The Lead Wasps Podcast

Ssgt. Jay Amra served in the United States Marine Corps from 2008 - 2017. He served two combat tours in Afghanistan and a third on the 22nd MEU while assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines as a machine gunner. During these deployments, he progressed from the rank of Lcpl. - Sgt serving in the billets of team leader, squad leader and eventually section leader. In 2015 He was assigned to The Basic School as a dugout instructor where he advanced to the rank of Ssgt and Senior enlisted instructor. After separating from the military Jay began to serve his community as a firefighter and as a personal trainer.  

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CSM RET. Donald (Mac) McAlister served over 24 years in the US Army. He has multiple combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he deployed from Squad Leader through SGM. He spent the majority of his career with the 82nd ABN DIV. While deployed with the 82nd ABN Div in the 2003 Iraq Invasion he was severely wounded. He recovered from his injuries and stayed in the fight and continued to deploy until he retired in 2017. Since retiring He continues to stay involved in the Veteran community, devoting most of his time to his brothers through various non-profit efforts. He is currently the Business Development Manager for @Gatorzeyewear. He is also a Family Man, Actor, Metal Head and now host’s his own podcast “Mac’s Man Cave Chats“. 

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Dave Brooks is a former Royal Marines Commando who served in 40 Commando and the United Kingdom Landing Force Command Support Group RM. Dave was on a training exercise in the Mediterranean with 40 Commando as part of the Amphibious Ready Group during the September 11th attacks. His unit was involved in early operations in Afghanistan alongside C Sqn SBS and B Sqn SAS. Dave joined Landing Force Command Support Group in late 2002 and was part of a TACP team for the invasion of Iraq 2003. Dave left the Royal Marines in 2006 and has been with a major global bank for the last 14 years. He now lives in London and heads up physical security operations across the UK and Channel Islands. He was one of the founding members of his organisations Military Network, and actively supports recruitment and career development for service leavers looking for employment in the banking sector.   Follow on INSTAGRAM  Dave - @d.j.brooks83 Podcast - @leadwasps

Lt Col (retired) Perry Blackburn served in multiple roles throughout his time in the US Army. He spent a significant portion of his time with 5th SFG(A), deploying to multiple theatres including the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Perry was an ODA team commander during Operation Anaconda which this episode focuses on. The movie '12 Strong' is the feature film that depicts the events of that operation and we discuss if the really assaulted tanks on horseback. 

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Chris VanSant is a retired 20+ year Special Operations Veteran with service on four continents and in 17 countries. Chris's service includes time in the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, and 11 combat deployments as both a Team Member and Team Leader in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Delta Force). Since leaving the military he has been working with Tyr Tactical and currently holds the position of COO with the company.  

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Chris - @vansanttyrtactical 

The Lead Wasps Podcast - @leadwasps   

TYR Tactical  http://www.tyrtactical.com/  

All Secure Foundation  https://allsecurefoundation.org/

Episode 42 is with Lars Hove-Olesen (Captain, retired) who served in the Danish Army from the early nineties until 2019 and in his time, he deployed both as a private and officer. His deployments have taken him to the Balkans and Afghanistan His military background is both infantry and combat support arms, and he has served in various people-centric roles ranging from information gathering and civil affairs, as well as PSYOPS and press liaison duties. At the age of 45, he left the Danish military to study journalism, in order to follow other people-centric trails and find new adventures. He has a keen interest in (re)connecting with some of the Croatian and Serbian combatants he experienced during his first deployment to Croatia, hoping to turn the experience into a documentary. 

Lars can be found on: 

LINKEDIN:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-hove-olesen/  

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LHOJOUR

Cope Wilson served with the Canadian Army deploying to Kabul before he passed selection and joined Canadian Special Operations Regiment - CSOR. He spent a number of years working a gun before moving on to becoming a JTAC and then a JTAC instructor. Cope struggled with some mental health issues whilst serving which lead to his retirement from active duty, which he shares in the episode. He is a keen advocate of the individual and believes we all have a story to tell, good or bad. He is a singer-songwriter and you can follow along on his Youtube channel by searching Cope Wilson.

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Clark Impastato is a former US Navy Seal, serving with Team 5. He served 8 years active duty and later spent 4 years with 19th Group Special Forces. His post-military career consisted of high level Contracting in the Middle East AO, in areas such as Isreal and Afghanistan. Clark moved into Policing on return to the US and served with the Phoenix Police Department working on some crazy undercover operations.  

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Clark - @clark_impastato  

Clark runs a podcast called Good Vibes at www.goodvibesdudes.com 

Good Vibes Podcast on INSTAGRAM @goodvibes_podcast  

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