French Combat Fighter Pilot & DGSE Intel Officer | MIrage2000 Pilot | Author of The Frenchman | Jack Beaumont Round 1
Release Date: 01/13/2024
How to Live a No Shortcuts Mentality w/ former Marine and Navy SEAL Kevin Seiff | Vet Collective | Helping 100K Vets
Combat Story
In today's Combat Story, we sit down with Kevin Seiff, a former Marine officer turned Navy SEAL who now leads the Vet Collective and co-hosts the Harder Not Smarter Podcast with Green Beret Greg VanDyne. 🦅🎙️ 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit . In this episode: Kevin's relentless journey to become a Marine and Navy SEAL 🪖⚓ Two attempts to get into the Naval Academy and BUD/S Hell Week 😲🏊♂️ Must-read books and the no-shortcuts mantra 📚🛡️ Overcoming swimmer-induced...
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Inside the Iron Triangle | Vietnam Combat in Pictures (from the time) | Kent Hillhouse Rd 2
Combat Story
Today we have a round two Combat Story with Kent Hillhouse where we recorded the episode with a screen available to look and talk through some more of his combat experiences with maps and photos from his time in service. Kent is a retired Major General who spent a year as a Platoon Leader and Tank Commander in Vietnam from August of 1967 to August of 1968. 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit . We wanted to do a Round 2 with Kent after I spent some time with him following our first interview...
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FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) Operator | SWAT & FBI Agent | Drug Squad | Bicycle Bandit | Operation Black Widow | Shaffer Security | Greg Shaffer
Combat Story
Today we have a Combat Story first with Greg Shaffer, who spent a career in the FBI as an Agent, SWAT member, and Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) operator. He also started his career leading a patrol boat team in the Coast Guard before moving over to the Bureau. 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit combatstory.com/newsletter. In this episode, we talk about the selection and entry process to both the FBI and HRT, the origins and mission of the HRT - which numbers fewer than 500 members since its inception in...
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Commanding Tanks in Vietnam | Silver Star Mission | Armored Cavalry M48 Tanks in 'Nam | Kent Hillhouse (MG, Ret)
Combat Story
Today we have a unique Combat Story where we hear about the armored cavalry in Vietnam from then Platoon Leader with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Kent Hillhouse. Kent would go on to retire as a Major General in the Army Reserve and has continued to support veterans leading his community’s Veterans Memorial and Support Foundation of Los Gatos. 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit combatstory.com/newsletter. Many will likely be surprised to learn we had tanks in Vietnam given how the war has so...
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Operator Syndrome Impact on Vets, Active Duty, Law Enforcement and the Special Operations Community | Chris Frueh
Combat Story
This episode dives deep into the challenges and conditions dubbed 'Operator Syndrome' faced by veterans and active-duty members of the military, exploring both psychological and physical facets, including traumatic brain injury, PTSD, hormonal imbalances, low testosterone, existential issues, and more. 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit combatstory.com/newsletter. The episode features insights from Dr. Chris Frueh, a clinical psychologist with extensive experience treating thousands of veterans,...
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Last Great Tank-on-Tank Battle | Battle of 73 Easting | Armored Cavalry | M1A1 Abrams | Tim Gauthier
Combat Story
🔥 Dive deep into the heart of armored combat in this gripping interview with Tim Gauthier, a Platoon Leader during the iconic Battle of 73 Easting in Desert Storm! 🎖️ 🚀 From the tactical viewpoint of both a scout platoon leader and a tank commander, discover the intense preparation, reconnaissance, and combat strategies that shaped this pivotal tank-on-tank clash. 🛡️ 🤝 Experience the high-stakes world of M1A1 Abrams and Bradleys as they faced off against Iraqi T-72s and armored vehicles. Learn about the tactics, challenges, and crew dynamics that define the fierce realm of...
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Navy SEAL Sniper | UNSEALED | Hardest Experience Losing a Fellow Frogman | Enlisted & Officer | Mark Greene
Combat Story
🎯🔥 Today's Combat Story Features Mark Greene, an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper! 🔥🎯 Join us as we dive deep with Mark Greene, a courageous former Navy SEAL who has experienced the sharp edge of battle as both an officer and enlisted sniper. 🎖️💥 Mark's extensive service spans the pivotal moments of our time, from the intense pre-9/11 missions to the high-stakes post-9/11 operations where his sniper skills were put to the ultimate test. 👀 Don't miss out! Check out our Combat Check-In for exclusive updates, fascinating historical snippets, and much more! Visit . In this gripping...
