Hazard Ground

Joe Chenelly’s path to the Marine Corps started from a very unlikely place. As he describes it, his parents were hippies. And after initially finding college to be something he didn't necessarily have an affinity for, Chenelly enlisted in the Marines. Joining not long before 9/11, Chenelly would eventually end up at the forefront of America’s war on terror as a combat journalist. In fact, Chenelly was the first Marine combat correspondent to step foot into enemy territory after 9/11. He was also part of the initial invasion into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Joe Chenelly now continues to serve as the National Executive Director for AMVETS, one of the leading veteran service organizations in America. Hear what it was like to be on the front lines of America's response to 9/11, as well as Joe's amazing work with AMVETS in support of those returning home from war, in this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.amvets.org | www.rollingtoremember.com Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.haz

Vincent "Rocco" Vargas thought his life would be baseball. He was on the path to take a stab at the majors, but academic ineligibility while playing college ball pushed him in a different direction. Inspired by military service and seeking a way to provide a stable means of supporting his first child, Vargas enlisted in the Army in 2003. He knew he wanted the most challenging job possible in the military, and ultimately settled on becoming an Army Ranger. After 3 deployments with the 75th Ranger Regiment, experiencing combat and the highs and lows that come with it, Vargas decided to leave active duty to pursue a new chapter. He is now a working actor and writer. You can catch him regularly as "Gilly" on the FX show and "Sons of Anarchy" spinoff, "Mayans M.C.", along with other acting projects he has coming out. Experience the inspiring evolution of Vincent "Rocco" Vargas on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.vincentroccovargas.com | "Mayans M.C." | @MayansFX | "Light The Fuse" Support the podcast by

Will Bardenwerper returns to the show, and goes back to Ranger School. Will graduated the Army's grueling combat leadership school in 2004, but returned recently to write a piece for Outside Magazine on Ranger class 05-19. Bardenwerper admits he's more often jolted from a deep sleep by a dream about Ranger School than he is by anything related to his own experiences in combat. Going back to chronicle class 05-19 may have actually changed that, but if anything, it gives outsiders a look into one of the toughest and most demanding military training courses out there. If you're interested in attending Ranger School, or ever wondered what goes on during this 9-week test of a soldier's physical and mental fortitude, this is one episode you don't want to miss! "Army Ranger School Is a Laboratory of Human Endurance" | "The Prisoner in His Palace" | www.willbardenwerper.com This episode is brought to you by MyFrontPageStory.com! MyFrontPageStory.com is a brand new way to celebrate major life events and turn them in

This week we're featuring another Special Guest, whose story is characterized by resilience as well as connected to recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. On April 15, 2013, Marc Fucarile was severely injured by the second of two bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon. He was attending the race as a spectator, watching a friend of his run, and was standing just a few feet away from the second bomb when it detonated. Fucarile lost his right leg above the knee in the blast, nearly lost his left leg and was covered with severe burns, shrapnel wounds, and even still has shrapnel lodged in his heart. His true recovery didn't happen, though, until he was given an opportunity for treatment at Walter Reed. Hear how that happened along with Mark's inspirational story on this special edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.marcfucarile.com This episode is brought to you by MyFrontPageStory.com! MyFrontPageStory.com is a brand new way to celebrate major life events and turn them into your own piece of front-page

A measured decision led Tom Kerr to pursue the Green Beret after 4 years in the Infantry. He wanted to do more in combat, serve with the elite, and know that what he was doing every time he deployed to a combat theater was not only challenging, but tangible. Following more deployments as a Green Beret, a back injury nearly sent Kerr out of the military and a job he loved more than anything. But, he found purpose in a new position working to modernize and innovate combat gear and systems for Special Operations forces until his back healed and he could deploy again. Tom Kerr is still serving as a Green Beret on active duty, nearing the end of a 20-year career, while also working on the next chapter building a clothing start-up called, Eighth Order. Hear his inspiring story of combat, resilience, and healing on this latest episode of HAZARD GROUND! www.eighthorder.com | Arc'teryx LEAF- Special Operations Care Fund This episode is brought to you by MyFrontPageStory.com! MyFrontPageStory.com is a brand new way t

