← The Team House
The Team House
The Truth About Women in Combat (Cultural Support Team)| Stephanie Rotolo
01:47:17
Stephanie Rotolo joins us to talk about her path from Mortuary Affairs and MP work to joining the Cultural Support Team program and deploying to Afghanistan with Special Operations Forces. She breaks down CST selection, working with Afghan female...
Loading summary
Transcript381 lines
- [00:00]
SpinQuest Announcer
What's up, y'?
- [00:01]
Stephanie Rotolo
All? Summer's got a different tempo. Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer. Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. Conversations stretch out. Little memories sneak up on you. Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. That color, that chill. The new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearl. Yeah, that feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Premier Protein it's for getting after life, not just fitness. Because life isn't lived only in the gym. It's lived in the moments that matter most. That's where Premier Protein shakes come in. With 30 grams of protein, just 160 calories, and no sugar added, they're made to help people fuel their joyful lives. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. But with Premier Protein, you can say yes to more. Yes to crashing that big presentation at work. Yes to building an epic fort with the kids. Yes to hitting the hiking trail with friends and still having energy left to laugh at the top. And with a wide variety of flavors, from cafe latte to cake batter, from chocolate to cookies and cream, it never feels boring. Premier Protein makes it easy to keep going strong no matter what what your day looks like. Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein.com or pick them up at Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers. Premier Protein Fuel your life and say yes to more.
- [01:50]
Jack Murphy
Hey guys, I want to tell you tonight about my new novel, the Most Dangerous man, coming out June 9th. I think like a lot of you, I read in high school the short story the Greatest Game, which is almost a century old at this point, but it's the classic premise of man hunting man for sport. This book is based off of that a little bit, but also on stories that I have heard over the years about safari guides that have actually taken hunting parties, wealthy people hunting poachers in West Africa. That idea kind of cooked off in my mind when I was asked to write a novel and get back into writing fiction again. And this book is about a ranger with the Ranger Reconnaissance Company who's on a mission in West Africa and gets kidnapped and hunted for sport by a group of wealthy tech billionaires I had a lot of fun writing this book and I think you'll have a good time reading it. It's a quick, fast and furious, fast paced action action novel and I hope you all check it out. It's up there. You can find it wherever books are sold. The hard copy, the hardback, the softcover, and also the Kindle ebook edition. We'll have some links down in the description for you. The book comes out June 9th and I hope you all let me know what you think of it.
- [03:19]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Foreign
- [03:23]
Jack Murphy
hey folks, welcome to the Team House. I'm Jack Murphy, here with tonight's guest, Stephanie Rotolo. She is currently an officer Civil affairs officer in the Reserves, previously served in Civil affairs across West Africa and also worked with the Cultural Support Team, the female teams that augmented special operations abroad. In her case, in Afghanistan, working with Rangers and Special Forces. So, Stephanie, welcome to the show. We're really happy to have you here today.
- [03:54]
Stephanie Rotolo
Hey, thanks so much for having me. It was really good to catch up with you at Soft Week as well.
- [03:59]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's what Soft Week is good for. It's all these people that you only get to see like once a year.
- [04:05]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely. It's a nice mini reunion.
- [04:08]
Jack Murphy
But. But this year, man, that event has gotten so big, even just from a couple years ago, it feels like it's tripled in size.
- [04:17]
Stephanie Rotolo
I think they said it was like one third more people this year than last year. It was visible. Like you could feel it. There was like no room to move. But it was still a very good time.
- [04:27]
Jack Murphy
And they had more security than like at the White House. It was ridiculous.
- [04:31]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah. Which is crazy too, because two of the guys that were working for Tampa pd, one was a guy I was a lieutenant with and one was a guy I was in CA with working for Tampa pd. So, like, the military is such a small world, but it makes it even smaller.
- [04:46]
Jack Murphy
That Tampa community down there is very small too.
- [04:50]
Stephanie Rotolo
Absolutely.
- [04:50]
Jack Murphy
Yeah. So let's get into you and your background, Stephanie. Let's start off a little bit with your origin story. If you can tell us where you grew up, how you grew up and sort of like, what was that path that took you towards the military?
- [05:06]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in Brookville, Maryland. It's like 40 minutes outside of D.C. montgomery County. Had a great childhood. My parents were both public servants, so my mom is actually still running ERs to this day. And then my dad was in federal law enforcement my whole life. 1 of 4, so kind of a big family. Had a Great time. Spent a lot of time outdoors, spent a lot of time reading. And then despite my interest in reading, I was a really, really bad high school student. I just had like, I was just like the black sheep wildcard kid. Despite my parents best efforts, they tried really hard. So that was nothing they did wrong. It was just, I just had the bug in me. So was getting in a lot of trouble, doing really poorly in school. Somehow by the grace of whatever deity, managed to graduate high school, went to community college and was continuing to just like be crazy. But at least I figured out how to get good grades because now I was paying for it. So just being like absolutely wild. My dad was doing a couple trips overseas. They were still looking for some of the key nine, 11 bad guys. And so my dad was out and about and again my mom was running an er, really busy, had three other kids that she needed to take care of. And so she was just like done with my. Can I curse on here? Yeah, okay, cool. She was just done with my shit quite frankly. And I kept going out, getting in trouble, like just doing bad stuff, you know, brushing up against like legal trouble, like things that probably would have impacted my trajectory for a while. And I came home one night after she had explicitly told me, you cannot go out. And my dad was on one of his hunting trips, as we called them. And I was like, whatever, I'm, you know, I think I was 18. Yeah, I was 18, 18, 19. I'm like whatever, I'm an adult, I'll do what I want. Even though I still live in my parents house. So I went out and God bless my mom, she was also a legal nurse consultant, so she would go to depositions and testify. And so she had a lot of stuff going on. And I came home, stumbled in, I'm drunk, a little bit high, and she's sitting there working at the kitchen table. And my mom is from the South Bronx and she has this really thick accent and she says, where were you? And I'm like, I was out. And she just stares at me and I'm like, okay, cool, I'm gonna get away with this one. So I start walking up the stairs and it was like, it's like three staircases and they're wood and. And I'm starting to make it to my childhood bedroom, which again I'm like an adult living at my parents house, acting like this. And I hear the creeks coming up the stairs and I'm like, oh, this isn't good. So I'm in my room and she comes in again and again. Like, where were you? What are you doing? Like, who do you think you are? And I'm like, whatever. Like, you can't tell me what to do. I have a job. I'm an adult, and no shit. She picks this giant wooden mirror off of my wall, my childhood mirror. It still exists to this day somehow, and smashes this thing over my head probably as hard as she could. And I'm like, down. I'm down. I'm out. She has won in one strike. It's like lights out for me. I wake up, and my baby brother, who would later become a Marine. I don't know if this trauma did something to him or what happened, but he's, like, grabbing her and getting her out of the room. And I'm coming to and trying to figure out what's going on. That was kind of when the light bulb went off of, like, man, I'm really making this difficult for my parents, who are working so hard to give me everything and make sure I do the right thing. And they tried really hard to set me up for success. And I'm kind of being, like, a giant loser. And I'm dating this guy that's, like, junior, enlisted in the army, and, like, he has a car and a house, and he's going to college, and him and his friends are, like, doing whatever they want halfway across the country, away from their parents and being adults. And I'm like, okay, so maybe I should do that. So right after that, I went to the army recruiter, and I was like, what can you do for me? And that's when I enlisted. I finished my associates and shipped out. And, yeah, the rest is history.
- [09:44]
Jack Murphy
What did your parents think about that decision?
- [09:47]
Stephanie Rotolo
You know, I think they were. Well, I know they were, like, horrified and scared, and my mom didn't want to talk to me for a while, but I think that's probably natural as, like, a parent is just to be scared. I think it turned to pride pretty quickly. And my dad always laughs that, like, the easiest time now looking back in my military career for him was when I was at basic, but he, like, didn't think that at the time.
- [10:13]
Jack Murphy
What about. What year was this?
- [10:16]
Stephanie Rotolo
2012.
- [10:17]
Jack Murphy
Okay. So, yeah, I mean, it's understandable that they're scared. Seeing the headlines for the last previous 10 years.
- [10:24]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely.
- [10:27]
Jack Murphy
And you came in the army as a mortician?
- [10:31]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. So Mortuary Affairs 92, Mike. It's under Quartermaster. And I was going. You know, when you go through, like, the list of available jobs with the Recruiter. And they're like, oh, that's a good one. This is a good one. The recruiter is like, I'm like, wait, what is that? Mortuary or something? And like, he's like, yeah, you don't want that. That's weird. And like, I was a weird kid, like, super, like, macabre and just, like,
- [10:54]
Jack Murphy
dark and, like, reading Edgar Allan Poe and.
- [10:56]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah, just, you know, and, like, going to Warp Tour and thinking I was like, so cool and pierced my ears in the bathroom. So I'm like, oh, that's, like, edgy. And so I'm like, all right, well, this guy thinks it's weird. Like, my interest are peaked. And so, yeah, I enlisted as a 92 Mike, Mortuary Affairs. My first unit was at Dover in Delaware. And super eye opening. Really learned a lot, I think set the stage for my career to come. Like, starting your career out with seeing the horrible final result of the failures of policy decisions and strategy decisions and the whole gamut. I did not realize the weight of that at 19th, at 19 years old, like, I knew this was a very serious, like, sacred role and it needed to be taken seriously and I needed to be a professional and really make sure I knew what I was doing and I knew how to do it correctly because of the seriousness. But, yeah, I think it only really came to me later, like, how much that probably set the stage for how I view military service and also our leaders that deal in the blood of America's sons and daughters.
- [12:10]
Jack Murphy
Do you want to tell people a little bit about what Mortuary affairs does? Because it is an important job. I mean, you guys receive the dead, essentially.
- [12:19]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. I mean, you're spot on. It's the processing and care of our fallen. So when I enlisted, There was only 900 across the active and reserve for, I think, all of the branches. So, like, Army, Air Force, everybody. So it's pretty small. I don't know what the numbers look like now, but, yeah, exactly as you said. I mean, it's from recovery to internment. So there's a lot involved in that. I mean, every death is pretty much treated like a homicide in terms of how the military process goes. So you do the full autopsy. There is like, the chief Medical examiner at Dover is in charge of everything. So you're not just, like, going in and doing your own thing as a private. And like, the folks at Dover, if you haven't had a chance to go to Dover, at least, like, just kind of check it out and speak to some of the people there. I mean, that Is you want to talk about professionalism in the Department of War, like, that is the cream of the crop. Those people really take it seriously, wake up every day, like doing the worst thing and being there for people on their absolute worst day. And they do it well and they do it professionally. So, yeah, I mean, it's basically just the whole process. So it just depended on what part you were going to be assigned to for our, like, clinical rotation things, I guess is what you would call them, so you could get hands on. Because again, it can be very jarring to handle remains, like if you haven't done that or haven't been exposed to that. So it's kind of a. They do like an exposure cycle. But we went and supported the Richmond Morgues in Virginia because it was going through their murder capital of the world phase for a minute there. So they were super overwhelmed. So we went there, got some of that hands on training. And then also that diversity in cases because unfortunately what's coming through Dover or what was coming through Dover was pretty much the same over and over again. It was IDs, that type of thing, or like severe head injuries as a result of an IED or honestly, motorcycle crashes like that convinced me that nobody should ride motorcycles. Because the amount of young men coming through on those tables that were perfectly healthy and had entire careers ahead of them and were only in that facility because of a motorcycle crash and largely not because of something they had done, but something that a driver near them had done was like, okay, cool, I'm like a risky, edgy kid, but like, motorcycles ain't it.
- [14:59]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, I mean, those are going to be fighting words with some people.
- [15:02]
Stephanie Rotolo
I know, but I said what I said, at least for a helmet.
- [15:05]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, no, I get what you're saying, though. And I mean, I think motorcycles are like the bane of the Army's existence in some ways because, I mean, it's like constantly an issue about the reflective vests and the safety gear they want you to wear and being registered and trained for that reason. Because a lot service members do wipe out and either hurt themselves or get themselves killed.
- [15:26]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, it was eye opening in that regard. But yeah, I mean, overall, the experience, like I said, very formative for me. I'm very thankful. Again, kind of dark. But I'm very thankful that that was my entry into the army because I think gave me the perspective to take all of my decisions later on very seriously that, like, this isn't Call of Duty, like, these are real lives and I have handled the consequences of it. So, yeah, I was really glad that I made that choice.
