Behind The Shield

Latest Episodes:

Trisha Stavinoha (Tactical Athlete Hydration, Nutrition and Endurance Racing) - Episode 306 May 02, 2026

Show notes

Trisha Stavinoha is an Army Veteran, Dietitian and elite endurance athlete. We discuss her journey into the military, hydration myths, sports drinks, fluid replacement in tactical athletes, relief aid in third world countries and much more.

Trisha retired in 2018 after a 20-year career as an Army Dietitian, the last 12 years serving in a performance nutrition capacity. She earned her BS in Nutrition from Texas State University in 1998, then joined the Army through their dietetic internship program. She was selected to attend a Sports Nutrition Master’s program at Long Island University, graduating in 2006, then earned her CSSD and CSCS. Since retiring, she added lifeguard, masters swim instructor, and TSAC-F to her list of credentials.

Trisha was one of the first Army RDs to earn both her CSSD and CSCS and uses the knowledge as a competitive athlete and on competitive athletes. She specializes in performance nutrition for a variety of sports to include endurance, strength, military tactical, and combat sport in neutral and extreme environments. She has been on 10 All Army Sport teams and was a walk on for the cross country and track teams during graduate school. She coached and trained with the installation Army 10-miler team and Bataan Death March teams.

Trisha developed the performance nutrition service for the Center for the Intrepid, the military’s premier rehabilitation center for our wounded tactical athletes and advises the local adaptive sports program. She had the grand opportunity to work with the Army’s esteemed World Class Athlete Program, helping combat sport and track athletes reach their fullest potential to qualify for a spot on the Olympic team.

Trisha currently works as a nutrition consultant for Cera Products, Inc., a rice-based hydration manufacturer specializing in products for individuals with unique hydration conditions. This affords her the opportunity to work with a variety of clients to include firefighters. She continues to work with the military, educating on executing a proper hydration plan based on the environmental conditions and workload. She closely follows two principals. 1) Hydration for tomorrow occurs today; hydration for today occurred yesterday. 2) A sports drink alone will not prevent dehydration and athletes must first address baseline hydration with food and water.

While Trisha does work for a hydration manufacturer, she is a dietitian first and her primary goal as a retired Army dietitian is always to educate based on research and not marketing gimmicks.

Greg Walsh (Swinging Maces, Punk Rock and Training the Tactical Athlete) - Episode 767 Apr 25, 2026

Show notes

Greg Walsh is an athlete, martial artist and the founder of Wolf Brigade. We discuss his journey into extreme sports, the straight edge Hardcore scene, Crossfit, Jeet Kune Do, kettlebell training, youth athletes, mace work, strength and conditioning for the tactical athlete, the aging athlete and so much more.

Greg Walsh has walked upright down a path of resistance for most of his life. The discovery of BMX bike riding and hardcore music in early adolescence derailed the train of convention and sparked a love affair with the underground that continues to burn strong. Through patience and perseverance, he began to make marks of his own within counterculture and has never looked back.

Writing intertwined itself with all his successes and setbacks, and has served as chronicle to the strange and often dangerous occurrences that were never far behind. Greg’s storytelling has been both catharsis and corruptor; If any resolution was found, it has never been without shining harsh light into dark corners, and forcing himself to look.

Those very same unconventional outlooks and subversive sensibilities have also played key roles in the development of Wolf Brigade’s unique and effective methods of strength and conditioning.

Resourcefulness in all realms was hard-learned, any advancement was hard-earned, and every early step was both daunting and vitally important. As unpredictable as it may have been, entering the strength world from action sports and martial arts allowed for a preconceived-notion-free process of program design and system engineering.

Describing his relationship with BMX, hardcore, training, and storytelling as anything but a love affair would be a vast understatement; Each has been its own vicious and driving force, and no stone is ever left unturned in the pursuit of progress.

Strength in solitude and clarity in defiance were to be the most valuable lessons any culture or character could teach him, even as steep as the learning curve often was; While both Greg and Wolf Brigade are relatively new to many eyes, both have been developing in the dark since the turn of the millennium.

Now rounded out both physically and philosophically with decades of martial arts, strength training, and teaching, Greg strives to maintain the proverbial spirit of eternal youth, and the worlds he has shown the ability to link together are proof that even as much as some things change, the most important ones stay the same.

Driven by discontent- but never limited by it- Greg continues to scheme, write, subvert, struggle, and progress, and provokes many others into doing the same.

He currently lives and works on the east side of Rochester, New York.

https://wolfbrigade.com/

RJ Casey (Tactical Medicine, Hollywood Stunts and Reef Conservation) - Episode 602 Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

RJ Casey has held numerous roles including as an Army Special Forces Medic, Air Force Pararescueman, Physician's Assistant and Stuntman. We discuss his journey into the military, trauma medicine, education, realism in training, working with Mel Gibson and so much more.

