ep 36: Top Secret Courage
In 1968, Chief Master Sergeant Richard "Dick Etchberger was part of a covert CIA and USAF team working out of a small radar site on a remote mountain in Laos called Lima Site 85. He was part of a highly-classified operation called "Project Heavy Green." At this time, Laos was a neutral country, so it…
ep 35: White Feather
He's the most famous sniper you’ve probably never heard of. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos N. Hathcock II was a Marine Scout Sniper who served two tours in Vietnam, first in 1966, and returning in 1969. Until the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq he held the record for the most confirmed kills in the United States…
ep 34: YOU’RE FIRED!
IN THE NEWS: You're fired!; Space Force deploys; Charlie Brown in TIME's 100; Training for the new Cold War; What's old is new again; Nellis leads the way; Army's new A.I., sorta, not really; Three big Army deployments! What could it mean?; Beetle Bailey turns 70; The Navy has a real pirate ship; Big new…
ep 33: Surviving COVID with The Fired-Up Chief
Chief Master Sergeant Juan Lewis served 28-years in the U.S. Air Force before retiring from active service. During his career, the former Services troop held many key billets on Joint Task Forces, NATO, and as the Wing Command Chief on several bases. He was given the moniker, the "Fired-Up Chief," by the Airmen he led…
ep 32: Fort Hoodlum w/ SFC Ron Barteau
The U.S. Army's Fort Hood is on track to have the biggest year yet in soldier deaths due to accidents, illness, suicide, and murder! The Texas military installation, on which Army psychiatrist Maj Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 others in a 2009 mass shooting, has seen more than its share of bloodshed.…
ep 31: Military Murder
What drives military members to murder? Maybe it's the violent nature of the work; or some childhood trauma; or a psychological disorder; or maybe they're just bad people. Maybe it's all of these things or a combination or none of them. The truth is we often don't know what compels someone to kill. If you're…
ep 30: Semper ‘Sup
IN THE NEWS: 'Sup with the Space Force motto?; A Space Force second; House wants Navy ranks in Space Force; Poland is the new Germany; F-16s moving out; Beirut blast; U.S. military delivers; Pentagon shuts down has-been colonels; Chinese military told to stand-down; Space X Splashdown; New UFO task force; Air Force helicopter takes fire…
ep 29: “The Bomb” is 75
Ever since the American occupation of the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, the main Japanese islands had been under constant bombardment by long-range bombers of the United States. The city of Tokyo and many other cities on the Japanese mainland were leveled by day-and-night firebomb raids. As Italy and Germany had already done, Japan was…
ep 28: Self Before Service
IN THE NEWS: Killer garden gnomes; Time wasters; The Space Force 2400; Space Force partners with the UK; What Trump knows about Roswell; Racial bias in grooming standards; Drawdown in Iraq; Moving troops in Germany; The military's assault on religious liberty; Congress "okays" senior leader promotions; Rogue leaders; New Senior NCOs in the Air Force;…
ep 27: Snooze You Loose
Most of you have probably heard of Antonio López de Santa Anna, the self-proclaimed "Napoleon of the West," and the story of the Alamo. What you probably haven't heard is how, just a few months after the Alamo, Santa Anna parked his army directly next to Sam Houston's much smaller American force by the San…
ep 26: The Protest Episode
In the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, what may have begun as peaceful protests against racism quickly turned violent, as riots and looting broke out throughout the city, then rapidly moved across the country. The military was not unaffected by this turmoil, as National Guard troops were…
ep 25: To Boldly Digress
The Amazing 25th Episode Podcast Spectacular! Of course, it's really no different than our regular episodes...okay, so it's a regular episode, but it's special because it's number 25--a podcast milestone! To celebrate #25, we talk about the origin of The Digression Podcast on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And, as…
ep 24: Bad Apple
In the news: The DOJ cracks the Pensacola terrorist iPhone and they’re pissed at Apple; Apple is also pissed at the DOJ; Corporations are People, too; A new Space Force Chief is enshrined on the Leadership Wall; Space Force goes on the road to explain Space Force; A new look at USAF mission-capable ratings; The…
ep 23: I Wanna Believe
The Pentagon “officially” releases three videos of UFOs encountered by US Navy F/A-18 pilots. Although these videos have been in the wild for years, the Department of Defense was always tight-lipped about the whole affair. Not surprising, really. After all, what is a government without secrets, right? So, we take a listen to these encounters…
ep 22: Still Talking ‘Bout the ‘Rona
The “I can’t believe we’re still talking about the damn virus” episode where we discuss: The jump in COVID cases in the military and growing recoveries; The “Fired-up Chief” is on the mend; Vets are dying; New military travel exemptions and no-movement hardships; New York didn’t need Comfort after all; Japan goes American-made, but the…
ep 21: Cheers!
