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Matt Okuhara joined the Territorial Army at 18. After just a few weeks of training he was called up for service in Iraq.

Details of Matt's book, Basra and Back: "Basra and Back follows Salamanca Company, a unit of British infantry deployed to Iraq as part of the peacekeeping effort after the 2003 invasion, known as Operation TELIC. Drawn from units in southwest England, Salamanca Company wasted no time in assuming its duties, providing security to the coalition’s provisional government and navigating the tense, dusty streets of Basra City. Insurgents had infiltrated the city, sowing discord among the population already grappling with shortages of essential resources like food, water, fuel, and electricity. The soldiers understood the gravity of the situation and braced themselves for civil unrest and worse, knowing their deployment would lead them into even more dangerous territory. For six months in 2004, the officers and men of The Rifle Volunteers found themselves as reservists on the frontline. Now that the war had been won, it was time to win the peace. Told through the eyes of Matthew Okuhara, a young soldier called into regular service, Basra and Back gives a true and overlooked account of the UK's military reserve at war. Narrated with an abstract sense of humour, Matthew is initially out of place but eventually discovers his role as the unit medic within ‘3 Platoon’. The book also covers the military history of reserve soldiers during the War on Terror, with the deployment of so many volunteers marking a historic moment for the British Army, as was the first time in nearly half a century that a formed unit of reservists is deployed in a ground holding role since the Suez Crisis: an experiment that created a strategy that continued in military deployments for years to come."

You can order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Basra-Back-Memoir-Unlikely-Infantryman/dp/1036129659

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Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Daril Fannin’s path to Hollywood defies every norm. Raised in a cult that banned movies, his first act of rebellion was sneaking out to watch The Matrix. It cracked open his world—and rewrote the script for his life. After nine years as a U.S. Army combat medic, Daril earned his MFA in screenwriting at Loyola Marymount, where he sold a Netflix series before finishing the program. Today, he’s a multi-million dollar creator, writing and producing projects with A-list icons like Matt Damon, Peter Berg, Sylvester Stallone, and Jimmy Kimmel for entertainment giants like Netflix and Disney. Daril’s mission: fix a broken industry. Frustrated by the inefficiencies and inequities embedded in traditional Hollywood workflows, he co-founded KINO: a tech-powered platform designed to reinvent how films are produced, distributed, and experienced. And most recently had his film picked up by A24.

Follow Daril: @darilfannin

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on:

instagram: @veteranstateofmind

email: info@vsompodcast.com

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

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Stephen Handley served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and 1 Royal Welsh. On his second tour of Afghanistan Stephen suffered life changing injuries caused by an IED.

Stephen's Instagram: @stephen.handley

The climbing organisation that Stephen talks about is: https://www.adaptivegrandslam.com/

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact us on instagram: @veteranstateofmind

Geraint's books are available at: www.geraintjonesmedia.com and https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Geraint-Jones/author/B06XTKLWBM

Support the show