Straight Outta Combat Radio-Honoring Combat Wisdom

SOCRS046- Paul Martinez- "33 Degrees Publishing: Digital Storytelling in The Techno-Age"

Paul Martinez deployed 6 times to Afghanistan as a member of the 75^th Ranger Regiment, and is the author of “When the Killer Man Comes”; an account of his combat experience as a Ranger Sniper.  He is also the CEO and co-founder of 33 Degrees Publishing, a print firm that focuses on bringing the American story-telling tradition to the digital age.  Paul is passionate about telling the untold stories of the Global War on Terrorism, veteran advocacy, and equine therapy for service members transitioning to civilian life.  

SOCRS045- Jose Torres- "Tilt-Shift: The Quiet Professional"

U.S. Army Veteran Jose L. Torres is the writer/creator of Speakeasy/Markosia's series The Hunger, Image Comics’ mini‐series Heirs of Eternity and the “American Dream” short in their Outlaw Territory anthology. After attending the Defense Information School, where he was named the Distinguished Honor Graduate of his Combat Photography Course, he was hand‐picked for the Special Missions platoon of the 55th Signal Company. He deployed to Afghanistan with the SOCOM Joint Taskforce

SOCRS044- Justin Jordan- "And Then I Cried: Stories of A Mortuary NCO (Big Sarge)"

At 19 years old, Justin left the beautiful town of Henderson, KY, and enlisted in the United States Air Force.

During his 20 years of service, he held a variety of different jobs – everything from Cook to Combat Readiness Instructor. His most taxing job, however, would be when he was assigned as the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge, Mortuary Affairs.

For nearly six years he spent his time performing human remains inspections, uniforming the deceased, organizing military escorts, arranging for burial with honors, and consoling grieving families.  Justin also managed Combat Mortuary Operations at two separate deployed locations.

In late 2012, Justin decided to share his story in the book, “And Then I Cried, Stories of a Mortuary NCO.” His hope was the story could help others struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

He is also an accomplished artist and his works can be seen hanging on the walls of the Pentagon in the Healing Arts Display. 

In 2013 Justin was Medically Retired from the Air Force with 20 years of service. After retirement Justin continued his advocacy and worked with The Air Force Wounded Warrior Program where he managed the Ambassador Program. He was responsible for teaching seriously injured or ill Airmen how to tell and share their stories of recovery with audiences worldwide. During his tenure there, he trained over 55 Warriors and briefed over 30,000 Airmen ranging from Airman to Four Star General. 

Justin now works at Warriors Heart, the country’s only dual diagnosis drug and alcohol treatment center that works exclusively with Military, Veterans and First Responders suffering from chemical dependency and psychological injuries such as PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Justin has been featured on CMTs “I Love Kellie Pickler” and has been a guest on over 200 radio shows nationwide. In 2015, he was awarded the American Solider Networks Hero Service Award for his work helping veterans in need.

  Justin has only one wish – if his work inspires you, do something about it, live beyond PTSD, live with purpose, and find your voice.

To see Justin’s previous speaking events, click here.

SOCRS043- Pam Saulsby- "Ashley's High Five For Daddy-The War at Home"

Pam Saulsby is an experienced journalist, word architect, communications strategist, digital storyteller, dynamic speaker, engaging interviewer, and music artist. She is a multimedia relations specialist for the Department of Homeland Security-Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, DC. A true master communicator she advocates for veterans and their families as a producer of media content to raise awareness of issues confronting our military community after deployments.

She has been recognized nationally and locally for excellence in Journalism, having received three regional Emmy Awards, and one National Emmy award. She has twice been honored with the Presidential Award for Volunteerism. Pam was named one of the top Women in Business in The Triangle Area. She was recognized by the state of North Carolina and honored with a Woman of the Year Award in Business.

Pam has recorded two albums. Her most recent “Holding It Down” is a collection of tunes that salute the troops. She is donating a portion of the sales of the music album to Fort Bragg Fisher House. It is a home away from home for families whose loved ones are being treated at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg.

Among her proudest achievements is the publication of her children’s book on PTSD. Pam wrote Ashley’s High Five for Daddy to explain PTSD to younger children. An Army brat herself, she hopes the project can help military families who may be struggling with mental health issues.

