Heroes Behind the Badge

Check out www.HeroesBehindTheBadge.com on Facebook and Twitter. This is a good work.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Invictus Alliance Group - Training in KY

http://invictusagi.com/

Fantastic training opportunities from Magnus Johnson, Scot Spooner, Tom Spooner (interviewed below,) and others are taking place at RockCastle Shooting Center in Park City, KY. Sign up today!

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Fast762 Firearms Training in Texas

"The truth is that any good modern rifle is good enough. The determining factor is the man behind the gun."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

I took that from http://www.fast762.com/.  If you live in or are near Texas, and want some excellent training from a highly qualified expert, check out Kenan's website. Do it quickly. The classes are filling up fast!

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Range Safety Information

I just received info this from a contact. It originated from a tactical medic/firearms instructor. Cool picture at the end. Stay safe, Jeffrey Denning The pic I am attaching here is the hand of a local officer who was using his pocket knife to pry some staples off of a target. He just nicked his finger enough to barely draw blood. A couple days later he felt a lump in his forearm and armpit area as well as a lot of pain in the finger and hand. A trip to the hospital revealed the small cut developed a staph infection. So the doctors had to cut open the finger and hand to remove infected tissue. He spent about six weeks in a finger cast to keep the finger from curling up, then additional time in a finger “stretcher” that pulls the finger backwards to stretch the tendons that were affected by the infection. Again, all of this from a tiny scratch. Point is, we all use our knives for cutting just about anything (including drug exhibits). If you ever get poked, you introduce these things into your system. Grab some alcohol wipes and clean your knife blade regularly. If you ever do cut yourself, clean out the wound right away with alcohol and then use an antibiotic cream on it. Better safe than fileted! Dan


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Memorial Day

The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training -- sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him. However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind. - Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Farewell Address at West Point, May 12, 1962

Warriors to Kayak from Monterey, CA to Hawaii

'Just received a note about two patriots and warriors that are gearing up for an adventure of a lifetime. I'm not sure what they want others to know about their background, so I'll leave that off for now. Here's what's stated on the website: On April 21, 2013, two men, R.W. Hand, and John Craig, will set out on an unaided kayak paddle, in two tandem kayaks from Del Monte Beach, Monterey, CA to Hawaii (2,200 - 2,300 miles) to raise awareness for the Navy SEAL Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project. For those that served, and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, the men will be fulfilling their dreams for those that can no longer fulfill theirs. Please help support them by donating to either the Wounded Warrior Project or the Navy SEAL Foundation. http://montereytohawaiikayak.com/


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

The widow and the fatherless

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

--James 1:27

I am reminded of what Abraham Lincoln said in his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, during the final days of the Civil War and only a month before he was killed. He said, "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”

Let us each look for opportunities to serve.

May God continue to bless and prosper our great nation, and bless the widows and the children of those who've sacrificed in the service of this blessed nation that all might enjoy freedom.

Again, I'm reminded of our great past president, Abraham Lincoln, who himself served in the Civil War. In a handwritten letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby dated November 21, 1864, President Lincoln wrote the following:

“I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.”

He then signed the letter, “Sincerely, A. Lincoln.”

Tongue cannot tell nor pen or ink describe the hurt and pain felt by those who've lost family and dear friends. Many heartfelt prayers are ascending tonight for you all. While our prayers are never ignored, I believe we each must make the efforts to bless the lives of those who suffer most --a kind note, a gentle reassurance, a listening ear. If we pray for opportunities to help, we will be amazed how many doors will open. And, as found in the Book of Mormon--Another Testament of Jesus Christ, "when ye are in the bservice of your cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17).

The passing of yet another warrior: Dale McIntosh (USMC, Force Recon)

Dale McIntosh, Utah native, former Force Recon Marine-turned private security contractor has passed. Warrior SOS expresses heartfelt condolences to his surviving family members, many of whom have already passed and therefore he is currently embracing in heaven.

Dale and I spoke frequently after the unexpected passing of his brother, Blake. It really tore Dale up inside.

Thank you to the anonymous posting on the blog we did on behalf of Blake to notify us of Dale's passing. Subsequently, a search on Facebook confirmed Dale's passing. So far, according to what's written, the investigation is on-going.

Dale will be missed tremendously.

One of the last posts he wrote was that of any true warrior would value:

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

-FDR

http://www.westminstercollege.edu/westminster_in_the_news/index.cfm?parent=4597&detail=5880&content=6029

Memorial Service announcement for Iraqi war veteran, Dr. John Cloninger

John Cloninger passed away the morning of Feb 20, 2012. He leaves behind six young children and a supportive, loving and devoted wife - the mother of his children. Funeral arrangements with full military honors, at his request, will take place in Morgan, Utah on Saturday, Feb 25th.

