Rick Hogg joins Ron Dan and Aaron Silvestain in this episode of the Vertx Briefing Room. Rick shares his thoughts on problem solving, dog training, and the importance of talking about combat experiences. If you have ever wondered why you should vet the people you want to train with, this episode is for you.
Rick Hogg joins Ron Dan and Aaron Silvestain in this episode of the Vertx Briefing Room. Rick shares his thoughts on problem solving, dog training, and the importance of talking about combat experiences. If you have ever wondered why you should vet the people you want to train with, this episode is for you.
Ron Dan 00:00
Aaron in your career, have you ever briefed an Ambassador, then worked on the range, then with a canine out in the battlefield?
Aaron Silvestain 00:07
I personally have not, but our guest, Rick Hogg has done all of that and more and then wait until you hear some of the stories that he talks about in this episode. Strap in because we cover a lot, including the importance of learning how to problem solve, as opposed to learning one static solution. We also discuss tips for dog training, which I personally can use with my own dog. And even though she's only eight pounds, it actually works. Shall we had into the briefing room?
Ron Dan 00:31
Let's head in.
Music 00:32
Ron Dan 00:42
All right, everyone. Welcome to the Vertx Briefing Room. I'm your host, Ron and joining me today, we have Aaron Silverstein from Vertx and also Rick Hogg, who is the owner over at WarHogg Tactical. So Rick, for those who don't know you, and don't know WarHogg Tactical, would you mind giving a little brief background about WarHogg? The effort you guys have on both the training side of things, and on the canine side of things and your background?
Rick Hogg 01:07
Absolutely. I'm a 29 year US Army Special Operations combat veteran. I'm also a special operations forces canine handler. I've taken my time as both an advanced urban combat instructor in my 13 combat deployments, both Iraq and Afghanistan, and I've harnessed WaterHogg Tactical. We provide mobile firearms tactical and canine training to law abiding citizens, military and law enforcement agencies. We’re getting ready to launch a canine product line, hopefully next month, a little setback with the whole virus thing going on. We also consult for both the defense and firearms industry.
Ron Dan 01:38
That is awesome. And thank you for everything. Thank you for your service and thank you for everything you do to continue to provide the best solutions for our warfighters that are out there. Rick, when you were in the 82nd, then also switched over to Special Forces from the 82nd, what were some things that you learned while you're in the 82nd that you wish civilians knew or that you could carry over and help teach civilians?
Rick Hogg 02:00
When I was down at second, my first squad leader probably gave me the best leadership advice I got. And it was this. He’s like, look at all leaders, you want to take the good, grab that information, stick it in one pocket. Take the bad, grabbing with the other hand, stick in the other pocket. Always draw from the good, but remember the bad. You don't want to pull in from the bad, but you want to understand those. So that was a big takeaway that kind of helped. If you want to say my leadership style was, hey, you can look at anybody good, bad or indifferent. Everyone's got leadership styles, but harness those that you want to emulate how you want to perform that way, motivate your guys, take care of them.
Ron Dan 02:34
That's great. Vertx is ultimately a Berkshire Hathaway company and I think if you look at their founder, Warren Buffett, I know, when people ask him what has he learned the most over what is his most successful businesses. Then over the years, he says, hey, you'll learn a lot more from the businesses that I've had that have failed, rather than the successes that I have had. And I think that's kind of very similar. So when you went from the 82nd, to the Special Forces community, that's a big jump. Not a whole lot of people have the ability or the privilege to be able to do that. How was that transition?