- [16:00]
Jack Murphy
And about what time was it that you thought about becoming an officer?
- [16:07]
Stephanie Rotolo
Pretty much when I was in, like, going to basic training. So my dad, again, while he was terrified and eventually proud, he was like, if you're going to do this, you have to promise me at some point you'll become an officer. So I got into, like, an ROTC program, came back, went into the reserve status, and then was able to go to school and just finished two years because I already had an associate's and George Mason. I applied to, like, so many colleges. Again, terrible high school student, but I only figured it out when I went to community college. And I did really well, probably because I was paying for it and nobody was, like, there to hold my hand. And so I was just applying to schools that I knew had good programs and that had money for ROTC programs and more importantly, had slots that wouldn't delay commissioning. And George Mason is a. Is a pretty big ROTC battalion. I have to imagine it still is. They had a spot. It would delay me by, like, a. Like a half a semester or so. But I was still going to commission, so I really didn't care. So, yeah, I think, like, when I was going to basic training, once the reality of, like, going to basic training started hitting and I wasn't like the cool, edgy belle of the ball anymore, and I had to wear my giant Coke bottle glasses and, you know, slick my hair back, I think I realized pretty quickly, like, maybe I should listen to my father more. So, yeah, that's when I made that decision. So I wasn't enlisted for very long, but it was enough to at least kind of get some experience, kind of see what it's like, at least on the entry level.
- [17:52]
Jack Murphy
And you commissioned as an mp?
- [17:55]
Stephanie Rotolo
I did. I commissioned as an mp.
- [17:57]
Jack Murphy
Was that your choice or was it the branch given to you?
- [18:00]
Stephanie Rotolo
It was. Which I know is like, I don't know. I kind of laugh about it now because everybody was like, go Mi. Go Mi. And my dad was like, go, Mi. And I did not listen to my dad in that scenario. I went mp. But I will tell you, I loved being an mp. I think the thing that kind of swayed me was I really appreciated the, like, wartime peacetime crisis mission of, like, pretty much, no matter what, if. If we're dealing with you stateside, it's like you're having a really bad day. So I think, again, that's that, like, trend of, like, if this is somebody's worst day or this is a dark Day for mankind. Maybe I want to have my hands on it. And I thought being an MP was a way to kind of, like, be helpful in crisis, be, you know, some kind of, like, support or guiding system when there's chaos going on. And I loved it. I had a great time. Got to do my platoon leader rotation. We went to Germany. We did a rotation through Germany and got to work with the polizei, which is like, I'm sure you've been there. But the policing, like, wild. Had so much fun with them. Learned a lot, Got to see some crazy stuff because as we know, soldiers make really poor choices when they get overseas. And so got to work with, like, a lot of different agencies.
- [19:28]
Jack Murphy
You were doing sort of like shore patrol?
- [19:31]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Yeah, it was. Yeah. And then also it was joint patrolling with the Pulledzai. So they had had a lot of the refugees from the Middle east had come in at that time, and they were having some pockets of areas where things were not going great. There was, like, a lot of community pushback. And then, of course, course, U.S. service members wanted to get in the mix of all of that, or it just so happened that the neighborhood was next to, like, the hottest club. So kind of getting to see how a European entity, especially the Germans, like, handled that was pretty eye opening. And then a great opportunity to work with the Air Force.
- [20:11]
Jack Murphy
Hey, guys, I'm Jack Murphy here at the Teamhouse, and today I want to tell you about the sponsor for tonight's show, Mars Men. This is a natural testosterone support supplement, I take it. I've been taking it for about the last five weeks now, and I'm starting to notice a difference. You take five of these pills each day, and each one of these cans lasts you a month. I think you need to use them for a couple months to get the full effect of them. But I'm about five weeks in, and I'm starting to notice a difference already. Increased energy, better performance in the gym, all of those things. I've, you know, quite frankly, in the past had a problem with testosterone, as a lot of military veterans do, as a lot of men who are going into their 40s do. And this is actually something that seems to be helping me get my levels back up even higher. So I'd highly recommend checking them out. It has eight different substances in it that help boost your testosterone count. If you guys will go and check them out, we'd really appreciate it. So would the sponsor. For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off for life, plus free shipping and three free gifts@ Mengotomars.com that's Mengotomars.com for 50% off and three free gifts when you check out. After you purchase they will ask you what where you heard about them. Please show support for the show and tell them that the team house sent you. Thank you everyone.
- [21:45]
Ghostbed Advertiser
A lot of people put off buying a new mattress because it feels like a hassle. Too many options, too many claims and no real way to tell what's actually going to hold up. Ghostbed makes that decision easier. Ghostbed is a family run company with more than 20 years of mattress making experience. Backed by deep manufacturing expertise. Their approach is straightforward focus on quality materials, smart construction and a consistency over time. Not flashy features or complicated sales tactics. Every Ghostbed mattress is built for long term comfort using durable foam and proven cooling technology to help regulate temperature while you sleep. It's designed to feel reliable night after night, not just when it's brand new. And if you're not sure which mattress is right for you, Ghostbed's online mattress quiz helps narrow it down quickly. Whether you're a side sleeper who needs a little plushness or someone who prefers a firmer feel, the quiz matches you with the right option based on how you actually sleep. They also keep pricing grounded. Ghostbed mattresses cost up to 50% less in comparable brands. You can rest easy knowing you're not. You're getting one of the best values at this quality level. Every mattress comes with a 101 night sleep trial, an industry leading warranty and fast free shipping. And as a teamhouse listener, you can get an extra 10% off your order. Just go to ghostbed.com house and use the promo code HOUSE at checkout. That's ghostbed.com house codehouse for an additional 10% off site wide. Okay, upgrade your sleep with Ghostbed, makers of the coolest beds in the world. Some exclusions apply. See cipher details. Thank you Ghostbed for sponsoring the show. Thank you guys for helping support the show. Bye.
- [23:25]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [23:27]
Because nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [23:31]
Rain, dirt, whatever available all wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [23:36]
And they got some kick too.
- [23:38]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves. Moves.
- [23:43]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch. Gear mics. All of it fits.
- [23:49]
Load up. We out.
- [23:50]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [23:53]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue VER latest in market competitors in the EX SUV, mainstream midsize class, excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [24:06]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses. For lawyers, it's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package, which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a back seat throughout all this. You guessed it, LifeLock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with LifeLock. Join today. Visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [25:06]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on spinquest and there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love, with hundreds of slot games and real cash Prizes. That's at spinquest.coms P I N Q
- [25:26]
SpinQuest Announcer
U S T.com SpinQuest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [25:35]
Jack Murphy
What were some of the crazy things that happened while you were over there
- [25:38]
Stephanie Rotolo
doing that job in Germany? Yeah, well, I did get subpoenaed for one thing. These guys, riggers, we all know one of the craziest moss in all of the army, which is insane because that makes no sense. If you're in charge of making my parachute, I want you to not use drugs and make poor choices. But they beat this guy within an inch of his life. A cab driver in Germany. And then they tried to run and they ran into the barracks hammer drunk. I mean, everybody was just like three sheets the wind. But they were so drunk that they couldn't figure out, like, they should take their club clothes off and stuff. And I had just gotten off. I work. Worked a midnight shift for one of my soldiers. Like, I was like, hey, I'll work it. You go, like recover, you know, because that's what like leaders eat last and stuff like that. So I was like, I'm gonna be cool and like take this shift. And so I did the shift and I'm like exhausted and I come back and, you know, I'd already turned in, like, my service weapon, and I just have my little, like, duty phone. And I was staying in the barracks, which is like, MPs are not supposed to be CO. Located in the barracks. But their solution. So they put, like, my soldiers on one side, and then they had the riggers on the other side. And then their solution for the MP officer to not live with her soldiers was to put me in the rigor side of the barracks. So I, like. I'm, like, getting ready for bed and, you know, have my big sweatshirt on and my glasses again, still super thick. I have my retainer in, and I start hearing, like, a commotion down the hallways. Like, you know how barracks hallways are.
- [27:19]
Jack Murphy
It's like a ruckus.
- [27:21]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. So you can hear everything. And so I'm like, oh, that doesn't sound good. And I hear, like, the. I hear, like, radio chatter, and I'm like, oof. Like, really not good. And I hear somebody yelling, like, stop. Stop. Like, stop. Military police. And I'm like, oh, gosh. And, like, instead of taking, like, five seconds and I don't know, like, putting pants on, taking my retainer out, like any of these other things, I just, like, grabbed my little baton and my duty phone, and I, like, ran out of my. Out of my barracks room like an idiot again. I had. The sweatshirt was, like, down to my knees. So I'm like, I may as well have been wearing, like, a dress, but it was, like, very clear that this was, like, bedtime at the tire. And so I, like, run out, and I see one guy, like, whip past me, and the other guy is. The. The other MP is, like, crashing this guy into the wall. And I'm like, where's your partner? Where's your partner? And he's like, he's coming. He's coming. And so I'm like. I start yelling like, hey, we're down here. We're down here. Because again, I have nothing to assist in this scenario. Like, I'm. I'm dead weight at this point. I'm just in the way. The next guy comes up and they are tackling with him, and I hear, like, you know, that metallic click on, like, the part of. On, like, a holster, like the old ones. I start hearing that, and this guy's so drunk, he's, like, reaching for the MPs weapon, like, genuinely trying to, like. And I hear OCOC, which nobody wants to hear in a tiny hallway in the middle of the night. And so they just start blasting this guy. And so he's like, he's in this hallway, shoved up against the door. They're just blasting OC not their weapons OC and there had been like a group of guys that had come through the hallway. And so I, like, grabbed them and I'm like moving them down the hallway. And I'm like, stop. Military police with my retainer list going like, get against the wall. And they're like, who is this? So very embarrassing for me, but I thought I was taking charge. And then the guy, the door in front of where they're spraying, this guy, he opens the door. That guy now inadvertently gets spotted sprayed. And if you've ever been OC sprayed, which I have plenty of times, I would rather be tased over and over again for 24 hours straight. Like, it is crippling to me. And so he starts screaming. Everybody starts screaming. And then I'm like, guys, like, I'm gonna go put pants on. What can I do to help? And they're like, do you have any water? And I'm like, sure do. So I go in my room, put my pants on, start pouring water on this guy. They start escorting down the hallway. And that's when we realize right in front of the stairwell, there's like now a. A gaggle of all of this guy's drunk buddies who are like, oh, there's two mps, some chick in a sweatshirt with sandals on, and there's like six of us. So they're like, we're gonna fight you. Like, they start screaming, they're gonna like, fight the pigs, all this stuff. And so it just like, gets out of hand. At that point, I had started calling like, the duty sergeant and being like, this is where we are. This is the barracks. Like, we need people to get up here. Like, I don't have anything to assist with. I have no handcuffs. I have nothing. So that guy comes up the stairwell, and thankfully he's a big guy. And so they like, are all scatter, like, you know, bugs. So we get outside and I'm trying to get into contact with the unit's first sergeant and commander. And turns out like, the commander left the country but didn't leave. Like, assumption of command orders. So there's this like, terrified lieutenant that doesn't know what he's supposed to do, and his first sergeant's telling him that he needs to get up in the middle of the night and drive out there. And so we end up waiting for a while. And finally, like, the first sergeant shows up and is like, okay, everybody out of the Barracks. And so they just clear the barracks. Like if you were in this section of barracks, you were coming outside in the middle of the night and you were lining up. And so we all line up, or they all line up rather, and we're like walking along and they're like, well, ma', am, since you weren't on duty, we need you to help, like, validate who was there, who was part of the, like, fighting the cops gang and like, who you saw in the hallway. So I'm like, okay. So I'm like walking around the thing and I'm like, not you, not this guy. This guy. Definitely not this guy. I point to one and I'm like, this guy for sure. He's like, man, fuck you, bitch. And my soldier is just like. And so then it just turns into like a scuffle all over again. And it was just like. It was just like a crazy night. I was like, this cannot be real. At least I put my pants on at some point during this. So all that happens. Fast forward. A couple of the guys that got arrested during that ended up getting arrested like a couple weeks later. Like, I don't know why they were out or what happened. I wasn't part of, of that level of the investigation. But they're like in this barracks and somebody like, pulls out a pistol and like, pistol whips somebody's girlfriend, which you're in Germany on a military. Like, where did you get like a free range pistol to like, just hit people with? So I was honestly, like, impressed. Like, it was terrible. But I'm like, we. This guy, like, knows people. We should probably talk to him. And so they end up going to like real prison. And there was this little holding area. I want to say it was called Sembak. I don't know if you remember. It was like this weird base that like, felt and looked like it was abandoned outside of Kaiserschland. And I'm doing like prison checks one night and guess who's in there? Those two knuckleheads. So I think that was probably the craziest in terms of like U.S. mill. You know, I'm watching like the Pulitzer get after it. When people are not behaving is like
- [32:41]
Jack Murphy
fat people, they do not fuck around.
