Kitbag Conversations - Proto Kitbag 14: Warren Stoddard

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

This week I am joined with Warren Stoddard, a Syria and Ukrainian veteran and published author. Following his time in college, Warren volunteered to fight with the YPG in Kurdistan after Turkey launched their invasion. While with the YPG he was wounded, returned to the states and recently volunteered to train the Ukrainian military. Additionally, Warren has published two books, A Good Place on the Banks of the Euphrates (a collection of short stories from his time in Syria), and No Birds in Yesterday (a western). We talk about: - Fighting in Syria and interaction with the US military after being wounded - Work in Ukraine  - Time as a writer  - Our current cultural shift - And living life as an RPG

Hello everyone. Welcome back to the ProAtoam Report podcast. This week we are joined by Warren Stoddard, a Syria vet, a Ukraine vet, and all around really good guys. What's going on man? How you doing? I'm doing pretty good today. Just hanging out, beautiful weather outside. Nice to be talking to you inside though in the AST. All right. So, yeah, we were just talking before,

but you said you're a writer. You went to Syria, you've lived around the country. You went to Ukraine, been wounded twice now, you said. So. Wounded once in Syria Syria and then injured running down the street in Ukraine you know like this hand band of brothers injured when he fall out of a tree or something no I was just running and stepped in a little crater that was it that's a complete accident yeah that's that's that's funny. So I guess the start from the beginning,

man. You said you went to Syria. When was that? What'd you do there? When Syria in 2018. First time I heard about it was like 2016, right after Levi Shirley was killed, this guy from Colorado. Then I was reading his story in the Los Angeles Times, I think, and he kind of had the same sort of deal whenever he was growing up. He grew up, always wanted to be a Marine, try to get into the Marines over and over again. They kept turning him down. For him, it was for eyesight. For me, it was a knee injury I had in high school. So, I might have gotten that one. But he went to Rojava. I think he was there for 18 months, something like that, maybe

less. Then he was killed in Manbij. And whenever I read about that, I was like, oh, holy shit, people are just going to Syria and joining this group called the YPG. And I was in college at the time, I was like, I've already dropped out once, probably best to not do it again. That graduated two years later. And right before I graduated Turkey, I made it happen. And that was kind of the straw the book came back, so to speak.

Like after that, I was just pissed off and angry. And then there's also the ISIS front of the war. And we did a whole joining process. We were over there in 2018 in June. And it's been a lot of time sitting around smoking cigarettes, drinking chai. The Ojaba boys will know what I'm talking about. Not doing a whole lot. And then we wound up finally going to the front in the Dairy Zord campaign.

And I was on the front line whenever we pushed from the last of the outskirts of Hajin down in a city called Asafah, which is about less than 20 kilometers north of Abu'uz. We had a firefight there. Anybody got shot by a diska that came through the wall. And Hajin walked out one of them. A diska, man. I got shot by a discus came through the wall and uh, how'd you walk out one of the discus man? Well, I didn't even know like we were in the middle of this firefight and I was

kind of acting as a marksman at the time. And, uh, having a little post set up and, uh, fire two shots and then douchebag guy, I'm assuming definitely saw muzzle flash or dust kicked up or whatever, and just popped me straight through the wall. Then I turned around and I was on the roof with these two Arabs, and they had just fucking left. Like, they had just gotten up in the middle of this firefight and got not familiar enough today, and just ran off the roof. So whenever I got hit, I just... Sounds about right, yeah. Yeah. They're

something else. But I thought a fucking rocket hit me or something or I think we were getting shit hammered out of us with mortars. The Marine Mortar crews in Hajin were firing on the front line and ISIS was firing their mortars. And we were on the very front house. So we were taking all the Marine mortars that were landing short and then all the ISIS mortars. There was just a lot of shit blown up. And I thought I got hit with a mortar or rock

or something that got up in the stairwell. And I was like, the one guy who spoke, Curtis, was like, are you okay, are you okay? And I was like, oh yeah, I'm fine. Then I walked a littlewell and I was like, the one guy who spoke, Curtis, was like, are you okay, are you okay? And I was like, oh yeah, I'm fine. Then I walked a little further and I was like, man, this is like, kind of felt like getting dead late. And I kept patting myself down, I pat myself down. Like third time I checked,

finally like pulled my hand off of basically my ass leg area and it's covered in blood. And then I had another hole in my shoe and my boot was pooling with blood another hole in my uniform where another piece of the fish got hit me in the armpit and then I had like two scratches on my face. I threw the tanket on and this one of the Arab guys who had left me on the roof the machine gunner like ripped his white t-shirt sleeve off And it was like this dirty grimy crusty little piece of fabric and he you know puts it on the word and

like tries to bandage it and I'm looking at him the whole time like you know, my heart's going out to him because he's trying real hard to help me feel better and this thing just like is dirty as shit and just like falls off the moment he thinks it's done and I was like just grab my war belt with my I-Fact. But turn it on banish myself up and then they that same guy actually whenever the Humvee got there carried me through like a hundred and 150 meters of just like heavy mortar fire with all the shrapnel and shit whisting around us. I don't know what his name was, but you know, if he's listening, call me. I'd love to catch up. Do you have a like, right after you're like, wow,

you know, it felt like I got hit by a rock or something. Did you do that full? Um, for a skunk, like, felt like something bit me. Yeah, more or less. I got, I didn't think I got shot. I was figured getting shot was like painful, you know? And, uh, it was just kind of like, it just felt like a dead life is the closest thing I can approximate it to like a three hours later. After I was in the U S hospital, that was never, it started to feel like I got shot. So how did it work? Did you just get up and say like,

hey, I gotta go home and then just went right back to the US or did you hang out and write for a little bit? Yeah, it was actually kind of a weird situation. So like I get to the hospital and I'm walking up and like I'm limping, but I'm like, I'm not having them carry me in this room. And this guy goes, Whoa, we got to walk in. And I was like, Yeah, man, yes. And that's kind of the baseline from which I interacted with all of the Americans after that, because I was in there and then they hit me with ketamine, which I'd never done ketamine before.

