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Send us Fan Mail This MBRS episode starts where most people get uncomfortable and keeps going. Peaches and Trent open with a simple truth from Taylor Starch: nobody runs enough, your hips are probably trash, and injury fear is mostly self-inflicted. From there, the conversation spirals—into broken leadership inside special warfare training, why loosening standards hurts recruiting instead of helping it, and how accountability actually attracts the right people. The back half dives hard into culture: nuclear power fear-mongering, why modern society is terrible at raising functional young men, the illusion of safety, bullying, discipline, violence, and the consequences of parents outsourcing responsibility. Add conspiracy detours, EU dysfunction, Army crime cases, and a brutal assessment of American cultural decay—and you get a classic members-only rant that doesn’t pretend to be polite. ⏱️ Timestamps:  00:00 Members intro and running truth bomb  01:00 Nobody runs enough—Taylor Starch wisdom  03:00 Hips, gait issues, and injury prevention  05:00 Zulu course chaos and leadership gaps  08:00 Pipeline frustration and entitlement mindset  12:00 Standards, accountability, and recruiting reality  15:00 Tightening discipline vs “unprofessional” complaints  18:00 Validation, war myths, and why people want testing  21:00 Younger generations: fitter, smarter, different  24:00 AI models, GPUs, and future warfare brains  27:00 Nuclear power fear vs reality  31:00 TSA, illusion of safety, and wasted money  35:00 Violence, bullying, and social correction  40:00 Army murder case and cultural breakdown  47:00 Parenting failures and lost male mentorship  55:00 Teaching basic life skills and confidence  01:00:00 Final rant, nuclear saves the world, wrap-up 🎯 Call-to-Actions:  👍 Like the episode  🔔 Subscribe  💬 Comment if standards should rise, not fall  🌟 Leave a review  🪖 Stay a Ones Ready Member  👕 Check out the merch store Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail A 36-year-old father was driving home on his lunch break when he heard gunfire near Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon — the school his two daughters attended. According to the account Trent and Peaches discuss, he saw the teenage gunman entering the building, followed him inside, and stopped the attacker before police arrived. But afterward, his family said he wasn’t looking for recognition. He was struggling with the fact that he hadn’t gotten there sooner. That becomes the real conversation in this Outside The Wire episode. Trent and Peaches talk about survivor guilt, trauma involving children, combat experience, PTSD, and the difference between someone trained and conditioned for violence versus a civilian who suddenly finds himself walking into something no normal person expects to see. They also revisit the problem with the “hero tour”: society wants to celebrate people who perform extraordinary acts, but recognition can also mean forcing someone to repeatedly relive the worst day of their life. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="1"} The hardest question is also the simplest. Most people would hear gunfire, call 911, and wait for police. This father had every survival instinct telling him to stay outside — and still went in. Trent and Peaches break down what it takes to override that voice, why examples like this matter, and why being called a hero does not mean the psychological consequences simply disappear when the cameras leave. LINKS onesready.com operatortrainingsummit.com CHAPTERS 00:00 - Ones Ready Outside The Wire 00:34 - Silver Rail Elementary School Shooting in Bend, Oregon 01:35 - Father Runs Into School and Stops the Gunman 02:59 - Survivor Guilt After Heroic Action 03:25 - Uvalde and Why Children Change Trauma 04:50 - What Happens After Becoming a Hero? 05:47 - Combat Training, PTSD and Unprepared Trauma 07:25 - The Problem With the Hero Tour 07:55 - “If Not Me, Who?” 09:16 - Online Scrutiny After Public Heroism 10:27 - Why His Actions Mattered 11:23 - Overriding the Survival Instinct 12:34 - Combat Trauma and Compartmentalization 13:40 - Outside The Wire Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail This episode starts with something none of us wanted to talk about. A member of the Air Force community was killed during a rappelling demonstration at a UTSA event in San Antonio. At the time Trent and Peaches recorded, next-of-kin notifications were still being completed and the member had not yet been publicly identified. First and foremost: Much love to his family, teammates, and everyone at the 6th Combat Training Squadron. Trent and Peaches walk through the publicly available footage from the perspective of two guys who have spent a lot of time around this type of training. And the first clarification matters: This was a RAPPEL. Not a fast rope. Those are different techniques with different equipment, different safety considerations, and different levels of risk. The available video raises obvious questions about descent speed, rope friction, routing, hardware, hand position, and whether the system was functioning correctly. But neither Trent nor Peaches claims to know exactly what failed. Equipment? Routing? Connection? Human error? Something else entirely? That is what the investigation is for. What they do know is that a roughly 170-foot free rappel gives you very little room for error. Buddy checks matter. Rigging matters. Equipment checks matter. And just because you have done something a hundred times does not mean evolution 101 deserves any less attention than evolution one. The conversation then moves into TACP, CCT, JTACs and the old ROMAD