EPISODE 26
THE FINAL MISSION OF EXTORTION 17
LOOKING FOR AN OPTIC?
Resilience and Mental Toughness
Our feelings on what resilience means in a tactical setting and how to make sure you are not an easy victim. Includes some thoughts on “resilience training” and where mental toughness comes from.
Sexual Assault
Jim walks us through a series of rape scandals at the Air Force Academy, and discusses practical ways to prevent and respond to assaults.
Preventing Heat Related Injuries – In Memory of Ken “K3” Sturgill
First, a toast: This episode is dedicated to Airman First Class Kenneth “K3” Sturgill, an Air Force SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) Specialist Trainee who perished in training as a result of heat stroke. K3’s father, K2, shares some stories about his childhood and the man he was. We learn about the mishap and what steps the Air Force is taking to prevent this sort of thing in the future. To wrap up, Mike and Jim talk a little about heat stress and how to mitigate heat related injuries.
Ed 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.