THE PODCAST
Elevating the conversation about all things tactical.
Domestic Violence: Be Part of the Solution
Jim Interviews Caroline Reynolds, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in domestic violence intervention. Caroline shares expert advice for police response, helping a victim, encouraging cooperation, and cooling down an argument before it escalates. We also discuss special messages for police and military families and leaders facing a domestic abuse case.
Olive Branches and Off-Ramps: De-escalation “Training” 101
De-escalation shouldn’t mean accepting more risk. Here are some ways to extend an olive branch and give people a peaceful way out without sacrificing anyone’s safety. With adequate skill proficiency and good tactics to mitigate danger, we can create the physical and emotional space needed to think through these difficult problems. We have to be able to get past our egos and defense mechanisms to a place where we can safely engage community members with respect, and earn respect in return.
Improve your shooting with the Mantis (Bonus Interview)
The Mantis is a family of firearms training tools that work for live and dry fire. Learn how the Mantis gives feedback to help shooters and instructors at all levels in this interview with Austin Allgaier. Mantis is a product that we really believe in and we encourage novice and advanced shooters alike to use the Mantis to take their firearms proficiency to the next level. Hear about ways it can help you in this bonus episode.
Inside the Ghetto Bird: Law Enforcement Aviation with Jeff Ratkovich
The value of air support in law enforcement, EMS, and America’s fighting forces cannot be understated. Hear about Jeff’s journey in police and EMS aviation and ways you can prepare if you are aspiring to a career as a pilot in one of these demanding careers. We talk about ways the balcony-view in the sky can affect the outcome of critical incidents on the ground, some pursuit and medevac stories, and things senior leaders need to understand about commanding a specialized unit.
Cops and Robbers: The 1986 FBI Miami Shootout
FBI Agents Grogan and Dove tragically lost their lives in the infamous shootout in Miami between multiple FBI Agents and 2 bank robbers. The lessons learned, and technology that arose in the aftermath are still felt to this day 30+ years later. Jim and Mike are joined again by Vince and they discuss some of the incident and what changes law enforcement experienced as a result of this tragic shootout.
Home Security: If you get in a gun fight in your bedroom, you’re doing it wrong.
Keeping bad guys out of your home and away from your family is a core task for anyone serious about defense. Mike and Jim talk us through how to layer your security to make sure you have the unfair advantage.
“Tactical” Adulting: The Unclassified Secrets to Success
Sometimes the skills you need to be a professional have less to do with your actual job and more to do with, well, everything else. Put money away for retirement. Have a backup plan. Have a healthy marriage and life at home. Get a hobby. Taking care of your own wellness and the people around you are what help you be a high-performer at work. All the knife hands and shooting drills in the world won’t help you be successful if you don’t show up to work in a state of mind to focus on all the cool stuff.
Ryan Wyatt, Paramedic Extraordinaire
Ryan Wyatt is a flight paramedic who has worked on air and ground ambulances, in a trauma center, and overseas. After time spent as a Navy Corpsman, Ryan also deployed to Iraq as a private military contractor flying on Littlebirds doing medevac work. Hear about the time his Littlebird went down behind enemy lines and more.
Disinformation: Catch Manipulators Before They Kill You
Countries, terrorist groups, and various shady actors have developed their information warfare capabilities into an effective weapon. They are counting on you to be a sucker – Jim & Mike will help calibrate your BS detector to keep them from wielding active influence measures against you.
“Inspect What You Expect:” Pre-Deployment Checks and Inspections
Admit it, people like us tend to be “tactical” hoarders. But if you want your gear to actually be functional when the time comes that you need to use it, you have to put hands on it from time to time. Make sure your screws are thread locked, check your zero on your optics, pack enough water and socks, etcetera. Like any TacTangents episode it’s not just about your gear. This also has a lot to do with things like leadership, personal responsibility, and risk management.
“Bright Lights and Cold Steel:” An Intro to Tactical Combat Casualty Care and Pre Hospital Trauma Medicine
Learning about emergency medical care is more complicated than knowing how to slap on a tourniquet and a chest seal. Understanding the importance of getting your patient to a trauma center (“Bright lights and cold steel”) is a good first step in establishing priorities of work when minutes and seconds matter to a person who is seriously wounded. This episode is a starting point to help steer your training and treatment philosophy for trauma medicine. Listen now to learn more.
Training “Mindset” and False assumptions, with Mike Pannone
“Noner” shares some real talk about training fallacies and mental preparation for combat. Mike Pannone of CTT Solutions spent years as a Recon Marine, Special Forces Soldier, and SFOD-D Operator. After losing an eye from a blast injury he medically retired and worked as a high-risk contractor overseas and now spends most of his time training people all over the world. “Noner” shares some pearls of wisdom related to mental conditioning, theories and assumptions in tactics, and skills competence.
