Building the Elite Podcast

Kathleen Oswald is a Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a Master's in Exercise and Sport Science and is earning her Ph.D. in Cognition and Instruction. She works at Peterson Space Force Base and is the first human-performance professional with a cognitive performance background to work with Space Force Guardians. Before that, Kathleen worked under the Cognitive Performance Specialist at the 10th Special Forces Group. By integrating tactical professionals into the design process of her exercises and workshops, she leveraged their expertise to optimize her coaching to help Special Forces operators improve their performance in some of the most challenging aspects of their jobs, such as CQB training. Her Ph.D. work in Cognition and Instruction allows her to research optimal programming for cognitive performance, develop a cognitive performance program for the US Space Force, and improve her abilities to teach, coach, and mentor the human performance professionals who serve our nation’s military. Aside from her work with the Special Forces and Space Force communities, Kathleen is also an ultramarathon runner, competing in races at 50k, 50-mile, 100k, and 100-mile distances. She is also a nationally qualified powerlifter.You can get in touch with Kathleen and learn more about her work on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katoswald/Timestamps:00:00:22 Intro to Kathleen Oswald00:01:43 NSCA Tactical Annual Training Session00:03:15 Cognitive Function and Cognitive Skills00:04:24 Ensuring Skills Training Transfers to the Real World00:06:22 Examples of Decision-Making Scenarios 00:08:06 Training for Selection Courses00:10:07 Adding Incremental Difficulties During Training00:11:39 Sponsor Note: Our Book, “Building the Elite” and Mentor Course00:12:25 Training Via Stress vs. Skill Mastery00:14:31 Assessing Technical Skills vs. Testing the Skills00:17:45 Knowing When to Display Certain Attributes00:18:52 Evaluating What Someone Is Made of00:20:47 Concocting Tests for Perseverance00:22:10 Performing with Severe Gastrointestinal Issues00:25:28 Addressing Imposter Syndrome00:28:25 Why Younger Generations May Struggle with Self-Regulation00:31:16 Training in Silence00:32:23 Being Perpetually Distracted00:34:07 Evaluation in the Shoot House00:39:35 Video Training Scenarios00:41:16 Rapidly Presenting Critical Decisions with Perceptual Learning 00:44:23 Comparing Different Levels of Skill 00:47:15 Changes in Eye Movement as Skill Progresses00:49:38 Emotional and Stress Regulation Assessments00:53:04 Does Your Fear Response Help or Hurt Your Performance?00:56:20 How Do You Determine What Foundational Training to Implement First?01:00:31 Tech Gadgets for Cognitive Skills Training01:03:49 Improving Cognitive Skills on Your Own01:06:32 Best and Worst Advice Ever Received01:09:26 Outro

Mindfulness is explored as the foundational mental skill for resilience. The discussion highlights how it connects to both mental and physical training. Practical exercises guide listeners to better understand their thoughts and emotions. Observing without identifying with feelings is emphasized, revealing tools for emotional management. The podcast illustrates how focused attention disrupts negative patterns, enhancing clarity and presence in daily life. Ultimately, mindfulness is portrayed as a crucial pathway to mental toughness and improved performance.

John Spencer is one of the world’s leading experts on urban warfare. He currently serves as the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, codirects the Urban Warfare Project, and hosts the Urban Warfare Project Podcast at West Point.In addition to personal experiences from 25 years as an infantry soldier and officer in the US Army, including urban battles in Iraq in 2003 and the Battle of Sadr City in 2008, he has spent over a decade researching, publishing, and lecturing on all facets of urban warfare.  In the last five years, he has conducted research in India, Israel, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine. He has served as an advisor to the top four-star general and other senior leaders in the U.S. Army as part of strategic research groups from the Pentagon to the United States Military Academy. He has also trained multiple militaries in urban operations. His research focuses on all military operations in dense urban areas, megacities, and urban and subterranean warfare.In February 2022, Spencer wrote a guide, The Mini-Manual for the Urban Defender, for Ukrainian citizens on how to defend their cities. The manual was translated into Ukrainian and spread widely across Ukraine. It is now available in sixteen separate languages, with many other translations in the works.In this episode, we’ll talk with John about the difficulties of urban warfare, his time in Ukraine, his recent trip into Gaza, and much more. More about John:Website: JohnSpencerOnline.comX: https://x.com/SpencerGuardInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerguardTimestamps:00:00:21 Intro to John Spencer00:01:53 What is The Modern Warfare Institute?00:03:56 Leading Academics Pushing Propaganda for Terrorist Organizations 00:05:29 Why is Urban Warfare so Hard?00:09:21 The Battle of Stalingrad 00:10:50 Urban Legends/Myths about Modern Warfare00:12:55 What’s Changed in Subterranean Warfare?00:16:41 What is so Challenging About Subterranean Warfare?00:21:25 Will People’s Perception of Russia Change?00:25:40 General Sun-Tzu00:26:10 Defeat Your Enemy Without Fighting00:29:08 What Happens if Russia Wins the Propaganda War?00:32:01 Gaza and Hamas00:34:33 How Many Civilians are Killed in the Crossfire?00:42:53 What if We Just Let Hamas Go?00:48:04 Proxy Groups of Iran00:50:12 Extreme Misogyny in Iran 00:53:15 The Spread of an Ideology00:56:03 Eradicating Extremist Ideologies Efficiently01:02:00 “Pay for Slay” Program01:03:04 Independence of Gaza in 200501:04:00 Responsibilities of Israel for the Conditions in Gaza01:05:11 Hamas Leadership Using Economic Oppression 01:07:55 Outro

