One of the UK's Deadliest Snipers | Ted Shirley | Ep. 386

Ted Shirley is a former British Army sniper who served multiple deployments in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and the author of Afghanistan Sniper. He now speaks publicly about combat, moral injury, PTSD, and recovery, using his experience to challenge stigma around mental health in the military and veteran community. Grab Ted's book "Afghanistan Sniper" here: https://a.co/d/bpjg5zk Follow Ted on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/tedshirleyauthor/?hl=en Today's Sponsors: TrueWerk ⬇️ https://truewerk.com/house use code "HOUSE" for 15% off! GhostBed⬇️ https://www.ghostbed.com/house FOR 25% off! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For ad free video and audio and access to live streams and Eyes On Geopolitics... JOIN OUR PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTeamHouse To help support the show and for all bonus content including: -live shows and asking guest questions -ad free audio and video -early access to shows -Access to ALL bonus segments with our guests Subscribe to our Patreon! ⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse Support the show here:⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse ___________________________________________________ Subscribe to the new EYES ON podcast here:⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured __________________________________ Jack Murphy's new book "We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History" ⬇️ https://www.amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N/ —————————————————————— Or make a one time donation at: ⬇️ https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse Social Media: ⬇️ The Team House Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.team.house?utm_medium=copy_link The Team House Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTeamHousePod Jack’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/jackmcmurph?utm_medium=copy_link Jack’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackmurphyrgr?s=21 Dave’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dave_parke?s=21 Team House Discord: ⬇️ https://discord.gg/wHFHYM6 SubReddit: ⬇️ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheTeamHouse/ Jack Murphy's memoir "Murphy's Law" can be found here:⬇️ https://www.amazon.com/Murphys-Law-Journey-Investigative-Journalist/dp/1501191241 The Team Room Reading Room (Amazon Affiliate links):⬇️ https://jackmurphywrites.com/the-team-room-reading-room/ Intro music by https://www.youtube.com/user/RemixSample "Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio" 00:02 — START 01:02 — Growing Up Military | Why He Joined the Army 02:26 — First Afghanistan Deployment | British Infantry 07:06 — How Sniper Selection Works | British Army 14:33 — Pre-Deployment Training & First Combat Loss 20:52 — Counter-Sniper Fight | Enemy Sniper Encounter 26:15 — Helmand Firefight | “The Longest Day” 38:10 — 1-Mile Sniper Kill | Combat Turning Point 49:59 — PTSD & Moral Injury | Suicide Attempt 59:03 — Sniper Recovery | Therapy, EMDR & Writing the Book Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

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• 1:32Speaker 03

  Special Operations.

• 1:36Speaker 03

  Covert Ops. Espionage. The Team House. With your hosts, Jack Murphy and David Park.

• 1:52Jack Murphy?

  Hey folks, this is episode 386 of The Team House. I'm Jack Murphy with our guest today, the author of Afghanistan Sniper Ted Shirley. He served in the British military from 2007 to 2013 in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, giving them sniper support and deployed to Afghanistan and then wrote this book and now does some public speaking about his struggles and recovery from post-traumatic stress. Ted, thank you very much for joining us.

• 2:24Speaker 03

  My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, mate.

• 2:27Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, absolutely. So Ted, the first question I always ask our guests, tell us a little bit about your upbringing and how that took you towards military service.

• 2:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, absolutely. So my dad was in the Navy and he was in the Falklands War. So always, I've had all these stories growing up as a kid, you know, this life of adventure. So I very much wanted a bit of that for myself. So then various family members and stuff had been in and yeah, it just sort of led straight away really from school. I knew I was always going to go in the forces.

• 3:06Jack Murphy?

  Okay, so it really was, you know, like a family tradition for you?

• 3:10Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, very much so. Yeah, yeah. I had this, I had this sense of pride about me that I wanted to do something for my country at that age.

• 3:21Jack Murphy?

  And so what part of the UK did you grow up in as a kid?

• 3:26Speaker 03

  So I'm in North Wales. So we're just, just a tiny little bit on the left where the best people come from though.

• 3:35Jack Murphy?

  Good weather, I take it?

• 3:38Speaker 03

  Say again, sorry?

• 3:38Jack Murphy?

  Good weather?

• 3:40Speaker 03

  Oh yeah, it's currently raining sideways.

• 3:47Jack Murphy?

  Okay, so 2007, presumably after high school, you go into the army.

• 3:56Jack Murphy?

  Tell us about kind of that process. Did you enlist as an infantryman?

• 4:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I started off in the infantry, yeah, and then very quickly I found myself after training and getting to my unit. I was deployed to Afghanistan straight away on my third tour, uh, first tour, sorry. Um, our unit was based out in Cyprus at the time. Uh, so it was quite, quite a cool introduction to army life for me. Uh, and then once we came back, that's when I then got selected to go on the sniper course and uh, that's where my journey really began, to be honest.

• 4:29Jack Murphy?

  Is your, was your unit in Cyprus as part of like the UN peacekeeping sort of uh, construct that exists there?

• 4:38Speaker 03

  Uh, partly, yeah, we, we were mainly there as a quick reaction force to the Middle East. Um, so there was obviously a big RAF base there, Akatiri, so that, that's what we would do. You know, it'd be a last minute call and then off we'd go.

• 4:53Jack Murphy?

  Gotcha, gotcha. And, and what was that first tour to Afghanistan like for you as a young infantryman?

• 4:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, for my first tour, uh, it was, it was okay. It was, it was enough. I saw and did enough to get by and say that, yeah, that was, that gave me the full experience. Uh, we were in a town called Musakala, so it was quite, you know, it was quite a hot town. Uh, but yeah, it was a good introduction. The first time I got shot at was, I, I thought it's hilarious to be honest. I couldn't, couldn't stop laughing. Uh, it was quite a surreal experience. Uh, the one I, I will not forget. I was talking to, funny enough, to uh, another guy that I know who was a sniper. Uh, and he was there on that day. It was both our first tours and we were just howling about how funny this was, you know?

• 5:40Speaker 03

  It was the dirt kicking up around you. You sort of burst into this uncontrollable fit of laughter. It wasn't, it wasn't nerves. It was just, it was more happiness, like, let's, we're actually doing it.

• 5:53Jack Murphy?

  And how did that day pan out for you guys as you know, you're taking effective fire?

• 6:00Speaker 03

  Oh yeah, it was actually a cheeky day. It ended in a 30 kilometer tab across this plateau back with no rations, no supplies, no nothing. It was, it was a good one. It was, yeah, like I said, the full experience.

• 6:17Jack Murphy?

  And what was sort of like the unit's mission that took you guys out there?

• 6:23Speaker 03

  So we were, we were looking after a place called Rochean Tower, which was, you know, a big mobile phone unit on the top of it. And it was quite a hotspot for Taliban activity. So we were looking after that initially. And then we were to head towards this place called Mount Doom, which I just thought was the coolest name ever.

• 6:44Speaker 03

  There's going to be some super bad guy in Mount Doom. So we headed down the wadi towards that. And it got a bit more kinetic than I think any of us realized it was going to. We ended up getting a little bit cut off for a couple of days. And then there was a special forces unit the other side of the, of the wadi as well. And they, they had the exact same thing. One of their, one of their guys got took out. So yeah, it was a bit of a, bit of a cheeky couple of days and it was boiling hot as well. Oh my God.

• 7:16Jack Murphy?

  Was this Helmand province?

• 7:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, in Helmand. Yeah, yeah.

• 7:22Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, I mean, I know the Brits were there quite a bit and, and Helmand also one of the most dangerous, you know, hottest parts of the country.

• 7:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, it was, it was, well, it's where I spent all my time and everyone I was with, like we were always in Helmand.

• 7:38Jack Murphy?

  And then how long were you deployed there that first time?

• 7:42Speaker 03

  That first time was four months, being obviously part of this quick reaction force. The, the time length would vary for everybody.

• 7:54Speaker 03

  Yeah. So after we'd, after we'd done that, we were only in Cyprus for another couple, couple of months and we got returned then back to the UK. Back to the rainy weather and that's where we stayed.

• 8:07Jack Murphy?

  That, that was like kind of a normal rotation of units that go in and out of Cyprus?

