Tactical Tangents

179: The Boogeyman of Coeur d'Alene – The Crimes of Joseph Duncan Feb 15, 2025

We delve into the horrifying crimes of a convicted serial predator whose reign of terror culminated in the brutal murders of the Groene family in 2005. We’ll explore Duncan’s dark past and the stalking and execution-style killings that led to the abduction of Shasta and Dylan Groene. We talk about managing our consumption of evil things in the world, the impact that has on our parenting, and we unravel how media efforts helped bring one of the most dangerous offenders in U.S. history to justice.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

Title: "Understanding the Use of Force: Rules, Reasonableness, and Critical Thinking" Summary: In this thought-provoking episode, Mike and Jim dive deep into the complexities of use-of-force decision-making, particularly as it applies to law enforcement. They explore the rules, policies, and legal frameworks governing police actions, including key court cases like Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner. With a focus on understanding the concept of “reasonableness,” they unpack how these principles apply not just to officers, but also to civilians and military personnel navigating related situations. Through this discussion, Mike and Jim examine the challenges of balancing split-second decisions with the need for critical thinking, training, and adherence to policy. They touch on how models like the Critical Decision-Making Model (CDM) and Integrated Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) are shaping modern law enforcement training, while also addressing the limits of these frameworks. This episode encourages professionals and everyday listeners alike to critically evaluate their understanding of use-of-force dynamics. From self-defense considerations to understanding the role of government and the judiciary in defining boundaries, Mike and Jim aim to elevate the conversation while emphasizing the importance of informed discussion and reflection.

178: “Be Curious, Not Judgmental.” How to Deal with a Big Ego Feb 01, 2025

Cops, military folks, pilots, medical professionals have some things in common. One of the BIG commonalities is a collection of BIG egos. Mike & Jim will walk us through how to navigate those egos to create a tactical advantage in a high performing team.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

Photo Credit: DVIDS

177: Bad Advice Jan 15, 2025

Should your sister carry wasp or bear spray if she feels threatened by a human? Should you trust that dude behind the gun counter at your local gun shop because he's got a sweet beard? Mike and Jim explore your options and how to sort good advice from bad advice.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

176: Read the Room - Who is Leading You? Jan 01, 2025

Most leadership and management training has a top-down approach, but real human interaction involves influence in all directions - especially during a negotiation or confrontation. Mike and Jim discuss how to recognize when the other party is trying to influence or manipulate you, and how to lead your way through a tense situation. This is the essence of de-escalation and conflict management.

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman - https://amzn.to/4gLj8Na

Goleman’s 5 Elements of EQ - https://www.accipio.com/eleadership/personal-effectiveness/golemans-5-elements-of-eq/

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

Photo credit: DVIDS

175: The Last Traffic Stop: Kyle Dinkheller’s Story Dec 15, 2024

This episode examines the tragic 1998 murder of Deputy Kyle Dinkheller, a young Georgia sheriff's deputy killed during a routine traffic stop. Using dashcam footage, we recount the chilling escalation of the encounter, explore the decision-making and mindset to reconcile deadly force and delve into the lessons this event teaches about officer safety, de-escalation, and situational awareness.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

174: De-Escalate? Escalate? When can you taser them? Dec 01, 2024

Mike & Jim explore what the law enforcement use of force continuum is and what it means. They also talk about how to apply lessons from policing toward personal defense and even the military.

Conflict Management, De-Escalation, and Reasonableness are universal.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

173: Dancing With Exotic Weapons Nov 15, 2024

Mike and Jim discuss how to handle CBRN- Chem, Bio, Rad, Nuke threats and how to set your preparedness to the current threat landscape with synthetic bio-terror weapons on the rise.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

172: Making Worthwhile Exercises Nov 01, 2024

A lot of training exercises and drills can be a waste of time. Mike and Jim explore ways to improve military readiness, disaster preparedness, and school safety by making better training events.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

171: Sticks and Stones: Survival Skills 101 Oct 15, 2024

We take it out to the woods with how to build a fire, 7-step Checklist for Land Navigation, knots, PACE planning, forging resilience and a positive mental attitude, and more in this disaster prep, end-of-the-world, stuck-on-a-deserted-island overview of basic field craft and considerations for packing and planning.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

170: “Time is on our side right now…” -Uvalde School District Police Chief Oct 01, 2024

“Help!” “Help!” “Help!” “I don’t want to die. My teacher is dead.” “One of my teachers is still alive but shot.” “Officer!” “Officer!” “Are they [officers] in the building?” “There is a lot of dead bodies.”

These were the words of nine- and ten-year-old children at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, during a call with 911. We try to take a balanced approach between the real challenges first responders take and the tragic reality of this event. We hope you learn from it.

Show links:

DOJ Report: https://bit.ly/3zDqtOK ALERRT Report: https://bit.ly/4gGGAf9 TX State Report: https://bit.ly/3XJJ7wj

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

169: What a Wreck: Scene Size Up Sep 16, 2024

Car accidents are something that are likely to touch all of us in some way or another, whether we are involved in one or manage them professionally as first responders. Not only are they exceptionally common, sometimes they are also challenging to manage well. We talk about some of the competing priorities and offer some ideas to get the emergency response to a traffic collision off to a good start.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

168: Sniper in the Tower: 1966 Austin Clock Tower Shooting Sep 01, 2024

Back in the 1960s a former Marine took the high ground in one of the first and deadliest school shootings in American history. This watershed event was part of the discussion that brought the idea of a SWAT team to the national stage and arguably brought momentum to what some now consider to be the militarization of the police. We talk about counter-ambush tactics, cover or suppressive fire in law enforcement, tactical medicine, and more.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/university-of-texas-tower-shooting-1966

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/09/03/ut-tower-shooting-claims-one-more-life/10008498007/

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

167: Calling Bull$h!#: Responding to Swatting Hoaxes Aug 15, 2024

No one should die over a false report. Internet gamers, celebrities and public figures, and maybe even one of your neighbors have been the victim of this sort of prank. These hoax emergency calls that can lead to an exaggerated police response are becoming more common, so we discuss strategies to make sure we tailor our response appropriately and keep everyone safe.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

166: Run the Clock: Time, Talk, Tear Gas, Tactics Aug 01, 2024

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Downs v. United States was a benchmark case for domestic law enforcement that establishes our requirement to attempt negotiations for a peaceful resolution. We define a hostage situation and talk about strategies to manage them in contrast to active killer and barricaded criminals.

Downs v US (6th Circuit Court of Appeals) - https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/382/713/2596989/

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

165: Separating the Wanna-Bes from the Gonna-Bes: Motivation, Grit, and Discipline Jul 15, 2024

Your Recipe for Success looks something like equal parts of three things. Motivation, the spark and desire. Discipline, your habits and structure. And Grit, your capacity to overcome challenges, adjust, and perservere. Mike shares some of the research that’s been done on these topics and ways you can integrate them to get your closer to where ever you want to be.

Links: Randy Pausch "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo Atomic Habits by James Clear https://amzn.to/3LmLPSD (Excerpt here: https://jamesclear.com/marginal-gainshttps://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains) Carol Dweck TED Talk - https://youtu.be/_X0mgOOSpLU Grit by Angela Duckworth - https://amzn.to/4bHxtY2 Angela Duckworth TED Talk - https://youtu.be/H14bBuluwB8 Mindset by Carol Dweck - https://amzn.to/3LlWZHg The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin - https://amzn.to/466p5Qy Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin - https://amzn.to/4667I2r

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

164: Power Lines and Wildfires 2023 Maui Disaster Jul 01, 2024

Over 100 people were killed, more than 2,000 structures destroyed, and over $5 billion in damage were left behind after wind and fire tore through the historic Lahaina district and adjacent areas in Maui, Hawaii. We dive into some of the public safety and disaster planning takeaways from this event including evacuations, notifications, misinformation, planning, and risk.

FEMA After Action Report: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/blog/preliminary-after-action-report-2023-maui-wildfire/

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

Photo credit: FEMA

163: Strategy for Door Kickers Jun 15, 2024

Is “strategic” the size of the bomb you drop, the scale of the map you use, or way you play Monopoly? In this episode, Mike and Jim turn Sun Tzu’s fortune cookie sayings into operational reality. We work through how we can win fights all over Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam and still lose. We also cover strategies for winning against Active Shooters and the Chinese Communist Party.