Meg Tucker began her career as an Army Kiowa Warrior pilot. After the Kiowa was removed from the Army inventory, Meg was assessed and selected for Army Special Operations as a Psychological Operations officer. She has served in several conventional, Joint, and SOF roles in South Korea, El Salvador, and Syria. She left military service as a Major in 2023. In 2018, Meg founded The Valkyrie Project to fill the need for intuitive, woman-centric human performance training in the wake of the revocation of the Combat Exclusion Rule. Valkyrie is now a 501c3 nonprofit focused on the advancement of American servicewomen through research, education, and advocacy. Meg currently serves as the President of the Board of VP Inc. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Modern Languages from Winthrop University and a Master's of Science in Information Strategy and Political Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School.More about Meg:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-tucker-937493207/More about The Valkyrie Project:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-valkyrie-project/Website: http://thevalkyrieproject.orgFacebook: @valkyrieprojectusInstagram: @valkyrieprojectusYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valkyrieprojectusTimestamps:00:00:22 What Languages Does Meg Tucker Speak?00:02:37 Getting Away with Brazilian Portuguese in Portugal00:05:42 Relearning Languages00:06:47 Starting The Valkyrie Project in 201800:16:34 Body Armor Changes for Women00:20:27 Current Progress on Improvements for Women’s Armor00:22:31 What About MOLLE Packs?00:26:00 The Skill of Packing a Rucksack00:29:07 Distribute the Types of Testing for SOF Candidates for More Balanced Athletes00:31:29 The Valkyrie Project’s Military Women’s Symposium00:34:05 Worst Advice Ever Received00:36:18 Good Advice for Everyone in the Service00:38:34 Outro

Meg Tucker began her career as an Army Kiowa Warrior pilot. After the Kiowa was removed from the Army inventory, Meg was assessed and selected for Army Special Operations as a Psychological Operations officer. She has served in several conventional, Joint, and SOF roles in South Korea, El Salvador, and Syria. She left military service as a Major in 2023. In 2018, Meg founded The Valkyrie Project to fill the need for intuitive, woman-centric human performance training in the wake of the revocation of the Combat Exclusion Rule. Valkyrie is now a 501c3 nonprofit focused on the advancement of American servicewomen through research, education, and advocacy. Meg currently serves as the President of the Board of VP Inc. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Modern Languages from Winthrop University and a Master's of Science in Information Strategy and Political Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School.More about Meg:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-tucker-937493207/More about The Valkyrie Project:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-valkyrie-project/Website: http://thevalkyrieproject.orgFacebook: @valkyrieprojectusInstagram: @valkyrieprojectusYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valkyrieprojectusTimestamps:00:00:23 Intro to Meg Tucker00:01:23 How Did Meg Become a Helicopter Pilot?00:04:34 Do Trainees Get to Choose the Aircraft They Want?00:09:27 How Easy Is It to Control a Helicopter?00:11:07 Emergency Procedure if the Engine Stalls00:13:07 Practicing Slow Crash Landing Skids00:15:21 How Many People Travel on These Helicopters?00:15:55 Who Does the Shooting?00:16:49 Shooting is a Team Effort00:18:45 Challenges with a Weapon in a Helicopter00:20:26 How Do You Account for Wind While Aiming?00:22:15 Where Does the .50 Cal Sit in the Helicopter?00:22:30 Calibrating the .50 Cal Inside of a Helicopter00:23:57 How Does a Hellfire Missile Work?00:24:43 How Much Time Do You Spend with Your Co-Pilot?00:27:24 From Pilot to Joining Psy Ops00:30:05 Sponsor Note: Our Book, “Building The Elite”00:30:51 The SOF Recruitment Process and Making the System Work for You00:33:07 Take Care of Yourself or the System Could Eat You00:34:31 What is Psy Ops?00:37:48 Digital Environments Used for Psy Ops Support00:40:34 Being Stationed in Syria 00:44:51 Being Stationed in El Salvador00:48:59 Strategies to Overcome Corruption and Tribalism00:49:54 Stark Contrasts Between Living Situations on Deployment00:51:24 How Bad Was the Food Poisoning You Had?00:52:07 Outro