concept. Peaches explains how young Airmen who were not yet JTAC qualified could still become extremely useful members of the team by learning radios, aircraft integration, procedures and enough of the job to become an extra capability if somebody went down. Trent talks about his first Afghanistan deployment in 2006, where the TACP and Combat Controller on his team took the time to teach him enough of their job that he could help if things went sideways. Back then, that mattered. Teams were taking casualties. ODAs were getting combined. People were getting wounded and medevaced. And the mission still had to continue. Later, Peaches tells a completely different story about running into a senior enlisted leader years after realizing they had apparently crossed paths downrange. That turns into one of the strongest leadership conversations in the episode. A senior leader arrives on a tightly controlled itinerary. Airmen are standing in a hangar who were not part of the scheduled stop. His staff expects him to keep moving. Instead, he sees them, changes direction, walks over and speaks to every one of them. Schedule be damned. Peaches follows that with another story about a Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force visiting wounded service members while somebody reminds him that a general is waiting. His answer was essentially: The general can wait. Because sometimes leadership is as simple as remembering which people actually matter. The episode closes by returning to the rappelling footage and one final point: Rappelling is dangerous. Take everything seriously. LINKS OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com CHAPTERS 00:00 - Ones Ready 01:09 - Why This Episode Starts Differently 01:32 - Fatal Rappelling Incident at UTSA 02:04 - What Happened? 03:12 - Rappel vs. Fast Rope 04:02 - Why Fast Roping Is Different 05:25 - We Don’t Know the Cause Yet 06:06 - 6 CTS Det 2 and Next-of-Kin Notification 07:43 - A Celebration Turns Tragic 08:30 - Breaking Down the Available Video 09:39 - Equipment Failure or Routing Problem? 10:24 - Why Buddy Checks Matter 12:24 - Identity Still Not Released 13:17 - TACP Training and JTAC Qualification 13:48 - ROMADs and the “Mini Jag” 14:52 - Learning Another Teammate’s Job 15:33 - Afghanistan When Everybody Was Taking Losses 17:32 - OnesReady.com and Training Programs 20:19 - Peaches Runs Into an Old Teammate 21:31 - “Wait... We Were in Afghanistan Together” 23:27 - When Rank Disappears 24:25 - The Chairman Sees the Airmen 26:29 - He Breaks the Schedule to Meet Them 28:47 - “The General Can Wait” 30:55 - Another Angle of the Rappel Incident 32:22 - Why the Media Keeps Calling It Fast Rope 33:07 - Watching Military TV After Retirement 35:29 - What Pressure Reveals 37:55 - Watching People Quit Before It Starts 39:08 - Take Rappelling Seriously 39:11 - Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Apparently the Air Force looked around and decided what we were desperately missing was another beret. This time it’s EOD. Aaron, Trent, and Peaches react to the new rust-colored EOD beret and immediately ask the obvious question: Who was asking for this? This isn’t an anti-EOD episode. EOD technicians do an extremely difficult job, go through a demanding pipeline, and bring a legitimate capability to the fight. But does every specialized career field need its own funny hat? The boys break down why berets existed in the first place, why they were historically tied to unique units and qualifications, how PJ and CCT ended up with theirs, why Rangers changed colors after the Army adopted the black beret, and why distinctive headgear starts losing some of its meaning when everybody gets one. Also discussed: What happened to Goggins in the pipeline? Is SR actually being merged with CCT? What traditions do Combat Controllers have? Should EOD move under AFSOC? What does an EOD mission inside AFSOC actually look like? And why would you voluntarily leave Civil Engineering, where you’re the cool guy with the bomb suit and new beret, just to walk into a Special Tactics team room and immediately become another support function getting roasted by Controllers? The episode also takes a minute to remember Operation Gothic Serpent on its anniversary, including the legacy of the Airmen, Rangers, and special operations forces who fought through Mogadishu and the lessons that shaped the decades that followed. And eventually the crew discovers the most important possible follow-up question: If EOD joins the Special Warfare team room... where exactly do they rank? That one had to go to MBRS. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:54 - Does EOD Really Need a Beret? 03:08 - Who Was Asking for This? 04:32 - Are Berets Actually Functional? 05:36 - What Makes a “Sharp” Airman? 06:18 - Who the Hell Is Samson Kearns? 10:31 - The E-4 Mafia Cannot Be Stopped 15:06 - How Did PJ and CCT Get Their Berets? 16:46 - Why Are Berets Supposed to Mean Something? 18:16 - How Big Is Air Force EOD? 21:00 - Your Questions: EOD, Goggins, and Beret History 25:18 - Remembering Operation Gothic Serpent 28:18 - Why Do Some Career Fields Get Berets? 30:07 - Is SR Merging With CCT? 31:11 - What Traditions Do Combat Controllers Have? 32:29 - Does the AFSW Pipeline Need Another Update? 34:26 - Should EOD Move to AFSOC? 