SOFREP Radio

It would be a fair statement that there is no name more synonymous with mixed martial arts than Royce Gracie, and no family with the impact on the sport than the Gracie family. The Gracie family created Brazilian jiu-jitsu, were integral in starting the competition among different forms of self-defense now known as mixed martial arts, and Royce fought in all of the early major UFC events. The Gracie's continues to introduce fighters to the sport, now including a 4th generation member of the family, Neiman Gracie who is fighting in Bellator. Well, who better to conduct this interview with me than fan favorite Jim West? We get into Royce's thoughts on watching the sport evolve, and it's deep history including a challenge to Royce from kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez that never went down. We also hear about Royce's attendance at SHOT Show in recent years with the company Pack'n Heat Products. Gracie currently does a lot of events which you can keep up to date with at RoyceGracie.com. In addition to that we discuss the re-brand of SOFREP over to NEWSREP. Jim is working on a new book, and also still selling his signature weapons over at his website American Extension Fighting. These weapons include The Talon, and on that note, we have a great video up on Instagram of Jim demonstrating what it can do. We hope that you enjoy, and as always please leave a review at Apple Podcasts. We want to continue to raise our visibility and bring on A-list guests like Royce Gracie along with our kick ass staff of writers at NEWSREP.

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CEO of Hurricane Group Brandon Webb has been long overdue for an appearance on the show. Now that's he's wrapped up The Power of Thought podcast, and is out promoting "Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL's Guide," his latest book which came out this week, I was able to get some time out of him for us. We start off the show addressing a recent controversy with Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf, and why Webb declined an invitation on his podcast. We then talk the oncoming name change of SOFREP.com to NEWSREP, the reasoning behind it, and how it will impact SOFREP Radio. From there, we get into "Mastering Fear." You'll even hear a great excerpt from the book. "Mastering Fear" includes some excellent stories from interviews Brandon's conducted and stories of colleagues. Included in these stories are Kamal Ravikant, C.J. Ramone, James Powell, and Captain Jerry Yellin. If you are looking to conquer a challenge in your life and crush new goals, you need to pick up this latest work.

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CJ Woodruff is best known as a fitness content creator, and he has some impressive credentials at that. Between creating The Fitness Trainer Academy, being a personal trainer himself, competing as a bodybuilder, and most recently becoming a spokesman for supplement company Primeval Labs, he knows the industry well. Prior to that however, he served as a Marine in combat, and it was there that he discovered fitness as an outlet which kept him in a positive mind frame. He discusses all of this with me, as well as topics like which muscle building supplements are effective, and some more personal issues like his divorce and custody battle, and how this is rampant in the veteran community. Beyond fitness content however, he has a veteran podcast that is putting out some killer work. CJ along with G (G, best known for creating the popular veteran run apparel brand Zero Foxtrot,) host Zero Bunker. The guys have had some stellar guests on including our own John Stryker Meyer. Be sure to subscribe to CJ's own Youtube channel, and you can find all of his social media on his website, CJWoodruff.me. I also give an update on SOFREP's transition over to NEWSREP, and how it will effect the podcast, so don't miss it.

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The last time Pat McNamara was on the show, he gave the most passionate review of his experience seeing Judas Priest play NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum. Ever since than, I knew we had to get the former Army operator and current shooting instructor back on to talk metal a little more in-depth. Well, who better to bring on for that discussion than my friend Shawn the Butcher? Shawn's the voice of Ozzy's Boneyard, and a host on Liquid Metal, both on Sirius XM Radio. I got him to walk over from their studios to Hurricane Group's headquarters, and have a really fun discussion that we hope you'll be entertained by. We get into topics like the recent death of legendary Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, our favorite concerts, and some of the reasons why Metallica continues to reign supreme after over 35 years in the music business. So, this is a break from our usual special operations and foreign policy discussion, but if you're a metalhead, you'll dig it! I know a lot of operators can attest to metal being the soundtrack for war. Be sure to listen to Shawn over at Sirius XM, follow him on all platforms @ShawnTheButcher, and check out his site, Hails From the Crypt. As for Pat, he's always staying busy. You can visit him over at TMacsInc.com, and sign up for shooting instruction from the best in the business. Pat's also very active on Instagram @TMacsInc. So crank it up, and rock out!

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If you heard the last episode with Sam Faddis, than you know we've started rolling out the Intelligence field edition of Inside the Team Room on The Spec Ops Channel. Sam's featured on that along with several other of our other authors who have worked in intel. Well, just because I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to give you all a preview of some of that great audio. This is just a few minutes of the hours of footage that members can see. Some truly great discussions you won't get anywhere else with these veterans of the field. On this preview you'll hear about the obstacles of living a compartmentalized lifestyle, and habits from working in intelligence that become hard to break. After you check this out, take advantage of a limited time offer to join The Spec Ops Channel for only $4.99 a month. Along with these great Inside the Team Rooms such as our Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Special Forces series, you'll also get content you won't find anywhere else like our premiere show Training Cell.

