GRP 102-United and Undaunted:The Story of Paul De Gelder

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GRP 102- On for this week’s podcast is Australian Navy Clearance Diver Paul De Gelder. Paul served in the Australian Army as a Paratrooper before transferring into the Navy to serve in the elite Navy Clearance Diver teams. While working on a counter-terrorism exercise in Australia Paul was attacked by a Bull shark. The shark nearly killed him ripping off his wrist and tearing through a large portion of his right leg which was eventually amputated.

Being in a really dark space Paul was struggling with a basic task and overwhelming pain as a result of his injuries. We talked about what this recovery process was like and the value of the human spirit. He was able to become an instructor at the Clearance Diver school but wasn’t allowed back into the teams. Paul now does documentary film work and television shows with Discovery. We talked about mindset and how to overcome adversity. Powerful.

0:00-Intro

7:00- Paul’s life pre-military. Australian Army Paratrooper.

11:07-East Timor. An eye-opening experience.

16:41- Australian Navy Clearance Diver

29:10-The shark attack that was nearly fatal. Paul lost his wrist and right leg after a Bullshark bit him during a counter-terrorism exercise. Recovery, phantom pains, mindset, dealing with adversity.

You can find Paul on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/PaulDeGelder

Follow my co-host and my pages on social media. Links below.

Global Recon:

www.Globalrecon.net

https://www.instagram.com/igrecon

https://www.instagram.com/blackopsmatter

www.twitter.com/igrecon

https://www.facebook.com/GlobalReconPodcast/

HP Lefler:

https://www.instagram.com/4runner.freyja

Chantel Taylor:

https://www.instagram.com/mission_critical

https://www.instagram.com/altern8rv

Music provided by Carson Aune: "A soldier's Best Friend"

http://www.carsonaune.com

GRP 93-Victoria Cross: The story of Mark Donaldson an SAS Trooper

Click the buttons below to access the full episode on iTunes (Apple users), or Sound Cloud (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.

GRP 93- It’s with great reverence that I introduce our guest for this week’s podcast. Mark Donaldson is a retired Australian Special Air Service Regiment trooper and recipient of the Victoria Cross. The Victoria Cross is Australia’s highest award for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. It’s the Australian equivalent to our Medal of Honor. 

We discussed Mark’s early life and motivation for joining the Army as he experienced a traumatic event with the loss of his mother at the age of 19. We discussed how one can turn a tragic event into a motivating force. We discussed the mindset required to train for and get selected into a Special Operations unit like the SAS, and how that same mindset can help surmount obstacles in life. We discussed leadership, the bottom-up approach, and the changing strategy and role for western forces in Afghanistan. This is part one of the interview. The second part will be released within the coming days. 

Three U.S. Army Special Forces Green Berets have been killed in action this week while on patrol through western Mali, in Niger. We’d like to send our deepest condolences to the friends, teammates, and family of these fallen warriors.

0:00- Episode Overview

6:36:00- Motivation to join the Army, and later the SAS. Using the loss of a loved one to drive you forward in life.

15:51:00- “The best way to honor my mates is to come back and live a good life”-Australian WW1 veteran

28:19:00-The mindset required to make it into Special Operations and surmount obstacles in life. Training for selection. 

57:06:00- The bottom-up approach. Leadership and team building. “I’m the guy on the ground I decide what I drop”-British Special Boat Service JTAC to brigade command over the radio
1:09:00- The evolution of the strategy in Afghanistan and the changing role of the special operations units. 

This episode is sponsored by Abes Baumann a law firm that provides legal services and fights for the rights of disabled veterans. To learn about what they can offer you visit http://www.abesbaumann.com/vets

Follow my co-host and my pages on social media. Links below.

Global Recon:
www.Globalrecon.net

https://www.instagram.com/igrecon
https://www.instagram.com/blackopsmatter

www.twitter.com/igrecon

https://www.facebook.com/GlobalReconPodcast/

Chantel Taylor:
https://www.instagram.com/mission_critical

https://www.instagram.com/altern8rv

Music provided by Caspian:
www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 59-Cultural Support Teams, Adversity, Cancer Survivor

Click the buttons below to access the episode on ITunes, or Soundcloud. Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you.

GRP 59- Co-hosting for this week's podcast is Tim Kolczak the creator of the Veterans Project. Tim was recording from the house of an American warrior who survived the Bataan Death March during World War 2. Tim's featuring this gentleman on his next project which will come out soon. It's very good. Our guest for this week is retired Army veteran, Mylee Cardenas. Mylee worked in several capacities throughout her Army career. She made her way into the Cultural Support Teams, a program that put women alongside Special Operations units in Afghanistan to assist in intelligence gathering and other aspects of the mission because of the culture sensitivity of Afghanistan. We talk about dealing with adversity and how to overcome it. Mylee discovered a lump in her breast while on deployment in a combat zone in which it was discovered to be stage 3 breast cancer. Below is an excerpt:

John: You've been in the Special Operations community for a few years now. There was a need in Afghanistan because of the cultural differences to have women alongside Special Operators to deal with the women and children and to handle other facets, working in several capacities as the strategy was changing. Eventually, you signed up for the special job?

Mylee Cardenas: 2009 I was voluntold to go to the school house at FT. Brag. The good idea fairy visited some people in SOCOM. For a while, in Afghanistan, there was a top-down approach to promoting governance and security. The Special Ops community decided that we needed to go back to the basics with a bottom-up approach. The Green Berets started setting up these Village Stability Operations camps all over of Afghanistan to train the local police, gather intelligence, and promote governance at the village level. As amazing as these men are they were only able to reach 50 percent of the population because of the cultural differences. A message came out about the program and I said nope I'm not doing it. I felt like it was a knee-jerk reaction, and there wasn't enough time put into setting this program up. The second time around it was more like you're going. The reactions to the program from the guys also made me not want to do it. I didn't want them talking about me the way they talked about these other chicks. I knew the men weren’t happy with this program.

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

Tim Kolczak:

www.thevetsproject.com

Social Media: The Veterans Project