37:46 - Why Moving to AFSOC Might Actually Suck 39:37 - Who Ranks Where in the Team Room? 39:51 - Continue the Fight on MBRS Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail What actually happens on a military base when a hurricane is headed straight at it? Trent and Peaches break down the stuff most people never see. Aircraft have to move. Families may have to evacuate. Training stops. Other bases have to make room. Commanders are staring at forecast models trying to decide whether they are moving too early — or waiting too long. And every decision costs money, training time, operational capability, and potentially lives. Both Trent and Peaches spent time around Hurlburt Field and the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, so they walk through what hurricane preparation actually looks like inside the Air Force. One of the coolest pieces: The ride-out team. When most people evacuate, selected personnel stay behind. Special Tactics. Security Forces. RED HORSE. Rescue-capable personnel. People with boats, communications, recovery equipment, and the skills to start working almost immediately after the storm passes. At the 23rd, that meant Zodiacs, inflatable boats, rescue equipment, and people already trained to operate in ugly conditions. Families get moved somewhere safer. The ride-out team stays. Then when the storm clears: Go to work. They also talk about how difficult the evacuation decision actually is. Move aircraft too early and you burn money, disrupt training, impact operations, and create problems for every receiving base. Wait too long and eventually the weather gets bad enough that you cannot safely fly the aircraft out at all. There is no perfect answer. There is only risk management. The conversation then expands into something useful for everybody — not just military people: How prepared is YOUR family? Power. Water. Food. Communications. Starlink. A bug-out plan. A vehicle. And enough capability to sit tight for roughly 72 hours while you figure out what the actual situation is. Trent makes the point that everybody loves talking about the bug-out bag, but if you have a family, your house is probably your best initial position in most emergencies. You do not need a bunker. You need enough preparation to buy yourself time. The guys also get into military disaster response after Hurricane Maria, why Hurlburt’s Special Tactics capability is uniquely useful after a storm, getting recalled to active duty, Rocky IV indoctrination, Vegas flash floods, and Peaches accidentally winning a one-minute bench-press challenge in flip-flops. Normal Ones Ready progression. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 01:04 - Ones Ready and OTS Updates 04:16 - Hurricane Hits the Gulf Coast 05:15 - What Happens When a Base Prepares for a Hurricane? 07:49 - Trent Left Anyway to Take Care of His Family 08:11 - When Do You Evacuate a Military Base? 10:02 - Commanders Have an Impossible Decision 11:02 - What Happens When You Wait Too Long? 12:01 - What Is a Ride-Out Team? 13:20 - Who Should Stay Behind? 14:17 - Riding Out the Hurricane 15:30 - No Power, No Internet, Starlink Saves the Day 17:07 - What Should Your Family Actually Have Ready? 18:39 - Bug Out or Stay Home? 19:30 - Why Communications Matter After the Storm 20:39 - Special Tactics Disaster Response 22:59 - Would Trent and Peaches Ever Re-Enlist? 25:40 - Vegas Gets Hammered With Rain 26:50 - Hiking Through Lightning Is Apparently Fine 27:40 - Rocky IV Parenting 29:16 - Peaches Accidentally Wins the Bench Press 31:47 - Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail This MBRS Only goes deep on internet outrage culture, hypocrisy, and why performative morality keeps collapsing under scrutiny. Peaches and Trent break down the Scotty K Fitness implosion—virtue signaling, selective Second Amendment outrage, and the moment he crossed the line by doxxing a private citizen and their family. From ICE protests and whistle tactics to media manipulation, AI-altered images, and why nuance dies online, the conversation expands into accountability, restraint, and how fast people rush to conclusions without facts. They also hit why leadership under stress matters, why mob energy is the goal—not justice—and why most people have no idea what they’d do in the chaos they’re cheering for. Messy, uncomfortable, and exactly why this stays behind the paywall. ⏱️ Timestamps:  00:00 Members intro and attributes-based mindset  02:00 Scotty K Fitness and internet hypocrisy  04:30 Selective outrage and Second Amendment takes  07:00 Kyle Rittenhouse comparisons and false equivalence  10:30 Doxxing a private citizen crosses the line  13:30 Sponsors drop him—consequences explained  15:45 Performative outrage vs real accountability  17:30 ICE protests, whistles, and sensory overload  19:30 Stress, restraint, and real-world decision-making  22:00 Media manipulation and AI-altered imagery  24:30 Mainstream media trust and incentives  26:30 Revolution rhetoric and manufactured chaos  29:00 Colorado ANG hero story and readiness  32:00 Fitness, composure, and community expectations  35:30 Drone pilot mental health study explained  40:30 PTSD, micro-stress, and long-term exposure  45:00 Medical establishment vs reality-based care  50:30 Brain optimization, performance, and bro science  56:30 Training vs real-world decision making  01:02:00 Black Hawk Down legacy and mindset  01:06:00 Final thoughts and member thanks 🎯 Call-to-Actions:  👍 Like the episode  🔔 Subscribe  💬 Comment if nuance still matters  🌟 Leave a review  🪖 Stay a Ones Ready Member  👕 Check out the merch store Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Should the government livestream an execution? Trent and Peaches get into the proposed public execution of the Fort Hood shooter — and immediately land somewhere that is probably going to piss off people on both sides. Neither guy has much sympathy for the man convicted of killing 13 people and wounding dozens more at Fort Hood. The argument is about something different: Should Americans be able to WATCH the punishment? They dig into why public executions disappeared from