RJ has 30+ years of Special Operations experience with the Department of Defense and other government agencies. He has multiple combat tours in countries including Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, and Syria. RJ is still serving while consulting for corporations, feature film/TV, and other organizations. Like every member of Force Blue, RJ donates time to 501(c)(3) non-profits to help fellow veterans and is committed to the conservation of our amazing oceans.

Dan John (Strength Training in Tactical Athletes, Generational Trauma and Nutrition) - Episode 598 Apr 11, 2026

Show notes

Dan John is an elite athlete, author and revered strength and conditioning coach. We discuss the impact of war on his family, training the youth athlete, physical education, gut biome, rehabilitating the tactical professions and so much more.

Dan has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. Dan is also a Senior Lecturer for St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad. He and Josh Hillis co-authored “Fat Loss Happens on Monday.”

In 2015, Dan wrote Can You Go? on his approach to assessments and basic training. In addition, Before We Go, another compilation akin to Never Let Go became an Amazon Bestseller.

In early 2017, Dan’s book, Now What?, his approach to Performance and dealing with “life,” became a Bestseller on Amazon. Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge, published also in 2017, focused on the keys to the kettlebell.

His most recent book, Attempts, is a collection of short essays for both the professional coach and trainer and the “rest of us.” He is currently working on a new edition of “Easy Strength” with Pavel.

Dr Mike Donato (Foot Health, Barefoot Training and Footwear for Perfomance) - Episode 125 Apr 04, 2026

Show notes

Dr Michael Donato is a podiatrist, athlete and member of O2X. We discuss the evolution of footwear, the affect of improper shoes on the body, barefoot training, tactical footwear and much more.

Mike, co-owner of Rappahannock Foot & Ankle Specialists joined the practice in 2002. He obtained his A.B. in Economics from Princeton University in 1986. He graduated as a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine from California College of Podiatric Medicine in 1999. He went on to complete a 3 year Podiatric Surgery and Primary Podiatric Medicine Residency Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital - VA Healthcare System in WestHaven, CT.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons; Diplomate of the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery and is Board Certified in Foot, and Rearfoot Reconstructive/Ankle Surgery; Fellow, American Professional Wound Care Association; and a member of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine, the American Podiatric Medical Association, and the Virginia Podiatric Medical,Association.

As an O2X human performance specialist he provides education regarding footwear selection and gait analysis to first responders, military personnel, elite organizations, and other tactical athletes . He is a regular medical volunteer at the Marine Corps Marathon and the other associated Marine Corps Marathon Race Events. He is a USA Hockey level 4 hockey coach and after years of being a head coach he currently serves as an assistant coach for the Piedmont Predator Youth Hockey Club. He is an avid crossfitter and hockey player who participates in masters crossfit competitions and adult hockey tournaments.

Craig Davidson (Lifeguarding in Hawaii, Hollywood Stunts and Fitness Standards) - Episode 470 Mar 28, 2026

Show notes

Craig Davidson is a Hawaiian lifeguard, waterman and stuntman. We discuss his journey into lifeguarding, rescues and losses, the importance of humility, fitness, entering the stunt world, set safety, rigging and much more.

Chad Robichaux and Azizullah Aziz (Rescuing Our Afghan Allies, Recon Marines and Law Enforcement) - Episode 717 Mar 21, 2026

Show notes

Chad Robichaux is a former police office, Recon Marine and the Author of "Saving Aziz". Azizullah Aziz is an Afghani interpreter assigned to Chad as part of a unique JSOC Task Force team.

We discuss their respective childhoods, fleeing the Taliban as a young man, Chad's career call as a police officer, some of the heroism from our Afghan allies, the travesty that was the Afghan withdrawal, how Chad's team of veterans liberated thousands of our allies, their powerful mental health stories and much more.

Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux during Chad's eight deployments to Afghanistan. He was a teammate, brother, and friend. More than once, Aziz saved Chad's life. And then he needed Chad to save his.

When President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 that the United States would be making a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, Robichaux knew he had to get Aziz and his family out before Taliban forces took over the country. As the rescue team he'd pulled together began to go to work, they became aware of thousands more--US citizens, Afghan allies, women, and children--facing persecution or death if they were not saved from the Taliban's terrorist regime. Chad began leading the charge that would go on to rescue 17,000 evacuees within a few short weeks--12,000 of them within the first ten days.

This gripping account of two heroes and a daring mission puts human hearts and names alongside the headlines of one of the most harrowing moments in our history, giving you a closer look at:

The resilience of Afghanistan and its people

Chad's direct interactions with the Taliban

The twenty-year war that took place under four presidents

Saving Aziz is a story of war and rescue. It is a story of a mission accomplished and work still to be done. It is a story of how looking into a stranger's eyes breaks down prejudice and apathy--and why risking it all is worth it when it comes to loving one another.