So medical was the only time I'd ever experienced it. And I was like on a whole other level of high. And they're just like turning me around. And it's like my brain is on the stretcher next to me while they're turning me around. Like I can faintly hear this dude screaming in the other corner who's missing a leg and like I'm hearing him scream but it's like I don't know it was an out of body experience and in the middle of me being just ripping on this ketamine high that same medic is like looks over the top of me and he waves at me and he's

like, hi, and, uh, he says my Kurdish name and he's like, now you got two options either you can decide to go back with the SDF and do whatever their medical process entails or because you're an American citizen, uh, you can come back through or because you're an American citizen, you can come back through U.S. Main St. I'm just looking at it with huge bug eyes. He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, I'm fucking stoned. And I'm like, man, you picked a bad fucking time to ask that. And he's like, he's like, yeah, yeah, you're probably right.

I'm sorry about that. But we kind of got to know. Hey, I know you might, you know, you got like this life threatening injury, but I know you're absolutely blitz, but gotta ask you this really critical question. Yeah, I was like, holy fucking shit. And these guys are speaking English. And the other internationals that I've been with weren't there that day. They had to go back and get water from their ear. So I had like been able to talk to this one dude who sort of spoke Kermanji. And then me who sort of spoke Kermanji. And so it was just so rad to be able to finally hear English being spoken. And I was like, you know, I talked to this one kid. And he was like, you know, I talked to this one kid and He was like, you know, because this is after Erdogan

Turkey was spent into a bait again And it was like, you know, you might not be able to make it back Fuck and I'm still high on heavy and I was like, you know what probably best I go back to the US and you know the the frontline general the YPG came down, you know, Chia and like was like real concerned it was like they like oppressing you or they they trying to force you into anything and I was like And they have these Americans standing next to me who like trying to translate for me I was like, I don't need you can go away. Just please leave me alone

Mm-hmm, and I was like no no, but then like I And I was like, no, no, no. But then I spent, I think, five days on the American side of the hospital and they kept saying, oh, you're going to be on a helicopter to Baghdad tonight. Oh, you can be a helicopter to build a night. And the story just kept shifting and shifting from what it was going to be. Like they said, they give me a free flight back and then I talked with the consulate in our bill. And I was basically asking her how the process would go down. And uh, I had been told I was gonna be on a free flight back. I was gonna basically just get

taken home and- Oh, I said I wouldn't charge you, you know, make you pay out of pocket to go right back. Well, that's what you think, you know, I was like, they offered me this as a quote unquote American citizen. And I was talking to her and she was like, okay, so now what we're going to do is you're going to find a bill and we're going to give you some medical care. And from there, once we realize that you're doing good, then we're going to take you to the Iraqi authorities. Then you're probably going to then we're going to take you to the Iraqi authorities. Then you're probably going to have to spend some time in prison. And I was like, hold the fucking phone. What are you talking about lady? And she's like, well, you know, you've

overstayed your visa by like, post eight months now. I was like, I mean, yeah, but you're the American, like, can you not do anything? And she's like, well, no, you'd have to spend some time in that jail. And I was like, like with all the ISIS dudes anything and she's like well, no you have to spend some time in that jail and I was like like with all the Isis dudes and she goes Oh, no, this is just like a low-level criminal jail and I was like, you know, it's not like there's no fucking low-level Criminal jail in her bill where they put all the terrorists You know, like I had friends get arrested on the way back to Iraq. I knew what I was going into and

Then she started telling me I was gonna have to pay my fine to Iraq. I knew what I was going into. And then she started telling me I was gonna have to pay my fine to Iraq. And if you ever say your visa and Iraq, I think it's $19 a day. And so added all that up real quick in my head. And it came out to like $5,000 or something ridiculous. On top of then after I got out of prison, they, I would have to pay for my own hotel. I was gonna have to pay for my own plane flight home. And I was like, none of this is what you guys are talking to me. I was like, what happened to all this free stuff? And she's like, Oh, the US government doesn't do that, sir. And I

went, I, yeah, I'm gonna take my chances with SDF later. And then like, the Americans who like the whole time, I just been super standoffish. Like that was the time where they clicked and turned into assholes. And they were like, we got to see if you're allowed to leave, we got to talk to Jag. And then they were like, Oh, you got to, I don't even know if the FCS gonna take you back. And I was like, dude, I literally just like came here and joined for free. I'm pretty sure they owe me one. And he's like, dude, I literally just like came here and joined for free. I'm pretty sure they owe me one. And he's like, Oh, I don't know about that. And they like cordoned me off in this room. And he's like, are you on the base Wi Fi? And I was like, of course not, man. I'm just on my phone playing Pokemon. Man, I was on that Wi Fi.