New Rules of War by Sean McFate - https://amzn.to/4bYaGrT Little Book on Big Strategy - https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/723/ Amatuers Study Tactics - https://www.strategynotes.co/p/the-nonsense-of-amateurs-study-tactics How to Win in Anbar by CPT Travis Patriquin - https://abcnews.go.com/images/US/how_to_win_in_anbar_v4.pdf The Strategic Corporal by Gen Krulak - https://www.mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/1999-Jan-The-strategic-corporal-Leadership-in-the-three-block-war.pdf On Strategy: A Primer by Nathan Finney - https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/on-strategy-a-primer.pdf Strategy: Context and Adaptation from Archidamus to Airpower (Transforming War) - https://amzn.to/3KOdprC

Adaptive Leadership Handbook - Law Enforcement & Security: Innovative Ways to Teach and Develop Your People by Lt Fred Leland - https://amzn.to/3z2vzDx

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

162: Ordering Troops to their Deaths Jun 01, 2024

Is the American military prepared for the sacrifices that we can expect in a World War? Mike and Jim discuss whether commanders can lead and whether the troops will follow when it comes time to storm the beaches knowing many will not return.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

161: Tactical ADHD: Managing Attention May 15, 2024

Situational awareness demands focus and selective attention. Sometimes playing on your phone can help, and sometimes it can kill you. Most people can’t multitask as well as they think, but Mike and Jim will give you strategies to outmatch your enemy and avoid becoming a LUMP.

FAA Task Management White Paper: https://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/tc17-16.pdf Aviation Week article on Compartmentalization: https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/safety-ops-regulation/compartmentalization-focus-flight-part-1 Wiki Page Eastern Flight 401: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_401 The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons: https://amzn.to/3WK6maK The Invisible Gorilla video: https://youtu.be/vJG698U2Mvo

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangent. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

160: Lights in the Sky: Aliens or Drones? Jim Spills the Beans on UFOs May 01, 2024

Just because it's not aliens doesn't mean we can ignore it. Let's develop a comprehensive air defense and counter drone plan in the wake of Ukraine, Syria, and Gaza. We investigate Unidentified Flying Objects, UAVs, aliens, killer drones, spy satellites, Chinese balloons, and Foo Fighters.

UAP Task Force : https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2314065/establishment-of-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-task-force/

Intelligence Community Report : https://www.intelligence.gov/index.php/publics-daily-brief/public-s-daily-brief-articles/1077-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-preliminary-intelligence-assessment

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangent. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

159: What’s up with the beards? Setting and Enforcing Standards Apr 15, 2024

Green Berets have to work with a different rule book than the troops guarding nuclear weapons—and for good reasons. We explore the balance between strict adherence to rules and the often necessary flexibility to go off-script in tactical operations and your organization’s culture.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

158: “Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers Apr 01, 2024

In October 2002, a 17 and 41 year old carried out a series of serial murders, killing 10 and wounding 3 others in what were described as random attacks against people doing every day tasks like pumping gas and mowing their lawn. We cover lessons from this large scale, multi-agency investigation with takeaways for individual cops and police leaders related to public relations, investigative rigor, and interagency cooperation.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

157: Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion Mar 15, 2024

There are over 18,000 police Chiefs and Sheriffs in the United States, and every one of them has their own version of what right and wrong looks like. But unless they plan on showing up at every traffic stop, they are going to have to trust that their Officers and Deputies on the front lines are doing the best they can.

Empowering law enforcement officers with discretion to use their best judgment is a necessary part of policing, but there are some serious gotchas that we have to watch out for to maintain that responsibility and the trust of the people we serve.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

156: I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility Mar 01, 2024

Erica is the founder of TacMobility, a wellness training company and online resource with a ton of free material for public safety. TacMobility is implementing a blend of mobility training and mental health support by working its way past the tough “sheepdog” exterior.

Through eye-opening surveys, TacMobility highlights the not-so-funny truths about depression and the dusty corners where wellness programs sit unused. Advocating for a mix of low-effort, big-impact wellness habits, TacMobility proves you can indeed teach old dogs new tricks and balance the badge with a bit of brain and body harmony.

Check out more from Erica at https://tacmobility.org.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

155: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say Feb 15, 2024

Here’s the thing about plane crashes: We all die at the same time. Inefficient and ambiguous communication has serious tactical implications when managing a crisis as a team. Sometimes, we water down what we need to say because we don’t want to step on toes or piss anyone off, especially when talking to authority figures. This is called mitigated speech, and it is something leaders and team members need to be aware of when it comes to problem solving and decision making in groups.

Episode 48: https://www.tacticaltangents.com/podcast/piloterror/

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell: https://amzn.to/3OGjY20

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

154: Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present Feb 01, 2024

For some reason there are a lot of people out there who still feel like putting an optic on your pistol isn’t reliable or practical, and our handsome hand model in the photo John Correia calls those people the Gun Amish. We agree with that title, because it’s 2024 and pistol mounted optics are a game changer. Mike and Jim talk about some of the challenges switching to a red dot sight on a handgun and some tips on how to overcome them.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

153: Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new Jan 15, 2024

There is an art and science to learning a new skill. Whether you are picking up new hobbies and trying to improve performance at essential job tasks, there are some tricks and concepts to understand to break plateaus and keep training fun. We cover crawl walk run, the balance between simple and technical, developing a growth mindset, and embracing the suck.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

152: Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork Jan 01, 2024

We say that we should put Service before Self, but it's more than just a mantra. Where the rubber meets the road is all in how we develop implicit trust among teammates so that we know where each other is going to be and what they are going to do when the going gets tough. We can accomplish this with the intentional application of Standards, Contracts, and good Debriefs.

It's one thing that we all get along, but real trust isn't something that can be assumed as a given--we've got to earn it. Building trust in teams has a lot to do with the often unwritten social contracts that help us get on the same page about our roles and responsibilities. We have to know that everyone is going to put the mission before their own personal interests to really build harmony and a combined effort that is greater than than the sum of its individual parts.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

151: All's Well...If We Make it Well Dec 15, 2023

Wellness isn’t just a soft and fuzzy term bandied about in the Human Resources department. Healthier, happier employees perform better, and in professions where the rubber meets the road, wellness is tactical. The trite concept of Work/Life balance isn’t so trite when lives are on the line. How do you keep yourself all happy and centered and still put in the grind to do the work? Listen to this episode to hear some ideas.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

150: Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft Dec 01, 2023

When drafting players for your fantasy sportsball team, stats provide an easy benchmark. Just pick the ones with the most home runs, passing yards, and the highest free-throw percentage. It’s a little harder selecting people for your real-life tactical team, but having a similar checklist in mind helps. In this episode Jim and Mike talk about what to look for. Having a good selection procedure is important for getting the right members on a team. Mike steals a page from advertising, only where an ad man conceptualizes the ideal customer, he’s looking for the ideal SWAT guy. The process could work for any team selection, though. Just think about what the ideal candidate would say, think, do, or feel, and look for those people. Listen to this episode for ideas on how to do just that.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

Like what we’re doing? Head over to Patreon and give us a buck for each new episode. You can also make a one-time contribution at GoFundMe.

Intro music credit Bensound.com

149: A Good Commander Knows What to Control Nov 15, 2023

No team in law enforcement is composed of robotic textbook-following automatons, nor would we want it to be, if we’ve ever found ourselves at 2MPH over the limit. But when a worst-case incident unfolds, we want every first responder to make the right decision at the speed of life, because in those incidents seconds often equal victims. How can we raise the lowest common denominator, so our people make the right decisions quickly without rushing to failure?

In this episode Mike and Jim talk about command and control, and teaching decision-making skills to team members. In this way, when everything hits the fan, the right decisions get made fast, and get made at the right level. There’s a reason for supervisors, commanders, and leaders, but it’s important to know when to let subordinates make decisions. Not every incident is The Big One, but nobody’s ready for The Big One if they haven’t been taught in the small ones.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

148: Sleeping for Success Nov 01, 2023

The downsides of sleep deprivation are legion: irritability, poor judgment, even lowered testosterone. Yet the duties of the .mil and LE career fields are well known for demanding odd and/or long hours that can make it hard to get good sleep. Mike talks with Dr. Paul Sargent of O2X, a specialist in human performances and sleep factors, in how to get the good shut-eye.

Dr. Sargent retired from a 25 year Navy career that included such exotic postings as being the only psychiatrist in Anbar Province, where he helped stand up the Combat Sleep School. How to maximize healthy sleep hygiene without using drugs that might blunt the tactical edge is his specialty, and in this episode he talks with Mike about the best way we can adapt modern life schedules to bodies that have ancient sleep needs.

Links:

J. Bryan Sexton: 3 Good Things - https://youtu.be/OYMQYhey08w

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

147: Finding the Bomber Oct 15, 2023

In the spring of 2018, the city of Austin, Texas was rocked by a string of package bombs, five in all, that killed two and injured five. The story of how local and federal agencies tracked down the perpetrator is almost all open source and a great illustration of how these investigations proceed. Listen to Jim and Mike tell the tale in this episode!

