Hosts and Guests

Lt Col Mike “Pako” Benitez is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who spent 25 years in the Marine Corps and Air Force leading various teams of patriots, solving problems, and endlessly searching for better ways to advance national security. He most recently served as the Director of the 53d Wing Commander’s Action Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. In this role, he was the strategic advisor and chief innovation officer for a diverse 23-location unit responsible for hardware and software operational test, tactics development, weapons systems evaluation, and mission data optimization for the U.S. Air Force’s fighter, bomber, rescue, reconnaissance, and space portfolios.

His extensive operational background—five combat deployments and over 250 combat missions flown in the F-15E—is balanced with assignments at the Pentagon and Congress. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and a former Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) fellow.

He currently runs The Merge, a weekly defense tech newsletter as well as being an editor and writer for War on the Rocks and is constantly looking for ways to build AI for Air Dominance and enhance the defense industrial base of the future.

An energetic and results-driven professional, Brian has over 20 years of experience in the Navy as a carrier-based combat fighter pilot, US Naval Academy aerospace engineering instructor, F/A-18 test pilot, and weapons development officer. While in uniform, his infectious positivity earned him the call sign “Sunshine”. Besides leading aircraft in combat on four deployments, he also routinely led both technical and interactive presentations for 250+ person audiences.

After retiring from the Navy in 2018, Sunshine began training Navy fighter pilots on current systems as well as helping Navy engineers design future systems. On Authentic, Sunshine has hosted the “Test Pilot” series as well as episodes on the AIM-9 and SM-2. Find out more about Sunshine on his website 3-Wire.

Scott “Roger” Chafian is a 20 year Navy veteran who served first as a Surface Warfare Officer and later as one of the Navy’s first Expeditionary Warfare Officers. He has multiple shipboard deployments in all major Fleet AORs serving in Anti-Submarine Warfare and Aegis Combat Systems Officer billets as well as Anti-Terrorism and Security Cooperation missions to the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. Scott holds degrees in International Relations and Military History as well as US Army Command and Staff College certification as a Strategic Planner and both a Navy and Army Historian.

Scott is a Founding Partner and Chief Content Officer of Authentic Media. He has hosted the “Fight’s On!”, F-22, F-16, and F-15E series as well as Authentic’s Author Debriefs on YouTube.