She has served as a fundraiser, strategic media advisor and board member for numerous nonprofit organizations over the last two decades. She is a former board member of The Komen-Triangle Race for the Cure. For 3 years Pam worked with community and civic leaders to create the Oak Ranch Project, which is a home community for at-risk boys and girls. She served as an advisor to Family Health Ministries dedicated to maternal and child health in Haiti. Using her instinct, grit, and heart as her GPS, Saulsby’s new career path is fast-paced and in constant motion.

She is considered a thought leader, passionately involved in putting facts in context and exploring the implications of current trends and policies that guide all of our choices and actions. To Saulsby, the old saying is still true: knowledge is power. She lives in Washington, DC.

SOCRS042- Marc Good- "Cool Under Fire"

The Bronze Star Medal

WITH “V” DEVICE

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MARCUS GOOD

UNITED STATES ARMY

FOR heroism on 3 and 4 October 1993, while serving as a Chalk Medic for Company B, 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment during operations in Mogadishu, Somalia.   On the fast rope insertion, a fellow ranger suffered a C-spine injury. Private First Class Good stabilized, immobilized and extracted his fallen comrade under fire. Though the extraction vehicle was engaged all the way to the rear, he kept his Ranger buddy alive.  Private First Class Good’s dedication to duty and total disregard for personal safety reflects great credit on him and the United States Army.

Good’s File

Name: Marcus Eugene Good
D.O.B: 19 March 1970
Hometown: Cook County, Ill.
Currently: Venice, Fla.
Entered Service: 6 Aug. 1992
Discharged: 29 May 1996
Rank: Private 1st Class
Battles/Campaigns: Mogadishu, Somalia
Unit:  Bravo Company, Third Army Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
Commendations: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Army Lapel Button, Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Grenade Bar, Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Egyptian Parachutist Badge, British Army Parachutist Wings, Royal Thai Army Airborne Wings

SOCRS041- Rocky Bleier- "A Four Ring Champion Bridging Generations"

Rocky Bleier graduated from University of Notre Dame in 1968 with a degree in business management, in addition to starring in football.

After his rookie season, Bleier was drafted into the army, and fought in the Vietnam War. On August 20, 1969, Bleier's platoon was ambushed and Bleier was wounded in his left thigh. While he was down, a grenade sent many pieces of shrapnel into his right leg. Bleier's struggle to recover from his injuries was dramatized in the 1980 film Fighting Back starring Robert Urich as Bleier and Art Carney as Art Rooney.

Bleier would play sparingly from 1971 to 1973 as upon his return he couldn't walk without being in pain, and he weighed only 180 pounds. Chuck Noll, the Pittsburgh Steelers coach, waived him on two occasions, but Bleier would always regain a spot on the roster. An offseason training regimen brought Bleier back to 212 pounds in the summer of 1974. From that point in time, he would be in the Steelers' starting lineup.

In addition to being a great lead blocker, Bleier was the second of the Steelers' rushing weapons, (Franco Harris was the primary back,) but was effective nonetheless at both blocking and rushing. In 1976, both Harris and Bleier rushed for over 1,000 yards.

Bleier played in all four Steeler Super Bowl victories, and caught the touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw that gave Pittsburgh a lead it would never surrender in Super Bowl XIII.

SOCRS040- Nicholas Carson- "Out of The Abyss & Into American Built Clothing"

“Be Proud Of What You Wear, Be Proud Of Where You’re From”

American Built Clothing is a brand for the proud American that can still appreciate building something with his or her own two hands.

American Built believes American-made is the ONLY way to be.

We are a brand founded by those who served in the Military, AND a brand that continues to support those who have served this country past and present.

-Nick trained to become a Marine sniper—a dream he followed since ninth grade. After three deployments—two to Japan and one to Iraq—he was wounded in service and received a Purple Heart. Nick healed and went through sniper school, advanced sniper training but his injuries hampered his skill set. He received an honorary discharge and returned to his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho to be with family.

“Our future is bright,” Nick said. “We are operating at a higher level for 2018 with more inventory, new designs and focusing on selling online. We will also be (touring) all over the West introducing American Built Clothing to new proud Americans! We started at the bottom with nothing, so there is only one way we can go from there, and that is UP.”

SOCR039- Ryan Hunt- "The (10th) Mountain Up Cap Company is Family"

Ryan Patrick Hunt is the CEO and Founder of the Mountain Up Cap Company.  He is a veteran of the United States Army with multiple deployments to Iraq and Bosnia.   In high school, he wrestled and played football.  He is a true patriot, always pushing forward.

