If you come to this podcast for war stories about operations that have never been heard before, you’re in for an action packed listen on this one. Mark Giaconia is a former Green Beret with 20 years of service to his country. He has a new book out titled “One Green Beret” which focuses on his service from 1996-2011 in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq, serving alongside members of the Peshmerga as well as the Russian Spetsnaz. A focal point of the book is Mark serving in Operation Viking Hammer, an unconventional warfare operation with the mission of taking out Sunni Muslim insurgents known as the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam. He also speaks of the gruesome details of being exposed to suspected chemical weapons, having to take hair samples of dead terrorists, and gives a philosophical take on war from his own perspective. Mark has since made the transition from warfare to making a living in technology as the Senior Director of Radiant Solutions. He discusses how he started to make this transition while serving in the military. After you listen to this, be sure to pick up “One Green Beret” available now on Amazon. Also, follow Mark on Twitter and let him know what you thought of his appearance @GiaconiaMark.

In addition to that, Jack Murphy discusses his latest article “Mattis: US Troops can remain in Syria to ensure stability.” It is Jack’s belief that Mattis is being pushed out for the more neo-conservative John Bolton. Listen to find out why Jack has made that inference. It’s an episode with a lot of excitement and also reflection that you do not want to miss.