Tony Cowden - CIA Operator's Real Life John Wick-Style Gunfight in a Warzone | SRS #72 Part 1

ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the. Shawn Ryan show this week we have a. former Green Beret and CIA operator who. worked over at Ground Branch we cover. his time and service extensively to. include a specific. gunfight where he singlehandedly killed. 26 enemy. combatants once again he killed 26 enemy. combatants is a solo gunfight F that.

event actually revolutionized all of. training over at CIA you see previous to. that event we never did oneman Close. Quarters. combat after. that everybody started training oneman. Close Quarters combat which was. previously strictly pridden after that. we go into his run for Congress and what. we wind up covering or actually. uncovering is all of the corruption I.

guess I shouldn't say all a lot of the. corruption within the Republican party. which I think you'll find very alarming. ladies and gentlemen I want to thank all. of my patrons because of you you are. what makes this show happen if you can't. support us on patreon please head over. to Apple podcast and Spotify leave us a. review tell us what you think of the. show like comment and subscribe to the. channel and last of all we see a lot of.

you taking our content from these shows. making your own and release it on social. media we love it we absolutely love it. in fact we love it so much we wanted to. make it easy on you so if you go in the. description there is a link it has. thousands and thousands of raw reels. from all the episodes that you can. download for free turn them into your. own creation monetize it make money off. of it the only thing we ask.

is that you tag the Shawn Ryan Show in. your creation because we love seeing. them ladies and gentlemen without. further Ado please welcome Tony Cowen to. the Sha Ryan Show and one last thing for. those of you that don't know and he. might not even know this this is coming. from 10th. group SF people today SF operators Green. Berets current ones call him Uncle.

Tony let's get on with. [Music]. it Tony Cowden welcome to the show man. thank you very much we've been uh we've. had this on the schedule for like 6. months more and uh we're finally here. making it happen yeah but uh spent an. entire career in US Special. Forces and then moved on to CIA believe.

correct and then spent basically another. career over there now you're teaching. tactics shooting fundamentals Advance. shooting all kinds of stuff ran for. congress. unfortunately uh didn't make it I can't. wait to dive into that segment but um. man we got a lot to talk about I want to. talk about you know this is basically. your biography so I want to hit. childhood military career Contracting. career teaching Congress and let's put a.

lot of mental health in there because a. lot of guys from our. former. background uh you know they get they get. yeah they get a lot of wisdom out of. this podcast and um and it's important. it's it's it's helped a lot of people. yeah but uh so we got a lot to talk. about but before we do everybody that. comes on the show gets a gift I'm pretty. sure the only reason you're here is to. get this but excited about it here you. go here you go man good stuff now I'm.

going to go ahead and predict who's. going to eat most of these and uh cuz uh. you know Melissa even though she's a. dentist the chick loves junk. food and now she doesn't eat much but. when she does eat quote unquote junk. food it's like what a four-year-old. would choose you know like Sour Patch. Kids and stuff like that it's so. hilarious when people when people uh see. Melissa eat something they like aren't. you a dentist she's like.

yeah that's her answer yeah what she. like I brushed my. teeth so that's awesome man thank you. very much this is this is very cool I I. and like I just want to say you know I. told you but to your listeners man like. I'm proud of a that you invited me on. one but just what you're doing. and the and you've had some amazing uh. guests and you know I joke but it's not. really a joke like man there's a couple. I didn't really want to follow like man.

I'd like to gone before a couple of. these these cats you had on uh but I. think it's amazing the depth of your. podcast um some of the folks you've had. on it's not just the knuckle dragger uh. you know tell me about your War Stories. it's so much more in death band so and. again from everything with like Trevor. and Marcus and and all the different. mental health conversations you've had. on here with guys and there's been some. I mean frankly some badasses come on. here.

and open up and and that's a good. example especially for the younger guys. who are I mean let's face it man America. day young men in America they're. confused and rightfully so I me they're. being told that it's okay to be a girl. they're being okay that everything that. makes men men is. bad and luckily I think we're seeing. some of that penum starting to shift but. what what happens in the meantime to our. brothers you know and I don't mean just. soft guys I mean in a lot of ways we. have a slightly better Community you. know you're talking about like than you.

again. uh you know so many of these infantry. Marines let's face it Marines man even. like at marso you know the Marines will. eat their own in a second you know the. Marine Corps is destroying guys like. right marso 3 Danny and Eric and those. guys you. know man you there's it's so frustrating. you know and for guys yeah they they. guys they need I don't want to say they.

need help they need good examples yeah. right and we talk about I mean there's. those taglines and phrases in the. military leadership models of you know. setting the example exceeding standards. all that stuff things we throw around. words we throw around like they don't. you know they just don't mean anything. but man it's important it is really. important you know. this when I started this you know it's. it's always it's always been kind of. frowned upon you know the whole.

let's talk about our service afterwards. and the cool gu that we did and and. a lot of people you know consider it. chess pounding and and so what I you. know what I wanted to do is I want when. I started this is I wanted one I wanted. to document history I wanted to talk. about mental health uh I wanted to get. guys that you know that have the courage. to come out here and beuing vulnerable. and and talk about their struggles and. and and inform the public you know kids.

that are coming in people that are. coming out like this. isn't I I guess I'm not going to say. it's not it's all it's not everything. it's cracked up to be but there's so. much more that comes into a job like. this that people don't think about they. don't think about what it's like coming. out and so so what I wanted to do is I. wanted to paint a life story you know. and talk about the reason I go into all. the combat stuff is one it's documenting. history which is important cuz we don't.

do that enough anymore in this. country two it qualifies you to talk. about the mental health stuff cuz nobody. wants to hear you talk about mental. health if you haven't walked through. that fire no it it's i' I've made post. on social media and. and there's very few things I do that. aren't meant to help people very few I. mean whether it's a how to shoot a. pistol better on you know video or. mental health or exercise you know I I.

post a lot of workout stuff well it's an. integral part of my own maintenance of. my own mental health and I've have had. people say clearly you don't know. anything about mental health when I say. things like you need to get outside. these drugs that they've put you on. these mood uh brain altering drugs you. know SSR eyes and all these powerful. drugs they don't cure anything you don't. have a well Butrin deficiency right you.

need to address your diet you need let's. let's get to the root cause and then if. you've addressed and checked all those. boxes you quit drinking uh I I think. developing I I know let me rephrase that. I don't think I know that uh being. spiritual in in my case being connected. to you know God I'm a Christian uh is is. part of that it's a package deal so if. you've checked all those boxes and you. still need an SSRI or anti-anxiety or.

any of these other powerful prescription. jokes hey so be it that's not what we're. seeing right I can go to the doctor. probably to an urgent care and tell them. I'm feeling down and get a drug for a. prescription for a drug that will change. me as a human being. yeah all right and so I've had people. say well clearly you don't know anything. about mental health I'm like well I am. not formally. trained but I have since 2001 so it is. at 22 years of in and out of combat.

interacting with guys who needed. help and I have. somehow maintained a pretty even kill. level of uh mental health it's not to. say I don't have days that I'm sad you. know there's always those anniversaries. that you're like man yeah and I will. tell you man like everyone has a gift. and I I I always say I have a a pretty. good gift of being able to convince. myself of things. and it was a long time ago you know when.

it when it came to mental health uh my. mother died of cancer after four four. and a half year about of cancer when you. know I was a kid. damn and you. know I don't think like it doesn't go. through my head like man I wish my mom. had been here to see me do X or Y or. yeah I mean don't get me wrong I wish my. mother was here but I don't think like. that right she's dead and when she died. she T me the greatest lesson that I.

could she could have probably ever given. me and that is you need to appreciate. what you have and who you have while. they're here cuz everyone you know is. going to die from something old age. combat a car wreck cancer name it man. what age were you when she taught you. that what's that what age were you when. that 16 16 you know so 12ish when she. was diagnosed and I'll tell you man you. know it it wasn't cool thing you know.

but I was a a baby I was a kid I was an. immature child not even close to being a. young man and you know some people joke. that I was mama's baby boy you know I. got two sisters an older and a younger. so I'm what's that quintessential the. the rose between two. Thorns my sisters are my sisters are. awesome man um and uh you know like I. said my dad wasn't a hugs and kisses. type of dude but he he raised three. pretty successful um people people with. three very different.

personalities. um. but you know in a different parallel. like my sisters will. still you they they it took them much. much longer and in my younger sister's. case I don't think she's still over her. mother's death you're talking it was was. 30 years ago literally coming up on a. 30y year now that I think is 30y year. anniversary of my mother's death here in. a couple. weeks um now if I could go back and redo. it right and this is what I share with.

people like imagine from their point of. view right when I hear people like oh. you know my grandfather has cancer or my. mother has cancer Whoever has cancer I'm. like now put yourself in their shoes cuz. if I could go back and put myself in her. shoes I would have been a much better. son in other words can you imagine how. horrified she was she knew she was going. to die she had three kids that she knew. she was she was going to. pass before any of us were mature adults.

even close to being mature adults older. sister's four years older than me so you. know she was already in. college and um so anyway like I said man. she taught me that and unbeknown to me. at the time it would prepare me better I. wouldn't say fully but prepare me much. better for losing uh oh I hate saying. that for my friends being killed in. combat I didn't lose them I hate that. word I attended a uh a seminar.

10 years. ago for PTSD and it wasn't combat PTSD. necessarily and this PhD lady big brain. lady she was talking about one of the. biggest problems and one of the things. she hypothesized was that PTSD and. mental health is so horrible in America. around death is that we do a horrible. job preparing ourselves for. death we don't celebrate life we mourn. death where other cultures you know our. culture not that long ago celebrated.

life right we celebrate their lives and. we do an okay job and soft we talk about. it we get together and we celebrate at. funerals uh we were talking about Seth. Farwell before we got on you know dude. there was 150 operators at his funeral. oh man right C Lane was either the most. dangerous place on the planet or the. safest according to how you want to look. at it uh and oddly enough no one got any. bar fights uh in downtown corlane um and. there was some some wild Childs there.

you. know most of those dudes I haven't. talked to since it's over two years ago. you know what I mean it's like yeah we. celebrated him and then we moved on um. so anyway the mental health Pats. man it's important I've like I said I've. maintained good mental health through a. few practices I made a post about it. yesterday on the drive up here some. dudes and don'ts my dudes and don'ts.

right I don't talk to people from a. place of judgment or a place of. authority when it comes to things I'm. not an expert on and like even when it. comes to things that I might even be an. expert on I'm still open to further. learning you know what I mean like the. way I used to explosively breach a door. 20 years ago is much different than what. I use today you know I'm always we have. to and it's a cliche right always. learning always a student uh but in all. seriousness I'm open. but it was just some does and don'ts my.

does and don'ts right there's no. judgment this is what I do and like the. dudes. were you know physical fitness go. outside I kind of made a joke um take up. hunting because it's outside take pick. up new hobbies prefer ones that are. outside and like you know down in the. botom like did I mention get outside. more we weren't designed to be interior. people man we didn't evolve to be. interior people you want to find happy.

and peaceful and chill find me in the. woods I want to tell you about this. business venture I've been on for about. the past 78 months and it's finally come. to. fruition I've been hellbent on finding. the cleanest functional mushroom. supplement on the planet and that all. kind of stemmed from the Psychedelic. treatment I did came out of it got a a. ton of benefits haven't had a drop of.

alcohol in almost 2 years I'm more in. the moment with my family and that led. me down researching the benefits of just. everyday functional mushrooms and I. started taking some supplements I found. some coffee Replacements I even wrapped. a brand and you know it got to the point. where I just wanted the finest. ingredients available no matter where. they come from and it it it got to this. point where I was just going to start my. own brand and so we started going to.