Dr. Bob Adams is fifth generation career military, dating all the way back to the Civil War. His military career spans 30 years, and began at the U.S. Naval Academy. Following graduation, Dr. Adams served a few years in the Navy before pursuing his dream to become a Navy SEAL. He would serve 12 years as a SEAL before embarking on a career shift, enrolling in medical school, and becoming a doctor - specifically an Army doctor. From there he would go on to fill such prestigious positions as the Command Surgeon for Delta Force, and deploy with the 82nd Airborne Division in 2003-2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His military career and service to his country and others is nothing short of astounding, and you can hear about it in detail on this latest episode of HAZARD GROUND!  "Six Days of Impossible" | www.sealhellweek.com | www.swordsandsaints.com Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (Paid

He is credited with making roughly 5,325 rescues during his 20 year career in the Air Force. That's an average of approximately 5 rescues each week for 20 years straight! Mike Maroney joined the Air Force to become a PJ. He says he joined the military to earn his keep for living in a free country. And when you look at what he's done during his military career, it's clear he's done more than earn his keep. He's saved the lives of not only American servicemembers, but also those of Coalition Forces, civilians during humanitarian missions, and even the enemy - proving he's dedicated to something much, much bigger than himself. Maroney continues to train and prepare individuals for special operations careers, even now that he's out of uniform. He's an incredible human, and you can hear his story on this latest episode of HAZARD GROUND! Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (Paid Link) Help grow the

When Jeremy Staat was drafted out of Arizona State by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1998 NFL draft, it looked as if his life for the foreseeable future would be based solely around pro football. He was a standout player, but after four seasons in the NFL Staat decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and serve in the military. Staat enlisted in the Marine Corps, and served from 2005 to 2009, deploying to Haditha, Iraq as an infantry Marine. In this episode, Jeremy talks about his unlikely jump from the NFL to combat, his close relationship with Pat Tillman, riding a bike across the U.S. to raise awareness about veteran suicide, and how these experiences have pushed him toward a greater life of service, and eventually running for U.S. Congress. Hear it all on this inspiring episode of HAZARD GROUND! www.jeremystaat.com | www.staatforcongress.com Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifyin

If you're looking for motivation, or simply inspiration to never, ever quit, then you should listen to this episode with Green Beret, Nick Lavery. Nick enlisted in the Army to become a Green Beret after he graduated college in 2007. Since earning his Special Forces tab, Lavery took shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade to his shoulder, leaving a sizable wound; he was shot in the face; and ultimately lost part of his right leg from machine gun fire, all in three separate encounters with the enemy. For all three injuries, Lavery insisted on and has returned to combat as soon as possible, making him the first special operator to return to combat as an above-the-knee amputee. Hear his incredible story on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (Paid Link) Help grow the show! Spread the word, tell a friend!! Subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes!

Following in the footsteps of his father and both grandfathers, Thomas Gibbons-Neff joined the military at the end of his senior year in high school. He enlisted in the Marine Corps. Like many of his contemporaries, he just wanted to get in the fight. He was in 8th grade when 9/11 happened. So any doubt that he would follow his family into the military, and eventually war, vanished when his country was attacked. But war would bring a new revelation for Thomas and his fellow Marines: that life would be so greatly different, even though they had survived and come back home to the lives they left behind to fight America's enemies. In this episode, a Marine turned journalist reflects on the loss of his fellow Marines, fellow leaders who he respected greatly, and whose loss is still deeply apparent. Hear his story on this very sobering edition of HAZARD GROUND. Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (P

