Episodes

  • The Hunt for Blackbeard: Deception at Ocracoke

    The Hunt for Blackbeard: Deception at Ocracoke
    Oct 11 2026
    A British naval force approached one of the Atlantic’s most notorious pirates in November 1718. Lieutenant Robert Maynard used concealment and surprise during the final confrontation. This episode examines the historical operation and the role of deception in defeating Blackbeard.
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    3 mins
  • Desert One: How Operation Eagle Claw Reshaped U.S. Special Operations

    Desert One: How Operation Eagle Claw Reshaped U.S. Special Operations
    Oct 7 2026
    In April 1980, the United States launched a classified mission deep into Iran to rescue 53 American hostages held in Tehran, bringing together elite troops, aircraft, and months of careful planning. The rescue force never made it to the hostages — the operation collapsed at a remote desert staging site before the assault phase even began. This episode breaks down how that failure exposed critical gaps in coordination between America's special operations branches at the time. We trace how the disaster at Desert One became the catalyst for a complete overhaul of how the U.S. plans, trains, and executes joint special operations today.
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    5 mins
  • The Billion Dollar Spy: The Man Who Gave the CIA Soviet Secrets

    The Billion Dollar Spy: The Man Who Gave the CIA Soviet Secrets
    Oct 4 2026
    Operating inside Moscow during the Cold War presented extraordinary dangers for American intelligence officers and their Soviet sources. One of the CIA’s most valuable sources was Adolf Tolkachev, a Soviet engineer who provided extensive information about military technology. His espionage required secret communications, clandestine meetings and constant concern about Soviet counterintelligence. Eventually, the operation collapsed and Tolkachev was arrested. His story demonstrates both the extraordinary value and extraordinary vulnerability of human intelligence.
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    3 mins
  • 4,000 Kilometers to Rescue: Inside Operation Entebbe

    4,000 Kilometers to Rescue: Inside Operation Entebbe
    Oct 1 2026
    In 1976, more than 100 hostages sat thousands of miles from Israel at Uganda's Entebbe Airport, and Israeli planners had almost nothing working in their favor — crushing distance, thin intelligence, no element of surprise to count on, and the constant threat that hostages would be killed before any rescue force arrived. This episode breaks down how Israeli special operations forces built a raid capable of closing that gap and executing a complex assault on foreign soil in under two hours. We examine the planning, deception, and precision execution that turned an almost impossible scenario into a successful extraction. Entebbe remains one of the most studied long-range hostage-rescue operations in modern military history, and we unpack exactly why.
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    3 mins
  • Operation Anthropoid: The Mission to Kill Reinhard Heydrich

    Operation Anthropoid: The Mission to Kill Reinhard Heydrich
    Sep 27 2026
    December 1941, two Czechoslovak soldiers parachuted into their occupied homeland carrying an extraordinary assignment: assassinate one of Nazi Germany’s most powerful officials. Reinhard Heydrich was a senior SS leader, head of the Reich Security Main Office, and one of the principal architects of Nazi persecution and mass murder. Operation Anthropoid would require infiltration, resistance contacts, intelligence gathering, and extraordinary personal risk. What followed became one of the most consequential covert operations of the Second World War.
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    3 mins
  • From Sensor to Weapon: The Small Drone Joins the Team

    From Sensor to Weapon: The Small Drone Joins the Team
    Sep 23 2026
    Imagery released September 17 showed Green Berets from 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, arming a small drone with an explosive payload during training conducted on August 14. Officials confirmed the exercise was testing the capabilities and effects of explosive-ordnance attack drones flown via first-person-view feeds, though technical specifics were withheld for operational security. This episode looks at what the release signals about a broader shift in Army special operations doctrine, where low-cost drones are increasingly treated as lethal tools rather than pure ISR assets. We break down what this means for the future of small-unit tactics on the modern battlefield.
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    2 mins
  • Guardians of the Gray Zone: The Coast Guard's New Special Missions Command

    Guardians of the Gray Zone: The Coast Guard's New Special Missions Command
    Sep 15 2026
    In May 2026, the U.S. Coast Guard stood up a new Special Missions Command, folding its elite units into one force built for counterterrorism, drug interdiction, port security, disaster response, and high-risk operations. This episode digs into why the Coast Guard sees the next generation of threats forming at sea — in ports, shipping lanes, and the murky "gray zone" between peace and open conflict. We look at the move through the lens of special operations doctrine, geopolitical strategy, and modern asymmetric warfare. The result is a look at how this restructuring could reshape America's maritime security for decades to come.
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    7 mins
  • From Selection to the Unit: Bob Porras on a Career in Special Operations

    From Selection to the Unit: Bob Porras on a Career in Special Operations
    Aug 30 2026
    Carlos sits down with Bob "The Ninja" Porras for a wide-ranging look back at a career spent in the world of Delta Force and "The Unit." The conversation covers what it actually takes to make it through selection, the mindset required to operate at the highest level of special operations, and the lessons carried forward after the uniform comes off. It's a rare, candid window into the culture and psychology behind America's most elite units.
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    1 hr and 17 mins