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porch there's I I do 99% of my work on. my front porch I hate being inside. doesn't take me very long for it. I I got to get outside man um I'd rather. work out outside I'd rather run outside. you're not catching me on a. treadmill I can't do it won't do it yeah. I do get on the stair Mill but it's cuz. where I live there are no Hills uh and. to prepare for the mountain walks that I. like I got to get on that stair Mill but. yeah you know some of the don'ts you.

know don't drink. alcohol if there is one thing I can. share with guys and let's face it man. when I when I see these. these influential guys you know. potential mentors in our community you. know posting their stuff about drinking. whiskey and stuff like that you know. this is a fine whatever whiskey like man. it's poison yeah like by definition. alcohol is poisonous it can kill us. there are some medicinal uses of alcohol.

but having a night cap to settle down to. go to sleep it's not a medical use right. you're potentially an alcoholic and. that's different you're poisoning. yourself you're poisoning your system. you're poisoning your brain how do you. expect you know I mean you can't you. don't put diesel fuel in a freaking. Ferrari yeah and that's what you're. doing how long have you been how long. have you been silver almost 13 years I. think 13 years yeah and man I used to. drink congratulations I used to drink. like a considerable I was I would say I.

was in the top 10 of drinkers in our. community I was pretty good at it yeah. uh had a good you know you I was right. up there with some of the best of us you. know my favorite drink for the longest. time was uh tequilo on the rocks and I. would drink tequila shots and chase him. tequilo on the Rocks you know what I. mean it was like what were you doing man. yeah uh you know we come home from a. trip there were three or four of us all. living in Wellington and we would stay. on the rack time zone you know get up go.

to bed at 7 8 in the morning get up 4:00. 5 in the afternoon go to the gym eat. pick up beer start drinking and then go. out every night every night while we're. home for you know two or three four. weeks whatever you're home. for and um you know when you're young. and single it might be an okay lifestyle. doesn't mean it's healthy certainly not. especially you know sleeping around. risking that risking having an unwanted.

pregnancy or risking an STD and honestly. it's just not healthy for us right. um and so yeah Melissa came along we. have a pretty funny story about how you. know of course I always tell it that she. stalked me for like three years and I. finally gave in it's my story I can tell. what however I want she's not here um. when she watches this which she probably. won't you know what I mean she doesn't. want to listen to me talk uh if she. watched this she would be like you're so. full of you know I'm like no she.

sto me um but no we we kept bouncing off. of each other and when we finally got. together you know she was drinking a. little bit she's a complete nerd she was. top of her class and you know junior. high high school. scholarships I was smoking weed and. doing blow you know drinking a lot in. high school she would have never hung. out with me right I was just a. misbehaved kid and you know was I. misbehaving because my mom died.

I mean I'm sure it didn't help. right and looking back like I can I can. see where like you know teachers cut me. breaks they felt sorry for me and stuff. like that but me and M got together man. and she was very fit um likeed to do. outdoor stuff I mean before I met her. she was hiking in every National Park. and she had been ice climbing love to. climb she's a monkey man she's got like. legs that are this long and like a. wingspan like a she's got like a a spine. and torso of a six foot tall person but.

her legs make her 52 so like I mean a. chick can do 25 dead hang. Pull-Ups so she loves to climb I don't. like to climb not technical climb so our. compromise was we were going to we. started we were doing a bunch of the. 14ers out in Colorado we'd hop hop on a. flight from sea level and in two days. that we're on top of a 14er so we. started our relationship out with some. suffering and uh and just kept going. from there and next thing I know we were.

youing you know whatever iron triathlons. and ultr marathons and just name it. right powerlifting Olympic weightlifting. you know she was very much into the. CrossFit competition stuff beginning. like she went to the CrossFit games and. stuff like that but because of all that. physical fitness stuff you know it was. hard to maintain a drinking problem yeah. and that's why I sobered up it wasn't. necessarily like a. you know I need to stop doing this.

because it's interfering with my life. actually it was just part of my life it. was part of our part of the community's. social thing um you know what was the. old joke were the healthiest alcoholics. on the planet which is completely not. true you know um two things can't exist. together we might be physically fit. alcoholics that's different so anyway. yeah she came along man and. um this is not like a. she's not like an angel in the sense of.

like she's soft and nurturing I mean. don't get me wrong like Melissa can be. soft and nurturing she's a hard ass you. know she's more of the hey Tony pull. your head out of your ass you know what. I mean I picked up a little bit of that. at uh breakfast this morning so yeah you. know what I mean like I said people. don't realize like a lot of people think. I'm like kind of a you know aggressive. personality and I'm not even close to. her dude not even close she is she is. you want to talk about Target Focus man.

she get. something you well let's let's get to. that let's do this I like to do things. in chronological order so if you don't. mind let's start with your childhood so. where'd you grow. up yeah so I was born in Newburn North. Carolina which is Central north and. south but as almost as far east as you. can pamco County it's right on the pamco. sound and then of course the outer banks.

are off of the. sound my dad uh my dad had moved before. I was born back from Indiana so I guess. I can back up and give you their their a. little bit of their story uh my mom and. my dad met in Wilmington same place me. and Melissa met weird kind of funny my. dad was at Fort Brag and my mom was. going to school and Raleigh and they met. at the aula festival it's a big. Springtime Festival in Wilmington. parades and all stuff and they met my.

dad I remember him saying he was like I. couldn't. sleep I needed to be with her like he. was like I met her I fell in love with. her and uh so that was kind of cool and. I was like you know it's not a whole lot. different than Melissa even though I. tried really hard I I really thought. Melissa was just kind of a punk you know. and my feelings for her when I first met. her it was weird like I was just drawn. to her and I had never felt it before so. I was a little weird about it you know. uh and it's kind of funny that remember. what my dad would say about my mom how. he just fell in love with her and that's.

kind of cool um cuz I wouldn't say. either he nor I are necessarily like. hopeless Romantics by any means but you. know love's a real thing and um so it's. kind of a parallel there as well so. anyway they wound up getting married but. they moved to Indiana where my father. was from well my father was from Western. Virginia and then coal mining fell apart. in the ' 50s his family moved up uh like. all the coal miners and went to work for. General Motors or Ford or whatever um so.

he was his father was working in plants. for General Motors outside and around. Indianapolis so anyway my dad went to. after he got out of the army they moved. up there he started working for Delco Ry. which was a subsidiary or whatever of. German Motors and twice he got passed up. for a supervisor. job um due to affirmative. action and he was really frustrated he's. like here I am busting my ass working my.

ass off and I I I got passed up two. years in a row for. promotion because of affirmative action. and in his mind he felt like you know he. was more qualified than the people who. got put in those positions and he was. frustrated so he decided to leave that. world which was a good thing overall. moved back down to North Carolina and um. he went to work for a uh a seafood. company and he ultimately bought it. and we went from being you know trailer.

park kids a living in a trailer white. trash rednecks I watched my father I. participated right he didn't have help. so I was his labor as soon as I was old. enough to be his labor and he um I. watched him build that business I. watched him work you know and talking. about set the example I mean that dude. left before I got up and got home uh you. know we we did dinner it 6:00 every. night and he would come in eat and get.

up and go back to work you know um and I. watched that and then like I said as. soon as I was old enough big enough or. in some case I don't know that I was old. enough but he still needed help and so I. went to work with him and I got to see. it I got to experience it and and the. man worked I'm talking non-stop no. breaks breakfast lunch were optional and. it's funny because. like I'm so much more like him never. thought I was going to be um I I I like.

to think I got a good blend of him and. my mom um he was a little more. hot-headed she was a little more chill. um my aunts told me that she was. actually pretty hot-headed but not with. me because I was the favorite I was the. boy you know I don't know uh so I never. got to really see my mom lose her temper. I I mean like she would give us a. spanking or something you know like with. a fly SWAT or something like o ow mom. that hurt so bad you know but like you.

know what I mean like a spanking from. her was like more of a principal thing. than something that you were even going. to learn a lesson you know but then when. Dad got home if it was bad enough for. mom to tell him you're going to you're. going to to her was a decent ass. whooping you know not abusive a spanking. yeah you know my dad never physically. abused me and don't get me wrong when I. got arrested one time you know we threw. hands and I. lost my dad was a good siiz fellow he's. about I graduated high school at about a. buck 65 and uh he was he was probably.

about 200 lb you know he was full grown. and I. wasn't um so anyway yeah you know they. they got in the seafood thing he grew it. was called sound like Panico sound. packing company and bring the product in. you know scallops shrimp flounder um. crabs Blue Crabs they were all processed. at his facility packaged shipped to. restaurants sold to restaurants so you. know I could on any one day be picking. crab meat or filling fish or loading a.

truck with a forklift whatever um and. then he and my uncle got into uh they. developed a subdivision together so they. bought like a backo and a small. bulldozer and then they bought a a. bigger bulldozer a D6 together and me I. was running those things before I could. reach the pedals oh wow and uh in some. cases some of the stuff we were doing. like putting tiles big big concrete. tiles with the back hoe so if you ever. see those concrete tiles lay on the side.

of the road there's a male and a female. in so when you lay them in the big end. being the female end the little end you. you you put them in with the excavator. you drop them in and kind of snug them. in dude my dad would be in the ditch me. running the bulldozzer when I was like. 11 years old or the the excavator. backhoe he's in the ditch and I've got a. th000 lb concrete Culvert and he's. guiding it in he's trusting me with that. wow I look back I'm like there's not an. 11-year-old on this plan. that I would get anywhere near them if.

they were running a backo and he had me. doing that stuff which ultimately. carried over into my you know adult life. like I never once questioned whether or. not I was going to pass election just. had something to do I was going to go do. it I know me wrong I had withdraw from. college against. everyone's um better advice I just. wanted to be an army man you know what. did your dad do in the Army yeah so he. was an 82n Airborne um he was a ground. pounding infantry dude and then um and.

then. a a a heavy mortman so like maybe the. 120s I believe yes the 120s and then on. his last bit he was on the the hoers. like a 105 so de you know we're out here. worried about shooting m4s with. suppressors with apro they were setting. off cannons with no ear Pro he was. deafer as he could be man couldn't hear. a. thing uh. freaking um you know hearing hearing.

aids and all that stuff but he never. wore them uh which was always an. advantage because I would be like well I. told you and he like like oh I told you. I told you I was going to do that Dad. and he's like I was like you must not. have heard me of course now I might play. that game a little bit myself with uh. with Melissa you know I'm supposed to. I'm like completely deaf in my right ear. I'm supposed to where I hearing a my. left and whatever um so I always say I. didn't hear you say that and she's just. like. so is that was that your motivation to.

go into the military or man yeah partly. but also you I can I can trace it back. to the fact that he let me watch Rambo. first Blood when I was like. nine you know running around the. mountains freaking running from these. mean old police guys who were mean to. Veterans you know it was like man this. dude is awesome and then you know the. colonel spill about green bres being. real badasses and all that. that had a lot to do with it you know. frankly whichs sounds kind of funny.

