Behind The Shield

Jeff Nichols has been a strength coach for over 20 years working with athletes of all ages in amateur and professional athletics. Jeff is certified through the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Facilitator both with distinction.Jeff began his career as a graduate assistant at Troy University under Richard Schaughnessy CSCS*D and later as an assistant managing 14 Varsity sports. After earning a double major in Kinesiology and Chemistry in 2002, Jeff joined the navy and spent eleven years as a Navy SEAL. Aside from serving as a SEAL while on active duty, he also worked at a Navel Special Warfare command as the active duty Department Head within the Human Performance Department. Jeff oversaw product development, product assessment, program assessment, and operator delegate within Special Operations Command (SOCOM) for Human Performance.After honorable discharge from Naval service Jeff became the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Virginia High Performance LLC in Virginia Beach. Jeff oversaw the programming and training within VHP that focused on youth athletic teams, wounded veterans, and numerous national and international tactical organizations.Jeff now owns Performance First, a private business, specializing in optimizing human performance for the special forces branches of the military, fire, police, and federal agencies.Katherine Grimm has been a strength coach for over 18 years working with men and women of all ages in fitness industry. She started and as licensed massage therapist working with professional athletes and quickly shifted into strength training.After graduating with honors her Bachelors Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 2006, began her career as training manager at Life Time Fitness.Katherine now manages and co-owns Performance First, specializing in optimizing human performance for the special forces branches of the military, fire, police, and federal agencies. Her main focus for the last 5 years has been centered on mindfulness and meditation training for these populations and Katherine is a certified meditation teacher.https://www.performancefirstus.com/

Steve Wolf's passion for science and engineering, and his 35-year career in stunts and pyrotechnics have given major Hollywood directors the ability to create and control all manner of fires. Now he's redirecting his skills to give the same abilities to firefighters.Wolf has hosted Discovery TV shows on science on engineering, and holds a B.A. from Columbia University. He's presented at the World Science Festival, The U.S. Science & Engineering Festival, and received Time Warner’s “Science Presenter of the Year” award. Wolf also worked as an EMT, rescue diver, volunteer firefighter and rescue tech.https://www.teamwildfire.com/

Dr. Erik Won is President and Chief Medical Officer of Wave Neuroscience, Inc; a biotechnology company that has innovated breakthrough technologies called Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy (MeRT) and Synchronized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (sTMS). These technologies utilize computational neuroanalytics and brain imaging to customize treatment protocols with the aim of restoring optimal neurological function. These modalities represent a form of precision-guided medicine that has been researched or is currently being used by premier institutions such as US Special Operations Command, Stanford University School of Medicine, Duke University - Human Performance Opti-Lab, University of Southern California (USC) Center for Neurorestoration, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) - David Geffen School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and the Texas A&M Institute for Bioscience and Technology, among others. Erik joined Wave Neuroscience after serving as the Chief Physician and Chief Technology Officer (Health Services) for the Boeing Company. He also served as a US Navy Flight Surgeon for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268, and received the distinction of serving as the ACE Flight Surgeon for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Dr. Won has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, and presented in numerous academic conferences. He completed his residency at the Harvard OEM combined residency program and was appointed Chief Resident. He received a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the Harvard School of Public Health and Masters in Business Administrations (MBA) from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.

Ellizabeth Pol is a current Police Officer of 21 years and the Founder/CEO of Resilient Heroes to present first responders and military personnel with psychoeducation on Trauma and Suicide. We discuss her journey into law enforcement, the first responder mental health crisis, suicide autopsies, forensic psychology, canine therapy and much more."As a mental health professional, my goal is to inform first responders and military personnel of the trauma, triggers, and suicide risk factors that can affect them. By providing the knowledge of stress and adversities to trauma, we can provide them with the tools for self-care and the capacity to advocate mental health resources. This will offer our first responders and military the ability to be more proactive and resilient which reduces the likelihood of being in crisis."https://www.resilient-heroes.com/

Alastair McGregor is the Co-Founder of STEALTH®: A de-escalation tool using Lego® Serious Play®. A preventative tool which stops people dying. It works and it lasts. And it uses Lego® Al is a Preventative Psychologist specialising in subconscious communication. He has researched and worked with personnel from the SBS & Royal Marines through to ballet dancers & police. Al is currently focused on preventing suicide and lowering self harm in prisons (Operation spitfire) across multiple UK Prisons (Category A - C).Josh Williams is a custodial manager within the UK prison service. He joined in 2018 after working as an on call firefighter. Since joining HMPPS Josh has also began a career with a private ambulance service. Josh believes that the STEALTH® De-escalation tool is going to be an amazing addition to prisons across the world not just the UK. The skills that accompany this tool will save countless lives.

