National Navy SEAL Museum on Memorial Day

0:05 - Sara’s young life and meeting Chad

0:15 - College years and BUDs

0:25 - Proposal, elopement, and living in the “team house” in VA Beach, living as a military spouse

0:34 - Move to Raleigh and decision to “get back in,” move to CA… and back to VA Beach

0:44 - Finding CrossFit and life back in VA Beach with SEAL Team 6 deployments

0:50 - Early signs, symptoms, leading up to 2008

1:20 - Chad’s last days and death

1:35 - The aftermath, what has helped Sara

1:40 - The birth of Chad 1000x and going forward

Links:

• Sara on Instagram
• National Navy SEAL Museum
• “Crossfit - Meet Sara” (2013) Video
• The First Chad1000x Video
• Episode 028 - Dave Castro and Morning ChalkUp Story
• Learn more about GORUCK and Chad 1000x
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“The more I use my voice, the more powerful I feel.”

For Episode 046 Jason and Emily have a deep and far-ranging conversation with Melissa Urban: Whole30 Co-Founder and CEO, recovered addict, New York Times best-selling author, mother, podcast host, nature churchgoer, and rucker. From a “good kid” in New Hampshire through trauma, addiction, recovery and now an entrepreneur with a large platform and living a life of a “healthy person with healthy habits,” Melissa has eschewed perfectionism in pursuit of finding the light. And yet still has a “go hard” streak.

Melissa talks about growing up in a huge, tight-knit Catholic-Portuguese family where “if you didn’t talk about it, it didn’t happen.” With hard vulnerability she shares about her sexual assault at 16 and how not talking about it not only didn’t make it go away but led to her drug addiction. She now, after years of self-work and recovery, accepts that trauma will never be “done.” 

An introvert who “liked books more than people” growing up, Melissa has dedicated her life to habit research and the reset offered by the Whole30 program she developed. She shares some of the lessons she has learned as a somewhat-reluctant business owner and dedicated community builder who tries to make Whole30 accessible to as many as who want to do it. She talks about what it is like to be the face of a brand, the challenges of building community particularly in online spaces, and how she and Whole30 have made decisions about the brand. A former crossfitter and student at Gym Jones who is an avid hiker (her church) with her dog Henry, through Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis she found rucking and talks about what being that kind of “badass” has brought to her life. 

Through years of therapy and learning to set boundaries, her recovery and decision to change everything in her life, overall Melissa shares how she found grace and empathy for her younger self -- and the strength in softness.

Links:

• Melissa Urban
• Melissa on Instagram
• Episode 041 - Michael Easter - The Comfort Crisis
• Episode 023 - Jimi Letchford
• Learn more about GORUCK and Chad 1000x
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“It’s the ultimate symbol that freedom and liberty will always prevail. Always.”

For episode 045, Jason, Emily, and Rich talked with Sergeant Major Dan Plants about D-Day and the GORUCK events he has led in Normandy to remember and honor the sacrifices of those who fought there. A history lesson combined with the personal remembrances of those who have rucked those storied beaches with some of the veterans who know it best, this is an episode about the spirit of the American soldier and “the men who persevered in the face of their own death.” 

Informed by books about WWII and D-Day, as well as his own years of service including in the storied 82nd Airborne, Cadre Dan has taught many a GRT about the tactics of taking an entrenched position. The Atlantic Wall was the ultimate entrenched position: 2,000 miles of coastline from the south of France to Norway, heavily armored by the Nazi war machine over 2 years. What the allies lacked in fortifications, they made up for in ingenuity and were backed by dominant air and sea forces. Cadre Dan speaks about the 3 difference makers for the allies -- particularly the Americans -- on an individual level: empowerment, shared knowledge and training with a purpose. 

“Humbled and grateful to have had the opportunity to serve with such outstanding Americans,” Dan sees in his role as a leader of the next generation of soldiers the requirement to teach the lessons of D-Day. Those lessons are well learned rucking the beaches and highground at Normandy, standing on a piece of the “Atlantic Wall,” crying amongst the thousands of graves in the cemeteries and listening to the few remaining veteran soldiers who were there on D-Day share their firsthand accounts.

Links:

• Cadre Dan
• D-Day by Stephen Ambrose
• Dawn of D-Day by David Hawarth
• The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
• Higgins Boats
• Learn more about GORUCK 
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

Jim “Pee Wee” Martin in Ohio, one of the “Toccoa Originals” and few surviving paratroopers of WWII sat down with Jason and Rich, along with a handful of GORUCK Cadre, for Episode 044 in Ohio. On June 6, 2014, the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Martin became the last WWII era American paratrooper to jump over Normandy at the age of 93, landing behind Utah Beach just as he had 70 years earlier. A frank storyteller with strong opinions, Mr. Martin sprinkles his recollections with the greater history as well as personal anecdotes, and reminds that he is “just a representative of his unit.” 

