Episode 12 - Eric Herrera - Got Blown up, Missed the Super Bowl
In Theater
Today we chat with Eric Herrera, a former combat engineer primarily engaged in route clearance missions.
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Episode 11 - Rachelle - Part 2 - Urges
In Theater
Part 2 of my Conversation with Rachelle
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Episode 10 - Rachelle - Part 1 - Introduction
In Theater
Today's guest is the author of two blogs, a mother, a full-time businesswoman, and a Marine Corps Veteran that loves writing, sarcasm, cold microbrews, literature, cooking, and crafting.
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Episode 9 - Brian Gibson - Project Diehard
In Theater
Today’s guest was in the Army for 26 years and had multiple deployments, including a deployment in support of Operation Desert Storm. During his time in service, he spent time as a combat medic and a recruiter. He retired from active duty in 2016. He currently resides in Paducah, Kentucky, where on April 22, 2018, he founded Project Diehard. Today we’re chatting with Brian Gibson.
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Episode 8 - Jacob Krupp - Part 3 - Raining Goats
In Theater
Part 3
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Episode 7 - Jacob Krupp - Part 2 - Problems with Ladders
In Theater
Part 2
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Episode 6 - Jacob Krupp - Part 1 - Intro and Context
In Theater
Today’s guest was an infantryman in the 2nd infantry regiment, which, at the time of his deployment, was in the 3rd brigade combat team, 1st infantry division. He deployed to Fob Anbar in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. We recorded this episode in the comfort of my kitchen while drinking beer and whiskey. Testosterone was high my friends. The stories were flowing. This is the first episode of a three-part series.
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Episode 5 - James Taulbee - Austerity and Ownership
In Theater
A loss of immediacy, a high level of restriction, and our inability to control the situation. Unless you’re like Jerry Jones and have the ability to do things, like draft NFL players from the comfort of your yacht, we can’t do what we want when we want it, which is the essence of a combat deployment, and an understatement when considering combat itself.
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Episode 4 - Levi Harrison - The Deranged, the Artists, and Everyone Else
In Theater
In this episode, we’ll be using Levi’s stories about ending up in Bahrain without a passport, and his experience with ship overboard procedures on the USS Roosevelt (the same ship with the command and coronavirus controversy) to discuss some of the darker incidents and people we’ve encountered while in the service.
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Episode 3 - Stuart Campbell - Culture Shock
In Theater
The way I see it, we deal with culture shock in two different ways: either with resistance or with adaption. Given the diverse population of the military, culture shock happens frequently. Interestingly, there were many people that I disliked in the military that I eventually came to appreciate after deployment. I often wonder what was the mechanism that allowed that to happen? I reached out to Stuart Campbell for this episode, and he describes his own cultural clash.
info_outline- Everybody has guns
- You are so physically close to your team that you're constantly hearing, smelling, and/or seeing them perform their bodily functions and/or bodily urges
- You're so emotionally close to your team that you're constantly discussing things that are private or taboo, like porn, drug use, legal issues
- Your entire mission relies upon effectively collaborating with a strange group of people that speak a different language than you, act different than you, look different than you, worship a different god than you
- The US military itself is an extremely geographically, socio-economically, culturally, and racially diverse organization, and your interactions with your own team, at least initially, can be as peculiar as your interactions with the local populace
- Death and serious injury is a major daily consideration
- Often times you're bored as fuck
- Performing hygiene is difficult