The War Locker Show

The enemy gets a vote. And sometimes the hardest lessons in leadership come when you realize you've made the wrong call.In Episode 342 of The War Locker Show, Tom and Chuck welcome two combat-tested military leaders and accomplished authors: retired Marine Major Scott A. Huesing, author of Echo in Ramadi, and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Clay Novak, author of the Terry Davis military thriller series.
What starts with the usual military trash talk quickly turns into a remarkably candid discussion about leadership, accountability, and the decisions that stay with you long after the mission ends.Clay shares a troubling...

What happens when a guy looks at conventional K9 training methods and decides there's a better way to teach a dog to follow its nose?You get Mike Herstik. And eventually, you get a wall.In Episode 341 of The War Locker Show, Tom and Chuck welcome internationally experienced K9 trainer Mike Herstik, along with special guest Clay Novak, for a conversation about the Herstik Wall, the innovative training system Mike developed to teach detection dogs reliable, focused responses to target odors.From the fundamentals of scent detection to the importance of building dogs that can work independently of handler influence...

There's a fine line between police leadership and organized confusion. Sometimes that line comes with a badge, a pension, and a corner office.

Retired Wichita Police Department commander Christian Cory returns to The War Locker Show to join Wolfman and Caveman for an unapologetic tour through the strange, dangerous, and occasionally spectacularly stupid realities of police work.What begins as a conversation about backup guns, duty belts, and the equipment that can save an officer's life quickly spirals into meth-fueled encounters, bizarre calls for service, weapon retention, and the kinds of stories that make civilians ask, "Wait, that...

The Constitution was written with quill pens. Today, the government has artificial intelligence, facial recognition, automated surveillance networks, and access to more information about your daily movements than the Founding Fathers could have imagined.So where the hell does that leave the Fourth Amendment?Former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins returns to The War Locker Show for Part 2, joining Tom and Chuck for a wide-ranging conversation about constitutional rights, government authority, emerging technology, and the increasingly complicated relationship between public safety and individual liberty.
The guys dig into Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers, geofence warrants, digital...

What does leadership look like when the people following you have to live with the consequences of your decisions?
This week, Tom and Chuck sit down with retired Marine Major Scott Huesing, bestselling author of Echo in Ramadi: The Firsthand Story of U.S. Marines in Iraq's Deadliest City.Scott spent 24 years in the Marine Corps, rising from enlisted Marine to infantry officer before commanding Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, the legendary “Magnificent Bastards,” during brutal urban combat in Ramadi, Iraq.
But this isn't just a war-story episode.Scott talks about what it meant to be responsible for...

Some decisions give you time to think. Others give you seconds, and you may spend years living with what happened next. In Episode 337 of The War Locker Show, Tom and Chuck sit down with retired Scottsdale Police Officer James Peters, whose law-enforcement career placed him in an extraordinary number of deadly-force encounters.
Peters talks candidly about those shootings, the decisions that surrounded them, the scrutiny that followed, and how those experiences ultimately changed the trajectory of his career. Contemporary reporting documented seven officer-involved shootings during Peters' Scottsdale career, an exceptionally unusual history that generated both departmental review and intense...

When most people think of criminal investigations, they picture interrogation rooms, dramatic confessions, and TV detectives breaking suspects under pressure. The reality is far different. In Episode 336 of The War Locker Show, Tom and Chuck sit down with recently retired Captain Christian Cory of the Wichita Police Department to explore how modern investigative interviewing has evolved from intuition into science.

Captain Cory began his career just as Wichita was closing one of the nation's most infamous investigations with the capture of BTK killer Dennis Rader. Over the next 24 years, he served in homicide, violent crimes, gang investigations, crisis...

Every story has the power to change someone else's life...if we're willing to tell it. This week, Tom and Chuck welcome Matt and Monica, hosts of The Matt & Monica Podcast, for an honest conversation about resilience, loss, faith, marriage, and the responsibility that comes with sharing your story.

Matt opens up about the unimaginable tragedy that claimed the lives of his former wife and 16-year-old son, and how that experience reshaped his understanding of grief, purpose, and healing. Together, Matt and Monica discuss why authentic conversations matter, how vulnerability can become strength, and why some of life's...

Choosing the hard road doesn't end when military service does. In Part 2 of our conversation with Matthew Perry, Chuck and Clay continue exploring the mindset that has guided Matthew from the U.S. Army into leadership roles in fraud investigations, operations analysis, and the private sector.

The discussion moves beyond military experience to examine how discipline, accountability, and mission-focused leadership apply to everyday life. Together they explore why effective leaders seek diverse perspectives united by a common purpose, why trust is earned through preparation rather than titles, and why doing the difficult thing often produces the greatest long-term...

Every day, child predators exploit the anonymity of the internet. Every day, investigators work to stop them. In Episode 333 of The War Locker Show, Chuck sits down with Zach Neefe, a Department of Homeland Security Special Agent, Task Force Investigator, and instructor with the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC).

Zach shares what it's really like to investigate online child exploitation, from assuming undercover identities to communicate with predators to conducting peer-to-peer investigations involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). He explains the patience, technology, and investigative techniques required to identify offenders, build cases, and protect children in an...

What happens when the people closest to the fight are empowered to solve the problems themselves? In Episode 332, Tom, Chuck, and special guest host Lt. Col. Clay Novak sit down with retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Green Beret Rob Leach to explore how innovation is changing the battlefield from the ground up.