Lt. Col. Tom Schueman served in Afghanistan for sixteen months, including the single bloodiest battle of the war in Afghanistan, as a platoon commander with the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines in Helmand Province. He redeployed to Afghanistan as a JTAC and advisor to the Afghan National Army while he was a member of First Reconnaissance Battalion. Schueman went on to get his master's in English literature at Georgetown University and teach English literature at the United States Naval Academy. In 2022, alongside his friend and Afghani interpreter, Zak, he published Always Faithful, a book about his time in Afghanistan and the effort to get Zak and his family to America before the Taliban could make good on their promise to kill them. Thomas is still an active-duty Marine and the founder of the nonprofit Patrol Base Abbate, based in Montana. PB Abbate provides a space for veterans and service members to reconnect around shared interests.More about Major Schueman:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kill.z0n3Patrol Base Abbate: https://www.pbabbate.org/home-0Always Faithful: https://amzn.to/3M6EI1nTimestamps:00:00:22 Intro to Thomas Schueman00:01:22 Overview of Thomas Schueman’s Career00:05:25 Infantry Officer Course and Recon Selection00:06:44 Why the Basic Reconnaissance Course Didn’t Work Out for Thomas00:15:25 Sponsor Note: Buildingtheelite.com00:15:53 On Which Deployment Did Thomas Meet Zack?00:17:56 Marines Lost in Thomas’s Unit00:18:44 More Deaths in Infantry Than Other Sections of Military00:24:49 Working With Zack00:27:15 Thomas’s Mindset After 100 Firefights in 100 Days00:42:19 What is Patrol Base Abbate?00:52:53 Where is PB Abbate in Montana?00:53:53 How is PB Abbate Funded?00:56:36 Getting Zack Out Before the Fall of Kabul01:06:53 Outro

In this episode, we explore how post-WWII Air Force pilots faced numerous crashes, not due to mechanical failures or pilot errors, but because of a fundamental flaw in cockpit design based on the "average" pilot. This led to Lieutenant Gilbert Daniels's findings, who discovered that designing for the "average person" did not fit anyone. This discovery led to a revolutionary change in how cockpits were built. The 'average person' principle, as demonstrated in the aviation industry, has far-reaching implications. It illustrates why one-size-fits-all solutions fail in areas like SOF training, where individual variability is crucial. Understanding and accounting for individual differences can significantly enhance outcomes, from aviation safety to special operations selection. 

Jeff Depatie is a former sniper with Canada’s tier-one unit, JTF-2. He has vast experience in tactical shooting, elite team selection, and human optimization. He was part of the sniper team holding the world record for the longest confirmed kill at 3.5 km and has trained incoming tier-1 operators in shooting and tactics.After his military career, Jeff turned his focus to addressing PTSD and transforming adversity into growth. He is producing a documentary, “Dark Night of Our Soul,” about post-traumatic growth and how life’s challenges can lead to personal development.He co-founded The Special Forces Experience (SFE), an organization dedicated to facilitating profound personal transformations through meticulously designed challenges and experiences. As the Chief Course Architect of SFE, Jeff has been instrumental in creating programs like “The Process,” which pushes participants to their physical, mental, and emotional limits to foster growth and resilience.In this episode, we’ll discuss Jeff’s ideas on managing life’s difficulties, a concept he calls the “Art of Adversity.” We’ll explore how adversity can be understood through science and personal experience and how it can lead to growth.About Jeff:You can learn more about Jeff and The Special Forces Experience at www.thespecialforcesexperience.comHe’s on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jeffdepatie_ Timestamps:00:00:22 Intro to Jeff Depatie00:01:38 Jeff Depatie’s Career00:07:09 “Show of Force” Story00:09:05 Fallout from the “Show of Force”00:10:49 What Does Post-Traumatic Growth Mean to Jeff? 00:18:36 How Your Environment Shapes You00:20:00 Equilibrium is Death in a Complex System00:21:33 “The Process” Jeff Has Modeled is Based on Exposure to Trauma00:24:26 Replicating the Results of “The Process” with Love Instead of Fear00:28:57 Why SF Operators Often Are Honest with Their Feelings00:35:47 Consequences of Making Decisions by Ignoring Emotional Intuition00:37:51 Comparing Elite Tennis Player’s Nervous Systems to Other’s00:40:05 Sponsor Note - Coaching Mentorship Program00:40:30 “The Art of Adversity”00:43:15 “Special Forces Experience” Events and Time Frame00:45:14 Sign Up for Jeff Depatie’s Courses00:45:55 Advice for Someone Going to JTF-2 Selection00:46:45 Jeff’s Favorite Off-Road Vehicles00:47:46 Best and Worst Advice Ever Given00:49:02 Outro