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

146: Put Me In, Coach! Oct 01, 2023

Do you know what every great slugger in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown had in common? They all had hitting coaches. Today we have an abundance of riches in the form of internet videos to teach almost any skill, but at some point most everyone will benefit from the feedback of a skilled coach. In this episode Mike and Jim explore the value of coaching in skill building and team leadership. Whether its an athlete of the conventional sports kind or the tactical variety found on a SWAT team or military base, there’s a tremendous value to be gained from a good coach. How can you spot a good coach? More importantly, what are the indicators of a bad one? How can you be a good coach for the people who look up to you? Listen in and find out!

Links:

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey - https://amzn.to/463pWQZ

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle - https://amzn.to/46qviWA

The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin - https://amzn.to/3RAEP93

With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham - https://amzn.to/3RzwEtC

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

145: Both Sides of the Door - Breonna Taylor and Bad Outcomes Sep 15, 2023

In the world of ugly warrant execution, there are a lot of bad scenarios that have happened with lessons to be learned for people on both sides of the door. In this episode, Mike & Jim break down a notorious recent incident: The 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor during a narcotics warrant service in Louisville, Kentucky.

While it’s about the Breonna Taylor incident, we’re focusing on the tactical issues surrounding the actual warrant service that night, not the plethora of issues that led to it. Risk is always involved in serving a warrant, so how can it best be mitigated for all involved? Remember that having a warrant doesn’t make you any smarter or tactically proficient. The court just gave you permission; the skill department is all on you.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

144 : The Real Burdens of Everyday Carry Sep 01, 2023

If you’re a habitual firearms toter, how do you carry to and from places where you can’t carry? Do you? What if it’s someplace where there’s no provision for securing it at your destination? Whether going to and from the neighborhood BJJ gym or visiting a military base, this can be a real dilemma for the carrier. In this episode, Jim and Mike take a hard look at solutions.

One of our favorite topics at Tactical Tangents is realistic risk management, and this applies in the personal world as well as the operational one. While “EDC” has turned into a marketing term for everything from watches to para cord bracelets, what do you really carry every day. Listen to this episode for a deep dive into the topic. Remember, millions of people go unstrapped yet remain unclapped every day.

Photo credit: Tam at "View From The Porch”, Booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

143: Problem Solving As A Team Sport Aug 15, 2023

In the pop-culture tactical world today it’s common to see Col. Boyd’s Decision Cycle, the famed “OODA Loop”, applied to individuals and their actions, but indeed it has its origins as an institutional concept. If you need to solve problems as a team, or even an institution, it’s important to know how it applies to group tactics and operations. In this episode Mike and Jim dive into just that. Institutional knowledge and memory are what gets used to solve problems, and that’s why it’s important for an organization to select compulsive problem-solvers as members. Everyone is going to bring their own viewpoint based on their specialty, but it’s important for them to know when the problem is outside of their specialty, as well as how they can contribute when it’s time to get…unconventional. Tune in to learn how to teach your team the difference.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

142: Making Sure the Kids are Alright Aug 01, 2023

In any organization it’s almost a tradition to turn and look at the people coming up through the ranks behind you and bemoan how much better things were in the Good Old Days. Of course, things were better then because the people who had come up through the ranks before you helped mentor you into effective operators. In this episode, Jim and Mike talk about how you can pass that mentoring on. It’s important to feel responsibility for, not just the organization, but also for the people who make it up. Those people include the newest noobs, and if you want to help the organization be effective, mentoring those recruits is essential. Mike and Jim are here to tell you that mentorship isn’t a thing that can be established in an org chart, but has to grow organically, and in this episode, they’ll tell you how you can foster mentoring in a place where it can’t be foisted.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

141: Having Public Affairs Without Screwing Up Jul 15, 2023

Mike reminds us that “Responsibility to the Community” is not just a slogan on a squad car door in this episode, where he and Jim talk about the necessity of keeping the public informed in a manner that is both helpful to the public and not harmful to ongoing investigations. ”Public Affairs” is more than just a job title, and requires keeping in mind the emotions that surround complex situations. In a job where having to come to terms with the possibility of inflicting lawful violence, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that most normal people haven’t had those conversations with themselves. Avoiding dehumanizing statements or flippant “FAFO” statements is crucial to effective community relations. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss the balance between keeping the public informed and protecting information that actually needs protecting for civil or criminal reasons.

Links: The Elements of Style By William Strunk Jr and E.B. White - https://amzn.to/3rnuWkg

The Five Languages of Apology by Gary Chapman and Jennifer M Thomas - https://amzn.to/3NLqrY1

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

140: The Case of "The Mission v. The People" Jul 01, 2023

In dangerous career fields like the military or law enforcement, there’s an unavoidable tension of priorities between the mission and the safety of the people on the team who need to accomplish it. It’s one thing to say you put your people first, but if it was a safe job, they wouldn’t issue body armor. In today’s episode, Mike and Jim demonstrate the ways this can be a false dichotomy and how to keep everyone on the team on the same page.

It’s important to take care of your people because you can’t do the mission without them, but if the mission doesn’t get done because of an excess of caution, there’s no point in any of y’all being there in the first place. A conundrum, truly! This episode looks at ways to manage the expectations of team members by bringing them up to speed as they come on board, and other considerations to take when (here’s that word again) managing highly motivated people.

Links:

Scouting, For Boys by Rabert Baden Powell - https://amzn.to/43CsVPb

Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic by Scott Gottlieb - https://amzn.to/43yfkIS

The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions by Hasard Lee - https://amzn.to/45Z2u7Q

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

139: We Don't Like Bombs, The Bombs That Go Boom Jun 16, 2023

Bombs are scary. You can’t shoot back at an explosion or talk it into surrendering or leaving you alone. But you can learn ways to spot the bad guy’s device before it does its thing. In today’s episode, Jim and Mike delve into some basics of the hows, whys, and wheres of improvised explosive devices to help you develop a risk picture based on likelihood and severity.

Just like there are certain weather conditions that are likely to breed hurricanes or other severe storms, we’re currently experiencing social weather, both globally and at home, that’s creating favorable conditions for bombers. There are enough angry people, with enough information, and ample opportunity to make things explode. Tune in for some info on what to look for. (Hint: It’s not a bundle of red sticks taped to an alarm clock with an “ACME” label.)

Links:

The Bombs, Bombers, and Bombings of Los Angeles by Michael Digby - https://amzn.to/3J7ROKn

Greenwhich Village Townhouse Explosion - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Village_townhouse_explosion

October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2018_United_States_mail_bombing_attempts

Bath School disaster - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

Harvey's Casino Bombing - https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-harveys-casino-bomb/view

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

138: Your Candle Only Has Two Ends Jun 01, 2023

High-stress jobs, such as those in the military or law enforcement fields, tend to attract mission-oriented people, dedicated to the team and the public, who thrive on stress. Well, plants thrive on water, too, but you can still wind up drowning them with too much of it. In today’s episode, Jim and Mike look at job-related burnout, its negative effects on the team, and how to mitigate or avoid it.

In any tight-knit organization, attitudes are contagious, and that goes double for lousy ones. It’s common for the word of hard-chargers attracted to “tactical” work to brag about the amount of time they put in, for example, the number of hours worked, and treat it as a benchmark. But the more the workload piles up, the more easily frustrated you get, and that can feed the bad attitude spiral. Listen in as we talk about ways to reduce work-related fatigue and maintain a healthy work/life balance…tactically.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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137: Most Danger Doesn't Come From Strangers May 15, 2023

Part of our mission here at Tactical Tangents is to overcome the “tactical fantasy”, and in this episode, Mike and Jim talk about avoiding one of the most pernicious ones. It’s easy in a world full of tacticool training classes to get focused on the sort of threats to ourselves and loved ones that jump out of the bushes and can be thwarted with kinetic skills when the truth is you probably already know the person you’re most likely to have to pepper spray.

The statistical fact of the matter is that most victimization comes from people who look like us and are already in our social circles. That’s extra true about sex crimes, and super extra true about sex crimes against children. Tune in as we discuss teaching ourselves, loved ones, and especially our kids about understanding social norms, establishing boundaries, and the importance of informing someone in authority.

Links:

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): Grooming: Know the Warning Signs McMartin Pre-School Trial They Must Be Monsters: A Modern-Day Witch Hunt

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

136 The Bear, The Dragon, and You May 01, 2023

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be over (for now) but that doesn’t leave us in a world without conflict. While we were hip-deep in the Global War on Terror, major great power competitors have been nursing grievances and feeling rising ambitions and opportunities. In this episode, Jim takes a detailed look at the state of play with respect to Russia and China, and how that could affect the US as a nation, and us as individual citizens.

While neither of our great power opponents would benefit from a shooting war with the United States at this point in time, Jim points out that they are both conducting war by other means; the struggles are already underway. Whether by economic means, attempts to control raw material sources, or meddling with public opinion via social media channels, it’s important to be aware of these methods. Listen to this episode to have it all laid out.

