Choices Not Chances Podcast

When the Americans left Afghanistan my friend was still there. Anyone who was a fighter reported to the Panjshir Valley to join the Mujahideen resistance.

Brad Clayton joins the show to talk about life, golf, leadership, and his organization “The Brotherhood of Warriors”. Brad mentors and teaches golf to veterans as a means of therapy, and has a charitable organization dedicated to fellowship and golf. He is the recipient of the Decan Palmer award and the author of “Brad Clayton’s Puzzleduck Golf- Migrate to a More Efficient Swing & Game. Brad is a dear friend of mine and is close to our community. Please enjoy this podcast!

In this episode we speak with Brad Clayton. Brad is PGA of American master professional and also founded The Brotherhood of the Warrior. We discuss the events in his life that led him to found the Brotherhood of the warrior. This is a sneak peek.

Rick joins us as a US Army trained Russian-Eurasian expert to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one year after.    Rick is a former Army Colonel and served at US Embassy Moscow from 2000-2007 leading counterterror, counter-proliferation, and threat reduction cooperation efforts with  Russian Ministries, including the Ministry of Defense.  He was a Harvard University National Security Fellow in 2003, and served in Germany 1996-1999 assigned as an Arms Control Inspector.  He led on-site and international inspection teams throughout Eastern and Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union, monitoring treaties and agreements like the Dayton Accords in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Conventional Forces in Europe, Intermediate Nuclear Forces, and Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions.  Rick, a senior paratrooper and jumpmaster, was assigned in his basic branch, Military Police, to Fort Bragg (Airborne), NC, Fort Drum (Light Infantry), NY and Fort Hood (Armor), Tx before his overseas assignments.   He spent six months in 1994, in Georgia, monitoring and reporting progress and ceasefire violations for the United Nations during Georgian-Abkhaz-Russian civil war.   In 1998, just prior to the NATO air campaign to expel Serbian forces from Kosovo, Rick was assigned to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as part of the multinational Kosovo Diplomatic Observers' Mission (KDOM).   He has work, travel and living experience in over 50 countries including 6yrs in Germany, 6 in Russia and ~3 in Iraq.  Rick is a fluent Russian-speaker with varying degrees of aptitude in Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Czech, Arabic, German, Spanish and Serbian.  Active Duty hostile fire zones include Grenada, Georgia, Former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, and Iraq and Afghanistan after he retired.   He has supported DoD missions and initiatives for over 40 years.

Dr. Thomas Williams Joins the show to talk about life, service, and current events. I met Thomas years ago in the Marine Corps and we quickly became friends. Thomas is originally from Canada, where he spent ten years in the Canadian Army in a Highlands Infantry unit. Later, he would come to America with his wife and ultimately serve in the United States Marine Corps. Thomas deployed multiple times in support of Infantry units as an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) technician. He retired from the Corps and is now an online professor and he coaches Lacrosse. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Dr. Thomas Williams Joins the show to talk about life, service, and current events. I met Thomas years ago in the Marine Corps and we quickly became friends. Thomas is originally from Canada, where he spent ten years in the Canadian Army in a Highlands Infantry unit. Later, he would come to America with his wife and ultimately serve in the United States Marine Corps. Thomas deployed multiple times in support of Infantry units as an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) technician. He retired from the Corps and is now an online professor and he coaches Lacrosse. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

In The Marine Corps, we don’t have medics. We have warfighters and we have Navy Corpsmen. The warfighters generally wage the war, and the Navy Corpsmen keep them healthy, and should they fall; he patches them back up. The Navy Corpsmen are in many ways the lifeblood of the infantry line. They live, train, fight and die right beside their men. In the Navy, they are referred to as “Green Side Corpsmen”, in the “Infantry line” they go by Brother or DOC. Anderson (Doc H.)Hernandez, joins us on this episode. Doc. H. was Second Platoon’s lead DOC on the Marjah push in 2010. Doc Hernandez was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in 2010, and his accounts are necessary for future Corpsmen to hear. Look out for the full episode on 02-07-23. Thanks for watching.

CWO2 Gunner William Callen Joins the show to talk about life, combat, and the pull out from HKIA. There is a wealth of information to take away from this episode. Ranging from the Battle at An Nasiriya to the pullout from Kabul. You don't want to miss this episode!!