• 8:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, it goes every sort of two years or so, everyone moves about. Yeah. And then you find everyone trying to go, oh, I need to actually stay here. Because.

• 8:22Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, once you get settled in and everything, yeah, you're reluctant to.

• 8:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, get a little bit used to the weather for sure.

• 8:29Jack Murphy?

  Yeah. So when you come back from your first deployment, what was sort of your interest in becoming a sniper? Did someone recommend that you go that route or was it something you pursued?

• 8:44Speaker 03

  To be honest, it happened by pure chance. It was something that I really wanted to do. I always had wanted to be a sniper. You know, obviously seeing all the films that we also grew up watching and stuff. It was, it was just my absolute.

• 8:58Speaker 03

  And then one day I was on guard duty and got talking to somebody and they said, oh, there's actually a space that needs filling. On the pre-selection course. So I was like, whoa, put my name down. I'm well, you know, I really want to be a sniper. I'll go for this. This is my dream. Let's do it. So that was it. That's how it started. And then, and then you sort of do a pre-selection phase in the British Army and then those that rise to the top of that are then sent away then to attend the course, which is six months long.

• 9:27Jack Murphy?

  Holy shit. I didn't realize that was such an extensive course they sent you guys to.

• 9:33Speaker 03

  Yeah. Oh, there's a reason we're good.

• 9:35Jack Murphy?

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• 11:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, okay, so it starts off, the first three months are very much the classroom phase, the learning theoretical side of shooting ballistics, how a round flies through the air, and what affects it. And then correlating with that is the range days where you're constantly all day, every day hitting targets, you know, starting at 600 meters and then moving backwards. So from the offset, the learning curve is very steep. If you fall behind that learning curve, then you've got no chance to catch up and you sort of off you go, you fall to the wayside. So the numbers reduce really, really quick.

• 12:28Speaker 03

  And once that three month phase is over, you then move to the Brecon Beacons of South Wales, which is obviously where the SAS do their selection phase. So it's a nasty, nasty area with some, some horrendous, horrendous weather. So you go there and this is where the, the tactical phase starts then. So this is where we would learn about the observation techniques, camouflage and concealment, into all these different things, how we'd actually physically go about being snipers and moving ourselves, being invisible, getting into all these fire positions and whatnot. And then which these all culminate then in,

• 13:07Speaker 03

  in a test week at the end of that six month course, which involves things like solo navigations, solo night navigations, sniper history tests, which is, which was actually quite a big part of it that I didn't realise was going to be a part of it. It felt a little bit like high school again, but we really enjoyed it. It was, it was good. And it, it taught us how sort of creative the job role of being a sniper was going to be, you know, coming up with all these different funny fire, fire positions and just exciting ways of becoming invisible. It just really resonated.

• 13:44Jack Murphy?

  The gillies were like Scottish hunters, right? Where the ghillie suit comes from?

• 13:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So the ghillie suits, yeah, they used to be the shrouds that they'd wear as, as they'd go off hunting. Yeah. Which is a different story, but me and one of the lads ended up winning a sniper's competition. And that, the, the prize was to go off and, and go hunting a stag in the Scottish Highlands, but we got too drunk and we missed the bus.

• 14:16Speaker 03

  Typical British Squad D fashion.

• 14:19Jack Murphy?

  And when you were in sniper school, what is the platform that they teach students on?

• 14:26Speaker 03

  How do you mean?

• 14:27Jack Murphy?

  Uh, which weapon system?

• 14:29Speaker 03

  Oh, the weapon system. So you start off with the L96, uh, which was for us at the time, just about transitioning out. That was the old sniper rifle. Uh, so it was a bit of a case of, you know, if you, if you can do it with these, you'd be able to do it with the better ones. And then once we got into phase two, uh, then we had the, uh, 338, which was one hell of a weapon system. My God, it was, it was heavy, but you could place a round wherever you wanted it.

• 14:58Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 14:59Speaker 03

  It was incredible.

• 15:01Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, I, I can't say I've, I've ever fired a 338, but I, I know the Canadians used them for many years. You guys, and I think very slowly the American military has gotten on board with the program.

• 15:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was just a sort of happy medium, I think, for the, for the bridge between the sort of 50 cal, you know, and then the 338, the, uh, the L96, sorry, was a 7.62. So obviously, you know, having that heavier round to be able to get those distances, but they were initially for helicopters for shooting engine blocks out for, for stopping cars. And they went, oh, they're allowed to be able to carry them, it'd be all right.

• 15:38Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 15:40Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, it's the infantry, you can carry heavy stuff. I, I mean, yeah, I, I've been told the, the round fires very flat. Um, which I guess is what you were saying, that you can put rounds on target at, you know, at range.

• 15:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, big time. Yeah, we, to, to the point where once we finished the six month course and we sort of went away as, as snipers in our unit and did our own sort of pre-deployment training, at a thousand meters, we were, we were hitting 10 pence pieces, which is, you know, you sort of look about a quarter that sort of size coin and we'd hit them every single time.

• 16:13Jack Murphy?

  Uh, favorite and least favorite part of sniper school?

• 16:18Speaker 03

  Oh, favorite part was the stalks. I loved doing the stalks.

• 16:26Speaker 03

  Worst part was weathering the ghillie suit.

• 16:31Speaker 03

  That was a tradition. I'm glad you only go through once, just crawling through.

• 16:36Jack Murphy?

  Oh, the, the ghillie wash. Yeah, yeah.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah. That was, that was not fun.

• 16:46Speaker 03

  The instructor's got a little bit too much enjoyment out of that one.

• 16:49Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah, it's like they're they're a little assessment and selection program that they run out there.

• 16:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:56Jack Murphy?

  Um. And so you get you finish the six months graduate, uh, and then, uh, you mentioned you go into, uh, pre-deployment training?

• 17:07Speaker 03

  Yes, yeah, so this, uh, what what happened at this point? So there was about eight of us left from the course now at this point, which started off. I don't know, over a hundred. Um, so we've then broken down into five of us were from my battalion, which was the first battalion, and then three of the lads were from the second battalion of of the Royal Welsh. Uh, they deployed, those we deployed pretty much straight away to Afghanistan on separate operations to what we were going to be doing. Um, we then deployed to Kenya. Uh, we went to Kenya for two months pre-deployment training, which was

• 17:48Speaker 03

  absolutely incredible. It was something I'm never going to forget in my life. But while the other three were over there, and these were, you know, the closest of brothers you could sort of you can get, one of them was killed by an IED, and it it started this process for for me especially, but for all of us, I know it hit us hard. So we then our life of pre-deployment had had a bit of bit of a different tinge to it. It became no longer this great fun enjoyment thing. It it switched to, yeah, we're going to war now. This is going to happen. Our reality tilted a little bit. So, yeah, everything sort of got very serious from that point after Kenya.

• 18:33Jack Murphy?

  And what sort of training did you do to prepare for this, uh, this deployment? And also, why don't you explain to us a little bit about how a sniper in the British infantry supports the ground troops and how they conduct operations?

• 18:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, absolutely, yes. So the idea with going to Kenya was the altitude and obviously the weather being so warm, as being in soggy Britain, we don't get too much heat to train in. So getting over there and getting to do that was incredible. And the scale of these exercises, there were live firing exercises where we'd have real artillery firing in and Lynx helicopters coming in and these mock villages built up. And it was, it was as cool as it was ever going to get, you know, it was, it was real, real, real close to the real deal. So our job as snipers, because there was only like so, so many, well, how

• 19:28Speaker 03

  many was there? There was five, five of us split between a battalion of about 800 men. So we were split thin between everybody. So our job roles were quite, quite filled with pressure. We would, most of the time would initially go out on patrols with the guys on the ground and we would sort of be acting like ground troops and when things kicked off, we'd climb up to a rooftop and get into a position or something. And then it gradually changed to a point where we would then overwatch patrols as they were going out and that became much more efficient for us. But we were working alone. We didn't

• 20:10Speaker 03

  have anyone being spotters for us. So there was, it was, it was quite a high pressure job.

• 20:15Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, it's an interesting like change in role, like at least the vision a lot of Americans have, I find, is from stuff about the Vietnam War, that snipers operate independently by themselves in a sniper spotter role, you know, crawling around in a ghillie suit. But throughout the war, the War on Terror, it was more like we were direct action snipers, where you're actually supporting infantry on the ground.

