About this episode

Brian "Ponch" Rivera shares his experiences as a Top Gun pilot and discusses the impact of PTSD and hallucinogens on his life.

Brian "Ponch" Rivera's 28-year U.S. Navy career as a F-14 Top Gun aviator is one marked by exceptional leadership and operational expertise. But it wasn't without tremendous sacrifice. He opens in the cockpit on a 2001 training mission over the Bay of Bengal, with the roommate he swapped seats with, who never came back. Through his emotional retelling, Rivera explains how, in a complex adaptive system, you can make all the right decisions, have all the right hedges on, and still end up ...

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