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

Welcome to this episode of Software Up Radio. I'm even wearing a shirt that says Software Up just to prove that.

My name is Radier Host. I have a very special guest today, Dale Buckner, former Green Beret Special Forces.

Let me go ahead and read a little bit about Dale real quick, okay?

So, Green Beret Dale Buckner, current CEO of International Security firm Global Guardian, Dale used his military background to start the company and last year evacuated over 11,000 people out of Ukraine and Russia.

They've also evacuated close to 700 people from Afghanistan after the government collapsed and over 3,000 people during the COVID-19 border crisis.

Global Guardian works with organizations over 30 in the Fortune 1000 that want to protect their people, assets, and communications at home and abroad.

They offer a wide range of services, including emergency response, security, intelligence, evacuations, and Kinnap and ransom services, okay?

Global Guardian began with just 8 ground teams in 2012 and now has teams on the ground in 134 countries.

They actively go on missions in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, Russia, and Ukraine.

They support complex and challenging locations while many of their competitors do not.

They also help their clients in terrorist and natural disaster situations, filling the void left by insurance companies.

So, since 2016, Global Guardian has responded to at least one hurricane a year and helped evacuate thousands to safety.

And the person that I have with me today is Dale Buckner in charge of all of those things I just said. Welcome to the show.

Thanks, Rad, you're hired. I would take you on as a salesman tomorrow because you just explain the business in detail.

And just to show, this is what happens when you decide as a young man, right? How old were you when you joined the military, Dale?

So, I was 19. I was a cadet at Mansfield University. I joined the Pennsylvania National Guard as a private, went through basic AIT and Airborne School as a private,

and then continued on through college until I got commissions.

So, you bucked the system and enlisted. When it is an enlisted guy, decided to educate yourself and become more of a military career minded individual to become an officer. Is that what I'm hearing?

Yeah, to a degree. I mean, I had an ROTC scholarship. I don't even think this exists anymore. But back in the 90s, they had this thing called SMP, updating myself, of course.

This is a simultaneous membership program where you could be in the National Guard enlisted and you could be a cadet at the same time, the eventuality that you'd eventually get commissions as an officer, and that's the path I was on.

So, when you went through basic as a private and went to Airborne School, did you know you were going to go through the Special Forces courses? Is this something that you had lined up?

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