The Vanguard Wall Podcast
The Vanguard Wall is a long-form interview podcast rooted in the world of combat veterans, special operators, and first responders — the people who did the hard things and carry them home. The host — himself an Army and law-enforcement veteran — sits down with them to talk about what they did, what it cost, and what they carry.
The show goes deep on the moments most podcasts skip — the call you made under fire, the teammate you lost, the door you walked through that you can't walk back out of, and the long quiet work of putting it back together. Past guests include Green Berets and Rangers, MACV-SOG veterans, Marines from the Battle of Fallujah, Delta Force operators, Air Force pilots, CIA case officers and Ground Branch, and the law enforcement and emergency responders who do the work most never see.
It doesn't stop at the uniform. The Vanguard Wall also brings on the builders, storytellers, and experts whose lives speak to the same audience — entrepreneurs and founders, filmmakers and actors, and voices in health, human performance, and resilience — because hard-won wisdom and a story worth telling are worth hearing wherever they come from.
Topics: combat operations, special operations, training and selection (Q Course, Ranger School, BUDS), leadership under stress, PTSD and trauma recovery, health and human performance, entrepreneurship, storytelling, family, faith, and the transition to civilian life.
For warriors. For the families who love them. For anyone who wants to understand what service — and grit — actually demand.
New episodes every other week. Long-form video on YouTube. Audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are heard.
— CONTACT / OWNER EMAIL —
admin@thevanguardwall.com
Episodes
55 episodes
25 Years in Tech, a Dozen Patents — and He Says You've Been Told Two Lies About AI | Shawn Ennis
If you’ve read the news in the last three years, you’ve been handed two stories about AI — and they can’t both be true. Story one: the machines are coming for your job, your kid’s job, your retirement, your privacy. Story two: it’s all hype, a ...
The Kid Nobody Bet On Who Became a Green Beret Colonel | Max Krupp
Colonel (r) Max Krupp will be the first to tell you he doesn’t tell war stories — you have to pull them out of him. Over 28 years he became the first Texas Army National Guardsman in history to earn the Green Beret, wore a Bronze St...
The Marines Said No. He Retired a Command Sergeant Major. | CSM Mac McAlister
The Marine Corps turned him down at eighteen. Twenty-four years later, CSM (Ret.) Donald "Mac" McAlister retired at the very top of the enlisted ranks — a Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart, with five combat tours behind him:...
Chris McCoy: He Served With Pat Tillman, Then Left War for the Deadliest Job on Earth
Chris McCoy served in the 75th Ranger Regiment alongside Pat Tillman and speaks plainly to the cover-up of how Tillman died. He recovered bodies inside the Pentagon after 9/11, fought through the high mountains of Afghanistan, then walked off t...
Man of War Director William Kaufman on Ukraine, LaMonica Garrett, and Films That Don’t Lie
Director William Kaufman brings Man of War to The Vanguard Wall — a grounded military action thriller set on the opening morning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, starring LaMonica Garrett and out now on digital via Well Go USA. LaMoni...
Inside Canada's SWAT: An RCMP Tactical Leader & Sergeant Major | Seb Lavoie
Seb Lavoie is the most decorated operator most people have never heard of. Over 20 years he went from a French-Canadian kid with no childhood memories to a soldier, a covert air marshal, an ERT tactical operator and team leader, a court-recogni...
The Most Dangerous Flying Job in Vietnam | Hugh Mills
Hugh Mills flew the OH-6 “Loach” as a low-level aeroscout in Vietnam — statistically the most dangerous flying job of the war. Shot down 16 times, three Silver Stars, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Purple Hearts. Aut...
Marine to Green Beret to Delta to CIA: The Man Who Hunted bin Laden | Gary Harrington
At Tora Bora in December 2001, Gary Harrington sat on one of the closest American observation posts to Osama bin Laden — close enough, he says, to watch the bombs he was calling in streak past the ridge sideways. Then the war handed him to the ...
Air Force PJ: He Was Told to Stand Down. Cole Condiff Was Never Found. | Aaron Love
Senior Master Sergeant Aaron Love — Air Force Pararescueman, 22 years, five combat deployments — is the first PJ ever on The Vanguard Wall. Fewer than 500 people have earned the maroon beret. The pipeline carries a 91% attrition rate — the long...
From Selling Plasma to 8 Figures: Marine Vet Johnny Raushi's American Comeback
Marine vet Johnny Raushi joined the Corps at 17 for a free skateboard sticker. Four years later he came home broke, picked up change in a gas station parking lot, and sold his plasma twice a week to fund the first batches of a pomade he was per...