- [32:43]
Stephanie Rotolo
Oh my gosh. Like, people love to scream police brutality in the US and like, I won't get into that. But I'll tell you what, the Pulitzer can be doing whatever they want to do, and people do not pull out their phones. People do not intervene. People mind their business. And it was very interesting.
- [32:59]
Jack Murphy
Ah, Those Germans.
- [33:01]
Stephanie Rotolo
Oh, man. And if they want blood, they're taking blood. That was, like, the craziest thing to me. Like, none of this refusing. Like, we're just gonna pin you down and get it. So.
- [33:08]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. You know, things like that happen Sometimes when MPs decide to go onto the Ranger battalion compound and they end up getting balled up by a bunch of privates. And I may or may not have a photograph of a bunch of Ranger battalion kids wearing Hawaiian T shirts sitting and laying on top of an MP car in the Ranger battalion compound.
- [33:34]
Stephanie Rotolo
You know, everybody's got to, like, bully the MPs a little bit again. I had so much fun. I was so lucky to have, like, the best platoon sergeant in the world. I think that's, like, I know it's not really underrated. That's what they always tell you is, like, a new officer. But seriously, to have, like, a quality platoon sergeant, just like, an icon that's willing to train you and work with you and, like, keep you on the straight and narrow, man. Yeah, just a great guy. We still talk today, like, 10 out of 10. Very lucky for him.
- [34:03]
Jack Murphy
So you're having this big adventure in Germany. When did it come? Or when did you first hear about the cultural support teams?
- [34:12]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, so I got, like a. Oh, I had subscribed to. Do you remember S1net? No, I think it went away. There was this thing called S1Net, and it was like, all of the milpers that came out, you could enroll, and they would just send the mil purs to your email. And, like, they were very unreasonable. Yeah. And I was in Germany and I was running, like, half marathon to a marathon, like, every weekend with this first sergeant who was an ultra marathoner. So we were, like, really getting after it. I was getting in great shape. I was a really big runner, and I got this, like, milper that was like, hey, this thing's coming up. And I was like, man, I want to get in on that. But I got to get back from Germany. I got to figure out when I can go to the selection and do all that. So, yeah, I literally just found out about it from having base level milpers forwarded to me. Like, very, very lucky. The timing was right because I had heard about it previously. Like, remember when Ashley's War, the book came out? There was also some of the cadre in my ROTC program had kind of talked about it, like, when I was, you know, going through that, and they were like, you know, this might be something you would be interested in later in Life. And it had just kind of. It ebbed and flowed about when they were doing selections and if they were making new teams. And so when I saw that Milper, I was like, this is not a thing that I can wait on. Like, if I'm doing it, it's happening now. And so I just started training really hard. And thankfully my battalion command at that time was, like, super supportive, and he was like, all steam ahead. We will not get in your way, like, as long as you finish your platoon leader time. Like, good to go for us.
- [35:51]
Jack Murphy
So what was. Did you have to go to Fort Bragg and go to the selection course and all that?
- [35:56]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah. So got back, had to go. We did CA selection, went through that. And then once you did the CA selection, if you got selected for CA selection, then you would continue into this little board with Ranger Regiment, and then there would be another selection on top of that, that then you would go through the next couple months of training. So it was, like, really great. When I got ca, so I had no idea what CA was like. They asked you, you know, like, why do you want to be ca? And I'm like, I don't know what you guys are. It sounds cool. I'm having a lot of fun at the selection. Like, your workouts are great. Everybody sounds really interesting. I don't know what you are. I'm just here to try and be a cst. But thankfully did make it through that and got asked to continue to keep trying for CST selection.
- [36:46]
Jack Murphy
What was it like going to CSD selection?
- [36:49]
Stephanie Rotolo
It was so hard. Like I said, I was a really big runner, so lifting weights wasn't really a thing to me. I had played ice hockey in high school, and then I did one season of women's semi pro football in D.C. and I kind of learned a little bit about lifting weights, but I was running all the way and then showing up to CST selection. And like, all of these women are absolute muscle savages and they can run and they're smart. And so CST selection was awesome. It was very intimidating. It was very stressful by design. But even if I hadn't made CST selection, like, just the quality of training, even within the selection itself, like, to go with, you know, rangers to the range every day and shoot for hours on end and have to train with them and learn how they do what they do, like, you're not going to get that anywhere else in the Army.
- [37:42]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. I mean, particularly at that time, being a woman in the army, those kinds of opportunities weren't really there.
- [37:49]
Stephanie Rotolo
No, it was so good. And, like, the medical training again, Ranger medics, like, best in class. Right? So to be able to train and learn all that stuff. And then, like, the tactical questioning and, like, the combative slash. You found yourself in a bad situation, now fight your way out of it. Like, great training, regardless of if I made it or not. And again, the women, like, women that are going through that selection, that's top tier. Those are quality, cool, smart, capable people. So just the friends that you make through the process, too, was very thankful for that.
- [38:26]
Jack Murphy
What was sort of your impression of what the CST program was as you're going through the training?
- [38:33]
Stephanie Rotolo
I didn't really know. Like, it was very funny to me because in one of the, like, boards, they ask you, like, what do you think that we do? And I was like, what do you mean, we? And they were. And they were like, us. And it's all these Rangers. And I'm like, get terrorists, probably. And they're like, we shoot people in the face. And I was like, okay. They're like, can you shoot people in the face? And I'm like, yes. So, like, I didn't really know. I thought, you know, like, I had again, like, Ashley's War and stuff like that, and just trying to piece together bits of, like, news articles that came out around that. I understood it as, like, getting information off women and children of the battlefield because it was 50% of the population that couldn't be accessed. And ultimately, that's what it was.
- [39:22]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Yeah.
- [39:22]
Jack Murphy
It's interesting. It sounds like, from what you're saying, that the Ranger regiment was, like, very intimately involved in this whole program.
- [39:29]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, I think way more than I expected. Like, we did all of our selection was at Fort Benning in, like, the little rafts compound area. We had to take the RPAT and do all of those things. That was super fun. That's. I learned how to lift weights there because I did not have a choice. Yeah, so we did, you know, all their ranges, all, like, the battle drills, like, you know, that CQB training, like, all of that. So, yeah, I mean, Rangers were. I. I didn't. I guess I should have known that there was other units we would go to once we got where we were going. But all of our training and everything was managed by Ranger regiment. And I think that was great because, again, like, who's more professional at, like, mastering the basics and. And showing you how to do it right?
- [40:20]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, no, that's really interesting because I think some of the CST's we've had on this show before, probably came into the program a little earlier than you. And they went through everything at Bragg, as I recall.
- [40:31]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, so we bounced between Benning and Bragg. Yeah, now that I'm thinking it was between Benning and Bragg, but it was regiment guys and then JSOC guys. But the bulk of, like, what I would call the actual selection and not the train up was. Was regiment. And then, yeah, we did a lot of the. A lot of the ranges with the JSTAC guys, but again, they were guys that come from bat, so a lot of overlap there. Yeah, so we. I mean, it was half and half between Benning and Bragg. Bragg was definitely a more fun time,
- [41:06]
Jack Murphy
a little bit more laid back than the Ranger regiment.
- [41:09]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. And also you were just kind of like further along in the process. And it was easier at that point, like, just being like, sore and tired all the time to just be like, okay, cool, I messed that up. Next event. You. Like, there were so many. You can only psych yourself out so many times during the selection that at like, some point you're just like, I'm just giving it up to whoever is in charge at this point. And if I die, I die. So, yeah, it was just. I think it was a lot more fun.
- [41:40]
Jack Murphy
Any other specific training you want to get into before you actually graduate from the course?
- [41:46]
Stephanie Rotolo
We did a lot of, like, the cultural training because me and my partner, I know some of the other CST's that you spoke to, that program had so many evolutions. So I really admire them because, like, you know, like Jess and Sam, there was not nearly as much structure around what they were going into and how they're trained up and selected. So in retrospect and like, knowing how their selections and train ups went, like, very thankful that there was more of a structure around ours. And it was like, you know, actually targeted at what we would probably be doing. The cultural training was really helpful because me and my partner ended up getting the dual hat mission. So on top of our regular, like, combat mission missions to go out and, you know, get info from women and children on the battlefield, we also were training the Afghan Special Operations Female Tactical Platoon. So the FTP. So I didn't know what to expect. Like, I had never been anywhere in the world, really. I mean, I've been to Europe, but, like, I didn't really know what to expect. So I was very glad for, like, the precursor training on just how women are treated in Afghanistan. I mean, you can read about it and you can hear about it and People can tell you about it, but you don't get it until you see it, and you live it and you watch it every day, and you have to navigate it as you're trying to train with them. So I was thankful for that because there was a fair amount of training on kind of how to navigate that space as well.
- [43:21]
Jack Murphy
I'll be honest, I never really understood what you guys do or why it matters for a while, because women don't really have any power in that society. So it's like, well, what intel are you really gathering off of them? But we had Alana Duffy in here. She was a counterintelligence nco. And when they go overseas, they have them do a lot of human. And they had her doing very similar things to what you did. And when she started describing about what a woman scorned will say, it all kind of clicked and made sense for me.
- [43:58]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I have distinct memories of this one old woman being like, I don't. Basically. Rough translation, I don't give a shit about him. Please take him.
- [44:06]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah, take him away.
- [44:07]
Stephanie Rotolo
This is where he keeps his stuff that you guys are interested in. You see that shack over there? Like, be careful because it's filled with explosives. Like, please take his lazy ass. So very interesting. And then also, I mean, the children. Like, children are one of our techniques. My. My CST partner, who is the most incredible person in the entire world, she had dyed her hair blonde. She's natural brunette, dyed over there. And I was like, this is so reckless. Like, how are you gonna keep your hair dyed? And, like, I'm not even bringing razors, dude. I'm just gonna be, like, the hairiest person on the compound. And she dyed her hair blonde. And that was such a tactical asset for us, let me tell you, because we would come upon, like, these, like, hordes of children. Like, my favorite woman was this, like, riverbed where all these kids were getting pushed down because the terrorists were doing things up further north. And they were, like, flowing through this riverbed. And we start talking to them. Like, the women are, like, not being helpful. Nobody wants to talk to us. The. I think we were with seventh group. And seventh group is like, okay, what do you guys want? And we're like, cool. One rare occasion that we get two CST's on one mission, which was more common for the earlier teams. But once, like, my team was only six women to support the entire country. So, you know, they had to decide where resources were going and how many seats we were taking and things like that. And long story short, they pushed them to the side of the riverbed. Nobody wants to talk to us, nobody's giving anything. Even though we're pulling like all this money, like suspicious levels of money off of people, passports and all sorts of things. And I think the key thing that we got out of that little adventure was my CST partner flipping her dyed blonde hair and this probably six year old boy being mesmerized and just ready to tell us exactly where he was coming from, who was up there, when they left, why they left, and it was all just the blonde hair. So that's not. Obviously the mission of the CST is to like manipulate children into telling you things. But, you know, it's just a. It's a group of. They're essentially like flies on the wall. Like they see everything, they're internalizing everything. They know what the routines are. A lot of times they're in charge of managing the routines, right? Like they just. Like any woman anywhere, they want to keep their kids safe. So when it comes down to it, they will talk. There's just ways to try and get things out of them, but you got to come in prepared for that.
- [46:42]
Jack Murphy
And so you were based out of Kabul and as you said, you had this dual hatted mission where you were working with the female platoon, part of the kka, but also going out on ops too, and doing the more traditional, I guess, CST mission, I guess. Let's start with the female platoon. Tell us about them and what it was like working with them, man.