SOCR038- Edwin Richardson- "T.R.U.S.T. is The WORD"

Edwin Richardson Jr., USAF Combat Controller retired after over 20 years served. Edwin is the Owner and President of The Richardson Unlimited Strategy Team, LLC (Richardson Strategy). During his time time in service, he has been stationed in various locations across the U.S. to include 6 years in Okinawa, Japan.  A large portion of his time served spent in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. Edwin's experience includes deployments involving humanitarian Aid, Disaster Relief efforts both on our nations land and abroad, and ground combat operations in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, and INHERENT RESOLVE. ​

​Edwin brings years of experience directly advising leaders within Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Marine Special Operations Teams, along with various government agencies and International Forces during some of the most chaotic events and harsh environments imaginable. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, he held positions to include Section Chief, Flight Chief, and Operations Chief in multiple industries or AFSC’s (Maintenance, Operations, Training, and Special Tactics) while serving. Edwin has been awarded multiple Bronze Stars w/Valor for direct ground combat actions to include citations for service during Natural disaster planning and rescue operations. He has mastered the tools necessary to motivate and create effective teams, develop and guide future leaders, prioritize lines of effort, conflict resolution and risk mitigation, as well as maximizing overall personal and operational performance. 

SOCR037- Jason Justice- "Family Traditions"

My grandfather is Jackie “Papaw” Justice, my father is Jack Justice. My grandfather was a moonshiner on and off from 1937 to 1955 he enlisted in the Army around 1947 at 17 years old and finished his commitment as an airman as the Army Air Corps split and officially became the Airforce. He made it through the Korean War in the Navy and shipped to the Vietnam War with the Marines as a Corpsman. He didn’t practice moonshining anymore after Vietnam but he passed much of the knowledge to me through stories and taking me to these places and meeting the friends and family that were all part of this real cultural period of Americana. They saw two world wars, survived the Great Depression and Prohibition. It was amazing, meeting these people and hearing the stories for an 8 year old it was like stepping back in time. They were war weary, had a certain distrust of the government and literally were reduced to surviving off the land and many did not survive the period. The Justice family primary occupation before the period was being judges, lawyers and lawmakers. Prohibition provided a means of much needed income to many of these people and entire families came together to form manufacturing and distribution of moonshine, it was an enterprise in and of itself. It wasn’t anything as sophisticated as the bootlegging operation of say, Al Capone but the stuff my grandfather made was all over the east coast and cutting as far south as Charleston, SC with the bulk of it ending up in Portsmouth, VA both places where family was living and would receive and distribute the moonshine.

I started the distillery in June of 2015 while finishing up my last military deployment in Sinton, Texas. It was a disaster response mission; I was the commander of the transportation company responsible for moving any assets West of the Mississippi River. I purchased a 6,000 square foot facility; it used to be a lumber yard, then RadioShack and finally an 8-liner game room until they were outlawed in the county. It is on a good cross road between I37 and I35 right off I77 in South Texas so it is a regular detour between those main thoroughfares. The distillery gets its primary grain, corn from the local grain elevator; B&P Elevator in Sinton that produces mainly deer corn and we get sweet corn from an organic farming operation; Picha Farms in Robstown, TX. We started out making moonshine and several flavored variations of it from the deer corn and sugar from the Rio Grande Valley. As it stands today, we source all of our spirit ingredients from within the state of Texas and are registered with the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO Texan program which promotes Texas made and sourced products.

We have expanded nearly 300% since opening, today we utilize a large 250 gallon cast iron boiler with copper stack; that creation is about 20 foot tall at least. Our spirit still utilizes a 100 gallon stainless boiler with a 9 foot copper stack; it’s a cross between a reflux column and pot still that I’ve created. That’s another great thing; we’ve dramatically cut our overhead on equipment by making most of it ourselves. My father helps me refine and construct most of the equipment. For example, I wanted large open fermenters for volume fermentation so we framed in some areas in the warehouse and stretched some pond liner and in the space where only 3- 100 gallon fermenters were working before we are now able to ferment 1,000 gallons. We have 3 of these now, with another 2 nearing completion at the fraction of the cost and room of a large manufactured fermenting vessel.