Links: War Without Rules by Robert Spalding War with Russia by Sr Richard Shirreff US National Security Strategy

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

135: Operationally Supporting Supporters Who Operate Apr 15, 2023

In both the military and law enforcement universes, there’s often an understandable amount of friction between the people out where the action is and those who help them get there and support them in their work. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss ways to smooth cooperation between the people behind the scenes and the officer on the street or the pilot in the seat. When you really think about it, everybody’s supporting somebody and nobody’s completing the mission alone. Learning to distinguish between your “boss” and your “customer” can help you focus on operational success whether you’re the one calling in the air support, flying the plane, or keeping the plane flyable. As the saying goes, the chicken is involved in breakfast while the pig is committed…but breakfast ain’t happening without both doing their jobs.

Links:

Randy Pausch Achieving Childhood Dreams

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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134: Dangerous Driving Apr 01, 2023

In a cool tactical podcast, everybody wants to talk about a gunfight and nobody wants to talk about getting t-boned in an intersection on the way to the gunfight. This episode features Mike & Jim, who’ve bent enough fenders between them to have some advice to offer, talking about the realities of driving. Whether you’re driving the government’s vehicle or your own private citizen chariot, realistic Operational Risk Management applies behind the wheel too.

Not only does viewing driving from an Operational Risk Management standpoint apply to doing the high-speed stuff while sawing at the wheel to keep it between the ditches while running code, it entails a lot more aspects. How do you manage your driving to take into account the possibility of road rage from other motorists? Do you stay on top of vehicle maintenance in order to keep from getting stranded in a desert or a blizzard…or stuck on the side of the road and having to deal with whatever sketchy weirdo stops to “help”? Listen in as these topics and more are covered.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

133: There's Nothing "Friendly" about "Friendly Fire" Mar 15, 2023

The only thing more frightening than being shot at by your own team is finding out you just shot up your own team. The very idea of fratricide…aka “Blue-on-Blue” incidents…is scary, but being a professional means you can’t just be scared, you have to work on your skills and knowledge to counter the possibility of it happening to you or because of you. In this episode, Jim and Mike discuss just that.

Whether it’s a pair of USAF F-15’s mistaking American Blackhawks for Iraqi Hind gunships, a police officer not briefed to look for the undercover cop at the buy/bust, or a private citizen failing to positively identify an “intruder” and shooting a loved one, these are all preventable failures. We know that fog and friction make it harder to be aware of the environment and cause simple tasks to become more difficult, so how do we mitigate these factors and prevent “own goals”? Listen to this episode to find out.

Links:

Reading: A Chain of Events by Joan Piper

Vignettes: Tarnak Farm Incident Albuquerque undercover officer shot by LT: Police 1 Article - Update on Officer - YouTube Video NYPD Incident Providence Training Fatality Robin Sage Training Fatality

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132: You Can't Spell "Officer" without "Office" Mar 01, 2023

Offices come in a variety of shapes and guises, from a room with desks and whiteboards to the front seat of a squad car. In this solo episode, Jim sounds off on his favorite topic: Management is not a dirty word, to be shunned in favor of “leadership”. Rather, management is part of leadership. It’s the art & science of allocating and coordinating resources to meet a goal.

Jim wants to share with you several of the lessons on management he’s learned the hard way, such as when it’s time to lead less. If you’ve managed your team well, you can take some time you’d otherwise have to spend motivating them and instead spend it removing obstacles preventing your highly-motivated people from solving problems efficiently. After all, getting the right people in the right places with the right equipment and a realistic timeline is essential to leadership.

Links: Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

131: Ending the Threat, Reasonably Feb 15, 2023

Sometimes bad training passes down information that might once have been good, but garbles it. Take “Shooting to Stop the Threat”…please. This episode sees Mike and Jim discuss the nuances of using lethal force to reasonably end the capacity of an assailant to harm you. What exactly is incapacitation? What’s the difference between “shoot to kill” and to “stop”? Is intent magical? Listen to find out.

Incapacitating a threat by means of lethal force requires certain factors to be met in order to be considered reasonable, and it’s not a blank check. In the laws of war, there’s a difference between sailors boarding a small boat from a sinking ship because they’re out of the fight and marines climbing into small landing craft to get into the fight. In civilian self defense, each shot needs to be defensible, and that means reasonably explainable.

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Short Talk: Growing into Solving Problems Feb 11, 2023

For a person in a first responder line of work, being caught with an inadequate skill toolset in a critical incident can lead to the sort of feelings of helplessness that are a greased rail to PTSD-land. In this short episode, Mike talks through some ways to preemptively head off those bad feelings with good preparation.

Unlike the fixed mindset in which you’re dropped onto the planet as either Someone Who Can or Someone Who Can’t based on some immutable set of skills, a growth mindset is one in which you see yourself as an active participant, learning from each experience to better deal with the next one. Mike explains why one of these is not only better for dealing with the incident, but also dealing with the aftermath.

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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Short Talk: Spotting Zebras Feb 05, 2023

In a short episode inspired by a listener question, Mike dives into the art of noticing abnormalities. An EMT instructs his trainees to put every patient on the EKG, whether the complaint is cardiac related or not. Why? So that the trainee will develop a baseline of what normal cardiac activity looks like and will be able to spot the abnormal more easily in the future.

Humans are excellent at pattern recognition…if they’ve gathered enough data to establish a baseline. Whether it’s noticing an abnormal heart rhythm, an unusual response to a squad car parked at an interdiction checkpoint, or the activity leading up to an ambush in some far-off deployment, being aware of what’s normal and what’s not can be a crucial skill.

Link: Left of Bang by Patrick Van Horne

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

130: The Power of Professionalism Feb 01, 2023

What is a professional? The dictionary says, at its simplest, that it’s someone paid to perform a task, as opposed to an amateur. But there’s more to it than a paycheck. In this episode, Jim and Mike examine the characteristics of what we know as professionalism, and how they apply in the world of the tactical…well, professions. Professionals don’t choke when the chips are down.

There's a high expectation of professionalism in the military and law enforcement worlds, but what does that mean? It’s easy to mistake the basics of bearing and rule-following as learned in early training for professionalism, but Mike and Jim point out that the professional is trusted to understand the situation well enough to take ownership of it, and the competence and expertise to make the hard decisions.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

Short Talk: Accentuate the Positive Jan 22, 2023

Can you weaponize a positive mental outlook? In this short episode, Jim talks about positivity and optimism and how they can be cultivated and employed by leaders. When your job is basically to foresee and plan for worst-case scenarios, this can be a factor that is easy to overlook. Optimism can go beyond simplistic hooah moto slogans!

Positivity isn’t magic. You can’t optimism your way through a situation you aren’t ready for any more than you can mindset your way through a fight. Productive positivity, however, is never allowing yourself to say “this sucks” without adding “…and this is how I’m going to fix it.” Listen in as Jim offers his thoughts on a practical positive attitude.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

Short Talk: Go Touch Grass Jan 18, 2023

In this short episode, Jim talks about the benefits he finds in taking the time to get outdoors. If you’re listening to these podcasts, you’re probably a pretty outdoorsy person, but take the time to think of the benefits of outdoor recreation: Exercise, a chance to unwind the mind from the job, and yes, even just getting into the sunshine and absorbing some of that Vitamin D love from above.

While “self care” is a term with a bit of a woo-woo feel to it, it’s necessary for people in high stress jobs to take time to depressurize, and getting out in nature is a great way to do it. Jim takes the time on deployments to plan his hikes for when he gets home; what’s your outdoor stress release?

Links:

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

129: Managing Resourceful Humans Jan 15, 2023

While gear is expensive and important, humans are even more so. When you’ve found the people with the right aptitudes and trained them with the right skills, how do you keep them achieving up to their capabilities? Mike and Jim discuss thishugely important part of the leadership role. Talent management is more than just a buzzword, it’s a skill!P

Picking the human talent for your team and carefully developing them once they’re selected is a core element of leadership, and “management” is not a dirty word. Knowing the traits you need and attracting people with those traits is a foundational skill for any team leader. Keeping those people there and motivated is where the management comes in.

Links: Moneyball by Michael Lewis The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver

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128: You Have Questions, We Have Answers Jan 01, 2023

For the first episode of the New Year, Mike and Jim tap one of the podcast’s most important resources: You, the listeners! We asked the members of the Tactical Tangents Facebook Discussion Group for a list of questions, with the promise of podcast swag for the best one. (If you’re not in the group, get in there and join!)

What’s the best training for unsworn personnel to seek out to best enhance their safety on the job? How do you deal, as a leader, with that difficult team member who’s hard to motivate? These topics and many more get bandied about by Jim and Mike, using their experiences in the world outside the PowerPoint presentation.