John gave a talk in church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - after he received a remarkable recovery following brain surgery. He titled it Hardships. We highly recommend it.

The Lord needed his hands and his mind to work well and function with full capacity for a while following that surgery. Surely there were those who needed the skills and the blessing he alone could provide. Certainly, his wife and children needed him.

Through the will of Him who knows all things and who sees all things before Him, John Cloninger was not meant to survive. Several days after turning 42 years old, he went back home to that God who gave him life. He will be sorely missed.

Don't forget to read his talk on Hardships.




To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) link

Resource for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

http://www.neuroskills.com/brain-injury/veterans-and-traumatic-brain-injury.php

Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Farewell

The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training - sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him. However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind.

...the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: 'Only the dead have seen the end of war.'

--General Douglas MacArthur, West Point, May 12, 1962
retrieved from http://www.americanveteransmemorial.org/Home_Page.php

Bring Him Home - Les Miserables

Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson on Cello play a heartfelt and well-known song, which they "Dedicated to families who sacrifice to preserve freedom."

While this song is purely instrumental, the lyrics are written below along with another embedded version with words.



ValJean prays for the sleeping Marius:

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.



Start at 0:49 seconds:

Delta Force Commander Dalton Fury Interview

Former unit members busting caps in LA with Forest Gump. L to R: Dalton Fury, Tom Hanks, Pete Blaber, and Sean Walker. (Photo courtesy of Dalton Fury)

Dalton Fury is the nom de guerre for retired Delta Force commander and NYTimes best-selling author of Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man. His second book, Black Site: A Delta Force Novel, will be released Jan 31, 2012 and can be pre-purchased online. Among multiple accomplishments, he was also the military advisor for the just-released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Recently I had the extreme privilege of interviewing Mr. Fury on his career as a writer and military operator. Here is a transcript of that interview.

Jeffrey Denning: When you were in Delta Force, were any of your friends and neighbors aware of what you did for a living? If not, how difficult was it to live, in essence, a double life? And while you’re at home, do your neighbors know what you do for a living, or do they just assume you’re in one of the SF Groups at Bragg?

Dalton Fury:

Read the full interview here: http://www.guns.com/gunscom-interviews-delta-force-commander-dalton-fury.html

Buy Black Site: A Delta Force Novel today!

See the rest of my Guns.com tactical articles here: http://www.guns.com/user/jd.html


Thanks to Dalton Fury, who wrote the foreword of my book Warrior SOS. Check it out below!

To read other amazing interviews, check out Warrior SOS, the book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-SOS-Military-Veterans-Emotional/dp/1462117341/

For Warrior SOS book endorsements from Glenn Beck, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and others, check out the author's link: http://www.jeffrey-denning.com/books/warrior-sos/ 

Warrior Saves Three Children Trapped in Icy Waters

Sometimes warriors get nothing but headaches and heartaches. The warrior's bane is often thankless and unsung. But something unique occurred on New Year's Eve in northern Utah when, by divine coincidence, Chris Willden, a former police officer-turned security contractor overseas, just happened to be in the right spot at the right time to offer his skills. Mr. Willden is from Ogden, Utah where, sadly, last night a police officer on a multi-agency narcotics strike force was shot and killed along with six other officers.

Several important things come out of the televised interview as I see it. First, it wasn't by chance that this warrior was in a position to help rescue and save lives. I believe a Higher Power was involved. Not only was Willden there, but also another passerby who was trained, skilled and confident in administering CPR, which also saved lives. Secondly, as his father points out, Chris is a lot like the prepared warriors I know: he doesn't leave the house without these three essential warrior tools: a gun, a knife and a flashlight. And, finally, thanks to sound laws and law makers in Utah, this good citizen and all other honorable citizens in Utah and around the nation, can carry a concealed firearm to protect themselves and others.

Thankfully, this warrior had experienced enough stressful situations that he knew how to react appropriately when a terrible emergency occurred.

Christmas Tribute to Soldiers

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Part 1 - PTSD, Warrior SOS Radio Interview, Turning the Tide

To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Part 2 - PTSD, Warrior SOS Radio Interview, Turning the Tide

Interview with Tom Spooner, Invictus Alliance Group LLC & Labyrinth Guides

Tom Spooner is a 21-year Veteran of the U.S. Army, 15 of which were spent within the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. His reputation as an Operator and Sniper is second to less than a handful of his immediate peers. Tom's uncanny ability to teach Close Quarters Battle (CQB), Sniper Operations and high stress decision-making and planning, can be directly traced to his 40 months of Direct Action combat experience in a Special Missions Unit over a decade of deployments. Using his 21 years of tactical experience and mastery, Tom has efficiently condensed his knowledge into precise and effective customized instruction and application plans, and is arguably the most experienced and qualified tactics instructor currently available in the private sector. Tom is also a husband of 20 years, and the proud father of two boys.

