In this episode of Helping The Brave Podcast, Ed Parcaut sits down with Patrick Thibeault for a wide-ranging conversation about Army service, airborne life, combat medicine, survival training, veteran healthcare, and writing through the weight of war.

Patrick shares why he chose the Army after growing up around Fort Bragg and watching paratroopers jump from aircraft. He talks about joining while still in high school, graduating in Korea while his father was stationed there, training at Fort Bliss, and becoming an Army medic, paratrooper, and later a flight medic. His path eventually took him into the 160th Special Operations Aviation community, where medics supported unique missions including search and rescue, casualty evacuation, helicopter refueling support, and recovery operations.

Ed and Patrick also discuss Desert Storm, Afghanistan, National Guard service, SERE School, and how survival training became a lifelong interest. Patrick explains how that experience helped shape his work as The TPP Suburban Prepper, where he teaches medical readiness, urban survival, city-specific preparedness, and practical survival skills for regular people living in suburban environments.

The conversation also gets personal. Patrick talks about becoming an RN, then a nurse practitioner, working at the VA, helping fellow veterans, and writing about his journey as a combat medic. He and Ed discuss PTSD, mental health access, community care, the importance of talking to somebody, and why veterans should not carry everything alone.

This is an episode about service, survival, medicine, memory, and continuing to help veterans long after the battlefield.

*Contact Ed Parcaut:**
- 🌍 Website: [edparcaut.com](http://edparcaut.com)
- 📱 Twitter: [@edparcaut](https://twitter.com)

For more resources and support, visit HelpingTheBrave.com.

#HelpingTheBrave #EdParcaut #PatrickThibeault #CombatMedic #ArmyVeteran #AirborneMedic #160thSOAR #DesertStorm #AfghanistanVeteran #VeteranMentalHealth #PTSDAwareness #SurvivalTraining #SuburbanPrepper #VeteranHealthcare #VeteransHelpingVeterans

Got a story worth hearing? Join Ed for Launch Your Podcast in 30 Days, a free live PodVeteran workshop on Thursday, October 29 at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET. Learn the MIC Protocol (Mission, Identity, Content) and leave with your show's mission, your listener, a title and your first 3 episodes planned. Save your seat (replay included if you can't make it live): https://podveteran.com

In this episode of Helping The Brave Podcast, Ed Parcaut sits down with Heather McLean for a conversation about Air Force service, veteran transition, technology leadership, AI, and building a company after military and corporate life.

Heather shares how she joined Air Force ROTC while trying to figure out how to pay for college, started as a supply officer, and built a twenty-year career that moved through logistics, recruiting, reserves, IT portfolio management, and communications work with U.S. Transportation Command. She explains what it was like managing large legacy systems, working around siloed technology, and helping determine which systems should be modernized, retired, or improved.

The conversation also covers Heather's transition into the commercial software world, where she helped lead agile software teams and eventually ran a large engineering organization building custom solutions for Fortune 500 companies. After eleven years in corporate technology, burnout and the desire to keep learning pushed her to start McLean Forrester, a company focused on AI and custom technology solutions.

Ed and Heather dig into AI, vibe coding, software development, data quality, guardrails, human oversight, and why companies should not mistake a chatbot or quick automation for a real strategy. They also discuss how veterans can bring leadership, systems thinking, and mission focus into technology and entrepreneurship.

This episode is about service, transition, growth, and using hard-earned experience to help businesses build smarter in a rapidly changing world.

*Contact Ed Parcaut:**
- 🌍 Website: [edparcaut.com](http://edparcaut.com)
- 📱 Twitter: [@edparcaut](https://twitter.com)

For more resources and support, visit HelpingTheBrave.com.

#HelpingTheBrave #EdParcaut #HeatherMcLean #AirForceVeteran #VeteranTransition #AIForBusiness #VeteranEntrepreneur #WomenVeterans #AgileSoftware #McLeanForrester #TechnologyLeadership #MilitaryTransition #CustomSoftware #BusinessInnovation #VeteransInTech

In this episode of Helping The Brave Podcast, Ed Parcaut welcomes back Tim Thomas, an Australian Army commando and veteran of Afghanistan and East Timor, for a deep conversation about breathwork, sleep, isolation, healing, and the long road back after service.

Tim shares how he entered Australia's direct recruiting pathway into special forces, how deployment and transition shaped his life afterward, and how a simple breathing practice became one of the first tools that helped him rebuild energy, awareness, and a sense of possibility. He and Ed talk about the painful reality many veterans face after service: feeling isolated, exhausted, sleepless, and surrounded by advice that may be more marketing than healing.

The conversation explores breathwork, cold exposure, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, pharmaceuticals, plant medicine, therapy, peer support, and why there is no single path that works for everyone. Tim argues that before veterans try to fix everything downstream, they often need to address two fundamentals first: sleep and social connection.

Ed and Tim also talk about AI, veteran tools, Operation Firewalk, the danger of relying on machines for healing advice, and the importance of finding real people who have walked the path and are living the kind of life you want to build.

This episode is about breath, sleep, trust, connection, and choosing to move forward even when you cannot yet see the full road ahead.

*Contact Ed Parcaut:**
- 🌍 Website: [edparcaut.com](http://edparcaut.com)
- 📱 Twitter: [@edparcaut](https://twitter.com)

For more resources and support, visit HelpingTheBrave.com.

#HelpingTheBrave #EdParcaut #TimThomas #VeteranBreathwork #BreathworkInBed #PTSDRecovery #VeteranSleep #VeteranHealing #AustralianVeteran #MilitaryTransition #VeteranMentalHealth #SocialConnection #ColdExposure #HealingAfterService #VeteransHelpingVeterans