because I will catch myself sometimes. saying well you know part of our you. know this generation watched a couple of. cool movies and decided they wanted to. be SEALS or Rangers or whatever and I. think back I'm like wait a. minute it was part of the reason why I. did it too you know so I can't really. beat up on the guys for that you know. it's like yeah you know um but that was. part of that was a huge part of. motivation between the fact that you. know he did it uh and then that movie. but I.

also me I feel like you know. hunting and and war is a lot of hunting. if you look at it like that it I just. feel like it's part of my nature part of. my genetics whatever you want to call it. like I. am you know I I don't want to say you. know for the sake of sound like some. crazy psychopath like that I wanted War. but you know before the war started you. know that was part of the thing man. Warriors to go to war yeah you know we. all hear about you know the you know the.

the you know the ranger prayers and that. kind of stuff where you know you prayed. to the Cs of War for you know the. opportunity to test yourself in combat. and all that stuff and I never really. got into anything like that but I think. it's part of it you know I think there. are just simply some people are. genetically cut out for certain types of. work or whatever and um I was drawn to. it and uh then I mean really when I. joined the military I couldn't afford. College dad was trying to you know he.

was still really trying to recover from. my mom's death man that poor guy I. watched him for two years come home. after work sit in his recliner in his. chair whatever and stare at a TV that. wasn't on I would come in at 11: 12 at. night on a school night he lost control. and he didn't have that energy you know. I was just doing whatever I wanted and. staying out late and misbehaving and I. would come in man he'd still be sitting. in that recliner get up the next morning.

brush his teeth go to work uh he was he. was lost he went from 200 205 lb dude to. 170 lbs not eating just morning. morning and um so yeah man. freaking he wanted me to go to college. you know that's so I tried and I went NC. State and I say that I was enrolled. there but I didn't really attend class. uh you know got there and it was man you. know there was like 10 maybe 30.

attractive girls in pamelo. County now I'm at NC State University. and there are so many distractions. everywhere you want me to go to you want. me to go to class you know um 8:00 in. the morning I got stuff to do man uh. girls to Chase and stuff so colleges. wasn't working out man dad was trying to. pay you know and help us with College. funding and all that at this point my. older sister's looking at medical school. and I was like you can't afford it.

there's no way so I withdrew and join. the Army um and uh you know so my. sisters got to finish their college and. all that kind of stuff I fully intended. on going back oddly enough I wanted to. be a doctor and my sister became one and. she actually quit practicing it's become. more she's uh she's in the business side. of uh biotech world now and uh you know. she's got a Masters in Business and all. kinds of stuff which is weird she went.

to become a doctor and then ultimately. before she became business side I was. the business guy you know and that's. definitely a a genetic pass down my dad. was a a businessman um an entrepreneur. always hustling you know always into. something and was successful at. everything he ever did U because he was. pretty methodical but also worked really. hard um so yeah man freaking I withdrew. from college like my second year second. semester on like a Tuesday and signed.

all the paperwork went home NC State to. the house was about 3 hours got home he. wasn't there I like do some running. shoes I want to go for a run sure enough. ran into him he's. like what are you doing here like he. knew he knew something was up you know I. mean he's like what now type of thing. you know and. uh my stepmother he remarried to uh. amazing woman um turn she turned out to.

be one of my best friends sadly she died. of cancer oh man yeah man my dad just. took in the gut you know but she was. awesome and you know so I went up to his. truck and he's like what in the are you. doing home like he just knew and I was. like um I listed in the Army he's like. you what you know I never. forget uh Carol my stepmother she just. reached over and put her hand on his. should and she said let's go on home and. when he gets here we'll talk about it.

let's see what he has to say and he just. went all right I see at the house you. know cuz she he was lucky man he had an. amazing woman with my mother and then an. amazing woman an amazing wife with uh my. stepmom and she was cool man my stepmom. was like Martha Stewart on steroids man. like. just I could come home and she'd throw. together a dinner and it' be like you. know like why did you do this whole. layout and she's like it's just what I. do you know and uh but not prissy you.

know not a Priss pot or anything like. that hell she was in Afghanistan in the. late 60s oh nice with friends with the. hippies yeah smoking the the the Kush. but and all that stuff right so and she. had grown up in California so she was a. California girl but not a not like a. modern weirdo California like just a not. a modn like she grew up out there and. but like I guess kind in the in the in. the mountains I'm not sure exactly where.

in California she grew up but um cool. cool woman so I got home and he's like. what in the world dude like so I met. this Green Beret guy named Jason. McKenzie he was doing uh the green to. Gold program at NC State and he told me. about uh told me about the National. Guard SF and how it's like the must kept. secret in the military uh he was a third. group guy guy and then the 19th group. guy and uh uh like I said was getting.

his commission and ultimately he went on. to be uh over at the unit and I talked. to him in 15 years should should. definitely reach out to that guy and see. what he's up to these days um but yeah. because you know I met him he's like. yeah bro let me tell you about this. National Guard stuff so I enlisted with. um second Battalion 19th group up in. West. Virginia and uh there was it was before. the 18 x-ray or the 18 baby the SF baby. program which you may have heard it's. usually kind of or can be a derogatory.

term but it was basically an SF bab. program where I came in through the. guard it was kind of a back door and. that was why some of the back then the. National Guard SF guys kind of got. looked at because on active duty the. whole idea of being able to try out for. Special Forces you had to have done time. somewhere else in the Army whether. you're a mechanic a ranger didn't matter. you had to be an E4 promotable B to go. to Special Forces selection so you done.

you you've already spent 3 to four years. in the. military um and you were bringing that. to the table and that was important in. Special Forces but the guard had figured. out a way to back door that stuff so we. would go to basic uh AIT or whatever. MOS Airborne School typically to like a. little career promotion progression. school they used to call it uh PLC or. whatever it's basically to get promoted. so you were eligible to get a promotion. from uh E4 to E5 little Cur so you did.

all that stuff and then you go to. selection if you pass selection straight. to the Q course so Zero to Hero oh wow. yeah so it was the beginning of the 18. x-ray program and like I said active. duty guys look down their nose at us Big. Damn I thought that program was I mean. what what year is this so this is 97. I didn't realize that program only. for the guard Dy had no none of this. program yet and that's why when active. duty put it back in place cuz it 18.

x-ray or 18 baby program SF baby program. was a thing in the 80s then it went away. so when they brought it back in what. 2003 time frame is like well dude. everyone was upset of course I'm over. here. going I. mean you cool with me right you know and. and don't get me wrong there's. exceptions to every rule I I would say. you know I already knew how to do a lot. of things you know when I got to my.

first Oda that definitely qualified and. and when they looked at me in selection. I had to go to the board like three. times CU I was young I was younger than. any other candidate I also was not an. E4 so you're supposed to be an E4. promotable one of my one of my buds from. the unit got hurt before you're supposed. to go to. sfas so I get a phone call hey are you. ready to go to selection and I'm like I. not yes you know but no I I hadn't been.

rucking or anything cuz I'd been in. basic training and Airborne school and. that no time to really go rup March and. get ready for selection and they're like. well we got a slot next week do you want. it and me being afraid to say no like I. might not get another chance being young. and dumb said yes and I went I and I. passed but at the end it was kind of. funny because I got called into the. board and they're. like what are you doing here I'm. like you've heard the buzz about Ketone.

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SRS with over 10 million subscriptions. sold Babel is real language learning for. real conversations get 55% off babel.com. SRS that's spelled. bb.com SRS rules and restrictions apply. visit babel.com for terms and details. well sergeant major I want to be a.

badass green Bray or whatever you know. he's like that's not what I'm asking how. and why are you here as an. E3 like you're not even supposed to be. here how we didn't catch you all the way. through this class and boot you I don't. know and I'm like Roger AR major and. he's like so why should I allow you to. continue why should I pass you I was. like well AR major I get it and I. understand I understand that you need to. bring something to the table and that's.

why the rule is in place so I gave him a. kind of a brief you know up kind of like. hey here's are my capabilities the. things I've done in life um you know I. ran my first business when I was 13. years old uh you know on and on and on. and uh you know and not his head he was. like all right get out get out BR stor. there an hour later or so get back in. here you know go back to the board they. red me again and they were just like. looking to see if I was mature enough.

and I guess I rated it graduation. ceremony uh the the captain the company. Commander over selection you know he's. handing out the diplomas or whatever the. certificates and he's like you know. Captain Smith congratulations staff. sergeant whatever Corporal Sergeant. Sergeant Sergeant specialist specialist. private. F he looks at the first one the first. one goes. you know and he's looking at he's like. is this right you know and I mean.

there's you know 40 dudes left we in. small room out there you know we're all. dirty nasty and you know no no fancy. ceremony and they're like yeah he goes. well all right then private First Class. C welcome to the regiment and I'm like. Roger but like I said man I think I was. what 97 so I'm 20 22 years old so I. wasn't you know 18y old right off the. Street private either you know so. luckily you know they pick me up and let.

me go to the Q course real quick yeah. just backtrack and you said you ran your. first business at 13 years old what was. that mowing but not like La mowing uh I. would I had to I rented my dad's tractor. and heavy bush hog and I would go to the. Realtors and say hey this is what I do I. clean up your property I'll you know. bush hog. uh clear out this piece of property the. undergrow so you can see the property.

you'll be able to see all the way to the. water uh and then I'll take my you know. heavy duty weed eater and clean around. the trees and You' be able to see it' be. beautiful you're going to sell and at 13. years old I was charging $100 an hour. for mowing and you're talking what 88 89. it's a lot of money for a d on 13 14 15. 16y old and by the time I was 16y old I. would go work for a couple hours you. know heck I could go work for 4 four or. five hours on Saturday that's 4 or 500. bucks knockof go to the beach you were.

making $100 an hour yeah at 13 years old. back8 you said I was cheap other people. doing the same jobs were you know $150. $200 an hour um so I was cheap and yeah. it was crazy insane money especially. back then especially for a 13 14y old. but here was the deal right I didn't. have driver's license so I would drive. the tractor down the highway to my job. sites you know so I like when I say I.

watch my dad work in Hustle now don't. get me wrong right so I had cost I had. to maintain the the equipment you know. keep it greased keep the hes change. freaking if something broke I had to fix. it you know um so he while he helped me. right obviously put it in motion um he. made me run it like a real business you. know um he made you rent the tractor. from him huh. that's awesome and it was like $18 an. hour so now here I am already you know.

not $100 an hour anymore you know. uh yeah he he was smart man you know. looking back I was like you know like. when I was a kid I was like man and he's. just an but you know what I me. like I said he prepared me you know and. like I said by today's standards you. know not lydy Huggy kissy you know. father but not abusive not anywhere near. what I would call abuse I he set me up. for Success um and just because then of.

course you know while I didn't bring it. up to the sergeant major of the board. you know it didn't take me long to. figure out you know the exact same. hustle for mowing mowing grass also kind. of work for selling grass um so yeah man. as a bad kid I was selling a little weed. and then started selling a little. cocaine um because return on investment. um I mean I learned that quick and. freaking you know the money on weed. versus the money on little cocaine was.

big time difference and I was bad uh. just me and a couple of my buddies man. we were you know what age were you when. you started selling drugs 16ish how long. did it take you to move from weed to. cocaine few months that's it yeah it was. quick how' you get C cocaine my cousins. my cousins were all and still are well. the ones that are drug addicts are. herds excuse my language um it was just.

readily available rural North Carolina. nothing else to do and it didn't take a. genius to sell that I mean it sells. itself there's no marketing involved you. know what I mean like supply and demand. and that is it in that market space back. in the I got. arrested I got arrested for arest how'. you get how did that. uh got lucky be right honest with you. did you sell it on undercover no.

uh they had been basically watching and. it's a small place man everybody knew. everything um but they were they were. watching and then. they I'm not sure exactly 100% but they. knew me and my buddy went to the. supplier's house that night and they set. up on us they set up a little roadblock. cuz they anticipated us going from here. to our other buddy's. house but instead of going to my Bud's. house via the main roads we went through. the hunting club roads I mean we're.

drinking you know I mean so we don't get. on the pavement and you could drive you. can drive from one end of North Carolina. other and never hit payment you know. cross it but hunting club roads you know. gravel roads and so we went to my buds. house through this back way and we left. and went through their roadblock the. opposite direction so they they like. they had no clue they were like well. wait a minute blue lights you know and. so what I dropped off at his house would. have gotten me four to six years First.

