MOAA's Never Stop Serving Podcast

As we conclude our third season of the Never Stop Serving Podcast, host Olivia Nunn speaks with MOAA member Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret). Our season has largely focused on war stories, but in this episode we learn of a dynamic career cut short by a surprising illness. After several deployments flying the F-15E Striker Eagle, Malachowski became the first female pilot in the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's demonstration team. Following several assignments, including command of the 333rd Fighter Squadron, she was named a White House Fellow and Executive Director of the Joining Forces Initiative to support military families. In 2017, Malachowski was forced to medically retire due to the debilitating effects of a tick-borne illness. She has since become an advocate for wounded warriors and patients suffering the effects of tick-borne diseases.

In this episode of the Never Stop Serving Podcast, host Lt. Col. Olivia Nunn, USA (Ret), speaks with Silver Star recipient Maj. Josh Glover, USMC (Ret). During his second deployment to Iraq, Glover, then a first lieutenant, was serving as a Quick Reaction Force platoon commander when they were sent out to secure a downed CH-53 helicopter. During the mission, the QRF platoon was ambushed but able to fight through and return back to friendly lines, inflicting numerous enemy casualties on the way. Later that same day, they were called out to rescue a rifle platoon fighting behind enemy lines. Lt. Glover and his platoon engaged and defeated a company-sized enemy element to reach the besieged Marines. 

In this episode of the Never Stop Serving podcast, host Lt. Col. Olivia Nunn, USA (Ret), speaks with Maj. Brian Cillessen, USMC (Ret). In January 2005 then-Capt. Cillessen was attached to a Special Forces ODA as an embedded trainer and Marine adviser for Afghan National Army commandos. While returning from a mission, his convoy was ambushed. Cillessen, now a television producer and host on The Sportsman Channel, details the actions in this battle that earned him the Silver Star.

In April 2004, Joe Ruggiero was a petty officer serving with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment aboard the Navy’s USS Firebolt in the Persian Gulf. Ruggiero and a team of Coast Guardsmen and sailors were conducting a boarding operation near an oil terminal when the boat they were intercepting detonated in an apparent suicide bombing, killing two sailors and one Coast Guardsman. For his actions that day, Ruggiero, now a Chief Warrant Officer 2, became the first Coast Guardsman since the Vietnam War to earn a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with V.  

As Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021, Elliot Ackerman, a former Marine Corps infantry officer and MARSOC team leader, found himself in the middle of an unofficial evacuation effort to help Afghan allies escape the country. Ackerman, a Silver Star recipient and author, wrote about the effort and his experiences in Afghanistan in his latest book, "The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan."

Melissa May didn’t grow up with fighter pilot dreams but the self-described "tree hugger and snowboarder" was recruited to swim at the the Air Force Academy. In due time May found herself flying combat missions over Libya by day and changing diapers by night. Now a retired lieutenant colonel, May talks about these adventures, the mission over Baghdad that earned her a Distinguished Flying Cross and her transition to a commercial pilot for United.

In this episode Lt. Col. Olivia Nunn, USA (Ret.) speaks with retired Col. Chris Barnett, a U.S.  Air Force Pave Hawk pilot, who was pulled off an instructor assignment and sent to Afghanistan to fly combat rescue missions in Helmand Province. His life-saving actions in the spring of 2009 resulted in two Silver Stars. Chris tells our host Olivia Nunn about the high op tempo his unit faced, and the challenge of returning home. 

In this episode, Silver Star recipient Delorean Sheridan, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant, walks listeners through an insider attack he stopped on March 11, 2013 in Afghanistan. After serving more than 20 years, Sheridan now works on Capitol Hill. 

Never Stop Serving: Season 3 , Episode 1War Stories: CW5 Doug Englen In this episode Lt. Col. Olivia Nunn, USA (Ret.) speaks with retired CW5 Doug Englen, an Army Chinook pilot with more than 2,500 combat missions under his belt. Englen started his career as an enlisted crew chief aboard a Huey in Desert Storm. After leaving the service for a brief period, Englen rejoined and went to flight school as a warrant officer. For the next 21 years, Englen flew with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and copiloted the first helicopter into Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks. Englen was chosen by Adm. William McRaven to plan the air component of the mission to capture or kill Osama Bin laden, calling him, "without a doubt, the finest Army aviator of our generation." Season 3 is sponsored  by MOAA Insurance Plans, administered by Association Member Benefits Advisors (AMBA).

The Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) was founded by Chris Nowinski, Ph.D., and Robert Cantu, M.D. Nowinski met Dr. Cantu, a world-renowned concussion expert while seeking treatment for the Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) he developed from a concussion suffered during his career as a professional wrestler with WWE. Trauma, TBI changes a person and leave an impact that lasts a lifetime. The work that Dr. Nowinski has started is vital to the military community. After 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, our veterans are working through mental health, many of who still do not understand the signs and symptoms. It's important we start the discussion now so that we can change the narrative for tomorrow. Listen to Olivia Nunn speak with Dr. Nowinski about the Concussion Legacy Foundation and the vital work they are doing.