- [47:07]
Stephanie Rotolo
Just incredible badasses like it. You know, I hear so much conjecture, especially today, about like, women's rights are being taken away and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, let me tell you about, let me tell you about some women and women's rights. So you have the female tactical platoons, largely Hazara, right? So already a persecuted tribe. We had about 42 women. You know, they would answer these vague recruitment calls, often become the breadwinner of their family. Often mothers, wives, daughters, whatever, have to get permission. They sign up to join this thing. They know they're putting themselves at risk. They know they're putting their families at risk. And they are all about it, man. Like, it was so funny to me too, because it's like I was like a first lieutenant when I showed up and my deputy was a second lieutenant. And we're like, we're here to train you and be in charge. And it's like, sure, but the female tactical platoon commander has been doing this for like 15 years. So like actually she should probably be like trading us on some things. But it was just like the ultimate exchanging of of ttps. At the end of the day, you know, we had just come off of all of these ranges with, with Ranger regiment and the JSOC guys and so we're like hot at that. So we're like, all right, let's get you out on the range and like teach you this or at least brush up on these skills and make you really good at this. So nobody can say that you can't shoot. The physical fitness thing, like training was a big thing, like teaching them how to lift weights, teaching them how to do what they need to do physically, especially when they're so tiny. And oftentimes they were like, didn't have access to enough food or water. So trying to navigate around that also just navigating. I mean the katejas were much better about treating those women like valued humans. And I don't know how much of that was because we were watching or what. And like, you know, me and my partner were the third gender. Like we're not women and we're not men in their eyes.
- [49:03]
SpinQuest Announcer
Right.
- [49:05]
Stephanie Rotolo
And so those guys were much better with them than I then I think the probably the rest of the military forces would have been. But again it was still you were like dealing with that aspect of it of like we are going to leave at some point the US military is going to leave. The intent here is not for us to do every mission together. If we are going on a mission, it's because we are doing it together so that you are prepared to take this from us when we inevitably depart. Like US withdrawing should not be a surprise to anybody. It is impending. We need to go out and do this thing. But it was really cool sending them out, not partnered with us. Like being able to send the FTPs out is like just the FTP is going on this partner led mission. You know, no US CST was like, that was really cool to see. Is like they've, they're integrated and also that the US is truly putting partner force missions they are leading them to, including they're using their enablers, their version of the cs. So that was very encouraging to see. Yeah, just incredible women that. I mean their English great. We did a lot of English classes. We did medical stuff, you know, sensitive site exploitation. Just kind brave souls. Like we, we thought we were like so badass being these women that are like, yeah, we're going into combat units. Like we're supporting special operations. And then you're like okay, but this is, like, way cooler because these are, like 42 women out of this entire country doing that thing. But they're doing it from Afghanistan as women.
- [50:44]
Jack Murphy
Right, Right. I wanted to ask you if there was a difference between how you saw the female soldiers approach, specifically the Afghan female soldiers approach the job, and what the differences were between how the men approached it, be they American or Afghan. Was there a different way that they went about things?
- [51:09]
Stephanie Rotolo
I think the Afghan women, like, FTP side, were very aggressive and very confident. I think because these are their countrymen. Right. And so they know what these women are going through, it was easier for them to pick up on subtle differences in body language and translation. When I was going into a dark compound, I had a translator with me, right. Like, I had my basic commands that I had memorized and things like that. But, like, I still needed a translator to know what is going on. They didn't need that. So they were able to be, like, a bit more direct and aggressive, I think. I think they just, like, genuinely really had to give a shit to be there. Like, there is not the hero worship that, like, we are. We are given in the US Military of, like, you know, bless our troops and support our troops. And if you're in the military, like, you know, for a day, everybody wants to call you a hero. Like, they don't get the luxury of that, like, at all, even slightly. So there's no, like, valor in that, particularly for the women. Right. So I think just that that commitment and. And how seriously they have to take it and how committed they have to be to the survival of their country to even be in that position was like. That should make you stop and think.
- [52:29]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, I was going to ask, did you get to learn any of the individual backgrounds of these women? Because, I mean, that must have been a very interesting life path that took them to get to that place. And I'm wondering if they faced being ostracized by their families. They had to basically elope, so to speak, to join the military.
- [52:50]
Stephanie Rotolo
I mean, a lot of them were for more progressive families. I mean, at some point, you know, they had to either get permission or tell their families that they were doing this. And then again, they were largely, like, making money, having to travel, like, to and from. So, like, let's say they, like, went home on leave or something like that. You know, they'd have to, like, stash their uniforms and all their military documentation somewhere because they couldn't be stopped on a bus traveling with that. But, yeah, I mean, I got. I got to know them. Just great people. Like, just, I remain in awe of them. Very smart, like educated, if not formally, like informally and seeking it out every day. You know, we all say like, oh, I'm gonna learn another language or I'm gonna pick up a skill or I'm gonna like, I'm always like, I'm gonna get into woodworking. And like, I, I can't even like commit to buying the initial kit on Amazon. Right. But these are not those type of people. Like, they, they were like, I'm going to learn English, I'm, I'm going to learn how to shoot. I'm going to get really physically fit. And then they just did it because that's what they wanted to do. Yeah, just, just an interesting like spread of people, especially between like ages and where they were coming from. But yes, largely Hazara. So that was, that was a common, common trend there.
- [54:10]
Jack Murphy
What kind of operations did they do
- [54:14]
Stephanie Rotolo
in terms of like when they were on target? Yeah, same thing as a cst. So.
- [54:20]
Jack Murphy
Really?
- [54:21]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. So if we were going into a compound in the middle of the night and in and out, they were there. If it was going to be a multi day type of thing, they were doing the same exact thing. So everything we were doing, they were doing.
- [54:37]
Jack Murphy
And then at the same time, I mean, how did it work? Were you getting pulled off of that mission, off of that detail? I guess to go out on actual combat operations with the American side of it.
- [54:48]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, exactly. So like I said, I had a partner, so her and I would pretty much rotate out. And then when we would do like the rare combined thing, we would basically have to go brief the ranger commander and be like, this is what the training plan looks like for the week. This is who's handling it, this is what the FTPs are doing. And then another, a CST from the previous rotation had stayed back to kind of fill this like weird civilian billet. And so we would work with her to at least like make sure that the training plan was staying on track. But yeah, I mean you would just have to leave. That was. Yeah, there was only six of us, so there was only so much, you know, moving people around. And then, you know, my teammates in other places were busy as hell. Like, so, you know, they got to take a knee. Like you're going to be the one that goes. And also the other thing is like, if you were a CST at that point, fighting for a spot on a plane and like you understand the value of the mission, maybe you don't have the crusty team sergeant that understands the value of the mission. And it's like some new team commander who's making the decision of what the manifest is going to look like. You do not miss out on an opportunity to be able to go support and show the value of the CST mission because CST will not be included for that team's missions again. So, like, you better seize that opportunity and you better try really hard and do really well to make sure you basically don't like Sully the name, but also so that you are actually value added and you're doing what American taxpayers are paying for you to go do on their behalf.
- [56:31]
Jack Murphy
What was it like going out on missions with the Ranger regiment?
- [56:36]
Stephanie Rotolo
Most of mine were with the odas, thankfully. Ranger regiment was like, fast and furious. Crazy. Yeah. The ODA stuff though, those were. That was super fun. I'm very partial to ODAs. I just think I got along with them a little bit better. I'm sorry. I know. Hope I'm not hurting any feelings. But, you know, I just loved like the energy of like a bunch of these guys. You're like, not sure if in shape or what, and then they'd be like running up and down mountains like billy goats and stuff. But it was really fun. I really liked the multi day ones. I liked the complexity of it. I liked watching how those plans came together. I liked watching how the Odas like, tag team problems, you know, contributing into that decision cycle where I could working with the 18 Foxes to have a good understanding of what we were going into and likely where I was going to be most useful and preparing myself to be able to pivot, you know, kind of getting like swapped out between ODAs, depending on who was in like, what hot zone kind of thing. Especially for those multi day, multi ODA missions. That was a lot of fun because you got to like, kind of see how different teams run and what the vibe is. So you had like your surfer bro teams and then like your edgy teams, which are always really funny to me. And then like, you're like jock dude bro teams. And so it was a lot of fun. And I got to work with a lot of like absolute legends in the community and, and see how they do what they do. It felt like almost reading a war hero book or like reading like Lone Survivors one time. You're like, there's no way. I mean, some of that stuff, not true. Right? We know that now, but like, you're like in the presence of these guys that like, this is what they do. This is what they have done for the last 20 years, and this is what they will do until they are forced to stop doing it. And I found that the older ones, that was the other reason why I really meshed with the ODA as well, is, like, it was just an older group of people, so the maturity was there to understand how to use us effectively, and there was less of the ego involved in, like, oh, man, there's a girl in our tree house. Right. Like, it was kind of just like they'd seen it before. They didn't care. They knew the utility. They looked at us as a resource. And so they were going to use us as an essentially, like, a weapon system for them, the Intel. Essentially an intel platform that they could weaponize. And so I really, very much so appreciated working with the Odas, and particularly like, the Foxes and then the Zulus.
- [59:25]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, I mean, that's what a good ODA does, is they see what assets they have available and bring them in and make them part of the team.
- [59:32]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, they were great about that.
- [59:36]
Jack Murphy
Any particularly dicey operations that stand out in your mind?
- [59:43]
Stephanie Rotolo
There was one really horrible one where we kind of got stuck in a compound, and we were. Folks were on their way to come help us out, and we did lose service members that day. That's a tough one. And it's, like, very weird because I still, like, I was there, but I have this weird, like. And nothing bad happened to me. Like, I didn't get blown up or anything, but I have these, like, ins and outs of trying to piece together what's going on. That one was really terrible, but I can't really, like, speak to exactly the flow of that. And what happened besides it was terrible, and we were outside of the golden hour ring. And so it was just a lot of conflating factors that just culminated in something very tragic, I think I can tell you. Like, my. One of my favorite ones.
- [60:38]
Jack Murphy
Sure.
- [60:39]
Stephanie Rotolo
We were cruising alongside this, like, little, like, ridge over this valley. And I mean, we are, like, we've been out for, like, a couple days at this point, I think, and we started, like, taking pop shots and from the other side of the river. And then somebody noticed that there was, like, one of those tunnels, like, coming out of the river. And so these guys were just, like, popping out, taking pop shots. And so we ended up just setting up on the valley, basically, like, on. On the edge of the ridge. And, like, they would pop out, like, whack a mole and, like, shoot at us. And then, like, everybody would just shoot back and one would drop and Then another one would come out and it would be like. And then they would drop. And it was like, very, like, what are we doing here, man? So finally they were just like, call it out. Like, these people are just going to keep jumping out of here. Like, just push down. Clearly they have some kind of, like, nest set up there. Let's just push down and just drop firepower because this, like, hidey hole, like, nonsense. But it. It just struck me as, like, just so cavalier, like, like. Because that was like, the first. The first, like, no shit. I'm within, like, what I believe to be, like, viable shooting distance, right? Of, like, I could feasibly shoot this weapon and hit somebody. And so it was like, oh, shit. This is, like, this is, like, real. This is not a range. There's actually people shooting at us. Like, this is. This is serious. But it was a very good opportunity to see that oda, like, how they operate, how they communicate. I mean, it was like watching, like, a conductor of an orchestra, right? Like, just all the hand signals and everything they were doing. I mean, it was really. It was cool. And it made me more scared, but it made me more committed to making sure I actually integrated with the teams and I understood the tactics that were expected of me, so I did not become a liability.
- [62:39]
Jack Murphy
What were the differences when you supported JSOC operations between the ODA and the JSOC side?
- [62:49]
Bretzky
You know,
- [62:52]
Stephanie Rotolo
I didn't really, like, know half the time who you're with. I think that's the big difference is, like, when you would go with the ODAs, it would be like, oh, this is Chet and Brad and Va. And you'd be like, oh, great to see you again, you know, And. But then when there was, like, other guys, like, they would just kind of show up, and you never really knew who they were or what they were necessarily doing there. But they would be part of, like, all the briefs and the walkthroughs, and then you, like, march out and get on the birds and, like, they'd be there and they'd just be, like, super chill, hanging out. I kept calling this one guy Dan because the guys on one of the Odas kept calling him Delta Dan. And so, like, I just thought that was his name because he never introduced himself. And so, like, we get done with this, like, nighttime mission thing we're doing, and it's, like, snowy as hell. I'm, like, up to my, like, hips and stuff, snow and, you know, hauling all my back, and we're, like, getting ready to get on the birds, and I'M like, like, hope you had a good mission, Dan. And he's like, my name's not Dan. I'm playing how the would I know? Because you never introduced yourself. He's like, they just keep calling me Delta Dan. And so it was a lot like, that was like they were just kind of like these like ghosts that would just like show up to things, do their thing in some part of the compound and then like disappear into the night. Yeah, that was, that was like very, very funny. I never really knew what they were doing there outside of what I heard like in the briefings, but I just didn't know who they were or they would show up like right before we would go somewhere. Right. So there wasn't like a whole lot of time to. And realistically, no need for me to be like briefing them on anything.