Are you sick of 24/7 coronavirus? We sure are! So, join us for HAPPY HOUR where we explore these topics and more: Corona slushies; Leadership offsites; The family doesn’t listen; Beer civilized man; Drunk around the world; The best thing about the military; Driving? Drink lite; Only two kinds of beer in Leperland; Party ball…
ep 20. Minicast Q&A
Since we have a little time on our hands thanks to COVID-19, we're putting out this extra "minicast" for folks who find themselves with a little extra time for podcasts. In this episode: We salute you, NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio; Why are The Angry Cops so angry?; The Comfort is here; where are the…
ep 19: Going Viral
Space Force completes its first mission; No movement for the military; North Korea wants help with coronavirus cases it doesn’t have; Military COVID19 cases top civilian; The Air Force opens a new boot camp; Pentagon publishes pandemic guidance for commanders; The military pitches in with masks and vents; The Navy provides Comfort and Mercy to…
ep 18: “I Was A Soldier”
The fateful day that changed the course of Sergeant Major Charles Morris’ life was June 29, 1966. On a search-and-destroy mission in Xuan Loc, South Vietnam, he came within 20-feet of a Viet Cong machine gunner and was shot in the chest. He returned fire and took out the machine gun nest as the platoon…
ep 17: Accommodation Medals
Last seaman laid to rest in USS Arizona; Astronaut reenlists 800 soldiers; Air National Guard wants some Space Force action; Drone pilots get a medal; Good-bye South Korea curfew; Revealing DNA tests; Pentagon sets rules for Skynet; No. 1 coffee; Social justice finds the Air Force song; Tin Can at 20,000-feet.
ep 16: Knuckleheads
Internet porn hits home; Basic training and intro to military discipline; M16 necklace; Marching and airplane-watching; Gun-wielding drunk-driver on base; The EEO freeze; Busted, promoted, then busted again; The man with $200 in his pocket; Honey? Did you do something wrong?; Pushup Ninja; The Black Flag; Follow the matrix; Clap for the Air Force Song,…
ep 15: Coffee with Stealth
Chris plots the demise of a mouse; We have a Space Force and Space Command--now what?; The Air Force F-35 can't shoot straight; The Army flips desert survival by sucking water out of the air; Air Force F-15's are shedding their stealth; A $1,000 coffee cup?; The Navy's Blue Angels invest in a used Fat…
ep 14: Incentives with MSgt Kyle Green
In the business world, promotions and raises are important motivators, but in the military, rank and pay go hand-in-hand. Since military supervisors don't have a direct influence on employee promotions or compensation, incentivizing these team members requires some out-of-the-box thinking. Our buddy, MSgt Kyle Green, is a subject matter expert on employee performance incentives and…
ep 13: Did You See A Plane Crash?
The back-and-forth that inspired the show. Chris takes a winter vacation to Florida where he and Jody do some boating on the St Johns River; search for a crashed airplane; compare car-crash stories; debate irritating Prius drivers; intubate a stunt man who broke his pelvis leaping off a moving motorcycle; discover there's more than one…
ep 12: Giant Voice
This is the story of Chris, who takes a job hauling a mobile long-range acoustic device from Florida to San Diego which results in a spiraling digression into the hilarious deficiencies of the giant voice system at Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea, with a few stops along the way prompted by a snake, a couple…