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Charles "Sam" Faddis is a former CIA operations officer and national security commentator with extensive experience on the ground in the Near East and South Asia. He's also one of the guys you'll see on the intelligence edition of Inside the Team Room which we're currently rolling out in segments on The Spec Ops Channel. Since Sam has written for the site, but hasn't been on the podcast, I figured no better time than now to have him on. On this episode we get into some of the recent diplomatic relations happening with the U.S. and hostile nations. Sam's analysis of President Trump's strategies in dealing with Russia and North Korea are very insightful. It's also interesting hearing Sam discuss these topics with the background he has, and how he certainly doesn't echo a lot of the talking heads and so-called "experts" you'll see on TV. Sam is also starting work on a book about where the U.S. stands in a post-9/11 world in preventing homeland terrorism. We get into that topic, and you'll hear why he's very cynical about our current homeland security strategies.  Sam has both authored and co-authored several books including "Beyond Repair: The Decline and Fall of the CIA," and his next book which is finished and will be out soon deals with the invasion of Iraq. Visit him at SamFaddis.com and follow him on Twitter @RealSamFaddis, let him know how you liked his interview. In addition, we hope you check him out along with some other great SOFREP personalities on the Inside the Team Room available on The Spec Ops Channel. If you're not already a member, we encourage you to become one. It's up now, and if you're enjoying the series, let us know. I also check your emails being sent to [email protected] on this episode; and as always, follow us on Instagram and Twitter @SOFREPRadio.

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Back in March of 2014, Sean Spoonts wrote an excellent article for SOFREP that gained a great deal of traction titled, "Alright, Goodnight - Does Malaysia Want to Know What Happened to Flight MH-370?" As some of you may remember, a great deal of conspiracy theory immediately surrounded what happened to that infamous flight, and it has not gone away due to the lack of any sufficient evidence that we can draw much of a conclusion from. For example, Fox News contributor and former Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, who has a history of making outrageous claims, spoke of the plane likely landing in Pakistan with nothing to back up that assertion. The great mystery of where this plane was, sparked the idea for Sean to get together with two experts and refute some of the speculation out there using facts. To this day, the piece holds up. Fast forward to now, the Malaysian government plans to release a new report on the flight this coming Monday. With good reason, Sean is skeptical. So, since Sean was in town to work on some upcoming promotion for Brandon Webb's next book "Mastering Fear," I got him in studio to lay out all of the facts. For those unfamiliar, Sean's been a friend of the site since it's very inception, and his military background is with the Navy as an anti-submarine warfare operator and search and rescue Aircrewman. Sean and I also talk some current events, which includes the disgraceful destruction of a memorial to fallen Navy SEAL Michael Murphy on Long Island, New York. SOFREP is holding a raffle to benefit the Lt Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation due to this. We hope that you partake, and in the process possibly win some kick ass gear from Crate Club.

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In this current age of political correctness, there are not a lot of novels out there for young adults with pro-American and pro-military values. As a patriot, Scott McEwen decided to fill this niche in releasing his latest book "Camp Valor" with Hof Williams. McEwen, best known for co-writing the best-selling memoir turned Hollywood blockbuster "American Sniper," has been releasing a lot of work as of late.  This includes the "Sniper Elite" books and co-authoring Ryan Zinke's memoir "American Commander," which he last joined us on Episode 226 to discuss with Zinke, shortly prior to Zinke becoming Secretary of the Interior. Scott joins us in studio again, and we talk about the shift in American values and political correctness, as well as his close relationship to Ryan Zinke, and his memories with Chris Kyle. In addition to that, we continue with what we are now calling out "Woketard of the Week" segment. Also, Jack Murphy is taking a long vacation to Europe, so we say bye for now. I'll be here though, and we plan on bringing you plenty of great guests until Murph is back in September.

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We always keep a versatile list of spec ops guests, but we actually haven't had a Navy SEAL on the program in quite a few months. So it was a treat to have Jack Carr join us in studio. We actually shot this full episode for Youtube as well, in the new studio, and hope to do this on a regular basis. So please subscribe to the SOFREP channel on there for much more content to come. While there are quite a few Navy SEALs out there authoring memoirs (many of whom are friends of the show,) Carr is taking a different path. "The Terminal List" is his first thriller novel and it's received the praise of everyone from Brad Thor to Chuck Norris. We discuss the inspiration behind the book, and fulfilling a childhood dream to write. Carr also has an incredible resume serving 20 years in the Navy on multiple SEAL Teams, as well as serving in Special Boat Team Twelve near the end of his military career. We get some great BUD/S stories out of Jack in this episode. So crank it up and enjoy! Be sure to pick up the book, and visit the website at OfficialJackCarr.com. That links to all of his social media, so hit him up and let him know how you liked the episode.

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Nate Boyer is a combat veteran and a patriot who bravely served with 1st Special Forces Group, 10th Special Forces Group, and 3rd Special Forces Group in Iraq and Afghanistan. Beyond that though, he's also a man of great compassion, and you'll hear that emphasized throughout this in-depth discussion. These traits of patriotism, bravery, and compassion, along with a short stint in the NFL, are why it made sense for him to meet with former NFL star Colin Kaepernick in the midst of a great deal of anger throughout the country. After penning an open letter for Army Times to the quarterback who made it a point to sit during the National Anthem, Kaepernick asked to meet with Boyer, and you may be surprised at some of the understanding that took place among these two men of very different backgrounds and core principles. Kaepernick kneeling from there on as opposed to sitting was actually the result of that face to face discussion. This was a very intriguing conversation about how we view the world through very different lenses based on our own origin. We also discussed Nate's military background of course. Nate now does a lot of charity work with the organization he co-founded, MVP (Merging Vets & Players.) Let him know what you thought of the show, his website is NateBoyer.com, and he's on Twitter & Instagram @NateBoyer37. We went over two hours for this one, and really appreciate him taking the time. If you liked it, also be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

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