SOFREP Radio

John Stryker Meyer was most recently on with us back in July of last year, and he has since put out another new book titled "SOG Chronicles: Volume One." The book details the story of him and the Special Forces teammates of his who served as MACV-SOG in Vietnam. As John says, he hopes to keep writing more of these books, and this first one in the series is getting a tremendous response. John also continues to fight for the often times forgotten issue of POWs from his era, and the lack of action on this matter in recent decades has been frankly embarrassing.  Jack Murphy and I also get into some other topics. These include feminism, gender, "toxic masculinity," and the effects of technological advancement on the entertainment industry. I also share a bizarre dream I had, most likely sparked by the latest interview with Paul Scharre on the podcast. Pick up John's book, and also be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

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Paul Scharre served in combat beside Jack Murphy in the Army's 3rd Ranger Battalion, and he has just put out a truly thought provoking book that will leave you questioning how far the capability of weaponized machines will go in years to come. It's titled "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War," and it's available now. We dive into questions that include, will there be a future where machines make decisions of war and are unmanned entirely? We give some examples from the past when computers got it wrong, and you won't want to miss this fascinating discussion. Paul currently works as the senior fellow and director of the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security. He also recently co-authored a piece about the dangers of brain injury for soldiers in combat, and steps that should be taken to effectively curb this problem with major implications. Be sure to visit Paul at PaulScharre.com and follow him on Twitter @Paul_Scharre. Let him know your thoughts on the interview. As always, also be sure to leave us a review over at Apple Podcasts. We read all the feedback and your reviews on there allow us to keep putting out shows for you twice every week with the guests you want to hear.

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Switching it up this episode, Jack Murphy along with myself (Ian Scotto) took a dive into some news stories of the week, and livestreamed this one with you the fans, answering any questions on your mind.  We cover the death of a Vietnam veteran Special Forces legend, Michael Healy.  As we often say, we're losing more of these guys each week, so we must cherish the time we have with them.  We talk about Ronny Jackson withdrawing his name for VA secretary.  We get into the Army cutting mandatory training programs, which ties into our discussion on Episode 327 with Dr. Leonard Wong.  We discuss Iraq beginning airstrikes in Syria, this was covered in a recent article by our writer Kurt T.  Also, the Washington Times piece "Inside the Ring: China using students as spies," a subject Jack was covering on the site three years ago.  Enjoy, and be sure to leave a review for us on Apple Podcasts.

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This one is a truly in-depth interview with more subject matter covered than I can list. Jim Morris tells us about being a Green Beret during an era where it wasn't looked at with the reverence that it is today. He shares stories of the Tet Offensive, seen by the men he served with as a great victory, and portrayed in the opposite light by the media. Jim talks coming home, and transitioning to media himself working for publications like "Soldier of Fortune" and writing eight books including his best known title "War Story." Morris also discusses dealing with the horrors of war as he transitioned to civilian life, and taking an unconventional route in healing from combat as he delved deep into the study of Tolec Shamanism, completing two rigorous apprenticeships.  Jim's website is http://jimmorriswarstory.com . We also take the time to answer a lot of emails. We're glad to be getting so many great questions and if you keep sending them, we'll continue addressing them. Anything you'd like us to address on-air, it's [email protected]. We've really enjoyed digging into the origin stories of the men from this generation in some recent episodes, and Jim Morris did not disappoint.

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We're excited to bring on Amber Smith for this episode, not only a former Army helicopter pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan flying the Kiowa Warrior, but also former Deputy Assistant for Outreach to none of than General Mattis, and we get into all of that.  We also get Smith's take on fellow pilot Tammie Jo Shults emergency one engine landing on Southwest Airlines this past week.  Though it resulted in a tragic death and several injuries, Smith contends that the repercussions could have been far worse without the cool-headed Navy veteran in the cockpit.  Amber's book "Danger Close" details her combat missions, and Jack noticed in reading the memoir that they served in Tal Afar, Iraq around the same time.  Other topics covered with Amber include the civilian/military divide (something she's addressed while working for the D.O.D.) and what the future holds for the possibility of women in spec ops. We cover the news of Raul Castro stepping down as leader of Cuba, as well as our disgust over 7th Special Forces Group veteran William Mrozek being arrested for heinous sexual crimes on children.  We answer your emails sent to [email protected], which leads to an interesting discussion on Turkey as well.  Also, be sure to check out our raffle on SOFREP.com benefiting The Special Children's Center in NYC, providing services to families of 450 children with developmental disabilities.  Our mission here at Hurricane Group has always involved helping those in need through charity, and we hope to see you get involved, and in the process try to win some great gear, along with an excellent book from our very own John Stryker Meyer.

