Ep. 331 - Steve Balestrieri

During his heyday, Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel were pushing an estimated 70-80 tons of cocaine into the U.S. every month. DEA agents Javier Peña and Steve Murphy were stationed in Colombia and were assigned to take down Escobar and the Medellin cartel.Many Americans had no idea who Murphy and Pena were until the Netflix series “Narcos” was released. And although the series, like all Hollywood films, took some liberties with the true story, it finally brought Murphy and Pena to the forefront.The DEA agents worked in Medellin out of the police force base and were part of the Search Bloc (Bloque de Búsqueda), the CNP’s Special Operations unit in charge of the search for Escobar. The task force also included members of Delta Force, Navy SEALs, NSA, and CIA. It was the CIA that both Murphy and Peña remember as being as much at odds with the DEA as it was with the cartel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Okt 20201h 7min

Kristofer Goldsmith is the chief investigator and associate director for policy and government affairs at Vietnam Veterans of America, a congressionally-chartered veterans service organization. There he has been leading efforts to study the targeting of troops and veterans online for the purposes of fraud and disinformation campaigns by foreign entities. Kris's policy portfolio at VVA centers around "New Veterans," covering a broad range of issues from healthcare to education, and military personnel policy to post-service employment opportunities for veterans.He is the founder of High Ground Veterans Advocacy, a small nonprofit organization which trains veterans to engage successfully with government on policy changes meant to improve the lives of servicemembers, veterans and their families. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 Sep 202052min

Moe Davis is a retired Air Force Colonel, Director of the Air Force Judiciary and former Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. Col. Davis has been a law professor, judge, speaker, writer, and national security expert for Congress.He graduated from Appalachian State and North Carolina Central School of Law. Shortly after he passed the bar exam, his father died of a heart attack. In part to honor his father, Davis decided to join the Air Force, the start of a 25-year career of service in the military.In 2007, while serving as Chief Prosecutor for Terrorism Trials at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis dared to publicly take on the Bush Administration. He refused an order to use evidence obtained through torture, believing it was both immoral and illegal and the evidence unreliable. That decision came at a price; to uphold his principles and maintain his oath, Col. Davis had no choice but to resign his prestigious position as Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay.For his stand against torture and the political pressure placed on prosecutors at Guantanamo, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) honored Col. Davis by including him in, “Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up For Our Country.”That was not the last time Col. Davis stood up for what he believed was right. In 2009, after retiring from the Air Force, he was working as an assistant director and senior specialist in national security for the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. But when he wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that was critical of the Obama Administration’s handling of prosecutions at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis was fired.Col. Davis is currently running for election to the U.S. House to represent North Carolina's 11th Congressional District.If you haven’t already, be sure to join our community at SOFREP and find the best tactical equipment and apparel in our store, The Loadout Room. Support our veteran team and be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review!Editor's note: This episode was recorded on September 4th, 2020. Due to technological issues, the quality of some portions of this podcast is low. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Sep 20201h 12min

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11 Sep 202042min

General Don Bolduc served as Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force commander and from 2012-2013 as Commander of the Combined Joint Special Operations Component in Afghanistan where he logged ten deployments. Today, General Bolduc is running for New Hampshire State Senate. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 Aug 20201h 12min

Our guest Dan Hampton is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986 to 2006. He flew 151 combat missions in the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and logged 726 career combat hours. Lt. Col (Ret.) Hampton is best known as a "Wild Weasel", or Surface-to-Air (SAM) site killer, recording 21 hard kills on SAM sites. Dan is also the author of Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II. Pick up your copy on Amazon today!If you haven’t already, be sure to join our community at SOFREP and find the best tactical equipment and apparel in our store, The Loadout Room. Support our veteran team and be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Aug 202045min

In this episode, host Steve Balestrieri speaks with Clint Lorance, a former Army officer who was wrongly accused of killing Afghan civilians. The military system, the unit chain of command, and the Army committed a grave injustice and put Clint in prison for killing enemy combatants who were getting ready to attack his soldiers.Thanks to being pardoned by President Trump, Clint is now a free man and is beginning law school so that he can help to fight injustice within the system. Clint is also the author of a book called Stolen Honor: Falsely Accused, Imprisoned, and My Long Road to Freedom that will be released on September 22, 2020. You can preorder your copy today!If you haven’t already, be sure to join our community at SOFREP and find the best tactical equipment and apparel in our store, The Loadout Room. Support our veteran team and be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Aug 20201h 2min

In this episode, host Steve Balestrieri speaks with Marc Goldberg, an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) paratrooper and author of the book Beyond the Green Line.If you haven’t already, be sure to join our community at SOFREP and find the best tactical equipment and apparel in our store, The Loadout Room. Support our veteran team and be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Aug 20201h 12min