• 20:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, that was it. Yeah, exactly. You know, you know yourself. It was it was sort of almost a safety blanket, I think, in a way.

• 20:52Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 20:52Speaker 03

  I know it brought a lot of confidence to the lads that I was overwatching, that I was overwatching. Um, and it it it did quite a few of the times between us snipers. It panned out quite well that we'd be able to spot things that were happening in the distance. For instance, one one of the lads spotted someone bashing through a through a wall, making a murder hole with a Dushka anti-aircraft gun on the other side of it. And the lads were patrolling down this road and they were about to get the good news. And he managed to call it in and and it got dealt with luckily. Uh, but yeah, it became we we we very much. We we proved we were worth the trading. Let's put it that way for sure.

• 21:31Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:31Speaker 03

  And we were absolutely an asset.

• 21:34Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, I mean, this was a an op- an operation I was on in Iraq. Where um, one of our snipers, and I I won't say his name here, but he's he's a great guy. He was uh, doing our overwatch. For the assault teams that were coming into the structure. And two guys got up on the rooftop. This is in the middle of the night. And they were about to maneuver and start shooting down on the assault team. And he whacked both of those guys right off. Um, and when the assaulters got up there. And search, these dudes had like fighting positions with like RPKs and magazines, frag grenades, like they were, they were ready to roll, man. So. The snipers saved us, you know.

• 22:12Speaker 03

  Saved us.

• 22:14Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, exactly like your story about them spotting the Dushka. Um, that stuff matters.

• 22:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, it does. Yeah, it it became, I don't think, to be honest, any of us really realized how. Important we would be out there. We we wanted to be snipers and we wanted. To be doing that job, but I don't think we actually realized, whoa. We would, we're changing battles here. You know, we're doing things that. That are actually changing the way this, the course of this thing is moving. Um, to the point where where from from hearing. What our interpreters would listen to on Taliban radio frequencies and things like that, we knew that they were scared of us. They. They wouldn't move if they knew that one of us was in the area. Um, which was a great feeling to have, to be honest.

• 23:03Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, absolutely. Force multiplier.

• 23:05Speaker 03

  That's it. Yeah, we had these T-shirts made with force multiplier on the back. We loved them.

• 23:14Jack Murphy?

  So you get, uh, you're over in Afghanistan now as a sniper, back to Helmand Province?

• 23:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, back to Helmand Province. Yeah, we were rotating around a place called Nabi Ali, another one called Babaji. Uh, these were, these were old, these were, the numbers were, were in the hundreds.

• 23:37Jack Murphy?

  Numbers of enemy that you were encountering?

• 23:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was, uh, it was, they were training in the area. They were doing all sorts. This was very much where they were comfortable. Um, so our tour became kinetic very early on, uh, and everyone, out of all of the entire battalion, everyone was fighting hard.

• 24:01Jack Murphy?

  Uh, and so there's a couple of stories that you, uh, relate in your book that I'd love to ask you about. Um, one of them being when you faced off against an enemy sniper?

• 24:13Speaker 03

  Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. This is, uh, this is a day that my therapist got sick of hearing about.

• 24:21Speaker 03

  This was, honestly, this was, this was terrifying, this experience, and every single one of us that were there were changed from this, from this experience. We, uh,

• 24:33Speaker 03

  so what happened in, in the past few weeks, um, we're about a quarter of the way through the, through the tour at this point, which was a six-month tour. Uh, enemy snipers had been running wild in the area and they'd been strategically taking out British troops and they'd been doing a good job of it. So task, uh, tasked, uh, task forces, sorry, were, were formed. Uh, and a sort of counter sniper operation began, which meant that all of us snipers were brought back together for the first time. We were all going, oh, what's going on here? Uh, there's, there's definitely something up where we're going to be doing something good.

• 25:14Speaker 03

  Uh, so we were, we were staying in this little hangar on the outskirts of, of pretty much a goat town at this point. But what had happened was a platoon of British troops had been stranded and pinned down by an enemy sniper. He was a foreign hired gun. It turned out potentially Chechen, but we weren't a hundred percent or more. And our job was basically to go and collect these troops who'd lost quite a few of their own. And hopefully take out this sniper that had them pinned down. So we moved in, it was about probably a 10 kilometre patrol in. And when we got there, we'd gone through the compound gates and I can remember just

• 25:57Speaker 03

  seeing their faces, the troops that had been there for however long, they looked broken and exhausted. They looked like they had been fighting for their lives. And there was two tower positions, so those snipers took ourselves to one side, our commanders went and spoke with their commanders. And we came up with this plan that myself and one of the lads, Gray, were going to climb up this tower and then one of the other lads, Benny and Eddie, were going to climb up another one. So we did, and as we got to the top, we hadn't even settled in or anything, and this shot rang out and it was like nothing we'd ever heard before. We didn't know what the hell this thing was, it was powerful. So we've all sort of gone down, shit, what the fuck was that?

• 26:42Speaker 03

  So I poked my head up to try and see if I could see what it was, and it banged straight away and it was, you know when it's inches away and you get that little whistle sound, oh fuck, and I was like, oh, this is real close, so I've looked across to the other tower. Benny, one of the other boys, popped his head up and instantly again, bang, this round, so it's gone through a two metre HESCO cage of gravel, through a full 762 ammunition, and through a railway sleeper, and then off into the far distance. It was some sort of incredible mega weapon, I don't know what it was, it was, but he wasn't, he wasn't messing, and he wasn't going to miss again.

• 27:24Speaker 03

  So a hundred metres to the north of our position now, there was another compound, so it was decided, right, we're, obviously we can't poke our heads up anymore because someone's going to lose their head. Get down and we'll come up with a different plan. So the plan was that individually we'd run this hundred metre sprint across to the next compound and then hopefully one of us would be able to get a different angle and we'll be able to take this guy out. So we've all sort of stood against the wall and cigarettes are getting passed down the line and the lads don't even smoke around and it's over going and then eventually it's my turn. I'm sort of almost hyperventilating in the doorway going, fuck, he's gonna go for me, he's gonna see the sniper rifle,

• 28:06Speaker 03

  he's gonna fucking shoot me, here we go. And that's all that was going through my head. And then I sort of had this moment where I'm like, fuck, I need to calm down. It's actually my turn. So braced in the doorway and just ran zigzagging like a madman, carrying about seven stone of kit. But eventually burst through this compound door. We've all made it through safe and there was nothing to worry about because a couple of minutes later, an Apache was in the air and it just evaporated the place. Everything was gone. There was no more bad guy and we could all go home and try and shake it off. But it took me a long time to shake that one off. That fear was real.

• 28:44Jack Murphy?

  Did, did you ever figure out what he was shooting at you?

• 28:48Speaker 03

  We didn't, no. I never heard. Uh, there was rumours, but I don't know anyone that went anywhere near it to be able to find out what it was.

• 28:58Jack Murphy?

  Right, right.

• 29:00Speaker 03

  Someone was saying it was an ugly Enfield rifle.

• 29:02Jack Murphy?

  303.

• 29:04Speaker 03

  Hmm, yeah. So it could well have been, it sounded, it sounded like something that had the exhaust cut off it or something. It was, it was a beast.

• 29:13Jack Murphy?

  Right, right. Yeah, I was gonna say, it sounds like it wasn't a SVD or something. It had to be more than that.

• 29:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, it wasn't anything like that, no.

• 29:24Jack Murphy?

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• 30:52Jack Murphy?

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• 31:03Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 31:18Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic, in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 31:29Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 31:34Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 31:40Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat, it's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today.

• 32:00Speaker 01

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• 32:58Jack Murphy?

  Um, and then there's another chapter of your book, uh, you called it was the longest day.

• 33:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, the longest day. Yes. So this, uh, this all sort of starts this chapter. Um, a Delta Force team had actually been in the area. Um, and they'd come into a bit of trouble. Um, in one of, one of, one of many injuries that, that the team had sustained was the chopper pilot. Um, a few days later, we were told that there was, there was more enemy in the area than, than what had been expected. Uh, and that our orders were to go and kick this hornet's nest and see how many Taliban they're actually wearing this town.