Rick Hogg 03:04
When I got to Fort Bragg in 88, you got to think there were three special forces groups on Fort Bragg. So you had third group, you had fifth group, and you had seventh group. So there's a lot of SF guys running around Fort Bragg. You'd see these guys out there doing some great stuff. And it's like, man, I need to get me some of that. Don’t get me wrong, at second was a good place to grow up. But let's just say you didn't have the freedom like these guys. We would be road marching by a ranger, like, who are these guys that got no helmets on?, What are those weapons are using. What are they doing? You know, it's like, man, I need to get me some of that. So I wouldn't say the transition was that hard. It's just kind of a mindset shift, right? So you go from very much a structured organization, where you're pretty much told what to do to now when you get into the Special Operations community, it's almost like, hey, here's the rope, you got the choice to either hang yourself or be successful, so you can either climb up the ladder, or you're gonna sit there and dangle. So it's definitely gives you a lot more responsibility in that aspect. When I was in at second, what was the chances of me briefing an ambassador? Zero. I might brief whatever my next higher leadership is. But you know, over in special operations, I might be briefing an ambassador one day, out on the range training guys the next day, I mean, it's a very versatile operating environment. A guy just need to be flexible so I wouldn't really say it was a big transition. It was nice getting out of that thumb on you. And just having the flexibility to have that freedom to make the best decisions, having some of that freedom and the ability to make your own decisions and having your success. Lean on the decisions you make and how you handle all of those.
Ron Dan 04:36
Did that help you transition into being an entrepreneur when you started WereHogg tactical?
Rick Hogg 04:38
Haha, the old WarHogg Tactical so here's the thing right? My transition process for WarHogg Tactical, if you want to say WarHogg Tactical was actually established in 2002. So for the viewers and listeners out there, I did not get out of the army till 2017. So what wound up happening is in the late 90s, I was part of the seventh Special Forces Group advanced urban combat committee. In essence, we were teaching theory to guys as far as our tactics, techniques marksmanship, all that stuff. Lo and behold, 911 happens. Seventh group was the second group to go over after fifth. I believe it was because we had conducted during that advanced urban combat course, we got some of the guys up to company level operations. So you've got special forces teams not only acting independently but can come together as a larger element, ie at a company level. I personally believe that's why they went over there. Long story short, when those guys came back from their OT rotation and said, “Hey, man, that stuff you taught me saved my life”. That was the hook that set WarHogg Tactical in motion if you want to say, “Did I put a lot of time effort behind getting stuff straight?” Nope. I mean, I'd already had a business established I think it was back in 98. I was teaching North Carolina concealed carry, we just had the business there. It wasn't like it was really super prosperous. Just kind of in place. Did I put a whole bunch of effort? You know, after 02? Nope. I just knew that I was going to run a training company. You know, you got to think 13 combat deployments later, you start getting ready to transition out of the military. A key point for the viewers and listeners out there, my identity was not tied to my position. My job organization I used to belong to my identities recalled. I had to rebrand WarHogg Tactical, because I had a good buddy of mine, just kind of shooting over some names. And I won't say what my last business name was. He's like, man, that thing stinks. Like, what are you talking about man? It's awesome. He's like, where's your name? It's like, Oh, okay. If you think about US history, people tie their names to their brand Colt, Smith and Wesson. So with the last name Hogg sat there, you know, all right, what are we gonna do next? You know, the WarHogg Tactical came in tactical just kind of cleans everything up there. It doesn't mean that's all we do. But to this day, I'm still mentoring guys getting out. So I spoke a couple weeks ago at the Honor Foundation, again, just helping service members transition. They're just telling my struggles. And here's the thing, man, I would tell anyone out there, go be an entrepreneur. It's the best job in my opinion, however, you will never work harder. My hardest day in the military does not compare to being an entrepreneur. I mean, you work your butt off. There’s no magic book out there. You've got to sit there and just kind of get out there and get after it grind, grind, grind each day. But really the biggest thing you kind of hit it up in the beginning, it's your identity, your purpose, your drive. I am in the firearms business, not because I got out the door at 17 and like, what am I going to do now? This thing was established many years beforehand.
Aaron Silvestain 07:23
One thing we like to do is get a little background on who the person is. How you grew up, what drove you to join the military, and especially for you being on the canine side, was that always a part of your past?
