Ian Scotto

Jake Zweig is a favorite of the podcast, although it’s actually been a few years since we’ve had the former SEAL and star from “Dude, You’re Screwed” and “Top Shot” join us. Jake recently reached out to me about a single mother struggling in her current financial situation, as he set up a GoFundMe for the woman he recently met. The initial goal is to help this hard working mom get a car which would be of great help to her, and he speaks with us about where he sees her going from there. Any help would be appreciated from the SOFREP Radio audience. Many of you are probably wondering what Jake’s been up to since his reality show success, as he’s currently working at the University of Illinois on player development for their football team. Football has been Jake’s passion for years and he has a great deal of experience. You may also remember Jake introducing us to NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji, and we get an update on what the Navy Officer has been up to.

Things really get interesting this episode once we get into Jake’s take on the Chief Eddie Gallagher war crimes situation. We end up having a larger discussion about crime and risky behavior in special operations, and the often times illogical behavior of a person who decides to go into this line of work. Jake tells us some crazy stories including an account from his adolescence involving the kidnapping of a banker’s 10-year-old daughter at the house next door to him. I was able to dig up a 1985 article from The New York Times that matches what Jake describes. All that and much more on Episode 437. Crank it!

SOFREP Radio has always had a heavy listenership from the law enforcement community, and that’s why the book “Captain Black: True Stories of a Small Town Cop” peaked Jack’s interest when he came across the book online. Captain Edward Black served for over twenty years in the small town of Kaufman, Texas and is since retired; he doesn’t really have a presence on social media. Luckily we were able to track him down, and have him join us for this installment. Although we hit on some timely issues in the law enforcement community including body cams, anti-police sentiment, and how to deal with mentally ill individuals, don’t get it twisted…the book is actually quite hilarious. Black’s writing style is raw, honest, unfiltered, and you’ll erupt in laughter at some of the crazy stories he relays from his time on the force. We urge you to pick up the book, available now at Lulu.com.

As we’ve been teasing out, next week we will be doing a Q&A episode, which we’ll be recording on March 14th. So, get your questions in before than. Keep them concise, to the point, and stuff we can really dive into for the show. I appreciate the guest suggestions, but those aren’t what we’re looking for on this particular episode. Shoot your best question for us over to [email protected], if it’s good, we’ll get into it.

Joining SOFREP Radio for the first time is Andrew J. Polsky. Polsky has been a professor of political science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York  (known as CUNY,) as well as Hunter College, and is now the Dean of his department there. Polsky wrote a fascinating book released in 2012, “Elusive Victories: The American Presidency at War.” It covers the decision making by the executive branch during times of war from the dawn of the American Presidency up until when the book was released. Although the book doesn’t cover President Trump for obvious reasons, we get Polsky’s take on what’s happening now. He does a great job at drawing parallels we can infer between decisions made at the executive level of government in the past to current times. You can visit Andrew online at AndrewPolsky.com. As you’ll hear Jack say, this episode is fundamental in understanding some of our previous episodes covering U.S. foreign policy.

“Tanto” is a man that really needs no introduction, but for the uninitiated, he’s best known as one of the contractors who served on the ground during the attacks in Benghazi. Kris is a long time friend to the podcast but it’s been a while since we’ve heard from him. We get into where he’s been, and his break from the spotlight as he purged all his social media and felt a need to get away from the public eye for a bit. As you’ll hear Kris get into, he’s not someone out searching for new gigs in media, but sometimes being in his position, a great opportunity presents itself. The latest being “War Heroes,” a docu-series created by Jack Thomas Smith spotlighting those who served in combat. We hear about the premiere for the series taking place in Succasunna, NJ tomorrow (February 28th) which you can attend, as well as a meet & greet with Kris. The details for that are up at WarHeroesTV.com.

We also hear about Kris’s charity work with 14th Hour Foundation, his training courses through Battleline Tactical, and his upcoming book “The Patriot’s Creed: Inspiration and Advice for Living a Heroic Life.” We get the former contractor’s take on recent controversies in the field both in Yemen and in Haiti. As usual though with Kris, we also share some big laughs. Since Kris is starting over with his online presence at the moment, be sure to follow his new Instagram @real_kris_tanto_paronto, as well as his new website KrisTantoParonto.net.

In addition to all that, we answer your emails sent to [email protected], and also get your reactions to “The Punisher” being cancelled on Netflix. We love hearing from the listeners. So strap in, this was a fun episode.

If you’ve been following Newsrep, or any news covering the special operations community for that matter, you’re well aware of the arrest in Haiti of former U.S. Navy SEALs Chris Osman, Chris McKinley (who previously went by Chris Heben,) as well as former U.S. Marine Ken Kroeker. These three and several other men were hired as contractors in Haiti working security for the central bank. Due to the massive instability within the government there, matters were handled very poorly and you’ll hear how this led to the arrest and eventual release of these men who are now back in the United States. We shoot down some of the wacky conspiracy theories going around since the news hit, and break down what we know so far.

Following the discussion we get to our featured guest for Episode 433, Chief Master Sergeant Mike Lampe, a man who was there during the primitive years of Air Force special operations. Previously on Episode 391, Mike joined us to discuss his origin story and Vietnam service. This appearance we get into the next stages of his career, specifically his service in Desert One during the Iranian hostage crisis. As you’ll hear though, we still have a lot more to cover in this man’s career spanning three decades, so be on the lookout for a part 3. We hope you enjoy, and if you do, be sure to leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

In 1975 a military man by the name of Ba Van Nguyen took the huge risk of boarding a Chinook CH-47 with his family to escape the communist soldiers of North Vietnam. He had no solid plan but knew he had to get his family out, and things somehow came to fruition once he encountered a Navy ship helping other refugees looking for a new life. The story of Ba Van Nguyen is an incredible one, and we are honored to be joined this episode by his son, Miki Nguyen who relays this story from the eyes of a six year old boy at that time, up until the last years of Ba’s life where he got the chance to reunite with those men of the USS Kirk and salute them for their service. Miki got to tell this story in the 2015 Oscar nominated film “Last Days in Vietnam,” as well as in the book he authored, “My Father the Badass: An inspiring real-life story of a true HERO.” Be sure to check those out after you listen to this in-depth discussion.

Also, you’ve heard us talk about Hurricane Media‘s first ever short film “Big Mountain Heroes” pushing the positive agenda of “thrills before pills” where special operations military veterans you know from the podcast ski and snowboard the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps. We even had the guys in studio to reflect on the adventure back on Episode 290, and if you’re a Spec Ops Channel member (which we highly recommend) you’ve already enjoyed the film. For the rest of you, we have some great news, and that’s the film now becoming available to stream in it’s entirety on Youtube. So be sure to check out this incredible footage captured in HD, and spread the word!