Strong Finisher, Zach Armstrong, Senior Chief United States Special Warfare, SEAL retired

Eric is a retired law enforcement officer in the Eugene/Springfield area of Oregon. He has followed his passion of fitness and bodybuilding and has had the opportunity to change the lives of countless clients. One of his best friends just might be a name you know. He is the training partner of Cameron Hanes, the Under Armour sponsored Western Bow Hunting extreme athlete.

Best known for his role as an investigator on the History Channel's docu-reality series Hunting Hitler, Mike Simpson has served over three decades in the military as an Airborne Ranger, a Green Beret, and a doctor of emergency medicine assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Trained as a demolitions expert, SWAT sniper, high altitude low opening (HALO) parachutist, civilian paramedic, Special Forces medic, operations and intelligence sergeant, and board-certified emergency medicine physician, Mike now uses his extensive knowledge of training and medicine to help men over forty achieve peak physical condition.

Zach has been a close friend of mine since the day we met. He is one of the kindest souls I have ever known. I look up to Zach, (metaphorically) because of his unconquerable spirit and uncompromising will to do things right. When I attended his retirement ceremony on June 25, 2021 (yes that is the memorial date of Operation Red Wings) all of my beliefs of who my friend is was validated by his teammates speaking of him in his presentation. Zach has defied the odds, he has come out on top after a long successful 20 plus year career in the SEAL teams. He has fought in the Global War on Terror, was one in one of the first SEAL platoons to invade Iraq, has successfully completed a white SOF rubber duck combat jump and on top of all of this has successfully retired from the teams still married to his Bride and kept his family intact. This episode is special to me because we recorded it one year ago. The reason we did it this way is that we planned on recording the second part a full year later. Stay tuned for the follow up episode.

Brett Christenson is the President and lead instructor of Christenson Combatives. Brett has harnessed a 20 year career in the US Coast Guard Deployable Specialized Forces, having deployed around the world in support of Counter Drug, Counter Piracy, and Counter Terrorism Operations forging Christenson Combatives. Brett served tours with Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement, Maritime Security Response-East, and Special Missions Training Center. His partner, Mike “Chino” Castillo is the lead instructor with Christenson Combatives. Mike proudly served for 20 years in the United States Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces and has been teammates with Brett since 2006. He shares a very similar background with multiple deployments around the globe in support of Counter Drug, Anti-Piracy, and Counter Terrorism. He has served with the U.S. Coast Guard’s most elite unit, Maritime Security Response Team- West as well as Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team. These guys have been there and done that, and gone back for more. Come with me as we deep dive into what they are currently doing.

Mark Pfeifer is a decorated Captain for the City of Delta near Vancouver Canada. Mark is also one of the founders and owners of Ronin Rescue. Ronin Rescue is a vanguard in the contracting Rescue services, as well as a major player of n the international GRIMP competitions. Mark has had a storied career in the Canadian Army, Canadian Fire Services and as a contractor providing international stand by rescue services. Mark is one of my peers who has had a very similar professional experience as mine. Covid has kept us apart for more than a year. We finally decided to record this episode by phone to just get it done. Come enjoy the time we spent catching up again. 

Master Chief Jason Gardner, United States Navy SEAL Retired. Jason Spent more than 30 years in Naval Special Warfare and successfully retired after having earned 1 Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart among many other service awards. He is a veteran of both the first Gulf War and the Global War On Terror, having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He served through 9 deployments over his time in service, with 5 of those deployments seeing combat. The lessons he learned through his time in service to our country has carried over into his transitional career with the Leadership Consulting company, Echelon Front. Echelon Front is a consulting firm created by Jocko Willinck and Leif Babin that brings the lesson of high performance team leadership and dynamics to the business and public safety arena. Sit down and listen to the wisdom earned from his 51 trips around the sun.

Aaron Quinn is a career Firefighter for Oakland Fire Department in Oakland California. He has been serving the his city for 20 years. He is the "Senior Man" in his house assigned to Truck Company 18. Aaron is the son of a retired Oakland Fireman, and as such has had the majority of his life to watch how the fire service has changed. He has a unique wholistic approach to fitness that is all encompassing and could be called "wellness". He has been the physical training instructor in the basic Fire Academy for the majority of the workforce of the Oakland Fire Department. Aaron is an athlete who has competed in swimming, water polo, and practices Jiu Jitsu. He has a belief that in order to be a good public servant, you first have to be a good person. He has an Instagram page that is worth following daily entitled @live.serve.thrive .

Sean is an amazing friend that has done quite a bit in his life so far. Sean grew up in the high desert of North East Los Angeles County in an abusive split home. He found the ability to choose to make his life different. He began by pursuing being a Firefighter until his unapologetic ways of confronting a bully changed his path. He ended up joining the army with a "Ranger Contract", only to find out he had been hoodwinked into being a cook. He still managed to find a way into the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), getting assigned to 10th group, and seeing combat. Upon completion of his enlistments he joined the Denver Police Department where he joined a community policing team similar to the Army CIF concept. When the George Floyd civil unrests began and the support of his superiors waned, Sean decided to pursue his passion and begin an Instagram business, YouTube channel(FNG academy), Podcast (FNG podcast)and find the time to write his book "Rising Above" about survival and confrontation with post traumatic stress. 

Come spend an hour with my friend Tim Stuber, Deputy Chief of Santee Fire Department, retired. Listen in as we discuss his career. The origins all the way through significant events, promotions and several decades of change eventually making the ultimate transition into his retirement. However, is 51 too young to truly retire nowadays? join in and find out.

I have had the opportunity to bring to you a friend of mine. His name is Keahi Thompson. Listen in to hear how he has balanced his career as a SWAT sniper, Paramedic and military reservists. He is a great guy doing some pretty amazing things. He also runs his own IG page @brasshalffull with his own podcast “The Brass Half Full Project”.