American culture in the first place, how old executions turned into massive public spectacles, and why the firing squad historically has one very practical advantage: It works. Then Trent asks the uncomfortable question. We live in a country where Game of Thrones became a cultural phenomenon, real combat footage lives on social media, police shootings appear online within hours, wars are documented almost in real time, and people willingly consume violent content every single day. So why does this particular violence suddenly become morally unbearable when the government makes it available to watch? Peaches can understand the argument that America should not put itself in the same category as countries known for public executions. Trent’s counterpoint: Nobody is forcing you to watch it. That leads into firing-squad procedures, why some rifles historically contained blanks, victims wanting to witness executions, political hypocrisy, and the difference between an execution being available online and turning it into a literal public carnival. Then the episode pivots into another outrage cycle: Pete Hegseth working out with Marines. Videos show him falling behind younger Marines and struggling through parts of the workout, and naturally the internet reacts like the Secretary of Defense just failed selection. Trent and Peaches have a different reaction. He’s in his 40s. They’re young Marines. They SHOULD smoke him. The weird part would be if they didn’t. They argue that whatever criticisms somebody has about Hegseth’s policies or leadership, voluntarily showing up, doing PT with troops, answering questions, and letting everyone film the results probably isn’t the hill to die on. Peaches also tells the story of a former SOCOM commander doing exactly what operators would do: Pick the event you’re good at and then absolutely crush everybody younger than you. Also included: The redesigned OnesReady.com and OperatorTrainingSummit.com. Why OTS is instruction and mentorship — not an $18,000 fake hell week. How public firing squads historically used blank rounds. Why outrage culture makes everything political. And why the Marines absolutely should have smoked the boss. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:19 - Ones Ready and OTS Got a Facelift 04:48 - Should an Execution Be Livestreamed? 08:18 - Are We Actually Offended by Violence? 10:14 - Why America Stopped Public Executions 11:39 - Why Firing Squads Rarely Fail 12:29 - Should Victims Be Allowed to Watch? 15:05 - Why Some Firing-Squad Rifles Had Blanks 17:50 - Is the Outrage Actually Political? 23:38 - Pete Hegseth Gets Smoked at PT 27:05 - Who Is Actually Criticizing Him? 29:47 - Marines SHOULD Beat the Boss 30:39 - When the SOCOM Commander Smoked Everybody 32:49 - OTS Vegas and Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail How do you actually know when you’re ready for Air Force Special Warfare? Trent and Peaches are back with Part 3 of the Operator Training Summit FAQs, answering questions submitted directly by candidates. And this one gets into some of the stuff people obsess over before shipping. What actually helps people survive the hardest parts of selection? Should you tell everyone what you’re trying to do? What qualities matter most in a teammate? How much should you train your breath hold? Are peer reviews just popularity contests? What mistakes get candidates in trouble? How do you build mental toughness? How much recovery is too much recovery? Is there still a SWIC program between BMT and Assessment & Selection? And most importantly: How do you know when you’re actually ready to ship? Trent and Peaches make the case that candidates spend way too much time worrying about secret programs, pipeline changes, apps, recovery scores, and the exact training plan somebody else used. The bigger things are much less complicated. Be consistent. Be trainable. Tell the truth. Take responsibility. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Eat enough. Build an aerobic base. Get strong enough to handle volume. And stop relying on the pipeline to prepare you for the pipeline. The Air Force may change prep programs. Accessions may increase. SWIC may exist in one form and disappear in another. None of that changes your responsibility: Show up ready. Trent’s rough benchmark? If you’re running around a 9:00 mile-and-a-half, handling the rest of the IFT comfortably, and putting up strong pull-up numbers, you’re probably in a much better place than the person who barely passed an IFT and immediately accepted the first available ship date. Peaches adds another test: Could you pass an IFT tired, after you already trained, with almost no notice? If the answer is no, you might have more work to do. This is the stuff we wish candidates would focus on before they get on the plane. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:00 - OTS FAQ Part 3 02:49 - What Gets Candidates Through the Hardest Parts of Selection? 05:16 - What Qualities Matter Most in a Teammate? 07:07 - What’s the Best Way to Train Breath Holds? 09:33 - Are Peer Reviews Just Popularity Contests? 11:34 - What Are the Biggest Candidate Mistakes? 13:19 - Why Choose a Job Where You Could Die? 15:36 - How Would You Build Push-Ups From Scratch? 17:08 - How Will Drone Warfare Change Future Operations? 18:10 - How Do You Actually Build Mental Toughness? 19:47 - Should You Listen to Your WHOOP Recovery Score? 22:28 - When Do You Need a Recovery Week? 25:04 - Is SWIC Still Part of the Pipeline? 27:44 - Should You Ship Just Because You Passed the IFT? 29:42 - How Do You Know When You’re Ready? 