Jason Khalipa (Crossfit, Jiujitsu and Training the Tactical Athlete) - Episode 621 Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

Jason Khalipa is a former Crossfit Games champion, author and the founder of NCFIT. We discuss Sandlot Jax, jiujitsu and fitness, his journey into Crossfit, overcoming distractions, training the tactical athlete, his daughter's powerful cancer story and so much more.

Dr Eric Goodman (Healing Back Pain With Movement, Chiropractic Medicine and Performance) - Episode 11 Feb 28, 2026

Show notes

Dr Eric Goodman is the founder and creator of Foundation Training, a system of movement that facilitates the body’s natural healing ability and quickly improves degenerative movement patterns. He has published 3 books, including his latest, True To Form, which have contributed to health innovation for individuals, communities, and the Yoga world.

His incessant curiosity for anatomy, movement, and healing has led him to become one of the most sought out trainers in the world, training prominent media figures and top level athletes, including Olympians as the strength and conditioning coach of the U.S.A. Men’s Water Polo Team.

During the last few years he has also been directing the Foundation Training Instructor Certification Program, a four day intensive workshop for doctors and movement specialists, and he continues to treat patients and lecture around the world. Currently, Eric lives in Florida with his wife, Jen, and their daughters, Sunny and Veda.

Foundation Training was born of out of necessity. In 2007 Eric Goodman was in his last year of chiropractic school gaining knowledge and skills but remaining debilitated by back pain that had followed him for years. He was advised to get spinal fusion surgery, but after deeply considering the effectiveness and physical toll it would take, declined this option. He instead worked to create a better solution. This choice became the catalyst for his life’s work

Dr. Goodman became the doctor he wished he had, creating innovative corrective movements as the answer to his pain. Understanding the challenge of being a patient without viable options, he started teaching the exercises to help other people help themselves. These exercises became Foundation Training and have been utilized by tens of thousands of people to get out of pain.

The business of Foundation Training is committed to the common goal of helping people heal and redefining a life without pain. The team behind the scenes holds to the commitment of continually learning how to do this better. Over the years, our talented teaching staff have contributed significantly to helping us breakdown the information to make it easier to learn, including developing certifications that allow us to produce instructors who deeply understand and are skilled at teaching the material.

The programs Foundation Training offers remain innovative and are continually evolving as knowledge, resources, and applications expand. The community of instructors, clients, patients, and friends whose lives have been improved remains the core of who we are.

https://www.foundationtraining.com/

Dr Belisa Vranich (Breathwork for Tactical Athletes, Sex Myths and Clinical Psychology - Episode 166 Feb 21, 2026

Show notes

Dr Belisa Vranich is a Clinical Psychologist who teaches breath work for both physical and mental wellness. Dr Vranich is also the founder of The Breathing Class. We discuss healthy relationships, sex myths, diaphragmatic breathing, mental health and much more.

A clinical psychologist and a leading expert in mental health and fitness, Dr. Belisa Vranich is the author of Breathe: The Simple, Revolutionary 14-Day Program to Improve your Mental and Physical Health (St. Martin’s Press/Hay House). She is the founder of www.thebreathingclass.com.

Dr. Belisa is a regular guest on national television; e.g., CNN, Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Inside Edition, and has been interviewed by Anderson Cooper, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Bill O’Reilly, and Nancy Grace. Dr. Oz has recognized her as one of the top US doctors in her field. She has appeared as a guest on Cesar Millan’s show, Cesar 911, and has been a guest on podcasts with hosts Robb Wolfe, Ben Greenfield, Joey Diaz, and Dr. Mercola. In addition, Dr. Belisa has been interviewed as an expert in numerous publications, including Crain’s magazine, GQ, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Time Magazine, and Cosmopolitan.

Dr. Belisa has extensive experience working with first responders: firefighters, military and law enforcement for topics related to endurance, stress reduction, precision, pain reduction, and PTSD. A firm believer in the importance of giving back, she volunteers and supports numerous organizations related to veterans and animal rescue organizations in New York City and Los Angeles. Dr. Belisa is an outspoken advocate of organ donation and dedicated her first book to Liamslife.org

Dr. Belisa was the former Director of Breathing Science at The Ash Center for Comprehensive Medicine in New York City, and has served as an advisor for the Fitness Institute for Gold’s Gym. She was previously the Health and Sex Editor at Men’s Fitness Magazine, an expert for Men’s Health, and Shape magazine, an advice columnist for the New York Daily News, and Foxnews.com. She was the Director of Public Education at the Mental Health Association of NYC; taught at New York University, was a consultant at the National Mental Health Association in Washington, DC; director of an outpatient clinic at Jacobi Hospital Center, Bronx, NY; a school psychologist in the South Bronx; and part of the Brooklyn Aids Task Force supporting parolees and their families.

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