The Team House

original air date 3|1|24

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Phil Campion takes us from a brutal childhood and conventional infantry service in Northern Ireland through SAS selection, counterterrorism work, operations in the Balkans, and the Sierra Leone hostage rescue. We also discuss his post-military years in private security, the personal cost of that lifestyle, his transition into media, and the launch of Forces Radio.

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00:00 – Start
01:18 – Phil Campion’s Childhood & Early Life
03:32 – Growing Up in a Children’s Home
04:20 – Joining the Army & Finally Feeling Safe
06:05 – How Phil Ended Up in the Infantry
08:35 – Joining the Royal Hampshire Regiment
10:16 – British Army Basic Training
14:33 – Arriving at His First Unit
16:01 – Phil’s First “Operation” as a Soldier
17:27 – Meeting Princess Diana
19:12 – Deploying to Northern Ireland
19:46 – Understanding the Troubles From Both Sides
22:29 – Counterinsurgency & Patrolling Northern Ireland
25:19 – Fighting, Military Jail & a Troubled Young Soldier
27:43 – Why Phil Wanted Special Forces
29:36 – What the British Army Was Actually Doing in Northern Ireland
31:11 – Deciding to Attempt SAS Selection
32:06 – Going Around His Chain of Command
34:18 – “You Should Try Special Forces Selection”
36:40 – The SAS Hills Phase
37:51 – Jungle Selection in Brunei
42:14 – SERE, Escape & Interrogation Training
44:07 – Parachute Training & Nearly Killing Himself
48:00 – SAS Counterterrorism Training
48:15 – Passing Selection
50:16 – Joining D Squadron
52:17 – Life as the New Guy in the SAS
56:08 – Hunting War Criminals in the Balkans
57:35 – The Stansted Hijacking
59:19 – Preparing to Storm the Aircraft
1:02:25 – More Stories From the Hijacking
1:05:27 – The Sierra Leone Hostage Crisis Begins
1:07:12 – Two SAS Soldiers Killed Before the Mission
1:08:49 – D Squadron Gets the Call
1:09:52 – Deploying Into Sierra Leone
1:11:02 – How the Royal Irish Soldiers Were Taken Hostage
1:14:25 – When the Rescue Mission Became Necessary
1:16:02 – Intelligence & Planning the Assault
1:17:05 – Three Plans to Rescue the Hostages
1:18:01 – The Crazy Helicopter Assault Plan
1:20:33 – Launching the Mission
1:21:12 – The SAS Hits the Village
1:22:06 – Surprise, Firepower & Securing the Hostages
1:28:50 – Weapons, Mortars & SAS Firepower
1:30:31 – Why Phil Left the SAS
1:31:02 – Losing a Close Friend
1:32:46 – Leaving the Army Days Before 9/11
1:34:45 – Entering the Private Military Contracting World
1:35:34 – The Early Afghanistan Contracting Boom
1:36:43 – When the Contractor Lifestyle Caught Up With Him
1:37:21 – Drinking, Violence & an Attempted Murder Charge
1:38:54 – Gaza, West Africa & Anti-Piracy Work
1:41:47 – Becoming a Civilian After Years at War
1:42:19 – Prison, Losing Everything & Starting Over
1:43:31 – Breaking Into Television & News Media
1:44:18 – Reporting From Syria
1:47:37 – How the Media Uses Veterans
1:49:20 – Taking Back Control of His Own Story
1:50:39 – Building Forces Radio
1:53:03 – Launching the Forces Radio Podcasts
1:58:31 – Audience Questions
2:00:06 – Phil’s Favorite SAS Story From World War II
2:01:04 – Secret Surveillance in Northern Ireland
2:02:58 – How Conventional Troops Learned Covert Surveillance
2:04:34 – Closing Thoughts

