To celebrate NASA’s Artemis II test flight, scheduled for launch on Wednesday, April 1st, we're re-casting Preston's conversation with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman from May 2023. The Artemis II test flight will be crewed by Commander Reid, Pilot Victor Glover, Astronaut Christina Koch, and Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen for the 10-day lunar flyby mission, which will test the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems for the first time with humans aboard.

In this Teamcast episode, originally aired on May 24, 2023, Preston and Reid discuss the transition from extensive training to real operations and why it is inevitably chaotic in mission critical work. Wiseman describes arriving on the ISS after four years of training and initially feeling “useless,” emphasizing mastery and learning rapidly rather than expecting perfection. They explore selection for “rate of learning,” humility, mentorship, shared situational awareness across small crews, and mission control. They also address human-machine automation, the need for human override, the integration of new team members, and curriculum elements such as small-team work in unpredictable natural environments, repeated rehearsals with failures, and getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

Commander Reid Wiseman is an American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office until November 14, 2022. He was a member of the Expedition 40/41 crew, which launched to the International Space Station on May 28, 2014, and returned on November 10, 2014.

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This week’s Recast is from Oct 2021. The episode explores how high-pressure performers can train, maintain, and recover their mental skills, with emphasis on using the right tools in the right way and avoiding unqualified “backyard” approaches. Host Harry Moffitt speaks with performance psychologist and cognitive coach Paddy Steinfort, who has worked with elite sports teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Blue Jays, and 76ers. Paddy draws on his personal athletic experience and his education in psychology to discuss how people can prepare for demanding environments, remain effective when pressure rises, and build sustainable habits over time.

Paddy and Harry examine how to place attention on the right cues, how to execute the right actions despite discomfort, and how routines can become superstition-driven avoidance. They also discuss how coaches and organizations can better support psychological performance. The two provide practical ways to manage ongoing stress, strengthen individual and group processes, and keep progressing toward long-term goals.

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In this episode of the Teamcast, Dr. Preston Cline and Dr. Art Finch discuss MCTI's most recent paper, “The Fourth Generation of Military Special Operations Selection and Assessment". Thanks to our collaborative inquiry community, we've received feedback and observations from special operations team members across the Five Eyes. Preston and Art reflect on that feedback and contrast the historical “psychological model” with rites-of-passage approaches. They cover the effort to sustain force numbers while still selecting the cognitively diverse candidates teams need. They discuss the balance between tacit knowledge and psychological science, and the need to avoid pendulum swings where either side dominates. You'll also hear what causes programs to erode unless leaders manage change intentionally.

1. Read and download the mentioned paper here: https://missioncti.com/resources/

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This week’s Recast is from April 2020.

Why This Episode Matters Now:

In 2022, the war in Ukraine revealed something our partners had been experiencing but we hadn't fully articulated: the traditional model of intact, homogeneous teams wasn't sufficient for the emerging operational environment. Individuals with diverse expertise, geography, language, and allegiances needed to rapidly converge into what we call Tactical Swarms—heterogeneous cross-functional units that form, solve emergent problems, and disperse.

Our recent white paper, The Fourth Generation of Military Special Operations Selection & Assessment, explores this evolution in depth. But six years ago, Preston laid the foundational concepts in this conversation with Coleman.

What the Research Shows:

Many operators who excelled at teamwork—performing with known, homogeneous teams—struggled with teaming: the ability to rapidly build cohesion within heterogeneous groups. This episode examines why routine versus critical communication and field observations across special operations, emergency medicine, and other high-stakes environments. In this episode, Preston and Coleman describe how tactical swarms and X teams differ from traditional team structures, and they distinguish between routine and critical communication and when teams must shift between them.

Recent Research:

1. Cline, P.B. (2026). The Fourth Generation of Military Special Operations Selection Assessment: A Community of Praxis [White paper]. Mission Critical Team Institute. DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.28255.73121. https://missioncti.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/The-Fourth-Generation-of-Military-Special-Operations-Selection-Assessment_Final_2-Feb-26.pdf
2. Falk, D., Cline, P., Donegan, D., & Mehta, S. (2023). A Novel Framework for Routine Versus Critical Communication in Surgical Education—Don’t Take It Personally. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 31(3), 115–121. https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOS-D-22-00912 https://missioncti.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FINAL-A-Novel-Framework-for-Routine-Versus-Critical.pdf

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This episode contains a term that may be offensive; it is used to describe gendered communication dynamics. We have included it to accurately represent the event, and it is intended for educational purposes only.