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a Special Forces Medic, Robert Patrick Lewis can certainly tell you. They are some of the most highly trained field medical professionals in the world. Lewis signed up to become one after 9/11, and deployed multiple times to Afghanistan, Iraq, and North Africa, eventually finding himself on the receiving end of field medical care. He received the Purple Heart for wounds he sustained on one of those deployments to Afghanistan. In this episode, Lewis talks about the circumstances surrounding his combat injuries, losing brothers in combat, and how he went from Green Beret to both non-fiction and fiction writer. He's also now an entrepreneur, marketing professional, and investor. Hear his inspiring story of combat, loss, and survival on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! "The Pact" | "The Pact II" | "Love Me When I'm Gone" | www.heroesmediagroup.com Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associat

Originally, Terry Wilson wanted to be a Marine. But, following a brief education on the recruiting business, Terry opted for the Army instead when he learned his "guaranteed" MOS wasn't so guaranteed with the Marine Corps. He would eventually become a Combat Engineer with the Army, deploying to Afghanistan where his job was lead Husky vehicle driver, searching for IEDs during route clearance operations. Prior to his assignment as a Husky driver, Terry was blown up by three IEDs in the Buffalo A2 vehicle. In this episode, Terry talks in depth about those experiences, the traumatic brain injury and other IED related injuries that ultimately resulted in receiving the Purple Heart, and what life has been like since his time in Afghanistan, including a deployment there as a civilian. Check it out in this latest episode of HAZARD GROUND!  www.coachterrywilson.com | Video of IED Detonation on Terry Wilson's Vehicle Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an

There are Marines...There are Recon Marines...And then there is Rudy Reyes. At the age of twenty-six, Rudy joined the Marine Corps out of a desire to serve his country and honor the warrior mentality he had built within himself through years of rough upbringing and various physical challenges. After graduating Parris Island, Reyes earned a coveted spot to try out for Marine Force Reconnaissance. He would go on to complete the training and land a job in the Marine Corps that only an extremely small percentage of Marines will ever perform - that of Force Recon Marine. As a Recon Marine, Rudy would conduct missions from pre-Afghanistan invasion in Pakistan in 2001, to the Iraq invasion in 2003, to bloody combat in the Battles of Fallujah and Ramadi in 2004 and 2005. Hear Rudy talk about how these campaigns shaped the person he is today, and even though he came home alive, how they almost destroyed his life on the home front, on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! "Generation Kill" | www.rudyreyes.com Support

Brad Thomas returns to the show! Brad is a musician and retired 1st SFOD-Delta operator, who also fought in the Battle of Mogadishu - better known as "Black Hawk Down" - as an Army Ranger. Brad's band, "Silence & Light", were featured in Episode 58, just before they were getting ready to head into the studio to record their first album. Their self-titled debut album was released on December 20, 2019. All proceeds from the album are being donated to two veteran support organizations: Warriors Heart and the Marine Raider Foundation. In this episode Brad talks about the recording process with Grammy Award-winning Producer, Josh Gudwin, and the importance of finding a creative outlet for the dark times and trauma experienced in combat. He also offers up some rarely heard, intimate details of the fight in Mogadishu along the way. Check it out now on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.silenceandlightmusic.com | "Silence & Light" Music | www.warriorsheart.com | www.marineraiderfoundation.org Support the pod

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the conclusion of Operation Just Cause, this week we bring you an incredible story of combat and survival from that campaign. David Reeves was a Ranger fire team leader with Charlie Co, 3rd BN, 75th Ranger Regiment during the invasion of Panama. His company's mission was to seize the airfield at Torrijos Airport, the international airport of Panama City. During the mission, Reeves was shot three times with an AK-47 at point-blank range while hunting down two enemy shooters in a terminal restroom. In the end, Reeves and his fellow Rangers would survive; the enemy combatants would not. Hear this amazing and powerful story on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (Paid Link) Help grow the show! Spread the word, tell a friend!! Subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes!

