S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
From the little league coach to the former addict helping those still struggling, hear from people from all walks of life how they show up as a vessel for service and drive for transformational change. Hosted by Theresa Carpenter, a 28-year active duty U.S. naval officer who found service was the path to unlocking trauma and unleashing your inner potential. All views are mine alone and not on behalf of any other entity.
S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
I assist military whistleblowers | Ryan Sweazey - S.O.S. podcast #85
My next guest experienced what he believed was injustice at the hands of the military’s administrative investigation system.
Instead of throwing his arms up in the air, believing that he could not be the change, he founded an organization dedicated to helping others who feel wronged by the military justice system. He is now trying to reform the administrative bureaucracy behind command investigations and the IG process. Join us this Tuesday to hear Ryan’s thoughts on how we can improve this process and restore confidence and justice to what he says is a broken process that hurts those who complain and those accused of misconduct.
A 1999 graduate of the Air Force Academy, “Count” Sweazey (SWAY-zee) served in the active duty Air Force until his retirement in 2022. As an F-16 pilot, he served in five operational / test flying assignments, logging over 1,500 sorties in the F-16 and T-38. In 2010, he was designated as a Regional Affairs Strategist for Western Europe, later being selected in 2021 as the Air Force’s only fighter pilot Foreign Area Officer. Sweazey served over 14 years overseas, including assignments to Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, and Iraq.
Sweazey served as an Inspector General in the Air Force from 2013-2016 where he witnessed the numerous shortcomings of the Department of Defense Inspector General system. Later, while assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2017-2020, he again experienced firsthand the rampant dysfunction of the DoDIG as his and dozens of others’ IG complaints fell through the cracks of an ineffective and corrupt organization. During that time, Sweazey collated over 70 witness statements and produced a report to Congress highlighting the systemic failings of both DIA and the DoDIG.
This report would serve to be the centerpiece of a February 2022 article by the Wall Street Journal which brought attention to the breadth and depth of corruption in our military avenues of recourse, culminating with the passage of the 2023 Intelligence Authorization Act, the intelligence compendium to the NDAA. In January 2022, Sweazey launched the nonprofit Walk the Talk Foundation, whose mission is twofold: bringin
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