- [64:29]
Jack Murphy
Sure.
- [64:30]
Stephanie Rotolo
As long as I was doing my job, what I was supposed to be doing with the intelligence that I was supposed to be focused on, I would be feeding into that cycle anyways. So there's no reason for us to be, to be like, buddy, buddy. But I do wish I had been like a bit like, just like more confident and older to be like, no, seriously, what's your name and where are, like, where are you coming from? But I was just like, just really starstruck almost and also just like really intimidated like, you know, as a 25 year old woman dropped into this, this thing that I like really wanted to do and had been thinking about for years and then went through the selection and you're like, yeah, I did it. But the selection is just like, get into the Super Bowl. You still have to perform in the Super Bowl. Guess what is months long. So I was just very like, I think a little starstruck now. I, you know, I certainly would go up and be like, no, like, if your name's not Dan, then what is your name, dude? Because at no point did you introduce yourself, nor do I know where you're coming from. But you know, 25, you don't really have the confidence for that.
- [65:26]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know those guys. They like look over both shoulders, then whisper of width the unit.
- [65:34]
Stephanie Rotolo
Or you'd be like on the birds with them and they'd be like wearing some like with gray man outfit. And you're like, do you realize your gray man outfit like draws even more attention because you look like such a nondescript weirdo? It was, it was like one of those things where you'd see them all over, you'd be traveling with them like, because Because I was in Kabul and I had to support, you know, ODAs wherever, you know, other units everywhere. Like, green air would come out and kind of just pick me up from my compound and then we'd kind of do like the rotation and whoever else was going wherever. And so, like, guys would get on and off and again, same thing. It's like they're in their little gray man outfits, just like staring at the wall, and you're like, you can sit on this helicopter for like 15 minutes and not say anything. That's fine. But it's a little awkward at this point.
- [66:24]
Jack Murphy
I. And then what was it like rotating home after Kabul,
- [66:30]
Stephanie Rotolo
like, coming back to the States?
- [66:31]
Jack Murphy
Yeah.
- [66:33]
Stephanie Rotolo
You know, this is like one of the big things that I think is underappreciated. When you have units that are. Or programs that are unique and different. There was no. So, okay, so you come back with a regular unit, right? And there's the reintegration. They do the little march out in the field and see your families and then you have to go clean. Clean weapons and you do the whole thing. There was none of that. It was literally like, get on the plane and go home. And so because all six of us had come from every duty station imaginable, we were kind of just kicked off to the four winds, and it was like, okay, it's over now. And that was really, really hard. So thankfully, some of the girls, the program manager at the time, was like, hey, if you guys want to take leave and be together, we will work something out. And you guys can do that because technically I still have command authority over you. And so she gave us the opportunity to take a good chunk of leave, and we all made a point to be together for those of us that could. I was living in Savannah at the time, and so two of the CST's came out and stayed with me. And it was just like, yeah, we just needed that, like, that wind down time. It was very hard coming back to the conventional army, especially to an MP unit. Again, love the MPs, but there's a lot of, like, the machismo and like the chest bumping. And I was like, I've just spent so much time around this, but people that are, like, entitled to bump their chests and, like, scream about how they're big, strong men. So, like, I'm not gonna take it from these stateside MPs right now. So that was a little bit hard. I, like, went kind of rogue and like, I'm like a super rule follower in the army, but I like came home and like put these crazy red streaks in my hair and I was like, I'm gonna get like another really big stupid tattoo and like pierce my ear. And so like, I just kind of went like a little bit Rogue. But yeah, I would say it was, it was hard because there wasn't that structured integration program like that. And then when you go back.
- [68:51]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [68:53]
Because nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [68:57]
Rain, dirt, whatever available all wheel drive, five modes.
- [69:01]
We still outside and they got some kick to that.
- [69:04]
Turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves, moves.
- [69:09]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch. Gear mics all of it fits.
- [69:15]
Load up. We out.
- [69:16]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [69:19]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market Competitors in the EX SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [69:31]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, LifeLock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today, visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [70:31]
Bretzky
What's up everybody? It's Bretzky and America is turning 250 and I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American owned social casino. Spinquest.com with all of your favorite games. Live crabs, bubble craps, live blackjack, there's no better place to play for free and win real cash prizes.
- [70:52]
Stephanie Rotolo
Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to
- [70:56]
SpinQuest Announcer
play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [71:01]
Stephanie Rotolo
Back to your unit. Nobody knows where the hell you've been for a year, right? So like everybody I had known at that unit for the most part had PCs or was about to PCs. So I came back to like a unit that did not know who I was, did not know where I just came from and like certainly didn't appreciate that like these things that I had just done or these, these emotions that I probably needed to process on the back end. So that was tough, but I was so. I'm always, I'm grateful to be an American every single day of my life. So grateful to be an American getting off that plane and driving from. We landed in Baltimore, driving down to Georgia and just that long stretch of highway just in my old beat up truck that my dad, you know, brought to the, the airport parking lot for me. And I got a very serious speeding ticket. But I didn't care just to drink like cold Diet Coke and speed on American highways. I mean, what a lovely, what a lovely feeling.
- [72:03]
Jack Murphy
McDonald's and Starbucks as far as the eye can see, man.
- [72:07]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, I just loved it. And that it didn't smell like trash all the time and that I felt I didn't have like that grit of sand in my teeth. But yeah, it was, it was a little bit hard. And then that's ultimately why I was like, I can't stay conventional army. I need to find a way to, to keep doing something different.
- [72:25]
Jack Murphy
I wanted to. Because you mentioned this issue with unit cohesion that the CSTs have. I mean, was that the way it was designed to work? That it's like a one year detail that you go and do and then you're just back to your old job?
- [72:38]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, I mean I failed to mention, I did get to, some of us did get to like come back slash stay on and do like these little like almost TDY things to help with future selections for additional teams. So that was helpful like because you kind of all got to come back together and do the CST thing again and then, and then bring new candidates in and teach them like the tips and tricks that you had learned. But yeah, it was never, it's not designed to be like a standing unit. I mean this is a thing that you, you come in and you do it and you usually go home. Especially when you think about like from the officer side. I mean I kept getting warned about what it would do to my career progression, that I was like going off of the, the script, off the timeline script. And I don't really like who, I don't care about that. Like, sure, I'm never going to be like a four star general. Who gives a shit if I like did something cool one year. But yes, it was never designed to be a standing Unit. Which is interesting, though, because now I hear these things of, like, well, we don't need CST because we have women in SF and we have women rangers. And I'm like a female oda, Engineer, medic, whatever. Her job is to be an engineer, medic, whatever. Her job is not to deal with women and children on the battlefield. It's a totally different role. It's not simply the presence and the ownership. Can I say vagina? On this podcast?
- [74:08]
Jack Murphy
Vagina is cleared.
- [74:10]
Stephanie Rotolo
Okay. It is not simply the owner. Being the owner of a vagina that makes you just do that role. There's. There's training. It's a specific role. It's a specific techniques, tactics, things that you're doing. It's not simply just being a woman in the room. Right. So I think it's very unfortunate that it's not something that's a standing program or that it can't readily be pulled off the shelf and dusted off and be ready to be operationalized again. I will say later teams, like, we have, like, skill identifiers that indicate that we did it, but the earlier teams don't have that benefit, which is also why a lot of them are fighting every single day to try and get their VA benefits to help them with the medical problems that they're facing as a result of their service is because they weren't given that designated. They were basically just told, go home. So I'm thankful that some of us have that designator at least, because it gives us a little bit more to push back on. But. Yeah.
- [75:17]
Jack Murphy
Well, the last part of Afghanistan I gotta get out of you, of course, is your dog smuggling ring.
- [75:24]
Stephanie Rotolo
It was not a ring. First of all, it sounds like a conspiracy to me, if my lawyer is listening.
- [75:33]
SpinQuest Advertiser
No.
- [75:33]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. Met this puppy, the mountain, right there. You know how cute those dang mountain dogs are over there?
- [75:43]
Jack Murphy
I would not describe them as cute.
- [75:46]
Stephanie Rotolo
They're cute.
- [75:48]
Jack Murphy
We had one kid get bit in the ass and he had to get a series of rabies shots. Young Ranger getting bit out on the target.
- [75:55]
Stephanie Rotolo
Well, that's unfortunate. I'm sorry that happened to him. But this was a very little puppy who is very sweet and bold enough to hang out around us because he had figured out that humans, especially Americans, like dogs, love his kind. So he was willing to hang out with us. So, you know, brought him down, kept him near us outside the compound, fed him, and he was really cute because he, like, he. He knew that I was like. I would come and go, not an affectionate animal. Like, this was Purely a resource exchange to him. And he would go and hang out on the flight line, and, like, when the helicopter would come in, he'd be like, hanging out, you know, like, where's my turkey sausage? Like, glad you're not dead. Where's my turkey sausage? So he really didn't give a shit about me. But I have been a lifelong animal lover, and even, you know, even with my CST partner there, that was a very isolating experience. I mean, only two women, basically, on that ranger compound. And then that's. I mean, that's pretty much it. So just like a bright, sunny spot in, like, a dark, dusty space, and something hard to contend with when you're, like, 25 and your brain is still forming. So met this dog, took care of him. Finally, the rangers, similar to the rabies story, started rounding up the dogs and shooting them. And I had put a flea collar on this dog because I was like, I don't have fleas, you know? And I got a very nasty message from the Ranger company commander saying, like, whoever's putting the flea collar on the dog, he knew it was me. Whoever was putting the flea collar on the dog, like, cease and desist immediately. And I was like, okay, well, I'm not. So I called back, and I'm like, well, technically, like, this JSOC battalion commander is in charge of me. And he's like, really cool. So I'm going to call him. And I'm like, hey, sir.
- [77:51]
Jack Murphy
Mommy, daddy games? Yeah.
- [77:53]
Stephanie Rotolo
I'm like, I know you're not my real dad, but I'm like, hey, sir, it was me. I put the flea collar on the dog, and I'm not going to stop putting the flea collar on the dog. And he's basically like, I don't want to hear about it, Stephanie. Like, live your life. But, like, don't mess with the Rangers. Like, stop pissing them off. And so finally, there was, like, a series of incidents where dogs started getting shot. Whether it was for good measure or not, I don't know. But I was kind of like, I'm gonna, like, snap. Like, I'm gonna have a very hard time if somebody kills this dog. And so I reached out to an organization called Puppy Rescue Mission, and I was like, do you guys know any Americans in the area? And they were like, actually, we know this woman that's studying in Kabul, so if you can get him out of the camp, like, we can start helping you. You just have to send this money to this person and then, like, keep us posted, basically. So I was able to get some of his basic veterinary meds brought in and get him some of that stuff. So he was at least like, a stronger start than he probably would have been at this point. He was like, outpacing his, like, half dead puppy brothers and sisters. I couldn't save them all. Kills me. I couldn't save them all. I had to pick one. And, you know, so he's 10 times bigger than everybody. And they keep telling me, like, oh, at some point one night she's gonna call. And I'm just like, really hoping it's not while I'm like, out on mission or gone or something. And finally, like, do you remember those, like, shitty Roshans that you had to add minutes to? It was like these, like, not Nextel, but these, like, really crappy, like, phone cards. Yeah. And you had to, like, put them in these, like, really crappy phones. And so one night, I'm like, really low on minutes, but they start calling and she's like, hey, I'm like, on my way. So she calls. She's like, how do I get on this base? And I'm like, well, you don't. But, like, you can get into, like, the outer perimeter and then I can meet you probably. So she ends up calling. She's like, I'm outside of the outer perimeter. So I geared up because I was gonna have to leave the gate. And this was not a good decision. I knew it was wrong, but I was gonna do it. I don't think the statute of limitations has passed. This is probably unwise. But yeah, basically me and my CST partner, who, God bless her, was like, you're not going alone. So she suited up too. And so we put all of our gear on and everything, grab our rifles and pistols and everything, go out to the gate, and we're like, hey, we're gonna. We're like, gonna run the gate. We're gonna take this dog and run the gate. And it's snowing like hell. And they're like, all right, good luck, ladies. Like, like, if something happens, like, we're not responsible. Like, this is. You're not supposed to be doing this. And we're like, yep, okay. But, you know, and so we run him out. This woman jumps out of the car, opens this car. There's this Afghan man driving, and there's a cat carrier. And I like, shove this puppy in, kiss him on his nasty face, and tell him, like, I love you so much. I'll see you on the other side.
