Episode 22 – Lessons Learned From A Legendary Tier 1 Operator – CSM Tom Satterly (Ret.)
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on August 9, 2023
Episode 22 – Lessons Learned From A Legendary Tier 1 Operator – CSM Tom Satterly (Ret.)
Description
My guest today is Tom Satterly. Tom is a highly decorated combat veteran, having served in the Army 25 years, with the last 20 in the US Army’s most elite Tier One unit, Delta. During his career Tom was involved in, and led, some of our nation’s most important military campaigns including the Battle in Mogadishu portrayed in the film Blackhawk Down and the capture of Saddam Hussein. Tom is the recipient of numerous medals including a Silver Star, and 4 Bronze Stars, with 1 for Valorous acts. He was also the first American to ever attend Germany’s Ranger School. Tom retired from Delta in 2010 as a Command Sergeant Major. Tom’s willingness to speak openly and honestly of his mental and emotional struggles have saved the lives of countless others warriors who believed they had to suffer in silence and make it alone or not at all. Today, Tom and his wife and partner, Jen are the co-Founders and co-CEOs of All Secure Foundation, a non-profit organization serving Special Operation warriors and their families to help reconnect and heal. Tom’s best-selling book, “All Secure: A Special Operations Soldier’s Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront”, was released on November 5, 2019 and is available at all major booksellers.
Contact Info
Instagram: @TomSatterlyBooks Recommended
The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk – ISBN-13: 978-0670785933 All Secure: A Special Operations Soldier’s Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront by Tom Satterly and Steve Jackson – ISBN-13: 978-1546076575
Sites Recommended
BPL-05 – Chief John Perez – Building Resilience In Those You Lead
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on August 2, 2023
BPL-05 – Chief John Perez – Building Resilience In Those You Lead
Description My guest today is Chief John Perez. John recently retired as the Chief of Police for the Pasadena California Police Department. In his nearly 37 years of service to Pasadena, John served at literally all ranks in the department. During his career John worked patrol, narcotics, counter terrorism, and as a swat sergeant, lieutenant, and commander, John helped to form the first generation of Pasadena’s tactical team which had the challenge of deploying as a full-time gang enforcement team and a SWAT team for many years. John was twice awarded the Chief’s medal of excellence and received several commendations for his service over the years.
Contact Information:
Chief John Perez (Ret)
johnperez34@me.com
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos – Jordan Peterson – ISBN 0345816021
Discover Your True North – Bill George – ISBN 0787987514
Extreme Ownership: Jocko Willink and Leif Babin –ISBN-13: 9781250183866
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl – ISBN 080701429X
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life – Tony Dungy – ISBN
1414318022
BPL-04 – Chief Phil Hansen – Key Leadership Concepts
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on July 26, 2023
BPL-04 – Chief Phil Hansen – Key Leadership Concepts
Description
My guest today is a legend in the US tactical community Chief Phil Hansen. Phil recently retired after serving as the
Chief of Police for the Santa Maria California Police Department. But prior to Santa Maria Phil retired as a Captain from
the Los Angeles Country Sherriff’s Department where he served for 36 years. During his tenure at LASD he spent more
than 24 years in full time tactical and emergency management positions, including nearly 20 years at the elite Special
Enforcement Bureau (SEB). Phil has served as a board member of the National Tactical Officers Association since 1991
including serving as the Chairman of the Board. He is a member of the executive committee for the California POST
SWAT guidelines, and has served as a board of inquiry member for LAPD and Oakland PD.
