GRP 70-Karolyn Smith|Iraq|Combat Wounded

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GRP 70- On for this week's podcast is retired Army veteran, Karolyn Smith. Karolyn was an MP (Military Police) who deployed to Iraq in 2004. She'd lost some of her closest friends in combat and survived several IED explosions while on security patrols. After getting wounded during one of these explosions she got out of the Army and became a security contractor for close to a decade. Karolyn struggled with PTSD, and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) for a long time and was unable to receive the help she needed from the VA. Michael Schiltz a well-known combat wounded Marine told her about a program at UCLA called Operation MEND.

Folks in Liberal Hollywood donate millions of dollars to this top tier program which take care of our warfighters with surgeries paid for, travel cost to California paid for, and continuing care post surgery all paid for and free of charge to the warfighter. Our second article has been published in the newly revamped article section on our website. Written by Gold Star Wife Alexandra McClintock. Alexandra's husband Matthew was killed in action last year in Afghanistan. Matthew is a Green Beret with multiple combat rotations and died protecting his wounded teammate. Alexandra details what it was like to learn of his death as well as some of the struggles she's faced. Here is a link to the article: http://www.globalrecon.net/articles/2017/3/14/hxi6jb8jd1j4m4g6ztc8h94udbp170

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

Karolyn Smith: Iraq was pretty bad. Everything was a daily struggle. IED's, car bombs. September 7th, 2004 my Lieutenant and I were dismounted and a sniper shot him in the face and killed him. He died right next to me. Lieutenant Tim Price with the 127th MP's. He After that you become a different person. As a woman, i had to learn to compartmentalize. April 15th of 2005 a fuel tanker transport needed an MP convoy. A shaped charge was on the back of a light pole. It blew right threw the blast shield of my SAW. I knew that there were things that were wrong, but at that point in time, i just wanted to go back to Germany.

I'm trying to give one veteran something that they can use. We're all closely related because we all served. It's our oath to each other that we have to uphold.  I'm open about how suicidal I was. There was nowhere for me to go. I thought how pissed off would LT be at me if I took that way out. His father, his mother, his brother would kill for him to just be in pain and have a bad day. You don't ever want to disappoint your buddies. You have to take one more step. That's your oath to everyone who didn't come home.

Check out our website at www.globalrecon.net

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Any questions, or comments send an email to podcast@globalrecon.net

Keep up with Karolyn Smith at http://www.3pawsup.com/

Introduction speech by General Colin Powell

Introduction music provided by Caspian. Song title is Gone in Bloom and Bough.

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 69-The Terrorist Whisperer |Iraqi Military CSM Hamody Jasim| Counter Terrorism

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GRP 69-This episode is co-hosted by Chantel Taylor. We have the honor of having the youngest Command Sergeant Major in Iraqi Military history on the show, Hamody Jasim. CSM Jasim was recruited by U.S. Intelligence after saving an American Military officer who was nearly abducted by al-Qaeda. His intelligence information changed the battle for the Marines in the Fallujah/Ramadi area by taking out one of al-Qaeda’s main operatives. On this episode, he shared several stories of his time in Iraq.

We are proud to announce that our articles section is fully up and running. We have a special group of veteran writers. Our first article went up last night written by my friend retired Australian SAS Major Dr. Dan Pronk. Be sure to check it out at www.globalrecon.net/articles. Sign up to receive email updates where we will keep you up to date with what we have going on, and information on products we will have available in collaboration with Special Operations veterans. Below is an excerpt from the episode.

CSM Hamody Jasim: I was sent on a few missions with the first Iraqi Divisions. I was sent to Bagdad. We went on a mission to recover the bodies of 25 dead Iraqi military recruit’s. The terrorist was coordinating with the Bus driver who had taken them into Haifa Street. They were all executed. I took about 30 of my soldiers. We had pick up trucks to load the bodies up. The terrorist aim was to capture Iraqi soldiers alive and behead them on TV. We drove into Haifa Street. It is normally a very busy street. It was like a ghost town that day. We immediately felt that something was wrong. In 2004 this was probably the most dangerous 2 miles in the world. I told my commander something doesn’t look right about this. The plan was to load the bodies and leave as soon as possible. We were ambushed. They had a sniper up in a tall building for anyone who got out of the initial kill zone. We were there for about an hour and 45 minutes. Our QRF left the Iraqi base to come support us. They immediately hit an IED in Haifa Street.

