AH-64 Apache & Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Pilot Cleared Hot Author | Trauma to Triumph Brian Slade
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2023
⏱️ 103 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we hear the Combat Story of Brian Slade, a former AH-64 Apache pilot and serving Air Force Search and Rescue pilot with multiple combat deployments both taking and saving lives.
Brian moved out of his house at the age of 15 and learned to make it on his own and carries the same conviction and passion in almost everything he does. He’s written a book called “Cleared Hot: Lessons Learned about Life, Love, and Leadership While Flying the Apache Gunship in Afghanistan and Why I Believe a Prepared Mind Can Help Minimize PTSD” that goes into greater detail about his combat experiences.
Brian showed me the gun tape from inside his cockpit after his front seater was shot in the leg, he lost an engine, and lost flight controls and it was amazing, bringing back the feel of the aircraft and the borderline chaos of radios during a gunfight.
We spend time in this episode on how to remove the weight and burden of what Brian aptly calls the ‘insidious backpack’ that many of us carry from experiences down range or just at home, which is part of a larger effort he’s supporting called Trauma to Triumph to help others deal with this burden.
Brian and I definitely geek out on aviation lingo, aircraft, flight profiles, and emergency procedures and I hope you enjoy this discussion of chaos in the air and overcoming the associated burdens on the ground as much as I did.
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- Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combats...
- Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
- Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
- Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
- Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Find Brian Online:
- Brian's Instagram @brian.slade_ https://www.instagram.com/brian.slade_/
- Brian's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BrianLSlade
- Brian's Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/clearedhot
- Cleared Hot book: https://a.co/d/hTUDFKK
Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - Guest Introduction (Brian Slade)
02:15 - Interview begins
02:54 - Difficulties in highschool
05:32 - Combat lesson learned through sports
17:47 - Father figures
21:45 - Trauma from a young age
23:58 - Road to enlistment
26:38 - Transition to flying Apache's
30:33 - Hovering and Apache Pilot training
39:27 - Brian's time in the National Gaurd
41:23 - Afghanistan deployment
44:50 - Power Margin of the Apache in Afghanistan
46:17 - First tough engagement
57:03 - The relationship between air and ground forces
59:15 - Kinds of trauma
01:06:42 - Toughest moment in the pilot seat
01:14:20 - Guntape
01:16:26 - Toughest moment resumed
01:33:41 - Transfer to the Air Force
01:38:01 - Retirement coming
01:39:29 - Any sentimental items
01:41:40 - Would you do it all again
1:42:44 - Listener comments and shout outs
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | That's muzzle flash, you know like set it out loud that's muzzle flash and he's like where and I'm like |
| 0:05.2 | And I got on the radio with their friendlies like confirm you have no friendlies on the opposite side |
| 0:08.7 | Just confirm there's no friendlies over on the opposite side. He's like no, there's no friendlies |
| 0:11.8 | Dogs like shoot it |
| 0:12.9 | And so I just slew the the 32 me and I started shooting the muzzle fly once I thought that we can hit rockets all these other things too |
| 0:18.6 | But the powerful part of that was I'd shot that gun many times up to that point |
| 0:24.0 | But it was at targets right that was the first time where I knew where I squeezed that trigger |
| 0:28.5 | While the trigger felt the same physically it felt different because I squeezed that trigger and people went away |
| 0:34.6 | Welcome to combat story. I'm Ryan fugit and I serve war zone tours as an army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15 year career |
| 0:42.3 | I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and combat on this show |
| 0:46.7 | I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines |
| 0:51.2 | This is combat story today. We hear the combat story of Brian slayed former age 64 patchy pilot |
| 0:58.5 | And serving air force combat search and rescue pilot with multiple combat deployments both taking and saving lives |
| 1:05.2 | Brian moved out of his house at the age of 15 and learned to make it on his own and carries the same conviction and passion and almost everything |
| 1:12.2 | He does today. He's written a book called cleared hot lessons learned about life, love and leadership |
| 1:16.8 | Offline the Apache gunship in Afghanistan and why I believe a prepared mind can help minimize PTSD that goes into greater detail |
| 1:24.0 | About his combat experiences |
| 1:25.8 | Brian showed me the gun tape from inside his cockpit after his front cedar was shot in the leg |
| 1:30.3 | He lost an engine and lost flight controls and it was amazing bringing back the feel of the aircraft and the borderline chaos of |
| 1:37.5 | Radios during a gunfight and this is one of the experiences we touch on in this episode |
| 1:42.5 | We also spend time in this episode on how to remove the weight and burden of what Brian aptly calls the insidious backpack |
| 1:48.8 | That many of us carry from experiences downrange or just at home |
... |
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