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127: Getting the Band Together Dec 15, 2022

The A-Team couldn’t have pulled off a caper with four B.A. Baracuses , U2 never would have been a hit with four Bonos, and nine Legolases couldn’t have gotten the One Ring to Mordor. Putting together a good team is about more than just a mix of skills, though, and in this episode Jim and Mike talk about balancing personality types to build a team of winners.

Some people are daring and some are risk-averse. There are process people and results people. For every rebel, there’s an i-dotting, t-crossing rules follower. All these personality types can bring something to a team; this kind of diversity really is strength! Selecting opposites that compliment each other is a valuable leadership skill. Most important is the self-awareness of what you bring to your team, and who can back you up in your blind spot.

Links: Warnings Unheeded by Andy Brown

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126: The Inner Game of Thriving Dec 01, 2022

In this episode, Mike sits down for a discussion with Ross Hick. In addition to his career supervising violent felons as a Probation Surveillance Officer, Ross works as a trainer with Citizens Defense Research. One of his specialties is the psychology of critical incidents. There’s a lot of material out there on preparing for the fight, but Ross and Mike go on a deep dive about preparing for the aftermath.

Tactical skills and physical fitness can help survive the fight, but what about emotional fitness after the fight is over? In addition to common symptoms like sleep disruption and reliving the incident, high responders may find themselves in the uncomfortable position of feeling isolated and out of control afterward. In this episode Ross & Mike talk about therapy resources, the importance of finding meaning outside the job, and preventative care ahead of time for mental resilience in the wake of a critical incident.

Links:

Citizen Defense Research Sources of Power By Gary Klein The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey

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125: No Shi...Kidding, There I Was... Nov 16, 2022

Nobody wants to put on a show that’s all war stories. It sounds like you’re trying to fluff your resume and can bore others who’ve also been there and done that. Plus you don’t want to talk out of school. At the same time, there’s a lot of hard-won institutional knowledge that can come from those stories, especially the ones where Jim almost died. In this episode, Mike and Jim relax and let Jim share some of the lessons he’s learned from scaring himself half to death.

Hard landings, cockpit equipment malfunctions, fires, and near-miss almost midair collisions while in an inverted spin, these situations that were terrifying at the time can be humorous in retrospect as long as everyone lived. More importantly, they all offer the sort of lessons that can’t be learned from a PowerPoint presentation, only by things going badly wrong in real time. Jim’s here to pass his hard won lessons on to you. And watch out for pterodactyls!

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124: Symphony of Terror Nov 01, 2022

For all its chaos, the stereotypical active shooter situation is fairly straightforward: There’s a bad guy killing people, and the good guys need to close with him and stop him as quickly as possible. The events of November 2008 in the Indian city of Mumbai, however, showed us another, complex, kind of active shooter event and Mike takes a look at the takeaways from those fateful days.

The Mumbai incident, perpetrated by a squad of ten terrorists who had been through a rigorous selection and training process, introduced multiple novel problems worth considering. What happens when there are multiple shooters at different scenes simultaneously? When they have access to serious arms, including grenades, possibly provided by a foreign actor? When they use structure fires as a weapon? When they have outside command-and-control monitoring the news and communicating with the shooters via cell phone? These and other complications inherent in an attack like this are examined in this episode.

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123: A Scared Cop is a Dangerous Cop Oct 15, 2022

There are people who believe that inserting the police in a situation makes things worse. Are they right? In this solo episode from Mike, he looks at the perils of the “fear biter” and the negative effects of an unmanaged fight or flight response on decision making skills. Stress management is important, and it can’t be learned in a PowerPoint class.

The most notorious manifestation of this phenomenon is the “’Oh Sh*t!’ Bang”, where a scared or startled cop results in a lawful-but-awful shooting that might have been avoided by better stress management and more confidence in the officer’s physical skills. However, Mike also explains the many other places that the poorly managed limbic response can rear its ugly head: Bad communication in stressful situations, indecision or half-decisions that allow a developing situation to get much worse, and more.

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Mandalay Bay Mass Shooting Debrief w/ SWAT Commander & Patrol Sergeant Oct 01, 2022

America's largest mass killer attack revisited by retired LVMPD Lt. Will Huddler and Sgt. Ashton Packe, who share their accounts of the Route 91 Country Music Festival shooting with audio and video from the event. Lessons learned for first responders, patrol officers, tactical operators, and public safety commanders and leadership.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/mVfirxD7XYY

This bonus episode is brought to you exclusively by BRINC Drones www.brincdrones.com

122: Countering the Stalker Oct 01, 2022

Whether it’s a former significant other who just won’t accept the end of a relationship, or a semi-stranger from the internet who imagines a relationship where there never was one, dealing with a stalker can be a complex, stressful, and even dangerous problem. In this episode Jim and Mike take a deep dive into recognizing, countering, and ultimately prevailing against a problem stalker.

Stalking is a problem that often isn’t recognized until it’s well out of hand, and advice from friends and relatives is often limited to platitudes about restraining orders or buying a gun. Our hosts take a look at the nuts and bolts of the problem with an eye to strategy and the recognition that legal solutions can be frustratingly time consuming.

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121: Training: The Good, The Bad, & The Dangerous Sep 15, 2022

In a crossover episode of Tactical Tangents, Mike sits down with Danimal of The Thin Brewed Line to talk about setting up a training program to keep officers alive on the streets…and in the training environment. In a dangerous profession, the danger shouldn’t be coming from inside the program!

Inspired by a tragic story of another preventable training fatality, Mike and Dan go over what’s needed to build a training program that resists complacency and challenges officers with pressure tested scenarios while avoiding the dreaded mindset of “It can never happen here!” Training to be adaptable, getting buy-in for quality training from superiors, and building a sustainable program that can be passed on to the next generation are all covered in this wide-ranging discussion.

Links: Thin Brewed Line Podcast Filthy Pirate Coffee Training at the Speed of Life by Kenneth Murray

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120: The Big Ideas: What We're All About Sep 01, 2022

What are we doing here and why are we doing it? With an assist from Mike, Jim lays out the secret; the keys to the whole mission of Tactical Tangents. These are the key concepts to helping the Doers do things better in the tactical world, whether military, law enforcement, or general personal defense.

There are recurring concepts here at Tactical Tangents that are core to our mission, and this episode serves as a sort of Cliff’s Notes to lay them out for you, the listener. Understanding how innovation drives ideas, the importance of good decision-making, practicing and testing tactics and soft skills under pressure and the importance of repetition in building proficiency are covered, as well as the applicability of Boyd’s decision cycle from the strategic level down to that of personal tactics.

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119: Instant Expertise (Just Add Experience) Aug 15, 2022

It’s easy to find yourself thrust into a position where others regard you as an ”expert”, but what really constitutes expertise? Do you have it? Can it be acquired? When will you feel like you have it? (And why feeling like an expert should be a warning sign…) What makes an expert? Are you one? Do your friends or your employer consider you one? How does one go about seeking expertise? Relatedly, it’s a big and confusing internet out there and every day you are confronted with people who claim to be experts. Jim and Mike have some tips for separating the expert wheat from the poser chaff, especially when that purported expert is in the mirror.

Links:

Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin Research study How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer The Invisible Gorilla: How our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simmons From Beginner to Expert by Patricia Benner

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118: A War Waged Against Dallas PD Aug 01, 2022

A lone gunman killed 5 Dallas police officers and wounded several others in this 2016 attack following a series of contested officer involved shootings throughout the country. Lessons include ambush and counter-ambush tactics, the militarization of law enforcement, and a use of a bomb robot rigged with explosives to subdue the attacker.

Link: Fire and movement among the pillars YouTube video

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Short Talk: Safety Strategy: The Swiss Cheese Model Jul 19, 2022

In this short episode, Jim introduces the idea of layering safety and security to “trap errors” and mitigate the risk of human error. We want to help you do dangerous jobs safely.

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117: Teach Them Monsters Can Be Defeated: Rampage Murder Update Episode Jul 15, 2022

School Shootings seem to be on the rise, is gun control the answer? How many red flags does someone have to show before you intervene? Let’s look at the evidence and learn from the recent cases like Parkland and Uvalde. Links: A Study of the Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters in the US ALERRT Active Attack Data Why Meadow Died by Andrew Pollack and Max Eden

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116: Making the Right Call: Tactical Decision Making and Scene Command Jul 01, 2022

Mike & Jim work through the considerations a tactical commander has to account for to accelerate the decision making process, navigate risk, and ultimately encourage initiative and violence of action.

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Short Talk: What does it mean to "Be Safe?" Jun 23, 2022

Mike has a quick rant about when someone says "Be safe tonight!" What does that even mean?

