THE PODCAST
Elevating the conversation about all things tactical.
Tactical ADHD: Managing Attention
EPISODE 161 Tactical ADHD: Managing AttentionSituational awareness demands focus and selective attention. Sometimes playing on your phone can help, and sometimes it can kill you. Most people can’t multitask as well as they think, but Mike and Jim will give you...
Lights in the Sky: Aliens or Drones? Jim Spills the Beans on UFOs
Some of you are too young to remember the tagline “The Truth is Out There,” but Mike and Jim went full X-Files on this one… If you don’t know what any of that means, you definitely need to listen to this episode!
What’s up with the beards? Setting and Enforcing Standards
Green Berets have to work with a different rule book than the troops guarding nuclear weapons—and for good reasons. We explore the balance between strict adherence to rules and the often necessary flexibility to go off-script in tactical operations and your organization’s culture.
“Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers
In October 2002, a 17 and 41 year old carried out a series of serial murders, killing 10 and wounding 3 others in what were described as random attacks against people doing every day tasks like pumping gas and mowing their lawn. We cover lessons from this large scale, multi-agency investigation with takeaways for individual cops and police leaders related to public relations, investigative rigor, and interagency cooperation.
Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion
As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Discretion is important but it works both ways—it’s not something you should flex, it’s something you should protect.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tactical ADHD: Managing Attention
EPISODE 161 Tactical ADHD: Managing AttentionSituational awareness demands focus and selective...
Lights in the Sky: Aliens or Drones? Jim Spills the Beans on UFOs
Some of you are too young to remember the tagline “The Truth is Out There,” but Mike and Jim went full X-Files on this one… If you don’t know what any of that means, you definitely need to listen to this episode!
What’s up with the beards? Setting and Enforcing Standards
Green Berets have to work with a different rule book than the troops guarding nuclear weapons—and for good reasons. We explore the balance between strict adherence to rules and the often necessary flexibility to go off-script in tactical operations and your organization’s culture.
“Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers
In October 2002, a 17 and 41 year old carried out a series of serial murders, killing 10 and wounding 3 others in what were described as random attacks against people doing every day tasks like pumping gas and mowing their lawn. We cover lessons from this large scale, multi-agency investigation with takeaways for individual cops and police leaders related to public relations, investigative rigor, and interagency cooperation.
Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion
As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Discretion is important but it works both ways—it’s not something you should flex, it’s something you should protect.
Home Security: Defense in Depth!
Every gun guy (and lady) has thought about how they might have to confront an intruder coming into their house. Too many times, when talking home defense, I have heard the conversation go to that universal language of the pump shotgun
Lessons from Aviation
3 Key Lessons from...
21 Foot Rule
One of the patterns we have noticed lately is how intense the tactical community’s relationship with fads can be. The Sheepdog analogy is a useful way to help a young soldier or cop begin to understand that they have to be prepared to do violence, but in a constrained way. It tends to fall apart when taken too far, though. The Spartan legacy is useful in inspiring toughness – but that doesn’t mean you have to run around wearing a helmet and shield. In the tactical training telephone game, good ideas can morph into rules and then into obsessions, and in the process, they can lose their utility. One of the big ones is the 21-Foot Rule.
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...
Leadership in Teaching
LEADERSHIP IN TEACHING One of the first leadership opportunities I’ve had at any job has been some...