- [80:47]
Bretzky
And
- [80:50]
Stephanie Rotolo
this dog is just looking at me like, I should have killed you when I got the chance. And they just take off. And then I didn't hear anything for a while, and I was like, damn. I think, like, they just, like, fleeced me for money, right? And then finally, I get this email that's like, hey, Smokey is at this, like, safe house outside of Kabul. We're gonna, like, try and get them on, like, a cargo plane. We need this amount of money for whatever. And I'm like, well, if they're still scamming me, they're doing a great job because I'm gonna send the money. And one day I get a message. It's like, he's making it onto the plane. Do you have somebody on the other side that can get him? And I'm like, I really didn't consider that we would get this far. So, like, no, I made no coordinations for this. So I called my roommate at the time, and I'm like, hey, dude, if you take care of this feral animal that I'm shipping to our house, you don't have to pay rent. He's like, what? So, sure enough, good guy. He took care of him. I got back, like, a month and a half, maybe two. Two months later, I don't remember, but he was, like, 10 times bigger than the last time I saw him. He starts barking and, like, howling at me. And then finally he, like, realized who it was. And, man, you talk about, like, homecoming. That was, like. That, like, completed me just to see this could go from this little tiny puppy to this, like, giant, nasty mountain dog living in. In Georgia. And all his commands were. Were in Pasto. So, like, I had to work with him on that, too, because I couldn't go to, like, a Georgia dog park and be like, bill Tarasha. Like, this is, like, not a good look.
- [82:26]
Jack Murphy
He. He caught his freedom bird home. So is he there with you now?
- [82:33]
Stephanie Rotolo
He is. He's. He's outside with my. My husband.
- [82:36]
Jack Murphy
Okay.
- [82:36]
Stephanie Rotolo
His actual best friend.
- [82:38]
Jack Murphy
I was going to say extra points if we could get him on camera, but that's all right.
- [82:41]
Stephanie Rotolo
Oh, he's very. He's very suspicious about cameras. He doesn't want his likeness to be seen.
- [82:48]
Jack Murphy
So you get this talk back to the United States, and you're not so much enjoying your reunion with the conventional military. So what did you. Where did you go from there?
- [83:02]
Stephanie Rotolo
So I called ca, called the CA branch, and I'm like, hey, I want to know if the CA selection that I went to a very long time ago is still good. And thankfully, at that time, they were like, yeah, come on over. So even though I had done really bad on my. What was the D lab? Was it the D lab? The one for language?
- [83:21]
Jack Murphy
The language test? Yeah.
- [83:22]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. So I had taken that a week before I went. I went to selection, I want to say. Yeah. And basically the facility, like, lost power in the middle of it. And so then they restarted it. And, like, it may as well have been like sim language to me. Like, I was so bad at the D lab, I couldn't figure it out. So they were like, yeah, I mean, you're like, language based score is, like, not very good, but do you promise us that you'll, like, try and learn a language? And I was like, sure thing. And they're like, all right, come on over. So thankfully, got to make the switch over to ca, Went through soft triple C. Had to pause the training because I had to get my shoulder repaired. I had a series of, like, traumatic injuries to it. I was just trying to, like, nug through it, tying it to myself at night, tying it to myself when I ran, you know, just. It was, like, basically useful. Useless. Just like a wooden arm that kept falling out. But that time, that was really helpful because they were looking for a captain to come do the run the operations section at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center. And that was right when Covid was, like, really popping off. And I had been going to grad school before I left for Afghanistan for emergency and disaster management. So I was like, this is my time to shine. And so had a lot of fun with that. That's just, like, such a cool professional organization. I mean, that schoolhouse, like, all of my admiration goes to the special operation medical community. I mean, what they do is truly incredible. Just really, really amazing people. So to be able to be inside the schoolhouse and, like, keep them resourced, make sure things were on track, advocate for them. Like, that was a really good opportunity. And then I resumed the pipeline, went through CA and was very blessed to be assigned to the 91st. So AFRICOM aligned.
- [85:27]
Jack Murphy
And did you end up having to go to language school?
- [85:31]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yes, I did French. Not well, but enough to pass the test. And honestly, at the end of the day, that's all that matters. But, yes, yeah. And we only got four months of language, which was pretty tough. So I felt really bad for the guys learning, like, Russian and Arabic. But, yeah, I just got French, which is what I wanted, because I really wanted Africa. Like, I was like, I will do everything that I have to do to get Africa. I want to go to Africa.
- [86:00]
Jack Murphy
And you did right they sent you to West Africa a bunch of times.
- [86:03]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, I got to go to Senegal and then Benin was. Was the big one. Benin was probably the most impactful.
- [86:11]
Jack Murphy
Well, let's start with Senegal then. What was that deployment like?
- [86:16]
Stephanie Rotolo
That was really fun. It was 30 people. It was very much like a get immersed, figure out what's going on out here, similar to what you had talked about when we spoke before. It was. There was a kind of an OSINT thing that they wanted us to test out and do stuff with. So that was a great opportunity for us to go. Kind of hard to keep a low profile with 30 people, but that was super cool. I mean, we went. We went all over. We really like. We really went like very like local. Like, it was. It was really good. Yeah, just a good time speaking as much French as humanly possible. That was really the intent behind it was like, get as many people a bit of on continent experience as possible in a low fret environment and like integrated with the embassy. Because West Africa is going to become a thing. So we need to start rolling people into here and, you know, getting some names to faces.
- [87:20]
Jack Murphy
And was the intent also sort of like developing the relationship with the Senegalese?
- [87:26]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely. We went and met with the war College and then met with some of like the soldiers. And then there was like a, like a fight house type of thing that a lot of soldiers were in. So a bunch of the guys went and did like combatives, like in the sand and it just.
- [87:45]
Jack Murphy
Oh, you're talking about that. Like that the native wrestling that they do.
- [87:49]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah. I mean, it was crazy. I didn't take part in it again. I have a fake shoulder, so, like, now I'm good. I will watch.
- [87:55]
Jack Murphy
But that's huge there. Huge.
- [87:58]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah. Super athletes. It was a lot of fun. We joined like a gym in the community and it was like such like a prison gym vibe. Like, everything was just like filthy and rusted. And it was like such a good workout every time.
- [88:13]
Bretzky
They have.
- [88:13]
Jack Murphy
I've heard the kids, they. Because it's a way, you know, kids do that because they make a lot of money if they become good at it. And I've heard them, like lifting weights in cadence. The guys like calling like, 1, 2, 3, and you can hear the weights clacking.
- [88:28]
Stephanie Rotolo
It was incredible. Like, those gyms were incredible. I mean, these guys were. I don't know if they were using substances. I never asked. It was none of my business, but I mean, some of the largest men I'd ever seen.
- [88:37]
Bretzky
Yeah.
- [88:37]
Stephanie Rotolo
And so encouraging. Like I usually get irritated at the gym when somebody's like, oh, check your form on that. But like, when these guys gave me guidance, I'd be like, yes, sir, we'll implement that immediately. Just, just a good time. It was, it was really just make some friends, understand the area, get some faces to names and ingratiate ourselves at that phase.
- [89:01]
Jack Murphy
Do you want to talk at all about, like, the leadership challenge that you faced out there?
- [89:07]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah. Without, like, sharing anybody's like, private information. We had a pretty severe mental health crisis that happened and this was like a pretty formative, like, leadership lesson for me. The company commander stayed back, so I was like the ground force commander out there and I was. Which meant my peers, like, I was responsible for reporting back on behalf of me and my peers as well. So other captains and one of the, one of the soldiers we took with us had a very serious mental health episode that we probably should have seen coming, like echelons above us probably should have seen coming. So I was very frustrated by that. But it didn't matter. Like, at that point it was like, deal with it and do what we have to do. And so again, thankful to the special operations medical community. The medics across the teams in that unit were just absolutely fabulous, did what they needed to do, got very creative, tapped in some embassy resources to help us out and hold us over to make sure nobody was in like an immediately life threatening situation. And then we were able to coordinate a very interesting evacuation to get that soldier out and get him the help that he needed. Which, I mean, you've been over there. That's like not a place where you go to like, local clinics or you. Yeah, like, mental health is not a thing.
- [90:34]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, no, it's not. I remember I had a local woman in Senegal tell me, she said, what was it? That, like, anxiety is a western thing. Like, we don't have that here.
- [90:46]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, yeah. And also, I mean, let's also think, like, I don't want to speculate, but like, let's also think about like the, the substances that are available in those markets that you might not even know if you're like out on the town, you might not even realize that you're. You've engaged with, you know, probably not even on purpose. Hopefully not on purpose. So I don't really know precisely what happened. I just knew that we had to, we had to handle it. And again, the team, like really rallied to, to respond to that and get that soldier out. And then, you know, we came back and there was a big discussion on like what our civil affairs medics carrying when they are overseas. Because if the idea is that we're small autonomous teams, we are not always going to be in a situation where you can call the embassy and say, hey, come help. And that's exactly what we had to do. So that was, that was an interesting learning lesson, I think, for everybody.
- [91:41]
Jack Murphy
Yeah. And then you said Benin was kind of a big one for you.
- [91:48]
Stephanie Rotolo
Benin was like my CA Super Bowl. So we were the soft civil affairs country opener for Benin. My team had the best team, very lucky. So we did a J set with them. That was awesome. It was like I said, the first civil affairs one. So the CIMIC focus Benin was having a really hard time. The forces Benin wa, so we call them the fab, but they were having a really hard time because they were being a bit heavy handed up on some of the border regions and rounding young men up. Whether they were actually affiliated with terrorists or not, they were still participating and general banditry to probably survive for whatever reason, you know, but they were being pretty heavy handed. And so it was creating a really big rift with the community. And so SOCAF and AFRICOM were like, hey, this is a good place to target a civil affairs jset. Let's work through some of these civ mill dynamics. So we had a great time, went out there, worked with them 30 days. We maximized it. We made the most of it. We did everything with them. You name it, we did it. And it was good because it was a totally different group that had not benefited from the ODAs because they had like their, their, like more tactical units that of course you go to any country and you're like, we want to do a J set and they're going to give you their, like their Ranger regiment. Right? Because they're like, that's who we want to give all this to. This was great because they were like, they genuinely understood that this does not necessarily need to be like their, their frontline guys that are like door kicking. It probably needs to be dispersed throughout the force. So they had like medics, vets, everybody in there, like lawyers, and then some, like some of the ground troop guys so that it could really disperse through the, through the formations. And then we closed that out. And thankful to the gracious support of Spirit of America, we were able to secure a lot more money than I expected and we were able to do a medical civic action program in a rural community. We also brought in an ODA to help train the FAB that had done the JSET with us. And then we're going to do this capstone event was going to be the MEDCAP for a couple days. They came in and talked to them about setting up security for these types of events. So it was like a lot of layering effects and wouldn't have been possible without Spirit of America. But that was really, really eye opening. It was like I felt like I was watching the baby birds fly, almost as like I had just spent 30 plus days with these guys, like, teaching them everything I could possibly know about what they needed to know, or at least what I thought they needed to know, and doing it in French, right? And, like, we had so much fun. And then that first day of the MedCap, I was like, being very micromanagy and just because I was, like, excited and jazzed up and I wanted it to go really well. And it was like, so great because at one point, one of the guys, one of the junior officers, came over and he was like, we've got it. We are doing this. We're okay. It's okay. You can go hands off. And I was like, cool. And then, like, for the rest of that medcap over a couple days, it was like, so much fun just observing, helping, like, using certain things as training opportunities, but at that, like, micro level with the intent that that would spread throughout the formation. And then the embassy did a really good job of amplifying that story. And so it's great now because I see the. One of the colonels that was in that jset, I see him, like, on the news now all the time talking about Benin, like, the work that the FAB is doing in the local communities and how they're repairing relationships and they're hosting events to get them a little bit closer to the population. So it just. I'm super proud of that one because I think there was ripples from that. And I don't think that you always get to say that. Like, I didn't necessarily feel like there was ripples from my time in Afghanistan, right? I feel like there was genuinely ripples from the time in Benin. And. And that, to me is like, civil affairs isn't always seen as like, the sexiest, soft tribe, you know, but to me, that's, like, why it matters. That's really, like, the impact is that human terrain aspect of it. And so I was very, very proud, very thankful to be part of that mission.
