GRP 78- Don’t Fear The Reaper: Nick Irving's Journey as a Sniper in the GWOT

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GRP 78-On for this week's episode is former Army Ranger Sniper and New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Irving. Nick served for several years in the military all with Ranger battalion. We discussed his journey as the child of two military parents and what motivated him to join the Army. We talked about mindset and some of the qualities that you need to succeed in anything you want to do in life. There is a lot of laughing going on in this episode so please bare with us. We talked some of the psychology of being a sniper which you guys might find interesting. Nick also shared some combat stories from his time as a sniper with the 3rd Ranger battalion. Below is an excerpt:

Nick Irving: I didn't learn until the first time I pulled the trigger with a sniper rifle is how intimate it is. We weren't getting shot at. There were 6 Taliban guys. A certain portion of Helmand province was shut down and Taliban commanders were killed that day. Me and my spotter are zooming in with our scopes, and we see the outline of a chest rack. Then we can see the outline of an AK-47. I remember getting the call for clearance to shoot these guys and right as we got that call a round cracks passed us. I remember dumping one guy and they started to scatter, but then they stopped and stood there. It was the strangest thing.

My first mission into Helmand province we got ambushed from this rooftop. I got off the helo and once we got off the ramp the skyline lit up. Maybe its a party I don’t know. I remember this tracer round whizzing passed and we got lit up a little bit. We got up onto this roof. I and my spotter get up on the roof and his gun jams. I'm like dude screw it just light me up. He puts on his IR flood and lights up the targets. You can see the enemy's eyes blinking.  I remember putting the cross hairs right in between this dude's eyeballs. I squeeze off a round the round misses. As dumb as he is the guy sticks his head back up and the next shot connects.

Nick Irving:

www.reaper33.com

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Chantel Taylor:

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Music provided by Caspian:

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GRP 56-2 Commando, Eddy Robinson, Iraq, Counter Terrorism

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GRP 56-Co hosting for this podcast is Army veteran Tim Kolczak the man behind the Veterans Project. On with us for this podcast is Australian Special Forces Veteran Eddy Robinson. Eddy has multiple combat rotations with the 2 Commando Regiment. We discuss Eddy's career path, get into some combat stories, and honor Eddy's best friend Corporal Cameron Baird, VC, MG. Corporal Cameron Baird is the first Australian commando to be awarded a Victoria Cross and the first posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia. Corporal Baird is also the 100th Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. He's one of Australia’s most highly decorated soldiers of the modern era. We discuss Iraq, counter-terrorism, and Afghanistan. Below is an excerpt from the episode:

John: I'm reading about the rise and roots of ISIS. A lot of it is credited a to the Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The U.S. named him as one of the reasons for going into Iraq when he was just in charge of a small terror cell prior to that. After naming him it catapulted him into the spotlight.  Making him a major player. He then stoked the flames for a civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims throwing the country into chaos.

Eddy Robinson:  My experience there was from a contracting perspective 05-06 period. Every morning before 10'o clock you hear the huge IED's being detonated. For the guys on the ground, it was relentless.  Zarqawi was the perfect catalyst for making the situation worse. We got our intelligence reports about mass graves being found on the side of the road. People being mass executed by these guys. It was a very difficult situation during that time.

Tim Kolczak: I joined in 05 I was 17. My drill sergeants were coming back from their 18-month tours. You could just tell how it affected them. We were the first trainees to get trained up by these guys. I remember the recruiter telling me not to become a truck driver because 1 in 5 was getting killed. One of the guys I knew was killed by a Somali contingent in Samarra. We were fighting people from all over the globe.

The Veterans Project:

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Music provided by Caspian:

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GRP 27-The Warfighter Foundation, Security Contractor, RIP MSG Andrew McKenna

GRP 27-On this episode of the I interviewed Derek Pleimen who is an Army veteran, and a part of the Warfighter Foundation. We discussed Derek’s career in the Army, the mission of the Warfighter Foundation, and his recent deployment to Afghanistan as a security contractor.

Tu Lam from Ronin Tactics will be in NYC early August to teach a blade seminar. We haven’t locked in the dates yet, but will do so in the next few days. So far the locations we have are in Williamsburg Brooklyn, and Edge Water New Jersey. If you’re interested in hosting a class, or attending send an email to john@globalrecon.net. Below is an excerpt from the episode:

John Hendricks: So you were in close proximity to Camp Integrity during the attack when Andrew McKenna was killed?

Derek Pleimen: Yeah our base was actually right beside Camp Integrity where Sergeant McKenna was at. It was around 10 o clock at night and we were just watching TV, and the explosion went off. It was a VBIED that started it off. They went right into the gate. After that they had actual suicide bombers run in. It sucks being a security contractor sometimes because our main job is to make sure our clients are safe. When that happened we were standing on HESCOS watching the entire fight unfold. We really couldn’t do anything about it unfortunately.

We wanted to help, but our bosses wouldn’t let us go, plus we had no comms with the base. We were expecting to be attacked next but it never came. It was a pretty rough night.  It was an intense firefight that lasted a few hours unfortunately a great man was killed in Master Sgt. Andrew McKenna.

The Warfighter Foundation: www.warfighterfoundation.org

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John’s Facebook: FB Recon

John’s Instagram: IgRecon, GlobalRecon_Inc

Music provided by Caspian: www.caspianmusic.net

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