31:25 - FAQ Part 4 Is Coming Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail The War Room is back — Aaron Love, Jake Zweig, Nate Cornacchia, and Ben Pappas — and this one goes off the rails almost immediately. The biggest story: Tim Kennedy was reportedly seriously wounded during a contracting operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The crew works through what is currently known, what is still unverified, and what appears to connect the operation to companies associated with Eric Prince. According to the information discussed on the show, Kennedy was reportedly part of a small private military/security element supporting Congolese government interests involving mineral revenue protection, border security, and tax enforcement when the team was ambushed. A former New Zealand SAS operator was reportedly killed. Kennedy was reportedly shot multiple times — including wounds to the foot, ankle, femur, and upper body — before eventually being evacuated for advanced medical treatment. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="1"} Aaron breaks down what a catastrophic femur injury can actually mean medically, especially when combined with a prolonged tourniquet time and additional wounds farther down the leg. The crew also asks the uncomfortable question: Why was Tim Kennedy there in the first place? At nearly 50 years old, after a Green Beret career, UFC career, businesses, media success, and everything else he has already accomplished — what keeps somebody going back? Combat addiction? Identity? Adrenaline? Trying to prove something? Or simply taking another contract because that is still the world he knows? Nobody on the panel celebrates what happened. In fact, all four make the same point: They hope Tim recovers. But accountability and empathy can exist at the same time. From there, the War Room moves into another wild story: The proposed public firing-squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter. The panel agrees the punishment itself is not the issue. The livestream is. Do Americans really want the government broadcasting an execution? Does that create deterrence — or propaganda? Does it strengthen society — or normalize something that should remain solemn? The guys compare the proposal to public executions historically, discuss why violence can become intoxicating in crowds, and question what message America actually sends if state-sponsored killing becomes entertainment. Finally, they give a brief update on the John Chapman / Takur Ghar controversy and the Ground Truth documentary. That documentary is still coming. Britt Slabinski remains connected to the project. And because that story requires about two decades of context to explain correctly, the guys decide it deserves its own episode rather than trying to cram it into twenty minutes. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="2"} Also included: - hurricanes and BUD/S surf misery - Blackwater history - modern drone warfare - whether Tim Kennedy could rebuild his public image - Pete Hegseth and performative leadership - JD Vance surprisingly giving a solid answer - why SOF personalities are not exactly normal - combat addiction - prosthetics after catastrophic trauma - and the War Room crew repeatedly losing the plot Chapters: 00:07 - The Whole War Room Is Back 06:05 - Tim Kennedy Reportedly Wounded in the Congo 08:09 - What Was Kennedy Doing There? 09:04 - Eric Prince, Vectus, and the Congo Contract 11:53 - This Was Not a U.S. Military Mission 14:03 - Why Was Tim Kennedy Back in the Fight? 16:31 - The Crew Wishes Tim a Full Recovery 17:33 - What Happened in the Ambush? 20:56 - Five Hours With a Tourniquet? 23:22 - Was the U.S. Military Anywhere Nearby? 30:26 - Is Tim Kennedy at Walter Reed? 32:01 - Was Russia’s Africa Corps Involved? 34:04 - Combat Is a Hell of a Drug 36:08 - How Bad Is a Gunshot Through the Femur? 41:19 - Could He Lose the Leg? 47:01 - Can Tim Kennedy Rebuild His Reputation? 54:57 - What Really Happened in the Ambush? 01:02:22 - Should the Fort Hood Shooter Be Executed Publicly? 01:09:04 - Punishment vs. Spectacle 01:12:19 - What Other Countries Publicly Execute People? 01:17:55 - Is Pete Hegseth Becoming the Problem? 01:23:54 - Why Public Violence Changes Crowds 01:31:44 - Is Hegseth a Change Agent or Just a Liability? 01:40:06 - John Chapman / Ground Truth Update 01:54:36 - What Does AFSOC Actually Need From Special Warfare? 02:29:07 - Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Why don’t Americans trust institutions anymore? Aaron Love joins Ben Pappas for a live conversation about collapsing confidence in government, media, the justice system, major institutions, and the people who are supposed to tell us the truth. Ben starts with polling discussed on the show showing confidence in major U.S. institutions near historic lows — while the military and small business remain among the most trusted. So what happened? Aaron’s argument is that there wasn’t one single event. It stacked. Vietnam. Watergate. Iraq and the WMD claims. Afghanistan. The 2008 financial crisis. Government surveillance. COVID. Epstein. Every time an institution gets something wrong, hides something, spins something, or refuses to provide accountability, another little piece of trust disappears. Aaron argues that COVID accelerated that collapse more than anything else in recent memory because distrust spread across multiple institutions at once — government agencies, health authorities, employers, media organizations, and political leadership. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="1"} That leads into another question: Why are people increasingly getting their information from podcasts, YouTube, X, and independent creators? Aaron makes the case that long-form podcasting is simply better suited for difficult subjects. You can hear context, disagreement, tone, nuance, and people actually challenging each other instead of compressing everything into a short scripted news segment. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="2"} But that creates responsibility too. Aaron and Ben talk about the difference between skepticism and paranoia, why independent voices still have to check themselves, how leaders rebuild trust once it is lost, and why sometimes restoring credibility means exposing everything — even when the truth is painful. Aaron’s answer: Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The conversation then expands into leadership, accountability, personal agency, political principles, the Lindsey Clancy case, rule of law, and what happens when people stop believing the system will produce a fair outcome. They close on something much smaller but probably more useful: Trust is built the same way everywhere. Show up. Do what you said you would do. Be consistent. Own your mistakes. And be there when people need you. That works for governments. It works for teams. And it works at home. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:07 - Why Americans Don’t Trust Institutions 05:42 - Confidence Is Near Historic Lows 10:46 - Did COVID Break Institutional Trust? 14:00 - Vietnam, Watergate, WMDs, and the Long Decline 19:51 - Why Nothing Shocks People Anymore 23:32 - Epstein and the Accountability Problem 30:25 - Can Government Ever Rebuild Trust? 35:38 - Why Podcasts Are Replacing Traditional News 40:33 - Why American Soft Power Still Matters 45:32 - How Do Leaders Rebuild Lost Trust? 48:39 - What If YOU Are the Leadership Problem? 52:18 - How Aaron Decides Who Gets His Vote 56:30 - System Failure vs. Personal Accountability 01:05:45 - Cause Does Not Erase Culpability 01:11:05 - What Happens When Moral Guardrails Move? 01:16:29 - How Aaron Builds Trust in Real Life 01:20:24 - Iran: Preparing for Continued Operations 01:28:00 - Could the U.S. Force the Strait of Hormuz? 01:34:19 - Is the Younger Generation Too Comfortable? 01:36:59 - Could America Win a Ground War With Iran? 01:45:09 - Final Thoughts Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Apparently the military needs another combatant command. This one, though, might actually make sense. Trent and Peaches break down the proposed four-star command focused on autonomous warfare — unmanned aircraft, robotics, counter-drone systems, networks, software, offensive capabilities, defensive capabilities, and all the other technology that has gone from “cool science project” to absolutely essential on the modern battlefield. Ukraine made the problem impossible to ignore. Iran reinforced it. And every service trying to independently invent, purchase, regulate, fund, and operate its own version of the same technology probably is not the fastest way forward. A centralized command could mean common standards, dedicated funding, fewer duplicated programs, faster development, better interoperability, and hopefully fewer situations where the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy all show up with equipment that somehow still cannot talk to each other. But there is another side to it. The military is simultaneously talking about reducing the number of general officers by roughly 20%. So how exactly do you create a new four-star headquarters without immediately growing another pile of generals, colonels, chiefs, staffs, deputies, directorates, and all the positions required to feed that headquarters? That leads into a bigger conversation about military bureaucracy, SOCOM funding, Special Tactics, why Special Warfare probably does NOT need to become another assault force, and what SOCOM actually expects Air Force operators to be world-class at. The answer is pretty simple: Be exceptional at the capability nobody else can provide. The guys also get into drone warfare on the Ukrainian front, how difficult it has become to hide from persistent surveillance, civilian police departments using organic ISR, counter-UAS requirements around military installations, and why some of the Air Force’s aviation rules may be making small-drone training unnecessarily difficult. Also discussed: Wu-Tang. Tom Clancy predicting terrible things. Why there are too many generals. Why every four-star apparently needs another general standing next to him. And why Peaches may or may not survive a piss test after sitting inside T-Mobile Arena. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:54 - Why Is the Military Creating Another Command? 04:33 - What Would an Autonomous Warfare Command Actually Do? 07:18 - Does Congress Still Have to Approve This? 09:43 - Why Not Let Every Service Run Its Own Drone Programs? 11:04 - What Happens If SOCOM Starts Paying for AFSW Training? 12:19 - Does Special Tactics Need to Be an Assault Force? 15:39 - Is This New Command Actually Necessary? 17:37 - What Capabilities Would It Control? 18:57 - Could This Finally Fix Air Force Drone Rules? 20:27 - Why Can’t the Services Just Talk to Each Other? 21:42 - What Has Ukraine Changed About Warfare? 23:31 - How Far Has Drone Technology Already Spread? 25:22 - Did Tom Clancy Predict This Stuff? 28:23 - How Do You Create a New Command While Cutting Generals? 