GRP 95- The Reality of War: Perspective of SAS Trooper and Victoria Cross recipient Mark Donaldson

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

GRP 95- We know you’ve all been anticipating part two of the conversation we had with Mark Donaldson. Mark is a veteran of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment and recipient of the Victoria Cross. The VC is Australia’s highest award given for valor in combat. In this segment Mark talks about running operations with U.S Army Special Forces Green Berets in Afghanistan. It was on one of these operations in which the battle took place where Mark went above and beyond the call of duty.
    
Mark walks us through that operation in vivid detail. The most important piece of this conversation is when Mark gives us the reality of it all when saying yes, he’s been celebrated for his actions that day, but for many it was the worst day of their lives. There are second and third effects for the family and friends of the warriors who were wounded, or killed during the chaos and confusion of that battle. It wasn’t said to dampen our moods, but to add perspective to what is generally looked at as something glamorous.

0:00-Episode overview
1:43- 2008 SAS deployment to Afghanistan, running operations with U.S Army Special Forces Green Berets.

6:20-Battle in which Mark was awarded the Victoria Cross

52:15- The realities of war, and remembering the Victoria Cross from the perspective of the men on the ground. 

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 Caspian:
www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 63-Recon Sniper Foundation, 3rd Force Recon Commander, Leadership

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 63-On for this week's podcast are U.S. Marines John Brown, the President of the Recon and Sniper Foundation, and Lt. Colonel Drew Ralston, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Battalion. We talked about the Recon and Sniper Foundations event at Shot Show in Las Vegas a few days ago which was a huge success, as well as the role and mission of the Foundation. We talk about leadership, what it takes for young Marines to become Reconnaissance Marines in dealing with and overcoming hardships and adversity.

Very shortly the Global Recon's veteran team of writers will begin to release articles with topics to include transnational terrorism, geopolitics, veteran-related issues, military history, and tactical medicine. Our writers are very smart, and accomplished individuals with a lot to offer.  We will announce start the article publishing early February. Below is an excerpt from the podcast.

John: You guys met and worked together under some unique circumstances. Can you guys talk about that?

Lt. Colonel Ralston: As a reserve Commander my unit is over in Mobile Alabama, but I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In August of last year, we suffered some of the worst flooding’s on record in this area. Within about 48 hours a group of gentlemen from the Recon and Sniper Foundation had mobilized and got guys down here to help with getting myself and a number of other Reconnaissance Marines back on our feet. There's another reserve unit here in Baton Rouge that was affected by the flood and we got to work.  We found retired Marines who needed help. A gentleman who was a Korean War Vet was at the Chosin Reservoir with Chesty Puller had his house decimated by the flood we did a lot of work to get him back on his feet.

We ended up helping the first responders who were out not fixing their homes, but out on the street helping civilians. One of the most rewarded moments for me was one of my former Marines his parent's house was destroyed. We spent 3 days at their house alone. At some point, this Marine's mother looks at her husband and says "You know baby it's going to be ok, the Marines are here.''

John Brown:

http://www.reconsniperfoundation.org

Social Media: ReconSniperFoundation

Introduction speech was by Colin Powell.

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 62-GSMSG, Iraq, British Army Combat Medic, Navy Corpsman

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 62- Back on for this week's podcast is my good friend retired British Army Combat Medic Chantel Taylor. We discuss the process of becoming a Combat Medic in the British Army, as well as discuss some of her experience's as an Army Medic, and as a Medic working as a contractor in several conflict zones post military.

The second conversation I had is with a former U.S. Navy Corpsman named Cris, who spent the duration of his career attached to the U.S. Marine Corps for multiple combat rotations into Afghanistan. Chris shares a story of a mass casualty event in which he was leading the quick reaction force into a potentially dangerous situation. Cris has since retired from the Navy and is now working with an incredible organization called the Global Surgical Medical Support Group (GSMSG). The GSMSG is an organization that provides medical training and treats soldiers fighting ISIS in Northern Iraq, and elsewhere. They have surgeons, doctors, and military medics working around the clock to train the Kurdish Peshmerga medics, as well as performing surgery on Peshmerga soldiers, and Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF).  GSMSG is now recruiting SOF Medics for a trip into Syria. If you’re interested, apply on their website http://www.gsmsg.org

 Below is an excerpt.

John: Can you share a story of a time you treated a casualty in combat?

Cris: My second deployment to Afghanistan we were supporting the Afghan’s as they took the lead in the fighting over there. We had a lot of mass casualty events. A couple of their vehicles struck an IED and we were the quick reaction force. I was with three other Marines. They could all do the basic interventions to help save lives. Putting on tourniquets, occlusive dressings, needle decompressions. There were 20 casualties total. When we got there the scene was total chaos. We started triaging. Who's alive? who needs care right now? we got everything from a triple amputee to minor burns. Having all my Marines trained to the standard that they could all perform casualty care efficiently was great. Each of us had four casualties. We were able to get them medevac'd and taken to a higher level of care.   

Global Surgical Medical Support Group:

http://www.gsmsg.org

Facebook: Global Surgical Medical Support Group

Instagram:Global_Surgical_Medical_Support_Group

Chantel Taylor:

Facebook: Battleworn

Instagram: Mission_Critical

GRP 58-Assassination, Terror in Germany, Navy EOD Tech

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 58-A lot has been going on in the past 24 hours with Russia's ambassador to Turkey being assassinated in Turkey, as well as a terrorist attack in Berlin. We are proud to announce that we've revamped the article section for the website and have put together a solid team of writers to release content very soon.

 On with me for this week's podcast is active duty Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD) Damian. We discuss what led him to join the Navy and talk about his career throughout. Damian gives you guys a combat story from his first rotation, and most importantly we talk about those Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice. We discuss what it's like to lose someone you love, and how it can motivate you to work extremely hard as it has done for both of us. Below is an excerpt.

John: Spending the amount of time you've spent in EOD you've had some guys who've lost limbs, as well as having lost some of your brothers in combat. Is there anyone you'd like to pay a tribute to?

Damian: There's a lot. We just Jason Finan in October from my unit Mobile Unit 3. That hit us hard. He was, in my opinion, EOD Tech I've ever been around. I can't think of anyone more highly regarded than him in my field. He was a good man. I remember telling the guys in my division before he came through with his platoon when he finished you'll say that's the best EOD Tech that ever came through and they all agreed. It was a huge loss. They're all huge. I remember getting the phone call and I just could not.....we're still reeling from that. Jan 2nd, 2012 we lost Chad Regelin. We went to Afghanistan together in Aug 2010. We'd come home from that one and he'd volunteered to go right back. He was with an ODA from 5th Group in Helmand when he was killed. That's still very hard.......you know.... he was such a good kid. It's really hard because to me he was so young.

He was extremely humble; they were aggressive without being reckless. We lost Shawn Carson. We lost Christian Pike he was a CCT (Combat Control Technician). Killed in a firefight that we were in. We always lose the best people. Mark Forester was a CCT that I worked with. My first IED strike was the one he ran over. Calvin Harrison the same day Mark was killed. He was an 18 Delta. Pat Feeks was a SEAL that I worked with. You cross paths with some many people.

John: It's crazy because you go right through the door with the IED, you move and the guys behind you set it off. You're standing in one spot a second later the next guy standing in that same spot gets shot. I use the personal loss as my motivation to honor the memory of the people I lost. You almost feel like they're watching you.

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net