• 33:45Speaker 03

  We found out, we definitely found out. Uh, so this job started about, it was about four o'clock in the morning. We all got on to Chinooks and we're flown through the night. Sky and just as we've arrived on the target area, they were waiting for us, the Taliban, they they must have known that we were coming because these Duskar aircraft weapons started going off, there's RPGs flying at us, rounds are pinging off the side of the Chinooks. And we're just sat there, I'm sat there, holding this useless sniper rifle, thinking, fuck it, I don't like this. It was so uncomfortable, just having to rely on someone else to keep

• 34:26Speaker 03

  us safe. It just felt so foreign. So, you know, the tail guns and the side guns on the Chinook are going like, fuck, and they're sending thousands of rounds down. And it, they managed, everything quietened down a little bit, and they managed to drop us in the middle of this mud, freshly ploughed wet field, that was like mud up to your knees. Every step's heavy, you know, you know, one of, you know, the fields, you know, those ones that you get stuck in. Eventually, it all calmed down, and we managed to get ourselves out of this field. And then we had three pre-designated compounds. We were going to go in a triangular formation, take over these compounds and see what happened. So, the sun had just started to come up at

• 35:09Speaker 03

  this point. And we've entered our compound, it made it safe, and I've climbed on to the rooftop. As I've done this, everyone around me is filling sandbags and bashing holes through walls and making firing points and all this sort of stuff. We know it's going to be a bit of a tasty day. So everyone's sort of getting prepared for that and getting ammunition out and ready and whatnot. I've then noticed in the far distance, a motorbike going from left to right. And it's got one guy on it. And then it's got two guys on it, and then it's got one guy on it. And I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. And then I saw a minibus, yeah, just the driver, and it was full of fighting age males, comes back, just the driver. And

• 35:53Speaker 03

  then obviously, the Taliban were being dropped in fire positions. And this was happening everywhere around us. We didn't know this, but a couple of hundred Taliban were actually moving into position to. To start this day, um, so I've called down to the boss on the ground who's on the radio below me and said, I'm going to let loose a warning shot and let this guy know that I've seen them because I don't want them getting a brand, letting their plan to be, you know, as good as it can possibly be. I want to disrupt this early. So I've let loose around and as I've done that, this crescendo of noise just erupted. It was like, you know, sort of like 5pm in a jungle when everything just goes, comes to life. It was

• 36:38Speaker 03

  like that. It was, uh, it was, it was intense. RPGs and machine gunfire and AK-47 fire just came from everywhere. Rounds were smashing into the walls and chip walls of this compound where we were and below me were fighting like lions. They were sort of managing to keep the Taliban back from these walls because there was all these rat runs and little tiny alleyways that it was a maze basically up to the back of our compounds. So they're keeping them back. And then I've noticed these rounds are getting really, really close to my head. And so someone's clearly aiming for me here. So I've had a look around

• 37:17Speaker 03

  and I've spotted this guy. Um, and at this point, I'm 21 years old. I've looked and this guy was probably same age as me, maybe a couple of years younger and he's got an AK-47 and he's firing bursts of rounds at my head. And this, this became the turning point for me. This is where I was so angry. I've never been so angry in my life. And a switch flipped in my head where I started to then blame this guy and the guys that were firing from around the corner. I started to blame them for the death of my friend from the sniper course and his face just kept coming into my head and I made it really,

• 38:02Speaker 03

  really personal. And it got to this point where I wanted this guy to suffer. And I sort of cast my mind back to, now this is 750 metres away, so not, you know, nothing out of the ordinary for a sniper. Cast my mind back to the 10p pieces on the targets and just thought, yeah, I'm going to shoot him in the throat.

• 38:25Speaker 03

  Because I wanted, I didn't want it to be instant, I didn't want a headshot, I wanted, I wanted revenge. So I let loose this round. It's hit him in the throat. And he's then dropped his weapon and he's kind of holding himself together a little bit and starts calling out to, to behind these two buildings that were over to his left. And as he's done that, another one has come out, fired a burst of rounds at me. And I then fired and took him out and then another one came, I've done the same again, same again. And another one finally, a fifth one came, fired a bunch of rounds and, and I've took him out as well. And then, so this, this went on for like thirteen hours this day.

• 39:05Jack Murphy?

  How, how long do you think, you know, when you, when you shot those five guys? How, how long a time period do you think that is? Because it sounds like you were racking the bolt just going to town.

• 39:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's how it was. Yeah. It was, it was probably the space of a couple of minutes.

• 39:21Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 39:22Speaker 03

  Yeah, they were, they were sort of, yeah, it was, it felt, oh, it felt like forever. It felt like everything had slowed down into this moment that kept, just kept me in this little vortex, to be honest. It was such a surreal moment. And then after that happened, after this sort of whole day had calmed down, the Chinooks came back, picked us up and we went back to Bastion then. Um, where we had a couple of days there, got our kit ready. And then it was time for the next job, which was Operation Mostarak, which was, it went along with, uh, Marja, wasn't it? The Marja Marines as that, it was all, all part of the same operation.

• 40:08Speaker 03

  Um, so at this point I've started to notice I'm having nightmares and my thoughts aren't the same as they used to be. My, my temperament is different and I'm getting extremely irritable and, uh, uh, and angry. But I've kept my mouth shut because, you know. I'm not gonna leave these guys. At this point, one of our snipers, uh, he's been medically evacuated back to the UK after an incident with a helicopter injured in him. Uh, he ended up falling out the back of a Chinook, maybe from about twenty foot high onto a pile of rocks. Yeah, nasty. He's fine now, there's nothing wrong with him now, but yeah, so that was him home.

• 40:52Speaker 03

  Um, so we were spread out even even thinner across the grounds. Um, and then off we went. So my my start to Operation Marsh Drag was, uh, jumping onto a Black Hawk. We were the lead aircraft going in. And as we did, an RPG has been fired up at us. And the aircraft's banged and the slide doors have been opened and I was sat on the edge and there wasn't enough seats. And as it's gone, I fell out the bloody door. I fell out of one of the guys and managed to lean over and quickly grabbed my kit and yanked me back in. So I've had a heart attack on the way in there and it's it's not even daytime yet. It's still dark.

• 41:33Speaker 03

  So I've I've got in there. I've got a bit of a sweat on. And then we've landed in this misty field next to this canal.

• 41:44Speaker 03

  This uh, this this sleepy town, what we we thought we were landing into, turned out it wasn't at all. It was a mega stronghold. Um, and very quickly after us, the the aircraft all left. Um, and this this day, by the way, was something like eighty two helicopters doing wave after wave of of dropping troops into the area. So thousands of troops were being moved constantly that morning. And all of a sudden, a tannoy speaker turned on and someone started speaking in Pashto. And uh, obviously we couldn't understand what they were saying. So our interpreter, Mike, he started translating what they were saying.

• 42:21Speaker 03

  And they were saying that anyone that lives in this town needs to leave or join them in the fight. There's going to be the biggest of holy battles. All this sort of stuff. It was it was a daunting message to hear, but one that a a quick cigarette and a laughing joke, we'd chuck it off. So the operation had begun, uh, and the locals had moved out of out of this town. They were jumping on anything that moved. And off they went. So we'd we'd taken over a compound at this point. And just as the other operation, everyone's filling sandbags and creating defensive positions and stuff. Because we were going to be operating here now for the next few months.

• 43:04Speaker 03

  I've been on the rooftop and all of a sudden. Crack, crack, crack. AK forty seven burst straight over our heads. And I thought, oh, here we go. And then an RPG has come straight after it, set to airburst. And it's just popped straight above our fob. So this has obviously got everyone running around on the ground, kind of, what the fuck's going on? So I'm correlating down to the grounds of the bosses, what's going on there, relaying it over the radios. And I'm talking and saying, I'm going to lose this guy in a minute. Anyway, it started, we'd been there for a few hours. I ended up taking this guy out. And then everything went quiet for days. It was almost like it was a bit of a test. And, you know, see what they could get away with.

• 43:49Speaker 03

  And the answer was nothing. On the other flip side of this, behind us, sharing our compound with the French Foreign Legion and they were working to the south. So we'd very quickly established that we weren't messing around. We weren't playing games. So the tour progressed and as it's done that, my mental health has started to decline. But again, quietly, I've not said anything. I've just, people have started making comments that I was, in the middle of the night, I'd be screaming in my sleep. I'd be fighting in my sleep and things. And I'd started to write these poems. I didn't really understand what it was at the time.

