Joe Fasanella returns, to sit down with me and tackle a subject that I've wanted to explore for a few months now. Terrorism. Specifically, Terrorism and it's impacts on you and I as Americans, along with how it affects our day to day lives. In the wake of the shocking attack on New Years Eve in New Orleans, this topic and its many concerns, are once again at the forefront of many minds. Having spent two decades in multiple capacities fighting terror, Joe is able to share a lot of insight around the trends we're seeing in current events, dig into both concepts of counter terrorism, as well as anti-terrorism, and relate that to what we're experience in todays geopolitical climate. We talked a lot of realities in this discussion. None of this was great to hear, and it certainly isn't convenient. As we've always preached here, preparation is key, and we all are accountable for being ready for what may come to pass.

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The year 2025 has arrived, and with it, so too comes our January SITREP discussion. Unfortunately, there is sour news to dig in to, as a terror attack has rocked the heart of New Orleans on Bourbon street. We bring this forward for discussion, as it is a sobering reminder that even though we in the continental United States enjoy a relative amount of safety and security in our day-to-day lives, there is a constant threat that exists amongst us. The more information that we all have, the better prepared we can be, both as individuals and as a community to address these horrific situations. I share as much as I absolutely can on this awful and senseless act of violence, and discuss the importance of having access to a network of intelligence that can support you and your community with gathering relevant data which to act on. Further, I talk about perspective around events like these and what it potentially can point to in the future.

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The year 2024 is rolling to a close, and there's been a lot that's happened in these past twelve months. Josh and I sit down to talk through the calendar, and give a summary of this calendars events, as well as some behind the scenes details and stories. We, as a team, have been fortunate to experience some fantastic growth and learn some truly valuable lessons. From different training opportunities, to community experiences and deepening relationships, there's a lot to get into, and much to be thankful for. From the very beginning, the mission has been to share our learning experiences, regardless of successes or failures, so that others may benefit from them. Further, our goals have been to grow, while investing in the community around us so that we all may thrive. The past year has brought all of that, and more. In this final episode of 2024, we share it all. We're greatful for everything these experiences have brought us, and look forward to what the future holds for us all. Thank you all for listening, and we hope you enjoy!

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As we all have our unique differences, we do all certainly have struggles that we face day in and day out. In addition to striving to improve ourselves on the flat range, in the shoot house, in the field, often the more pressing and daunting of battles is the one we all fight internally. Constantly working on yourself, and finding ways to progress further down the road of righteousness, being a better man, is the effort we should all undertake. In this community, we find ourselves surrounded by a variety of lifestyles and perspectives, but this should be something that exists within us all, in some way, shape, or fashion. Jon, Josh, and I sit down, and open up about the mental struggles many of us face, and the difficulties we sometimes face. This was a deep conversation, that ended up taking some unplanned turns, to some unexpected places, but ultimately, is a message we believe is really worth sharing.

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If you've been hanging around the Night Vision scene the past five or so years, you know the name Low Light Innovations. Over the past few years they've brought forward a small handful of unique market offerings, to provide consumers with night vision housings that meet their various needs and demands. In this weeks episode, I sit down with Claude, one of the owners of LLI, and dig into the history of the company and the development that has brought them to where they are today. We spent time talking about the challenges faced not only by LLI, but by the industry at large, and why creating a "do everything" housing is such a challenge. From feature ideation and product development, to technical limitations and community engagement, we hit on a lot of the important points that impact the night vision industry and their consumer base. If you're looking to grab a LLI LLU-21 or MH-1, I highly recommend giving this discussion a listen!

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It's been less than ninety days since Hurricane Helene decimated the Southeastern United States. The aftermath, is no longer in the headlines, but is very much still a day to day effort for so many impacted and left without support. As a community, many of us rallied together to support those in their great need, even at times from many states away. Folks like Tyler, my guest this week, made the trek into western North Carolina to contribute to the relief efforts, in any way he could. He shares with me, his story and his experiences on his multiple journeys to help provide aid to his neighbors. Throughout the conversation, we touch on the impact of social media as an alternative form of communication, the constant pace of change to situations, the value of accurate intelligence, and in it all, the capability of prepared civilians working together. One of the most sobering conversations we've had thus far, and one I encourage you to listen to.

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Josh Nelson is the owner of Force Frontier, a tactical training company in southern Ohio, and also a veteran law enforcement officer, as well as SWAT team member. Josh joins me as we sit down and get into a rather philosophical conversation around the importance not only of training, but quality training, and effective learning. We discuss ideas like balance, communication, preparation, and how impactful they all can be when planning a training day or a open enrollment course. Additionally, we pivot our conversation, talk a little bit about tactics, but more to the point, the value and difficulty that tactics bring to the table. There's a large importance tied to the concepts of understanding and introspection for skills and tactics, and we dedicated a good portion of our chat to that as well. There's a lot to pull out of this one, and I think it'll be a great listen, for many of you seeking to understand your own learning process, but also the ideas behind group instruction and development.

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December is here, the final month of 2024, and with the start of a new sheet on the calendar, so too comes another SITREP. As we exit election season, and roll into the holidays, there's plenty to talk about. Thanksgiving has obviously come and gone, and interestingly enough, this year it brought some protests at the annual Macys parade, followed by a day of large protests in major cities. I dive into the motive behind these, why black Friday of 2024 was actually not randomly chosen as a day of mass protest, and share some history behind the significance of November 29th. Further, we have another instance of a foreign gang apartment takeover, this time in a major U.S. city, and we connect the string of behavior to previous discussion, while getting into some predictions on what is to come. We do these discussions on current events every month, and bring forward insight and opinions on select current events to help keep you all, better informed.

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After better than two years, I sit down with Jared Arceneaux of Orion Training Group, and catch up on the growth behind OTG. Now, having had the opportunity to be taught by Jared in multiple classes, I have a much better understanding of so much of what I had questions about in our original sit down. Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed my experiences learning from Jared and have been looking forward to being able to catch up and hear about the growth that Orion has experienced over the past two years, and what lessons have been learned during that time. Lots of folks have the idea of wanting to teach, wanting to train others, and further, make a business of it. Few though, truly understand what goes into not only the business, but more importantly, the teaching and communication. Throughout the conversation we talk obviously about CQB, but also move to the concept and importance of creating buy-in amongst students, the pitfalls of institutional training, and even masculinity and faith. This was a very entertaining conversation for me, and I think that all of you will enjoy it as well!

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Had some early audio issues in the first few minutes of the interview this week, but worked through it. If you've been running NODs for any amount of time, you know how essential having a good laser module is to being effective. As civilians though, we've been restricted to lower power devices, that make our capability and overall experience, less than desirable. Over the past few years however, we've seen the emergence and popularization of VSCEL technology on devices, that allow normal folks to access far superior performance. The Penumbra, from AMMJ Solutions, is the latest development in the industry that brings this capability to folks like you and I. It's a uniquely designed unit that brings a lot of thought, and even more performance to the table, at a cost that most of us can realistically entertain. I sit down with Marvin, the creator of the Penumbra, and we get into product design, feature development, price to performance ratio, and more. Being a Detroit-based business, I was happy to sit and chat with Marvin, hear his story, and learn all about the Penumbra.

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