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Epic Medal of Honor Battle Description | Marine Force Recon | Army Special Forces | Earl Plumlee
Combat Story
Today we have a once in a lifetime Combat Story with one of the few living Medal of Honor recipients from the war in Afghanistan: Earl Plumlee. Earl was a Marine infantryman, Force Recon team leader, and Special Forces Weapons Sergeant in the pre- and post-9/11 era. Earl would deploy multiple times with the Marine Corps and the Army, to include combat deployments with Force Recon and a historic deployment in 2013 with the his ODA where he would earn the Medal of Honor. In this episode, we touch on both of Earl’s Recon deployments but spend a considerable amount of time walking through...
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F-15E Pilot and Weapons Officer | Teaching Fighter Weapons School - Tom Moser and Mike Benitez
Combat Story
Today we have a Combat Story where we bring two F-15E Strike Eagle aviators - a front seater and backseater - together to talk about what it was like flying at the same time and some of the adventures that come with that life. Both Tom “Gunny” Moser and Mike “Pako” Benitez are decorated aviators, both Fighter Weapons School qualified and both former Marines (Tom an 0311 and Mike a helicopter aircrew member and door gunner). We interviewed both Gunny and Pako individually if you’re curious about their other near misses and danger close shots (or the origins of their call signs…Pako...
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Senior CIA Officer on Russia | Legendary Case Officer and Chief of Station | Glenn Corn
Combat Story
Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more! Today I’m so excited to share this Combat Story with a legend from the CIA spanning the First Cold War battling the Soviet Union, to the...
info_outlineJoin our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!
Today we have round one of an incredible two part Combat Story and our first from a member of the French military and intelligence services, Jack Beaumont. Jack was an elite fighter pilot in the French Air Force flying single seat Mirage2000’s, designed for dog fighting, in combat operations.
Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families.
He would go on to fly Special Forces aircraft in unbelievable conditions (blacked out, bad weather, to unimproved runways), and then found himself running covert intel operations across the globe with the French DGSE (the French version of CIA and an incredibly capable service as I know very well!). He went on to write a spy thriller called The Frenchman that was recently picked up for a TV show by the people who delivered True Detective, The Night Manager, and A Most Wanted Man!
In this first round interview, we hear about Jack’s storied family military history that goes back to Napoleon’s generals and a member of the French resistance in WWII. Jack would carry that lineage forward by competing with 3,600 other would-be fighters pilots and becoming just one of only three men who made it through that gauntlet.
We also hear one of the most challenging experiences for any recruit during training in terms of loss that really hits home, followed by an unprecedented hazing for someone arriving at a new unit that I’ve ever heard that will leave you crying with laughter.
We end this episode when Jack wakes up in a hospital after a very hard landing with a surgeon telling him he’d never fly again. He was back in the cockpit three months later.
Stay tuned for Round 2 where Jack has to change flying roles as he moves into the secretive French Special Operations aviation community doing things in the air you can’t imagine and eventually finding his way into the French DGSE.
With that, please enjoy this very interesting and unique Combat Story from our close partners across the pond!
👇 Show Notes:
00:00 - Introduction
01:05 - Guest Profile:
02:48 - Start of Interview
04:26 - The Frenchman and Dark Arena
06:20 - Childhood
21:52 - Path to the Military
28:22 - HelloFresh Ad
29:35 - Flight School
43:18 - Tough Part of Flight Curriculum
52:11 - Induction Into First Unit
01:03:46 - Timeline of Career
01:04:29 - First Combat Flight
01:20:16 - The Crash
01:38:42 - Continuing To Fly
01:39:55 - Listener Feedback
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- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more!
Go to www.HelloFresh.com/50combatstory and use code 50combatstory for 50% off plus free shipping to get delicious and healthy meals that you can make at home with your family in no time and add some variety to what you serve! Our family has used Hello Fresh for years!