• 44:30Speaker 03

  But it was, it was my subconscious, I think, just trying to alleviate some of this weight that I was feeling. And express some things I couldn't, or I felt I couldn't say to other people. I was too scared of the stigma and the repercussions of what happens if I do say something.

• 44:49Speaker 03

  So I continued on, which then brings us to another story in the book.

• 44:59Speaker 03

  This was, it's called, the chapter's called The One Mile Shots. Which was probably my most sniper-y moment.

• 45:08Jack Murphy?

  Okay.

• 45:09Speaker 03

  Of the whole tour. This was, this was the moment that, that, yeah, that was very much on my highlight. Real of things that I'd achieved as a sniper.

• 45:20Speaker 03

  We had, we'd taken over a compound and we'd been there for a few months at this point. And it was, it was all right, you know, we were getting into firefights and the usual sort of stuff. But it was, it wasn't anything too heavy in our compound where we particularly were. Um, and then a couple of clicks away, one of our units had come under quite heavy fire. And I'm just sat there playing cards with the guys at this point, nothing, nothing exciting going on. A few people reading magazines and, and the message came through to the radio. That they might be heading in this direction, that there's, there's a, they're not showing me how many Taliban there were. But they might be retreating towards us. So could I jump on the roof and have a little look in the distance? So where our compound was.

• 46:04Speaker 03

  You've got us and then this next town or this, this next group of buildings there. And then nothing but open poppy field all the way for a mile. So it was, it was perfect really. There was, there was not really that many opportunities for a shot to be made like that. Um, so I jumped on the roof, couple of guys had gone up there with me to sort of look for rear protection and things like that. As I'm looking, I wasn't really expecting to see anything. And then I saw some movement between two of the buildings. Uh, and there I saw them playing as, playing as day, three Taliban. AK forty sevens by the sides and they're walking in single file. And I, and I thought this was probably due to the IED threat in the area, which was massive. It was, there were so many IEDs, it was ridiculous.

• 46:50Speaker 03

  Um, what I did notice as well though, as I was observing them was. The guy in the centre seemed to be commanding the one to the front and the rear. They looked like they were his protection, almost his protection order. So devised a plan. Um, now my mind at this point was.

• 47:14Speaker 03

  Different to anything it had ever been before. It wa- it was callous and it was quite dark. I, at this point, what would later be described as an addiction to squeezing that trigger.

• 47:29Jack Murphy?

  Sure.

• 47:29Speaker 03

  It, it, it sort of took a hold of me. Um, and this,

• 47:35Speaker 03

  this campaign of revenge, I suppose, that I'd created in my mind. Uh, so I decided that what I was gonna do was I was gonna take out the insurgent at the rear, and then I was gonna take out the one in the front, and then I'd take out the commander last. And the idea was to create chaos and, and fear. It was the one mega tool that we had as snipers was, was the fear that we could cast into the enemy. Um, so I very much wanted to do that. So, between me and my potential targets were three separate directions of wind.

• 48:15Speaker 03

  It was, it was a nightmare. So, I had one coming in from the left, one coming in from the right, and another one coming in from the left down towards them.

• 48:26Speaker 03

  Uh, so it's, it's taken eleven calculations in the end for me to do this, and I am no good at maths. No good. So I used, I did it on a calculator. I had this little calculator, I go, da, da, da, da, right, here we go. So I've put, put all my clicks in, and a mile away, the Schmidt and Bender scope that we had, it, it, it wouldn't, it wasn't made to go that far. So I was actually having to aim off the target.

• 48:51Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 48:52Speaker 03

  To land the guns, which was the first time I'd ever attempted anything like this. You know, I'd only read about it and, and read the theory side of it, you know? So it was quite a big moment. So I'd taken my, my body armour off and I'd got my cap on, my shooting cap, and I've got my, uh, force multiplier t-shirt on, and I've got comfortable. All right, okay, here we go. If I'm gonna do this, it's gotta be now, because the sun was dipping, and it was very much last light. There was a few minutes to go. And I've lay there and I've got into my bubble, so I talk a lot in the book about the in-depth about what it was like squeezing that trigger, the thought at the time, the thoughts

• 49:32Speaker 03

  before, or how it felt physically. And I've got into this calm, meditative state of what it's like, obviously pulling the trigger for those distances. And I missed. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe I missed. I thought I've done all these calculations right. So very quickly then, it's been a kind of off-the-cuff job where I've chambered the next round and sent it straight away. Same guy, same target at the rear, and this time it's hit him, it hit him in the stomach, and it's folded him in half, and he's gone down. So with this, the front insurgent and the commander have then turned round, and as the realisation of that is set in, I've sent the next round for the

• 50:13Speaker 03

  front insurgent, he's gone down. And then it turns out the guy in the cinema was a Taliban commander, he's then run, and as he's run, I've sent my next round, and that's gone through his torso. And all of a sudden, the radio, the radio lit up, and an American Apache pilot had been in the air and witnessed the whole thing. And he called down, saying, "Tell that sniper that was some good shooting." So I was like, "Oh, thank you very much, cheers." But then after that, I climbed down off the roof, and everyone, all the guys on the ground around me were sort of like, "Oh my god, well done," you know, "That was a mile away, couldn't believe I'm fucking far away, I've just made these shots." I had the interpreter telling me, "Oh my god, that's a Taliban commander," the net was going absolutely

• 50:58Speaker 03

  insane, and my world just closed in. Like, like I had tunnel vision, and everything became really muffled, I could hardly understand what people were saying, and I couldn't, I couldn't talk, I just didn't speak, it was on my whole existence, I was closing down. I walked around the corner and just started smoking one after the other, and just replaying these events, but I wasn't in control of it. It just, out of nowhere, happened, I had no idea what the fuck was going on, no idea. And then the following day, another contact happened, and that was, that was it.

• 51:37Speaker 03

  The I had nothing left. I'd broken. I'd reached breaking point and gone past it. And then people around me.

• 51:46Jack Murphy?

  Gotcha.

• 51:46Speaker 03

  Okay, yes, something's not right here. Something needs to be done. And then it was.

• 51:52Jack Murphy?

  You know, something I'd like to kind of make clear to people and and I'd like to hear your view also is there's this, there's a difference between being a sniper and being an infantryman that in the sense, when you're in an infantry platoon and you get into a firefight, it's very chaotic. It's not totally clear who shot who, you know, it can be very difficult to pin that down. And so after a mission, like, guys can kind of like brag, like, oh, yeah, I killed that guy. But deep down, everyone knows, maybe they did, maybe they didn't. We don't really know, you know? And so it becomes this more like shared experience of like, the platoon killed those guys.

• 52:31Jack Murphy?

  Whereas as a sniper, it's like, you know damn well, you fired on that guy and you killed that guy and you know you did that. And, you know, the combat you're describing to me sounds completely reasonable and you were fighting enemy combatants who were armed, you know? There's, there's nothing to be ashamed about, but nonetheless, you as an individual have to find a way to live with that, right?

• 52:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, very much so. It was a heavy burden to bear, to be honest. It wasn't really something that I'd thought too much about. I never thought I'd have a, I've thought about doing it. I thought about what it's going to be like. I never thought about the aftermath of what that would be like. Um, and it was, it was very personal, you know, I've, I've described in the past and I've done in the book where I'd see the face of the person, never, you know, like, like you're talking about there, a normal infantryman might see a movement or a shadow or a general direction splash of where everyone else's rounds are going. Whereas I would be able to look and see these people in the face and

• 53:38Speaker 03

  and be able to tell whether they were trained, is this a trained individual or is this someone that's had fifty bucks and given a weapon and said go and shoot in that that direction, you know? And there were some of them, some of them were those type of people. Others were, were trained and they were moving like, you know, you can tell, can't you? You can tell if someone's had training, the way they're moving, the way they're holding the weapon. So I never, I never had the.

• 54:04Speaker 03

  The worry of saying, oh, you know, maybe it was me, maybe it was, you know, it was them or me. That I couldn't, I could never really settle with because I never saw it as them or me. Uh, it was always, it was never gonna be me. It was always gonna be them. So it, it.