Along with his brother, Scot, also a Green Beret, Tom Spooner is the owner of Invictus Alliance Group, a customized tactical training organization, training a myriad of law enforcement organizations, SWAT teams, and military special operation forces. They also own and operate Labyrinth Guides, which provides customized leadership consulting and training to professional organizations.



W-SOS: Tom, thank you so very much for agreeing to do this interview. Let's begin. Will you explain--in generic or specific terms, (whatever you're most comfortable with)--some of the situations you've encountered during your military tenure?

Spooner: My first unit was the 82nd where I stayed for 5 years. I was in the first gulf war as a private right out of basic. That was my first experience with the face of war.I then spent 5 years on an ODA with 7th group training soldiers in central and south America.

Sep of 2001 I went to selection and made it into a special mission unit. I had one deployment to Afghanistan and 11 to Iraq. I have been a part of 3 mass casualty events, killed or captured thousands of terrorists, been a part of hostage rescue operations, involved in the first battle of Falluja, conducted over 3,ooo combat operations, buried many friends, saved many Host Nation civilians from the brutality of terrorism and protected our way of life.

W-SOS: Have those events changed your life?

Spooner: Yes, Forever.



W-SOS: What was it like to have Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

Spooner: The more correct statement is, what is it like to have TBI. The most important part of the TBI process for me was to take the tests that definitively identify the parts in the brain that are not working the way they are supposed to. Having been diagnosed with mild TBI (what the hell does mild traumatic brain injury mean anyway. Does not seem mild to me or my family), it was a huge relief. The reason why it was a relief was because I thought I was loosing my mind. The tests said I was not crazy, just damaged.

W-SOS: Are there on-going effects today?

Spooner: Yes. The parts of my brain that were damaged are verbal memory, processing speed, and vestibular balance. When I get really tired my brain slows down and it is hard to make simple decisions when new information is presented. All of this only occurs on the inside. To the outside world I just seem tired or a little confused. My family and I have had to make some adjustments and gain a lot of understanding. We are adjusting well though and our life is very good.

W-SOS: What, if anything have you done to try and regulate your life back to normalcy--emotionally, mentally, spiritually?

Spooner: A lot. First of all I do not believe in the concept of “life back to normal”. Experiencing war has forever changed me. It is my responsibility to expand myself (lack of better words) to accept all of the hate, love, rage, joy, pain, kindness, depression, freedom, terror, dignity, guilt….etc, etc. I cannot do this on my own. That is why I have my God, support of others like me and education.

The first thing I did was take those tests to identify what was the problem. Then I went to the TBI clinic on Fort Bragg. There they set me up with cognitive therapy, vestibular rehab, headache specialist and a psychiatrist. I did intense (to me) therapy for 3 months. I was put on Zoloft and saw a non military psychologist. I was also diagnosed with a strong case of PTSD…….imagine that.

W-SOS: Do you ever find difficulty talking about experiences or admitting "normal reactions to abnormal events" (a.k.a. post-traumatic stress)?

Spooner: At times I do have extreme difficulty talking about certain experiences. Sometimes I will refuse to think about them and attempt to put them out of my mind. Other times (like this interview) I don’t have a problem at all. It all depends on the day. I know I must to help others. I don’t agree with statement “normal reaction to abnormal events”. There is nothing abnormal about war. Combat in one way or another has been going on since man was put on this earth. That statement and many more like it that many psychologists use only helps to make me feel more different than I already do. Those events (combat) are not normal to most of society, they are to us.

W-SOS: How has your believe in God helped you through your trials, current or past or both?

Spooner: I could not have survived the last 10 years without depending and trusting on my Creator. The same goes for my everyday life now.

W-SOS: Do you ever feel like most people wouldn't ever understand what you've experienced? In that way, do you ever feel isolated or disassociated from others?

Spooner: Me feeling like most people would not understand is an accurate emotion. They would not understand. Just like I don’t understand what it is like to be in outer space or a neuro surgeon. I thank God they do not understand. If they understood then that would mean they would have experienced what I experienced. I did it so they would not have to. My choice.



W-SOS: You spent 40 months in war operations. Anytime you're away from your wife and family, coming home has always been a challenge--at least in my experience--because you've changed and so have they. For those who've never experienced that, how would you best describe the time away? What about the readjustment phase?

Spooner: Everyone’s deployment cycle is different. My deployment cycle was deployed for 3 months, stateside for 6 months (at least 2 of that 6 was not at home), X 12. For almost half of my career. All of my 30’s. I was either on a deployment, recovering from a deployment and preparing for a deployment. With no end in sight. I fully had expected and accepted that I would eventually die on a deployment. That did not happen. My wife would say that out of the 6 months I was stateside I was present only for the last month before we started the cycle over again. My wife held my family together. At the end, we both could not take it anymore and I got out. No one can continue that way of life without reaching burn out. Me, the wife, the kids, all of us.