So I was fucking downloading movies. I was running a Wi-Fi bill up. And then he like comes back into my room all somber. He's like, you know, if it was up to me, I just put you at the front gate and give you some food and send you on your way. And I was like, well, fuck you too. And so it was just like just soldiers, from Marines or-

This was like a- Coalition of the Willing. This is an army captain. Like there was another time on that army side of the base where like this sergeant with this like crazy beard was like yelling at me for being out of the hospital room after the doctors told me to walk around and he's like, you can't be here. And I was like, why? And like, as soon as I asked, you know, I've been in the YPG. So like, our rank structure was so different. Like everybody's the same rank

on an even level. People, as soon as I asked him why, like he lost his shit. It was like, this is my fucking talk. And I was like, calm down, fucking Bobbit. And it was like, finally thought of the perfect thing to say at the right time. And, uh, like the Americans would like that. And then I went back over, like they were paying for their own food. And like the nice doctors would buy me pop parts in the morning to eat lunch and dinner, like they're paying for me to eat out of pocket. And I was like, this is insane. Then I go over to the YPG side of Green Village and they're bringing like fresh fruit, fucking

homemade, like good Curtis food, not the American shitty pasta that they're eating on base. Like, and of course all of it's free and they're just like handing me cigarettes and chai. Like, you know, we're one and that was the first time I was like, Oh, holy shit. Like I'm not an American. So there's Americans. Yeah. Yeah. like, Oh, holy shit. Like I'm not an American. So there's American. So yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much the experience I've gotten from everyone who I talked to who went to Syria or Iraq. They go, yes, as soon as you go or you're immediately ostracized and you're

put on a list and the Americans are still be a piece of shit to you. Because like, hey, one team one fight, but honestly, you're not wearing the same uniform. So yeah, right. I mean, like one dude came in and he asked me my name and I told him my Curtis Nanda gear. And he was like, no, no, no. Like what's your real name? I don't, I don't want to know your terrorist name.

And I was like, what the fuck? No, like you guys are sitting here in your AC all the fucking time. I just got shot on this front line that you apparently think you're at. And there's fucking insane attitude with not all the Americans are into there but with like the macho, who are army soldiers that were on that top.

So what did you do from there? How did you get back to the States? Oh well that head general guy of the SDF, like lived in that same apartment complex. And, you know, he kept saying tomorrow, like in Kurdish, tomorrow is Sibay. And so the whole time we were there, like we would always get told like,

Sibay, Sibay, like tomorrow, tomorrow, for anything that we were ever asking about. And kept saying tomorrow, tomorrow, and the guys that were saying it were like tomorrow, tomorrow. And then I didn't see him for a few days. One afternoon I just, I was like, fuck this. And got on my crutches and like wandered around Green Village until I found it.

And he was having like a barbecue. And he was like, whoa, what are you still doing here? And I was like, I don't know, man. And he was like, all right, you for sure leave tomorrow. And then he turns and he's talking to somebody. He like stops that conversation mid sentence and turns back and he's like, no, you leave in five minutes. Go get your things.

And then he like had his aid, hop in his Hilux and fucking drive me at like 160 mile an hour on dirt roads, not 160 mile an hour, 106 kilometers an hour on like dirt roads, just bouncing around in the back of this pickup truck and smoking cigarettes and got me back to the north end of the country in record time. Basically you go out the same way you came in after that,

which was like two or three weeks later, I went back across the border in Iraq and then flew home for free. Yeah. SDF paid for that one. Oh, very nice. They're like, yeah, we Yeah. SDF takes that one. Oh, very nice. They're like, yeah, we got you. Thanks for taking one.

Yeah, one last. Yeah, so what's the process like when you got back to the US, what you like, you just land at the airport and they're like, where were you? Come here. Yeah, more or less. I mean, they, fucking, there's another good story. So I was on the plane, right?

And I'm sitting next to this dude who's in his 40s I was on the plane, right? And I'm sitting next to this dude who's in his 40s or whatever, and he's wearing like a full-up Mai Tai fighter's uniform that you would see in like, you know, an MMA tournament. And he's drinking and I'm drinking and the drinks are free and my fucking leg hurts. And I'm just like in awe of all like, you know the women there's women with like makeup on and like I'm just sitting there having a good time and we start talking and He like gets into talking about how he was in Somalia. He was a doggone in record or Somalia Whatever it was and he was telling me stories and Mike

He's getting drink after drink and he's still talking and he was telling me stories and like, he's getting drink after drink, and he's still talking, and he's like talking about how, like they had to shoot at kids who were hiding in the corners, and he's like crying. And I'm like, and I'm not telling him really what I did, but like, in the course of him talking, and then all of my non answers, he kind of starts to get a good idea. He's like, you know, talking about all these metals and things that he threw away and he got addicted to dope and he's like going home with way harder than everything else. Sitting there and he's like, now he's trying to

figure out what I'm doing after he's spent like two hours talking and like, yeah. And he's like, Oh, by the way, what did you do? Yeah. And he like, so I have this like Vietnam era coat on and like, yeah, I looked like, yeah, I looked like I just came back from the front. Like I looked like Lieutenant Dan. And he's like, what are you doing? And I'm like telling him and like, as I'm trying to not tell him, like, I can see him with, oh, this one, I know exactly what his mother fucker's doing. He's just not going to tell me. And then he falls asleep. And I then take it, like, you take a nap and then I wake up and see America.

