{"podcast":{"title":"Former Action Guys Podcast","slug":"former-action-guys-podcast-518014","podcast_index_feed_id":518014,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/3632052/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://jcramergraphics.com/blogs/former-action-guys-podcast/main","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/97312ac74d10ff38945f28bf83785500.jpg","author":"Justin Cramer","episode_count":290,"summary":"Former Action Guys Podcast is a way for veterans, first responders and others to share their stories that the world has never heard in a casual, conversational format that allows a natural flow of information about their career and lives. Justin Cramer is a former Marine JTAC Evaluator that completed 5 deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and on the USS Makin Island. Justin served with 1st ANGLICO, 10th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment and others before leaving the military after 12 years in 2018. Some content is not appropriate for children or listeners because of the graphic description of combat and other traumatic events. Support the show https://patreon.com/formeractionguys https://jcramergraphics.com https://ANGLICOshop.com","last_synced_at":"2026-07-13T00:19:10.994020+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/former-action-guys-podcast-518014"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 229 | Merryl Tengesdal | U-2 Spy Plane Pilot","slug":"ep-229-merryl-tengesdal-u-2-spy-plane-pilot","published_at":"2025-03-25T22:42:49+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/former-action-guys-podcast-518014/ep-229-merryl-tengesdal-u-2-spy-plane-pilot","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/former-action-guys-podcast-518014","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep-229-merryl-tengesdal-u-2-spy-plane-pilot--65114442","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/65114442/u_2_spy_plane_pilot.mp3","summary":"Merryl Tengesdal had a dream to reach space and believed her best chance was as a Naval Aviator. She began her career flying H-60s, moved on to training students flying the T-34c and T-6a, then applied for an inter-service transfer to screen to become a U-2 spy plane pilot. Support the show https://www.jcramergraphics.com https://www.ANGLICOshop.com https://www.patreon.com/formeractionguys Merryl's sites https://merryltengesdal.com/shop-book/ https://www.youtube.com/@UC_RCb3DfyEaWv80aQlKooRg 00:00:00 J Cramer Graphics Ad 00:00:40 Intro | mIRC Chat 00:04:47 1st Deployment | 1st Females on Ship 00:10:00 I Wanted to Be an Astronaut 00:14:40 Flight School 00:19:59 Landing SH-60s in Rough Seas 00:32:24 SH-60 Roles 00:34:40 2nd Deployment | South America 00:46:58 Different Cultures 00:56:44 Applying to be a U-2 Pilot 01:01:38 U-2 Spy Plane Pilot Selection and Training 01:16:54 U-2 Pilot's Custom Space Suit 01:23:04 Operating at High-Altitude 01:32:58 First High Altitude Flight | Food During Missions 01:37:02 Foreign Navies and Life on US Ships 01:42:33 Reality Checks | Casualty Assistance Officer 01:52:46 Extreme Ross","meta_description":"Merryl Tengesdal had a dream to reach space and believed her best chance was as a Naval Aviator. She began her career flying H-60s, moved on to training s…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":7117,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/former-action-guys-podcast-518014/episodes/ep-229-merryl-tengesdal-u-2-spy-plane-pilot/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/former-action-guys-podcast-518014/ep-229-merryl-tengesdal-u-2-spy-plane-pilot.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}