Link: The "X" defined

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115: Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? Developing Telepathy in High Performing Teams Jun 15, 2022

People who have worked together long enough can almost read each other’s minds, and that sense of shared consciousness and implicit communication is the secret sauce to taking a team dynamic to the next level. Mike and Jim discuss group dynamics and ways to develop the bonds to take teamwork to the next level.

Links:

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War By Robert Coram The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman Shared Consciousness and High Performing Teams by Khe Hy:

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114: The Dorner Saga: A War Waged Against California Law Enforcement Jun 01, 2022

An ex-police officer went off the deep end and committed a series of ambushes as he sought revenge for alleged injustices that lead to his firing. Christopher Dorner declared "unconventional, asymmetric warfare" against LAPD and targeted police officers and their families, resulting in 4 murders and several other attempts. Dorner's story ended when Deputies cornered him in a cabin and set the place on fire with burning chemical munitions. Mike tells the story with some editorial on tactics and mis-steps of law enforcement along the way.

Warnings Unheeded by Andy Brown Dorner Wikipedia Article LA Times Series

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113: Gunmen Take 41 Hostages in an Electronics Store: The 1991 Good Guys Rescue May 15, 2022

Four refugees entered a “Good Guy” electronics store and took over 40 employees hostage. After hours of deteriorating crisis negotiations, a SWAT team conducted a dynamic hostage rescue. We cover the “doomed captives” concept, tactical considerations, and what went right and wrong.

YouTube Clip Wikipedia page Heads or Tails: A True Hostage Story of Terror, Torture and Ultimate Survival A Clear Shot - Movie

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Short Talk: Big Picture Lessons from Ukraine May 12, 2022

Jim gives us a quick review of the key tactical and strategic lessons coming out of Ukraine, including things like the role of tanks in modern conflict, drones and air power, and information warfare. Russia has been learning lots of lessons like: stay out of Ukraine!

Bayraktar Video

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112: Doing More with Less: Scaling Resources in Major Incidents, Training, and Leadership Development May 01, 2022

Whether you are trying to deliver consistent training to thousands of people or manage a major critical incident one thing is for certain: More is not always better. But a lot of tasks at major events are manpower intensive and we need to make the most of the available resources. This is a thought exercise especially for people who work in either really big or really small organizations who want to be able to scale up or down according to their needs, and who need to develop expertise in their front line troops and supervisors.

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111: Mike Willever of Active Self Protection, Host of the ASP Podcast Apr 15, 2022

Mike is a retired Special Agent from Homeland Security Investigations who also worked as a local cop back in the day. Now Mike hosts the ASP Podcast where he deep-dives critical self-defense encounters from both the civilian and public safety worlds. We compare and contrast federal and local law enforcement, and then we talk about some of the aggregate trends and lessons from the interviews he’s done since he started the podcast for Active Self Protection.

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110: Leadership Vol. 2: Your (Shitty) Attitude is Contagious Apr 01, 2022

There is more to leadership than rank or titles—and before you know it, you’re the guy or gal with just a few years on when you realize you’re not the rookie any more. We talk about capitalizing on good mentoring and working within your sphere of influence to build a foundation of resourcefulness that will keep you happy, your bosses happy, and set you up for success down the road and avoid toxic or cancerous working environments. This discussion builds on an earlier talk, available here: Volume 1

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Short Talk: Killing People—Don’t Beat Around the Bush Mar 24, 2022

A pet peeve of ours is when people talk about deadly force and say, “Do what you gotta do.” As instructors, using explicit language when teaching about lethal force is vital when there is a threshold that cannot be crossed. We have to help our students mentally prepare and morally reconcile lethal force so that they can be decisive when lives are at stake.

Check out our episode with Dr Blumberg here

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109: You can’t save them all: Dealing with mass casualty incidents Mar 15, 2022

The medical treatment for trauma patients doesn’t change just because there are a lot of them. Managing large scenes is fundamentally a logistics problem and requires leadership, teamwork, and communication. We discuss ways you can learn to deal with triage, incident command, and scene management that doesn’t involve fancy medicine or bigger kits.

SALT Mass Casualty Triage Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sherry Fink

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Short Talk: Less Lethal Training and Tools: Bridging the Gap Mar 11, 2022

In between a harsh word and hollow points we need a stepping stone of some kind; training or a tool for situations which lethal force isn't called for. Mike and Jim talk advantages and disadvantages of OC Spray, Taser, and other less lethal tools.

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108: “Don’t Shoot The Hostage:” How to deal with a person in crisis Mar 02, 2022

Mike and Jim condense a 40 hour week of crisis intervention training into an hour discussion about tactics, dos, and don’ts related to talking to and otherwise dealing with someone who is suicidal or in crisis.

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Short Talk: Innovation in the Gun Industry—Shiny Objects and the Fundamentals Feb 26, 2022

Fundamentals are final and the mission always drives the gear train, but the role of creativity still plays a huge role in the future of our industry and tactics. Imagine how much the game changed when night vision came out, or police officers got computers in their cars. It's easy to get distracted by the solutions out there that lack a problem to fix, but it's important to approach new ideas with an open mind because they might be one step closer to game changing technology.

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Short Talk: Bullet Accountability in Officer Involved Shootings Feb 21, 2022

Mike talks about the role of proficiency and stress management in prevent bad outcomes if we miss when we get in a shooting. We briefly touch on using deliberate practice and discipline to make sure we get it right, because you never know when that day will come.

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107: Should cops transport wounded Officers to the hospital in a police car, or wait for an ambulance? Feb 15, 2022

"It depends"

We explore the risks and benefits of a hasty transport instead of waiting for the medical professionals trained for this sort of thing. There are risks and benefits to this practice but it can be a life saving decision. Learn key considerations and other ways you can compress the timeline to definitive trauma care.

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106: Can't is not in her vocabulary: American Paralympic Shooter McKenna Geer Feb 01, 2022

McKenna Geer is a US Paralympic competitive shooter who brought home a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio games and also competed in Tokyo in 2020. McKenna talks about her upbringing and how her parents helped her become a national level competitor in spite of the disability she was born with, and talks us through coaching, training, and mindset.

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105: Gunfighting 101 for Law Enforcement: Summary of the 2019 Florida UPS Truck Shooting Jan 15, 2022

In 2019 there was a big shootout between cops and some armed robbery suspects who carjacked and kidnapped a UPS driver in Florida. Both suspects were killed, as well as the UPS driver and another motorist. Mike and Jim talk about gunfighting principles for cops, and how important it is to have discipline, team cohesion, and a plan when bullets start flying. Links: Wikipedia article YouTube Link 1 YouTube Link 2

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104: Most Gear is a Rip Off: A systematic approach to buying and testing equipment Jan 01, 2022

Mike and Jim work through some fundamentals on buying gear in a thoughtful way from a new pocket knife to a new stealth fighter. How to build a requirement, get funding, find a vendor, test a prototype, and manage the widget through its lifecycle.

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103: Do You Feel In Charge? Training a Working Dog Dec 15, 2021

Jim and Mike talk about what it means to work with a service dog, what distinguishes them from pets, how to select them, train them, and employ them. Mike also talks about different training methods and how some of them work in different ways. The principles of dog training go outside of just employing a dog in a working environment. A dog who follows simple commands will help keep your dog, and your family, safe and happy.

Links: The Power of Training Dogs with Markers (Clickers) The Groundwork to Establishing Pack Structure with Adult Dogs The Problem with All-Positive Dog Training Learning Concepts by R.S. Eden

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102: Man, We F***ked That Up - How to Handle the Debrief Dec 01, 2021

Mike and Jim explain how to capture lessons-learned from each mission and train from those lessons. We take a few ideas from the Blue Angels and address some factors in organizational behavior, culture, and operational planning as well.

Links: Glad To Be Here: Lessons in High Performance from the Blue Angels

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101: Training Champions - Maxing Performance from Baseball to Special Ops Nov 15, 2021

Major League Baseball, Stanford University, 10th Special Forces, and Los Angeles County Fire are just a few of the organizations Fernando Montes has served as an exercise physiologist and sports performance coach in some capacity. He currently works with firefighters, especially wildland crews and academy recruits. Mr. Montes talks to us about the mental side of training, heat acclimatization, hydration, supplementation, and more based on four decades of experience working with a broad range of tactical and professional athletes.

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100: Operation Eagle Claw: To You All, From Us All, For Having The Guts To Try Nov 01, 2021

A watershed event in the history of US Special Operations was the 1979 hostage rescue attempt at the embassy in Tehran, Iran. Known as Operations Eagle Claw, this failed mission and the tragedy at the Desert One landing site led to the formation of US SOCOM and pushed special operations into the next generation. The best way we can honor the hostages who remained in captivity and the service members who lost their lives is to draw some lessons learned and acknowledge their sacrifice for having "The Guts To Try." Links: The Holloway Commission Report The Guts to Try by James H. Kyle No Room for Error by John T. Carney Jr Delta Force by Charlie A. Beckwith

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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99: Safety Third: Making Training Awesome, but also Safe Oct 15, 2021

The best instructors know that fun and effective training takes careful planning and a lot of effort to get the details right. If you want to get buy in from your bosses to take all your innovative ideas and put them into practice, you need to make those events as safe as possible. That doesn’t mean eliminating every hazard, but it does mean being thoughtful and deliberate about which risks you are willing to accept. Mike talks us through the risk management process and some ideas to help you identify and address those hazards so that you can take your training to the next level.