I mean, land, everybody's getting up off the planes and like it was like, there's some Doha to Dallas. I think it was close to 69 plus. Yeah. So everybody is just like dying on this plane. They're all getting up and getting their bags out and then over the intercom, the flight attendant comes on and it's like, can I have your attention passengers? Sorry for the inconvenience, but there's somebody we need to remove from the plane. And that dude, here's that. You stand up and bow. Oh, he, he reaches across the seat in between us

and slaps me in the chest. And he's like, they're coming to get your ass. And they did. And yeah, so then I spent like three hours getting questioned. They actually I missed my connecting flight and they paid for a new flight out of their own pockets. They were real apologetic about it. They spent more than $10,000 on you. They're like, what do you have? I think I had like 30 bucks. I went direct with, I left Iraq and went into Syria with

$17 and they went out of money until like four months in and then I left Syria with like 100. So net positive. Yeah. So you get back right to the U S do rehab or anything or when you start getting interested in going to Ukraine? I mean, I didn't really get interested in Ukraine until... February 2012? Yeah, basically. I mean, like Aidan Aslan, like me and him would talk on the internet or whatever. It's like I knew a little bit of what was going on, but I didn't really have much of an interest. You know, you hear all the stories about Aslan, and then like my wife, the cheap background, like I'm pretty actual left and not private left. So I don't like to talk with Nazis. Yeah, more or less.

But whenever the invasion happened, I mean, it was like, it was basically like, what happened that happened to me watching it from the US, where it's like, holy shit, this is happening in the 21st century, whatever it's supposed to be peaceful. Like we're just letting this shit happen. And just broke everyone's brain that went, Oh yeah, we can do this that that's not supposed to happen. Yeah. I mean, I'm obviously kind of experienced in just going to countries and finding out

if they haven't been to Syria, getting to Ukraine seemed like it was going to be harder but then actually it was so simple. Mm hmm. I think the hardest part I've seen from a lot of guys have gone over is having like a COVID vaccine because you can't go to some airports. They're like, that's the biggest hurdle. I've left at the very beginning of April. At the end of March. They ended all that. So it was like, Oh really? Nice. Yeah. I just walked on the plane. So how long were you

there? I was in pain for two months. I mean, obviously wanted to stay a lot longer and probably will go back. But yeah, I mean, like I was with this unit at the beginning, which is just a fucking clown show. And I didn't want to sign a contract with the Legion or anything like that. Yeah, they floated the, oh, yeah, we could have the international volunteers that can come in and didn't say that it's a three year commitment. Yeah, I mean, like, you just can't like you hear all these fucking stories about oh you can leave whenever you want, oh you can break the contract and like

I just didn't want to do it. And so we were doing training with this group and like I'm not gonna name them but like on Instagram and they like portray themselves as super fucking badass. They take their name from the 80s movie and they like on the internet exactly what you're talking about yeah yeah of course but uh yeah i mean like on the internet whenever i was going through the process they portrayed it as like this badass shit and then had me there teaching like territorial defense guys and we were doing fucking nothing we were sitting in a refugee center and it was me and then uh fucking nothing. We were sitting in a refugee center and it was me and then two other YPG vets, one of which I was in Syria with and we're sitting there like, man, this is bullshit, you know, because we kept getting told, oh yeah, you're going to do this. And then,

you know, like I've spent enough time in my life and like thought about things enough to where, you know, you kind of realize that everything is just fucking made up. And it was like, why don't we just start our own thing? We basically just split from that group so that we could actually start doing stuff. And then my buddy got on a dating app, Bad Dude, and then was like, dude, Ukrainian girls are so hot. Hell yeah. And like, he's swiping away and matches with this girl on bad dude and then goes

to have coffee with it. Long story short, she figures out that he's a, you know, military instructor. And then we fucking wind up meeting with like the commandant of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, like this bad dude match who we thought was honeypotting us and was going to like kill us all. Like we drove in her car and like we thought we were gonna get assassinated but at that point it was worth it. Yeah you just had to laugh along because that's just the most ridiculous way you could die ever but then like she set us up with all this high level you know meetings and everything it's like, fuck man, motherfucking bad talking bad, dude. And yeah, we took it from there and kept training Marines, creating an army, special forces police, worked on a front line for a little bit, but we were

not anywhere near like Gombas. So it was mostly just getting shelled really hard and then watching our shells go out, getting chilled really hard. Do you have an assuming region? We were going to make a live. So like a Karsan front. Yeah, we, like it was just a different kind of war from what I've experienced with, like being a light infantry guy in Syria. And that's what I'm teaching all these Ukrainians, but the front lines are 20 kilometers apart unless you're in the city. So it's like, what do you do?

You just sit there and either you're going to get lucky or not. You know, I mean, that's how you eventually just have to start looking at it. So we're pretty much just like a freelance instructor. Would you create something? Yeah, basically. I mean, we created this group called the Dark Angels. And we used our instructor, like, as we all go to what we do. And we used like that as a launch pad to then be able to work, like on the actual front, instead of just teaching these guys, like, because instructing is important and it's in some cases are even more important than actual fighting, but you know, we kind of like the adrenaline.

Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. That's one thing I've noticed. The biggest issue with the Ukrainian military is the lack of training across the board. Yeah, it's a lot of from what I've seen, like the task force 31 guys or whatever, it's a lot of like GWAT bets from the British, the Americans or Canadians. We know what we're doing. We know what they need to do. So they go over and they set up a little camp. I mean, we would make this joke like, because we were training these guys and like, we're like, after every unit that we train, they're the only one in this entire area of operation with zero rifles.

So like we would have to argue with Ukrainian command like, no, you need to zero your rifle. That's a very, very important part of owning a firearm. What? Yeah. Like, fucking, like these guys are the worst shots. And it's just like, I love Ukrainian military guys. They're so much fun. They're just stoked on everything because they've got that high of I'm fighting to defend my country. But they're fucking just like a pack of joker.

Just whipping around. Yeah. I mean, the fact that they're winning is just mind blowing. I mean, one time we're training this 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade and we were doing a defensive, like teaching them defensive trench tactics, like what they should do when people are bounding toward them. And in the middle of fucking training, this guy has a hot mag on him, decides he's going to switch from his empty magazine, it was RPK, puts a hot mag in, chambers around and then shoots five rounds fully automatic straight at me from 15 meters. And then he missed. And like, I thought it was firecrackers or

something. Yeah, he fucking missed. And you know, I'm honestly less angry that he shot at me than he missed. Like we went over breathing fundamentals the day before, you know, I'm honestly less angry that he shot at me that he missed. Like we went over breathing fundamentals a day before, you know, like what, was your breathing off? Was it your trigger control? Was your site picture out of alignment? Like what was it? You got to teach them to stare at, you know, the radical and not the target.

And you're like, it's just, yeah. All right. Yeah. Crazy things. I was talking to, uh, one of the task force 31 trainers and he was telling me that across the board and no bullshit that every time they did an exercise four or five times, they were going to accidentally like blue on blue. It was just more Ukrainians are glassing each other than the Russians are. Yeah. I mean, I've heard a lot of stories from guys

who were in Dombass, like blue on blue casualties are astronomical like Ukrainians are just popping each other in the back because they're just so trigger happy they don't like have the mind control to go okay like know what my target is. Yeah we're wearing the same uniform. Yeah I mean it's. That's insane. I mean, it's, I don't know if it speaks to the will of Ukrainians or just how trashed the Russian infantry is. Probably both.

You're like, you probably want to, like, I've seen a few guys joke that the Zelensky said that there was two, they're losing 200 guys a day and they're like, just 200 of that is the blue on blue. They're like, what's the real numbers, man? It's got to be something more like 500. Yeah. I mean, like being there, I know that like Ukrainian, your budget statistics, your budget statistics and everything's not up. But I mean, it's like Ukraine had a few corruption problems before the war. I feel like you have to accept what you're fighting for

when you go fight for a place like that. Yeah. And obviously, like in Syria, I had the ideological background that I was super behind, you know, we were fighting a revolution and now it's in Ukraine with this democracy, state government that is full of flaws, but you just kind of have to accept it. But then you start peeling the layers back and you're like, you start peeling the layers back and just go, oh yeah, it's a former Soviet mafia state. It's so it's just everyone's like, yeah, Russians are corrupt. And you can go, all right. So if everyone, Ukrainians corrupt, there's five Russians who are worse.

So it's just you just got to accept the fact. Yeah. Yeah. Like you want to be on the Ukraine side. You want to be on the Ukraine side in every argument, but like sometimes like, ah, I mean, something's not adding up here and I don't want to be the guy to say it, but yeah. And then, you know, two months time that you get vindicated, you're like, no, I was, I was saying this and yeah, yeah, it's, it's insane. It's pretty funny. It's remarkable that they're doing as well as they did because you know, US top brass said it was going to take three days for the country to get steamrolled and you know, say what you will about the American military. I don't

have much faith in their like intelligence foresight, but just the whole world went, oh shit, Ukraine's still going. Yeah, I think that everybody just kind of overestimated the Russians. It's like you grow up hearing about the Spetsnaz boogie man and, you know, big bad Russia and like, these guys are terrible. Like the 28th mechanized inventory was in Alexander and the eighth company got stormed by two platoons of Spetsnaz on their 23rd day of being surrounded, killed half the spetsnaz and then to get out of being surrounded called it an artillery strike from Ukrainians on their own position and then ran in a single file line at the Russians to break through and 60% of them died but they fucking made it out. She's like, how do you, how do you see a single file line?

When it actually had only killed 60% of them. That's, that's insane. Yeah. That's always a mind breaking. Yeah. Like that's a scene out of a, it's a full band of brothers moment. Yeah. That's the level of Russian competency.