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We break down the escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the growing pressure on Riyadh’s air defenses, and whether the U.S. could be pulled into a new campaign in Yemen. We also discuss Trump’s Russian diesel deal, Iran’s use of Moscow as a diplomatic channel, and the deeper political dysfunction and public apathy shaping American decision-making.
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Support the show on Patreon:⬇️
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Jack's news outlet:⬇️
https://thehighside.substack.com/
Find Jon Hackett here:⬇️
Jon's Twitter:
https://x.com/jonathanhackett
Jon's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Jon's books:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0C5L659N5?ccs_id=e11a2062-f8d3-498e-bfd7-7d2f3869caf6
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Twitter: https://x.com/jonathanhackett
Find Andy Milburn here: 
Twitter ⬇️
https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fandymilburn8
LinkedIn ⬇️
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmilburn2023
Substack ⬇️
https://amilburn.substack.com/
Andy’s book ⬇️
https://www.amazon.com/When-Tempest-Gathers-Mogadishu-Operations
00:00 – Start
00:19 – Houthis Strike Saudi Airports
01:20 – Deadly Ballistic Missile Attack on Riyadh Airport
03:30 – Houthis Warn Airlines Away From Saudi Airspace
04:40 – Is Saudi Arabia Running Low on Air Defense Interceptors?
06:30 – Should the U.S. Strike Houthi Missile Launchers?
07:30 – An American Killed in the Airport Attack
09:19 – Saudi-Backed Ground Offensive in Yemen
11:13 – Jack Joins the Conversation
11:32 – Is Iran Opening a Second Front Through the Houthis?
13:44 – What a New U.S. Air Campaign in Yemen Could Look Like
14:46 – Could the U.S. Put Ground Troops Into Yemen?
16:51 – Could Saudi Forces Handle the Ground War?
19:48 – Would Another Air Campaign Against the Houthis Work?
22:15 – The Real Goal: Protecting Saudi Arabia
23:31 – Bab al-Mandab, Houthi Missiles & the Ground Offensive
25:37 – Trump’s Russian Diesel Deal
27:09 – Why Ukraine Has Little Reason to Stop Striking Russia
28:10 – Russia, Iran & the Contradictions in U.S. Policy
31:07 – Diesel Prices, Midterms & the Russia Deal
34:18 – Havana Syndrome & a New Russia Investigation
36:55 – Iran Sends Negotiating Terms Through Putin
38:18 – Is the American Political System Becoming Permanently Gridlocked?
39:47 – Why Andy Thinks the U.S. Is Different From European Democracies
44:31 – Apathy, Doomerism & Losing Faith in Institutions
47:02 – What Could Actually Trigger a Systemic Crisis?
48:42 – Politics, Fandom & Escapism
49:49 – Why Americans Talk Sports More Than Geopolitics
53:26 – Why So Many Americans Have Checked Out of Politics
55:06 – Would Higher Voter Turnout Actually Change Anything?
56:15 – The Slow Erosion of American Institutions
57:55 – Politics as Entertainment
59:01 – Money in Politics & Endless Campaign Seasons
1:00:17 – Andy Signs Off
1:01:15 – AUSA, Drones & the Defense Industry
1:02:33 – Chinese Honeypots at AUSA
1:04:10 – Closing Thoughts

