EPISODE 26
THE FINAL MISSION OF EXTORTION 17
LOOKING FOR AN OPTIC?
Thomas Yoxall: A dark and cold morning on the side of the highway…
Thomas Yoxall is a regular guy who makes his living as a photo journalist and enjoys shooting in his free time. He carries a concealed Glock 26 and takes that responsibility seriously – Which is a good thing, because on January 12, 2017, he was driving along Interstate 10 enroute to California when he saw a State Trooper in serious trouble. DPS Officer Ed Andersson had been shot, pistol whipped, and was in a close-quarters fight for his life until Thomas drove by and stopped to help. Concealed weapon carriers and police officers alike need to hear this story.
read moreHuman Needs and Motivation
Some time ago, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow wrote up a list of human needs in roughly the order people need to satisfy them: food and water at the bottom of the pyramid, social and family needs in the middle, and self-esteem and purpose at the top. Mike and Jim discuss some ways we can apply this to tactical and leadership settings by figuring out how to influence behavior.
read more1993 Waco Standoff
A federal weapons investigation into a doomsday cult known as the Brand Davidians, formed by a guy name David Koresh, led to a 51-day standoff that resulted in the death of 75 people and at least 4 Federal Agents back in 1993. This was a high-profile event and there are several lessons learned that every one in public safety should hear about. Mike discusses some of those details in this solo episode.
read moreEd Darack is an author and war reporter who has embedded with US forces in Afghanistan and written a couple books about it. Extortion 17 was a US Chinook helicopter that was shot down by a lucky hit by a Taliban fighter with an RPG. 38 US and Afghan personnel and a military working dog were killed in what became the largest single loss of Special Operations personnel in Afghanistan. Just so happens, Jim was deployed at the time of the incident and has personal connections with the story. In the aftermath, several rumors and conspiracy theories surfaced about the incident, and Ed wrote an article and then a book to get the story right and honor the memories of the personnel and crew who were killed that night.
The article, The Final Flight of Extortion 17
The book, The Final Mission of Extortion 17
For an overview on Afghanistan, Ed’s book Victory Point
Remember that we publish new episodes on the 1st and the 15th of every month! Find us on Facebook @TacTangents or email us at info@tacticaltangents.com
Intro music credit: Bensound.com
Photo Credit: Ed Darack and Luke Downey (used with permission)
The Final Mission of Extortion 17, has brought relief to so many parents who were disgusted with the baseless and ignorant conspiracy theories. We were needlessly tortured by the thought it was a setup, when those that really bothered to interview the soldiers, and from soldiers that were there the night of the shoot down.
So our sincere thanks to you for telling the truth in a book, that factually reported it was just a lucky shot. Not some dumb thing attached to Bengasi.
thank you too for remembering those in other branches of the service that lost their lives that night.