GRP 169-What War Did to Us Ukraine: My Conversation with Marine Corps Veteran Nick Laidlaw

You can access the full episode on Apple Podcast (Apple users), or Spotify, and Anchor (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you. 

Joining me for this week's podcast is Marine Corps veteran Nick Laidlaw. Laidlaw spent seven years in the Marine Corps as an 0311 Rifleman and Security Forces Marine. He wrote the book "What War Did To Us: Ukraine." Providing first-hand accounts of all aspects of the conflict in the first 150 days of the war. Nick runs the popular Instagram account Battles. and.Beers, where he posts photos and videos of war stories from civilian and soldier perspectives. We discussed talking with veterans from both sides of a war, including Ukraine and Russian soldiers, plus much more. Tune in. 

Here is a short story told on the podcast by Laidlaw. It is of Anton Kryll, a Ukrainian soldier who fought at Mariupol's besieged Azovstal steel plant. They were surrounded, entirely out of food and water, and medicine.

" Anton, what do you want to do when the war is over?" He replied, "Here in short, we are always relying on each other. We are in history now, and we have done everything possible and impossible. After we are pulled out of here, I will immediately marry my girlfriend, and everything will be Ukraine. " Anton Kryll was killed the next day on May 14th, 2022.

Main Takeaways

• Stories from Battles and Beers 

• Making it a point to speak with all sides of a conflict

• Being contacted by a member of the Taliban and having an honest discussion 

• Talking with Russians fighting in Ukraine

• Documenting the heroism displayed by Ukrainian forces at the besieged Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol 

This episode is sponsored by 4 Patriots, a survival food company. You can visit www.4patriots.com and use the code RECON for 10% off

Follow Nick Laidlaw on Instagram: Battles.and.beers

Check out his book here: What War Did To Us Ukraine

Connect With John Hendricks

www.globalrecon.net

www.instagram.com/igrecon 

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspian.band

GRP 168-Task Force Pineapple: A Conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann.

You can access the full episode on Apple Podcast (Apple users), or Spotify, and Anchor (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you. 

Joining me for this week's podcast is retired Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann. LTC Mann spent a career as a leader in the Special Forces with multiple tours in Afghanistan. Scott is the author of Operation Pineapple Express, a New York Times Bestseller detailing the effort of a group of retired special operations veterans led by Scott who saved 500 Afghans being hunted by the Taliban. We discussed the harsh lives of the men who served in the Afghan Commandos, how they moved families to safety, and much more. Tune in

Main Takeaways 

• Miscalculation of American assessments on how long the Afghan government can withstand the Taliban

• Operation Pineapple Express 

• The difficult lives of the Afghan Commandos 

• Village Stability Operations

• Working with Colombian Special Forces 

Follow Scott Mann: www.scottmann.com

This episode is sponsored by 4 Patriots, a survival food company. You can visit www.4patriots.com and use the code RECON for 10% off

Connect With John Hendricks

www.globalrecon.net

www.instagram.com/igrecon 

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspian.band

GRP 167-Black Ops: The Story Of A Cuban Refugees Journey Into The Upper Ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency

You can access the full episode on Apple Podcast (Apple users), or Spotify, and Anchor (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you. 

GRP 167-Black Ops: The Story Of A Cuban Refugees Journey Into The Upper Ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Joining me for this week's podcast is Ric Prado. Ric witnessed a firefight at seven in Cuba during Fidel Castro's revolution. After his family fled, they relocated to Miami. Prado would go on to serve as an elite Pararescuemen in the Airforce and spent 24 years at the CIA, retiring at the rank of Senior Intel Service-2, the Major General equivalent at the Agency. 

He was the Deputy Chief of Station of the original Bin Laden Task Force and later served as the head of Korean Operations for the CIA. We discussed Castro and Che Guevara, his time in Nicaragua, countering terrorism in the Philippines, and tracking Bin Laden. Tune in.

Main Takeaways

• Witnessing a firefight between government forces and Castros rebels as a young kid in Cuba

• Fleeing Cuba under the Castro regime

• Joining the Airforce as a Pararescuemen

• Working as a paramilitary officer in Nicaragua with the Contra's

• Working on the Bin Laden task force in the mid-'90s
  

Follow Ric Prado: www.ricprado.com

This episode is sponsored by Ten Thousand a men’s training brand.

visit www.tenthousand.cc and enter code Global Recon for 15 % off

Connect With John Hendricks

www.globalrecon.net

www.instagram.com/igrecon 

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspian.band

GRP 166-The art of living well and the art of dying well are one: A conversation with two Ukrainian Special Forces Operators

You can access the full episode on Apple Podcast (Apple users), or Spotify, and Anchor (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you. 

Two active-duty Ukrainian Special Forces Operators are joining me for this week's podcast. Back on the show is Mikko, and joining us for the first time is his teammate Quebec. Quebec joined Special Forces in 2014 when the Russians annexed Crimea.

He was wounded during a battle in eastern Ukraine, leading to his retirement from the military. He later worked as a security contractor in Afghanistan. Once Russia invaded Ukraine, he went back into Special Forces and has been fighting ever since. We discussed the Partisan movement and undercover operations in Russian-controlled territory, Bahkmut, the Wagner Group, and much more. Tune in.

Main Takeaways

• Quebec's path into Ukrainian Special Forces

• Deployed to Afghanistan as a security contractor

• Undercover operations in Russian-controlled territory

• Bakhmut, the location of the heaviest fighting in the war

• Quebec's father was killed fighting the Russians

• Assaulting Russian positions in Kherson

Connect with Mikko: Instagram

Connect with Quebec: Instagram

Check out the website below if you want to support them

Website

Connect With John Hendricks

www.globalrecon.net

Instagram

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspian.band

GRP 165-Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man: A conversation with a Marine Corps General

You can access the full episode on Apple Podcast (Apple users), or Spotify, and Anchor (Android users). Be sure to like, share, subscribe, and download the episodes. Thank you. 

My guest for this week's podcast is retired Marine Corps Major General Arnold Punaro. Punaro went on to serve for 34 years, finishing his career as the Commanding Officer of the 4th Marine Division and reaching the rank of Two Star General. He was shot during a firefight as a young Officer leading Marines against an enemy position in Vietnam.

After the war, he went to work for Senator Sam Nunn in National Security matters serving as his director of National Security Affairs and then as Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His latest book, "The Ever Shrinking Fighting Force." Highlights the issue of how more money being spent is not equating to a more effective fighting force. We discussed General Punaro's time in Vietnam, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China, and his book. Tune in.

Main Takeaways

• Being shot by a sniper

• CPL Roy Hammonds saves Punaro and gets killed shortly after

• Working National Security for Senator Sam Nunn

• Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

• Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• The Ever Shrinking Fighting Force

Connect with Arnold Punaro

Website

Book

Connect With John Hendricks

www.globalrecon.net

Instagram

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspian.band