Episode 1 - Introduction
Hello Everyone, welcome to the In Theater Podcast.
In each episode of this podcast we’ll be chatting with a new veteran, learning who they are, and then hearing a few deployment stories from them.
I’m Ryan Fadden. — a full-time consultant, army veteran, and audio engineer. I was an infantryman from 2010 until 2013, with a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan. I can tell you first hand that i have an endless amount of hilarious, sad, and intense experiences from when i was deployed, which is what inspired me to create this podcast.
I mean, just take a step back and think of the deployment scenario:
Everybody has guns
You are so physically close to your team that youre constantly hearing, smelling, and/or seeing them perform their bodily functions and/or bodily urges
Youre so emotionally close to your team that youre constanly discussing things that are private or taboo, like porn, drug use, legal issues
Your entire mission relies upon effectiely collaborating with a strange group of people that speak a different language than you, act different than you, look different than you, worship a different god than you
The US military itself is extremely geographically, socio-economically, culturally, and racially diverse organization, and your interactions with your own team, at least initially, can be as peculiar as your interactions with the local populace
Death and serious injury is a major daily consideration
Often times youre bored as fuck
Performing hygiene is difficult
This list goes on for as to why deployments are riddled with great stories.
Hearing other veterans’ deployment stories makes me nostalgic and gives me pride. I’m utilizing this podcast to engage and network with the veteran community while also informing the public of the intense and mundane situations that happen while in a theater of combat. I hope this podcast allows others to appreciate these experiences as much as I do.
Me in Afghanistan with my MK48. Such as bad ass gun.