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98: Fasting and Keto Diets with Ben Tanner: Is every day a cheat day? Oct 01, 2021

The founder of FastingWell.com talks about the differences between intermittent fasting and ketogenic diets and the health benefits of both. These dieting strategies are popular because they work and have a number of long term health benefits. Ben is a PA in Emergency Medicine and shares some hacks to show us how they are also compatible for the busy lifestyles of military and public safety crowds

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97: Micromanagers and Toxic Leadership: Do Less Sep 15, 2021

There are several approaches to leadership in the workplace, but it is important to remember that we are shaping the decision making of the people we lead. If we do all the work for them, we are setting them up to be paralyzed when help isn’t available. Here are some tips to avoid micromanaging your troops, and how to handle a boss who is a little too involved in your daily decision making.

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96: Injury Prevention and Rehab with Physical Therapist Allan Phillips Sep 01, 2021

Allan Phillips, AKA The Kettlebell Doc, is an author, Army Officer, and Physical Therapist. He also puts his money where his mouth is as a triathlete and marathon runner and he’s going to help us build on fitness without unnecessary time off. He shares his insight on injury prevention and rehab, running shoe selection, mobility, and more.

@TheKettleBellDoc on Instagram ; Website Yoga poses for Runners E-Book

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95: Domestic Violence: Be Part of the Solution Aug 15, 2021

Jim Interviews Caroline Reynolds, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in domestic violence intervention. Caroline shares expert advice for police response, helping a victim, encouraging cooperation, and cooling down an argument before it escalates. We also discuss special messages for police and military families and leaders facing a domestic abuse case.

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94: Olive Branches and Off-Ramps: De-escalation "Training" 101 Aug 01, 2021

De-escalation shouldn’t mean accepting more risk. Here are some ways to extend an olive branch and give people a peaceful way out without sacrificing anyone’s safety. With adequate skill proficiency and good tactics to mitigate danger, we can create the physical and emotional space needed to think through these difficult problems. We have to be able to get past our egos and defense mechanisms to a place where we can safely engage community members with respect, and earn respect in return.

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BONUS INTERVIEW: Improve your shooting with Mantis Jul 21, 2021

The Mantis is a family of firearms training tools that work for live and dry fire. Learn how the Mantis gives feedback to shooters and instructors at all levels in this interview with Austin Allgaier. Mantis is a product that we really believe in and we encourage novice and advanced shooters alike to use the Mantis to take their firearms proficiency to the next level. Hear about ways it can help you in this bonus episode.

Find out more at MantisX.Com

Special thanks to Mantis for being a sponsor of the podcast!

93: Columbine: Notorious School Shooting, or a Failed Bombing? Jul 15, 2021

Two High School students carried out one of the most well-known but least understood rampage murders in 1999 that led to a paradigm shift in Active Shooter response in American Law Enforcement and public safety. One of the lesser known facts of this politically charged event was that the attackers carried 99 explosive devices into the school with them at the outset of this attack, and the ripple effect of lessons learned related to rampage murder tactics and doctrine are still being tweaked with today. There are critical messages to hear about this event for everyone to include teachers, parents, public safety personnel, and anyone serious about survival or self-defense.

Links: Sue Klebold TED Talk and Book Columbine By Dave Cullen The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley

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92: Inside the Ghetto Bird, Law Enforcement Aviation with Jeff Ratkovich Jul 01, 2021

The value of air support in law enforcement, EMS, and America's fighting forces cannot be understated. Hear about Jeff's journey in police and EMS aviation and ways you can prepare if you are aspiring to a career as a pilot in one of these demanding careers. We talk about ways the balcony-view in the sky can affect the outcome of critical incidents on the ground, some pursuit and medevac stories, and things senior leaders need to understand about commanding a specialized unit.

Links: Hangar Z Podcast

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91: Cops and Robbers: The 1986 FBI Miami Shootout Jun 15, 2021

FBI Agents Grogan and Dove tragically lost their lives in the infamous shootout in Miami between multiple FBI Agents and 2 bank robbers. The lessons learned, and technology that arose in the aftermath are still felt to this day 30+ years later. Jim and Mike are joined again by Vince and they discuss some of the incident and what changes law enforcement experienced as a result of this tragic shootout.

Links: Retired FBI Agent Ed Mirales book FBI Freedom of Information Act Release

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

90: Gunfight in Your Bedroom: Defending Your Home Jun 01, 2021

If you get in a gun fight in your bedroom, you're doing it wrong. Keeping bad guys out of your home and away from your family is a core task for anyone serious about defense. Mike and Jim talk us through how to layer your security to make sure you have the unfair advantage. Our article on Home Security

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89: "Tactical" Adulting: The Unclassified Secrets to Success May 15, 2021

Sometimes the skills you need to be a professional have less to do with your actual job and more to do with, well, everything else. Put money away for retirement. Have a backup plan. Have a healthy marriage and life at home. Get a hobby. Taking care of your own wellness and the people around you are what help you be a high-performer at work. All the knife hands and shooting drills in the world won’t help you be successful if you don’t show up to work in a state of mind that let’s you focus on all the cool stuff.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

88: Ryan Wyatt, Paramedic Extraordinaire May 01, 2021

Ryan Wyatt is a flight paramedic who has worked on air and ground ambulances, in a trauma center, and overseas. After time spent as a Navy Corpsman, Ryan also deployed to Iraq as a private military contractor flying on Littlebird helicopters doing medevac work. Hear about the time his Littlebird went down behind enemy lines and more.

Links: Talon Tactical Medicine

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87: Disinformation: Catch Manipulators Before They Kill You Apr 15, 2021

Countries, terrorist groups, and various shady actors have developed their information warfare capabilities into an effective weapon. They are counting on you to be a sucker - Jim & Mike will help calibrate your BS detector to keep them from wielding active influence measures against you.

Links: Active Measures by Thomas Rid Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

86: "Inspect What You Expect:" Pre-Deployment Checks and Inspections Apr 01, 2021

Admit it, people like us tend to be "tactical" hoarders. But if you want your gear to actually be functional when the time comes that you need to use it, you have to put hands on it from time to time. Make sure your screws are thread locked, check your zero on your optics, pack enough water and socks, etcetera. Like any TacTangents episode it's not just about your gear. This also has a lot to do with things like leadership, personal responsibility, and risk management.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

85: Bright Lights and Cold Steel Mar 15, 2021

Learning about emergency medical care is more complicated than knowing how to slap on a tourniquet and a chest seal. Understanding the importance of getting your patient to a trauma center ("Bright lights and cold steel") is a good first step in establishing priorities of work when minutes and seconds matter to a person who is seriously wounded. This episode is a starting point to help steer your training and treatment philosophy for trauma medicine. Listen now to learn more.

Links:

Deployed Medicine

Approved Tourniquets

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84: Training "Mindset" and False Assumptions, with Mike Pannone Mar 01, 2021

Mike Pannone of CTT Solutions spent years as a Recon Marine, Special Forces Soldier, and SFOD-D Operator. After losing an eye from a blast injury he medically retired and worked as a high-risk contractor overseas and now spends most of his time training people all over the world. "Noner" shares some pearls of wisdom related to mental conditioning, theories and assumptions in tactics, and skills competence.

Links: CTT Solutions

Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents. You can join the conversation in our Facebook Discussion Group. Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website www.tacticaltangents.com

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83: Terrain, the Unfair Advantage Feb 15, 2021

Jim explains how to analyze, exploit, and change the terrain you are fighting in to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent - whether in a parking lot or a battlefield. Walking you from Thermopylae to the Taiwan Straits to the engine block of your police car and the desks of your classroom, we help you assess and understand your operating environment.

Red Platoon by Clinton Romesha

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

82: Isaac Returns Home From Army Basic Training - What to expect Feb 01, 2021

One of our favorite and recurring guests, Isaac, just got back from Army Basic Training and shares some insights and stories that might help anyone getting ready to ship out as an enlisted soldier. This is a useful conversation if you want to know what to expect from Basic Training aka Army OSUT (One Station Unit Training). He is one step closer to his dream of becoming a Special Forces Soldier/Green Beret.