Following his retirement from the Army, Grossman founded the Killology Research Group to give seminars about the physiological and the psychological effects of having to use lethal force for law enforcement officers and soldiers. Grossman also speaks at civilian events on ways to reduce violence in society and deal with the aftermath of violent events such as school shootings. As a civilian Grossman has been an expert witness in numerous state and federal court cases and was part of the prosecution team of United States vs. Timothy McVeigh. In 2022, Killology Research Group was renamed and rebranded to Grossman On Truth. In this episode we chat about his books "On Combat" and "On Killing". We also get a peek into what is coming next, which include a new work in progress about the importance of sleep. Don't miss this episode!

Michael McCormack joins the show to help us understand his company Eolian and there bleeding-edge technology.  He discusses childhood games and his love tech. There is much to be learned from this interview. From military procurement and contract vehicles, to some of the latest battlefield technology.

In this episode we speak with Jhon Drago. Jhon is a Marine veteran. After getting out of the Marine Corps Jhon has continued his service as a Law Enforcement officer in North Carolina. We discuss the ups an downs of his Marine Corps enlistment and his Law Enforcement service. This is a don't miss episode.

We were honored to sit down with Marine Major Gordon Emmanuel in this episode. Gordon was our Platoon Commander in 2010 for the invasion of Marjah. We dive into Gordon's career in the Marine Corps, highlighting his time in Marjah (2010) and follow-on deployments and duties as well. Gordon is a Marine's Marine. He is the one who always challenges his Marines to do better, never letting them be comfortable with mediocrity. It's our pleasure to share this episode with you.

In the past 12-18 months, the Marine Corps has had some divisive remarks penned concerning the adaptation of the force. Retired Generals and warfighters have been expressing concern over the New Force Design. There are several articles bashing the new design and others that show passive-aggressive concern.  I was interested in understanding the “why” behind some of the changes, so I began to investigate the topic. I found a few articles from one of the most senior Marine Gunners currently serving. Gunner LaRose served as one of the representatives from the Marine Corps, on the Pentagon’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force. While reading his works, I was impressed by the way he painted new technologies. I was going to do an episode on the information I found, but Gunner LaRose can do a much better job of that than I can. This episode is my aim at bridging the two sides of the coin.  After 30 years of protecting this nation, making his way to the top of the enlisted ladder, and becoming a Gunner, LaRose has continued to serve.

This episode is with Bradley Williams. He is a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant who was called into the ministry. As he moved out of the Corps and into his walk with Christ, Bradley had yet another call to service. After consulting his family at home and in the church, he decided to run for the Onslow county school board. Many of the Camp Lejeune Warfighters in North Carolina have children in the public school system in Onslow county. This episode is my aim at disseminating information to the local electorate.   No matter who you vote for, you should be looking into more than just a 30-second response clip! Dialog is welcome in the comments section!  Semper Fi-

Shawn Waterman is a Marine, a fitness coach, and a positive influence on all who come in contact with him. We had a great conversation about life and the future. Don't miss this episode.

Judson Brandeis is an award-winning urologist and sexual medicine expert, clinical researcher, physician educator, and caring clinician and surgeon. He joins the show to discuss everything from marijuana to low testosterone numbers, to the effects of blast waves on vital organs. Join in and follow along!

Ty Davis was Ryan's very first platoon Sergeant when he arrived at F.A.S.T. Company in 2005. Ryan learned many things from then Gunny Davis. He joins the Podcast to spread the knowledge of a career spent training, leading, and mentoring young Marines. you do not want to miss this episode!

Chris Jones joins the show to talk about his journey through a career in the Air Force as a JTAC, serving with multiple different Army and Marine Corps SF teams. His team members describe him as a force multiplier with an infectious attitude and smile. Chris is a humble warrior, who was made for the job. He now resides on the west coast and works for the Benchmade  Knife Company, overseeing the tactical knife line.

Wayne Phelps is the author of the book " On Killing Remotely- The Psychology of Killing with Drones". He is a retired LtCol. in the United States Marines, who spent time at the end of his career with RPAs (remote piloted aircraft). We talk about his career as well as great conversation ranging from the book contents to the proliferation of drones on the battlefield. Join the conversation and learn about the future of combat.

Master Sergeant John Rose joins the show to give a lifetime of lessons learned. John was wounded in 2010 by an IED while rigging another vehicle that had been blown up for a tow. He woke up several weeks later in a 98-degree room, in a burn center in Texas. John talks about his experiences, and the will to carry on, despite several catastrophic events. Thanks for joining us for the conversation!