THE PODCAST

Elevating the conversation about all things tactical.

I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility

I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility

Through eye-opening surveys, TacMobility highlights the not-so-funny truths about depression and the dusty corners where wellness programs sit unused. Advocating for a mix of low-effort, big-impact wellness habits, TacMobility proves you can indeed teach old dogs new tricks and balance the badge with a bit of brain and body harmony.

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Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

A core component of effective teamwork is that everyone has a voice, and everyone gets a vote. The Good Idea Fairy might save your life someday, so foster that within your teams. Let the crazy guy talk! This episode covers an important communication concept for teams called mitigated speech and some ways to manage it.

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Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present

Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present

There are advantages and disadvantages to any piece of tech—electronics and batteries are always failure points, but in this day and age they have become status quo. And for good reason: It’s a more natural way to shoot, you don’t need to shift your focus away from your target and it simplifies the cognitive load required to line up your iron sights. Learn more on any podcast outlet in Episode 154.

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Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new

Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new

Hobbies are an important outlet but often, the hardest part is getting started. The next thing you have to learn is how to break through the inevitable plateaus and challenges that come with learning new skills, so in episode 153 we talk about how to develop techniques without sucking the joy out of something that is supposed to be fun.

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Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork

Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork

It’s one thing that we all get along, but real trust isn’t something that can be assumed as a given–we’ve got to earn it. Building trust in teams has a lot to do with the often unwritten social contracts that help us get on the same page about our roles and responsibilities. We have to know that everyone is going to put the mission before their own personal interests to really build harmony and a combined effort that is greater than than the sum of its individual parts.

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All’s Well…If We Make it Well

All’s Well…If We Make it Well

“Wellness” is a buzzword these days. Employers offer all manner of wellness aids from fitness to nutrition as part of benefits packages, but the truth is that nobody can make you care about your wellness if you don’t. In this episode, Mike explains why this is an important concept and the reasons you should care about it.

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Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft

Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft

Having a good selection procedure is important for getting the right members on a team. Mike steals a page from advertising, only where an ad man conceptualizes the ideal customer, he’s looking for the ideal SWAT guy. The process could work for any team selection, though. Just think about what the ideal candidate would say, think, do, or feel, and look for those people. Listen to this episode for ideas on how to do just that.

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A Good Commander Knows What to Control

A Good Commander Knows What to Control

In this episode Mike and Jim talk about command and control, and teaching decision-making skills to team members. In this way, when everything hits the fan, the right decisions get made fast, and get made at the right level. There’s a reason for supervisors, commanders, and leaders, but it’s important to know when to let subordinates make decisions. Not every incident is The Big One, but nobody’s ready for The Big One if they haven’t been taught in the small ones.

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Sleeping for Success

Sleeping for Success

Dr. Sargent retired from a 25 year Navy career that included such exotic postings as being the only psychiatrist in Anbar Province, where he helped stand up the Combat Sleep School.

How to maximize healthy sleep hygiene without using drugs that might blunt the tactical edge is his specialty, and in this episode he talks with Mike about the best way we can adapt modern life schedules to bodies that have ancient sleep needs.

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Finding the Bomber

Finding the Bomber

Ever wonder why you suddenly had to start showing ID to ship a FedEx package? Blame a serious of mysterious, deadly blasts in Texas five years ago. How does one go about finding the perp in a mystery bombing case? What patterns and clues stand out? All this and more are in this episode of Tactical Tangents.

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Put Me In, Coach!

Put Me In, Coach!

Whether its an athlete of the conventional sports kind or the tactical variety found on a SWAT team or military base, there’s a tremendous value to be gained from a good coach. How can you spot a good coach? More importantly, what are the indicators of a bad one? How can you be a good coach for the people who look up to you? Listen in and find out!

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Both Sides of the Door – Breonna Taylor and Bad Outcomes

Both Sides of the Door – Breonna Taylor and Bad Outcomes

While it’s about the Breonna Taylor incident, we’re focusing on the tactical issues surrounding the actual warrant service that night, not the plethora of issues that led to it. Risk is always involved in serving a warrant, so how can it best be mitigated for all involved? Remember that having a warrant doesn’t make you any smarter or tactically proficient. The court just gave you permission; the skill department is all on you.

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The Real Burdens of Everyday Carry

The Real Burdens of Everyday Carry

One of our favorite topics at Tactical Tangents is realistic risk management, and this applies in the personal world as well as the operational one. While “EDC” has turned into a marketing term for everything from watches to para cord bracelets, what do you really carry every day. Listen to this episode for a deep dive into the topic. Remember, millions of people go unstrapped yet remain unclapped every day.

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Problem Solving As A Team Sport

Problem Solving As A Team Sport

Institutional knowledge and memory are what gets used to solve problems, and that’s why it’s important for an organization to select compulsive problem-solvers as members. Everyone is going to bring their own viewpoint based on their specialty, but it’s important for them to know when the problem is outside of their specialty, as well as how they can contribute when it’s time to get…unconventional. Tune in to learn how to teach your team the difference.

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Fighting at Night

With some reasonable preparation, proportional to your personal risk of having to fight at night — you can use the darkness to gain and maintain gross overmatch. Start by sorting out your own personal risk, which should drive your investment in training and equipment. Consider both technical and non-technical ways you can improve your ability to see and screw with your adversary’s ability to see.

How to Handle a Traffic Stop

Traffic stops are dangerous and unpleasant. A lot of forces converge to make traffic stops dangerous: cops get killed on traffic stops, so they are anxious about them, some communities feel unfairly targeted and perceive a risk from the police, and everyone is at risk to distracted and drunk motorists passing by the stop. No one likes being pulled over, especially if they don’t trust the police. There has to be something we can do to make this whole thing safer and easier for everyone

These aren’t my pants…

The subtle, contextual cues that guide our instincts are often tough to put our finger on, but they are also the reason we might approach one person or situation differently than another. The last thing we want to do is leave those decisions up to someone else’s interpretation. It is difficult to teach what stress, deception, and threatening body language look like in training.