Bullet shell casings fell from the sky as the sun peeked through the clouds, raining brass on our camouflaged Kevlar helmets like a hailstorm on a sunny day—a peculiar sight to see. I looked up in the sky and saw the outline of the black AH-6 little bird helicopter and thought, “this is what they me …

A 4-day hunting trip in the Yukon Territory turned into an 11-day experience testing our survival skills.It was October 2018 and it was my first hunting trip outside the contiguous United States. My Uncle and I made the trek from Arizona up to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Watson Lake has a total po …

I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone for coming out to our training courses. For preparing and staying ready in these uncertain times We’ve had a lot of classes lately. We’ve met a lot of new people, and a lot of people have been introduced to each other. That’s the idea—it’s the communi …

My first experience in understanding what it means to be a leader came as a result of my attendance at the Primary Leadership and Development Course (PLDC) or what is now referred to as the Warriors Leader Course (WLC). I attended PLDC in the summer of 2000, as an 11B Infantryman. By that time, I ha …

I remember the first military class I was ever called on to teach. Days before, my stomach was sick. I barely slept. It wasn’t the actual class that scared me because I knew the subject, it was public speaking and being judged by my peers. I was teaching individual movement techniques on the “method …

I spent most of my years in the military operating in the Recon genre of Special Operations. A job that had me living out of a rucksack for days if not weeks at a time. I learned very quickly in combat what optimization and efficiency meant, how important considering every ounce was, and how that tr …