Tactical Tangents
Mike is a police SWAT team member, K9 handler, and tactical medic. Jim is an Air Force pilot with a background in close air support and combat search and rescue. Our goal is to elevate the conversation about all things tactical for public safety, military, and concerned citizens. Join us to hear lessons learned about decision making, critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork.
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160: Lights in the Sky: Aliens or Drones? Jim Spills the Beans on UFOs
05/01/2024
160: Lights in the Sky: Aliens or Drones? Jim Spills the Beans on UFOs
Just because it's not aliens doesn't mean we can ignore it. Let's develop a comprehensive air defense and counter drone plan in the wake of Ukraine, Syria, and Gaza. We investigate Unidentified Flying Objects, UAVs, aliens, killer drones, spy satellites, Chinese balloons, and Foo Fighters. : https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/ : https://www.intelligence.gov/index.php/publics-daily-brief/public-s-daily-brief-articles/1077-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-preliminary-intelligence-assessment Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangent. You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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159: What’s up with the beards? Setting and Enforcing Standards
04/15/2024
159: What’s up with the beards? Setting and Enforcing Standards
Green Berets have to work with a different rule book than the troops guarding nuclear weapons—and for good reasons. We explore the balance between strict adherence to rules and the often necessary flexibility to go off-script in tactical operations and your organization’s culture. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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158: “Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers
04/01/2024
158: “Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers
In October 2002, a 17 and 41 year old carried out a series of serial murders, killing 10 and wounding 3 others in what were described as random attacks against people doing every day tasks like pumping gas and mowing their lawn. We cover lessons from this large scale, multi-agency investigation with takeaways for individual cops and police leaders related to public relations, investigative rigor, and interagency cooperation. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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157: Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion
03/15/2024
157: Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion
There are over 18,000 police Chiefs and Sheriffs in the United States, and every one of them has their own version of what right and wrong looks like. But unless they plan on showing up at every traffic stop, they are going to have to trust that their Officers and Deputies on the front lines are doing the best they can. Empowering law enforcement officers with discretion to use their best judgment is a necessary part of policing, but there are some serious gotchas that we have to watch out for to maintain that responsibility and the trust of the people we serve. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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156: I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility
03/01/2024
156: I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility
Erica is the founder of TacMobility, a wellness training company and online resource with a ton of free material for public safety. TacMobility is implementing a blend of mobility training and mental health support by working its way past the tough “sheepdog” exterior. Through eye-opening surveys, TacMobility highlights the not-so-funny truths about depression and the dusty corners where wellness programs sit unused. Advocating for a mix of low-effort, big-impact wellness habits, TacMobility proves you can indeed teach old dogs new tricks and balance the badge with a bit of brain and body harmony. Check out more from Erica at . Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe. Intro music credit Bensound.com
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155: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say
02/15/2024
155: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say
Here’s the thing about plane crashes: We all die at the same time. Inefficient and ambiguous communication has serious tactical implications when managing a crisis as a team. Sometimes, we water down what we need to say because we don’t want to step on toes or piss anyone off, especially when talking to authority figures. This is called mitigated speech, and it is something leaders and team members need to be aware of when it comes to problem solving and decision making in groups. Episode 48: Outliers by Malcom Gladwell: Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe. Intro music credit Bensound.com
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154: Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present
02/01/2024
154: Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present
For some reason there are a lot of people out there who still feel like putting an optic on your pistol isn’t reliable or practical, and our handsome hand model in the photo John Correia calls those people the Gun Amish. We agree with that title, because it’s 2024 and pistol mounted optics are a game changer. Mike and Jim talk about some of the challenges switching to a red dot sight on a handgun and some tips on how to overcome them. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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153: Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new
01/15/2024
153: Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new