I mean, they're like, it can not be that hard. Like they would be shelling us and then the commanders go, oh, they use drones to, you know, zero in on the targets. And like, they would hit us with grads and artillery and whatever, and they'd be off by like 300 meters, like they're right there. And then they would never walk their fire and they would just hit the same spot. Again. It's like, I'm not, they're trying to meet a quota or if like those guys are protesting by

missing targets. Cause like they would hit the city of Mikhailov all the time. And like they've got to know where these targets are and that they continually will miss them. But then they hit all these civilian infrastructure all the time. So it's like, are they actually even trying to find big into crazy military or just terrorizing population? I think the answer is just yes for both of those. Just it's looking at the when they went to Kiev and they stormed the airport and everyone talked about like all the Russians,

they were super incompetent. They absolutely got slaughtered. And I just thought these guys rolled in with six mags plus or minus and imagine taking Atlanta airport. It's, yeah, that's a, that's a bitch and a half just to think about. And you're only dropping like what 500 guys like, Hey, that's cool. But there's thousands of Ukrainians around just say you got to take a tram. Yeah, or like something like Dallas for Denver. It's just just looking at airports in the US and going Honestly, that was a pretty big gamble for the Russians and I'm surprised they did as well as they did and then they just ran

Out of ammo and they're like well fuck it. We got to turn around I guess we're leaving and so yeah, that's one of those where You know you want to root for the Ukrainians, but you go like well I mean you got to see where the Russians are coming from and it's just Like in a situation like that where you drop in your, but you go like, well, I mean, you got to see where the Russians are coming from. And it's just like in a situation like that, where you drop in your pairs and you're like, all right, we'll be there when we get there. Yeah. I mean, I think it probably goes up to it. It's like we were kind of battling against the old Soviet doctrine, you know, where it's just

one guy being a puppet master for just way too many dudes. And I can only imagine that's way worse in the Russian military where they don't have people who are like small unit leadership instructing their new soldiers. And like that's, I think probably gotta be the biggest problem for Russia. We need to have the top-down approach.

And then, you know, it's just corrupt from the lowest, you know, PFC or Lance Corp all the way up to you know the military district general. Yeah like there were always fucking stories about them selling fuel on the black market and like getting rid of it like has got to me that just sounds like it's got to be true. It's got to be. I mean they're just they got to be shooting themselves in the foot so bad and just see them not know and not care. Which is like, it's like, what do you do?

Say no. The intelligence chief of the Russians got absolutely dunked on by Putin. He was like, no, you're wrong. You don't know what you're talking about. It's like after that, no one saw that guy for a little bit. It's like, man, honestly, the funniest thing is there's like the the doll flung idea of this is a Russian and then there's also the Instagram page, we'll get this Russian and you're like, they're walking a fine line between these two.

I'm just just cartoon characters. Yeah, I mean, they're all imitations like, 100% it's it's it's simple. But so what's the what's the future looking like? What you got going on? I'm sitting here waiting for my knee to get better toward my MCL. So it's like no surgery, but I got to wait for it to heal no insurance. So I can't really tell how well it's going.

Can't get an MRI because I got all that disc around in my foot. And it's kind of just playing a waiting game, sitting here, writing, uh, we're going to book, we're going to a few short stories. Uh, probably we want to, yeah. Yeah, go ahead. I'm probably going to wind up going back to Ukraine, but, uh, don't know how it's the situation is going to be. Whenever I finally can get back there. You said before that you wrote two books.

What's the Western and the collection of short stories? Yeah, I wrote a Western, which was originally my thesis, the honors college and undergrad. It's called No Virgin Yesterday. I've been out for a little over a year now. It's western, it's kind of psychological, contemporary motorcycles, choppers, more or less like a modern retailing of Don Quijote, which is obviously just about this guy who loses his mind and thinks that he's an old knight, but this is kind of reimagined guy, lost his mind and considers

himself like the next iteration of Billy the Kid and Jesse James. So you made his premise for a book man. Well you know. Just channeled full Carmich McCarthy in your life. I'm just gonna read, I'm gonna write. I mean yeah that's kind of like I worked on that whenever I was in college. And then, uh, as it came out, it sold well enough in the motorcycle scene to where I was able to quit my job and write full time. And then, uh, finished another book, uh, called a good place on the bank. Steve Brady's it's a collection of short stories about my time in Rojava, as well as like some journal entries that a couple of their stories won awards.

When this plane lands was listed in best American essays. So I love that book, but it's not that as well. But I mean, some of the stories in there, I love it. It's kind of weird. Have you create some might have something to do with the just like, Oh, Western, like that sounds pretty exotic. That was really popular 60 years ago. And it seems like there's resurgence, but I think something like a war in Syria, after 20 years of G Waddy, they're like, ah, right, maybe maybe that's just like

public perception. I don't know. It's just, you know, firing from the hip here. But yeah, maybe there's like, I came back from Syria. So fucked up and in so much culture shock. For years, really. And it's like partying, did a bunch of drugs and partied and rode my motorcycle and partied. And like working on that book helped me get through a lot of that type of shit. It's like that guy on that plane said like coming home is way harder than war. Man that's, it really just helped you say something that just ground back to reality and you know one foot before the other. Yeah I mean like creating stuff is just I I feel like humanity is the best way of coping with how the world is built around them.

