Life Changing Moment in Combat | Leads to Life of Service | Force Recon | Non-Profit Founder | Jake Harriman
Release Date: 04/26/2025
Generation Kill to MARSOC: Jason Lilley’s Combat & Personal Journey
Combat Story
In this unfiltered Combat Story episode, we go deep with Jason Lilley — Recon Marine, MARSOC Raider, CIA Global Response Staff, and co-creator of Savage Actual. Jason opens up about his path from a turbulent youth to serving in some of the most elite units in the U.S. military, facing the chaos of Iraq and Afghanistan, and building a new life as a creator and veteran advocate. In this episode: From family struggles to joining the Marine Corps First Recon, Generation Kill, and the invasion of Iraq Intense firefights in Fallujah and Afghanistan Life in MARSOC and the CIA’s Global Response...
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Trump-Putin Alaska Summit: Former CIA Officers Break Down Looming Meeting
Combat Story
🎙️ Time-Sensitive RH Intel: Trump-Putin Alaska Summit Analysis 🌍🇺🇸🇷🇺 Join Ryan Fugit and Glenn, both seasoned former CIA officers 🕵️♂️, as they unpack the high-stakes Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska 🏔️—a pivotal moment for US-Russia relations and the Ukraine conflict. This timely episode dives deep into international diplomacy, geopolitical tensions, and the shifting dynamics of the global security landscape. Get a daily intel brief delivered to your email at to get a curated set of insights and reporting on Russia, China, Iran, the MIddle East...
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Former CIA Officers Talk Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, China on Restricted Handling w/ Glenn Corn
Combat Story
🔥 New Podcast Drop! This exclusive crossover episode introduces my brand-new show Restricted Handling 🔒 — hosted by me - Ryan Fugit - and former CIA Chief of Station Glenn Corn 🕵️♂️. 🎯 Combat Story fans — don’t worry. That show will continue strong under decorated Marine Sniper & Recon Operator AJ Pasciuti 🦅. But if you crave deeper dives into intelligence, military operations, and high-stakes geopolitics, Restricted Handling is your new must-listen. 🕵️ What’s Restricted Handling? In the Intelligence Community, “Restricted Handling” refers to...
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The Toll it Takes: Delta Force Operator & Veteran Advocate Derek Nadalini
Combat Story
Delta Force Veteran Derek Nadalini: Unfiltered Combat Stories, Hard Truths, & the Battle for Redemption Step inside the untold world of America’s most elite warriors. In this explosive episode of Combat Story, we sit down with Derek Nadalini, a former Delta Force operator, veteran of Joint Special Operations Command, Army Ranger, and Navy serviceman, for a raw and riveting conversation about the realities of modern war and the fight to find peace after the guns go silent. Check out our Derek Nadalini’s Journey: From a military family shaped by Vietnam to a career that spanned the...
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Delta Force to Healing Force | Tom Satterly’s Battle Beyond the Battlefield
Combat Story
This is a unique Combat Story and part of a new Podumentary series where we interview some of our fan favorite guests and go even deeper on the moments in combat that forged them. This week we have Tom Satterly, former Delta Force Sergeant Major whose first battle was in Operational Gothic Serpent (Black Hawk Down) and his last was some battlefield in the post-9/11 era. Many will recall our original interview with Tom on Episode #11. Tom co-founded and runs the All Secure Foundation with his wife Jen. All Secure helps save vets who are dealing with challenging times. About All Secure...
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Combat from Echo in Ramadi | Marine Commander Takes Us Inside the Deadliest City in Iraq Scott Huesing
Combat Story
Today we have a great interview with 24 year retired Marine and best selling author of Echo in Ramadi, Scott Huesing. Scott led the “magnificent bastards” of 2/4 Marines during one of the most brutal periods of the post-9/11 war from 2006 into 2007 during the Surge. Scott went from self-described terrible high school student to enlisted Marine to Mustang (a Marine Officer who was formerly Enlisted), serving on 10 deployments in multiple countries. In this episode, Scott takes into an intense fight to extract several pinned down Marines that included bringing M1A1s along to losing his...