Defense wow and all I had was like a. little a bump or whatever you want to. call it like just enough for me and my. bud to get high on the way home you know. nothing less than one gram is what I was. charged with residue almost but any. amount of cocaine in North Carolina is a. state. felony it upset a lot of people man you. know my dad was well respected did as an. honest hardworking dude in the community. and here I.

am acting like an and people. were basically like hey man you've gone. too far we get. it you're still reacting from your mom's. death and all that stuff I will never. blame my behavior on that was it a. factor of course because nothing is 2. plus two it's everything's an equation. so was it a factor certainly did I. manipulate and exp exploit a little bit. bit. probably you know I knew people felt. sorry for me I knew if I missed a few.

classes here and there in school I could. probably get away with it um because. people loved me you know it was a small. place and you know the people that I. went to school with in the 11th grade. the same people I went to school with in. kindergarten it literally didn't change. you know yeah graduated with 10 like. five people all right small place so. anyway I was lucky um my neighbor who. used to be my babysitter. um was a new. attorney and Unos toi while she was in.

college she partied pretty hard and she. came and picked me up she gave me kind. of a scolding and then she also. explained to me like hey man. happens and now you have a. choice you can fix yourself or you can. continue this path and you will go to. jail. right um she actually went on to become. a um a superior court judge North. Carolina she's still one of my very best. friends um her name's Karen Alexander a.

mentor someone I trust like through and. through if I if I need someone to tell. me what's up I can call Karen Alexander. and she will break it down for me uh she. was a really good a really good judge a. fair judge but a hard judge if you you. crossed her or you you crossed the line. as far as the law goes she had a lot of. um you there's a letter of the law and. then there's the um the spirit of the. law and she had a good way of knowing.

the difference you know what I mean but. luckily between her the sheriff right um. everyone knew everybody uh you know they. all basically got me together and they. were like hey. man you don't get another chance. right here's what's going to go down. you're going to do a bunch of community. service and we're going to delay this. case all right and then if you don't get. in trouble for the next year we're going.

to reevaluate a year later or so they. put it down to paraphernalia but. suspended the. sentence so for another year I had to. continue to behave and uh so I didn't. get any more trouble um I didn't touch. drugs again didn't touch them didn't use. them didn't sell them still saw some of. the same dudes and friends and stuff um. cocaine's a hard drug to to come off of. I you know I'll tell you man I was never. ever even close to being addicted.

really cocaine was. fun and that was about it and it was a a. business right and you know you don't. get high on your own Supply. um the party was fun because you know I. mean for lack of better saying it right. like when girls were using cocaine it's. a fun party yeah and I was a young in. and a lot of my customers were adult. my partner in. crime when I I left went to the Q course.

he got rolled up he got busted he got. six years first. offense this is just a good old redneck. boy I mean his hobbies are deer hunting. and selling. K six years man in a medium. security facility Well you know who's in. medium security facilities. nonviolent freaking cocaine. buddy of mine just dude who likes to go. hunting and dudes who are murderers that.

are in there for something. else right medium security they got real. bad dudes in there dude got stabbed a. couple times man um and he did four and. a half years of that six-year sentence. as a young for some some blood yeah it. would have been me I would have no doubt. been with him involved if I had been. there so the army. unbeknown to me save save me from that.

and you know there's no coming back from. that type of stuff man you're a felon. you go to federal prison like what are. you going to do with the rest of your. life if you're a felon you can't have a. gun you're not going to get hired at a. good job etc etc so it you know the. special forces the C course all that I. mean it it saved me from myself and you. know I'm I was a you know I'm going to. go ahead and make an assumption that you. were probably the Wild Child kid who. didn't pay attention in class and stuff. you know we I mean we're we're a. stereotype I me we we fit most SF or.

soft guys not just SF right like soft. guys we're the kids who didn't pay. attention in class we were bored right. let's face it I mean if you got a GT. score of 110 which we all do it's a. requirement right you're not an. idiot and I was bored I was. just W challenged and and I have a. little. dyslexia so you think panco County. Public School System had any clue on how. to educate I mean when I was in like the.

fourth grade I was already a grade ahead. in math but could barely. read because the words didn't look like. what they were saying they were supposed. to look like so I basically had to teach. myself to read and I don't know that I. even read that well till probably high. school and even now man when I read. stuff it's weird yeah it's selftaught. some words just Look Backwards you know. and sometimes I write them backwards. even still if I'm talking and writing on. a whiteboard I might write. EHT instead of the weird stuff you know.

and every now and then people cut pick. up on it but you know kind of learn how. to get around it but um yeah man I was. lucky uh and you know this is this is I. have no problem saying this and this is. controversial people say White Privilege. doesn't. exist I don't know if it was white. privilege it was good standing in the. community privilege of my.

father had I. been some Son of someone else you know. who or I didn't have a father I me. it I'll break it down let's say I was a. a poor black kid in the trailer park. selling crap or or selling the same same. charge I'd have gone to. jail so it wasn't a necessarily a. privilege on my part but it was a. privilege a consideration maybe not.

privilege but it the way my deal was. handled was because my dad was so well. respected and people like Karen. Alexander um my attorney at the time U. Marcus Chestnut these people the sheriff. Billy sawer they all saw potential in me. and they'll they'll tell me they've all. told me since they're like you had. potential of being good and we also knew. you had potential of going the other.

direction and we knew we were gambling. on. you luckily for me they took the gamble. I am all I will always be in debt to. those people I just mentioned and and. many more that and some people I. probably don't even know were involved. you know in making sure I got out that's. an interesting take that I wasn't. expecting and uh you know when you put. it like that. yeah like I said it wasn't was anything.

on me it was him and luckily they they. saw a little bit of potential cuz they. all knew me since I was born and with my. older sister clearly doing awesome. things by this point they were like man. he he might he might turn out to be. halfway decent so that's why like the Q. course and and Military type stuff right. it just fit for me you know I grew up. hunting know oh you're going to give me. guns cool uh and I'm going get to play. with explosives oh this sounds fun I.

used. to maybe play with some PVC pipe some. smokeless powder when I was a kid you. know um yeah we had reloading supplies. you know what I mean I was a young you. know um so I was like okay this sounds. cool you know and if it wasn't for that. stuff dude who knows where i' wound up. did you did you go to did you join the. National card to get into the SF baby. program okay so you knew so so is Rambo. Rambo brought you to SF straight to it.

never once did I entertain any of the. other Special Operations so what happens. when you what happens when you go. through SF as a National Guard person. cuz that's only one weekend a month. right um so SF National Guard is nothing. like regular guard um so when you pass. election you go to the Q course you get. put on active duty you don't belong to. the National Guard anymore you belong to. First special Warfare Center at Fort. Brag right you are now you're on active.

duty okay um and you don't belong to the. guard and it's for the Q course whether. it like for. me it was uh back then it was the Q. course wait yeah qor and then language. school and then sear School uh so it was. an activ Duty block for that entire time. so almost two years um oddly enough I. was actually supposed to go to the. medical course like I said I wanted to. be a doctor so I'm like I'm going to go. take the 18 Delta course I wanted to be. a medic and I broke my femur the weekend.

before I was supposed to report for the. Delta course uh race and. Motocross and so it took me almost a. year or about seven months before I. could say all right I'm ready well. because of that seven Monon delay they. were like uh you might. consider just you know cuz they they. wanted me on a team you know needs of. the army needs of the unit they're like. hey.

man your next like your next Delta. course won't be for four months but. there's a Charlie course starting next. week you want to go to the Charlie. course which engineer. explosives again being young I'm. thinking I better not turn this down. because they might look at me next time. like oh we gave you an opportunity and. you turned it down so I said yeah Roger. that so next thing you know I'm in the. engineer cores which is you know much. shorter than the 18 Delta cores. but it was still stimulating for the. most part you know uh Cal calculation.

and placement of explosives was. algebra a lot of guys struggled with. that but I mean I had already taken. trigonometry and all kinds of stuff in. in school and and like I said I was good. at math so the Charlie course was not. hard for me uh me and a couple other. guys both National Guard dudes. uh. uh we caused our own problems with some. of the National gu or some of the active. duty guys especially like the E6 Rangers. who already didn't like us you know cuz.

we're National. Guard we were all three PT studs so they. gave us respect we went through the Su. phase and we did well and they're like. okay maybe these little National Guard. punks are okay but during the during the. course right they were we were going and. partying well Fort brags in North. Carolina I grew up in North Carolina I. had friends at every University. girl friends at every University I was. like the damn tour guide you know where.

yall want to go this weekend I talked to. such and such a ECU you know uh UNCW. party schools right Chapel Hill and um. so while guys were like doing study. groups me and um Ben and Jake those. three National Guard guys right we're. partying we're going places uh cuz all. three of us had had you know more math. so we weren't struggling we didn't need. to go to study hall and that kind of. stuff which like I said caused problems.

with some of the you know staff. sergeants and sergeants like you know we. we got smoked and you know cuz back. then right there's Cadre well why Cadre. is not looking the senior guys and of. course could you up. um when the three of us got uh promoted. from E4 to E5 we were in the the Charlie. cores and the Cadre rolled up one. morning and. they were lined up putting them. stripes in our collar bones in our chest.

you know the C was like oh good God like. they just turn around left they're like. we nothing to do with this right my. students we were the lowest ranking. everyone in the class was higher ranking. US so everyone got got a hit covered in. blood man uh I remember Mario vulpe. Mario was built like a gorilla still is. um he was the last one in line he was. the the most senior dude in the class. man he hit me and I took a knee and I.

was just like I mean my CNS is shot from. just getting you know 25 dudes pounding. my brachial plexus you know putting a E5. rank into my chest you know and he hit. me and I was just. like had I had if I had had to do one. more man I don't know i' finished the. ceremony funny story man freaking I'm. running for congress a couple years ago. I had not seen Mario vulpi since the day. we graduated Q. course so 20 years later someone. said uh Hey man a friend of mine's son.