Like go back to the cake paintings in France 20,000 years ago, it's just like, it's them trying to understand the world, like it's their understanding of the world on the wall. So you can like build and construct your own world with a painting or writing or music or whatever it might be, of the world on the wall. So you can like build and construct your own world whether it's painting or writing or music or whatever it might be like building a classic car or anything like that. I think it just helps with your psyche and like really kind of instills you as a part of humanity

because at the end of the day like the only thing that separates us from chimps and story telling, it's like the only difference between you and the zoo animals is like making a podcast, you know? Yeah, that's a good way to put it. When you got back to the U.S. from Ukraine, did they do the same thing, like escort you off the plane or they boy side there like you again? They did not escort me off the plane, so I was kind of disappointed about that but uh i was on crutches because i couldn't walk again and uh this little lady in her job was like so sweet and so nice and like they closed the crippled line because of covid so she just stood with me for an hour in the passport line and then i get there and they go look at me they're like where were you I was like oh in Ukraine and they're like what were you doing there I was like uh

humanitarian work and I have a non-profit I'm trying to get kick-started over there it's you know opportunity I mean that wasn't a lie I was doing humanitarian work but uh she like looked at me and raised her eyebrows and just stamped whatever paper they had and put it in a little box. And then that nice lady who was wheeling me around had to wait for three hours again while I got interrogated by Homeland security. And then those motherfuckers took my bayonet, my nice trophy bayonet. And I was like, why are you taking that? And he goes, well, you know, it's on the list of sanctioned companies. I was like, why are you taking that? And he goes, well, you know, it's on the list of sanctioned companies. I was like, you're telling me that that band that is on the list of sanctioned

companies, that thing was made before you or I was ever born. Like that money's been made by Ismash, you know? So I'm still kind of not happy about that. Yeah, it's pretty nacho. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's probably sitting on somebody's desk. Yeah, it's pretty not chill. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's probably sitting on somebody's desk. Yeah, it's just sitting in the coffee room at the airport. Damn, dude. Oh, man, hold on. I just had something thinking about Ukraine. Oh, do you think it's I mean, what's your opinion on like these almost free market capital is going into Ukraine going, Hey, understand that your city is pretty fucked up. I have five trucks. I hope you clean it up for this price.

And then just the opportunistic individuals going over there to be entrepreneurs and essentially corner a broken market. Man, I'm like, I'm a YPG guy who's into the ideology. Like, I fucking hate that shit. Like that's like that's capitalism at its worst. And it's like that everywhere you like, everywhere you go, like we went there. And we did everything for free, like all we ever asked for was food, housing and transportation. That's it. And then equipment. And like, then we're meeting with some people who are trying to sell us tourniquets for $18 apiece and they have 1000 tourniquets that they will

sell. It's like, yeah, I understand you're giving me a real good deal on to pay $25 this cat tourniquet. But fuck you. You know, we're here on our own dime. Like doing this because it's the right thing to do, not because we're going to get rich off it. And I mean, that's goes from small, small scale, like tourniquet dealers to those guys are talking about it like, Hey, I'll rebuild your city in record time if you pay me shitloads of money, which I know is coming in from Western countries. Yeah. And they've kind of got no choice but to say yes, because they want their life to go back to normal more than we want our gas bars to go down.

Oh yeah. It's like nothing's stopping a kid from Silicon Valley flying into Poland, buying a bunch of garbage trucks, moving into, you know, Kirsten or something when that's liberated. They're like, all right, well, I guess I'm the only one to do the job. Exactly. They're like, all right, well, I guess I'm the only one to do the job. Exactly. And I can't fault them because like, if you don't have money, it's just like, you can't live like living without money nowadays is almost impossible. Let's just decide you don't need to train and then take it from there.

But I mean, it's just like praying on people. Like there's ways of making money that aren't praying on people. And you look at like the housing market right now, same thing. It's like in the fifties whenever, you know, America's in this golden age, like everybody more or less who had a job could support two or three people with that single income buy a house before they're 30. And now like companies have just spent so much money lobbying that the laws are in their favor. And then they've used all of that companies have just spent so much money lobbying that the laws are in their favor and then they've used all of that favor to just continually prey on consumers to the point where we're just victim to their whims. Like this inflation shit, like they're just raising prices. That's all that's happening. Nobody's wages are going up at all. They're

just raising prices and saying, Oh, it's in place. I'm not an economist, so that might be wrong. Somebody could correct me. When it comes to the housing market, especially in like Virginia, the house that was $235,000 last year is now worth about a million. It's just, it's just insane. Austin was bullshit. Like, how's it something like right now? Yeah, Austin, Denver, like those areas are just almost impossible to get a house in. Yeah, like it's cheaper to get a house or an apartment in downtown Paris than it is

to get one in Austin. Like that's insane. That's fucking nuts. It's like, I spent two months during the community of Santiago in Spain last fall. And I was strapped for cash, but we like made it work. Like we were paying 15 bucks a night to stay in a hostel. Like, you know, you want to stay in any hotel in America, good luck spending less than $75. Yeah, for like a flea bag. Yeah, you know, yeah, you go to Virginia Beach on the 4th of July weekend and a shitty motel 6 full of like

cockroaches and bugs and not even the clean sheets. It's 375 dollars. Oh yeah. Yeah, for one night. Like I don't, I don't know how America got to this point where it's just cool with making sure that everybody doesn't get the chance to live their lives beyond work. Most people don't get to do what you do and make a podcast. Most people don't get to do what I do and write. Like they just work and are so fucking tired because they watch TV until they fall asleep. And that's their whole existence. But then from there, you could just take it a step further and go like, well,

then it's like a generational issue because if you, you know, guys are age, like they're just burnt out and they're worked to death. And then like say, you know, our kids or the next generation are going to go, yeah, the bar is pretty low. So I mean, it does, it's not really impressive to stand out just a little bit. Right. Yeah. Like in terms of like productivity or just, you know, being an entrepreneur or anything, because it's so difficult. Yeah. Like in terms of like productivity or just, you know, being an entrepreneur or anything

because it's so difficult. Yeah. That generational divide is nuts because like our parents were able to buy houses by 30 like buy land, fucking live wherever, you know, save money. What the fuck is a savings account? You know? All right. Yeah.