A child of the Depression, Martin entered the military in 1942 and volunteered for the 101st Airborne Division -- what became the Screaming Eagles. He and the original “Toccoa Men” went through intense training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where the 506th was formed under Colonel Robert F. Sink. Martin talks about his decision to serve and the culling process at Currahee mountain -- from 6500 to 1650 men over the first 6months -- with blunt honesty. Despite being the smallest in his unit at 103 pounds (hence “Pee Wee” as a nickname) he says the only worry was if he was going to be able to stay.

The night before D-Day, June 6, 1944, Martin’s company parachuted over Normandy and touched down in enemy-controlled territory behind Utah Beach. They fought for 43 days as part of the Normandy campaign -- including in “Bloody Gulch” -- before moving on to invade Holland; holding the line in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge; and finishing off by taking Berchtesgaden, site of Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” redoubt in the German Alps.

Martin celebrated his 100th birthday this year with a mass parachute drop -- including two of his granddaughters -- using vintage aircraft in a tribute to his place in history and his community. He talks about returning to Ohio in a time of continued rationing, marrying Donna (his wife of 72years before she passed two years ago) and building a life for them and their 5 children. He says that while he rarely thinks about his service “except during talks like this” because he and his fellows “had more important things to do” he shares many memories from his unique perspective. 

Links:

• Jim Martin’s Facebook Page
• Battle of Bloody Gulch
• “Jim "Pee Wee" Martin - Airborne Soldier” video by U.S. Army Broadcasting (2014)
• Mark Bando’s 101st Airborne - the Screaming Eagles at Normandy
• Maj. Gen. James McConville and French Legion honors
• Learn more about GORUCK 
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“If you’re the best, nothing else matters.”

Episode 043 remembers and honors 1st Lt Ashley White Stumpf with some of the people who knew her well: Brian Porter, Doug Baker and Molly Donahue. Ashley served as a member of a Cultural Support Team (CST) attached to a Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan. She was killed during combat operations in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan on October 22, 2011 when the assault force she was supporting triggered an improvised explosive device.

The story of the CSTs is eloquently told in Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Lemmon. This episode is more about telling the personal stories of Ashley’s life, how she touched everyone she met, and how her relentless spirit lives on through them.

Brian, Ashley’s recruiter at Kent State, recalls how Ashley insisted on a home visit to make sure that her folks and family understood and supported her in what she was already determined to do. Doug details how they enlisted and “grew up” together at Kent State as part of a tight-knit group of diverse friends. He describes Ashley constantly encouraging her team and growing into a confident leader, at home in both a sorority house and on the ROTC training field. He shares how despite her small size she consistently proved herself, and even bested him, in training -- overscoring on PT tests and going above and beyond in the gym -- forever changing his ideas of what women are capable of. Molly served with Ashley in 6th Platoon at Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) in 2010 and relates how “Little White” proved herself to herself first and foremost, and also left a lasting legacy with whom she served.

Ashley was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a Medical Service Corps Officer after graduating from Kent State in 2009. “She wanted to help people,” says Doug. She was assigned to the 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina National Guard, Goldsboro, NC. She volunteered to be one of the first CSTs serving in Afghanistan and was the first killed in action. She was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. She is survived by her parents Robert and Deborah White, twin sister Brittany and her brother Josh of Alliance, Ohio, and her husband Cpt. Jason Stumpf of Raeford, N.C.

Links:

• Ashley’s War by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
• History of Cultural Support Teams (including the recruitment poster)
• Ashley White 5K at Kent State
• Learn more about GORUCK 
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“I want to find out what’s true”

Sebastian Junger -- war journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of Tribe, The Perfect Storm, War and most recently Freedom -- joins Jason and Emily for Episode 042 about calculated risks, seeing the world as it is, the service of journalism, and doing hard physical things to feel differently about oneself.

Junger grew up in the suburbs of Boston, a childhood that didn’t feel hard or like real life. His father was the survivor of two wars, a “rationalist with deep empathy” and a pacifist who hated fascism enough to encourage his son to sign his selective service card to potentially serve in another WWII. Instead, Sebastian served as a war reporter and saw his role as providing critical information and the truth about atrocities and conflict. He found the role, and risks, intoxicating as well as noble.

