Have you ever had an idea to fix a problem from deployment or training but didn't know how to make that solution a reality? Northeastern University Program Director for the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel John Griffin talks about how NSIN is meeting the needs of the DoD with problem solvers from academia, business, and from within the ranks of our service members! Find out how you can bring your innovation to life and still retain the rights to your idea. All that and more on this episode of SOFcast. Subscribe to SOFcast today! Also available on YouTube!

Lyla Kohistany is a former U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer who supported SOF through much of the GWOT and now serves as a cultural consultant for the command. As a child Lyla was brought to the U.S. as a refugee from the Soviet War on Afghanistan in the 1980's. Her familiarity with the Afghan culture made her an invaluable asset to SOF's efforts in Afghanistan, but it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing Lyla. From almost becoming a child bride to becoming the CEO of a non-profit, Lyla Kohistany embodies the SOF tenet "Humans are more important than hardware"!

Promote Leadership
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.promoteleadership.org

Honor the Promise
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.honorthepromise.vet

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Fostering and maintaining relationships with our allies and partners is an integral part of USSOCOM's SOF Strategy. That's why USSOCOM hosts the largest gathering of international SOF personnel outside of NATO, known as J3-I and why this year's SOF Week is even more important as it includes the ISOF Commander's Conference. Our guest for this episode is an operations officer from Czech Republic's SOF, whom we'll call Igor. Igor shares his motivation for serving his country, joining his nation's SOF, and talks about how partnerships with USSOCOM directly influenced him on the battlefield as well as his time stateside as part of USSOCOM's J3-I.

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SOF Truth: Most special operations require non-SOF assistance.

Ms. Kelly N. Hughes is a Senior Acquisition Analyst, with the Program, Budget and Acquisition Team, Secretariat for Special Operations (SSO), ASD-SOLIC. What does all that mean? It means she has a unique insight into the process of getting the best technology and equipment into the hands of SOF operators across the command.

As we prepare for SOF Industry Conference, Kelly takes us behind the curtain of what it takes to support USSOCOM and why it is so important for the individual operator and our national security!

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Winners of the 2022 Best Ranger Competition, from the 75th Ranger Regiment CPT Joshua Corson and CPT Tymothy Boyle join the hosts of SOFcast to talk about what it took to not only complete the three-day grueling event but to beat 50 other teams. Tenacity, endurance, and faith, these Rangers indeed lead the way!

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Detecting and treating brain injuries continues to be a high priority for USSOCOM. That's why ReBlast is so important. ReBlast is a pilot study researching the long-term effects of repetitive, low-level blast exposure (RLLBE) on Special Operations Forces service members.

In this episode, SOFcast is on the road again, this time to Massachusetts General Hospital's Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. SOCOM Senior Enlisted Leader Command Chief Master Sergeant Greg Smtih sat down with ReBlast study researchers Dr. Yelena Bodien and Dr. Brian Edlow, and the Master Chief Petty Officer of the U.S. Navy Russell Smith to talk about how ReBlast is helping researchers better understand the effects career-long repetitive blast exposure has on brain health and function.

"Optimal cognitive performance and brain health are more important than ever to ensure that SOF can achieve the mission successfully that they need to achieve in the future"
- Dr. Brian Edlow

SFC Doug Kiesewetter is a Special Forces Engineer and Weapons Sergeant with the US Army National Guard 20th Special Forces Group and the Chief Content Officer at SOFLETE.

In this episode, host SGM Matt Parrish and SFC Kiesewetter talk about the changing culture within SOF that encourages physical, mental, and spiritual health and wellbeing. "...it doesn't make sense if you're building a house one day, and the next...you're breaking [it down]. It's just it doesn't make any sense."

In June of 2018, the world held its breath as news of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave slowly filling with water hit the headlines. SMSgt Derek Anderson, an Air Force Pararescueman, was part of the team tasked with saving them. Faced with pouring rains threatening to flood the entire cave system, SMSgt Anderson and his team were faced with a seemingly impossible task of conducting a rescue never before performed with 13 lives hanging in the balance. "Show me the impossible..."

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US Cyber Command's Senior Enlisted Leader Cheryl D. Lyon and US Space Command's Senior Enlisted Leader MGySgt Scott H. Stalker join SOFcast to to discuss their organizations respective roles in future combat, safeguarding our country's interests, and where SOF fits in their missions.

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The Commander of USSOCOM GEN Richard D. Clarke returns to SOFcast for our season finale! General Clarke discusses leadership and accountability, the evolving global role of SOCOM, and why "we can't take our foot off the gas" in taking care of SOF servicemembers.

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