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Medal of Honor Leadership Ryan Pitts | Medal of Honor | Leadership in Battle
Combat Story
Today we have a once in a lifetime interview with Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts, who truly earned this prestigious award in the mountains of Afghanistan fighting off a very dedicated, organized, and determined enemy force. Ryan and I connected thanks to the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, a non-profit helping to share lessons of leadership from Medal of Honor recipients and the values they live by with people who lead at any level. In this episode, we dive into Ryan’s near death experiences (there are several) while downrange but we never venture far from what leadership...
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Life Changing Moment in Combat | Leads to Life of Service | Force Recon | Non-Profit Founder | Jake Harriman
Combat Story
Today we have a fascinating Combat Story with Jake Harriman who is one of those guys who makes you feel incredibly lazy for not helping hungry people in Africa (seriously) and helping to heal the divide in America, one person at a time. It’s no surprise that Jake served alongside Todd Opalski (who long time fans of the show will know as the enlisted Marine Sniper who became a Marine officer, Force Recon leader, and was then invited to serve in the most elite unit in the US Military). You can’t help but do great things if you worked with Todd! Jake is truly an incredibly humble but...
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SEAL Troop Commander | Tech Founder | Josh Thurman
Combat Story
Our Combat Story today is former Navy SEAL officer Josh Thurman, who spent over 12 years serving in the SEAL Teams, including at the elite level. Over the course of 11 deployments in the post-9/11 era, Josh led high-stakes special operations missions and nearly lost his own life on countless occasions. Join the AngelQ Waitlist to get a special offer and be one of the first to get access to this amazing product that keeps kids safe online: https://bitli.pro/2pvxr_9464bab7 Josh almost never joined the military and, instead, thought of becoming a religious leader, which we talk about...
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Europe’s New Perspectives on Russia, China, Energy, and Economic Security from Italian Veteran Roberto Toncig
Combat Story
Today we sit down with Roberto Toncig, a retired Italian Army and former Government Executive with 40+ years of experience in the field of Defence and Security. He spent over two decades in steeped in International Relations and Security, most of them spent in challenging positions at various Italian Embassies abroad. In addition to Italian and fantastic English, Roberto speaks German, French, Serbo-Croatian, and Russian. In his post-government work, Roberto is an advisor at Leonardo focused on Regional Security for this global defense, security, and aerospace giant. We connected...
info_outlineToday we have a fascinating Combat Story with Jake Harriman who is one of those guys who makes you feel incredibly lazy for not helping hungry people in Africa (seriously) and helping to heal the divide in America, one person at a time. It’s no surprise that Jake served alongside Todd Opalski (who long time fans of the show will know as the enlisted Marine Sniper who became a Marine officer, Force Recon leader, and was then invited to serve in the most elite unit in the US Military). You can’t help but do great things if you worked with Todd!
Jake is truly an incredibly humble but accomplished combat veteran. He’s a Marine officer who led a platoon during OIF I in Iraq where he had a life changing moment that altered the course of his life. It’s a sad but very powerful moment that anyone can relate to. He would finally be admitted into the storied ranks of the Force Recon community where he conducted a mix of recon and surveillance and direct action missions downrange, including one that I’m sorry to say involves helicopter pilots that made one particular DA really hard for Jake, but also taught him a profound lesson.
Despite many of Jake’s successes, he takes us through several moments of his life when he’s truly humbled from getting turned down at a chance to be a SEAL to being turned away from his audacious attempt to join the Force Recon community to being punched in the face by his team sergeant on an LZ.
After leaving service, Jake continued to serve in a different way. He completed an MBA at Stanford and then started a non-profit that has helped over 300K people in remote areas of Africa and, at the same time, helped fight off extremism in these areas. More recently, he created the non-profit called a More Perfect Union that’s mobilized 35K members across the US to heal deep divides in this country, looking to service members of all kinds to step in and lead, just from a different foxhole. You can find more and help at mpu.us (mike papa uniform dot us).
With that, I’m so excited for you all to hear this funny but powerful discussion with Jake Harriman.
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