Most of us ran out of ammo. It took an American unit about an hour to get to us. We had 9 soldiers left by that time. I was shot in the knee. I had a shrapnel would above my right eye. That day will probably be the worst day of my life. Losing my guys. I slept next to these guys. One of my best friends was shot by the sniper trying to recover one of our soldiers. It was rough. My Platoon commander was captured alive, and as I was leaving I saw his body was beheaded.

Check out the new and improved article section:

www.globalrecon.net/articles

Command Sergeant Major Hamody Jasim:

https://www.theterroristwhisperer.com

Chantel Taylor:

Facebook-Battleworn

Instagram: Mission_Critical

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Battleworn-Chantelle-Taylor/dp/1532003854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488418274&sr=8-1&keywords=battleworn

Introduction audio: American Military Officers/ General David Petraus/ Intelligence Officers talking about Hamody Jasim

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 68- Codename: Johnny Walker|Chantel Taylor|Global Surgical Medical Support Group|

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GRP 68- We have a very special episode for you this week. Co-hosting is British Army Combat Medic Chantel Taylor. Our special guest is Johnny Walker. Johnny is an Iraqi who served with the Navy SEAL Teams in Iraq for a 6-year period during the height of the Iraq war. He worked as an interpreter going on over 1000 combat operations during his operational service.  We discussed his upbringing in Mosul, how he ended up working with Naval Special Warfare. Johnny shared a few stories during his time with the SEALs. We discussed terrorism in the region and the proxy war that is currently being fought in Iraq and Syria.

My good friends at the Global Surgical Medical Support Group who have been on the podcast previously have been doing incredible work providing top tier surgical support for communities battling against ISIS. From very reliable sources we now know that critically injured US personnel on an intelligence collection deployment in Iraq would not have survived if it wasn't for the swift intervention of GSMSG trauma surgeons. They were able to stop otherwise lethal hemorrhaging and other severe injuries by providing Role 4 level care right at the tip of the spear.  They were also able to return the less critically injured US personnel to service right away after medically clearing them in the field. This is probably a first in history that a US-based non-profit humanitarian organization provided life-saving surgery in an austere environment that saved the lives of US service members and personnel. One way you can support them is by buying one of their few remaining T-shirts from their website at www.GSMSG.org/shop.  If you insert promo code "IGRecon" you will get 20% off your order.  So if you want to directly save US lives.  If you want to support the only nonprofit group in history to be there at the tip of the spear saving American lives, then help the good guys at GSMSG out.  Lastly, they are always recruiting SOF veterans, medics, nurses and physicians.  Go check out their website and do something for our boys downrange. Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

Johnny Walker: I went to the base and met with one of the officers. He says you have to be careful. I said why whats up? He says the terrorist killed an interpreter with the same name was me. What he didn't know was I was heading to the base and an assassination attempt was made on me by a foreign terrorist. I saw a guy with a long beard driving a car with a male in his 20's as the passenger. In our tradition this is unusual. We always respect the religious man by driving the car and taking care of him. So I assumed the worst case scenario was playing out. I was ahead of them in my car and I pressed the break and they drove passed me. The passenger pulled out a pistol and shot me. I stopped completely. I took my AK-47, shot and killed both of them. I started to yell Allah Akbar those guys work with the Americans they are interpreters. The Iraqi Police came and conducted an investigation with the results of those investigations were sent to the American base. So they thought I was killed.

John: After you killed these two guys you made it seem like they were working for the Americans in order to get out of there right?

Johnny Walker: Yes.

