David Rutherford — former Navy SEAL and CIA-trained intelligence officer — sits down with Major Mike Reynolds, one of the only official US Marine Corps Combat Artists, a munitions officer who documented four combat deployments with a sketchbook in one hand and a rifle in the other.

You'll learn why the Marine Corps has sent artists into combat since 1942, the difference between art that informs and propaganda that persuades, and the survival skill hiding inside every great painting — the same eye that spots a hidden bomb is the eye that makes a great artist.

David and Mike break down why combat is "99% boredom, 1% exhilaration," why Hollywood gets it backwards, and how a single sketchbook page can bring a whole deployment — and the friends you lost — roaring back to life. Mike Reynolds is an active-duty Marine officer with 24+ years of service and four combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, now serving as a Marine Corps Combat Artist for the Corps' History Division.

Sponsors:
☕ Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/
🏫 Get coaching by David Rutherford: https://www.froglogicinstitute.com/

🕘 Timestamps:

00:00 - Preview

01:34 - What Is A Combat Artist?

08:13 - Propaganda vs. Art

11:35 - Growing Up & Discovering Art

26:19 - George Washington Crossing The Delaware

31:06 - Capturing The Relatable Moments of Combat

38:13 - Marines Should Be Creative

45:52 - Celebrating America