is about to go to Army but would would. you know is interested in helping you. out at the range working blah blah blah. like okay cool yeah you know tell him to. punch me a text hey good afternoon sir. my name is Jake vulpi blah blah you know. I'm getting ready to join the Army next. year you know was hoping that I could. help around maybe you help you with. classes and learn some stuff oh yeah. absolutely kids showes up and I'm. looking at him I'm. like do you know Mario vuli he's like.

yeah he's my. dad small world bro wow small world so. now his son helps me a little bit before. he joined Army now he's I think he's in. rasp as we speak Ranger selection uh. ranger training whatever and um yeah. Small World um but yeah you know that. that route. into SF was still kind of unique back. then it was it was a a well-kept secret. and even to this day uh you know I'll.

tell guys you know I'm like hey man if. you go active duty and you go to. selection it's just like with you guys. at butts if you don't pass now it's. needs the Army and you're going to the. 82nd Airborne you're going to 10th. mountain and you're going to pick up. trash yep you know for for you guys I. know it's like scraping boats or. whatever um so you know I I only thing I. can think of is like God I was just.

looking out man cuz it wasn't me you. know I wasn't smart enough I didn't have. the wherewithal I didn't have the essay. whatever you want to call it I didn't. have the bandwidth to understand the. totality of my situation and how things. just lined up and happened like meeting. Jason McKenzie at NC State I never met. Jason McKenzie State I would have. continued on through college maybe or. not and maybe got in trouble maybe. became a doctor I don't know all right I. don't get into that I just know that.

these things happen in this amazing you. know sequence that put me at Fort Brag. now don't get me wrong man I wasn't 100%. better when I was at the Q course I mean. I was still chasing girls around and. Hell uh so one of those guys I mentioned. Ben bner uh he got killed back in 13. dude was a stud he was better than. everybody else you know what I mean and. he he knew it and he had a special way. of rubbing it in you know you go do a Ru.

March he'd be sitting there when you got. there with a dip in and an empty. M just to kind of show you he's been. there a while yeah you know if you did. 20 pull-ups he'd do 25 and be like man. you're getting you're doing well man. you'll be at 25 before you know it that. guy just a stud uh he and Mike Glover. were on a team together so we have joke. about him like Ben was just the greatest. you ever. met you know and he was a stud man name.

something he he could be good at it you. know he was just better than everyone. else and um yeah man he got smoked uh in. a baited ambush in 2013 damn um and I'll. tell you man it's 13 right we've been at. War for 12 years at that point had a few. friends getting. smoked when Ben died and I got the the. news I was traveling down I 40 Melissa. was with me we were brand new couple and. I was like wait what and I pulled over.

and threw up it made me Si in my stomach. I couldn't how Ben like he's and it was. at that moment I was like oh you are not. Immortal you know yeah I had kind of. fallen in you know I had some pretty bad. injuries I you know broke my back in 05. got blown up good in 2009 I still. thought I was indestructible you know I. keep keep getting getting back in the. fight after getting scuffed up and then.

man it was the news that he died I was. just like wow wow okay the the bad guys. have good days too yeah you know if you. can sucker that dude in his team into a. baited Ambush and they did you know they. set up IDs shot at them they set up IDs. at the places you would Run for. Cover damn yeah his medic got got blown. up and and uh he was trying to evacuate. and he hit one. too yeah so anyway yeah no that dude man.

what an amazing guy but he and I like we. went to Wilmington one time and parked. in a place we shouldn't have we come out. of the folks were hanging out with their. apartment and the truck's gone and we. got to be back at bag for PT in a couple. hours oh dude we looked up the um. the tow truck address in the phone book. cuz you know it's late '90s. had the the ladies we were hanging out.

with take us to the tow truck place. they're. closed so we hopped the fence popped the. lock on the place got the keys to my. truck and drove to freaking back to brag. I stole my truck back and it's still. stealing right after PT right freaking I. go tell the Cadre basically what. happened I'm like the one cadra felt. like I trust luckily and he's like get. your ass back to wington and apologize.

to them dudes he's like he's like I. don't care if you need to go down on. that guy get down there and make sure. he's not pressing charges Roger that. drive back to wimington. and um pulled in and the dude was. like cuz I'm driving my truck he just. told me a few hours earlier and uh I was. like Hey sir I just got to tell you I'm. so sorry blah blah blah luckily for me. dude was a former Marine and he was like. bro he's like on one side I want to.

fight you he was older man he's like 60. something he's like on one side he's. like I feel like I owe you an ass. whooping but on the other side I kind of. want to shake your hand he's like he's. like man that's that's just kind of cool. he's like cuz I didn't mess anything up. we didn't break into his place you know. credit card pop on the on the little. crappy door handle and or door knob and. uh but yeah man he was like right. on get that hell out of here he's like. just get the hell out of here and he let. me go damn dude I mean he could have.

ruined my career yes he could he could. have put me in jail right then and there. and um so we were always into something. you know um just like everybody else in. s one way or the. other L luckily we passed the Q course. and you know the cool thing was um had I. gone to the medic course I'd have missed. the first push in Afghanistan i' still. been in language school so what year did. you what year did you graduate the Q. course 99 99h actually 98 998 yeah so we.

got threeyear time period before 911. yeah did some did a shooting package. cool for I mean I I got out went. straight to our it wasn't saal yet like. our shooting package is called Special. Forces Advanced servan combat and it was. so special operations tactics and they. were creating spartic spartic was. already a thing but that was you know. hostage rescue and really for the direct. action companies you know they needed a. CQB package shooting package for the.

regular Oda so they created this as it. was EV evolving it was so and then it. became saal and it's mostly standardized. and the proponent is you know the unit. um and the unit certifies range 37 or. spartic and then spartic is a proponent. for the rest of the you know regular. white or conventional Special Forces. um so I went to this this course and it. was great never I didn't know anything.

about CQB man we were just shooting all. the time blowing doors up I was like man. this is exactly what I signed up for and. luckily the the the team that was. running that package liked me and. brought me over and brought me on as an. instructor for the next course even. though I had no real experience um but. not many people did late '90s who had. combat experience some unit guys and. some Rangers from. Mishu so they let me as a baby help. teach and I was AI I was I wasn't really.

teaching anything I was just kind of. there helping and then it evolved and I. went to that Oda and I got lucky like. again that's kind of a I keep getting. lucky my warrant was definitely a um. like an ASO guy like love The Source. operation stuff um and so he hooked. myself and my echo up with this program. with fifth. group and fifth group and 10th group. were based on it but it was a red cell.

against the in Triple C nuclear command. and control do you want to explain Red. Cell to the audience yeah yeah so red. cell is basically like. where like in this case we play the bad. guys and we were trying to infiltrate. and interdict you know National Assets. and this that type of program is is all. over the place you know and it's. typically they'll they'll use Special. Operations I know seals have played this. uh in this same um.

program and basically we had to play the. role of. terrorists or and or like Russian. infiltrators and the goal was to cause a. couple of second hiccup in our nuclear. defense and that was all it would take. for Russia to win a few seconds. so it was a pretty amazing thing uh. pretty amazing program eye.

opening it got me a TS clearance as an. E6 baby SF guy and that was huge back. then TS clearances were team sergeants. and team leaders only nowadays more guys. on the team seniors will have them etc. etc but back then E6 with a TS clearance. that was that was a big deal yeah and uh. and it was like 6. months uh that we were following.

surveilling chasing these assets and it. was worldwide and I didn't even know. this till we were. done for 6 months I didn't see any of my. teammates I didn't know them they were. from uh only only dead drops only few. text messages but mostly communicating. through dead drops old school tradecraft. old school tradecraft so the first month. was like a school. uh put on by ASO guys at fifth group to. get us tuned up and ready for it I had.

no idea about tradecraft right uh so it. was eye opening and the reason I think. that you know they like me and and. they you know I didn't look like an SF. guy I was still a skinny little Runner. kid you know and I was so young that I. no one ever would have ever Peg me as an. SF guy back then and um you know of. course it was a project team so you know. relax grooming standards and all that so. we could you know I just went back to. playing a part always knew you know.

bought some cheap camouflage from uh. Walmart went back to being a redneck you. know and my cover was solidified but I'm. talking about chasing these assets all. over the country um there were days. where I thought I would like got. compromised by their security guys and I. would just leave the rental car freaking. call the rental company hey the car. broke down and I'd go get another one. two or three rental cars a day and I. mean. doing things to gain access to military. bases that you know no ID card we had to.

get out of jail fre car when we got. arrested or rolled up by MPS or. something uh but it was an amazing. program eye opening I had no idea how. the nuclear command and control worked. and it was eye opening and all the. different assets and planes and trains. and trucks and things uh in this. hierarchy that if our we did go to. nuclear war with Russia how it worked. and even still it was very. compartmentalized so what I learned was. only a portion of the big picture but it.

was amazing like I said didn't know my. teammates I finally met them on the. morning of. 911 we were playing red sale against. National. Assets the day we were attacked. so even more funny it was also the. day we were supposed to inter. interdict so my target was an Air Force. General all I had to do was take a.

picture of him inside a 400 m and it. would have counted as a sniper. shot and I had followed them I had. actually lost them and I was oh my God I. was the only one on my team that had. followed them out of. like Missouri into. Nebraska what is it off at air off at. Air Force Base. followed him lost him there and I just. kind of camped out I got a hotel room. and you know pretty much just stayed up.

for three days watching the gate and all. of a sudden the Convoy left I was like. sweet got him and another time I lost. him and in the middle of nowhere. Flatlands like Nebraska or Oklahoma and. I was just like sitting on top of a like. an off ramp so I Could See For Miles and. I was just sitting there I was like man. damn it I'm GNA have to let him know I. lost him and I went dude like 50 Mi away. I see this truck Convoy in the middle of. the night and these aren't like black. trucks these are regular trucks you know.

any but I could see them and I was like. looked at my map cuz there was no Google. Maps get my maps out and I start looking. and I'm. like National Guard. base on the road there on I just went. waiting and so we got the orders that. hey we're going to interdict um on. Saturday morning. or whatever Saturday 9:11 and uh I like. okay well how am I going to get close to.

this. dude I crawled on my belly through the. concrete little drainage ditch thingy. like all night long trying to be all you. know sniper crawl on your belly and sure. enough man the sun comes up I'm watching. I get a glance of the general as he. moved from where he was staying to their. little command post or. whatever and all all of a sudden man. like everything started changing they. got. busy and I'm like what's going on and I.

get a my little flip phone vibrates and. it was. like um abort abort abort move to such. and such Motel ivoo. whatever I text back I am not. compromised I'm good to go text message. said I say again abort immediately do. nothing else but come to this. place do not make me like the the.

warrant that was in charge it was him. and he was like do not make me tell you. anything else again I'm like I'm. thinking I'm up you know I'm like. what' I do like I you do anything wrong. they don't know I'm here but as I'm. watching them in the Marines they had. like a I don't know maybe two or three. Squad Detachment of Marines and all of a. sudden they got magazines in their. M16s The Raven uh um Air Force Security. guys they're doing patrols now and. I'm in the freaking grass.