Blayne Smith is a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and highly effective business leader across a variety of industries and capacities. For over 25 years, Blayne has built teams and communities through a deep understanding of, and focus on, culture and leadership. Whether serving in corporate, small business, or nonprofit roles, his focus has remained on the people.Inaugural recipient of the George W. Bush Institute Military Service Citation for exemplary leadership both during and beyond serviceFormer President and current board member at GORUCK First Executive Director of Team Red, White and Blue; scaled a hyper inclusive, national community based organization from 3 to 212 cities, delivering 45,000 events per year, enriching the lives of over 150,000 veteransAs a Green Beret (Special Forces Commander), commanded multi-national and inter-agency combat operations Distinguished Honor Graduate from the US Army Ranger SchoolLed over 200 combat missions in Iraq and AfghanistanMBA, University of Floridahttps://www.appliedleadershippartners.com/

Terry, Joe and Dickie were my crew on Truck 1 in California, a true example of a band of brothers. We've helped each other through epic fires, gruesome extrications, divorce, back surgery, COVID and PTSD.This episode gives an insight into the reality of a cohesive team. in the fire service. We discussed everything from creating great leadership, dealing with trauma, the importance of training and much more.Terry Wilson, Joe Aldecoa, Richard (Dickie) Sprout and James Geering served on a Truck Company in California together. This was by far the most cohesive crew I was assigned to. We bought some beer, turned on the microphones and just started talking. This gives the listener an insight of a band of brothers who saw the best and worst life had to offer.

Russell Foster is a professor of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford, where he also heads the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute.Foster’s research focuses on both visual and circadian neurobiology, and mainly on the mechanisms whereby light regulates circadian rhythms in humans and other vertebrates and what happens when these systems break down as a result of disease and under abnormal environmental conditions. The Nuffield Laboratory is currently the only research group in Europe, and one of very few in the world, where the dual functions of the eye — as both a receptor organ for vision and for the regulation of sleep and circadian rhythms — are being studied side by side.One of Foster’s most groundbreaking findings was the discovery in mice of a specialized class of photoreceptors within the eye called photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs). These pRGCs regulate not only circadian rhythms, but also sleep and arousal states, heart rate, and pupil constriction. The discovery is credited with redefining the mammalian biological response to light.Some of Foster’s more recent work focuses on examining the intersection between sleep and mental illness. His group published a study in the Journal of Neural Transmission revealing a surprising connection between the genes linked to schizophrenia and the genes that impact sleep. “Genes that have been shown to be very important in the generation of normal sleep, when mutated, when changed, also predispose individuals to mental health problems,” said Foster in his 2013 TED Talk, Why Do We Sleep? “In terms of the neuroscience, by understanding these two systems, we're really beginning to understand how both sleep and mental illness are generated and regulated within the brain,” he said.Foster is also investigating the connection between shift work and a higher incidence of health problems, including diabetes and heart disease, and also the influence of light exposure on individual chronotypes, or the timing of activity within a 24-hour period.In recognition of his research achievements, Foster has been awarded the Honma Prize (1997), the Zoological Society Scientific Medal (2000), the David G. Cogan Award (2001), and the Edrige-Green Medal (2005). In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2015, he received the Order of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to science. Foster has published over 250 scientific papers and has co-authored four popular science books, including Rhythms of Life, which documents the significance of the biological clock on our sleep patterns.

Kona Oliveira is a federal firefighter, professional MMA fighter and big wave surfer who recently went viral for shredding a monster swell at Peahi off Maui. We discuss his childhood in Hawaii, growing up in a martial arts family, his MMA journey, the paradox of surfing and competition, becoming a firefighter and much more.

Matson Browning is an internationally recognized authority on the inner workings of white supremacy groups. As an undercover detective for more than two decades in Arizona, he thought he knew what hate looked like, that is, until he got a front row seat. For more than 25 years, Browning has been infiltrating, documenting, and disrupting White supremacy movements from the inside, gaining and intimate vantage point to the KKK, skinheads, border militias, Proud Boys, and other White power groups, as they organized and grew, their ranks including police force and military veterans. Together with his intrepid wife, Tawni, he adopted fake ids and ideologies, seeking the arrest of its hate groups participants -- none more so than JT Ready, a neo-Nazi who took "hunting trips" for border migrants while gaining mainstream acceptance as a political candidate -- and terrorizing Browning's family. What others dismissed as fringe groups, Browning quickly recognized as large and interconnected organizations permeating every facet of American society, effectively spreading their dangerous and repugnant rhetoric at unprecedented speeds. Now, with the violent polarization in our communities and an increase in hate crimes, the threat posed by these toxic organizations feels as acute as ever.Tawni Browning considers herself first and foremost a mother of five. Beyond that, she was the Supervising and Casting Producer for A&E’s “Escaping Polygamy,” a series documenting the trials and struggles of individuals attempting to leave the cult life of polygamy. For years, Tawni has been assisting her husband in the investigations of numerous skinhead organizations. With her covert investigative tactics, Tawni was instrumental in the “shutting down” of one of the world's largest and most violent skinhead organizations. Tawni continues to gather intelligence on various individuals and religious extremists throughout the world.