Ones Ready
A team of active duty Combat Control (CCT), Pararescue (PJ), and Special Reconnaissance (SR) leveraging our 69 years of special operations experience to make the next generation of operators smarter, faster and stronger than we ever were. We are the PREMIERE resource for all things Air Force Special Warfare. The Ones Ready Podcast is honest talk about what it is like to go from a know-nothing high school graduate to an elite Special Operator. We will cover important practices for success including physical training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset traits essential to any team. Join us in The Team Room to get all your questions answered!! With battle-tested operators from across USAF SPECWAR and far-reaching web of recruiters, subject matter experts, and friends, there are no questions we can’t answer- and if we can’t, we know exactly where to look. See you in The Team Room!Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the OnesReady team are those of the team and do not reflect the official policy or position of the DoD. Any content provided by our Podcast guests, bloggers, sponsors, or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign the DoD, any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone.
Ones Ready
Ep 536: USAF In Manda Bay—Security Forces Officer Calls Out Leadership Failures
Peaches and Trent drag the Air Force’s favorite fantasy into the daylight: the idea that “nothing ever happens in Africa.” Major Mike Voto shows up and calmly dismantles a decade of complacency, bureaucratic daydreaming, and leadership cosplay that left defenders untrained, undermanned, and standing on a Kenyan airfield praying the cavalry might arrive sometime today-ish.
He drops truth bombs about zero-prep deployments, wet-behind-the-ears defenders thrown into real combat, and the surreal aftermath where the wrong people got medals and the right people got silence. If you think you know what happened at Manda Bay, buckle up—Peaches isn’t here to stroke egos, he’s here to wake you up.
If this episode makes you uncomfortable, good. It should.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – The “ambushes don’t matter” delusion
04:45 – The Operator Training Summit shout-out
06:20 – How Voto landed in the nightmare
12:40 – “Pre-deployment training? LOL, no.”
18:00 – Why defenders weren’t ready (and why leadership didn’t care)
24:10 – The Christmas party that nearly became a mass casualty
33:30 – The attack begins: chaos, mortars, and reality
45:50 – Holding the airfield with 84 defenders and duct tape
55:10 – The medal circus that insulted everyone who fought
1:08:00 – The cost: careers ended, mental health shattered
1:22:00 – Peaches unloads on accountability theater
1:25:00 – Final message: stop pretending this isn’t a problem
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