Tommy Wood, BM BCh, PhD, is a neuroscientist, elite-level professional nerd, and performance consultant to world-class athletes in a dozen sports. He received an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo. Tommy is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington and a Visiting Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. His research focuses on brain health and brain injury treatment across the lifespan, as well as developing easily accessible methods with which to track health, performance, and longevity in both professional athletes and the general population. Tommy serves as deputy editor of the Wiley Journal Lifestyle Medicine, is a Director of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine, and consults for a number of digital health companies and charities that focus on how lifestyle and the environment can affect long-term health and chronic disease.You can learn more about Dr. Wood at his website, www.drtommywood.com/His substack, betterbrain.fitness is an excellent resource, and if you subscribe, you’ll get some useful resources like a list of blood tests to monitor for brain health, a list of nutrients that support brain health and how to integrate them into your diet, and some in-depth information on how those nutrients and tests work. Timestamps:00:00:22 Is Supplemental Intake of B Vitamins Useful?00:02:36 Useful Factors to Help with TBI Recovery00:10:45 Homocysteine Metabolism 00:11:54 Food Sources of Polyphenols or Catechins00:13:52 Understanding the Effects of TBI and Micro TBI00:18:17 Nutrient Density in Food Helps to Protect from Brain Injuries00:18:53 Sponsor Note: Coaching Mentor Program00:19:40 Why Are Formula 1 Drivers so Interesting?00:22:29 Ruler Test for Formula 1 Drivers00:27:07 What Has Dr. Tommy Learned from Elite Athletes?00:29:21 TBI’s Reliable Effect on Hormones00:31:01 Is Pituitary Damage Specific to TBI?00:32:02 What Are We Not Talking About with TBI?00:34:32 Examples of Different Health Variables We Forget to Account For00:37:28 Outro

Tommy Wood, BM BCh, PhD, is a neuroscientist, elite-level professional nerd, and performance consultant to world-class athletes in a dozen sports. He received an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo. Tommy is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington and a Visiting Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. His research focuses on brain health and brain injury treatment across the lifespan, as well as developing easily accessible methods with which to track health, performance, and longevity in both professional athletes and the general population. Tommy serves as deputy editor of the Wiley Journal Lifestyle Medicine, is a Director of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine, and consults for a number of digital health companies and charities that focus on how lifestyle and the environment can affect long-term health and chronic disease.You can learn more about Dr. Wood at his website, www.drtommywood.com/His substack, betterbrain.fitness is an excellent resource, and if you subscribe, you’ll get some useful resources like a list of blood tests to monitor for brain health, a list of nutrients that support brain health and how to integrate them into your diet, and some in-depth information on how those nutrients and tests work. Timestamps:00:00:22 Intro to Dr. Tommy Wood00:01:46 Dr. Wood’s Ancestral Viking Heritage 00:03:28 What is The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine?00:04:37 Traction of the BSLM in the United States00:06:53 Seventh-Day Adventist’s Dietary Guidelines00:08:40 Most Noticeable Changes Between Lifestyle Medicines00:11:41 Building an Active Relationship With Your Doctor Before You Get Sick00:13:08 Role of Social Environment On Lifestyle-Type Diseases00:19:03 Lifestyle Interventions for Long-Term Brain Health00:22:55 Main Drivers of Preserving or Losing Cognitive Function00:24:57 How Useful Are Brain Games Like Luminosity?00:28:30 How Different Diseases Affect Cognitive Supply 00:33:18 Benefits of Omega-3’s for the Brain and Heart00:35:35 Dietary Sources of Omega-3’s00:37:52 Smaller Fish Have Less Heavy Metal Accumulation00:39:06 Does Dr. Wood Eat Fish That is Higher In Mercury?00:39:34 TBI or Concussions and Loss of Cognitive Function 00:40:47 Glymphatic System Explained00:42:20 When is the Glymphatic System the Most Active?00:43:29 Beta-Amyloids and Cognitive Function00:46:56 Outro