Major Jonathan Swoyer is an Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO) focused on South Asia and holds the unofficial record for having spent more time in Nepal than any other U.S. Army officer. He graduated from the Nepali Army Command and Staff College in Shivapuri, Nepal, then transitioned to working at the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu as the Security Cooperation Chief in the Office of Defense Cooperation. He is a prior enlisted Signals Intelligence linguist who speaks five languages. Jon has 46 months of combat operations experience in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, as a former Ordinance and Psychological Operations Officer. In this episode, Jon talks about his decision to join the Army at the age of 19, why he chose to leave the enlisted world and become an officer, how he uses his knowledge of language to better understand culture and context, as well as his hopes and fears of starting the next chapter of his life as he prepares for retirement. 

Wing Commander Andrew “Johnno” Johnson has served over 25-years in the Royal Australian Air Force. In 2007, he was part of a four-person crew who landed themselves in the Guinness Book of World Records by rowing across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia. In 2010, Johnno and a mate rowed the Sepik River, the longest in Papua New Guinea. In this episode, Johnno talks about serving in the Australian Air Force, some of the similarities and differences between the Australian and U.S. military, and why he chose to push his mind and body to the limits in his two rowing expeditions.

Priya Sridhar is a political reporter for NBC in San Diego, a Public Affairs Officer (PAO) in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and serves on the Board of Directors for Military Veterans in Journalism. Priya has worked in all aspects of TV news from reporting, editing, shooting, anchoring, hosting and running a bureau.  She has also worked for major international news organizations such as CNN, Al Jazeera, RT, Arise, ABC, NBC and the Associated Press. In this episode, Priya tells us what it was like growing up in the United States as a second generation American, what it was like living and working overseas as a reporter, and how her experiences as a Navy PAO have shaped her career as a reporter.