Released on ALCON Podcast also.

In this episode of A Soldiers Five, I talk with with Fitzy, an ex-NZ Army infantryman, special forces operator, and the founder of Warfighter Athletic. The conversation revolves around intelligence, operations, and military discussions, with a special focus on Fitzy's operational mindset.

Fitzy shares his insights on deployment, not deploying, and how people can prepare for the coming struggles. As someone who has experienced the rigors of military life firsthand, Fitzy provides a unique perspective on the importance of mental and physical preparation.

Throughout the interview, listeners will gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed in high-stakes environments and how to apply those lessons to everyday life. Whether you're a military enthusiast, entrepreneur, or simply someone looking for inspiration, this episode is sure to leave you with valuable insights and actionable takeaways.

Support Warfighter Athletic via the link below:

https://www.warfighterathletic.com

https://www.instagram.com/warfighterathletic/?hl=en

Hey team,

Welcome back to another episode of A Soldiers Five. In this episode I talk to Si, a soldier who completed two decades of service as a Movements Operator with the NZ Army. Fun fact: Si was actually my boss during one of my postings AND we happened to serve together in Afghanistan.

I really appreciated the way Si approached small teams leadership, and during our time serving together he was one of the few people where he was both a senior, mentor and mate. I took a lot away from my time learning from him, hence why I really wanted to get him on and sharn for a bit.

Had a good chat, really good to get his experiences working with the Royal Marine Commandos as well as his experience assisting in the retrieval of Byron Solomon, a sailor who tragically passed away in an accident on board HMNZS Canterbury.

I also don't know how many times I've said um so let me know and i'll donate some cash to no duff.

https://www.instagram.com/popsmoke_adventures/

Enjoy!

Hey team,

In this episode I talk to Chris Collins and Naomi Basson of Tango Kilo Mike (TKM). TKM provides suicide prevention and ongoing peer support to serving and former members of the military and first-responder emergency services, and their immediate families within New Zealand. They do this through:

1. Providing access to support through suicide prevention training, crisis management and professional therapy.
2. Access to a partner network of martial arts clubs across New Zealand to enable a healthy release of energy.
3. Removal of barriers to participation by members.

We had a great chat, I enjoyed the insights into service life and the mahi they do through TKM. As mentioned in the episode - I say 'Um' a lot! So for the next episode for every 'um' I say I'll donate a dollar to No Duff Charitable Trust.

If you're keen to get into martial arts then please, visit the TKM link below and get in touch and they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Enjoy!

P.S. Make sure to subscribe and share!

Key links:

https://www.tangokilomike.org/

https://www.instagram.com/tangokilomike/

Welcome back to A Soldiers Five Podcast for 2023. As mentioned, I have rebranded from The ALCON Podcast, as this better reflects what this podcast is all about.

In this episode I talk to Aaron Wood, one of the founders of No Duff. No Duff is a volunteer Veterans NGO committed to providing immediate welfare assistance to past and present members of the NZDF, particularly veterans, in order to ensure that the mental, physical, financial, spiritual and social health of all personnel is maintained at the highest possible level.

The basic concept of operations for this organisation is to provide first response, boots on the ground support where and when required to current and former service personnel, particularly veterans, in critical need. To do so we have built a network of volunteers across the country who are willing to support the New Zealand veteran community. 

This is a medium-spice episode, with some contentious discussion had. If you are on the other side of these discussions then please reach out and I will have you on to get other sides of the story. At the end of the day, it's all about the veteran.

Key links:

https://www.facebook.com/NoDuffNZ/

https://givealittle.co.nz/org/noduff

https://linktr.ee/memeswithmana

Welcome to episode seven!

In this episode, I interview Neville Johnson. Neville is a veteran of the British Army where he served seven years in the British Army and deployed to Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan

Neville is currently living in New Zealand with his wife and kids and is now working for a private organisation running a military-style Services Academy for teenagers.

We had a really good chat where we discussed his operational service, combat operations, mental health, poetry as a mechanism to address mental health issues and his work with at-risk youth.

As always please support our sponsors and us by visiting the links below, and if you enjoy these podcasts then I’d hugely appreciate it if you like, share and subscribe via whatever platform you listen on!   

Find Neville at: https://www.instagram.com/nevillejohnson01/?hl=en

Sponsors:

https://noahs-ark.co/ ----------- Use ARK15 for 15% off!  

https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=ca...   ---------- For epic remote podcasting!

https://lethalmindsjournal.substack.com/p/bulletin-from-the-borderlands

Please excuse my mic quality in this - I don't know what happened! 

 In this episode, I interview Curtis Weeks an ex-Royal New Zealand Navy veteran who served for thirteen years as a chef and then as a physical training instructor.  

Curtis is now a mental performance coach and published author of the book “From Why me! To Try me” and is well respected by Business Owners, Coaches and Athletes. Curtis works closely with Individuals and Teams to enhance their mental performance in achieving the desired results.  

Curtis works with many high-performance clients based overseas in countries like the UK, USA, France and Australia. Curtis shares his philosophy and stories from military experience and coaching on how to develop the skills and the mindset that keeps successful people in the game. 

 We catch up and discuss overcoming adversity, mindset and work as a mental performance coach. 

https://noahs-ark.co/ --------- Use ARK15 for 15% off!

https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=ca...   -------- For epic remote podcasting!

https://coachcurtisweeks.com/pages/about-curtis

In this episode, I interview Simon Carkeek, an NZ Army veteran who served for over a decade as an infantryman with 1 RNZIR and has multiple deployments under his belt. After service, he worked as a security contractor overseas and is now the owner of PracMed NZ. A company that empowers Kiwis with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be responders and not witnesses, by providing the most relevant, practical and engaging first aid training & products in New Zealand. 

As always please support our sponsors and us by visiting the links below, and if you enjoy these podcasts then I’d hugely appreciate it if you like, share and subscribe via whatever platform you listen on!

  https://noahs-ark.co/ ----------- Use ARK15 for 15% off!   

https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=ca...   ---------- For epic remote podcasting!   

Make sure to support:  

https://pracmednz.com/  

https://sabretactical.co.nz/  

https://warfighterathletic.co.nz/   

#nzdf #infantry #veteran #nzarmy #militaryveteran