Behind The Shield

John Graham is a former British Army Paratrooper and member of 22 SAS. He is also known as his pen name John Geddes, the author of "Spearhead Assault" detailing his experience in the Falkland Islands War and "Highway to Hell" telling his military contracting story in Iraq. We discuss his early life in England, his journey into the military, serving in Northern Ireland, The Battle of Goose Green, war in the Middle East, contracting, close protection work, mental health, leadership and much more.

Luis Nevarez is a veteran firefighter who retired at the rank of chief. In 2002, he lost an arm in an electrocution at a house fire and fought to return to the profession he loved. We discuss escaping gang culture as a child, his journey into the fire service, firefigher fitness, leadership, the physical and mental rehbilitation journey, his perspecitve through the ranks, mentorship, the Phoenix Society and so much more.

Damian Porter is a former Australian special forces operator, police officer and current active duty firefighter. We discuss his early life in New Zealand, bodybuilding, his journey into the military, his perspective on war, the transition into law enforcement, entering the fire service, his new platform "The How not to Die Guy" and so much more.

Mark Watson spent the early part of his career in education before transitioning into cognitive rehabilitation. We discuss his own learning challenges as a child, his journey into teaching, physical education, traumatic brain injury, strokes, neuroplasticity, reahabilitation programming and much more.

Chuck DiChiara has spent 35 years in Law Enforcement with a majority of his time in SWAT. We discuss his journey into policing, fitness standards in SWAT, defensive tactics, police grappling, compassion in Law Enforcement, use of force, school safety, mental health and much more.

Jason Friedman is a veteran firefighter/paramedic whose career spans from New York to Florida. We discuss his journey into the volunteer fire service, his road to paramedicine, some of his career calls, losing his parents, his powerful mental health story, the Shatterproof program, Ketamine therapy and so much more.

Dr João Goulão is Portugal's Director of Addiction Intervention and one of the men who spearheaded the decriminalization of all drug use. In this second conversation we discuss Portugal's pandemic experience, the mental health ripple effect, fighting smuggling, what happens when support and funding are cut, obesity, gender dysphoria and so much more.

Jason Kasper is a former Green Beret and USA Today bestselling author of the Spider Heist, American Mercenary, and Shadow Strike thriller series. In this second conversation we discuss the Afghanistan withdrawal, his fight to rescue his interpreter, the pandemic, the Mlitary Industrial Complex, catharsis through writing, his powerful mental health story, the healing power of psychedlics and so much more.

Courtney Starkey is a Hypnotherapist and the author of "Cornflower". We discuss her turbulent childhood, her pursuit of mental health tools, the journey into hypnotherapy, hypnosis myths, the spiritual realm, alternative realities, healing, high performance and so much more.

Rob Ramirez is a veteran South Florida firefighter, USAR TF2 team member and National Rescue Consultants instructor. We discuss his journey into the fire service, responding to special need patients, entering special operations, Hurricane Katrina, the Parkland attack, the Surfside collapse, Hurricane Ian, firefighter fitness, realism in training, mental health and so much more.