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Naveed Jamali tells the story of how he went from a family business in New York to working with the FBI as a double agent against Russian military intelligence before eventually becoming a Naval Intelligence officer. We also discuss how the Russians recruit assets, the psychological toll of undercover work, encounters with suspected Chinese intelligence, and why counterintelligence still matters today.
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00:00 – Start
05:24 – How a Future Navy Intel Officer Became an FBI Asset
08:18 – Growing Up Around New York’s Espionage World
10:22 – Why New York Is a Hub for Foreign Intelligence
13:18 – How His Parents Became Involved With the FBI
14:25 – A KGB Officer Walks Into the Family Business
18:04 – Russian Surveillance & Sending a Message
19:15 – Meeting Oleg, the GRU Officer
20:15 – Why the Russians Wanted Open-Source Military Material
22:02 – Robert Hanssen & Rebuilding Russia’s Spy Network
23:40 – Russia’s Long-Term Plan to Cultivate an American Asset
26:32 – 9/11 & Wanting to Join Naval Intelligence
28:21 – Pitching Himself to the FBI
30:24 – Using Counterintelligence Work to Get Into the Navy
34:39 – Designing His Own Double-Agent Operation
36:28 – “Does Oleg Have a Gun?”
39:04 – The Psychological Toll of Living Undercover
39:52 – MICE: Why People Become Spies
44:43 – Convincing the Russians He Was Motivated by Money & Ego
48:30 – Taking the Relationship With Oleg to the Next Level
51:06 – Moving the Spy Meetings Out of the Office
52:28 – When Russia Started Tasking Him for Intelligence
53:31 – Walking Into Northrop Grumman for the FBI
55:03 – How Dangerous Was the Operation?
57:05 – Russian Intimidation After the Operation
59:03 – A Suspicious Encounter With Russia Today
1:02:04 – A Russian Approach Targeting a National Security Journalist
1:06:06 – Intelligence Agencies & the Press
1:09:29 – Influencers, Propaganda & Russian Money
1:12:22 – Being Surveilled by Suspected Chinese Intelligence
1:15:29 – A Surveillance Vehicle Outside His Home
1:17:06 – Why Chinese Intelligence Was Interested in Him
1:19:05 – The Counterintelligence Threat From China
1:23:28 – Showing Oleg a Sensitive Government Database
1:25:08 – The Russian Thumb Drive That Nearly Blew Everything Up
1:26:20 – The FBI Turns on Him
1:27:13 – Setting the Final Trap for Oleg
1:31:24 – The Arrest Plan Goes Sideways
1:37:48 – Finally Learning How Big the Operation Really Was
1:40:27 – How the Operation Disrupted Russian Intelligence Collection
1:41:27 – What Happened to Oleg
1:44:22 – The FBI Helps Him Become a Naval Intelligence Officer
1:46:24 – Telling the Spy Story Inside a SCIF
1:48:25 – How a Chance Encounter Led to How to Catch a Russian Spy
1:50:39 – Balancing a Media Career With Naval Intelligence
1:53:20 – The Mental Cost of Undercover Work
1:56:42 – When the Stress Finally Caught Up With Him
1:58:22 – Life After Intelligence & Journalism
2:00:17 – Flying the B-2, B-1 & B-52
2:02:42 – Why Deterrence Still Matters
2:05:18 – Flying on America’s Doomsday Plane
2:07:32 – Knowing When It’s Time to Pass the Torch
2:10:38 – Closing Thoughts

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We break down the return of airline hijacking concerns, suspected covert activity around RAF Fairford, drone threats, and a mysterious pneumonic plague death at a Russian research facility. We also dig into the John Chapman/SEAL Team Six controversy, the politics of valor awards, the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, and how American policy reshaped Iran’s influence across the region.
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Support the show on Patreon:⬇️
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Jack's news outlet:⬇️
https://thehighside.substack.com/
Find Jon Hackett here:⬇️
Jon's Twitter:
https://x.com/jonathanhackett
Jon's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Jon's books:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0C5L659N5?ccs_id=e11a2062-f8d3-498e-bfd7-7d2f3869caf6
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Jon's article we referenced in the show:
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/03/04/covert-action-in-irregular-wars/
00:00 – Start
02:12 – Eyes on Pastrami & Opening Banter
02:38 – The Return of Aircraft Hijackings
03:32 – Insider Threats & Pilot Security
05:11 – Copycat Attacks, Radicalization & AI
07:05 – Airline Security After 9/11
08:12 – Lone Wolf or Sponsored Hijacking Plot?
08:52 – What’s Really Happening Around RAF Fairford?
10:06 – How British Counterintelligence Handles Suspected Cells
11:25 – B-1 Bombers Evacuated From RAF Fairford
12:05 – Why Drone Swarms Are So Hard to Stop
13:28 – What the Fairford Threat Says About NATO
14:17 – Is America About to Heavily Regulate Drones?
16:36 – America’s Drone Startup Boom
17:39 – Why U.S. Drone Innovation Is Falling Behind
20:05 – “Escalate to De-escalate” & the Failure of Policy
22:38 – A Pneumonic Plague Death at a Russian Research Facility
24:01 – Russia’s History of Biological Weapons Programs
25:14 – Novichok, Polonium & State Assassinations
27:19 – AI, Microfluidics & the Future of Biological Warfare
29:55 – The John Chapman / SEAL Team Six Controversy
32:15 – Why Is the Chapman Story Coming Back Now?
33:03 – Sorting Through the Roberts Ridge Claims
34:25 – Does John Chapman Deserve the Medal of Honor?
35:56 – The Legal Implications of Challenging the Award
37:08 – The Optics of Attacking a Fallen Medal of Honor Recipient
40:59 – Who Financed the Upcoming Documentary?
42:29 – The Bigger Problem With GWOT Valor Awards
43:56 – The Politics Behind Medal of Honor Awards
45:26 – Revisiting the U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq
45:46 – What Were U.S. Troops Still Doing in Iraq?
46:50 – From Counter-ISIS to Containing Iran
48:20 – Did the Iraq War Make Iran Stronger?
49:43 – The Untold Intelligence War in Syria
50:16 – Timber Sycamore & the CIA’s Syria Program
52:00 – What the Episode Covered
52:23 – Why Sykes-Picot Still Shapes the Middle East
53:30 – SAS Operations in Northern Ireland