Contact Information:
Cell # (805) 994-9051
Email: pchansen@live.com
Books Recommended:
Contrarians Guide to Leadership – Steven B. Sample and Warren Bennis – ISBN: 978-0787967079
Going Pro, The Deliberate Practice of Professionalism – Tony Kern, Pygmy Books Publishing – ISBN: 978-0984206315
Leading Change: The Argument for Values-Based Leadership – James O’Toole – ISBN: 978-0345402547
Passion of Command: The Moral Imperative of Leadership – Col. Bryan McCoy – ISBN: 978-0940328372
Episode 21 – Critical Incident Review – Jordan MacWilliams Charged with Murder for Shooting a Hostage Taker
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on July 19, 2023
Episode 21 – Critical Incident Review – Jordan MacWilliams Charged with Murder for Shooting a Hostage Taker
Description
My guest today is Jordan MacWilliams. Jordan is a 15 year member of the RCMP Lower Mainland Division
Integrated Emergency Response Team, the second largest tactical unit in Canada. On November 7, 2012
Jordan fired a single shot which killed a hostage taker who pointed a gun at the team after a five-hour standoff
at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster, British Columbia. Although it was a completely justifiable
shooting, this incident began an almost three-year nightmare for Jordan and his family which included Jordan
being charged with Murder by the newly created Independent Investigations Office, a civilian oversight board
created just before Jordan’s shooting. This was the first time a police officer had been charged for using lethal
force in British Columbia since 1975. Although the charges would later be dismissed, the damage to Jordan
and his family had already been done. Jordans story is both a cautionary tale and a story of struggle,
persistence, and eventual victory over a politically motivated witch hunt. This is a fantastic conversation that
should leave all of us repeating Jordan’s Mantra for the event: Be Better, Not Bitter!
Contact Info
Jordan MacWilliams
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/jordan-m-976692257
Email – jordan.macwilliams@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Books Suggested
Legacy: What The All Blacks Can Teach Us About The Business Of Life Paperback by James Kerr – ISBN-13: 978-1472103536
The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander by Pete Blaber – ISBN-13: 978-0425223727
BPL-03 – Gareth Lock – Counter-Errorism and a Culture of Safety
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on July 12, 2023
BPL-03 – Gareth Lock – Counter-Errorism and a Culture of Safety
Description
My guest today is Gareth Lock. Gareth spent 25 years in the Royal Air Force as a flight instructor, a navigator on C-130
Hercules, a systems engineer and a requirements manager. Following his retirement from the RAF in 2015 he started
work in high-risk industries teaching Human Factors and Crew Resource Management (CRM). Eventually Gareth turned
his attention to diving, applying a military systems approach to diving risk management by creating an organization
called The Human Diver which is focused on what they describe as Counter-Errorism. Specifically, Gareth and his team
provides training globally to high reliability and high-risk organizations on leadership, culture, and practical measures to
improve operator safety. In 2019 Gareth led a team of military experts to undertake a review of UK military diving with
the goal of improving diver safety. Gareth has worked with the US National Parks Service Submerged Resource Centre
(Denver, CO), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NZ), and the American Academy of Underwater
Sciences (USA) to provide human factors training and high-performance team development courses.
Gareth is the author of the book Under Pressure – Diving Deeper with Human Factors which looks at case studies of near
disasters and applies academic theory to understanding how we can better communicate and lead those in high
risk/high reliability units.
I am excited to have Gareth on because his views of human fallibility, although rooted in diving, have broad lessons to
teach anyone who leads others, especially those working in high-risk areas.
www.thehumandiver.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethlock/
Links:
Compliance provides an illusion of safety in diving
Dave Snowden’s paper on ‘Knowledge without context is meaningless’ – Complex acts of knowing.
Safety Culture & Trade-offs – Risk management in a dynamic society: a modelling problem – Jens Rasmussen paper
Red Teaming Thinking
Risk Savvy – Risk vs Uncertainty
Interpersonal Skills Lab and the training I offer across multiple domains which has no/limited professional jeopardy –
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10bLTLW9Nv-0TuNDsNXnCtlCdfetixqjd/view
Blog about Learning from Near Misses. Were you lucky or good?