There is an art and science to learning a new skill. Whether you are picking up new hobbies and trying to improve performance at essential job tasks, there are some tricks and concepts to understand to break plateaus and keep training fun. We cover crawl walk run, the balance between simple and technical, developing a growth mindset, and embracing the suck. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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152: Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork
01/01/2024
152: Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork
We say that we should put Service before Self, but it's more than just a mantra. Where the rubber meets the road is all in how we develop implicit trust among teammates so that we know where each other is going to be and what they are going to do when the going gets tough. We can accomplish this with the intentional application of Standards, Contracts, and good Debriefs. It's one thing that we all get along, but real trust isn't something that can be assumed as a given--we've got to earn it. Building trust in teams has a lot to do with the often unwritten social contracts that help us get on the same page about our roles and responsibilities. We have to know that everyone is going to put the mission before their own personal interests to really build harmony and a combined effort that is greater than than the sum of its individual parts. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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151: All's Well...If We Make it Well
12/15/2023
151: All's Well...If We Make it Well
Wellness isn’t just a soft and fuzzy term bandied about in the Human Resources department. Healthier, happier employees perform better, and in professions where the rubber meets the road, wellness is tactical. The trite concept of Work/Life balance isn’t so trite when lives are on the line. How do you keep yourself all happy and centered and still put in the grind to do the work? Listen to this episode to hear some ideas. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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150: Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft
12/01/2023
150: Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft
When drafting players for your fantasy sportsball team, stats provide an easy benchmark. Just pick the ones with the most home runs, passing yards, and the highest free-throw percentage. It’s a little harder selecting people for your real-life tactical team, but having a similar checklist in mind helps. In this episode Jim and Mike talk about what to look for. Having a good selection procedure is important for getting the right members on a team. Mike steals a page from advertising, only where an ad man conceptualizes the ideal customer, he’s looking for the ideal SWAT guy. The process could work for any team selection, though. Just think about what the ideal candidate would say, think, do, or feel, and look for those people. Listen to this episode for ideas on how to do just that. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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149: A Good Commander Knows What to Control
11/15/2023
149: A Good Commander Knows What to Control
No team in law enforcement is composed of robotic textbook-following automatons, nor would we want it to be, if we’ve ever found ourselves at 2MPH over the limit. But when a worst-case incident unfolds, we want every first responder to make the right decision at the speed of life, because in those incidents seconds often equal victims. How can we raise the lowest common denominator, so our people make the right decisions quickly without rushing to failure? In this episode Mike and Jim talk about command and control, and teaching decision-making skills to team members. In this way, when everything hits the fan, the right decisions get made fast, and get made at the right level. There’s a reason for supervisors, commanders, and leaders, but it’s important to know when to let subordinates make decisions. Not every incident is The Big One, but nobody’s ready for The Big One if they haven’t been taught in the small ones. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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148: Sleeping for Success
11/01/2023
148: Sleeping for Success
The downsides of sleep deprivation are legion: irritability, poor judgment, even lowered testosterone. Yet the duties of the .mil and LE career fields are well known for demanding odd and/or long hours that can make it hard to get good sleep. Mike talks with Dr. Paul Sargent of O2X, a specialist in human performances and sleep factors, in how to get the good shut-eye. Dr. Sargent retired from a 25 year Navy career that included such exotic postings as being the only psychiatrist in Anbar Province, where he helped stand up the Combat Sleep School. How to maximize healthy sleep hygiene without using drugs that might blunt the tactical edge is his specialty, and in this episode he talks with Mike about the best way we can adapt modern life schedules to bodies that have ancient sleep needs. Links: J. Bryan Sexton: 3 Good Things - Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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147: Finding the Bomber
10/15/2023
147: Finding the Bomber
In the spring of 2018, the city of Austin, Texas was rocked by a string of package bombs, five in all, that killed two and injured five. The story of how local and federal agencies tracked down the perpetrator is almost all open source and a great illustration of how these investigations proceed. Listen to Jim and Mike tell the tale in this episode! Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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146: Put Me In, Coach!
10/01/2023
146: Put Me In, Coach!
Do you know what every great slugger in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown had in common? They all had hitting coaches. Today we have an abundance of riches in the form of internet videos to teach almost any skill, but at some point most everyone will benefit from the feedback of a skilled coach. In this episode Mike and Jim explore the value of coaching in skill building and team leadership. Whether its an athlete of the conventional sports kind or the tactical variety found on a SWAT team or military base, there’s a tremendous value to be gained from a good coach. How can you spot a good coach? More importantly, what are the indicators of a bad one? How can you be a good coach for the people who look up to you? Listen in and find out! Links: The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey - The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle - The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin - With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham - Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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145: Both Sides of the Door - Breonna Taylor and Bad Outcomes
09/15/2023
145: Both Sides of the Door - Breonna Taylor and Bad Outcomes
In the world of ugly warrant execution, there are a lot of bad scenarios that have happened with lessons to be learned for people on both sides of the door. In this episode, Mike & Jim break down a notorious recent incident: The 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor during a narcotics warrant service in Louisville, Kentucky. While it’s about the Breonna Taylor incident, we’re focusing on the tactical issues surrounding the actual warrant service that night, not the plethora of issues that led to it. Risk is always involved in serving a warrant, so how can it best be mitigated for all involved? Remember that having a warrant doesn’t make you any smarter or tactically proficient. The court just gave you permission; the skill department is all on you. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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144 : The Real Burdens of Everyday Carry
09/01/2023
144 : The Real Burdens of Everyday Carry
If you’re a habitual firearms toter, how do you carry to and from places where you can’t carry? Do you? What if it’s someplace where there’s no provision for securing it at your destination? Whether going to and from the neighborhood BJJ gym or visiting a military base, this can be a real dilemma for the carrier. In this episode, Jim and Mike take a hard look at solutions. One of our favorite topics at Tactical Tangents is realistic risk management, and this applies in the personal world as well as the operational one. While “EDC” has turned into a marketing term for everything from watches to para cord bracelets, what do you really carry every day. Listen to this episode for a deep dive into the topic. Remember, millions of people go unstrapped yet remain unclapped every day. Photo credit: Tam at "View From The Porch”, Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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143: Problem Solving As A Team Sport
08/15/2023
143: Problem Solving As A Team Sport
In the pop-culture tactical world today it’s common to see Col. Boyd’s Decision Cycle, the famed “OODA Loop”, applied to individuals and their actions, but indeed it has its origins as an institutional concept. If you need to solve problems as a team, or even an institution, it’s important to know how it applies to group tactics and operations. In this episode Mike and Jim dive into just that. Institutional knowledge and memory are what gets used to solve problems, and that’s why it’s important for an organization to select compulsive problem-solvers as members. Everyone is going to bring their own viewpoint based on their specialty, but it’s important for them to know when the problem is outside of their specialty, as well as how they can contribute when it’s time to get…unconventional. Tune in to learn how to teach your team the difference. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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142: Making Sure the Kids are Alright
08/01/2023
142: Making Sure the Kids are Alright
In any organization it’s almost a tradition to turn and look at the people coming up through the ranks behind you and bemoan how much better things were in the Good Old Days. Of course, things were better then because the people who had come up through the ranks before you helped mentor you into effective operators. In this episode, Jim and Mike talk about how you can pass that mentoring on. It’s important to feel responsibility for, not just the organization, but also for the people who make it up. Those people include the newest noobs, and if you want to help the organization be effective, mentoring those recruits is essential. Mike and Jim are here to tell you that mentorship isn’t a thing that can be established in an org chart, but has to grow organically, and in this episode, they’ll tell you how you can foster mentoring in a place where it can’t be foisted. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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141: Having Public Affairs Without Screwing Up
07/15/2023
141: Having Public Affairs Without Screwing Up
Mike reminds us that “Responsibility to the Community” is not just a slogan on a squad car door in this episode, where he and Jim talk about the necessity of keeping the public informed in a manner that is both helpful to the public and not harmful to ongoing investigations. ”Public Affairs” is more than just a job title, and requires keeping in mind the emotions that surround complex situations. In a job where having to come to terms with the possibility of inflicting lawful violence, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that most normal people haven’t had those conversations with themselves. Avoiding dehumanizing statements or flippant “FAFO” statements is crucial to effective community relations. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss the balance between keeping the public informed and protecting information that actually needs protecting for civil or criminal reasons. Links: The Elements of Style By William Strunk Jr and E.B. White - The Five Languages of Apology by Gary Chapman and Jennifer M Thomas - Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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140: The Case of "The Mission v. The People"