30:47 - How Many Generals Does a Headquarters Really Need? 31:35 - OTS Vegas and Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Trent and Peaches get into a problem the Air Force needs to think about now — not five years from now. Airmen are coming home from combat experiences that may look very different from what the GWOT generation went through. And one of the fastest ways senior leaders can screw this up is by immediately saying: “I know what you went through.” Maybe you don’t. Trent talks about coming home from early deployments and hearing people try to relate to experiences they had never actually shared. Peaches tells his own story about saying the wrong thing to Will Markham after Afghanistan and realizing how badly even good intentions can miss the mark. That becomes the larger point of the episode. Some Airmen today are dealing with repeated attacks, large explosive events, exhaustion, high operational tempo, and potentially significant blast exposure. Trent argues that leaders with Iraq and Afghanistan experience need to be careful about turning their own deployments into the measuring stick for somebody else’s experience. Listen first. Give people space. Know what resources exist. And understand that somebody may not want help the week they get home — but they may need it months or years later. The crew talks about True North, lessons learned from POTFF and SOCOM, decompression programs, the strange transition from being in combat to suddenly sitting at home with your family, and why resources have to remain available long after the welcome-home ceremony is over. This is not about treating returning Airmen like they are broken. It is about recognizing that the environment changed — and making sure our leadership changes with it. Also: Aaron apparently has a tanning emergency, Peaches accidentally congratulated a combat veteran for surviving Afghanistan, PJs still dress like granola-powered slackline instructors, and OTS has some bigger changes coming in 2027. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:54 - Aaron Has a Tanning Emergency 01:13 - The Dumbest Thing You Can Say After a Deployment 02:01 - Peaches’ “Congratulations” Disaster 03:42 - When People Think They Understand Your War 06:52 - Today’s Combat Environment Is Different 09:10 - Why Trent Started Thinking About This 11:04 - When Leaders Try Too Hard to Relate 14:52 - Airmen Are Becoming Frontline Targets 16:53 - What SOCOM Learned About Brain Health 17:31 - True North, POTFF, and Scaling Support 20:36 - Weapons School Students Coming Straight From Combat 23:24 - Leaders Need a New Playbook 25:45 - Some People Aren’t Ready for Help Yet 28:25 - Did Decompression Actually Work? 30:38 - Support Has to Last Longer Than the Deployment 31:40 - PJ Merch and OTS 2027 Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Trent and Peaches start with the completely normal question of whether Noah’s Ark has finally been found after 4,300 years. From there, naturally, they end up fixing marriage, military careers, Air Force talent management, bureaucracy, government civilians, and the apparent disappearance of larger-than-life Air Force leaders. The Noah’s Ark claim kicks off a conversation about truth, archaeology, UFOs, and the uncomfortable reality that even if somebody definitively proved something world-changing tomorrow, most of us would still be arguing about gas prices and whatever nonsense is trending online. Then the episode shifts into something a little more useful: Who you marry may be the most important decision you ever make. Trent and Peaches talk about why people settle, why “we’ve been dating long enough” is a terrible reason to get married, and why careers are far easier to change than the person you build your entire life around. That leads into military careers and why 20 years in the Air Force does not necessarily mean doing one thing for two decades. Different units, missions, deployments, staffs, schools, and responsibilities can make the career far broader than outsiders realize. Then Trent asks the bigger question: Where are today’s Robin Olds, John Boyds, and other disruptive Air Force legends? His theory is not that the talent disappeared. The talent is still there. The system just got better at suppressing it. Too many regulations. Too much bureaucracy. Too many people who see initiative as more work. Too many leaders unwilling to identify a talented Airman, give them room, and tell everyone else to stay out of the way. They also get into the role of long-term government civilians, continuity, contractors, and when institutional knowledge stops being an asset and starts becoming a roadblock. Also: Noah, Lindsey Clancy, Adam Carolla, marriages, Spencer going back somewhere he apparently should not, PJ merch, and Peaches once again somehow fixing the Air Force in under 30 minutes. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 01:06 - Did They Actually Find Noah’s Ark? 03:43 - What Would Proof Even Change? 06:21 - UFOs Proved Nobody Cares 08:10 - Why Adam Carolla Still Works 09:49 - Should Marriage Really Be This Much Work? 11:15 - The Most Important Decision You’ll Make 12:30 - Why Military Careers Aren’t One Job 15:09 - Choose Your Spouse Wisely 16:09 - Where Are Today’s Robin Olds? 17:01 - Did the Air Force Kill Its Mavericks? 19:43 - Let Fighter Pilots Be Fighter Pilots 21:15 - Bureaucracy vs. Talent 22:05 - When Continuity Becomes a Roadblock 23:33 - We Fixed the Air Force 25:03 - PJ Merch and Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Ben Pappas brings Aaron Love and Jake Zweig into the War Room, and they start with one of the most emotionally charged stories in modern special operations history: Takur Ghar. More than two decades after the battle, a new documentary is challenging major pieces of the accepted account surrounding Medal of Honor recipient John Chapman. Aaron lays out why Ones Ready is approaching the controversy differently. No character assassination. No anonymous dirt. No SEAL-vs-PJ nonsense. No pretending an unreleased documentary has already settled the issue. Just look at the claims, look at the evidence, and wait for the complete case. They walk through the