Local Rationality and Hindsight
Human Diver Debrief
BPL-02 – Inspector Kevin Cyr – Making Difficult Decisions
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on July 5, 2023
BPL-02 – Inspector Kevin Cyr – Making Difficult Decisions
Kevin Cyr is an Inspector with Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is the current commander of the RCMP Emergency
Response Team in British Columbia, which is the second largest tactical unit in Canada. Kevin has been with RCMP for 22
years and has been with the team for 7 years. He has a master’s in law from Osgoode Hall Law School and is published
internationally in law and criminology.
Contact Info:
Kevin Cyr – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-cyr-ll-m-b78206133
Books Recommended:
Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink and Leif Babin – ISBN# 250067057
Episode 20 – Recovering From Being Shot– Jordan Robison Follow-up
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on June 28, 2023
Episode 20 – Recovering From Being Shot– Jordan Robison Follow-up
Description
My guest today is Jordan Robison. This episode is a follow up to last week’s Critical Incident Review about the August 18, 2021, shooting that occurred when the San Bernardino Police Department’s SWAT Team attempted to arrest a suspect who had ambushed and attempted to murder a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy the day before. When the team performed a vehicle takedown the suspect immediately opened fire on the team with a 10mm handgun, striking Jordan in both forearms, his shoulder, his femur, his stomach below the armor and a grazing wound to his ribs. He was also hit in the abdomen which was stopped by his armor. After last week’s episode we received several calls and emails asking about Jordan so we decided to do a follow up episode with him to discuss his recovery and his personal lessons learned. There is a great deal of very valuable information on this episode which we hope will help others who are affected by an on-duty shooting.
Episode 19 – Critical Incident Review – Fatal OIS SWAT Vehicle Takedown in San Bernardino
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on June 22, 2023
Episode 19 – Critical Incident Review – Fatal OIS SWAT Vehicle Takedown in San Bernardino
Description
On August 18, 2021, the San Bernardino California SWAT Team was assigned to locate and arrest a suspect who had ambushed and attempted to murder a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy the day before. When the team located and attempted a vehicle takedown the suspect immediately opened fire on the team with a 10mm handgun, striking Officer Jordan Robison 8 times and Officer Chris Shipley once. Officer Robison was hit in both forearms, his shoulder, his femur, his stomach below the armor and a took grazing wound to his ribs. He was also hit twice in the abdomen which were stopped by his armor. Officer Shipley, despite being shot in the leg, was able to return fire along with a teammate fatally wounding the suspect. Officer Shipley then rendered lifesaving medical aid to Officer Robison. SWAT Medic Spencer Brumbaugh was also on scene and provided lifesaving aid to Officer Robison immediately after the incident and through subsequent transport to the emergency room. My guests today are Jordan Robison, Chris Shipley and Spencer Brumbaugh
Timestamps
1:25 – Introduction To The Incident
2:39 – Leadup To The Event
13:14 – Start Of The Takedown
15:00 – The Exits The Van
17:18 – Jordan And Chris Are Shot
21:00 – Chris Treats Jordan
25:50 – Chris Discusses Treating Jordan
28:00 – Spencer Treating Jordan’s Injuries
40:35 – Getting To The ER
46:00 – The Need To Remain Calm
48:00 – Lessons Learned
56:20 – What The Tacmed Program Did Right
1:02:00 – Training For The Worst Case Scenario
1:12:19 – The Risk Of Complacency
1:17:39 – Knowing Your Gear
1:21:00 – The Role Of Competition And Culture
1:23:41 – Things They Would Do Differently
BPL-01 – Bob Koonce – Using Nuclear Submarine Culture To Create High Reliability Teams
jonathan@aardvarktactical.com on June 16, 2023
BPL-01 – Bob Koonce – Using Nuclear Submarine Culture To Create High Reliability Teams
Contact Info:
Bob Koonce
President and Founder
High Reliability Group LLC
312-859-9311
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobkoonce/
Books Recommended
Extreme Operational Excellence: Applying the US Nuclear Submarine Culture to Your Organization
The High Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition