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Trent sits down at AFA with 2nd Air Force Command Chief CMSgt Colin Fleck to talk about what may be one of the biggest shifts in Air Force Basic Military Training in decades.
The conversation starts with legacy. Trent wears his father’s jacket and talks about how one generation of service can change the trajectory of an entire family. Chief Fleck shares his own family story — grandparents who served, a father in the Army, joining after September 11th, a son who became a Marine, another who just graduated Air Force BMT, and a daughter who married an Airman.
Then they get into why BMT is changing.
The goal is not to trash what came before. BMT built generations of successful Airmen. The question is whether the Air Force can do more to prepare the next generation for a fight that probably will not look like Iraq or Afghanistan.
That means putting the Air Force back into Air Force Basic Military Training.
Instead of learning discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, and military bearing without always seeing where those skills connect to the mission, trainees are now getting hands-on mission context. There is already an F-16 on the ground. C-130s are coming. Trainees are working simulated weapons loading, cargo movement, aircraft refueling, runway repair, casualty movement, planning, risk management, debriefs, and after-action reviews.
The point is not to make every trainee a maintainer, defender, or weapons troop. The point is to make them understand what it means to be an Airman first and how every career field contributes to generating airpower.
Chief Fleck also explains where the culminating exercise is headed: an austere airbase environment, ground and air threats, small UAS, CBRN, limited sleep, noise, pressure, aircraft generation, cargo, refueling, and a real test of whether trainees can operate as a team.
And for the NCOs waiting for these Airmen?
Do not squash them.
They may show up more mission-focused, more willing to plan, more curious about risk, and more proud of being Airmen than previous generations. Challenge them. Teach them. Ask them questions. And get back to the basics that can actually save lives: TCCC, small arms, CBRN, physical fitness, and preparing people to do hard things.
Because as Chief Fleck puts it: Airmen joined the military to do military shit.
Links:
- www.bmt.projects-af.com
- OnesReady.com
- OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Chapters:
00:07 - CMSgt Colin Fleck at AFA
01:08 - Why Trent Wore His Father’s Jacket
02:30 - Chief Fleck’s Family Legacy
04:45 - What the Name Tape Means
05:21 - Why People Really Join
07:01 - Building the Next Generation
07:44 - The Moral Imperative to Prepare Airmen
09:52 - Changing BMT Is Not an Indictment of the Past
11:44 - So What Is Actually Changing?
13:54 - Putting the Air Force Back Into BMT
15:54 - An F-16 on the Drill Pad
17:37 - C-130s Are Coming Too
18:37 - What Training Got Rebalanced
20:03 - Why MTIs Are Buying In
21:54 - From the Drill Pad to the Airfield
24:21 - Building a Culminating Event Airmen Earn
25:40 - What NCOs Need to Do Next
31:03 - What Comes Next for BMT
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Aaron sits down with Dr. Bill Steiger to talk about a problem most Americans assume belongs somewhere else: Malaria...Except it doesn’t.

Dr. Steiger explains why global health is directly connected to American national security, military readiness, economic stability, and early warning for infectious disease. Stopping an outbreak overseas is a whole lot easier than dealing with it after it reaches American shores.

And malaria is not some ancient problem we already defeated everywhere.

The parasite evolves.
Mosquitoes evolve.
Drugs lose effectiveness.
Insecticides lose effectiveness.
And even the diagnostic tools used to detect malaria are being challenged.

The good news? This is solvable.

Dr. Steiger walks Aaron through an explosion of private-sector innovation: new medications, improved mosquito-control tools, longer-lasting repellents, new diagnostic methods, vaccines, malaria-free mosquito technologies, and artificial intelligence that could connect disease, weather, supply-chain, and healthcare data in real time.

They also get into why private pharmacies overseas may detect outbreaks before governments do, why the U.S. military is paying attention to new mosquito-control technology, and how countries can move from American assistance toward genuine self-reliance.

The goal is not permanent dependency.

Build the capability.
Transfer responsibility.
Get to zero.

Malaria once existed inside the United States. It has been eliminated here before, and Dr. Steiger argues that the same thing can happen elsewhere.

What if this generation actually ends it?

