Fear & Courage

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#22 - 1LT Matthew Rogers - US Army Infantry Officer Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

Matt was one of my students at The Citadel, one of the six United States senior military colleges, and he graduated in 2015. He was commissioned as an Army Infantry Officer and has completed Ranger, Airborne, and Long Range Surveillance qualifications among others. He has served as a Platoon leader in the 4th Infantry Division and served on deployment to Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019. It is always a treat for me to have a former cadet on the podcast who I knew in those formative years.

#21 - SSG (ret) Earl Granville - US Army Infantryman and Public Speaker Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

Earl Granville is a retired Army Staff Sergeant. He served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard as an Infantryman, enlisting in 2001 and deploying to Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He lost part of his leg when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle in eastern Afghanistan in 2008. He is a Team Member for the veteran run and owned non-profit Operation Enduring Warrior, is pursuing his bachelors degree in counseling, and also speaks publicly about the importance of finding help in battling mental adversity after the passing of his twin brother, Staff Sergeant Joseph Granville, who took his own life December of 2010 while still on Active Duty.

#20 - Jason "Jack" Jean - Air Force Veteran and Entrepreneur Mar 19, 2019

Show notes

Jason “Jake” Jean is an Air Force Veteran who enlisted as part of the Security Forces. He was medically discharged from the Air Force and has since started and run several successful companies. His current effort, Tattered Beans is a veteran focused coffee retailer that gives $4 of every bag sold to military veterans and veteran related causes.

#19 - COL(ret) Jack Jacobs - Retired US Army Infantry Officer - Medal of Honor Awardee Mar 13, 2019

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Col Jack Jacobs is a retired Colonel in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War. He currently serves as a military analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and previously worked as an investment manager.

#18 - CPT Maggie Smith - US Army Cyber Officer / PhD Candidate / Mom / Ultrarunner Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

CPT Maggie Smith is a US Army Cyber Officer with over 14 years of experience as both an enlisted Soldier and commissioned Officer. She is currently on Advanced Civil Schooling orders to George Washington University (GWU) and is a second-year Ph.D. student of public policy. She commissioned as a 2LT and earned her MPP with a focus in Homeland Security and Intelligence Policy at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy while doing the Army's Green to Gold Program to earn her commission. Maggie dealt with the challenge of a positive BRCA2 genetic test and subsequent health decisions while serving on active duty and hasn’t allowed that to slow her down at all. Maggie is also an ultra runner, mom, and wife to Patrick, also a US Army Veteran, and is looking forward to an assignment teaching at West Point.

#17 - Ian Turner - Former US Army Infantry and Current Detention Officer Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

Ian Turner is a Sheriff's Deputy and Detention Officer. He is a former US Army Infantry Noncommissioned Officer with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

#16 - COL (ret) John Spiszer - US Army Infantry Officer with 30 years of service (and my first Brigade Commader) - Part 2 May 30, 2018

Show notes

COL (ret) John Spiszer is the Chief of Staff for US Army Japan at Camp Zama, Japan. COL Spiszer retired in 2014 with 30 years of service to the United States Army.

Spiszer is a 1984 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point completing numerous military training and education courses during his service including the Command and General Staff Officer’s Course, the School of Advanced Military Studies (known as SAMS), the Naval War College, and the Joint Combined Warfighting Course.

Mr. Spiszer’s key Army command and staff assignments are Chief of Staff, V Corps and Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany; Executive Officer to the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, Kabul, Afghanistan; Commander of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center and Senior Commander of the Hohenfels Military Community, Hohenfels, Germany; Commander of Task Force Duke, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, and Forward Operating Base Fenty, Afghanistan; and Commander of the Polar Bears, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, Fort Drum, New York, with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

#15 - COL (ret) John Spiszer - US Army Infantry Officer with 30 years of service (and my first Brigade Commander) May 15, 2018

Show notes

COL (ret) John Spiszer is the Chief of Staff for US Army Japan at Camp Zama, Japan. COL Spiszer retired in 2014 with 30 years of service to the United States Army.

#14 - CPT Bobbie Ragsdale - US Army Armor Officer and Harvard Kennedy School Graduate May 08, 2018

Show notes

Captain Bobbie Ragsdale is an armor officer in the US Army and served in the 10th Mountain Division, deploying to Baghdad, Iraq as a Scout Platoon Leader. At the deployment’s completion in 2009, he returned to Ft. Polk where he served as a Troop Executive Officer and Assistant Operations Officer before deploying again to Wardak, Afghanistan in 2010. While in Afghanistan, he served simultaneously as TF Slugger’s Information Operations Officer, Civil-Military Operations Officer, and lead non-lethal planner. He led Regional Command (East)’s Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program in Wardak Province. CPT Ragsdale was then assigned to the Joint Readiness Training Center as a Platoon Observer Coach Trainer and Troop Commander. He completed his Master in Public Administration degree at Harvard’s Kennedy School in May, 2016. He is currently assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi as a company senior observer, coach, trainer with First Army.

#13 - CPT Bobbie Ragsdale - US Army Armor Officer and Harvard Kennedy School Graduate May 04, 2018

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