Rick Hogg 07:36
Yeah, so I grew up in New Hampshire. I came from a military family, my grandfather served in the Army in World War Two my dad was a Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran. For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to join the Army. You know, I did the delayed entry program so hey, when I turned 17, Mom and dad sign the papers. I know I'm going with my background. I think a key component is I wrestled. I wrestled a little bit in junior high but that really wasn't anything. Wrestling in high school I think was a big pivotal point for me. What I didn't realize, especially as a freshman, for the first two or three weeks man we're not learning any moves. Coach is just out there conditioning us and literally I think he's trying to kill us. But you'd watch guys fall off till he got whatever his magic number gut check whatever you want to say. And then boom, we started practicing. That was four years in essence of doing a type of selection course unbeknownst. So if you can endure coach, and trust me he was medieval, by the time you get to the army it’s like all right, this is what you got? So an easy transition. The dog thing wasn't something I wanted to do. Command thought it'd be a good idea for me in my progression. They said, “Hey, man, why don’t you go over and run the dogs. You know what? That was the best kept secret going. I was an independent agent for lack of better terms. I left the same guys I was working with, I've already done combat rotation with those guys. I know the guys right? We're gonna do old number seven. Yep, Roger that. No big deal. The only thing different is now I'm bringing the best combat multiplier we can bring to the battlefield. And that's the canine. And with that I was able to retire Duco in 2017. Unfortunately, he passed five, July 2001. In essence, we've partnered up with Scott Swisher, and we've got a nonprofit under us. So we have the owner of Duco Project. So now we're basically fundraising and stuff like that, making sure that a handler does not have to make a medical decision based on finances, because when he got diagnosed with osteosarcoma, they were like your dogs got cancer but it's gonna cost you 10 grand if you want to prolong his life. So trust me, we're still doing canine stuff. You know, we did the American Path Canine Association event this year. So we're very much still there. You know, in our product line that we're launching is canine driven. It's in honor of Duco. So they're still very much a big tie to that. But no, it was something I did not want to do. I didn't necessarily buck it, because you know what? Those dogs had saved my life prior to and I'm like, man, if I can bring one of these guys to Battlefield? 100%.
Ron Dan 09:54
When you talk about the new canine products coming out from WarHogg, what are some of those products that we can expect to see and what sets us apart from the current solutions that are out there?
Rick Hogg 10:03
So we're going to launch with a leash system that was actually designed, I won't say designed, the idea was stemmed from issues we had over in Afghanistan. But see, here's the beauty with the WarHogg canine product line, it's not just driven towards MIL LEO, there's functionality built in there? And once I kind of get my video done, and again, as an entrepreneur, I'm the secretary, I'm the marketing guy. I'm the video editor. I'm the camera guy. So we're working on getting our video together on that, but it's for everybody. Does it have military applications? 100% it does. Does it have monetization? Yep. Does it have kid application data? Yep. Doctrine. It's got everybody application in there. But it's root stem from issues we had with leashes we were using over in Afghanistan. And then once we kind of developed this thing, we're like, wow, there's so much more we can do with it.
Aaron Silvestain 10:48
I've gotten to see just about 10 minutes of you with a canine in the same room trying to do a little bit of training. What would you say to a novice, as you're coming in, as someone that wants to even just train their pet or their family dog, what are some of the characteristics or what some of the skills that you try to instill with people to make sure that they're successful, as well as their canine?
Rick Hogg 11:08
So the key thing is consistency. I'll give you a prime example. I brought a dog home to my house, that was very much very well trained, right? So my wife, not to throw it on the bus, but we kind of will. It's simple things. It's like, if you want him to come here, you call his name. And then you got to tell them here, you just can't call his name and expect him to read your mind. The biggest thing I see when people reach out to me for canine advice, or just when I'm working with guys, especially when there's multitude of people involved, ie like a family, there's no consistency. So the kids say this to the dog. Dad says this, you know, Mom, does that reward this way. That dog is not getting a clear message. I don't care what word you use. Yes, I use the combination of English, German and Dutch. You don't have to, you can use whatever you want. But it's just got to be a commonality across the board. And I've got people that struggle, it blows me away. Okay, if you want your dog to heal, whatever your heel command is, figure out the word, it doesn't matter. Well, she wants to use this, we'll tell her to use that. And then either you change or I mean, there's got to be some give and take with it. I would say first and foremost, consistency is number one. Number two, just figure out your plan. Like what are you looking to do with this dog? Is it an obedience thing? It just depends on the individual and once they figure that stuff out, just go out and get after it.