Links:
OnesReady.com
OperatorTrainingSummit.com
MalariaNoMore.org

Chapters:
00:54 - Who Is Dr. Bill Steiger?
02:58 - Why Should Americans Care About Global Health?
05:27 - How Does Disease Become a National-Security Problem?
07:01 - Why Does the Private Sector Matter So Much?
10:50 - How Big Is the Malaria Problem?
12:49 - Could Malaria Come Back to America?
14:33 - Are We Creating “Super Malaria”?
16:31 - What Is Private Industry Doing About It?
18:53 - Mutant Mosquitoes?
19:48 - Can Malaria Actually Be Eradicated?
20:53 - When Should Countries Take Over Their Own Fight?
23:33 - What Innovation Matters Most Over the Next Five Years?
25:55 - Why Aaron Moved to the Desert
26:51 - What Do Americans Get Wrong About Malaria?
27:54 - How Can People Learn More?
Support the show
Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE

Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE
Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com

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18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete
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Apparently, there’s a pamphlet for that. Border problems? Public safety concerns? Hand out some reading material. That should handle it.
Peaches and Trent head Outside the Wire to break down “Understanding Behaviors and Expectations in the United Kingdom,” a guide for asylum seekers covering gender equality, domestic abuse, consent, and public conduct. Their biggest question: what do written expectations accomplish if the government won’t enforce them?
The guys discuss Channel crossings, taxpayer-funded support, and the pressure migrant accommodation can put on small communities. They debate assimilation, national identity, and whether fear of political backlash stops governments from addressing difficult problems.
If you’ve ever sat through military training because somebody, somewhere couldn’t act right, this conversation will sound familiar. Except Peaches and Trent argue that the stakes here go well beyond another mandatory briefing.
Expect British-government roasting, blunt opinions, and a recurring question: where does public information end and government responsibility begin? This episode reflects the hosts’ commentary on the pamphlet and the events they discuss.
Subscribe to Ones Ready, drop your take in the comments, and tell us what you want covered next on Outside the Wire.
Chapters:
00:00 - Outside the Wire With Peaches and Trent
00:27 - Britain Has a Pamphlet for That
02:18 - Channel Crossings and Border Questions
04:46 - The Rules Britain Is Spelling Out
06:38 - Can a Pamphlet Change Behavior?
07:45 - Consent, Enforcement, and Accountability
10:10 - A Small Village, a Big Accommodation Question
11:00 - Political Fear and Government Control
12:51 - Public Conduct and the Dundee Case
15:05 - Assimilation and National Identity
16:36 - Why Americans Should Pay Attention
Support the show
Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE

Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE
Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com

Collabs:
Ones Ready - OnesReady.com
18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete
Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
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Aaron, Trent, and Peaches get into the Ground Truth documentary controversy and the growing fight over what happened at Takur Ghar.

The crew’s position in this episode is pretty simple: the documentary is not out yet, so the evidence still has to speak for itself.

Aaron explains why he is refusing to get dragged into character attacks, anonymous DMs, off-the-record conversations, or internet games designed to turn disagreement into personal warfare. If the documentary team believes it has evidence that changes the long-standing account of John Chapman’s actions, then release it. Put the timestamps up. Put the ISR up. Put the claims next to the supporting evidence and let people examine it.

Truth should not need a hype campaign.

That leads into Aaron’s exchange with the Ground Truth account after he posted a reel about Jason Cunningham. Aaron says his reel was based directly on Cunningham’s Air Force Cross citation, which describes repeated exposure to enemy fire, moving casualty collection points, continuing treatment after being mortally wounded, and helping get ten gravely wounded Americans to lifesaving care.

Peaches reads the citation on the episode.

The crew also digs into what they see as a recurring problem in the way Air Force operators are discussed: reducing a combat controller to “the JTAC,” questioning why a medic was not treating casualties during an active firefight, or judging a career field you have never actually done.

Then they turn the lens the other direction and make the same point about SEALs. Service rivalry is one thing. Mocking operators who died during a dangerous maritime boarding is something else entirely.

The larger message is consistency:
Critique claims.
Critique evidence.
Critique framing.
But stop pretending you understand every other career field from the outside looking in.

And if you say you have the full video?

Release the documentary.

Links:
OnesReady.com
OperatorTrainingSummit.com

Chapters:
01:05 - Welcome Back to the Team Room
01:33 - Operator Training Summit Updates
04:58 - The Comment Sections Are a Dumpster Fire
05:25 - Why Ones Ready Is Getting Dragged Into This
07:42 - Truth Should Not Need a Defense
09:32 - Why Aaron Won’t Engage Off the Record
13:21 - Not Everyone Wants to Relive the Event
16:07 - Jason Cunningham’s Air Force Cross Citation
19:18 - Does the Problem Run Deeper Than One Claim?
20:21 - JTAC Is Not the Entire CCT Job
23:08 - Stop Pretending You Know Everyone Else’s Job
24:09 - The SEAL Maritime Boarding Example
26:14 - SEALs Became Victims of Their Own Marketing
27:43 - Critique the Claims, Not the People
30:35 - What Video Does the Documentary Actually Have?
32:25 - If You Edit the Video, Expect the Same Questions
33:24 - Social Media Is Still a Dumpster Fire
35:23 - Wrap-Up and New Merch
Support the show
Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE

Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE
Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com

Collabs:
Ones Ready - OnesReady.com
18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete
Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
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Aaron, Trent, and Peaches are back, and Trent just returned from AFA with a firsthand look at where the Air Force is trying to take Basic Military Training.
Apparently some people at AFA thought BMT was a company selling rockets, so we are off to an excellent start.
Underneath the jokes, though, there is a serious shift happening. Trent talks about seeing senior Air Force leaders getting behind a renewed investment in the enlisted force and asking a question that probably should have been asked more often:
How do we prepare Airmen from day one for the missions they may actually have to perform?
That means connecting BMT to the Air Force mission earlier. Not just marching, folding clothes, saluting, and surviving basic training — but understanding how every Airman contributes to generating combat airpower.
Aaron gets into why that matters strategically. America’s enlisted force is one of its biggest advantages, and developing Airmen earlier means introducing mission context before they are an E-7 sitting through their first serious brief on the threat.
Then Trent casually reveals he has been teaching MTIs palm strikes and muzzle strikes because apparently BMT needed more violence.
Naturally, that turns into drill-sergeant tough-guy fantasies, Ohio, night jumps, Air Advisor tabs, retired PJ reunions, and Vegas weather.
The crew also checks back in on the Chapman documentary discussion, JTAC qualifications, the difference between being JTAC-qualified and doing air-to-ground integration professionally, and why CCTs exist on other SOF teams in the first place.
That leads into a bigger issue: why are Special Warfare communities still fighting each other like staff sergeants in the team room?
Competition is built into these communities. People compete for schools, deployments, opportunities, reputation, and resources. But eventually somebody has to stop fighting over beret colors and start solving the actual problems.
Especially when the latest SWAS numbers still are not producing enough people to sustainably feed PJ, CCT, SR, TACP, officers, and the rest of the enterprise.
Also: old Ones Ready episodes recorded from Africa, Chief Bass, internet mistakes, and the disturbing realization that Aaron may actually own an Air Advisor tab.
Links:
OnesReady.com
OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Chapters:
01:05 - Modern Athlete and OTS Updates
04:54 - Trent Comes Back From AFA
05:50 - People Thought BMT Was a Rocket Company
07:40 - Why the Air Force Is Rebuilding BMT
08:32 - Start Preparing Airmen Earlier
10:15 - Connecting Every Job to the Mission
11:07 - Aaron’s Prestigious Air Advisor Career
13:37 - PJ Reunions and Getting Old
17:02 - Why “Airman First” Matters
19:53 - Trent Teaches MTIs Palm Strikes
21:42 - “I’d Punch the Drill Sergeant” Guys
22:54 - Chapman Documentary Check-In
24:17 - JTAC Qualified vs. CCT
25:57 - Why Special Warfare Keeps Fighting Itself
29:10 - Beret Colors Need to Stop Running the Conversation
30:18 - SWAS Still Isn’t Producing Enough People
31:58 - Recording Ones Ready From Africa
32:37 - Chief Bass and Taking Social Media Risks
33:41 - OTS and Wrap-Up
Support the show
Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE

Buzzsprout Subscription page:  HERE
Register for our Operator Training Summit:  OperatorTrainingSummit.com
Find an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.com

Collabs:
Ones Ready - OnesReady.com
18A Fitness - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code):  ATACLete
Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code:  ONESREADY
DFND Apparel...