Past Issac Episodes: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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81: The Jon Benet Ramsey Murder Mystery Jan 15, 2021

In the mid-90s a little girl was reported to be kidnapped but was later found dead in the basement of her large, Boulder CO home. The case remains unsolved today, and several procedural errors on behalf of the officers and investigators who responded to the scene tainted our best chances to identify and prosecute Jon Benet's killer. Many believe the parents or her older brother were to blame. We may not ever know the truth. Mike and Jim give a synopsis and talk about some of the lessons.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

80: "I would just shoot him," and other imaginary outcomes Jan 01, 2021

Most of us have daydreamed, imagined, and rehearsed what certain survival or self-defense encounters will look like in our minds, so we are going to make fun of our younger-selves and shed some light on something we are all guilty of: The Tactical Fantasy. This episode is about making sure that we ground those fantasies in reality. This goes beyond truck guns and the Zombie Apocalypse, it also speaks to the OODA loop, tactics, risk management, and other important concepts. Mike and Jim walk through some practical steps to stage our equipment, preparedness, and mindset accordingly.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

79: The Millennium Bomber--How Professionalism Saved the Day Dec 15, 2020

A terror plot at the turn of the century was thwarted by the professionalism of CBP Agent Diana Dean. For those of us old enough to remember the Y2K drama, you might not have heard of the foiled plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport amidst New Year's celebrations for the year 2000. This Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack was halted in its tracks by a squared away Customs and Immigration Agent, who noted Ahmed Ressam's suspicious behavior and sent him to a secondary inspection. Mike and Jim share their overview and analysis of the event to help you stay vigilant as we approach the 20th anniversary of this success story. We also touch on pre-attack indicators, the radicalization process, and a defense and risk mitigation strategy called "The Swiss Cheese Model."

The Seattle Times: The Terrorist Within

Swiss Cheese Model (wikipedia)

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78: Wisdom from over 30 years in Special Operations Nov 30, 2020

Chief Master Sergeant Keaton shares some war stories with us, including the time he won the Pitsenbarger Award after saving the lives of 5 women and children who were used as human shields by an enemy force in Afghanistan. Along the way he illustrates some lessons learned and leadership pointers that he picked up while leading some of America's most elite operators throughout his 30 year career working in special operations as a PJ and reaching the highest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force.

Article about Chief Keaton's Pitsenbarger Award

"In the company of heroes:" Retirement announcement after 30 years of service

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

77: How to deal with Fog and Friction when things get sideways. Nov 15, 2020

Some of you might have experienced a crisis that was later described as a "Charlie Foxtrot," which is an acronym for the sort of situation known for being chaotic, overwhelming, and difficult to manage. Mike and Jim discuss the doctrinal definitions of fog and friction and talk about some coping strategies and training philosophies that will help you deal with these kinds of problems. This is not terribly different than managing stress, but often has to do more with groups than individuals. Listen to learn about ways to communicate and interact with your team and plan for when things get weird.

Aurora Colorado Shooting Police Radio Traffic

RAND Paper on Performance Under Stress

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Intro music credit Bensound.com Photo credit: Jorge Ortiz

76: Dr. Daniel Blumberg on the Moral Risks of Policing Nov 01, 2020

Dr. Daniel Blumberg is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor who has spent over 30 years working with several large law enforcement agencies in the realm of pre-employment screenings, management consulting, and services related to police officer wellness, ethics, and resilience. His research has shined a light on many of the moral risks that affect those of us in law enforcement: what they are, how they are related to critical incident stress, and what the implications are for police leaders and trainers. Mike's conversation with him is wide-ranging and covers things like organizational behavior and culture, leadership and management principles, integrity, and more.

POWER Institute Police Officer Wellness, Ethics & Resilience

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75: Cecil Burch on jiu jitsu and street fighting, when there are guns and knives and ninjas and sh*t Oct 15, 2020

How do the rules change when you go from sports to the street? What changes on the ground vs. standing up? How should you apply your nunchuck skills in the context of self-defense? Mike and Cecil talk about all things martial arts and how they fit in to street fighting in real life. He specializes in an interdisciplinary approach to entanglement and close-range fights where weapons - including your own - are in play.

Immediate Action Combatives

ShivWorks

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

74: Cold Weather Survival with Polar Explorer John Huston Oct 01, 2020

John Huston was one of the first Americans to successfully complete an unsupported expedition to the North Pole. His expertise in cold weather survival and expedition planning has led him to opportunities training Special Operations Forces and he uses his experience as public speaking and training curriculum related to high-performing teams, operational planning and risk management, leadership, teamwork, and more. As a bonus, John also works with Sled Dogs, which is just cool.

Find his book at JohnHuston.com

Training, Consulting, Expertise at skadigroup.com

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73: The Newhall Massacre: The day CHP lost 4 officers over 50 years ago. Sep 15, 2020

In April 1970, 4 California Highway Patrolmen were killed by two men after an armed road rage incident. Those men were career criminals in the planning stages of a robbery attempt who were heavily armed. This incident had a ripple effect for police agencies across the country that led to significant progress in the realm of firearms proficiency and officer safety. There are several lessons learned that remain relevant today. Mike gives us a synopsis of the shooting and provides some analysis for police officers today.

CHP Training Video

Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis

Articles by Michael Wood (1) (2) (3)

Article by Massad Ayoob

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72: Fight or Flight, Fear and Muscle Memory; with Neuroscientist Dr. Vivian Sep 01, 2020

While you don't need to deep dive all of the science here, you do need to understand the tactical implications of a fight or flight response as it relates to training, perception, memory, and attention. Mike and Vivian discuss muscle memory, building good habits, perceptual distortions, and ways to enhance our performance under stress.

Further reading on Perceptual Distortions in Lethal Force Encounters

RAND Paper on Enhancing Human Performance Under Stress

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

71: Principles of Warfare Aug 15, 2020

Jim breaks down some fundamentals for how to turn Sun Tzu into operational reality with the handy acronym MOSSMOUSE. This is useful in any sort of fight or conflict in which you want to use tactics and strategy instead of just brute force or power to fight your way through it. How can you apply it to your situation?

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

70: Officer Isaac has an announcement to make... From LE to ? Aug 01, 2020

We have been following our buddy Isaac's career into law enforcement and it turns out, he's got big news about where his career is headed. Hear what his plans are, what his favorite stories as a cop has been, and what advice he would give to someone new to the profession.

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69: Killing Grossman: Understanding On Combat and On Killing Jul 15, 2020

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a retired military psychology teacher who wrote the books On Combat and On Killing. They were some of the first attempts to help people understand the psychological experience of killing from the perspective the armed forces and survival-oriented crowds, but because they were such early works some of the theories don't hold up long-term. We discuss these issues and how the tactical telephone game and caricature views of violence through things like Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs can be problematic.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

68: It's Your Platoon: US Army Combat Engineering Lt. Dave Jul 01, 2020

Jim interviews Lt Dave from the US Army about his experiences as a young officer and what it means to lead troops and face off the Russians in Eastern Europe in the "new" Cold War. He talks about his relationship with senior NCOs, the differences between different commissioning sources, and how his job as a Combat Engineering Officer fits into the big picture for large scale combat operations.

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Intro music credit Bensound.com

67: How to think like a Tactician Jun 15, 2020

At Tactical Tangents, we talk a lot about "People Ideas Hardware" and how to apply that formula to making critical decisions in tactical situations. The point of this podcast is to help you, the "tactician," apply critical thinking and problem solving to things like shooting, driving, fighting, and other skills so you can overcome any survival situation you find yourself in. That might be a concealed carry/self-defense scenario, it could be tactical situations in law enforcement or the military, or how you approach disaster preparation. Whatever the situation, your job needs to be focused around these core principles so you can fight effectively and win.

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66: You can't handle the truth! What Police Officers Need To Know About Going to Court, and How Police and Prosecutors Can Restore Public Trust Jun 01, 2020

Chief Criminal Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Mosher (Pima County, Arizona) and Homicide Detective Josh Cheek share their lessons learned from taking serious violent offenders to trial and how police officers can be better witnesses. We also discuss the importance of establishing and retaining public trust by the way we investigate and prosecute crimes. Other Tangents include some commentary on the War on Drugs, the CSI effect, and considerations for arrest and charging decisions for law enforcement.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Win Your Case, by Gerry Spence

"The Lelevier Case:" Man murders his step-daughter

Tucson Police Officer shot in the head

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intro music credit bensound.com

65: First Steps In Fitness, For Those Who Don't Fitness Good May 15, 2020

This episode isn’t for hardcore fitness gurus, it’s for the people who realize they need to get up off the couch, watch what they eat, and take those first steps toward getting in shape. We wanted to address fitness from the beginning for those folks who don’t fitness good. These are the basic things you need to understand about losing weight and getting in shape. It starts with getting over the mental hurdles you put in your own way, and then setting manageable goals and expectations. Down the road, we’ll follow this up with more serious fitness talks but if you need a place to get started, start here.

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