When a patient's heart or lungs fail, ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) technology can keep them alive—but only if the team operating it works flawlessly under pressure. In this episode, Thomas Preston draws on over 30 years of experience in cardiopulmonary care to reveal what it takes to manage these life-sustaining systems.

This Teamcast episode covers the specialized roles within ECMO teams, the critical relationship between perfusionists and other medical staff, and strategies for navigating crisis moments when seconds matter. Thomas discusses how trust, constant vigilance, and ongoing training form the foundation of successful outcomes in some of medicine's most intense situations.

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What happens when life-and-death decisions must be made by a team rather than an individual? In this episode, Dr. Mark Ramzy — cardiothoracic intensivist, emergency physician, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of REBEL EM — joins Dan to explore how teams think, decide, and act under pressure inside the ICU.

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In this episode, Preston discusses mission critical teams with Dr. Dawn Kernagis, the Scientific Director at DEEP. DEEP is an extreme environment technology and exploration organization with a mission to "Make Humans Aquatic." They explore the complexities and dynamics of individuals and teams working in undersea habitats and submersible systems. Dawn shares insights from her extensive experience, including participation in NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEMO) project as a crew member for mission 21 and research on optimizing human performance under pressure.

Preston and Dawn cover an array of topics, including the importance of team cohesion, situational awareness, and the psychological and physiological challenges these teams face. Dawn also emphasizes the critical role of effective communication and leadership in maintaining team safety and performance. The episode concludes with practical advice for building and managing resilient, high-functioning teams.

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This week’s episode is a Recast as we review a fundamental conversation between Preston and Coleman Ruiz (MCTI’s co-founder and former Director of Performance) on the concept of "Residue"—the psychological and emotional substance left behind after immersion in high-stakes environments.

As we approach the end of the year, we are revisiting this episode to help our listeners navigate the transition from one year to the next and to continue or begin a ritual of reflection. Coleman and Preston explore how the "residue" of our experiences is neither good nor bad, but rather a byproduct that must be processed. Without intentional routines, this residue can "harden," inhibiting our ability to move into a new year with clarity.

The conversation covers various aspects of professional and personal life, including the impact of extreme experiences, the importance of intentionality and self-compassion, and the value of a 'third thing' to help balance life.

This thought-provoking discussion is essential for anyone involved in mission critical fields, as it emphasizes the need for better tools and self-awareness to manage the residue of intense experiences. Whether you are coming off a high-intensity deployment or simply looking to reset after a demanding year, this episode offers a framework to help you leverage your past to build a more resilient self.

1. Find the featured paper on our website: https://missioncti.com/resources/

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In this episode, our Chief Medical Officer Dan Dworkis works with Alex Hodson, a seasoned critical care physician assistant, to explore the dynamics of high-functioning multi-professional healthcare teams, the training pipeline for APPs, and the importance of feedback and teamwork across disciplines. Gain insights into the challenges and rewards of working in high-stress environments and understand how multidisciplinary and multi-professional collaboration shapes effective patient care.

This week, we’re revisiting a conversation between Preston and Dr. Art Finch, a veteran psychologist from the US Special Operations Command. This episode (previously published in 2020) covers the unique psychological profiles of mission critical teams. 

Channel a beginner's mind and re-explore why some individuals choose the extraordinary path of high-risk, immersive environments while others opt for more conventional lives. Listen to Art share his experiences and insights from working with special operations units, highlighting the exceptional intelligence, low anxiety, and emotional compartmentalization abilities of operators. Consider the impact of these traits on personal relationships and daily functioning, offering valuable perspectives for both operators and their families, foundational knowledge for the recent Teamcast and accompanying workbook “On Coming Home”. 

The episode also touches on the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life and the importance of understanding and leveraging one's unique cognitive and emotional strengths.

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