#185: Air To Ground Integration - Retired LTG Ken Tovo And Chief Warrant Officer Sean McCormick

#185: Air To Ground Integration - Retired LTG Ken Tovo And Chief Warrant Officer Sean McCormick

From The Jedburgh Podcast by Fran Racioppi

January 9, 2026 · 23 min · Episode 185

About this episode

The episode discusses the critical relationship between ground operators and aviators in military operations, featuring insights from retired LTG Ken Tovo and Chief Warrant Officer Sean McCormick.

Who’s more important? The operators on the ground or the aviators in the sky? It’s hard to seize the objective without boots on the ground; but if you can’t get to the objective in the first place, there’s no mission at all. The reality is that operators need aviators and aviators need operators. Green Berets and the pilots of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment share bonds that transcend their MOS and their mobility platform.  Live from the 2nd Annual Stars and Stripes Classic, I sat down with Chairman of the Green Beret Foundation retired Lieutenant General Ken Tovo and Chief Warrant Officer Sean McCormick to talk about what it takes to build true interoperability between air and ground units, and why there is no such term as “more important.” Chief McCormick served as a lead pilot in the 160th SOAR after a career in 75th Ranger Regiment; he also served as General Tovo’s pilot while the General was the USASOC Commander. Their partnership and friendship provides a rare perspective on the leadership, trust, and relentless commitment that define Special Operations.  Together, they shared how those experiences shaped their understanding of teamwork, mission…

People in this episode

Host: Fran Racioppi

Guests: Ken Tovo, Sean McCormick

Topics covered

  • air-ground integration
  • military operations
  • special operations
  • leadership
  • teamwork

Keywords

  • air-ground integration
  • military leadership
  • special operations
  • Green Berets
  • aviators

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Green Beret Foundation, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, USASOC, Project Recover

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