07/01/2023
140: The Case of "The Mission v. The People"
In dangerous career fields like the military or law enforcement, there’s an unavoidable tension of priorities between the mission and the safety of the people on the team who need to accomplish it. It’s one thing to say you put your people first, but if it was a safe job, they wouldn’t issue body armor. In today’s episode, Mike and Jim demonstrate the ways this can be a false dichotomy and how to keep everyone on the team on the same page. It’s important to take care of your people because you can’t do the mission without them, but if the mission doesn’t get done because of an excess of caution, there’s no point in any of y’all being there in the first place. A conundrum, truly! This episode looks at ways to manage the expectations of team members by bringing them up to speed as they come on board, and other considerations to take when (here’s that word again) managing highly motivated people. Links: Scouting, For Boys by Rabert Baden Powell - Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic by Scott Gottlieb - The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions by Hasard Lee - Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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139: We Don't Like Bombs, The Bombs That Go Boom
06/16/2023
139: We Don't Like Bombs, The Bombs That Go Boom
Bombs are scary. You can’t shoot back at an explosion or talk it into surrendering or leaving you alone. But you can learn ways to spot the bad guy’s device before it does its thing. In today’s episode, Jim and Mike delve into some basics of the hows, whys, and wheres of improvised explosive devices to help you develop a risk picture based on likelihood and severity. Just like there are certain weather conditions that are likely to breed hurricanes or other severe storms, we’re currently experiencing social weather, both globally and at home, that’s creating favorable conditions for bombers. There are enough angry people, with enough information, and ample opportunity to make things explode. Tune in for some info on what to look for. (Hint: It’s not a bundle of red sticks taped to an alarm clock with an “ACME” label.) Links: The Bombs, Bombers, and Bombings of Los Angeles by Michael Digby - Greenwhich Village Townhouse Explosion - October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts - Bath School disaster - Harvey's Casino Bombing - Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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138: Your Candle Only Has Two Ends
06/01/2023
138: Your Candle Only Has Two Ends
High-stress jobs, such as those in the military or law enforcement fields, tend to attract mission-oriented people, dedicated to the team and the public, who thrive on stress. Well, plants thrive on water, too, but you can still wind up drowning them with too much of it. In today’s episode, Jim and Mike look at job-related burnout, its negative effects on the team, and how to mitigate or avoid it. In any tight-knit organization, attitudes are contagious, and that goes double for lousy ones. It’s common for the word of hard-chargers attracted to “tactical” work to brag about the amount of time they put in, for example, the number of hours worked, and treat it as a benchmark. But the more the workload piles up, the more easily frustrated you get, and that can feed the bad attitude spiral. Listen in as we talk about ways to reduce work-related fatigue and maintain a healthy work/life balance…tactically. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at .
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137: Most Danger Doesn't Come From Strangers
05/15/2023
137: Most Danger Doesn't Come From Strangers
Part of our mission here at Tactical Tangents is to overcome the “tactical fantasy”, and in this episode, Mike and Jim talk about avoiding one of the most pernicious ones. It’s easy in a world full of tacticool training classes to get focused on the sort of threats to ourselves and loved ones that jump out of the bushes and can be thwarted with kinetic skills when the truth is you probably already know the person you’re most likely to have to pepper spray. The statistical fact of the matter is that most victimization comes from people who look like us and are already in our social circles. That’s extra true about sex crimes, and super extra true about sex crimes against children. Tune in as we discuss teaching ourselves, loved ones, and especially our kids about understanding social norms, establishing boundaries, and the importance of informing someone in authority. Links: by Gavin de Becker by Gavin de Becker Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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136 The Bear, The Dragon, and You
05/01/2023
136 The Bear, The Dragon, and You
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be over (for now) but that doesn’t leave us in a world without conflict. While we were hip-deep in the Global War on Terror, major great power competitors have been nursing grievances and feeling rising ambitions and opportunities. In this episode, Jim takes a detailed look at the state of play with respect to Russia and China, and how that could affect the US as a nation, and us as individual citizens. While neither of our great power opponents would benefit from a shooting war with the United States at this point in time, Jim points out that they are both conducting war by other means; the struggles are already underway. Whether by economic means, attempts to control raw material sources, or meddling with public opinion via social media channels, it’s important to be aware of these methods. Listen to this episode to have it all laid out. Links: by Robert Spalding by Sr Richard Shirreff Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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135: Operationally Supporting Supporters Who Operate
