original airdate: 10/20/23
Mike Edwards recounts his journey from the conventional Army to the 75th Ranger Regiment and the Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC), sharing stories from combat in Iraq, clandestine reconnaissance missions, and years spent leading and training some of the military's most elite units. He also reflects on Project Exodus Relief, the challenges of transitioning out of the military, and how faith helped him overcome the personal struggles that followed his service
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00:00 - Start
01:27 - Growing Up in Alabama
03:24 - Mechanized Infantry and Plans for Special Forces
06:00 - Korea and the Impact of 9/11
08:36 - Choosing the Ranger Regiment
09:50 - Almost Getting Dropped from RIP
11:26 - Arriving at Ranger Battalion
13:41 - The Smoke Grenade Incident
16:03 - Life in the Ranger Mortar Platoon
19:59 - Leading Raids in Iraq
21:33 - The Tal Afar Firefight
29:36 - Sponsor Break
32:29 - Discovering Regimental Reconnaissance Company
34:18 - The Omega Program
35:59 - RRC Selection and Training
37:05 - 40-Mile Infiltrations with 100-Pound Rucks
41:08 - Life Inside RRC
43:19 - What RRC Actually Does
45:04 - RRC Becomes a National-Level Asset
46:02 - Training the Afghan Reconnaissance Unit
47:17 - Dead Drops and Tradecraft in Afghanistan
50:04 - How the Afghan Reconnaissance Program Worked
55:45 - Working Through Afghan Proxies
56:22 - Low-Visibility Missions and Nighttime Raids
58:19 - Learning Dari for Battlefield Interrogations
1:01:04 - Creating Project Exodus Relief
1:03:47 - The Afghans Left Behind
1:06:51 - Escaping Afghanistan and Human Trafficking
1:10:14 - Afghan Commandos at the Southern Border
1:13:31 - Moral Injury After the Afghanistan Withdrawal
1:16:07 - Life for Former Afghan Special Operators
1:18:18 - Afghan Commandos Joining the Taliban or Resistance
1:20:44 - Wagner Group Recruiting Afghan Commandos
1:21:35 - The American Allegedly Recruiting for Wagner
1:24:12 - A Missed Opportunity for Covert Afghan Units
1:26:07 - Life After Military Service
1:27:20 - Protecting Madonna
1:28:29 - Finding Missing and Trafficked People
1:31:29 - Finding Purpose After the Military
1:33:26 - Anger, Addiction, and Nearly Taking His Own Life
1:35:04 - How Studying the Bible Changed Him
1:38:52 - PTSD, TBI, and Veteran Suicide
1:42:06 - Why Veterans Need Buddy Checks
1:44:04 - The Turning Point in His Recovery
1:46:02 - Psychedelic Therapy and Faith
1:52:08 - The Difficult Transition Out of Special Operations
1:56:55 - Audience Questions
1:58:52 - RRC Selection Compared to Delta Force
2:01:03 - Shooting and Training Inside RRC
2:03:19 - RRC vs. Other Reconnaissance Units
2:07:02 - A Possible Hypersonic Aircraft Encounter
2:11:29 - How the Omega Program Worked
2:18:44 - Military Freefall from 35,000 Feet
2:22:19 - The MP7 and Special Operations Weapons
2:24:31 - Closing Remarks
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