dude you know freaking wearing real tree. camouflage and pair of jeans from. Walmart like I'm not glied out nothing. like that dude like I'm not even taking. it that serious I got to get out of jail. free card no dude they got live of ammo. in their now because 9911 had just. happened and you don't even realize I. have no. clue so what took me like 5 hours of. crawling took me only about an hour I. was all scuffed up from crawling on that. little concrete and stuff and get out. and go get in the rental car and haul.

ass back and dude I there's this like. roadside little 1960s 50s one-story. Motel you know and there's like 40. rental cars in the parking. lot I'm like what the what in the hell I. pull up there's the chief he's like the. program manager or whatever he's like. come on Roger that get in there dude and. this hotel room is packed full of people. clearly some are operators there's.

females there's like what in the hell is. all this dude talking about. compartmentalization I had been working. with a four-person cell for 6 months and. never met them unbeknown to me this. entire 30 some people had been on that. Target the whole time wow so we want to. talk about redundancy was amazing what a. what cool program learned a lot like I. said and they on the TV is the towers. man it's like and they're like yeah man. we're under attack and I'm just.

like the Marines would have killed me. yeah or at a minimum beat my ass really. well yeah you know who knows what jail. I'd have been put in until they finally. found my call Colonel such and. such so it was pretty spooky man kind of. a cool story of how 911 happened and it. was like okay what do we do now flights. are canceled we've got unit guys that. need get to brag we've got 10th group. guys that need to get to Colorado fifth. group guys to get back here what are we. doing some people get in their cars.

start headed to brag um the. asset right clearly they all made. contact and said hey we're the people. who have been on. you um we are all still here and. available to help if you need it and the. colonel basically said hey we are in. route to um you know the Cheyenne. facility in Colorado. could you escort us we're like yep so we. all or most of us went to um Colorado.

and then they c17s came and got us took. us all back to wherever we needed to go. and um so I'm back. at Campbell with the fifth group guys. and they're like what do you want to. do I'm like what do you mean I'm. like we're going to Afghanistan what do. you want to do and I was like I want to. go with y'all you know and again lucky. for. me how it all played out exactly not. 100% sure but my company Charlie Company.

second and 19 special forces we were. aligned with fifth group so Arabic. speakers all that stuff dude they didn't. just take me they took my whole. company so we were the luckiest National. Guards on guys on the planet we got to. go to Afghanistan on the initial. push no yeah yeah and so we my team. was lucky to be one of the first of our. compies to to get to go and play we W up. in galal Abad and um so actually galal.

Abad and ' 01 and uh and after Tor Bora. early 02 they loved. us there was no fob at the Airfield. right a lot of guys when they think. jalad they think that big fob we had a. safe house Us in the ground Branch guys. what so this is this is 01 yeah yeah. damn yeah it was real cool children yeah. we were children every time we had to. resupply at the Airfield we had to go. clear the Airfield make sure there was.

nothing on the Strip you know so it. could land all that stuff it was not a. secured Airfield we lived two miles away. in a house you know and um Hazard Ali. was the warlord Zaman was the warlord. that the agency picked to be the warlord. of that area but Zaman had been in. Britain for 10 years he was not a real. will post you leader but he spoke. English so the agency made a bad call. and said oh he's going to be our guy.

well H's. like yeah but I live here and I'm in. charge and he's got a 100 people for his. army and I've got. 8,000 who do you want to play with so. you know in Tor Bor they got a. fight and while they were fighting with. each other this when B Ben Len escaped. no yep I didn't know that yeah and. it it was it was pretty bad cuz you're. talking about like guys on the same. team now looking at each other and these. two you know some guys are over here.

with Zaman guys and some guys are with. these guys and those guys are fighting. each other and we're all like whoa what. the you know but yeah that's how that's. because they were fighting with each. other we had to stop fighting in toror. and killing all the iada people that. were there and B lad got. out yeah I had no idea yeah yeah sucked. and like. we knew everybody knew everybody knew. he' left like a helicopter left T Bora.

dude who would be on that yeah and then. after all the damage assessments and the. DNA and all that stuff taken out of. there nope he wasn't there and of course. they found him a few years later hanging. out over in Pakistan yeah well on that. note let's take a quick break cool and. then when we come back we'll we'll pick. right back up with that diploma.

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vigilance Elite or just go in the link. in the description it'll take you right. there and if you don't want to and you. just want to continue to watch the show. that's fine too I appreciate it either. way love you all let's get back to the. show thank. you like I said I know I've said it how. many times already I got lucky I got. lucky I did it was just one cool thing. after another with my career that just.

kept putting me in cool. places. and into my first Afghanistan tour it. was kind of screwed up. because fifth group was in a hurry to. get home cuz they thought we all thought. we were going to the Horn of Africa. right the war on terror Iraq wasn't on. anyone's. radar and so third group comes in there. was a brief moment where the 82nd. Airborne 18th Airborne Corp was in. charge and of course they were everybody.

has to get in uniform and we were like I. guess you guys are going to have to come. to Jal alabad and make us oh by the way. you can't land here unless we go clear. the Airfield so off with that you know. so we're going to continue to wear our. cut off DCU and wear our beards and be. weird SF dudes running around dressed. like afghanis and doing whatever we. want and uh so then third group comes in. and they took over start ripping teams. out and um. um for whatever reason they wouldn't let.

us go home so the fob the main fob was. still up in K2 uh Cari kabad in. usbekistan so they hadn't really moved. all operations to Kandahar and and bogam. at that time uh. and so wound up back up there and my. company Commander I'm like well screw it. send me back I I'll go helping other. team send me back to down with my buds. that are in aabad you know like I don't.

want to sit up here and do nothing yeah. and I was getting ready to go do that. and luckily my company Commander he's. like hey I got an assignment for you. you're going to Tash Kent you're going. to be the assistant assistant LNO for CJ. soda I'm like I don't know what any of. that means but sounds cool Tash K heard. it's amazing City where is that uh so. it's the capital of usbekistan man okay. um we may or may not have named it Tash.

Kitty I'm young I'm. single so I was supposed to I was. supposed to go help the El cuz now I'm. the assistant Len well I get there he is. a 10th group guy born and raised in. Ukraine came to the states when he was. like 14 so speaks fluent Russian 10th. group guy retires go to work for like. the organized crime task force uh in. Miami. day working Russian crime.

syndicates this dude isn't much less of. a criminal than probably most of the. people but they had stop lost him they. brought him back in for his language. skills and his cultural skills and all. that this dude was friends with everyone. I mean the president's daughter uh she. had a cool nightclub so we went there um. pretty much every night and you know my. Duty station was in theory supposed to. be the embassy dude I went to the. Embassy one time got my badge and left.

and then VI uh I should probably I just. leave his name out right uh the LNO it's. time for him to go home on leave and. he's like all right so just be cool if. you get in any trouble you get arrested. call these numbers freaking I'll be back. in 30 days I'm like. Roger it was like $250 a day per DM and. I spent every dime of it every dime of. it and you're talking about a beer cost. 20 cent yeah we uh I mean I've been in. Afghanistan at this point for 7 months.

the only women I had seen were you know. wearing burkas except for hazar Ali's. grandma and let me tell you an. 85-year-old Afghani woman is not a lot. to look. at uh so I find myself and this is the. silk trade route right so every flavor. of extremely attractive woman is in this. town. Asian descent blue-eyed you know. blond-haired Russian girls and.

then the. freaks the blackhaired. blue-eyed whatever they were um. interesting interesting. people um I was just young dumb and like. I said somehow in a place where you. could pretty much live for $1,000 a. month I was blowing $250 a day um I. didn't make anything off that trip but. uh I couldn't go to breakfast without.

getting picked up you know they were. like you're. American duh you know and uh I mean. baseball cap you know and I always say. it's probably the closest thing I'll. ever know is being David Lee. Roth and it ruined me you know what I. mean like you can never go back to that. unless you go back. there uh so anyway um that was kind of. cool how long were you there for uh like.

42 days how'd they get you out of there. well it's was like okay we're going home. so ho the flight back down to K2 and. basically my company Commander looked at. all of us and said okay we've got no. real exit plan but fifth group says we. can go or third group says we can go. home and he's. like last one hes a rotten. egg and literally dudes got up and like. started. running and so me and my buddy Charlie. uh Charlie Withers and we used to call.

nickname Charlie we would call him uh. drunken Charlie. Withers you know you got to drink a lot. to earn that name In This Crowd right. but Charlie was a Charlie was a stud man. is a stud uh he was my senior Charlie. and um learned a lot from him man he was. just a an even killed dude you know with. a good perspective and numerous times. he'd be like come here you know. he was a West Virginia boy and then guys. well he was a yeah originally from West. Virginia but had been a third group guy. got out went to National Guard always.

with a dip in sometimes with a cigarette. and a dip he'd chew my ass he' like hey. come here but like in that Wise Way and. even though he wouldn't he wouldn't like. he was very old early 30s but I was a. baby he they all seemed old to me and um. hey hey come here you know I was lucky. to have him and a couple other dudes. that you know were like hey bro come. here you know don't do that again know. uh nothing crazy or anything just you.

know it's just Young and Wild and then. the whole bunch was too you know like. hey you know got this left and right. limits stay away from them just keep it. in the middle you're going to have fun. we're going to have a good time none of. us will get in. trouble so I was lucky to have those. guys man and you know so yeah me and. Charlie start figuring our way how to. get home we're jumping plane to plane. and we fly to German and we get on. another plane and we wound up Landing in. at do Air Force Base like somehow or. another hitched a ride on a on.

um um was a C5 Galaxy with the seats. that face backwards uh the thing before. the c17s yeah and uh got. home. and I never forget from there we hopped. on um civilian planes to our home of. record I'm back to the unit just at this. point man we're just doing whatever you. want and you know the orders back then. were for the gwatt but our orders were.

the original program right with the code. word on it you know the the cover word. for it which a lot of people don't know. the initial code word for the hunt for. bin Laden um it's Declassified now is or. was El. hunt I didn't know that El hunt I don't. know many people that do it just. happened to be it was like the initial. code word early on. for the hunt for him it was that was his. code word no I did not know that. yeah it was kind of kind of cool or.

whatever and our orders we could do you. had a beard and those orders you could. do whatever you want you get on any. airplane any. helicopter uh help at one point in my. trip to Afghanistan myself and my Ekko. flew to Bam for him to get crypto and me. to get. money I'm looking at the flights out of. B back to J alad and it's only hilos bad. weather we can't get in we're like okay. but what. if fix Wing what if we fly to inli.

Turkey and then from Turkey back to K2. and then we get on the C130 that flies. to the alot each week to resupply us. holy we don't tell nobody we went. to Turkey and partied for 4 days awall. as. partied so we get yeah like I said. you had those orders in a beard you. could do whatever you want so we got a. full battle rattle right and back then. you wearing those big like LBVS and.

stuff you know and a bunch of mags and. bunch of frags and pdms um did you ever. mess with those things the old Pursuit. deterrent munition no it was this. little triangular freaking thing you. pulled it and like six or eight wires. popped out of it and if you trip those. wires the way it was designed it had. explosive charge in the middle in a c in. a sphere and a propellant so no matter. which way it landed on the ground when. it ignited that propellant would kick it. up in the air boom and go off Like A.

