Introduction

Hello Everyone, welcome to the In Theater Podcast. In each episode of this podcast, we’ll be chatting with a new veteran, learning who they are, and then hearing a few deployment stories from them. I’m Ryan Fadden — a full-time consultant, army veteran, and audio engineer. I was an infantryman from 2010 until 2013, with a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan. I have an endless amount of hilarious, sad, and intense experiences from when I was deployed, which is what inspired me to create this podcast. I mean, just take a step back and think of the deployment scenario:

1. Everybody has guns 
2. You are so physically close to your team that you're constantly hearing, smelling, and/or seeing them perform their bodily functions and/or bodily urges 
3. You're so emotionally close to your team that you're constantly discussing things that are private or taboo, like porn, drug use, legal issues
4. Your entire mission relies upon effectively collaborating with a strange group of people that speak a different language than you, act different than you, look different than you, worship a different god than you
5. The US military itself is an extremely geographically, socio-economically, culturally, and racially diverse organization, and your interactions with your own team, at least initially, can be as peculiar as your interactions with the local populace
6. Death and serious injury is a major daily consideration 
7. Often times you're bored as fuck
8. Performing hygiene is difficult

This list goes on for as to why deployments are riddled with great stories. Hearing other veterans’ deployment stories makes me nostalgic and gives me pride. I’m utilizing this podcast to engage and network with the veteran community while also informing the public of the intense and mundane situations that happen while in a theater of combat. I hope this podcast allows others to appreciate these experiences as much as I do.