Terrain, the Unfair Advantage: Using OCOKA for Mission Planning
Jim explains how to analyze, exploit, and change the terrain you are fighting in to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent – whether in a parking lot or a battlefield. Walking you from Thermopylae to the Taiwan Straits to the engine block of your police car and the desks of your classroom, we help you assess and understand your operating environment.
Isaac Returns Home: What to expect from Army Basic Training
One of our favorite and recurring guests, Isaac, just got back from Army Basic Training and shares some insights and stories that might help anyone getting ready to ship out as an enlisted soldier. This is a useful conversation if you want to know what to expect from Basic Training aka Army OSUT (One Station Unit Training). He is one step closer to his dream of becoming a Special Forces Soldier/Green Beret.
The JonBenet Ramsey Murder Mystery
In the mid-90s a little girl was reported to be kidnapped but was later found dead in the basement of her large, Boulder CO home. The case remains unsolved today, and several procedural errors on behalf of the officers and investigators who responded to the scene tainted our best chances to identify and prosecute Jon Benet’s killer. Many believe the parents or her older brother were to blame. A sex offender claimed to be responsible but there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove it. Some think that the family’s wealth and political ties had something to do with it. We may not ever know the truth. Mike and Jim give a synopsis of the event and talk about some of the mis-steps that might have helped detectives solve the mystery.
“I would just shoot him,” and other imaginary outcomes.
Most of us have daydreamed, imagined, and rehearsed what certain survival or self-defense encounters will look like in our minds, so we are going to make fun of our younger-selves and shed some light on something we are all guilty of: The Tactical Fantasy. This episode is about making sure that we ground those fantasies in reality. This goes beyond truck guns and the Zombie Apocalypse, it also speaks to the OODA loop, tactics, risk management, and other important concepts. Mike and Jim walk through some practical steps to stage our equipment, preparedness, and mindset accordingly.
The Millennium Bomber: Terrorist Attack Thwarted by CBP
A terror plot at the turn of the century was thwarted by the professionalism of CBP Agent Diana Dean. You might not have heard of the foiled plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport amidst New Year’s celebrations for the year 2000. This Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack was prevented by an Agent who noted Ahmed Ressam’s suspicious behavior and sent him to a secondary inspection. We touch on pre-attack indicators, the radicalization process, and a defense strategy called “The Swiss Cheese Model.”
War Stories and Wisdom from over 30 years in Special Operations
Chief Master Sergeant Keaton shares some stories with us, including the time he won the Pitsenbarger Award after saving the lives of 5 women and children who were used as human shields by an enemy force in Afghanistan. Along the way he illustrates some lessons learned and leadership pointers that he picked up while leading some of America’s most elite operators throughout his 30 year career working in special operations as a PJ and reaching the highest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force.
Fog and Friction
Some of you might have experienced a crisis that was later described as a “Charlie Foxtrot,” which is an acronym for the sort of situation known for being chaotic, overwhelming, and difficult to manage. Mike and Jim discuss the doctrinal definitions of fog and friction and talk about some coping strategies and training philosophies that will help you deal with these kinds of problems.
Teamwork
If you look around any professional workplace, you will see several types of leaders–by that I don’t just mean differing leadership styles, although that is part of it–I am talking about the types of leaders in a group who make the difference between a “loose gaggle” and a high-performance team. This discussion is going to focus on the informal leaders–the unappointed low- or middle-man who makes a difference. A new or inexperienced member of the group might be the type of person who owns their mistakes, never makes excuses, and humbly accepts criticism. You might be asking yourself, doesn’t that just make them a good follower?
Burning Alive
BURNING ALIVE If you read some of the news articles about the recent apartment fire in...
Balance: Training and Life
BALANCE: THE TOTAL PACKAGE We have a saying in dog training that you don’t fix one problem without...
Threat Assessment
THREAT ASSESSMENT; Threats of harm should always be taken seriously, but in many cases the person making the threat is only trying to exploit their victim or elicit a reaction for a perceived wrongdoing.
Two Types of Learners
TWO TYPES OF LEARNERS Psychologist Carol Dweck is known for her work on implicit theories of...
Marker Training
Dog Training: Markers Maybe less tacti-cool than you’re used to, but enough people have dogs that...
Situational Leadership
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP This leadership model was created by a couple of psychologists named Hersey...
Ask, Tell, Make: Still Works
ASK, TELL, MAKE: STILL WORKS In the police academy, we learned this decision-making algorithm for...
Remember Rick Rescorla
REMEMBER RICK RESCORLA For this week’s bulletin, I thought I’d share a Facebook post I wrote on...