04/15/2023
135: Operationally Supporting Supporters Who Operate
In both the military and law enforcement universes, there’s often an understandable amount of friction between the people out where the action is and those who help them get there and support them in their work. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss ways to smooth cooperation between the people behind the scenes and the officer on the street or the pilot in the seat. When you really think about it, everybody’s supporting somebody and nobody’s completing the mission alone. Learning to distinguish between your “boss” and your “customer” can help you focus on operational success whether you’re the one calling in the air support, flying the plane, or keeping the plane flyable. As the saying goes, the chicken is involved in breakfast while the pig is committed…but breakfast ain’t happening without both doing their jobs. Links: Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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134: Dangerous Driving
04/01/2023
134: Dangerous Driving
In a cool tactical podcast, everybody wants to talk about a gunfight and nobody wants to talk about getting t-boned in an intersection on the way to the gunfight. This episode features Mike & Jim, who’ve bent enough fenders between them to have some advice to offer, talking about the realities of driving. Whether you’re driving the government’s vehicle or your own private citizen chariot, realistic Operational Risk Management applies behind the wheel too. Not only does viewing driving from an Operational Risk Management standpoint apply to doing the high-speed stuff while sawing at the wheel to keep it between the ditches while running code, it entails a lot more aspects. How do you manage your driving to take into account the possibility of road rage from other motorists? Do you stay on top of vehicle maintenance in order to keep from getting stranded in a desert or a blizzard…or stuck on the side of the road and having to deal with whatever sketchy weirdo stops to “help”? Listen in as these topics and more are covered. Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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133: There's Nothing "Friendly" about "Friendly Fire"
03/12/2023
133: There's Nothing "Friendly" about "Friendly Fire"
The only thing more frightening than being shot at by your own team is finding out you just shot up your own team. The very idea of fratricide…aka “Blue-on-Blue” incidents…is scary, but being a professional means you can’t just be scared, you have to work on your skills and knowledge to counter the possibility of it happening to you or because of you. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss just that. Whether it’s a pair of USAF F-15’s mistaking American Blackhawks for Iraqi Hind gunships, a police officer not briefed to look for the undercover cop at the buy/bust, or a private citizen failing to positively identify an “intruder” and shooting a loved one, these are all preventable failures. We know that fog and friction make it harder to be aware of the environment and cause simple tasks to become more difficult, so how do we mitigate these factors and prevent “own goals”? Listen to this episode to find out. Links: Reading: by Joan Piper Vignettes: Albuquerque undercover officer shot by LT: - - Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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132: You Can't Spell "Officer" without "Office"
02/27/2023
132: You Can't Spell "Officer" without "Office"
Offices come in a variety of shapes and guises, from a room with desks and whiteboards to the front seat of a squad car. In this solo episode, Jim sounds off on his favorite topic: Management is not a dirty word, to be shunned in favor of “leadership”. Rather, management is part of leadership. It’s the art & science of allocating and coordinating resources to meet a goal. Jim wants to share with you several of the lessons on management he’s learned the hard way, such as when it’s time to lead less. If you’ve managed your team well, you can take some time you’d otherwise have to spend motivating them and instead spend it removing obstacles preventing your highly-motivated people from solving problems efficiently. After all, getting the right people in the right places with the right equipment and a realistic timeline is essential to leadership. Links: Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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131: Ending the Threat, Reasonably
02/15/2023
131: Ending the Threat, Reasonably
Sometimes bad training passes down information that might once have been good, but garbles it. Take “Shooting to Stop the Threat”…please. This episode sees Mike and Jim discuss the nuances of using lethal force to reasonably end the capacity of an assailant to harm you. What exactly is incapacitation? What’s the difference between “shoot to kill” and to “stop”? Is intent magical? Listen to find out. Incapacitating a threat by means of lethal force requires certain factors to be met in order to be considered reasonable, and it’s not a blank check. In the laws of war, there’s a difference between sailors boarding a small boat from a sinking ship because they’re out of the fight and marines climbing into small landing craft to get into the fight. In civilian self defense, each shot needs to be defensible, and that means reasonably explainable. Like what we’re doing? Head over to and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at . Intro music credit Bensound.com
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