Ron Dan 12:16
What are some big common misconceptions when it comes to canine training or canine handling? Or myths that are out there in the industry?
Rick Hogg 12:25
First and foremost, it kind of goes to the owner handler. So we've seen in the limelight, these military working dogs, especially the Belgium Malinois, you know, everyone wants to get one of those. They think it's gonna be cool that I'm gonna get my family to the house. And then next thing you know, their house is destroyed. And they're sitting there shocked, like, oh my God, I can't believe this happened. Check it out. You've got a high drive dog, right? You've got to put time and effort into that dog. If you're going to sit there and go to work are you going to take them out in the morning? Probably not because you're running late, right? You might go give him a break. Let him go take a squirt, give him some food sticking back in the kennel right or you let him around your house and you've got no drywall or couch or whatever dramas happening. And then of course you come home and you gotta take the kids to soccer practice or do something like that. If you're looking to get one of these high drive dogs, I would say this. Have the time that you can put the effort into that dog. Just don't stick them in a box all day and then not expect to have drama as you will. As far as the industry goes here’s the thing, man, people do all this snazzy flashy stuff, because it looks cool. Here's a prime example. They got the dog walking between their legs. So people ask Rick, do you ever walk with your dog between your legs. Nope. Why? Cuz you've got no mobility. So it's cool if you're looking to do something flashy or looking to work an obedience thing. But there's people that are almost trying to apply this in a tactical manner. I'm like, you've absolutely lost your mind. There's absolutely zero tactical application to that. It might look flashy on Instagram or Tik Tok, or whatever you're trying to get your people to do. But the problem is, then you get people start to emulate, let's get the dog to walk between your legs. Why? There's no purpose. So to me, put them on your left hand side. Figure out whatever your heel is. And again, this is where people go wrong, right? Yes, I want him to walk at a tight heel. Did he always walk at a tight heel overseas? No, because there were times I need to give them more slack. Give them that freedom, where there's the train things we're doing whatever the case may be. But you've got to have that give and take. So just be careful. Some of the flashy stuff that you see out there. Don't get wrapped around. Because again, there's no application for that.
Ron Dan 14:19
So we talked about misconceptions with canine handling. So what are some things about you that would surprise folks that are out there. Things that people might not know about you that you're willing to share?
Rick Hogg 14:29
My brains probably about a bucket of jello. So my numerous TBI from overseas, I sit there and some days were good, some days were bad. But I tried to be very vocal on it. But again, part of it's getting the word out there to our service members. Hey, man, take care of yourself. Fix yourself. You know, here's the thing, you joined the service, especially starting overseas, even training, right? And you're basically in a big meat grinder, Uncle Sugar grinds you up, spits you out, hope that the VA can patch you up. But it's kind of on you to take care of yourself. I say that to get it out and then all of a sudden, the very thing I'm talking about sticks in. Here's the other thing, and people have kind of seen this. I've expressed my emotions too because I think that's important for guys as well. You know, we did that fundraising down there. I remember the first time it was with Panteao Productions, right? So, here’s the beauty. Right there, I shoot with them. I could very easily say, “Hey, dude, chop that stuff and throw it on the floor”. Nope. My take on it for a minute. Because I want to share a message. I want to tell guys, hey, man, you don't go to combat and not come back with some type of baggage. Does it mean you got PTS? Nope. But there's mental baggage that comes in there. For me, it’s my friends I never mourned for till probably a decade plus later, and then the pain I put my family through. I kinda should have come home. I didn’t. I lied to them, lied to command. You know, it's just vicious circles. What else? I do enjoy me a good bourbon. But I think everyone kind of knows that within our Duco Bourbon, we've got with Taconic. What else? I don't mind casting a casting rod in the water. But you know, again, it's all timing. Some people may or may not know I am a grandfather, actually about to have another one at 29. I know, it's kind of shocking. Don't be surprised.