It's like, I don't know. wrong time, 1 too late, oh well. Or you could just, you know, turn your brain off, grow a goatee, listen to Pearl Jam, and drink Busch Light, and you're like, this is the rest of my life, this is it? Yeah. And I like Pearl Jam, I'm not gonna lie. I do too, yeah. It's literally a classic, the last one still running around anybody. But oh shit. So when do you think you get back to Ukraine? I know you said like knee depending, but I saw you've been sewing a lot. So are you just trying to like clear, clear open your path for

I mean, mainly like I have all this shit and I move so often. And like the only things that I actually care about are my guns and my motorcycle, you know, so I just get rid of whatever I don't need and live like this less cluttered existence where I don't have all these materials that I've like been hoarding and collecting. Yeah, this is better. You know, it's your lost in coal from True Detective. Yeah, just just a mattress in the front room. That's it. Oh, yeah. That's it. Oh yeah. That's a mattress frame is a fucking scam, man. Oh yeah. You go to Middle East like sleeping

mattresses on the floor and they're comfortable as hell. Okay. Yeah. You know, here we got this raised bed phenomenon. I'm not a bad. That's pretty funny. Just honestly, you don't even need a bed just like way in the floor. You can test run it once or twice, check it out. You're like, yeah, that's good. I just need a blanket. I mean, after I got back from doing the Camino in Spain, I was homeless and living at the motorcycle shop on a exercise mat on a sleeping bag with my wife. And that's just how we did it. So we couldn't fucking afford a bed, let alone an apartment. So how'd you get all the way up to like Virginia? Why do you keep

moving around so often? Got into a grad program here and I was living in Birmingham, which is like an awesome town with like so many rad dudes and like the best group of friends I've ever had in my life. But it was just kind of I don't know, it's kind of a spelling dead end. It was like, I could never really see anything progressing, you know, in my life beyond just living for Friday party

and working all week, living for Friday party, driving motorcycle, which is fun. Like you don't get me wrong, I had a fucking great time, but I got into a grad program here at George Mason, but it was a deal in Ukraine kicked off. And then I'm like, do I really need to go to school for three more years to have somebody teach me how to write whenever I can just write? Yeah. It's yeah. When it comes to say like some college degrees, like journalism, you're like, what's JK in your hand say? Like too cool for J school. Like, yeah, it's like, as long as you know how to intelligently relay a thought and then talk to people. I don't really see the point of getting like a degree in

journalism. Yeah. And, or thing with like creative writing and people who write books nowadays, it's like, you almost have to have it so that you can quote-unquote network it. Yeah. Get your name out there or whatever and like just you have the letters like fucking Ernest Hemingway graduated high school and that was it. Yeah. Like you just started writing it and became Ernest fucking Hemingway. And so I feel like it's living life is more important than getting degrees. Yeah, of course. I can use Google better than most people. I didn't have to go to college to sit down and go, yeah, I think I know what's going on in Ukraine. Right.

I don't know, man. Some people still get asked, how do I join a YPG? And I'm like, dude, I Googled it. I fucking Googled how I joined the YPG. You're on the Wiki page and then, it. Yeah. I thought you Googled how much during the one page. Yep. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's funny.

Just go to the Wiki page, scroll down to recruitment, click the link, go to that nice little envelope here soon. Yeah. People want to handheld, hand to hold the whole time. Do you think nowadays people

don't want adventures anymore. They want to work and come and watch TV. It's like, I got so many friends who like, I wish I could do this and that or the other. And they're like, invariably all indoor Skyrim. And I'm like, bro, life is the RPG. Yeah. You know, like you want to go to West Virginia. That is Skyrim. Just go there. If you want to take an arrow to the knee, man, I got you. I got a bow. I got arrows.

We can do this. We can get you some interesting shit to talk about. Did you watch the Shane Gillis new Shane Gillis set? He's a comedian. But he's talking about like how crack addicts and heroin addicts get a bad rap because they're always working. They're like, no, they have to stay on the grind that their whole life is like an RPG where they're going, Oh yeah, a quest. I have to go, you know, steal copper. It's so fun. I'm going to get those wires out of that house.

Oh yeah. Like they can steal battery out of a car in record time. Just rip it right out. Catalytic converter. Yeah, that is something crazy. The catalytic converters just going missing. And you know, sometimes I'll go to like DC and just see entire tires just ripped off of vehicles. I'm like, Jesus. Oh, man, people getting desperate. Yeah, yeah. But all right, man. Yeah, we're getting to about that time. So if you have anything you'd like to plug, go right ahead.

I'm on Instagram at Warren Scottert. I buy my books they're pretty good I got a lot of short stories in literary magazines you can find links on that on my website shout out to Jojo, shout out to my mom, shout out to Noel. Yeah man, nice to meet you. Very nice yeah really appreciate you coming up. Yeah, yeah. Alright, alright, thanks man. Alright. So Thanks for watching!