Welcome to the Eagle Nation Podcast! We’re excited to bring you a weekly dose of Eagle Fire through compelling discussions with inspiring guests, on topics that you care about. We’ll explore veterans, community, nonprofits, fitness, and leadership.
Please be sure to subscribe to podcast on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, or however you get your podcasts.
We’d also love you to be a part of the show. Please send any ideas, comments, or questions to podcast@TeamRWB.org. You can also hit us up on Twitter @TeamRWB by using the hashtag: #EaglePodcast.
Mike Bledsoe is a Navy veteran and the CEO of Barbell Shrugged. Over the last 5 years, he and his team have revolutionized the way that the gyms, trainers, and fitness enthusiasts do business. Mike started one of the early CrossFit boxes while he was still in college back in 2007. A few years later, they started a little podcast (the first one I ever listened to) called Barbell Shrugged and have gone on to interview many of the most influential people in the worlds of CrossFit and strength training, to include Rich Froning and Tim Ferriss.
This episode is as wide-ranging as it is intriguing. Mike and I go into every from the role of identity to the value of content marketing. He is an extremely thoughtful guy and provides some tremendous insight into how Veterans (and everybody) can become the best versions of themselves. If you’re not familiar with Mike, you are in for a treat. He’s unlike anybody we’ve interviewed so far and this one was a ton of fun. You won’t want to miss it!
You can catch Mike on Twitter @michaelbledsoe or check out their stuff at:
www.barbellshrugged.com and www.barbellbusiness.com
If you’re interested, you can check my interview on the Barbell Business podcast from last April.
Tyler Steinhardt is the founder of Shootout for Soldiers - a one-of-a-kind event that uses lacrosse to support veterans and build community across America. In addition to that, he’s one of the most articulate and thoughtful 23 year olds that you’ll ever come across.
In this episode we discuss:
David Wood is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and the author of a fantastic new book, What Have We Done: The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars. He has covered conflicts all over the globe and has seen warfare in many forms. We have a wonderful conversation that includes:
• Understanding moral injury and how it affects Veterans
• How PTSD is often misused as a blanket term for all combat related stress
• Reconciling a pacifist upbringing with the realities of war and soldiering
• Ways that we can better support one another, and our communities
Very few people have more experience with the true nature of armed conflict and those that are affected by it. Please enjoy this episode and be sure to share it with friends!
Marjorie is the acclaimed author of the 2017 Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) winning book, The Frontline Generation: How We Served Post 9/11. The book began as a personal memoir for her son and turned into the first to define post 9/11 service and leadership.
In this episode we discuss:
• The term Frontline Generation, and what it means.
• Writing a book for her son
• Why she decided to independently publish, vs. a traditional publisher?
• How intelligence professionals view the world differently.
• What it’s been like to share unfiltered journal entries with the world.
Bergan Flannigan has one of the most compelling stories that we’ve ever brought to the Eagle Nation Podcast. Her military career began brilliantly as the top military graduate in her class from Norwich University. Upon completion of her Military Police training, she reported to Ft. Stewart, Georgia and was almost immediately deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Almost 9 months into the mission, Bergan was struck by an anti-personnel IED and lost her right leg above the knee…and that is just where her story begins.
During this episode, we have a great conversation about combat, relationships, recovery, mindset, and so much more.
Just as a note, this episode has a little bit of an NPR interview feel to it. Bergan and I had not previously met and we recorded outside a neighborhood Starbucks. You’ll notice me saying “Wow!” about 50 times. There’s a bit of background noise, but just imagine that you’re there, hanging out with us, on a warm Florida afternoon.
5 years ago, the Cooper brothers, Nathan and Aaron, set out on journey to ride motorcycles from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, to Tierra Del Feugo (an archipelago that sits at South America’s southernmost tip). The journey has turned out very differently than they intended, and they’ve learned a ton about themselves and other cultures along the way.
In this episode we discuss:
Eric Frohardt is a former Navy SEAL, an entrepreneur, and the CEO of StrongFirst. While on active duty, Eric served on various SEAL Teams and deployed numerous times to hot spots around the world. He’s co-founded a number of different businesses, most notably the BluCore Shooting Center, a firearms training facility. He is currently the CEO of StrongFirst – a premium strength and fitness education company with a global presence of more than 2,500 instructors that operates on 6 continents.
In this episode we discuss:
Dr. Nancy Sherman is a Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. She was also the inaugural Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the United States Naval Academy. She holds a PhD from Harvard, and has taught at some of the best academic institutions in the U.S., to include Yale and Johns Hopkins. Sherman is the author of four books, several of which focus on military issues.
We have a rich conversation in which we cover:
We have a really interesting show this week on the Eagle Nation Podcast! Will Bardenwerper is an Army veteran and author. On this week's episode, we have a great conversation about his time in uniform, and how he is carving out a career for himself as a writer. So far, he's doing a pretty good job! His new book, A Prisoner in His Palace, tells the fascinating story of Saddam Hussein's final months as a prisoner of the US-led coalition and the interim Iraqi government. The book takes you inside the experience of young, American soldiers assigned to guard the former dictator during his last days. It is an amazing read. We also discuss how Will got into writing and how other Veterans can do the same. With such a small percentage of Americans actually serving in the military, it is absolutely critical for Veterans to be a part of the conversation. We had a blast on this one, so we hope you love it!
Andrew Brennan is a former UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and combat veteran. After departing the Army a little earlier than he’d planned, Andrew ultimately found himself searching for his next calling. A fateful encounter with a group of Vietnam Veterans on their way to visit the memorial wall in DC sparked the inspiration he needed. Andrew is now the Executive Director of the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation.
For the past two years they have been working diligently on Capitol Hill to gain bipartisan support for an amendment bill to the Commemorative Works Act of 1986 and today, they have successfully introduced two companion bills in the House and Senate: H.R. 873 and S. 926. These bills can pave the way for a sacred place to honor this generation of warriors and all without any taxpayer funding.
GWOTMF exists to ensure that the Veterans of the Global War on Terror experience their future memorial in a timely manner as we recognize that this can be a decade's long process from the time legislation is enacted to the completion of the memorial itself.
Check out the action plan below on how you make your voice heard and be a part of the effort to create a memorial that will tell the countless stories of bravery, resilience and sacrifice from the Global War on Terror for generations to come.
TAKE ACTION TODAY
