SAS Veteran on Ben Roberts-Smith, ANZAC Day & the Truth About Afghanistan
4/22/20261 hr 5 min
Mark Wales is a former SAS soldier who served multiple deployments in Afghanistan, including intense combat operations that tested the limits of human endurance.
In this profound conversation, Wales opens up about the psychological realities of combat, the bonds forged between soldiers under fire, and the complex moral terrain of modern warfare. He discusses the transition from military to civilian life, the systemic failures that prolonged the Afghanistan conflict, and his perspective on the controversial Ben Roberts-Smith case. Wales offers unflinching insights into fear management, the brotherhood of arms, and what ANZAC Day truly means to those who've served.
• The psychological impact of combat and managing fear under fire
• How military training prepares soldiers for high-stress combat situations
• The unique bonds formed between soldiers in the theatre
• Chain of command structure and leadership in combat zones
• Australia's handling of veteran affairs compared to other nations
• The systemic issues that prolonged the Afghanistan conflict
• Perspective on the Ben Roberts-Smith case and war crimes prosecutions
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark Bouris· Host0:00
Mark Wales, welcome back, mate. It was only a couple weeks ago It's good to be back. [laughs] Come back to Straight Talk, mate.
Mark Wales· Guest0:03
Yeah.
Mark Bouris· Host0:04
Um, well, it is actually important for me to talk to someone like you, and I, I reached out to the guys, asked them to do this because Anzac Day is, you know, a couple days away, and I really wanted to talk to you about it 'cause there's, uh, you know, what's happened this year, you know, we'll talk about BR- Ben Roberts-Smith, et cetera, but what's happened this year in relation to Australian war vets and things like war crimes. They're, they're things that we've never really, really heard about, and I think just seems to be a lot more awareness. Given that Anzac Day is around the corner, I started asking myself, what does Anzac Day mean to me? And then I thought to myself, I really should talk to somebody who's been in the theater of war about what Anzac Day means to them, and just sort of take it from there so I can sort of understand. It's all very well for all of us to go along to the footy on Anzac Day and listen to the last post and watch the helicopter drop, you know, something in and, you know, perhaps watch the parade of f- some vets and et cetera. That- that's great. You know, that's, that's a good show. Good to go there to the dawn service- Yeah ... go down the pub after, maybe a bit of two up.
Mark Wales· Guest1:03
Yeah.
Mark Bouris· Host1:04
All fun entertainment. But it probably means a lot different to people who've been in the theater of war, particularly, you know, you know, guys like you, and I think it's important for us to be able to talk to our audience with, with some sort of truth and sort of reality about what Anzac Day actually means to people like you.
Mark Wales· Guest1:19
Mm.
Mark Bouris· Host1:20
So how do you feel about Anzac Day, and particularly in the light of what's going on?
Mark Wales· Guest1:24
It, it's such a big, uh, cultural occasion in Australia, and I remember watching it