• 54:24Jack Murphy?

  And that's, that's doing your job, by the way, I should point out, like, it's supposed to be them.

• 54:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, that's the aim of the game, yeah. So it was something that I couldn't in the end. And it was almost like I lowered this wall of emotion before going, I couldn't off. I didn't wanna miss people at home. I didn't want any distractions. I didn't want this distraction of thinking that way. Having to pull that trigger. I was very closed down, very much in a sniper's mindset. I'm an angry sniper at that. So when I let this wall down of feeling the type of way. And thinking that these people were responsible for the death of my friend, I believe that is the moment where I let empathy in.

• 55:15Speaker 03

  And then from that point, it was like a drip that just kept going and going and getting bigger and bigger until I was feeling into their pain. I was feeling to the look of horror or the look of absolute fear that I saw on their faces. I started to imagine, oh my fucking god, how terrifying was that have been? You know, watching that every time one of your friends comes out, he gets killed and then you're the only one left. How frightening would that have been? It must have been a very horrendous experience. And having then, on the flip side of that, been shot at by a sniper where we had, we never spotted this guy, we had no idea where he was and how terrifying that was. I started to put all these things together and then thinking, okay, they are the enemy.

• 55:58Speaker 03

  But they're also a human being and this is where my PTSD became complex. And it was, wasn't until probably 10 years later that I actually managed to. Figure out what was going on. Well, I didn't, my therapist did. He, uh, I'm not sure if you've heard of a moral injury.

• 56:16Jack Murphy?

  Right, yeah.

• 56:19Speaker 03

  That was something, it was like a lightbulb moment for me, which, you know, our, our core values are created as, as children. And as much as I wanted to be doing this job, my core values of taking a life and it being that personal, it just didn't correlate, it didn't go well together. And, and that, I believe was, was where it all started to unravel.

• 56:44Jack Murphy?

  That, the tail end of that deployment, you said that this PTSD issue really came to a head. Um, what, was there something, um, a, a final sort of catalyzing moment that led your chain of command to realize like, hey, we need to get Ted some help?

• 57:01Speaker 03

  Yeah. So, um, people have noticed that I was doing these, these poems. Uh, I'd also been drawing my nightmares, which were happening at this point. They were no longer dreams, they were nightmares.

• 57:15Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Ashkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 57:29Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic, in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 57:40Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you, you're not alone.

• 57:45Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 57:51Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat, it's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 58:12Speaker 03

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more. Cash Flow Crunch onDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Covers seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat.

• 58:53Speaker 03

  With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. So I'd had to get out of me. I'm this creative person. I've always sort of drawn or written music and done all sorts of stuff, but it was just coming out of me. I had to let it out somehow, but silently. And everyone had noticed. And then we have this thing here called trauma risk management, where you sit down, there's a questionnaire, which is sort of numbers one to 10.

• 59:34Speaker 03

  So this guy has sat me down and given me these tests and asked me these questions. And he turned around and said, he'd never seen scores this high. So he was like, fuck, so it needs to be done like today, like now, right now. So I'm still on the front line at this point. So a massive vehicle has been sent to collect me, which meant a patrol of blokes had to come out, get me, put me in this vehicle, take me back to a different Ford operating base, and then a Chinook has come in and took me back to Bastion. So it was a big deal. But I'm so glad that they did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very glad. Once that had happened, it was almost like this weight kind of fell off me a little bit.

• 1:00:17Speaker 03

  I was instantly in front of a psychiatric nurse, but... I was let down to be honest. They they told me I was tired and suffering with a bit of an addiction to squeezing the trigger. And I should just go and work in the stores, have a couple of weeks there, try and get some sleep and I'll be okay. So, okay, smashing, off I go. That's what I'll do. So I went to work in the stores. It was humiliating.

• 1:00:45Jack Murphy?

  You mean you mean like like logistics, like handing out boots and uniforms to soldiers?

• 1:00:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, that shit.

• 1:00:51Jack Murphy?

  Oh, man.

• 1:00:52Speaker 03

  It was.

• 1:00:53Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:54Speaker 03

  And you imagine, can you imagine? So as I'm doing this dog shit job. One of our blokes got killed, uh several got injured and one of my very, very close mates, he he was catastrophically injured, losing eyesight and limbs, multiple limbs. Um, I've then received the bag of his kit, working in the stores. I've received this plastic bag and I'm like, what the fuck, seen his name on it?

• 1:01:23Jack Murphy?

  Fuck.

• 1:01:25Speaker 03

  Oh, man. It was it was a shit moment. So then. We have about ten days or so left on the tour at this point, so it was right at the end. It was fucking shit. Um, but then one of the bosses, well, he was a platoon sergeant, he said, look, this is shit. We've got ten days to go, but I need a group of guys for a volunteer operation in a bit of a shit area. So straight away, me. Get me out there and I managed to just fucking lie my way through doctors, appointments and nurses and all sorts of stuff. I was absolutely fine. You're right. Oh, my God. You were so right. I was just tired. I needed to work in the stores. Fixed.

• 1:02:09Speaker 03

  Get me back out there. So I was allowed out, uh back on the front line, with the condition that I didn't take my sniper rifle. Which annoyed me, but it is what it is. I don't know. The reason for it, the speculation, but I don't know.

• 1:02:26Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, they were afraid you were gonna be the sniper in Saving Private Ryan, like reciting verses from the Bible up in the bell tower.

• 1:02:34Speaker 03

  Exactly that. That's pretty much what I've heard.

• 1:02:39Speaker 03

  I get that dangerous man.

• 1:02:43Speaker 03

  So, yeah, uh, that happened. That 10 day op ended in a couple of Taliban digging in, uh, an IED for us on our main supply route. They got vaporized by a Predator missile and then two days later, I'm back in a pub in my hometown. Completely naked, stood on a table with my parents and all my family around me, drinking pints of vodka and trying to pretend that I'm normal and. I don't know. Yeah.

• 1:03:11Jack Murphy?

  Damn, so Ted Shirley knows how to party.

• 1:03:15Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, but I had a bank full of money and, and just a desire to drink.

• 1:03:22Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. To a point that it gets unhealthy. I, I get it. So, um. Tell us kind of about like, you said, there's, it sounds like it was, you know, maybe a decade long process of kind of processing these experiences. What, what was that like from, you know, being drunk in the pub two days, uh, back home to, you know, getting and recovering, I guess?

• 1:03:47Speaker 03

  Uh, it was, yeah, it was a very long, like long drawn out process. Um, I was drinking then heavily. Relying on it as a crutch. I wasn't dependent on it, but I used it to make excuses for my behavior. Um, I'd go out and get into fights a lot, sometimes to win, sometimes more often than not to lose, just to sort of feel this.

• 1:04:13Speaker 03

  Feel this, I don't know, is it, this pain that I felt I deserved. I felt a lot of guilt and shame for what I'd done. And I was, I was really uncomfortable on what we call Civi Street. I, I, I couldn't, I just couldn't deal with it. All I wanted to do was get back to Afghanistan, which we were gonna be doing the following year. Um, and then one day, everything came to a head. Uh, I'd been having panic attacks and flashbacks and things, but I didn't know what these things were. Um, I had no idea and I just played them off and still managed to keep everything quiet. Until one day, I was, I was living with my parents and my sister at this point.

• 1:04:57Speaker 03

  I, in a blackout rage, ended up flying across the table and attacking my dad. And we've got a fantastic relationship. Um, I don't remember doing it. Uh, didn't know I was doing it at the time. And that scared the life out of me until I came round and we're on the floor. And I've kind of let go and what the fuck. Grab my kit bag, jumped in the car, drove back to camp. Uh, and then the following morning, I've gone to my platoon sergeant and said, look, this is what's been happening. It's been under the radar, but it's gone a bit too far now. I didn't mind fighting strangers and, you know, things like that. But this is where I draw the line.

• 1:05:38Speaker 03

  Very luckily, there was a psychiatric nurse in camp at the time. Uh, my first thought was, why? Who's, who's lost the marbles in camp? I'd never heard of it before. I know, I'd never heard of PTSD before. I'd not heard of mental health before in my fucking life. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what was happening in my brain. Uh, I just knew that I was really angry and then if I got in trouble, it felt better for a little bit. Uh, then got in trouble with the law.