Ron Dan 16:01
I know, some of the best instructors in our industry, they’re constantly learning. In fact, sometimes I look at some of these guys taking class and I'm like, you're taking more classes than you're teaching and you're one of the greatest minds. I know, you're very similar. You're always learning. Where do you go to learn more? Is it classes? Is it podcasts? Is it books? Is it you know, speaking events?
Rick Hogg 16:22
It's kind of all the above? So myself, Pat McNamara and Chris Moreno, we've been doing a bunch of stuff together. So it's good to bounce stuff off of there. You’ve got to be careful. I'm all about going to other people's stuff. But again, it's what are they putting out? And I'm not gonna sit there and go, hey, man, that doesn't work. A prime example, looking at the ejection port of your AR platform. What are you looking for? The gun talks to you, right? But there's still people out there teaching how you want to look? Cool. We don't teach that or tactical, because here's the problem. What happens when you got no light? So you're training guys for daylight technique? I don't mind being around other people. Who are you going to train with this day and age, there's enough information on people. I don't think there's Joe Nobody out there to be like, Oo, who's this guy? Let me go train with them. Go vet the people you're training with or that you want to go train with. What have they got to say? And it's like, yep, cool. If they sit there and go, hey, we're not here to teach you any tactics, just how to manipulate a firearm. Okay, cool. That's great. But I want to teach guys self defense, right? I want to give you a skill set I hope you never have to use. But God forbid you do you can do it effectively and efficiently and shut that threat down.
Aaron Silvestain 17:23
It's great to hear and I think we're all relatively similar in that mindset of we all want to constantly learn, but you also want to learn good techniques, not bad techniques. And you’ve got to research and figure that out. And one of the things I appreciate about you is what you do for law enforcement community and giving back to that community. Can you take us through what you do with law enforcement officers and the different types of training that you do for some small to midsize agencies that don't necessarily have the budget to do training and what you're doing to give back to those guys.
Rick Hogg 17:50
We've partnered with people in industry ie Vertx and Flying Cross. We offer free law enforcement firearms training. When I'm doing a free course I focus on doing the pistol because if I try to do a carving thing, not every officers get a carving, not every department does, but they all carry a handgun. So we focus on the handgun. Pretty much WarHogg selfie though. Again, with no instruction, I just want to see what they're sitting at. And again, that's always an attention grabber, right? It's like, you're going to test me right off the get go? Yep, we are. Because that's reality, just to kind of see where they're at. And the beauty is there's no pass or fail. The whole premise is there's all kinds of teaching points in there, because we want people to kind of formulate their own ideas and teach themselves what they're doing. From there, give some instructions, you know, work on presentation, because that's a key component I see a lot officers do poorly. Draw from the holster talk, you know, mag change, both tactical and speed. And then really, I think that the true heart of the course, you know, we do some strongest port hand shooting. But really the true heart of the course is we actually use t-shirts. So we're trying to make that range because we tell them right from the get go treat this, like the street. This is not a flat range. Get out of that flat range mentality. So we bring out a t-shirt to have them shoot on a t-shirt, I don't give them any instructions on that one. Everything else I'm demoing, we're looking to do this one here, I want them to shoot it on their own. 9 times out of 10 the shots are down low because again, they're always told center mass. And when you're looking at it, they don't know where to place their shots. We pause about halfway through the drill, we can lift the shirts up, we can take a look at the targets. And again, all right guys, check it out. And I give them a little bit of information where their proper ending point should be in the next groups are up in a good spot where they would stop that threat. We also push on their shootings as an unemotional event, if you start on the flat range for kicking the dirt cussing yourself, number one, you're doing yourself no good. You made a good shot? Cool. Repeat what you did, if you didn't know what you did not to