Behind The Shield

Kevin Heffernan is an American actor, writer, producer, and director, and member of the Broken Lizard comedy group.We discuss his early life, finding comedy, pursuing law, the creation of Broken Lizard, the origin story of Super Troopers, how a trip to Australia inspired Beerfest, Quasi, his family connection to the Fire Service, the creation of Tacoma FD, the importance of technical direction and much more.

Royce Gracie is the son of Helio Gracie; founder of Gracie Jujitsu. Royce fought in the original UFCs, winning multiple times in an age before weight divisions and few rules. I was fortunate to be able to sit down with him in person.We discuss the birth of Gracie Jujitsu, martial arts and bullying, striking in jiu jiitsu, competition versus self defense, firearms, the importance of fitness, weight cutting , combatives in law enforcement and much more.

Sam Brawley is a firefighter, podcaster and flight paramedic. We discuss her journey into the volunteer fire service, his road into EMS, some of her career calls, paramedicine in the ER, proactive medicine, her podcast Nine One One Nonsense and so much more.

Chris Moore is a 31 year veteran of the fire service and peaks nationally on first responder mental health.We discuss growing up in a law enforcement family, his journey into volunteer firefighting, fitness, the special operations community, career calls, his powerful mental health story, post traumatic growth, marriage and so much more.

Josh Brolin is an author, former firefighter and actor, starring in such movies as "Only The Brave and "No Country For Old Men". We talk about growing up on farm, how he got the part in "The Goonies", his time as a volunteer wildland firefighter, honouring the Prescott 19, portraying Superintendant Eric Marsh and much more.

Retired from the Navy in 2016 after serving 20 years in the Special Operations community with several combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Technician with the SEAL Teams. After retiring, he spent nearly two years training Special Operations personnel in advanced parachute flight. Nick has approximately 8200 jumps and is the Owner of Deland High Performance LLC.We discuss his journey into the military, the world of SWCC, his transition into EOD, traumatic brain injuries, compassion in war, his powerful mental health story, skydiving, 7 x 7 and so much more.

John Travolta starred in one of the few movies about our profession that is truly respected. We talk about his early career, Ladder 49, training with Baltimore FD and the charitable projects he now champions.

Ben Close is a British Army Veteran, former Contractor and the author of "When War Follows You Home".We discuss his turbulent childhood, his journey into the miltary, his deployments, the horrors of war, compassion on a battlefield, the world of contracting, Somalian pirates, his transition story, mental health and so much more.

John Knox is a veteran firefighter, arson investigator, dispatcher and former law enforcement seach and rescue technician.One month ago, after 21 years of service with LAFD, John was terminated over a COVID vaccine mandate. We discuss his journey into policing, some of his rescue stories, his unique role during 9/11, his journey into the fire service, chasing arsonists, organisational betrayal, mental health and much more.

Justen Keating is the Founder of Keating Global Risks, and has over 20 years of experience in the National Security, and Intelligence Community.He is a veteran of the US Marine Corps with multiple combat tours in the Middle East and is a former Independent Contractor for CIA, where he ran clandestine protective operations in Central Asia and the Middle East for over a decade.We discuss his journey into the military, his 9/11 story, close protection, the Afghanistan withdrawal, his powerful mental health story, jiujitsu and much more.