THE PODCAST
Elevating the conversation about all things tactical.
1993 Waco Standoff
A federal weapons investigation into a doomsday cult known as the Branch 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.
Drunken War Stories with the Danimal
LANGUAGE WARNING! This episode is NOT safe for work! Uncle Dan like’s Jack Daniels and he’s had a little bit to drink so we’re gonna drag some war stories out of him and have a good time. Dan was one of Mike’s team leaders on SWAT when he first joined the team. He’s also a football coach for his son, and it turns out there’s quite a bit of crossover between the two in terms of leadership and tactics. As the alcohol level rises, you’ll get to hear a little bit about Dan has shaped the training culture in his agency and what he’s learned along the way. Good times!
Lessons from 17,000 Gun Fights
John Correia runs Active Self Protection (ASP), a massive YouTube channel analyzing self defense encounters from all over the world. He’s taken notes on 17,000 gunfights caught on camera, and he’s going to share some of those lessons with us in tonight’s episode. Link to John’s video discussed in the show here.
Jason Sweet
USAF PARARESCUEMAN, College football player, Human Performance researcher. Jason’s bringing us up to speed on some current research, athletic performance, mental toughness, motivation, and his current project preparing future special operators for selection, training, and performance in their chosen career fields. An insightful conversation that covers things like the difference in physical and mental demands between USAF Special Operations and NCAA Division I College football.
James Gagliano
The Ferguson Effect. The militarization of law enforcement. The history and evolution of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. These are just a few of the topics we cover with Mr. Gagliano who is a retired career FBI Supervisory Agent, West Point graduate, Army Ranger, and now CNNs Law Enforcement Analyst.
Jim’s Take on Shooters
Jim does a deep-dive on active shooters and mass violence, complete with case studies, some steps you can take to get help, fight if necessary, and some scenarios to help you recognize some warning signs.
Optics 101 with Riton
Brady Speth of Riton Optics is going to teach us some nomenclature and terminology about scopes and optics. We’re also going to hear he started Riton and learn about his background and the company’s design process. Even if you already own a scope, check out our interview with Brady to learn something new about optics. There are a lot of good products on the market, but in true TacTangents style we hope that People and Ideas drive your Hardware choices, which is why you need to hear what Brady has to say.
Role Players and OPFOR
What about “reality” are you trying to simulate when you run scenario based training? How do you explain to your role players what you want them to do? These are some of the questions we are going to address in this episode about training with role players and opposition forces. Using reality based training is an invaluable tool and one of the areas often neglected beyond initial training in the military and public safety. Good training relies heavily on dedicated instructors and quality role players.
Shivworks ECQC
Earlier this year we had Craig Douglas on the show to talk a little about his expertise in the self-defense world. Craig runs a company called Shivworks, and their flagship course is called Extreme Close Quarters Concepts (ECQC). ECQC specializes in clinched/entangled or “0-5 feet” fights that often involve knives and guns. Jim went to ECQC and tonight we’re talking about his after-action report and lessons learned. Check out why ECQC is one of the best self-defense courses available.
The “Tactical” Personality
A lot of people think that being a “Type-A” has something to do with a hierarchy or “alpha dog,” but it turns out, that’s not it. We break down what Type A really means, and what traits we see in the Tactical type of person. These traits are important to understand, because a little might be good, but a lot can be really bad. They are also good to know from a leadership perspective, because if you work in a community full of “Type-As,” you know that can be, uh, difficult…
Short Talk: Big Picture Lessons from Ukraine
Jim gives us a quick review of the key tactical and strategic lessons coming out of Ukraine, including things like the role of tanks in modern conflict, drones and airpower, and information warfare. Russia has been learning lots of lessons like: stay out of Ukraine!
Doing More with Less: Scaling Resources in Major Incidents, Training, and Leadership Development
Whether you are trying to deliver consistent training to thousands of people or manage a major critical incident one thing is for certain: More is not always better. But a lot of tasks at major events are manpower intensive and we need to make the most of the available resources. This is a thought exercise especially for people who work in either really big or really small organizations who want to be able to scale up or down according to their needs, and who need to develop expertise in their front line troops and supervisors.
Mike Willever of Active Self Protection, Host of the ASP Podcast
Mike is a retired Special Agent from Homeland Security Investigations who also worked as a local cop back in the day. Now Mike hosts the ASP Podcast where he deep-dives critical self-defense encounters from both the civilian and public safety worlds. We compare and contrast federal and local law enforcement, and then we talk about some of the aggregate trends and lessons from the interviews he’s done since he started the podcast for Active Self Protection.
Leadership Vol. 2: Your (Shitty) Attitude is Contagious
You own the culture of your team.
There is more to leadership than rank or titles—and before you know it, you’re the guy or gal with just a few years on when you realize you’re not the rookie any more. We talk about capitalizing on good mentoring and working within your sphere of influence to build a foundation of resourcefulness that will keep you happy, your bosses happy, and set you up for success down the road and avoid toxic or cancerous working environments.
Short Talk: Killing People-Don’t Beat Around the Bush
A pet peeve of ours is when people talk about deadly force and say, “Do what you gotta do.” As instructors, using explicit language when teaching about lethal force is vital when there is a threshold that cannot be crossed. We have to help our students mentally prepare and morally reconcile lethal force so that they can be decisive when lives are at stake.
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