Click the link below to support the Global Surgical Medical Support Group. Enter the code “IgRecon” which is my Instagram handle to receive a 20 percent discount.

http://www.gsmsg.org/shop

Johnny Walker’s book:

https://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Johnny-Extraordinary-Everything/dp/0062267566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488418317&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+walker+book

Chantel Taylor:

Facebook-Battleworn

Instagram: Mission_Critical

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Battleworn-Chantelle-Taylor/dp/1532003854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488418274&sr=8-1&keywords=battleworn

Introduction audio: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 67-Green Beret Medics| TBI| Hand To Hand Death Match| RIP Mike Lamb

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GRP 67-Back on the podcast for this week's episode is Michael Rodriguez a former Army Green Beret Medic (18 Delta). He sits on President George W. Bush's Military Service Initiative Advisory Council which engages in a wide range of activities that support veterans. Last but not least he's the Chief Ambassador for the Green Beret Foundation. On with us is a friend of Mikes a former 18 Delta Mark Belden. Mark has an interesting story with a background in mixed martial arts. We talk TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), Mike share's a story of when he treated an infant over in Afghanistan, and Mark shares a story of a time when he got into a hand to hand combat situation with a high-value target in Iraq.

My good friend Chantel Taylor served in combat with junior combat medic named Mike Lamb in the British Army. Chantel was the senior medic on that kinetic rotation into Southern Afghanistan. Mike went on to get attached to British Special Forces and served as a Medic with the SAS. He recently lost his battle with cancer at the age of 32. Below is a link to the Gofundme campaign used to raise money for his young family. I encourage anyone who can to contribute to help out this warrior's wife and child during these difficult times. https://www.gofundme.com/for-the-family-of-mike-lamblamby

 Below is an excerpt from the show:

John: Mark can you share a deployment story with the audience?

Mark Belden: This isn't something I'm proud of, but it happened.  We were on a mission in Iraq. We knew this guy was a bad cat killed a lot of coalition, and American forces. We got the lead on him. We caught him sleeping on the roof. He was like 300 plus pounds. Heavyweight lifter. We double cuffed him with flex cuffs. The interrogator called me in to stay with him for a second. The interpreter was standing in the back. He was about 2 feet from me. Stone cold look in his eyes. He said something to the terp. He said you might as well kill me now because I'm not going to talk. I said ok whatever man, I’m just here to hang out with you. He took a huge breath and snapped both of his flex cuff's. He charged at me. I think it was a left hook that immediately caught him. He lifted me up. A 45 second battle ensued. One of the guys came into the room and pulled em out. The guy ended up dying. I was later investigated for it. I was in a top shape. A one-minute fight for my life put a lot of things into perspective.

Sergeant First Class Michael Rodriguez:

Email-Michael@greenberetfoundation.org

www.greenberetfoundation.org

www.bushcenter.org

Intro audio: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

GRP 66- Bob Keller|Gun fighting|Shooting Instruction|Krupto Strategic

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GRP 66- On for this week's podcast is Bob Keller. Bob is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Operations community with time served in the Ranger Regiment, Army Special Forces, and elsewhere. Bob now runs a tactical training company called Gamut Resolutions. His instruction is top of the line and instruction that is proven to work from years of experience as a warfighter. Co-hosting with me is Army combat veteran and a friend of mine Nick Betts, the owner of Krupto Strategic. Nick joined the Army in 05 so he arrived during the period where tactics and training were changing based on the experiences of our forces on the ground. Nick discusses what he's been up to and we touch on tactical shooting courses being taught by combat veterans, and non-combat veterans. Below is an excerpt.

John: You mentioned having the skills to shoot effectively, but you also need the mindset and having a good head on your shoulders to be able to perform in a gunfight situation. Can you talk about the mindset?

Bob Keller: Each person's mindset is going to be different, but what you need to keep in mind is you always have to expect it, and you have to accept it. What that means is every time you go outside, or you go into a building you should be thinking that something bad is going to happen. If you're thinking that you will accept the fact that something bad will happen to you. If you don't like that then you should probably never get into a gunfight. If you always think that way when a bad situation does happen it won't be as stressful for you.

Every situation is different. You can go to the range and train for 1000 different situations every day, and when the time comes for you to actually do something I guarantee it's not going to be any situation you’ve actually been in. It's always different. That's where it goes back to learning the basics. Getting the gun up, getting sight picture, and pulling the trigger.

Introduction audio: Seceratary of Defense James Mattis.

Music provided by Caspian:

www.caspianmusic.net

 

Bob Keller:

www.gamutresolutions.com

Facebook: Gamut Resolutions

Instagram: KellerGamutResolutions

 

Nick Betts:

www.kruptostrategic.com

Social Media:

Krupto Strategic