Ones Ready
A team of active duty Combat Control (CCT), Pararescue (PJ), and Special Reconnaissance (SR) leveraging our 69 years of special operations experience to make the next generation of operators smarter, faster and stronger than we ever were. We are the PREMIERE resource for all things Air Force Special Warfare. The Ones Ready Podcast is honest talk about what it is like to go from a know-nothing high school graduate to an elite Special Operator. We will cover important practices for success including physical training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset traits essential to any team. Join us in The Team Room to get all your questions answered!! With battle-tested operators from across USAF SPECWAR and far-reaching web of recruiters, subject matter experts, and friends, there are no questions we can’t answer- and if we can’t, we know exactly where to look. See you in The Team Room!Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the OnesReady team are those of the team and do not reflect the official policy or position of the DoD. Any content provided by our Podcast guests, bloggers, sponsors, or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign the DoD, any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone.
Ones Ready
Ep 515: Air Force EOD Event Canceled Over Optics: Leadership Failure or Risk Aversion?
Peaches is flying solo and absolutely torching weak leadership in this unfiltered rant from the Ones Ready team room. The story? A Monster Mash at Little Rock AFB was shut down at the last second—after 50 candidates paid their own way—because someone got scared of “bad optics” during a government shutdown. Spoiler: nobody died, but the leadership’s spine sure did.
Peaches tears into risk-averse commanders, lazy optics-warriors, and anyone who hides behind policy instead of taking ownership. Then he spotlights one real-deal hero: Col. Echard, the 19th Airlift Wing Commander who told everyone to “keep pressing” and owned the risk like a leader should.
If you’ve ever wondered why morale tanks or why recruiting struggles, this episode spells it out in flaming detail. Get ready for rants, real talk, and a reminder that courage doesn’t come from PowerPoint slides.
⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 – Peaches in the team room, solo and slightly unhinged
02:30 – The Monster Mash disaster: how 50 candidates got burned
05:10 – Government shutdown excuses and the weak “optics” cop-out
07:30 – Risk aversion: the silent killer of military progress
10:45 – Enter Col. Eckerd: one leader who actually leads
13:00 – “Own the risk, keep pressing” – how real commanders operate
15:00 – Peaches unloads on leadership that folds under pressure
18:00 – Lessons from chaos: empathy, ownership, and doing better
20:00 – Shoutouts to the EOD team and recruiters who kept grinding
22:30 – The Ones Ready mission: real training, real risk, real results
24:00 – PMA, TastyGains, and Peaches roasting himself before bed
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