• 1:06:11Speaker 03

  And and things were rapidly going downhill. This then ended uh with me starting to see psychiatrists once a week, getting given ridiculous amounts of medication, still in the army at this point. Uh and then on a cold rainy day in November two thousand and twelve, I decided that I was gonna kill myself. I couldn't take this anymore. So I've driven off in my car, parked up next to a river and slipping wrists. Immediately realised I don't want to fucking die. I wanna get better. I just don't want this. I don't wanna die.

• 1:06:49Jack Murphy?

  You wanna feel like that every day, yeah.

• 1:06:52Speaker 03

  Yeah. It was like this moment where I just woke up for a second. And I was back to this depressed state, but just for a second I felt alive.

• 1:07:04Speaker 03

  That then very quickly ended up though with me spending three months in a psychiatric ward, locked up on the other side of the country, no contact from anybody. Uh it was a very tough time. Then managed to get out of the hospital after three months um and was a few months later medically discharged from service. So that's when I sort of found myself just flailing in the wind a little bit. I had no identity and no job. My closest friends and the people closest to me in my life were now gone. And I was lost, very lost. Um luckily I received a letter.

• 1:07:46Speaker 03

  And the army had arranged a therapist appointment with the NHS, so you know, the National Health Service over here.

• 1:07:54Speaker 03

  I went for a few months and started to get better. But then this niggly voice in my head started to tell me that I wasn't worth this guy's time and somebody else is in a worse state than me. Someone else should be having this appointment, not me. And and I imagine he saw it a lot and I now know that a lot of people do do it. Um so I withdrew from therapy, but I'm glad that I did. It didn't feel right. But it it it didn't feel wrong either at the time. Um. It allowed me the time to go and travel the world, which is then what I did for the next few years.

• 1:08:34Speaker 03

  Um. Starting in Asia and then Australia and then Canada, America and Mexico. It was.

• 1:08:42Speaker 03

  A great few years. Um. I found myself.

• 1:08:45Jack Murphy?

  Backpacking around?

• 1:08:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, it was it was amazing. We uh there were six of us that bought, we went to Calgary and bought a motorhome. We called them Marge and uh it got driven all the way down to Nicaragua through California. It was it was an epic trip.

• 1:09:05Speaker 03

  It was it was good. So you can read all about that in the book. Marge, she was a beauty. Um. So while I was doing all this, I was I was still struggling, uh but I was doing all these amazing things. Uh I was getting up to as much stuff as I could. Um. But I felt better. But I was just distracted from it all, to be honest, with drinking, partying and all sorts of adventures. I then returned to the UK and my PTSD came back tenfold. It kicked my ass. Um. So that's when I then managed to get back in touch with my old therapist, but there was a twelve month waiting list.

• 1:09:47Jack Murphy?

  Oh shit.

• 1:09:48Speaker 03

  So this, yeah, so I was quite lost at this point. I thought, what the fuck am I gonna do? How am I gonna get through this next twelve months? So for a few years prior to this, I'd already started to meditate and and sort of. Look into the spiritual side of life. Nothing religious, just the idea of of meditation and wellness and and mindfulness. So I leant into that and obviously while backpacking, I was introduced to. How do we put it? Let's put it as plant medicines.

• 1:10:22Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:10:23Speaker 03

  Cannabis being one, magic mushrooms or psilocybin being the other one, and then D M T would be in the third one. Um. And they were.

• 1:10:34Speaker 03

  They didn't cure me by any means. I have to sort of be careful when I say this. But I really do believe that they have got a strong place in giving people the ability to recover from these things. They allowed me to do work internally that I wouldn't have normally been able to do. They allowed me to face things that were horrendous memories in incredible detail without becoming overwhelmed. Um, as well as the idea that my mood was lifted from cannabis, I was able to sleep better. My mood stabilized rather than having these huge dips and profs. It was, my life was starting to feel manageable. Then, add therapy.

• 1:11:19Speaker 03

  So this was then two years of weekly therapy sessions. Um, combine that with the plant medicines. And it was a very interesting journey, to say the least, let's say that. Um, going, the idea of going to therapy terrified me at first. I thought that people would think I was weak or, you know, that I wasn't meant for the job that I was doing. And all these sort of stigma things that are just nonsense, just absolute nonsense. That's why I've written this book is to try and blow all this stigma stuff out of the water. Because people can read about a sniper doing all that sort of stuff.

• 1:12:03Speaker 03

  And then in the same book, they can repeat, you can read about all this depression and sadness that I felt. Then, you know, hopefully it'll show the full spectrum of a human experience.

• 1:12:15Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah. Um, I, I, I know this is like a, a long process. There wasn't like one moment that like, oh, I'm recovered now. But sort of like, what was that sort of path to recovery? I mean, was it going back into therapy and, and having a consistent sort of, uh, traction there?

• 1:12:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, very much so. Yeah, it was having these weekly therapy sessions and then firstly, being taught techniques that would enable me to ground myself and cope after panic attacks or sometimes even prevent having a panic attack, you know, breathing exercises and these sorts of things and grounding techniques. That was a big part of it at first. I needed something that would enable me to calm down. So, once that was addressed, it was then CBT, so cognitive behavioural therapy. This addresses our behaviours really. So, that simplified version would be something happens, our brains think a certain way,

• 1:13:17Speaker 03

  we then act in a certain action. So, for me, things like road rage, for instance, someone cuts you up on a road, you start screaming and shouting, next minute I'm out of the car chasing this car down the road, which happened multiple times. It was ridiculous. I was this unhinged madman, but that was just a little ball of anger. Horrendous, horrendous, completely different to who I am. It completely changed me as a person. So, this CBT therapy enabled me to address that, address how I dealt with anger, how I dealt with irritability and things like that. So, that was the next phase. And then we moved on to something called EMDR. I'm not sure if you've heard of this. Eye movement, desensitisation and reprogramming.

• 1:14:00Speaker 03

  So, this is where for me, there's various ways you can do it, but I had a light bar in front of me and this light would go from left to right, right to left, almost like sort of hypnotism kind of thing. And what that does, again, is a very simple version. When we sleep at night and we go into REM sleep, deep sleep, our memories and thoughts are processed from left to right, left to right, and they go back, left to right, left to right, left to right, and then they're stored away and lumped into a memory. Traumatic memories, imagine there's a clock in your brain that puts all these files away in the correct places. These thoughts or experiences are too traumatic for them to be able to deal with. So, these pieces of paper are just left to fly around willy-nilly. So, what EMDR does with the left to right eye movement,

• 1:14:45Speaker 03

  it imitates that that practice. So, while being awake, you can move your eyes from left to right, left to right, think about. These things and what would happen, it wouldn't be so much a guided thing. The therapist would very much, most of the time be quiet and just listen to where my mind would go. And it would go from things that happened in Afghanistan to a childhood memory. Sometimes good ones, sometimes bad ones, nothing ever really bad as a child ever happened to me. But it was strange, it was almost like a map of where my mind was working. And then I'd go from sixty seconds, I'd say what, report what, what I'd seen in my mind. And then I'd go back into it, ease back into it.

• 1:15:28Speaker 03

  That correlated a lot for me. It, it freed me of the shackles. The emotions that were attached to these memories were no longer there. So it enabled me now, like for instance, there's never in a million years I'd have been able to sit here and talk to you in detail about these things that had happened.

• 1:15:48Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:16:02Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant. So I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 1:16:13Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you, you're not alone.

• 1:16:18Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:16:24Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 1:16:44Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 1:17:12Speaker 02

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• 1:17:41Speaker 03

  That happened in the book. I'd never been able to write the book, but now I can think back at these events in the detail that's required, and it doesn't affect me. Doesn't mean I don't feel any type of way, or I have no remorse for the loss of a life or anything like that, but I have no overwhelming emotions or nothing like that. I'm not going to go away and have nightmares tonight or be thinking about it all day and night.

• 1:18:07Jack Murphy?

  Right. It's not out of control anymore.