W-SOS: Anger and irritability seems to be one of the main side affects of post conflict experience. Would you agree? If so, or if not, would you elaborate?

Spooner: Anger and irritability are emotions that I experience when someone is trying to kill me and my friends. It is personal to me. I would go from a target to my living room sometimes within 72 hours. We struggled sometimes, but what kept it all together was respect for one another and a lot of hard work, together. What I am saying is those emotions are accurate and normal. What is not normal is if those symptoms get worse or don’t lessen. That is symptoms of TBI or PTSD.

W-SOS: You have told me during our personal conversations, that you've been "scared to death." Several people have uttered this cliche, but not many people have truly had fear like modern warriors. How would you describe your reactions to such fear and how have you overcome the fear?

Spooner: The main times when I was terrified was when we were powerless over the outcome of a situation, ie completely out numbered or mortar fire. My emotional reaction was flight. What kept me from taking action on those emotions was the amount of stressful training we had conducted, over and over and over and over.

W-SOS: "The amygdala [portion of the brain] seems to respond to severe traumas with an un-erasable fear response"--which is the basis for post conflict trauma. Some of the responses for fear include fight, flight, or under some circumstances even, freezing or paralyzation. These natural human responses to fear, allow us as human beings to survive. But, how can warriors survive readjusting to civilian life or a life outside of the theater of operations?

Spooner: By addressing every aspect of who they are mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Again, for me, there is no re adjusting. I can never go back to who I was before September 11th 2001, my 8th deployment, elementary school, or like I was before my grandfather died….etc etc.



W-SOS: What advice would you give to someone who may be experiencing stress related to man-on-man conflict?

Spooner: That is the name of the game. If you are not capable of dealing with the fact that at some point in the near future you and another man are going to be in a fight to the death, get another job.

W-SOS: What advice would you give to veterans who are experiencing troubles, even though they may not have been directly involved in conflict, but are effected by the troubles of the war zone nonetheless?

Spooner: I have found that giving advice does not work. All I can do is tell people my story. If they are attracted to my Truth, then I can tell them what I did specifically. I stay only within my own experience. No one can argue with my experience. Then they can make their own decisions on how to get help. If a veteran truly wants to get better, there are many people and programs that are there to help. I know the system is broken, but it is all we have to work with. No person or institution can stop me from getting the help I want and no person or institution can force me to get help if I don’t want it.

W-SOS: As you travel around the country now, teaching military and law enforcement professionals, what are the top goals for doing so?

Spooner: The number one goal is to give battle proven tactics and principles that come from experience. We are not saying that the way we do something is the only way, it is just a battle proven way that we have experienced.

W-SOS: Thank you so very much, Tom, for the service you've given to our great nation. You've laid many sacrifices upon the alter of freedom. I thank you and your family.

As far as your leadership and customized tactical training goes, you will undoubtedly break new ground--you already have--and you and your team will surely continue to help SWAT teams, patrol officers, hostage rescue units and special ops personnel everywhere you go, not to mention the businesses, corporations and magnates you will yet influence for good. Undoubtedly, warriors today will be far ahead of the tactical power curve if they take advantage of the specialized training you have to offer, all based on many years of recent, proven combat experience. Keep up the great work.

Tom Spooner can be reached through the Invictus Alliance Group or Labyrinth Guides websites.

To read this and other amazing interviews, check out Warrior SOS, the book on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-SOS-Military-Veterans-Emotional/dp/1462117341/

For Warrior SOS book endorsements from Glenn Beck, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and others, check out the author's link: http://www.jeffrey-denning.com/books/warrior-sos/ 

Warrior SOS Tactical Training Helps Cops for Christmas

Tomorrow, we'll be teaching a customized Tactical Patrol Rifle course for several police officers at the request of a local Chief of Police. As in all our training, the training costs are low and discounted in an effort to allow budget-troubled departments to have quality training. All proceeds from this training will be used for great purposes--helping families in need.

With the help of local police officers, Warrior SOS will use the money made from this and other training events to help give a happy Christmas to a family who otherwise might not have had one. We are especially interested in helping families with young children.

Not only are police officers most aware of "who's been naughty and who's been nice," but they also see many good families who fall on hard times--whether victims of crime or honest people, in dire circumstances, struggling to make ends meet.

We welcome the private financial help and assistance, as well as donations from local businesses, in an effort to help many families in need this next Christmas season. We unapologetically state, that by doing this service, we can help put Christ back in Christmas.


To read amazing interviews with warriors, check out Warrior SOS: Interviews, Insights and Inspiration, the book on Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3WO7VK

Staff Sergeant John D. Linde

I miss my friend Johnny.