In 2007 Sebastian embedded with the Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army in the Korangal Valley of Afghanistan for Vanity Fair. There he met award-winning photojournalist Tim Hetherington and they created the documentary “Restrepo” which was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Sebastian talks about the bonds created through those experiences, with the soldiers and with Tim, and the parallels between service in the military and journalism. 

In 2011 Tim was killed in Libya covering the Libyan civil war -- an assignment Sebastian was also supposed to be on. Sebastian talks through his PTSD, guilt, depression and the spiral of loss through deaths, miscarriage, giving up war reporting, and his divorce which led him to “The Last Patrol” -- a 400mil walk along the railroad tracks between New York and DC -- which helped him “climb out of the hole.” He talks about pain as a motivator for improvement, the potential trap of solutions and being open to knowing when the end has come. 

His new book Freedom was born of that “weird marginal existence” and he explores the tension between needing society/community and having freedom -- both evolutionary and today. His new adventure is as father of two daughters -- seeing the magic in that reality -- and navigating the tension between the modern inventions which saved his life last year and the traps of technology.  

Links:

• Sebastian Junger and Freedom
• Sebastian Junger Remembers Tim Hetherington
• Restrepo
• “The Last Patrol” on HBO
• Vets Town Halls
• Donate Blood through the Red Cross
• Learn more about GORUCK and Tribe
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“What we were built to do can inform a lot of what we should do today.”

Michael Easter joins Jason and Emily for Episode 041 on embracing discomfort through putting ourselves in extreme situations to appreciate what we have and find better health. Michael is known in Heath Journalism as the guy who interviews interesting people doing interesting things. For his new book “The Comfort Crisis” he went on a hunting trip in remote Alaska for 33 days to write about how the most uncomfortable, vulnerable and challenging situations reset our perspective and make us better people in our daily lives.

Michael attributes his endurance and toughness to his “badass” single mom. His natural curiosity and experience traveling while young made him the guy who would go to “get the good stuff.” He likes to fully embed with experts and subjects, not just do interviews behind a screen, and laughs with Jason and Emily about living with them for a few days to better learn about rucking -- even if it meant early chaotic wakeups. 

The through-line for the interview, as with his book, is the Alaska trip and the real-world lessons he brought back with him. He talks about the importance of research and listening to the experts, but also just trying things to see what works. With candor he says that his biggest challenge to date is getting and staying sober, but that from Gym Jones to the Alaskan Wilderness he continues to challenge himself in hard ways. Michael repeatedly returns to simplicity and “the Oatmeal rule” of getting back to the basics of what makes us healthy humans. 

Links:

• “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter
• Michael’s Real-Life Mountain Man, Badass Mom and Rucking Articles in Men’s Health
• “Why Humans Are Born to Ruck” 
• Donnie “Who We Are” Hunting Video
• Dr. Marcus Elliot and Misogi
• Learn more about GORUCK and Tribe
• Glorious Professionals podcast website

“The courage to say ‘yes,’ and let it change you.”

Jason talks with Scott Campbell and Roger Sparks for Episode 040 about their chance meeting in 2010 in Afghanistan, how those experiences changed both their lives, and the overall power of tattooing. It is a raw and vulnerable conversation about grief, pain, memory and catharsis -- the role reversal of an artist dropping in to help rescue the rescuers.

Scott Campbell never imagined he could be an artist, but happened into the hard trade of tattoo art and talks about how it commands your focus -- how each tattoo is a process of wanting to quit but seeing it through anyway. He traveled to Bagram in November of 2010 with Casey Neistat to try to “rediscover tattooing that mattered.” By happenstance, Scott met Pararescueman (PJ) Roger just after Operation Bulldog Bite and wound up tattooing Roger and his team as they began to process those events and the “grief inherited by people who project violence to solve problems.” 

Scott talks about how humbled he was to be useful and how he found more meaning than he could have possibly predicted. Roger too was forever changed by their encounter -- not just the coordinates on his forearm and birds on his chest -- but by becoming a tattoo artist himself and discovering the catharsis and power of carving into skin. They both speak about the therapeutic benefits of tattoo and how their continued relationship continues to challenge and change them. 

Links:

• Scott Campbell 
• Episode 035 - Roger Sparks
• “Warrior’s Creed” by Roger Sparks
• Operation Bulldog Bite
• Saved Tattoo
• Vlog by Casey Neistat
• Learn more about GORUCK and Tribe
• Glorious Professionals podcast website