- [96:27]
Jack Murphy
I mean, I'm really glad that you could explain to people what civil affairs does, because there's a lot of misunderstanding or it's more of a harder Sell, I think than like a Special forces guy or a Navy seal. People kind of understand that.
- [96:40]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, but we do that to ourselves.
- [96:43]
Jack Murphy
I. I set my novel in Benin.
- [96:46]
Stephanie Rotolo
Oh, really?
- [96:46]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. Had I known you were there, I would have called you up for some research.
- [96:52]
Stephanie Rotolo
I don't know. I don't know about that. I was busy. And also I got like heat stroke like four times. So again, thank God for my medics. Like, I remember teaching one of the classes with an IV like running through my arm as I'm trying to fight through my French translations of how to speak to people.
- [97:12]
Jack Murphy
And so as you start winding down your active duty time, I remember you had told me you spent some time in Italy.
- [97:19]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yes, my final assignment on active duty, I was the aide de camp to the Navy four star. So that was super eye opening to work for the Navy. Really great experience. He was the commander, Naval Forces Africa, Naval Forces Europe and Allied Joint Force Command Naples. So the NATO command in Naples, Italy. And so that's what I did for the last two years of my active duty time.
- [97:47]
Jack Murphy
Now how do you like that? On paper it sounds like a pretty cush assignment.
- [97:52]
Stephanie Rotolo
It was so not kush. Like, you know, my husband came over there for a little bit and then he was like, nah, I'm gonna go back. Because like, you're never here and when you are here, you're just like so stressful to be around. It was an incredible experience. The exposure. I mean, I went to like over like, I think I did the count. It was like over like 25 countries or something crazy. Some of those multiple times. The peek behind the curtain, you know, if you're the person that's attached to the hip of a four star, especially in those commands, like to see historical events playing out in real time that nobody in the world but you and those people in that room or know that are happening right then and then knowing you can't tell anybody about it. And then you see it on the news a couple days later and you're like, okay, cool, now I can like kind of talk about it. Just a really good learning opportunity to the. I would say to like anybody that's still in the military and deciding like broadening assignments like that. So I had to choose between that or an assignment at first group. And I really wanted the first group one. And that would have been an amazing opportunity as well. But there was like something niggling in the back of my brain that like a NATO assignment is like crazy. And a NATO assignment at a, in a, in a four stars like, personal staff is, like, nuts. So I'm glad that I did that because the NATO exposure, fabulous. Like, just to be in an environment where you're not immediately like, the big dog when you walk in. Like, you know, you go overseas, you go to all these places, and you're like, I'm an American. But then you walk into a NATO command and it's not always like, the Americans in charge of the thing. So that was very humbling and very helpful. And then again, to go to some of those countries that, like, in what world would I be going to, like, Serbia.
- [99:43]
Jack Murphy
Right, right.
- [99:45]
Stephanie Rotolo
You know, or like, watching, like, crises in Kosovo, like, unfold from, you know, the back of a plane and trying to figure out what we're going to do when we hit the ground. Or, like, we had, like, an emergency landing in Poland. That was nuts. And, like, I was in the cockpit with, like, the. The little GPS tracker, like, trying to figure out where we were going and what needed to happen. Like, just crazy like that. Because, like, you're responsible for getting the four star where he needs to be, because he's a four star. He's got a lot going on. He's the only guy that can do the thing. So very high pressure, but a lot of fun. Very thankful to have worked for that commander because he was very patient, very kind, very cerebral. And so my exposure to the Navy in that regard was, I think that was good Navy exposure. And then just such a professional staff around him.
- [100:36]
Jack Murphy
But you didn't care for Naples so much.
- [100:40]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
No.
- [100:40]
Stephanie Rotolo
And, you know, I'm ethnically Italian. Like, Dariso is my maiden name, Rotolo is my married name. You know, I'm wearing a cornicello necklace. Like, I'm Italian. But Naples, man, Naples was the food. 10 out of 10. The wine, 10 out of 10. When you went down to the Amalfi coast, beautiful. But living in Naples, like, felt like Syria. It's just the governance is very poor. They've been pretty gutted in terms of the resources in Southern Italy. It was just chaotic. It kind of felt like a war zone. So I also, you know, I took the assignment being, ooh, my European vacation. And it was very much so, not a European vacation. One, because of the nature of the assignment. And two, just the location wasn't necessarily what I think one thinks of when they think about going to Naples, Italy, but nice to be able to just jump in the car on the weekend and, like, go to Sorrento or go, like, you know, rent a boat for, like, barely anything and just go cruise around Even though I'm like in no way qualified to drive a boat.
- [101:47]
Jack Murphy
And now you are in the Civil Affairs Reserves and also out on Civi street working a real job. How are you finding that? How's that treating you?
- [102:00]
Stephanie Rotolo
It's good. You know, I got off active duty with 14 years. Made that decision for my family because as I think a lot of people that are drawn to this community, if we don't actively pull ourselves out of it, we'll just keep continue to get on planes and go to other countries and we're going to chase that feeling every time. So I had to make a hard decision. Get out. My husband had gotten out like four years before, so he was, he's, he was pretty over the army experience and went and did good things from there. I was terrified because so much of my personality is the Army. I mean, like I said, I, I genuinely believe the army saved me from a really bad future. Like I was going down a bad path like I talked about. So I owe a lot of my, like just my everything, my education, my confidence, my friendships, everything I have to the Army. My dog, my husband, I met him in the Army. Right. Like I owe everything the army so very hard for me to make that transition. Which is why I made the decision to stick with the reserve. So got off active duty the next day I was assigned to a reserve unit. That reserve unit is super cool. They're out in Virginia Beach. They're actually getting after stuff. Really good, realistic training and super high quality experienced people willing to learn but also teach. Just a good time with good access out there. Virginia beach is incredible. So sure I'll go do drill in Virginia beach because it's just beautiful. And then yeah, working on the civilian side, I work for an AI enabled decision intelligence company. They're London based and I have a lot of autonomy. Absolutely love what I do. It's a, it's a platform that I wish that I had had. Definitely would have been helpful in Afghanistan. Would have been very helpful in West Africa. Africa especially towards the SOF and irregular warfare mission set. So you know, if you believe in the platform that you're helping people get onto and learn about and the team culture is awesome. That is really very much so making the transition easier. It's a great team, really great company. Everybody's awesome. A lot of former military SOF from allied nations as well. So I still get that kind of like NATO feel to it as well. And so it's been really great. But you know, I still keep tabs on everything I still get those those hunger pangs for the army sometimes. But then I go on the army subreddit and like read all the crap that's going on and I'm like, yeah, I'm good.
- [104:48]
Jack Murphy
I was gonna say again, it sounds like there might be another adventure or two for you out there with the reserve if they some more time spent in Africa maybe.
- [105:00]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, absolutely. I mean I think that's the seriously like undersung aspect of the reserves is like if you what, I'm coming.
- [105:07]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [105:09]
Because nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [105:13]
Rain, dirt, whatever Available all wheel drive, five modes.
- [105:17]
We still outside and they got some kick to that.
- [105:20]
Turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves, moves.
- [105:24]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All of it fits.
- [105:31]
Load up we out.
- [105:32]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [105:35]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market Competitors in the EX SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based
- [105:45]
LifeLock Advertiser
on manufacturer websites Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package, which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, LifeLock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with LifeLock. Join today, visit LifeLock.com iHeart and save up to 30% your first year. That's LifeLock.com iHeart for 30% off terms apply.
- [106:47]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Whether it's slots or live dealers, Spinquest.com has the fun and action you're looking for with Spin Quest exclusives, Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and even live dice with craps and bubble craps. The games never stop so you don't have to. And right now, new users get $30 coin packs for just 10 bucks. Play now@Spinquest.com SpinQuest is a free to
- [107:11]
SpinQuest Announcer
play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [107:16]
Stephanie Rotolo
To realize it's like if you want to do something and you want to get after it. Those opportunities available. And you're so much less at the whims of timing. Like, I feel like it is on active duty where like you missed the deployment by a month. Right. Or, you know, whatever, you recycle to school. So then it delayed. Something like that. It's, it's, it's not like that in the reserves. Like, if you want to do it, you want to contribute, even if it's for shorter stints, like, you can go do that. So there's definitely opportunities that could come down the pipeline if it makes sense.
- [107:52]
Jack Murphy
Tell us about Altrue.
- [107:55]
Stephanie Rotolo
Altru was formed by former CSTs Jess Yawn. You had her on one of your episodes early and she is incredible nonprofit founded by former CSTs, like I said, and has grown to be an amalgamation of women and men from the soft community that are all about empowering future generations. So they're doing a lot of great work. They've done some incredible stuff in Ukraine and then Kenya was a recent one and they've got a lot of great stuff coming up. But that has been so critical to such a, that tiny community of women that were CST's of like just being like, I see you, I know what you did, I know what you're about. And just the rallying around each other, advocating for each other. And then all of the men that are part of that, that worked with us or worked around us, that also believe in that, that operational imperative of, of essentially like, I want to say, weaponizing gender, but, but knowing there's value in using that gendered aspect of in for operational success.
- [109:11]
Jack Murphy
And also, you want to talk about Guerrera?
- [109:15]
Stephanie Rotolo
Guerrera? Yes. Did you watch Guerrera?
- [109:18]
Jack Murphy
No, I haven't seen it. I'm sorry.
- [109:20]
Stephanie Rotolo
So Guerrera is a three part series produced by Altru and Dulcinea Productions. It tells the story of Captain Jenny Moreno. She was killed in action when she was a single cst. But it also tells the story of the broader CST story and also the Afghan female tactical platoon story from CSTs that were there, FTPs that were there and then the men that we, or at least those teams, I was not on those teams that was early in the, in the CST program that were there and worked with those women and saw their value and still beat the drum for it. Like I said, three part series. Apple, Apple TV, YouTube Premium, and then Amazon. It's really incredible, if not just for like the footage alone. I still don't understand how they got some of the footage that they did, like, archived footage, just really incredible. If you've been to Afghanistan, like, you will. You will be, like, transported back. You can, like, you can smell it almost like that, that distinct Afghanistan scent while you're watching this. But very moving, very important story captures a part of our history that I think a lot of people don't know about and probably would. Would never know about unless they went looking for it. Just because the CST story has not been captured in that way necessarily before. So I think if anybody's interested in that, they want to learn more about the ODAS and Ranger regiment and all of that and how we worked with them. That's a. That's a really good primer. And then the context of, like, everything that was going on for the CST program to be stood up, I think that's an important part to understanding the policy and the strategic failures of the global war on terror as well. So just a different. Different approach to capturing that history.
- [111:20]
Jack Murphy
Definitely. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to check it out. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? Anything I failed to ask during this interview that you'd like to get into?
- [111:30]
Stephanie Rotolo
No. I feel like we've been talking for hours. I've just been talking so much. No, I really appreciate it. I think what you're doing, spreading the word, capturing people's stories is really important. We were talking about before, like, this just makes. It's a small world, but the military makes it even smaller. So I think it's really important to know what our brothers and sisters are doing out there or have done, because it informs what you could possibly do or what you might be interested in. Right. Like, if people hadn't talked about the CST program, I wouldn't have known about it. I wouldn't have known to keep, you know, I wouldn't have known to, like, key in on that when it came out on the. In the Milper message, because I would have had no context. So I think it's very important to talk about these programs. Even if they're sunsetted, they don't exist. I personally believe there will be a need for a CST or a CST like, program again. And so I think it would benefit us all to learn about it now and take some of the lessons from it. So we're a little bit more prepared next time.
- [112:38]
Jack Murphy
Definitely. Where can people find you? Are you on social media or LinkedIn or anything?
- [112:43]
Stephanie Rotolo
Yeah, the only social media I have is LinkedIn. I'm a LinkedIn, girly. These days you make the pivot to corporate. You gotta be on the LinkedIn game. So, yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn. It's Stephanie Rd Rotolo. If you want to see my dog, I have put pictures of him on there. He has his very own branded aspect. But yeah, that's where you can find me. I'm on there all the time. Yeah.
- [113:09]
Jack Murphy
Okay. And yeah, we'll have a link down in the description of this podcast also for folks. Well, Stephanie, I mean, thank you for doing this interview. Really appreciate it.
- [113:19]
Stephanie Rotolo
Thanks so much. It was super fun.