The Last Plane Out of Kabul: Air Mission Commander Reveals What Really Happened | Col(r) Alex Pelbath
The last C-17 lifted off Kabul's runway at 11:59 PM on August 30, 2021. The man who gave the order — and made the radio call "Math Safe" that officially ended America's longest war — tells the full story for the first time.Colonel Alex ...
They Said "We've Been Fine Without You." He Proved Them Wrong. | Dr. Nick Barringer
Thinking about buying a home or refinancing? Nuwave built a dedicated page specifically for Vanguard Wall listeners so you can connect directly with the team assigned to our audience: https://nuwaveanchor.com/i/thevanguardwallIf this ep...
MACV-SOG | How One Man Built the Most Dangerous Training Program in Vietnam | Travis Mills
Thinking about buying a home or refinancing? Nuwave built a dedicated page specifically for Vanguard Wall listeners so you can connect directly with the team assigned to our audience: https://nuwaveanchor.com/i/thevanguardwallIn August ...
Kyle Steiner: Korengal Survivor, Green Beret, and the Fight to Be a Good Father
Thinking about buying a home or refinancing? Nuwave built a dedicated page specifically for Vanguard Wall listeners so you can connect directly with the team assigned to our audience: https://nuwaveanchor.com/i/thevanguardwallCW2 Kyle S...
He Survived Fallujah… Then Walked Away From Everything | Eric Shelvy (Part 2)
He fought in Fallujah at 21. He carried a diplomatic passport in Moscow. He investigated explosives for the ATF. And then he walked away from all of it — sold his house, pulled his kids out of school, flew to Panama, and bought a sailboat.<...
He Refused to Be Put in a Box | Marine, Diplomat, Then Gone | Eric Shelvy (Part 1)
On November 22nd, 2004, a photograph appeared on the cover of Time Magazine — a young Marine, 21 years old, face locked in a primal scream in the middle of the push on Fallujah, Iraq. That Marine was Eric Shelvy. And if you think you know where...
From Failing Middle School to Special Forces Commander | LTC Chane Jackson
Chane Jackson was told he'd never make it past eighth grade. A teacher gave him an "H" on a paper because an F wasn't low enough. He never made honor roll once.Fast forward: West Point graduate. 75th Ranger Regiment. Green Beret commander. Five...
Special Forces Officer Reveals Why He Chose Seminary Over the Military | Evan Perperis
What does it take to go from a self-described "nerdy drama club kid" to leading Green Beret teams in Iraq? And what kind of man walks away from a 20-year Special Forces career to pursue seminary? This is the story of Major Evan Perperis.Evan sp...
Navy Veteran Opens Up About Depression, Faith & Hollywood | Cody Bobay
🔥 This is the story Hollywood doesn't want you to hear.Cody Bobay went from being an alcoholic 13-year-old in a broken home to encountering God in a Navy barracks—and his entire life changed in ONE SECOND. Now he's fighting to take back...
Breaking Addiction & Building Desert Plunge: Matt Kuiper's Recovery Journey
What do you do when you've lost everything—your family, your future, your will to live? For Matt Kuiper, founder of Desert Plunge, the answer came in the form of 38-degree water. This is the story of a man who went from two DUIs and jail time t...
CIA Operator: The Sacrifices Nobody Talks About | Bob "Ninja" Porras Interview (Part 2)
Bob Porras served 20 years in Delta Force before joining the CIA's Global Response Staff, where he spent another decade protecting intelligence operations in the world's most dangerous places. In this conversation, Bob shares the reality behind...
From Engineer to Delta Force: The Untold Journey Nobody Expected | Bob "Ninja" Porras (Part 1)
Few operators earn the right to walk away from Delta Force on their own terms. Bob "Ninja" Porras did exactly that—after building a legendary career from nothing.This episode covers Bob's journey from Los Angeles to becoming one of Delt...
There's People Who Need You That Haven't Met You Yet" - Ranger CSM Michael Burke on His Darkest Day & Recovery (Part 2)
From a 12-year-old kid in Montana wearing hand-me-downs to Command Sergeant Major—this is the story of what happens when you almost lose everything, and the fallen hero who saved you one last time.Command Sergeant Major Michael Bu...
I Almost Quit Rangers... Until This Delta Operator Changed Everything | CSM Michael Burke (Part 1)
A 16-year-old mom. No father. A troubled Montana kid who didn't fit anywhere. Three days after graduation, he shipped out to become an Army Ranger—and almost quit before the war even started.Retired Command Sergeant Major Mike Burke tak...
7 of 7 | Kevin Robbins | From Detroit Streets to Green Beret: CSM Robbins Honors MSG Gregory Trent
The Vanguard Wall Podcast Presents: The Quiet Professional - The MSG Gregory Trent Series (Final Episode)In this emotional series finale, Command Sergeant Major Kevin Robbins (ODA 3422) shares his perspective as a member of the sister t...