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We break down the attempted hijacking of Flydubai Flight 1073, the warning signs investigators may have missed, and whether the attack was connected to Iran or a lone-wolf extremist. We also discuss suspected IRGC-linked plots in the UK, the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, what that means for the Kurds and Iranian influence, and whether the latest troop and carrier movements signal a new round of escalation in the Middle East.
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Support the show on Patreon:⬇️
https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse
Jack's news outlet:⬇️
https://thehighside.substack.com/
Find Jon Hackett here:⬇️
Jon's Twitter:
https://x.com/jonathanhackett
Jon's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Jon's books:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0C5L659N5?ccs_id=e11a2062-f8d3-498e-bfd7-7d2f3869caf6
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett
Twitter: https://x.com/jonathanhackett
Check out Mick's new podcast here:⬇️
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/pub-and-porch-applied-stoicism/id1836955475
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1k3QPmkAMwnGJxMLDwUSSd?si=n6piIu8XRcag1Z0K43A3bQ
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@UCd0Hq6QFk8CoTu5j-VU0Ong 
Find Mick Mulroy here: 
Fogbow ⬇️
https://fogbow.com/
Lobo Institute ⬇️
https://www.loboinstitute.org/
Twitter ⬇️
https://x.com/mickmulroy?s=21&t=-Ze3F_Ix2vlJ18KFvORTCA
LinkedIn ⬇️
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-patrick-mulroy-31198b52/
Whitefish security summit ⬇️
https://whitefishsecuritysummit.com
Find Marc P here:
https://x.com/Mpolymer
Find Andy Milburn here: 
Twitter ⬇️
https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fandymilburn8
LinkedIn ⬇️
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmilburn2023
Substack ⬇️
https://amilburn.substack.com/
Andy’s book ⬇️
https://www.amazon.com/When-Tempest-Gathers-Mogadishu-Operations
00:00 – Start
00:02 – Flydubai Flight 1073 Hijacking Attempt
01:29 – How Close the Flight Came to Disaster
04:40 – The Intelligence Failures Before the Attack
06:17 – Aviation’s Worst-Case Insider Threat
07:51 – How Flydubai Missed the Warning Signs
09:46 – Was Iran Behind the Attack?
13:18 – Israel Says It Wasn’t Iran
14:26 – The Lone-Wolf Terrorism Problem
17:37 – Suspected Iran-Linked Plot in Manchester
20:29 – Is the IRGC Getting Sloppier?
22:12 – What Would Iran-Backed Attacks Mean for Britain?
24:43 – Iran’s History of Covert Attacks in the UK
26:57 – How Iran Uses Proxies and Simple Attacks
28:54 – Why Is the UK Such a Major Target?
31:15 – The U.S. Finally Pulls Out of Iraq
33:58 – Was Iraq Worth It?
35:09 – What the Withdrawal Gives Iran
37:41 – Are the Kurds the Biggest Losers?
38:59 – Why Not Leave a Small U.S. Force Behind?
41:26 – Did America Throw Away Its Position in Iraq?
44:19 – Decades of U.S. Blunders in Iraq
47:18 – What U.S. Forces Still Remain in Iraq?
49:16 – Did America Learn Anything From the Iraq War?
50:21 – Do Troops Need to Understand the Bigger Mission?
52:08 – Explaining the War to the People Fighting It
55:49 – Gold Star Families & the Cost of Endless War
57:26 – 9,000 More U.S. Troops Head to CENTCOM
58:16 – Is the U.S. Preparing to Escalate Against Iran?
58:56 – Could There Be U.S. Ground Operations?
1:00:34 – Three Carriers in the Middle East & the China Problem
1:01:24 – What the Camp David Meeting Could Mean
1:02:36 – Will the U.S. Strike the Houthis for Saudi Arabia?
1:04:05 – Closing Thoughts
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