Within two weeks of deploying to Iraq in 2007, Dr. Josh McConkey’s life changed. Eight helicopters were shot down and a fellow flight surgeon was killed.

This week, the combat flight surgeon, Air Force Reserve colonel and emergency physician joins Tango Alpha Lima to talk about adapting under fire, the difficult transition to the civilian ER, and why he wrote the leadership book “Be the Weight Behind the Spear.”

McConkey explains why those at the tip of the spear never succeed alone, and why families, mentors, coaches and communities matter. He also shares his message on mental health: you don’t have to carry it by yourself.

Also in this episode, co-hosts Stacy Pearsall, Adam Marr and Joe Worley discuss a July 2026 GAO report on quality care and the restructuring of Air Force medicine to focus on operational missions.Your stories.

Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

Military Health Care: Clinical Quality Management in Operational Settings Like Field Hospitals

Veterans Health Care: Training and Improved Oversight Needed for Reviewing and Reporting Providers with Clinical Care Concerns

Air Force veteran Dan Roby spent decades leading airmen and retired as a Chief Master Sergeant. It took him 12 schools and 27 years to finish his bachelor’s degree. Today, as Vice President of Military Affairs at American Military University, he’s making sure service members don’t face the same obstacles.

Roby talks about growing up in New York, his first visits to an American Legion post and the servant leadership lessons that he treasures more than every plaque on his wall. This episode covers how online education has changed for service members and military families, why certifications and skills-based training matter alongside degrees, and how AI is reshaping higher education.

Also in this episode, the team looks at student veteran outcomes, transfer-credit barriers, GI Bill delays, and the Legion’s advocacy on military credentialing. They also share mental health resources, including The American Legion’s Be the One mission to prevent veteran suicide.

Your stories. Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

Adrienne Borghoff left a small town in southern Illinois to see the world, following her family into the Air Force as a broadcast journalist. Fourteen years later, she had served in Korea, Iceland and Italy and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a combat photographer, becoming the only member of her family to serve in a war zone.

Now an actor, storyteller and creator in New York City, Borghoff is turning that experience into "No Missions," a play about two women in the military on a day with nothing on the schedule and plenty to argue about. The Air Force veteran talks about why the transition to civilian life is harder than any briefing prepares you for, how interviewing, scripting and editing in the military built the career she has today, and why the hardest story to write is the one you lived.

Also in this episode, co-hosts Adam Marr and Stacy Pearsall tell the story of a 20-year-old Marine combat photographer in Vietnam whose split-second decision saved three Marines and earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor, and dig into how military service shaped the storytellers behind "Platoon," "Training Day," "Fury," "The Godfather" and "Twilight Zone."Your stories.

Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

• Get to know our guest, Adrienne Borghoff
• Learn more about Public Theatre
• Learn more about the S.O.A.R campaign
• Read the full story of Medal of Honor recipient, Col. Edward T. Perkins Jr.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Air Force 1st Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney launched from Andrews Air Force Base in an unarmed F-16 with orders to stop United Flight 93 by ramming it, if that's what it took.

Twenty-five years later, on the eve of the 25th 9/11 anniversary, the retired Air Force major joins Tango Alpha Lima to tell the full story: the plan she and her flight lead worked out in a briefing room, the peace she says she felt with it, and the passengers fought the terrorists and made the mission unnecessary. Plus, the rest of her story beyond the day of the terrorist attack: being told at Purdue University that "girls can't be fighter pilots," two combat deployments, night "Scud hunter" missions over Iraq, and a retirement advocating for the next generation of aviators with the Mitchell Institute.

Also in this episode: Constitution Day, the history of women in aviation, and the Mitchell Institute's new report on the space frontier.

SHOW LINKS

Learn more about how to celebrate Constitution Day

Treat lower back pain with restorative neurostimulation. Visit Reactiv8

Learn more about Heather "Lucky" Penney

Enter to win a Humvee with The American Legion Drive for Freedom Sweepstakes

Learn about the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies mission

Visit The American Legion Grassroots Action Center and learn about our legislative priorities

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman — aka “The Wingman” — flew 65 combat missions over Iraq and Serbia as an F-16 pilot before becoming a Hall of Fame leadership speaker and best-selling author of “Never Fly Solo.” In this episode, Waldman joins host Joe Worley (flying solo himself this week) to talk about overcoming a fear of heights, surviving a near-death scuba diving accident, and building the trust and accountability that define great “wingmen.” Key takeaway? Resilience isn’t built alone. Waldman previews his keynote address at The American Legion National Convention in Louisville, Ky., and shares details on his upcoming book, “Commit, Commit,” releasing Veterans Day.

Heather French Henry was crowned Miss America in 2000 but her commitment to veterans took root decades earlier, shaped by her father's struggles after the Vietnam War and her uncle's experience with homelessness.

In this episode, Henry talks about growing up in small-town Kentucky, using her national platform to bring veteran issues into Congress and the White House, and building a career advocating for military families that continues 26 years later.

She'll be honored with The American Legion's "Good Guy" Award at its national convention in Louisville, Ky.

Other topics include Kentucky's new Robert E. Spiller Veteran Center and a program helping veterans receive long-term care at home.

Retired Gen. Matt Smith spent more than 30 years in the Army and National Guard, commanding at every level from company to brigade and serving in strategic roles at the Pentagon. Now, as executive director of Veteran Initiatives at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, he's on a mission to help transitioning servicemembers translate their military leadership into civilian career success.

On episode 313 of Tango Alpha Lima, Smith talks about his "Leave It to Beaver" childhood, his path into the Army, and how he now leads Emory's Master of Business for Veterans program. The one-year accredited degree is designed for servicemembers with 20-plus years of service. He breaks down why NCOs are "the ultimate salespeople," how he's educating civilian employers on the value veterans bring to the workforce, and what makes veteran students different from the rest of higher ed.

Also in this episode, podcast hosts Stacy Pearsall, Adam Marr and Joe Worley discuss:

• How the USS Skate made the impossible possible at the North Pole in 1958
• America’s oldest military decoration that dates back to the Revolutionary War.
• Why yelling “Geronimo!" became a military tradition thanks to a U.S. Army paratrooper in 1940 at Fort Benning, Ga.

Recruit Miliary and Hiring our Heroes

Enter our sweepstakes to win a Humvee

Emory University Goizueta Business School

Gen. Matt Smith on LinkedIn

Tell us Why You Love Your Service Animal

What if the best therapy for a veteran wasn’t in a clinic but in the ground?

Stephen Humphreys is a former Air Force officer, PhD archaeologist, and co-founder of American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) — the only organization in the United States using professional battlefield archaeology to build long-term careers for veterans. AVAR crews have worked Saratoga, Fort Ticonderoga, the Battle of Camden, and are headed to Bunker Hill. Through a partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, they have helped bring home the remains of three WWII service members lost for eight decades.

Humphreys talks about why veterans belong on these sites, what archaeology gives them that most programs can’t, and why purpose — not sympathy — is what actually changes lives.

Also in this episode: a myth-or-fact battlefield archaeology edition that covers what’s still left to find at Revolutionary War sites and whether WWII remains can still come home after 80 years. Plus, a Navy sailor opens a Monster Energy drink and finds something that was definitely not on the label.

Your stories. Your service. Your community. This is Tango Alpha Lima.

SHOW NOTES

• Learn more about the birth of NASA
• Ad Break: S.O.A.R.
• Learn more about Veterans Curation Program
• Dig deeper into Stephen's work with AVAR
• Enter the Drive for Freedom Sweepstakes for a chance to win a Humvee!
• Join The American Legion