ISR footage, the Medal of Honor process, Britt Slabinski’s connection to the story, competing interpretations of what happened on the mountain, the questions raised by Chapman’s autopsy, the Ranger QRF, Jason Cunningham’s actions, and why revisiting these events carries consequences far beyond internet arguments. Aaron’s bigger point: Some things in the community should remain sacred. Then the War Room moves to another rapidly changing battlefield — drones. Cartels are already using drones for surveillance, smuggling support, and other capabilities. Ben, Aaron, and Jake discuss where that technology could go, what Ukraine has demonstrated about cheap unmanned systems, and why counter-drone technology may become one of the most important capabilities in the next fight. From there, the conversation moves into current geopolitical uncertainty, energy, military readiness, and finally something everyone can actually control: Leadership. How do you lead a family, military unit, business, or yourself when everything around you feels unstable? Forecast. Prepare. Communicate. Make hard decisions early. And stop waiting until the organization is already on fire. This is War Room Recall. Links: OnesReady.com OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:07 - Welcome to War Room Recall 03:01 - The John Chapman Controversy 06:10 - Aaron’s Ground Rules 08:38 - What the ISR Footage Shows 11:07 - Ground Truth Challenges the Accepted Story 13:22 - Why Takur Ghar Was Such a Dangerous Objective 17:29 - Britt Slabinski Gets Put on the Spot 22:07 - The Impossible Medal of Honor Question 25:36 - Why Chapman and Slabinski’s Stories Are Connected 27:50 - Why Is This Coming Out Now? 30:02 - How Neil Roberts Fell From the Helicopter 34:22 - The Autopsy Question 37:57 - Bunker, Kitchen, or Something Else? 42:50 - What Should a Medal of Honor Represent? 44:55 - Aaron: Some Things Should Be Sacred 48:02 - Stop Turning SOF History Into Team-Room Warfare 50:38 - From Takur Ghar to Cartel Drones 54:37 - The Cartels Are Already Using Drones 58:57 - How Far Could This Actually Escalate? 01:01:08 - What Happens When Drone Swarms Scale? 01:02:25 - The Counter-Drone Arms Race 01:09:40 - The Iran Conversation 01:21:51 - Aaron’s Closing Take 01:24:13 - Ben and Jake Take Over 01:35:55 - Leadership When Everything Is Changing 01:53:29 - Great Leaders See Problems Early 01:57:18 - How Do You Actually Prepare? 02:02:19 - What Will the Next War Look Like? 02:23:53 - War Room Wrap-Up Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...

Send us Fan Mail Trent sits down at AFA with 2nd Air Force Command Chief CMSgt Colin Fleck to talk about what may be one of the biggest shifts in Air Force Basic Military Training in decades. The conversation starts with legacy. Trent wears his father’s jacket and talks about how one generation of service can change the trajectory of an entire family. Chief Fleck shares his own family story — grandparents who served, a father in the Army, joining after September 11th, a son who became a Marine, another who just graduated Air Force BMT, and a daughter who married an Airman. Then they get into why BMT is changing. The goal is not to trash what came before. BMT built generations of successful Airmen. The question is whether the Air Force can do more to prepare the next generation for a fight that probably will not look like Iraq or Afghanistan. That means putting the Air Force back into Air Force Basic Military Training. Instead of learning discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, and military bearing without always seeing where those skills connect to the mission, trainees are now getting hands-on mission context. There is already an F-16 on the ground. C-130s are coming. Trainees are working simulated weapons loading, cargo movement, aircraft refueling, runway repair, casualty movement, planning, risk management, debriefs, and after-action reviews. The point is not to make every trainee a maintainer, defender, or weapons troop. The point is to make them understand what it means to be an Airman first and how every career field contributes to generating airpower. Chief Fleck also explains where the culminating exercise is headed: an austere airbase environment, ground and air threats, small UAS, CBRN, limited sleep, noise, pressure, aircraft generation, cargo, refueling, and a real test of whether trainees can operate as a team. And for the NCOs waiting for these Airmen? Do not squash them. They may show up more mission-focused, more willing to plan, more curious about risk, and more proud of being Airmen than previous generations. Challenge them. Teach them. Ask them questions. And get back to the basics that can actually save lives: TCCC, small arms, CBRN, physical fitness, and preparing people to do hard things. Because as Chief Fleck puts it: Airmen joined the military to do military shit. Links: - www.bmt.projects-af.com - OnesReady.com - OperatorTrainingSummit.com Chapters: 00:07 - CMSgt Colin Fleck at AFA 01:08 - Why Trent Wore His Father’s Jacket 02:30 - Chief Fleck’s Family Legacy 04:45 - What the Name Tape Means 05:21 - Why People Really Join 07:01 - Building the Next Generation 07:44 - The Moral Imperative to Prepare Airmen 09:52 - Changing BMT Is Not an Indictment of the Past 11:44 - So What Is Actually Changing? 13:54 - Putting the Air Force Back Into BMT 15:54 - An F-16 on the Drill Pad 17:37 - C-130s Are Coming Too 18:37 - What Training Got Rebalanced 20:03 - Why MTIs Are Buying In 21:54 - From the Drill Pad to the Airfield 24:21 - Building a Culminating Event Airmen Earn 25:40 - What NCOs Need to Do Next 31:03 - What Comes Next for BMT Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY DFND Apparel...