After 21 years with the legendary 5th Special Forces Group and multiple combat deployments throughout the Middle East, Rob now works with the Civil Military Innovation Institute (CMI²), helping connect soldiers, engineers, researchers, and industry to rapidly develop practical solutions for today's warfighters.

F...

What happens when the people closest to the fight are empowered to solve the problems themselves? In Episode 332, Tom, Chuck, and special guest host Lt. Col. Clay Novak sit down with retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Green Beret Rob Leach to explore how innovation is changing the battlefield from the ground up.

After 21 years with the legendary 5th Special Forces Group and multiple combat deployments throughout the Middle East, Rob now works with the Civil Military Innovation Institute (CMI²), helping connect soldiers, engineers, researchers, and industry to rapidly develop practical solutions for today's warfighters.

F...

Some conversations become more meaningful with time. Originally released in September 2021, this episode features Chuck's dad, a veteran law enforcement officer who spent more than three decades serving on the road, from the State Police to the Highway Patrol.

His stories aren't just about traffic stops, pursuits, and life behind the wheel. They're about duty, professionalism, humility, and what it means to dedicate a career to serving the public. Following his recent passing after a courageous battle with cancer, we've chosen to share this conversation again in his honor. At The War Locker Show, we believe that one...

****DISCLAIMER: Tom & Chuck Do Not Agree with or Endorse Anything This Guest Says.******* A former police officer and discredited law enforcement trainer surprises Tom and Chuck by making it through the screening process but Tom and Chuck hear him out until they can't help but push back. Join us for the only interview Tom said he almost walked out on. Remember to like, subscribe, and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Go to www.warstoriesofficial.com to listen to older episodes or to support us by buying our merch. You can also support us at https://patron...

Most people finish college looking for the easiest path. Matthew Perry chose the opposite. After earning his degree from the University of Cincinnati, he joined the U.S. Army because he wanted to serve. That decision would shape every chapter that followed, from combat deployments to investigations, leadership, fraud prevention, and senior operations management. In Episode 331 of The War Locker Show, Matthew talks about why service still matters, how military leadership translates to civilian success, and why integrity, accountability, and mentorship remain timeless values in an increasingly complicated world. If you've ever wondered whether choosing the harder road actually pays...

Former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins joins The War Locker Show for one of the most candid conversations we've ever had about justice, government power, prosecutorial discretion, and institutional trust. Bud discusses how information regarding Burisma first came to his attention, why he became involved in communicating information between foreign prosecutors and U.S. authorities, and the surprising events that followed.

The conversation explores the challenges of distinguishing politics from prosecution, the role of career government employees, and the dangers of allowing any institution to become more focused on protecting itself than pursuing the truth. The discussion then...

Tom and guest co-host, Ret. Lt. Col. and Author of the Terry Davis books, Clay Novak sit down with Army combat veteran Matthew Perry to discuss military service, leadership, decision-making under pressure, and the difficult transition from military life back into the civilian world.

Matthew shares his journey from the financial sector into the Army, his experience entering the Special Forces pipeline, his decision to step away from that path, and his deployment to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division during the drawdown of the war. The conversation quickly moves beyond military stories and into something deeper: why...

In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Chuck, Tom and author Clay Novak sit down with former Washington State police officer and current San Diego School District internal investigator Carlos Rodriguez for a difficult but important discussion about juvenile sex trafficking, exploitation, and the realities investigators face behind the scenes. 

We talk about Carlos' experiences as a street cop and some of the parrallels with Clay's experinces in the military.

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In Part I of this two-part conversation, Marco and Chuck sit down with former Washington State police officer and current San Diego School District internal investigator Carlos Rodriguez for a difficult but important discussion about juvenile sex trafficking, exploitation, and the realities investigators face behind the scenes. Drawing from years of investigative work, Carlos explains how predators identify vulnerable youth, how manipulation and grooming often happen in plain sight, and why many people misunderstand what these cases actually look like in the real world. The conversation explores the emotional weight carried by investigators, the warning signs families and schools miss...

Dont miss part one of Adam and Dan. Two hard-charging Gang Officers who found themselves in a bad spot... more than once.




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Join us for War Locker LIVE — formerly Locker Room Live! Stream (almost) every Thursday at 7:30 PM PST on YouTube, where we dive deep into current events, culture, and the real conversations shaping modern society. 

Remember: If we release a War Locker Interview, we will be LIVE the same day! Support War Locker and War Locker LIVE by...

Marco and Chuck sit down with former FBI bomb technician and author Barry Black for a conversation about operating in environments where there is no margin for error. Barry pulls back the curtain on what it’s like to approach explosive threats for a living, where every decision carries weight and hesitation can cost more than action. The discussion goes beyond the mechanics of bomb disposal and into the mindset required to stay calm, think clearly, and act decisively when everything is designed to go wrong. They also dive into Barry’s transition from bomb tech to author, how real-world expe...

In Episode 324, Tom is joined by guest co-host Clay Novak and Garrett, a deputy sheriff from Major County, for a conversation about what law enforcement looks like when distance is part of the threat matrix.With roughly 1,000 square miles to cover, a population density of just over eight people per square mile, and only an elected sheriff plus six deputies protecting the county around the clock, Garrett breaks down the realities of rural policing where backup may be far away, decisions get made alone, and self-reliance isn’t a slogan—it’s survival.The conversation covers the challenges, unexpected perks...