make that shot then don't do it. And then really we culminate with two iterations of shooting under physical duress. And it's just not a one and done. Hey, run 50 meters and shoot and you're done. Nope. Our friends over at Brute Force provide us with this nice little tool that we have come back on the range. We do three iterations because here's the thing. I've had officers you know, call me post courses. Hey, man, I believe doing multiple sets of physic duress saved my life in a gunfight and suit at the car, the suspect runs off. Now another gunfight ensues and we try to emulate or I'm taking my experience from combat, right? You just don't stand there flat footed. Man, I gotta get out of office,He’ll run this target building, I might have threats along the way, I might have threats in there. It's a constant moving game, your heart rates up. So let's expose these guys to that. And just try to get them as well prepared as we can. But here's the thing, you're starting to see a big shift. A lot more people support law enforcement, and this whole defund the police you're actually starting to see go away. So departments you would think don't have any money, they were defunding before. Now they're starting to go hey, man, and that's the other thing we're doing, Aaron, you've seen it, it's the marksmanship portion is a piece. 100% We're also making problem solvers. We're having these guys solve problems out there in the flat range. And if you go, oh, how you doing that? I'll say, come on to a course and find out. It's always about getting them to think. If I spoon feed them, what's going to happen during that deadly force encounter? They’re going to look for somebody to bail them out. And it's like, nope, you've got to bail yourself out.
Ron Dan 20:55
You mentioned the Brute Force sandbags that they're using. Is it that, or what piece of equipment from a physical fitness training aspect would you say to somebody listening, what's the best piece of gear or the most versatile piece of gear they could go out get now to start prepping for a WarHogg class where they'll be put under some physical duress.
Rick Hogg 21:15
I would say this, go get yourself a Brute Force bag. Because here's the deal. If you look at some stuff we have, because we've got enough stuff online, you can take a look and go, you know, here's kind of some of the exercises, drills different things we're doing. And the thing is, guys have to understand that you can do this in a dry fire environment, right? Everyone thinks that it can only be done out at the range. I can incorporate physical duress into my dry fire training, right? I do it here at the house, you got to be smart on it, right? I'm not out there in my front yard, burnishing my firearm. So neighbors go, hh, my God, what are you doing. You can elevate your heart rate inside the garage, do your business, roll back out. If you have the range that allows it, go ahead and get out there. Get your workout out on the range, if you can get that distance in there. And again, we use steel because it's easy. I'm not down there having repaste I've got to get guys through quickly, right? And we put a big penalty on there, hey, man, you missed a shot, that's 10 seconds. And when you're sitting there competing with your guys, and it's fairly tight at the time, and nine times out of 10, it boils down to marksmanship, you've got to get hits on target. Just having a noisemaker is not going to save your life. And the beauty with Brute Force is you can know that as you start getting physically stronger, I can start putting more weight in this bag, so it's not like I've got a dumbbell where I'm stuck, let's say at 20 pounds or a kettlebell, I'm stuck at whatever the weight is. I have this one object. And that's all I've got, man, I've got a bag that I can load with Sam and then oh, by the way, if I really want to load this thing up, go find you some use steel shot jam that and you're saying trust me, you'll crank your weight up there. And then the beauty is too, I can dump it. Pack it up. And then whenever I get out to site, load it up. I'll tell the viewers and listeners this, you know, I'll put a shameless plug in there. If you go to WarHogg.com, look at our industry partners, and you'll probably see a discount code for Brute Force on there.
Ron Dan 22:57
Well, Rick, what we do at the end of all of our podcasts, we have a lightning round of questions. We have four questions that we normally do. I'm going to throw in a bonus fifth question at the end because of somebody that you mentioned earlier in the podcast. I'm gonna throw these questions at you and I need you just answer as quickly as you can. Shoot from the hip. What three pieces of gear do you always want to have with you?
