You're listening to software, radio, special operations, military meals, and straight talk with the guys in the community.

This is Rad with another awesome episode of software, radio, and I have some very special guests today. I couldn't fit all 12 of them on my screen because it's just not working.

I got two of the horsemen from the United States Special Forces Green Beret Unit that went into Afghanistan right after 9-11.

Horses, hill sides, high altitude. This guy, I'm not sure exactly where they trained to get to that high altitude, but we're going to learn from Jim DeFilis and Mark Nush, who were these ODA operators and have written a book called Swords of Lightning.

You guys are going to have to check it out because we're going to talk to him about it right now. Welcome to the show.

First of all, let me just say that the hero on the show here is Mark. I just hung out with these guys, drank their bourbon and wrote down what they told me.

I just had the very great honor right in the book with them. Mark and everybody else in 595. You're right. Jim went to Afghanistan.

Yeah, because in your preface, there's a breakdown of the team leaders and their rank and file. I should pay more attention. I was looking for your name in that actually.

Jim, and I was like, where's Jim's name in the is he the is he the 18 is he the is he the Zulu? I'm like, where's Jim's name in here? Mark, tell me about yourself too, please.

Well, I got to say Jim's Bob and I's hero for not put this for all these years to put this incredible book Swords of Lightning together.

And we know far more now about all the support in the aspects around that incredible effort right after September 11, 2001 after America had been rocked by those horrific attacks and our team and a handful of other social forces teams that were part of the task force dagger special operations task force that was tasked with going into the country of Afghanistan to,

the killer capture Taliban or al-Qaeda wherever we found them and try to work with different militia groups to topple the Taliban regime.

There were so many things unknown about that. We know far more about that effort now. And over the years, Bob and I had kind of become the repository for news articles and photos and some of the other books that have been written about us previously and just our own personal journals and interviews.

We've done for some documentary films, but then to hand that over to Jim and for him to sort through all of that and put it down in an incredible first person manner in my voice and Bob's voice and to lay that out our book Swords of Lightning has been a years long effort and we're very proud of the fact that it's out now.

You know, it lays out much more of the story and the real challenges and teamwork and leadership and just a crazy chaos of battle that we were placed into in the conduct of that historic unconventional warfare mission.

You know, there's far more than they can show in the Hollywood movie, a 12 strong, you know, this Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, renowned filmmaker, you know, the entertainment of that 12 strong film and just the incredible cast that they had.

There's so much more to this story that they couldn't put into a two hour film and there's also a,

an Emmy nominated documentary called Legion of Brothers that's out there interviews my team and two other special forces teams more of our teammates are wives were interviewed and after that was experiences that's what we're like Bob night and our teammates are like we've got to tell our own story and get more of the incredible aspects of what a small team of Americans can do highly training committed.

Place into a nearly impossible situation and to bring people together and unite and you know just orchestrate all of that on the ground that's what special forces does and as the highlight of my life.

So I've had to honor to lead an incredible 12 man team of green braze to spearhead America's response to those attacks and 9 11 to work with our C I a teammates are other incredible special operators from the 160th our special operations aviators from our Air Force special operations aviators as well as their terminal attack controllers their combat controllers that was going to come on the ground with us that.

Yep, the J tax and tax keys that were thrust into that mission while it was already on my way just are you guys were like task force right the larger fifth special forces group headquarters was the task force yes with Air Force special operations and other army special operations and and our intelligence services all co less into that task force that the larger task force was based in.

Car chicana bad user back to stand and my special forces team od a five nine five and another special forces team od a five five five were two of the first teams to be sent into northern afghanistan on the ground our team went into the north five five five was inserted into the panches here Valley.

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