- [113:21]
Jack Murphy
Yeah, yeah. Well, stay in touch. And everyone else, we'll see you guys next week. Hey guys, I want to take a moment to tell you about the Teamhouse podcast newsletter. If you go and subscribe, it's totally free and what it will do is aggregate all of our data, all of our content that we put out, the things that are on the team house on our Geopolitics podcast. Eyes on things that I write journalistically with Sean Naylor. On the high side, anything else that we have going on, books, we recommend, upcoming guests that we have coming, coming on the show and also, you know, filtering in some fun stuff in there as well. If you'll go and check it out. We send it out just once a week. We don't want to spam you guys. It's just a kind of roll up of all of our content on a weekly basis. You can find our newsletter@teamhousepodcast.kit.com join again, the website for that is teamhousepodcast.kit.com join.
- [114:25]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Join.
- [114:26]
Jack Murphy
So we hope to see you there. The link will be down.
- [114:28]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [114:30]
Because nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [114:35]
Rain, dirt, whatever available. All wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [114:40]
And they got some kick too.
- [114:41]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves, moves.
- [114:46]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch. Gear mics. All of it fits.
- [114:52]
Load up. We out.
- [114:53]
2026 Nissan Rogue. Built for all of it.
- [114:56]
Auto Pacific Segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market Competitors in the EX SUV mainstream Mid Size class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [115:09]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this? You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today, visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [116:08]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Happy Birthday America. It's time to celebrate and play your favorite Las Vegas casino games by American owned spinquest.com what's better than fireworks and American pie? Hitting a blackjack in the palm of your hand and you won't lose your fingers. Over a thousand games, including slots and live dealers and 30 coin packs are on sale for 10 spinquest.com buy American players.
- [116:30]
SpinQuest Announcer
For American players, Spin Quest is a free, free to play social casino. Boyd where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details in the description.
- [116:44]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Bro, from the show last night to this drive, why is it never chill?
- [116:48]
Because this is our live backstage on the road. It's loud, messy, real.
- [116:53]
And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving.
- [116:57]
Good thing Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.
- [117:00]
Not just test tracks. Real life scenes, late nights, road trips, all of it.
- [117:05]
That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D. power.
- [117:11]
Yeah, you can tell.
- [117:12]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens for J.D.
- [117:16]
power 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information visit jdpower.com awards awards based on 2025 model year.
- [117:25]
LifeLock Advertiser
Newer models may be shown Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package, which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 35 your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [118:27]
Bretzky
Oh I have had no luck lately.
- [118:30]
Ghostbed Advertiser
Wait.
- [118:30]
Stephanie Rotolo
Lady luck Britsky.
- [118:32]
SpinQuest Announcer
I got you.
- [118:33]
Stephanie Rotolo
I've had so much luck on spinquest.com they have all of my favorite games. Slot games, live blackjack craps and bubble craps. You can even get a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
- [118:45]
Bretzky
10 bucks for 30. I'm headed over to spinquest.com right now.
- [118:49]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [119:02]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [119:04]
Cuz nobody plans anything bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [119:08]
Rain, dirt, whatever available all wheel drive five modes. We still outside.
- [119:13]
And they got some kick too.
- [119:15]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves moves.
- [119:20]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All of it fits.
- [119:26]
Load up we out 2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it Auto Pacific
- [119:31]
segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market competitors in the X SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer
- [119:41]
LifeLock Advertiser
websites Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got Lifelock's got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this, you guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [120:42]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at Spin Quest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for
- [121:03]
SpinQuest Announcer
10@Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a Free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spin quest.com for more details.
- [121:18]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [121:20]
Cuz nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the rug's ready like that for real.
- [121:24]
Rain, dirt, whatever Available all wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [121:29]
And they got some kick too.
- [121:31]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves, moves.
- [121:35]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All of it fits.
- [121:42]
Load up. We out.
- [121:43]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [121:46]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market competitors in the X SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [121:58]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got Lifelock got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [122:58]
SpinQuest Advertiser
What's going on everyone? It's bluff here and we're driving through the states in the Bluff Mobile and the best thing that we can do is play our favorite casino style games on Spinquest. They have over a thousand games including live dealer blackjack and craps. With tons of slots and unlimited options, you can get a 30 coin pack for just $10. For new users sign up today. Go to spinquest.com right now spin Quest
- [123:21]
SpinQuest Announcer
is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [123:35]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [123:37]
Because nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [123:41]
Rain dir whatever available. All wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [123:46]
And they got some kick too.
- [123:47]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves, moves.
- [123:52]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All the fits Load up we out.
- [124:00]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [124:03]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market competitors in the X SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [124:15]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've been. Lifelock's got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a back seat throughout all this. You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [125:15]
Stephanie Rotolo
Hey guys, lady luck here. Are you going on any road trips this summer? I know I'm going to be going on a bunch of road trips and being that I'm going to be passenger Princess, I love playing on spin quest.com Spin Quest has all of my favorite slot games. Live blackjack, live craps. Head on over to Spin Quest right now and get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
- [125:38]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spin quest.com for more details.
- [125:53]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Bro, from the show last night to this drive, why is it never chill?
- [125:56]
Because this is our life backstage on the road. It's loud, messy, real.
- [126:01]
And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving.
- [126:05]
Good thing Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.
- [126:08]
Not just test tracks, real life scenes, late nights, road trips, all of it.
- [126:13]
That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D. power.
- [126:19]
Yeah, you can tell.
- [126:20]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens for J.D.
- [126:24]
power. 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information visit jdpower.com awards awards based on 2025 model year, newer models may be shown
- [126:35]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this, you guessed it, LifeLock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today, visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [127:35]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Whether it's slots or live dealers, spinquest.com has the fun and action you're looking for with Spin Quest exclusives. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and even live dice with craps and bubble craps. The games never stop so you don't have to. And right now, new users get $30 coin packs for just 10 bucks. Play now@Spinquest.com SpinQuest is a free to
- [127:59]
SpinQuest Announcer
play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more detail.
- [128:11]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Bro. From the show last night to this drive, why is it never chill?
- [128:15]
Because this is our life backstage on the road. It's loud, messy, real.
- [128:20]
And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving.
- [128:24]
Good thing. Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.
- [128:27]
Not just test tracks, real life scenes, late nights, road trips, all of it.
- [128:32]
That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D. power.
- [128:38]
Yeah, you can tell.
- [128:39]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens for J.D.
- [128:43]
power 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information. Visit JD Power.com Awards Awards based on 2025 model year.
- [128:51]
LifeLock Advertiser
Newer models may be shown Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers, It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package, which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your Future and finances with Lifelock. Join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [129:54]
Bretzky
Ugh. I have had no luck lately.
- [129:57]
SpinQuest Announcer
Wait.
- [129:57]
Stephanie Rotolo
Lady Luck Bretzky. I got you had so much luck on spinquest.com they have all of my favorite games, Slot games, live blackjack, craps and bubble craps. You can even get a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
- [130:12]
Bretzky
10 bucks for 30. I'm headed over to spinquest.com right now.
- [130:16]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [130:25]
Ghostbed Advertiser
Foreign.
- [130:31]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Last night to this drive. Why is it never chill?
- [130:34]
Because this is our life backstage on the road. It's loud, messy, real.
- [130:39]
And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving.
- [130:43]
Good thing Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.
- [130:46]
Not just test tracks, real life scenes, late nights, road trips. All of it.
- [130:51]
That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D. power.
- [130:57]
Yeah, you can tell.
- [130:58]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens for J.D.
- [131:02]
power 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information visit JDPower.com awards awards based on 2025 model year.
- [131:11]
LifeLock Advertiser
Newer models may be shown Identity theft can cost more than you think Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this, you guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [132:13]
Stephanie Rotolo
What's up everybody?
- [132:14]
Bretzky
It's Bretzky and America is turning 250. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American owned social casino. Spinquest.com with all of your favorite games, Live craft, bubble craps, live blackjack, there's no better place to play for free. And win real cash prizes.
- [132:34]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spin quest.com for more details.
- [132:49]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [132:51]
Cuz nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [132:55]
Rain, dirt, whatever available all wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [133:00]
And they got some kick too.
- [133:02]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves moves.
- [133:07]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All of it fits.
- [133:13]
Load up we out.
- [133:14]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [133:17]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market Competitors in the EX SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [133:30]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, LifeLock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this. You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with LifeLock. Join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [134:29]
Stephanie Rotolo
What's up everybody?
- [134:30]
Bretzky
It's Bretzky and America is turning 250. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American owned social casino. Spinquest.com with all of your favorite games. Live craft, bubble craps, live blackjack. There's no better place to play for free and win real cash prizes.
- [134:50]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [135:06]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Bro, from the show last night to this drive. Why is it never chill?
- [135:10]
Cuz this is our life backstage on the road. It's loud, messy, real.
- [135:15]
And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving.
- [135:20]
Good thing Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.
- [135:22]
Not just test tracks, real life scenes, late nights, road trips, all of it.
- [135:27]
That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D.
- [135:33]
power yeah, you can tell.
- [135:35]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens.
- [135:38]
For J.D. power 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information, visit JD Power.com Awards Awards based on 2025 model year.
- [135:47]
LifeLock Advertiser
Newer models may be shown Identity theft can cost more than you think Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if your money is stolen due to identity theft, they've got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a backseat throughout all this? You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join today visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off. Terms apply.
- [136:49]
SpinQuest Advertiser
Whether it's slots or live dealers, spinquest.com has the fun and action you're looking for with Spin Quest exclusives. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat and even live dice. With craps and bubble craps. The games never stop so you you don't have to. And right now, new users get $30 coin packs for just 10 bucks. Play now@spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free
- [137:13]
SpinQuest Announcer
to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spin quest.com for more details.
- [137:24]
Nissan Rogue Advertiser
Why is it always chaos when we link up?
- [137:26]
Cuz nobody plans anything, bro. Good thing the Rogue's ready like that for real.
- [137:31]
Rain, dirt, whatever available. All wheel drive, five modes. We still outside.
- [137:36]
And they got some kick too.
- [137:37]
That turbo torque is crazy. The most in its class. It moves. Moves.
- [137:42]
Rogue doesn't mess around and peep the space merch on merch gear mics. All of it fits.
- [137:48]
Load up. We out.
- [137:50]
2026 Nissan Rogue built for all of it.
- [137:53]
Auto Pacific segmentation 2026 Rogue vs latest in market competitors in the X SUV mainstream midsize class excluding electrical vehicles based on manufacturer websites.
- [138:05]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers, it's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package, which covers up to $3 million for the most comprehensive plan. So if Your money is stolen due to identity theft. They've been Lifelock's got your back. If you have personal expenses while resolving identity theft, like paying for travel or extra childcare, Lifelock has your back. Need coverage for lost wages because work had to take a back seat throughout all this? You guessed it, Lifelock still has your back. Plus there's coverage if you need to pay fees for lawyers and experts to resolve your case. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join join today. Visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 30% your first year. That's lifelock.com iheart for 30% off terms apply.
- [139:05]
Bretzky
Ugh. I have had no luck lately.
- [139:08]
Ghostbed Advertiser
Wait.
- [139:08]
Stephanie Rotolo
Lady Luck Bretzky.
- [139:10]
SpinQuest Announcer
I got you.
- [139:10]
Stephanie Rotolo
I've had so much luck on spinquest.com they have all of my favorite games, slot games, live blackjack, craps and bubble craps. You can even get a 30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
- [139:22]
Bretzky
10 bucks for 30. I'm headed over to spinquest.com right now.
- [139:26]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [139:35]
SpinQuest Advertiser
What's going on everyone? It's bluff here and we're driving through the states in the Bluff Mobile and the best thing that we can do is play our favorite casino style games on Spin Quest. They have over a a thousand games including live dealer blackjack and craps. With tons of slots and unlimited options, you can get a 30 coin pack for just $10 for new users. Sign up today. Go to spinquest.com right now.
- [139:57]
SpinQuest Announcer
Spinquest is a free to play social casino void. We're prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [140:04]
LifeLock Advertiser
Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the million dollar protection package which covers up to $1 million each for stolen funds, fees for experts and lawyers and out of pocket expenses. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with Lifelock. Join now and save up to 30% your first year@lifelock.com iheart terms apply. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule and my treatment. So I talk to my doctor about self injection with the Vivgard Hytrulo pre filled syringe which contains fgar, Tigamide, Alpha and Hyaluronidase qvfc. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit vivgardmyway.com that's V Y V G-A-R-T myway.com and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo Brought to you by Argenics.