Ep 515: Air Force EOD Event Canceled Over Optics: Leadership Failure or Risk Aversion?

Send us a text Peaches is flying solo and absolutely torching weak leadership in this unfiltered rant from the Ones Ready team room. The story? A Monster Mash at Little Rock AFB was shut down at the last second—after 50 candidates paid their own way—because someone got scared of “bad optics” during a government shutdown. Spoiler: nobody died, but the leadership’s spine sure did. Peaches tears into risk-averse commanders, lazy optics-warriors, and anyone who hides behind policy instead of taking ownership. Then he spotlights one real-deal hero: Col. Echard , the 19th Airlift Wing Commander who told everyone to “keep pressing” and owned the risk like a leader should. If you’ve ever wondered why morale tanks or why recruiting struggles, this episode spells it out in flaming detail. Get ready for rants, real talk, and a reminder that courage doesn’t come from PowerPoint slides. ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Peaches in the team room, solo and slightly unhinged 02:30 – The Monster Mash disaster: how 50 candidates got burned 05:10 – Government shutdown excuses and the weak “optics” cop-out 07:30 – Risk aversion: the silent killer of military progress 10:45 – Enter Col. Eckerd: one leader who actually leads 13:00 – “Own the risk, keep pressing” – how real commanders operate 15:00 – Peaches unloads on leadership that folds under pressure 18:00 – Lessons from chaos: empathy, ownership, and doing better 20:00 – Shoutouts to the EOD team and recruiters who kept grinding 22:30 – The Ones Ready mission: real training, real risk, real results 24:00 – PMA, TastyGains, and Peaches roasting himself before bed 🎯 Call-to-Actions: 👍 Smash that Like button — leadership needs to see this 🔔 Subscribe so you don’t miss the next ones-ready rant 💬 Drop your take: Who’s right — the rule followers or the risk takers? 🌟 Leave a review if you’ve ever had to deal with “optics warriors” 🪖 Join the Ones Ready Membership for insider content 👕 Grab the new Hero 2.0 shirts at OnesReady.com Support the show Join this channel to get access to perks: HERE Buzzsprout Subscription page: HERE Register for our Operator Training Summit: OperatorTrainingSummit.com Collabs: Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code: ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code): ATACLete Danger Close Apparel - Promo Code: ONESREADY DFND Apparel - Promo Code: ONESREADY Hoist - Promo Code: ONESREADY ...