As someone who was rising through the ranks and performing at a very high level in the Army's top tier, elite special operations unit, Patty Collins never thought she would suffer an injury that would end up taking her leg, when she wasn't serving in a war zone. But, in 2006, while riding her bike to work on Fort Bragg, she was struck from behind by an automobile. The marathon runner and triathlete, survivor of multiple combat tours, and recipient of both a Senior Parachutist Badge and the Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Badge, was now facing injuries and excruciating pain that would eventually lead to the decision to amputate her left leg. Undeterred from continuing to serve on active duty, Patty would go on to complete over 24 years of active service and retire as a Colonel. Hear her very powerful story on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.hazardground.com/sponsors! Shop Amazon! As an Amazon Associate We Earn From Qualifying Purchases (Paid Link) He

Born prematurely due to drugs and alcohol, to a mother he would never meet, Kionte Storey spent the first 10 years of his life raised by his second cousin. He would spend 8 more years in foster care, before he found the Marine Corps. Joining the Marines was a form of escape, but also a way to prove something to himself, and possibly a chance at a better life. Unfortunately, his time in the Marine Corps would be cut short by an IED in Afghanistan that took his right leg. Storey found new challenges in recovery, this time fighting thoughts of suicide and hopelessness with his newfound physical injuries. But through it all - an adverse childbirth and upbringing, and now life as an amputee - Kionte Storey has found the strength to persevere and push through the dark times. And now he hopes to be a beacon and inspiration for others who are struggling. Hear his powerful and inspirational story on our very last episode of 2019! The Headstrong Project | The Heroes Project | Kirstie Ennis Foundation Support the podc

As an Infantry Marine, Geoff Hopf experienced a unique side of the Persian Gulf War we rarely hear about. Hopf's relatively small team was tasked with forming the first line of defense if Saddam Hussein decided to invade Saudi Arabia during the buildup of coalition forces prior to Operation Desert Storm. Left in the desert for week's on end, Hopf's team literally ran out of food at one point, while still carrying out the vital mission of defend and delay. The kick-off of combat operations would bring further perils as the chaos of war nearly swallowed up the small contingent of Marines. Following his exit from the Marine Corps, Hopf would embark on an equally unique career as a fiction writer. He has since authored dozens of novels, making a name for himself in both the post-apocalyptic and western genres. Hear about his unorthodox journey from Marine to best-selling author on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.gmichaelhopf.com | "The End: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)" | "Vengeance R

Anytime combat photographer Kevin Wallace was involved in a firefight, he often had a critical decision to make: shoot back at the enemy, or pick up his camera and take a much different shot. The decision could be painstaking, but Wallace knew the importance of documenting combat, while still trying to help those to his left and right. The process weighed on him so much that he spent hours and hours training himself so that he could flip from camera to weapon and back without thinking about it. This proved vital for one particular and pivotal battle, from which Wallace received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with valor while serving in Afghanistan. Wallace alternated between engaging the enemy and visually capturing the actions of his teammates with his camera, successfully documenting the battle, and helping to ensure he and his teammates made it back to base alive. Hear him share this incredible story and more on this week's episode of HAZARD GROUND! Support the podcast by supporting our sponsors at www.

There isn't much we can say about Kyle Carpenter to further accentuate just how special a human being he is. He served as a Marine in combat and received the military's highest award for valor with humility, strength, and optimism - qualities that were certainly tested by the years of pain and frustration that followed his exit from combat. Kyle was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan on 21 November 2010. On that day, Carpenter threw himself on an enemy grenade in order to save the life of a fellow Marine. But to get the best sense of who Kyle Carpenter is deep down, and understand the steadfast character he exemplifies day in and day out - beyond what's written in headlines and citations - you have to hear him tell it. His story is incredible, for not just what he did in combat, but also for what he's done since. You can hear him share it on this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND! www.williamkylecarpenter.com | "You Are Worth It: Building a Life Worth Fighting For" Support the podcast b