Bouncing Betty and it wasn't. catastrophic less um comp B than a frag. grenade so not. okay but still yeah to the Air Force. guys in in that we were just dumping our. stuff on you know and saying hey we're. going to lock this in your stuff we'll. be back in a couple of days they're like. what wait what who are y'all what is. this stuff what is this thing I'm like. be care with that they're stable as hell. and they're like whoa just lock it up. guys we'll be back and they're like yes. sir you know we're just perf a fraud.

like we're you know important people and. but they don't know and uh so sure. enough they're like you know the the. base was locked down couldn't leave the. base we went to the gate walked right. through the the main checkpoint this is. a pretty big secure gate with MPS. everywhere and they're like hey guys you. can't leave post I'm like yes we can and. they're like. okay we went to the Mediterranean and. partied for four days and I mean partied.

uh I'm pretty sure that's probably the. only time in my life I was like had a. decent level of alcohol poisoning it was. pretty bad um so we get back to inter to. the base and sure enough bump into a guy. from our company from the B Team the. command. team and he's like Fu are y'all doing. here and we're like you doing here. he's he's a master sh we're two. e6s and he's like no seriously guys.

don't tell anybody who saw me. [Applause]. either no seriously don't tell anybody. you're like Roger and uh so man I didn't. tell anybody about us doing that for. probably 10 years we kept it that kind. of secret like cuz you know what I mean. like it went like any we could have. gotten in some trouble probably nothing. big we didn't. we weren't really AWOL right no one told. us we couldn't do it.

but it was kind of like we kind of. screwed our team we're in the med. partying having a great time and they're. in galaban you know and it was only four. total days I think we only partied for. two nights uh maybe three nights. whatever it was and um we get back like. I said we ran into that guy his name was. Mike and Mike was like don't tell. anybody so we get back and we did we. finished our route flew in on the 130. and never told the team so we kind of. were you know what I mean like we kind.

of were screwing in the. team you know but at the same time. everyone on that team would have been. like good for y'all man now tell us how. you did it you know if we had told. anybody there would have been all kinds. of dudes going awall into Inter Lake you. know but yeah you know we get home and. um I never forget that uh. Charlie had um pen flares in his. backpack and the Air Force didn't care. but when we got to the airport in um was.

it BWI Baltimore uh he gets rolled up. for those pin. flares a whole strip of them and uh I'm. like waving at him as I go get on the. plane to North Carolina good luck bro. remember what he said last one home's. rotten egg yeah I get home at like. finally like at midnight and the girl I. was dating at the time like she wasn't. home she was had gone and was staying. with her mom or whatever I'm like it's. midnight what am I going to do you know. so I like slept in my truck I was like.

no one knows I'm home no cool guy. welcome I don't know where the rest of. my team or company is and I'm at my home. of record in North Carolina I was just. like whatever man but that's that's. National Guard yeah right like. National Guard SF is just so different. and Lord. knows it was it was quite the trip. of course you know uh Iraq is now up on. the pipe and everyone's I mean. everyone's a little confused about like.

wait a second I thought we were going to. Somalia what about Yemen where the. terrorists are at mhm like no Iraq. weapons of mass. destruction and we all knew better man. did you know better back then for sure. and and I. think I think it really boiled down to. the fact that no one was infilling with. mop. gear like conventional forces even. Ranger regiment all infill with their. mop gear they're for folks who don't.

know M gears they're Kim bio suits gas. masks and all that. stuff but there it it was pretty darn. clear there was no weapons of mass. destruction I mean they had like some. old canisters of mustard gas well you. know how you defeat mustard gas when it. goes off. move it just settles uh which way is. wind blowing go the opposite direction. that's mustard gas right in the desert. is not effective uh now you know. obviously it would suck in buildings or.

something like that but it just didn't. exist so I mean like we went to war with. Iraq man I had I mean I was young I was. 19 just just maybe 20 just getting into. the team and uh I had no idea I was all. about it oh I was still all about it. even though because they were bad people. Saddam was a horrible person and I. didn't understand geopolitics at all at. the time and how topping a dictator. right dictators are predictable they.

care about their power. so they're predictable they're not. horrible enemies I mean if they go I. guess slaughtering their own people and. stuff yeah step in and hey stop doing. that you know which we did right of. course after the first golf War we left. the Kurds you know to him brutalizing. them which was I mean that's just kind. of our Mo right. mhm which kind of sucks but um and they. still don't trust us you I worked and. lived with the.

Kurds for almost 15. years love and trust me do not trust our. government and they would say hey man. there's a reason why we're. not against Iranians they're Are Persian. brothers and when y'all leave they'll be. our only friends here yep you know so. yeah Iraq and all that and then my um. second trip to Afghanistan and one of. our afghanis oh back up one the cool. things we did in Afghanistan was stood. up the murf mobile reaction force it was.

all CIA sanctioned all the lethal Aid. came from them um and we stood them up. company sized but it was I think it's. just three. platoon and um the. murf evolved into the Commandos so. that's kind of cool you know if I had to. look back and what are notable things in. your past career like the Commandos. every saw every SF marot guy worked with. the Commandos you guys stood this up we. stood up the M that is pretty amazing. kind of cool yeah um like I said it was.

I'm sure my teams aren't and warrant and. the agency guys you know. all conspired to to create this thing. with no idea that it would evolve into. the Commandos well why don't why don't. you elaborate on exactly what those. Commandos did cuz nobody there's not. very many people listening that'll put. this together so the the Commandos were. The Afghani Special Forces. but not not just like their National.

Police Special Forces the Commandos were. the guys were a lot like our Ranger. regiment you know the shock troopers um. you know going out going after targets. going after the the high value targets. and for folks who don't know when we say. Target in that context individuals. people of course there are Target. compounds and then there are individuals. that are Target so hvis I think we. started calling them what high. individuals instead of high value. targets so you know they would go after. individuals and those are the same dudes. that.

like I after my second trip to. Afghanistan I didn't go back I stayed in. Iraq and you know um Yemen a Africa. Etc so pardon. me for all the other like third group. guys a lot of seventh group guys who. were the Afghanistan teams you know they. lived and work with those Commandos so. when we pulled out of Afghanistan you. know those Commandos were were. surrounded in their bases and.

systematically eradicated by telean they. were these are the people that we. abandoned that were shot in the back of. the head like dogs when we left stood up. stood lined up 20 years working for us. with us alongside us yeah and we just. left them and you know there there were. guys that went back there were guys that. left went awall go back to Afghanistan. to help and. and you know I was with a seventh group. buddy of mine when one of his old guys. called him begging for help begging and.

you guys are coming. right I mean he held it together until. he got off the phone he just started. crying you know these are dudes that he. had worked with on like five deployments. and brothers you. know it's. no matter what your stance on. the war was or whether or not right like. on our level it's Brotherhood you know.

and I try to separate that type of. connection and feeling and that cor of. thing with the overall big picture and. an understanding and you know there's. understanding and there's acceptance. there two very different things like I. understand why the United States. government does so many of the things it. does but I also have a good. understanding that it ain't right and we. can do better we need to do better you. know we act like we're this Beacon of. freedom and then we do what we did to. the afghanis yeah you know like what we.

did to the Kurds like what we to the. monards like what we did to the South. Vietnamese etc etc our last successful. War if you want to call it a success was. in Korea bro you know I guess may do you. think bad guys just honest question and. I I think a lot about this lately I. think there are a lot of bad people in. our government. if you look at this from a you know. whatever a 60,000 ft view I know I know.

and you look at the world and you look. at all the that the US has. intervened in and now you know the with. the with the way the internet yeah and. the in the in the the access to. information we have it's starting to. paint another picture and I think you. know for the longest time we stuck our. nose in places that we needed to right. there is some. responsibility that goes along with. being a world superpower right one of.

the greatest examples of that would be. Alexander he didn't enslave he. subjugated and supported and won the. hearts and. Minds right yeah we don't do that right. I mean and let's go to the opposite side. Iraq let's say we were pumping the oil. out of at right now as fast as we could. pump it out we're paying a dollar a. gallon at the pumps at least then we. could say hey we're an imperial power on.

a conquest and we won the stuff it's. ours worth taking it yeah I could. respect that it's not what we did we. shut their old production down so prices. would go. up and all the oil folks BP British. Petroleum Exxon name them they all got. rich really rich because we turned their. oil. off and a lot of folks don't realize. this right like Iraq and. Iran and China and Russia in that time.

frame we're already talking about. replacing the dollar as the the standard. for trading oil and creating a a Petro. dollar making the dollar obsolete in. that world and so there are a lot of. folks that say that's why we went there. of course I think General Wesley Clark. did an interview in like. 2007 maybe eight whatever if you go. YouTube search General Wesley. Clark Seven Nation War I think we'll get.

you the YouTube right after 911 about 10. days after 911 I went through the. Pentagon and I saw secretary Rumsfeld. and and deputy secretary wol witz I went. downstairs just to say hello to some of. the people on The Joint staff who used. used to work for me and one of the. generals called me in he said sir you. got to come in you got to come in and. talk to me a second I said well you're. too busy he said no no he says we've. made the decision we're going to war. with Iraq this was on her about the 20th. of September I said we're going to war.

with Iraq. why he said I don't. know he said I guess they don't know. what else to. do so uh I said well did they find some. information colle connecting Saddam to. al- Qaeda he said no no he says there's. nothing new that way they just made the. decision to go to war with Iraq. he said I guess it's like we don't know. what to do about terrorists but we've. got a good military and we can take down. governments and um he said I guess if.

the only two you have is a hammer every. problem has to look like a. nail so I came back to see him a few. weeks later and by that time we were. bombing in Afghanistan I said are we. still going to war with Iraq and he said. oh it's worse than that he said he. reached over on his desk he picked up a. piece of paper and he said I just he. said I just got this down from upstairs. meeting the secretary of defense office. today and he said this is a memo that. describes how we're going to take out. seven countries in 5 years starting with.