• 1:18:10Speaker 03

  No, I own those memories now. They very much do not own any space in my mind if, you know, they belong to me. So it was learning that at this point now in the therapy, I began to learn that this could actually go away. This could actually really disappear now. I'd always been told for the past 10 or 12 years that I could only learn to live with my symptoms, and that I thought people would just be able... People just went about their lives with PTSD, just having PTSD and shaking babies to death and things. And you know what I mean? I just thought it was this thing that, oh, you're a veteran with PTSD, unlucky, mate. Like it was this life sentence.

• 1:18:55Jack Murphy?

  Right. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, bro.

• 1:18:59Speaker 03

  My wife was not gonna stand for that.

• 1:19:03Speaker 03

  No way. So, um, yeah, so I I've refused to give up, um. And my therapist was very sort of encouraged by this and we worked really, really hard and in the end. I was I was able to get rid of PTSD. I do. I don't have PTSD anymore. I I don't have any. Any issues whatsoever, um. And back when I was at my worst point. I would have loved to have heard someone say that. That there was no one I'd ever heard say that. There was no hope.

• 1:19:37Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:37Speaker 03

  Now, I am quite literally here and I've written this book. I've done this whole thing. For hope, for people to be able to just hear the message that you you can dedicate your life to change. And you can change your life.

• 1:19:50Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:51Speaker 03

  I'm not not here to be some sort of like salesman cheesy person, but it's a message that I've just so. Oh, people need to hear it. I've lost too many people to suicide and and everyone has, um. And it can all be fixed with talking. I didn't do anything magical. I talked. That was it. Talked to someone that'd listen once a week.

• 1:20:12Jack Murphy?

  How did uh the idea for the book come about? When did that start to percolate in the back of your mind?

• 1:20:19Speaker 03

  Oh, um, there was. There was little diaries and journals I'd started writing while in Afghan, um, again, a way of letting these bits and pieces out. So I had. Bits of paper floating around from that and then with all the therapy. Came a lot of homework, um, so a lot of paperwork. So I've got a couple of folders over there that are just filled with notes. So a lot of it comes from that. A lot of it, it it's almost like a fly on the wall. Watch this happy young man go to war, get fucked up by it and then go therapy and see what happens in therapy. You know, it it's.

• 1:20:59Speaker 03

  It's a it's, I don't know, it was unnerving at first having this book come out. So I was quite, I felt quite vulnerable and open to the world, but. That is the whole point is to show that that's all right. So, yeah.

• 1:21:12Jack Murphy?

  What what has been the response to the book since it's been out?

• 1:21:16Speaker 03

  Amazing. The messages of support that I've had have been incredible and more importantly to me, the messages and comments of how it's helped other people. People have been able to see someone that's in their shoes. You know, I've had a message from somebody that's currently in hospital suffering exactly what I was going through. And I was able to just spend two minutes talking to them, give them a little bit of advice and it helped. So that's what it's all about now for me. Obviously, I'd like to make a living out of it as well. So everyone go buy the book.

• 1:21:54Jack Murphy?

  And it's available now? People can find it on Amazon or in the bookshop?

• 1:21:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think Barnes and Noble is it the big one over there?

• 1:22:03Jack Murphy?

  Yep, that's another one.

• 1:22:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, they've got it. Yeah, but Amazon, Amazon's the main one. Yeah. Let's get it up those ranks.

• 1:22:10Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah, we'll have, we'll have links down the description for people who want to go and check it out. And you've also gotten into doing some public speaking?

• 1:22:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, so this is something that I just, just the past few weeks started to do now. It was never anything I intended on doing, but it's kind of gone hand in hand with writing the book. I'm loving it. I am really enjoying it. It's, it's very much, much based around the book. But a little bit more of an in-depth look of how PTSD happens and how people can in a way protect themselves from it, expect what it can bring, but in the end, how you can get rid of it.

• 1:22:57Jack Murphy?

  Anything else that you're working on today that you'd like to talk about or anything I haven't asked that you'd really like to get into?

• 1:23:05Speaker 03

  Nothing in particular. No, I have started writing another book. I was in the very early stages just because I miss the writing process.

• 1:23:13Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:23:14Speaker 03

  I really enjoyed it. So yeah, I'm starting a fiction version, a fiction sniper story next.

• 1:23:20Jack Murphy?

  Cool. That's awesome. Yeah, I, I love it. And I'll, I'll read it when it comes out.

• 1:23:26Speaker 03

  I'll be in Chappelle U in about 10 years.

• 1:23:30Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, I, I get it.

• 1:23:34Jack Murphy?

  Anywhere else we can direct people? Do you have, are you on social media at all? Um, anything you want to tell people?

• 1:23:40Speaker 03

  Instagram, you can find me at Ted Shirley Author and TikTok as well. I'm on TikTok. I do little bits of what I like to call Ted's Tips, which are mental health tips on there, which is Ted dot Shirley.

• 1:23:56Jack Murphy?

  Awesome. Uh, I, I mean, it sounds great and I really hope that between your speaking and your book that this gets into the hands and into the minds of veterans out there. Um, it, it is an important message.

• 1:24:09Speaker 03

  Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much as well for helping me with your platform.

• 1:24:14Jack Murphy?

  Anytime.

• 1:24:15Speaker 03

  The audience.

• 1:24:18Jack Murphy?

  Uh, so thank you, Ted. Appreciate it. Again, the book is Afghanistan Sniper by Ted Shirley. Uh, we'll have links down the description for you to go and check out the book. And thank you for joining us. Hope everyone has a great holiday season and we will see you next time.

• 1:24:36Jack Murphy?

  Hey guys, I want to tell all of you today about a new newsletter that we're launching that encompasses both the Team House Podcast, the Eyes On Podcast, and the High Side News Outlet, which I run with Sean Naylor. Uh, the newsletter is going to be once a week. It's going to come into your inbox and you're going to get the most current podcasts on Eyes On and the Team House and whatever's topical or current on the High Side. So it's another way for us to get the information out to you as social media algorithms are pretty iffy and you never really know what you're going to get. Um, so this is a once a week email. It'll slide into your inbox and it will have, you know, the greatest hits of that week. It's really good. I'm checking it out.

• 1:25:20Jack Murphy?

  The website for it is teamhospodcast.kit.com/join. Teamhospodcast.kit.com/join. Uh, go there and you enter into your email list or you enter your email into uh, the little thing on the website and you're good to go and that'll be it. Um, so we really appreciate your support and hope you'll consider signing up.

• 1:25:45Jack Murphy?

  The link will also be down in the description if you're looking for it there. And that's teamhousepodcast.kit, K-I-T, kiloindiatango.com backslash join.

• 1:25:58Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:26:13Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic. In a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 1:26:24Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:26:29Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:26:35Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 1:26:55Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down rather than giving teens the answer. Study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:27:22Speaker 02

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:27:59Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:28:13Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 1:28:24Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:28:29Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:28:35Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 1:28:55Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:29:23Speaker 03

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:29:59Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:30:14Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation.

• 1:30:19Speaker 05

  I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:30:30Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:30:36Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 1:30:56Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 1:31:23Speaker 02

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:32:00Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation.

• 1:32:20Speaker 03

  I'm deathly allergic. In a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 1:32:26Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:32:31Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:32:37Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 1:32:57Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 1:33:24Speaker 02

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat with flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment. Get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:34:05Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:34:20Speaker 03

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic. In a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 1:34:31Speaker 05

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:34:36Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:34:42Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 1:35:02Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, Study Mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:35:29Speaker 03

  Cash Flow Crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:36:05Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 1:36:20Speaker 01

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic. In a big way, that defines-

• 1:36:29Speaker 05

  A lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:36:36Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:36:42Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 1:37:02Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:37:29Speaker 03

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:38:05Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation. I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:38:36Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:38:42Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 1:39:02Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 1:39:29Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:40:04Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation. I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 1:40:35Speaker 06

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 1:40:41Speaker 05

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 1:41:01Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:41:28Speaker 03

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. She's been thinking about this sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribed Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens.

• 1:42:10Speaker 03

  Zolair 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolair, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolair. Zolair may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolair should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including Zolaer is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens. Serious side effects such as cancer, fever, muscle aches and rash, parasitic infection, or hardened circulation problems have been reported. Please see zolaer.com for full prescribing information. Ask an allergist about Zolaer.

• 1:42:53Speaker 03

  This is an advertisement for Zolaer paid for by Genentech and Novartis.

• 1:42:56Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 1:43:24Speaker 03

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.