Rick Hogg 23:18
Pistol, Money, and my phone.
Ron Dan 23:21
If you're on a desert island what's the one book, piece of music, or movie that you always want with you?
Rick Hogg 23:25
Bible.
Ron Dan 23:26
That's a good one. We had a podcast with Kyle Lamb before and I thought for sure Kyle was gonna throw out Bible, and he didn't. So that's a that's a good one. All right, what’s the best concert you've ever been to?
Rick Hogg 23:42
Probably Lollapalooza sometime in the 90s. I know Metallica was in their headlining, but there was a whole bunch of other ones in there. I think Rage was there. That ranks up there and seeing Van Halen as well. That was another good one.
Ron Dan 23:55
All strong names to throw out. Okay. Here's a bonus question that is not included for anybody else. Okay, Pat Mac, what’s the number one basic dude thing that you can think of?
Rick Hogg 24:05
For Pat? I would say I'm gonna throw baking the pie.
Ron Dan 24:09
Ooh, okay. I thought you're gonna say Landnav or knowing bugs.
Rick Hogg 24:15
But see, think about it, right? When you look at the cooking side a lot of dudes would be like, especially like a pie, man. That's chick work. You know, out there, man make your own pie. It's breaking up that whole monotony, right? So a lot of dudes think that hey, because we're dudes and that's why I am vocal as far as you know, the TBI stuff, or I’m vocal as far as the emotions. Why I am vocal that hey, man, you're not getting out of combat unscathed. Because it's important for guys to understand. Get it out there and better educating.
Ron Dan 24:39
The last one of the lightning question round, what’s the craziest thing that's ever happened to you?
Rick Hogg 24:44
So when I was a young teenager, we were out in some parking lot drinking beer, eating beer nuts. And somehow the cops found us and pretty much confiscated our beer. Told us to beat it. I think he got some free beer on there. So we were definitely for sure thought we're gonna get burnt on that one.
Ron Dan 25:00
Well, that's pretty lucky. Rick, we can't thank you enough for taking the time joining us and sharing a lot of your knowledge with us. We really appreciate it and we look forward to the next time hopefully that we get to do this.
Rick Hogg 25:11
And as a shameless plug, if you guys ever want to jump on “on the ranch podcast”, that's the one we're on. You guys are more than welcome to come on. And whatever you want to talk about, we're always game.
Aaron Silvestain 25:30
Where else can people find you?
Rick Hogg 25:31
WarHogg.com. That's the one stop shop. So I used to sit there and go, hey, here's my social handles. Nope. Because if you go to WarHoggTactical.com You can find all the social stuff there. Find out about Duco, you can get to his pages, all that stuff. All our products courses, you know, we've got training videos, all that stuff. So warhogg.com. One stop shop WarHogg Tactical. One more shameless plug, you might find a Vertx discount code in there as well.
Music 25:48
Aaron Silvestain 25:58
Ron, that was such a good one, what was the favorite thing that you took away from it?
Ron Dan 26:02
I love Rick's approach to what's normally referred to as PTSD. And he, I think very consciously, referred to it as just post traumatic stress and how he encourages everyone to talk about their feelings and don't delay how you're processing a lot of the really intense things that you can experience out there in the field serving in our military. He's just a great guy to listen to.
Aaron Silvestain 26:25
Very well said. We always have to think about our veterans, thank them for their service, and just always be cognizant of what other people have gone through to make sure that we're protecting our freedoms.
Ron Dan 26:34
Well, thank you all for joining the Vertx Briefing Room. Make sure you check out the show notes at Vertx.com/podcasts. Be sure to like, subscribe and give us a review. Feel free to drop us a line and let us know what topics and experts you would like to hear about on future episodes.
Aaron Silvestain 26:51
All right, Ron. So where are we heading to next?
Ron Dan 26:53
I think I have to go get some dog food from my Chihuahua.
Aaron Silvestain 26:56
Oh, good call. They eat a ton.
Music 26:59