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We begin this episode with the most important topic at hand right now, last week's bombings of Syria.  Jack comes from an interesting perspective on this because as some of you may remember, two years back he was invited along with a group of select journalists to sit down with President Assad in Syria and have a discussion which we covered.  We also cover two recent articles on SOFREP.com by Jack Murphy, "When a Marine Recon patrol got into a firefight with an American Viet Cong" detailing the bizarre and secretive story of former Marine Bob Garwood, and "The Philippines stands up a true Special Operations Command for the first time," a long standing dream of General Pamonag who Jack got to sit down with in the Philippines last year. We welcome back Curtis Albers to hear how he hopes to progress on getting his story out, detailed on Episode 311, growing up an abused foster kid, becoming an Army Ranger, and some of the demons that continued to follow him.  We also talk race relations in special operations, and have some laughs.  We end the podcast paying our respects to the great R. Lee Ermey, not just a man who played a Marine in "Full Metal Jacket," but lived it in real life.  He will be missed.

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On June 25th, 1996 the terrorist organization Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, translated to English as "Party of God" perpetrated a bombing on Air Force personnel stationed at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.  The truck bomb detonation killed 19 service members, a Saudi local, and resulted in 498 injuries as well.  One of the men stationed with the Air Force in Saudi Arabia at that time was Air Force EOD David Rairdan, and he joins us to recall the full timeline of what happened that night.    Also featured on this episode, we answer your emails, keep them coming, it's [email protected].  Jack gives a rebuttal to a New York Times article unfairly linking the history of Rhodesian war veterans as a whole to white supremacy.  This includes the smearing by The Times of former Delta Force operator Larry Vickers.  Some great content this show, it was an honor to have another member of the EOD community on, and we think this made for a great historical account of a day that must not go forgotten.

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Episode 322 with SGM Mike Vining was one of our most well-received shows to date, and we promised a part two that many of you have been anticipating heavily.  As promised, we delivered, and went very in-depth with one of the true pioneers of Army special operations.  We pick up right where we left off and dive into SGM Vining's military career after Vietnam.  We cover operations Mike was a part of in Grenada, Beirut, Haiti, Iran, and Kuwait.  Some heroic stories of guys he served with, as well as some tragic stories, and Mike's take on the rise of IEDs being used to kill our warriors in combat.  You'll also get a few laughs as well though, when you hear about Mike's childhood background that was sure to lead to a career as an EOD technician. Mike is currently travelling the country with his wife and enjoying some great outdoor adventures.  He does some excellent work with the National EOD Association and EOD Warrior Foundation.  We're also excited to hear that SGM Vining will be inducted into the U.S. Army Ordnance Hall of Fame in Fort Lee, Virginia on May 1st, 2018.  The following Saturday, May 5th this year marks National EOD Day, and Mike is pleased to announce that there will be no new names added to their memorial this time.

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We've recorded some awesome shows with SOFREP writer George Hand discussing his heroic work in combating human trafficking (you can check those out on episodes 302 and 334.)  However, as we hinted at on his last appearance, it's about damn time we got him to talk about his years with 1st Special Forces Group and Delta Force.  After all, a 20 year military career is a hell of a lot more than just a footnote.  Get ready to hear some stories from George's deployments, as well as some other interesting pieces of info like George's hobbies with woodworking and photography, and his experience in beginning to learn Mandarin Chinese at 13, which came in handy years later. Also on this episode, we react to the recent shooting at Youtube headquarters.  We talk some recent military news including the two Marine aircrafts crashing, and the Afghani Air Force airstrike on a madrasa.  Jack Murphy also gets into some of the work that goes into writing a memoir.  If you're someone who's thought of writing a book of any kind, he drops some wisdom for you on the process that you'll find helpful.  On that note, we hope you preorder that book, "Murphy's Law" drops in October and is on sale now on Amazon.com

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Every special operations veteran has a unique path that led them to pursue their time in the community.  SOFREP writer Luke Ryan is no different, and his origin story is one that you won't want to miss.  What's of particular interest, is Luke's experience growing up in Pakistan as a kid.  His dad worked as an ophthalmologist in Gilgit running his own eye clinic.  Seeing some of the global conflicts there that took place pre-9/11, and the huge change in attitude towards Westerners after the towers fell, is a behind the scenes look that very few can discuss from experience.  What was really a game changer though, was Luke finding himself in the heat of a school shooting years later, and his instinct to stay calm really stood out. Also on this episode we discuss two new appointments to the Trump administration, Dr. Ronny Jackson to Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and John Bolton to National Security Advisor.  We talk foreign policy, and also check out the emails you're sending us to [email protected].  Also of note, Jack Murphy's memoir "Murphy's Law" is now up for pre-order.  I expect it to be an intense read!  Enjoy, and leave us a five star review when you're done on Apple Podcasts.

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