Iraq and then Syria Lebanon Libya. Somalia Sudan and finishing off. Iran I said is it classified he said yes. sir I. said I said well don't show it to. me and I saw him a year or so ago and I. said you remember that he said sir I. didn't show you that memo I didn't it to. you I'm sorry what did you say his name. was I'm not going to give you his name.

so go through the countries again well. starting with Iraq then Syria and. Lebanon then Libya then Somalia and. Sudan and then back to Iran so when you. look at Iran you say is it a replay it's. not exactly a replay but here's the. truth that Iran from the beginning has. seen that the presence of the United. States in Iraq was a threat a blessing. because we took out Saddam Hussein and. the bists they couldn't handle them we. could took care of it for them but also. a threat because they knew that they.

were next on The Hit List and so of. course they got engaged they lost a. million people during the war with. Iraq and they've got a long and. unprotectable unsecured border so it was. in their vital interest to be deeply. involved inside. Iraq um they tolerated our attacks on.

the Bas they were happy we captured. Saddam Hussein but they're building up. their own network of influence and to. cement it they occasionally give some. military assistance and training and. advice either directly or indirectly to. both the insurgents and to the militias. and in that sense it's not exactly. parallel because there has been I. believe continuous Iranian. engagement some of it legitimate some of.

it illegitimate I mean you can hardly. fault Iran because they're offering to. do eye operations for Iraqis who need. medical attention that's not an offense. that you can go to war over perhaps but. it is an effort to gain influence and. the Administration has stubbornly. refused to talk with Iran about their. perception um in part because they don't. want to pay the price with their. domestic our us domestic political base.

the right right-wing base but also. because they don't want to legitimate a. government that they've been trying to. overthrow if you were Iran you'd. probably believe that you were mostly. already at war with the United States. anyway since we've asserted that their. government needs regime change so uh and. we've asked Congress to appropriate $75. million to do it and we are supporting. terrorist groups apparently who are. infiltrating and blowing up things.

inside Iraq Iran and if we're not doing. it let's put it this way we're probably. cognizant of it and encouraging it so. it's not surprising that we're moving to. a point of Confrontation crisis with. Iran my point on this is not that the. Iranians are good guys they're not but. that you shouldn't use Force except as a. last last Last Resort there is a. military option but it's a bad one I.

wanted to get your response to Seymour. her's piece in the New Yorker to two key. points um this week reporting the. pentagon's established a special. Planning Group within the office of the. joint chiefa staff to plan a b bombing. attack on Iran um. that this is coming as the Bush. Administration and Saudi Arabia are. pumping money for covert operations into. many areas of the Middle East including. Lebanon Syria and Iran in an effort to. strengthen Saudi supported Sunni Islam.

groups and weaken Iranian back Shia some. of the covert money has been given to. jihadist groups in Lebanon with ties to. Al-Qaeda fighting the Shia by funding. with Prince bandar um and then with us. money not approved by Congress funding. the sunnis connected to. well I don't have any direct information. to confirm it or deny it it's certainly. plausible the Saudis have taken a more. active role you know the the Saudis um.

you were just in Saudi Arabia you just. came back from Saudi well the Saudis. have basically recognized that they have. an enormous stake in the outcome in Iraq. and they don't particularly trust the. Judgment of the United States in this. area we haven't exactly proved our. competence in Iraq so um they're trying. to take matters into their own hands the. real danger is and one of the reasons. this is so complicated is because let's. say we did follow the the desires of.

some people who say just pull out and. pull out now well yeah we we could. mechanically do that it would be ugly. and it might take three or four months. but you could line up the battalions on. the road one by one and you could put. the Gunners and the Humvees and. load and their weapons and shoot. their way out of Iraq you'd have a few. roadside bombs but if you line everybody. up there won't be any roadside bombs.

maybe some sniping you can fly. helicopters over do your air cover you. probably get safely out of there. but when you. leave the Saudis have got to find. someone to fight the. Shia who they going to find al- Qaeda. because the groups of sunnis who were. would be extremist and willing to fight. would probably be the groups connected. to al- Qaeda so one of the.

weird inconsistencies in this is that. were we to get out early we'd be. intensifying the threat against us of a. super powerful Sunni extremist Group. which was Now legitimated by overt Saudi. funding in an effort to hang on to a a. tow hold inside Iraq and block Iranian. expansionism well Wesley Clark talks. about how he's walking through the. Pentagon bumps into a general friend of. his I think he was a colonel at the time.

like Hey we're going to Iraq he's like. what what do you mean we're going to. Iraq yep pow of be said we're going to. Iraq and there's a whole list of. countries that we're going to top in the. next couple. years Iraq. Libya they're on the list and that. interview we didn't go to Iraq. there's no doubt in my mind we did not. go to Iraq for good reasons yeah we went. to Iraq I think partly for a bush.

Vendetta but like I. said hopefully viewers don't crucify me. for saying this but if you took that. 60,000 foot. View and you removed the photographs and. the names from the behaviors of George W. bush and Vladimir Putin. who's who's the war criminal I mean. maybe both of them but George Bush fits. that profile. man and I mean oh a lot of civilians.

killed in Iraq a lot of US military. members a lot of Iraqi military members. a lot of terrorists who killed the. out of a bunch of Bad Dudes which is. probably a righteous. thing but I mean we fued up Iraq for the. next hundred years. now and some people say but we got rid. of a dictator I'm like you know what and. again these are all my perceptions based. off of experiences and one of the.

experiences I had one day I was in D. hook arat which you know is a nice city. and there's a lot of money there spent a. lot of time there yeah and we're at um. that Lebanese hotel or the it was a. Lebanese owned hotel in Lebanese. restaurant and bar we're just sitting. there and these two huge mofos walk in. I'm talking to of the the biggest dudes. I'd ever seen I was. like you know white dudes they sit down. at the bar next to. us what's up maid or whatever they said.

and I'm like I didn't pick up the accent. like hey how's it going we start. chatting where you guys from oh South. African okay he's like us us yeah well. come to find out bro these dudes so. South Africa if you go do contract work. and you're person NR back in that. country you lose your citizenship to go. do. what they consider to be mercenary work. and these guys were both um South. African SAS types but they were Rook be. players that's why they were so huge I.

mean both these dudes were. 6'4 280 lbs just monsters they rugby. guys but um we start talking and they're. like yeah you guys totally Fu this place. up and they're like what he's like yeah. he's like we've lived here since 97 or. whatever they've been there for like 5. years and. they're like this place was awesome. Baghdad was the coolest place in the. Middle East we're like what and they're. like yeah everybody thought Dubai was.

cool nowhere near it Iraq. Baghdad all the hookers and blow you. ever wanted freaking it was awesome. nlife is better than Vegas and I was. like what are you talking. about well no one ever told us how. Iraqis live daily they weren't a Muslim. extremists right they were very secular. right the government was not an Islamic. State and the people practiced numerous. different religions Christians were free.

zis were free right yeah there was some. scuffle between Sunni and and Shia. because of you know Saddam being you. know his. background and I remember having that. conversation and that was like the first. time I was like. huh huh so you mean to tell me Iraq was. much different than what the news media. had told us it wasn't like anyone from. Fox News or CNN or MSNBC ever went and. visited Baghdad to get the. scoop but yeah these dudes were mad at.

us for ruining their. Iraq damn it's spooky man but as far as. us being a bad. guy in many cases and from many people's. perspectives I mean there were there. were there were Christians being. persecuted from what I understand. certainly you know and I mean even into. hook I went to one of the sites and I've. had uh I had a in-depth discussion with. this guy Chris vanz uh about it and um.

but I mean looking at everything that. encompassed it I mean also there's the. KBR thing with. chy yeah man people got Mega rich off. that war yeah they did. and that's okay and the reason that's. okay is that's been the number one. reason for going for war since the. beginning of time there has never been. not ever not a single day in human. history that we haven't been at war with.

each other there's never been a time. where there was peace on Earth ever. there's always been someone fighting. someone. yeah and it's always been over the. expansion you know spools of war and I'm. okay with that like I said if we were. pumping Iraq dry right now I'd be like. yeah all right well at least it makes. sense that we're now an imperial power. that you know takes things at least it. would have paid for the war that's not.

what happened you know like I said so. many people got Mega rich and it and I. was a contractor you know I I made good. money I was part of the problem too or. at least I was part of. the machine. MH yeah man I don't know that we are. the beacon of freedom and hope that we. once. were and I mean let's face it the people. who are running this country are just a. bunch of spineless puppets yeah you know.

I don't care if you're Republican or. Democrat there aren't but about three. dudes on Capitol Hill that I think uh. you. know are doing things for the right. reasons and it I'm concerned for them. because they're new and that. place I mean they're they're outnumbered. right like Eli. I Eli must feel completely alone up. there you know because he's like the. only good dude you know I mean don't get.

me wrong um Dan Bishop from North. Carolina votes very conservative and and. I like him a lot but he compromised and. voted for McCarthy for. speaker McCarthy is a Californian bro. right and a career politician he's not a. conservative he is an opportunist mhm. and and until Americans get off their. lazy.

asses and maybe go vote you know uh I. don't know that's going to change but. it's only going to get worse I don't. think it's going to change I I mean 250. years man that is the life expectancy. historically speaking of you know. Democratic republics and con I'm going. to just we're going off on a tangent. here so right let me let me remember. that we are we're in Iraq right now. right but when we go off on I mean when. we talk about when you talk about you.

know trying to wake this population up. it's I mean I'm in. media. and I so being in media have to research. kind of you know what what's working. what trends are I used to look at that. now I don't care I I do what I'm. interested in I'm interested in your. story I'm there's all kinds of things. that I'm interested in I love uncovering. corruption dig it into finding truth and.

all this kind of and I'm I'm. always you know I look. at a show like this you know what I mean. we weed dig into we're talking about. mental health a lot of people what I'm. getting at is a lot of people can't even. comprehend the subjects that we're. talking about here they did they their. mind does doesn't doesn't comp minding. their own business I don't know if it's. I don't know if it's IQ level or what it. is but if you look at like some of the. most viewed content on.

YouTube I can't even imagine when you. look at that gets 100 million views. 50 million views 20 million views I. don't even want to know 10 million views. I don't even want to know it's watch my. watch my wife come from another. country uh review American. Cal 20 million views you watch you watch.

let's let's set up a dating game where. we have a competition where we bring on. a bunch of 16-year-olds to to date this. popular YouTuber. 16-year-old and and let's let's make it. let's make it a reality this is the. Kardashians all this it's this. mindless. I it's that's what get that's what gets. people's attention bubble gum for the. brain you know then you got even the. last election what was it was it 150.

million votes less than half fraction. less than half the population votes and. that was the biggest election of all. time right biggest turnout ever you know. I. I I don't think it's changing and and. you look at the content that consumes. people and you start to. realize you you start to realize how. easy it is to manipulate an entire.

population of 366 million people it's. not much harder than hurting sheep or. goats or or Catt in the 1930s there was. a law passed that the United States. government shall not participate in any. type of misinformation propaganda. campaigns Direct Ed at its. citizens and in. 2012 the Obama Administration and the. freaking Congress that sat then repealed.

it it is. legal for the agency the sister agency. the FBI and the rest of them to put out. intentionally misinformation propaganda. to American citizens now and has been. for 10. years when was the last time you heard. any Cong Congress. person they didn't fuss about it back. then they're not fussing about it now. just like the Patrick act yeah patri act.

greatest pull of our freedoms in. history signed by Bush to a lot of other. people don't know this there's only two. presidents US histories to suspend the r. of habus. Corpus the right to do. process George W. so he was the one that created the. situation that allowed for locking up. January 6 people with no process George.

Bush did. that the other one even bigger. lie Abraham. Lincoln really oh honest a probably the. most closest thing we ever had to a. Caesar in our entire history he's. suspending the red of habus Corpus now. at least with George W it was directed. at. terrorists it Abraham Lincoln was. locking up political opponents. Representatives Senators Governors if. you had disagree with Lincoln he would. send generals to your house or or. military to your house put you in prison.

where you sat for the rest of the war if. they let you out at the end of the war. Lincoln bro the one of the Republicans. greatest leaders of all time it's a. lie and you know they're like oh he. breed the slaves man there's like 20. different letters that he wrote himself. saying that he wouldn't if he didn't. think it was the only way to win the. war he basically said he was like if I.

didn't have to free the slaves I. wouldn't he's like but this is how we. win this. War I didn't I didn't know that the lad. yeah uh the one of the best letters how. do you know that are you history B yeah. yeah um pretty much anything I watch uh. like YouTube it's always history stuff. like I spent the last couple months. watching thousand years of. Mongol Mongol stuff uh all the wars in.

Europe um you know BC Wars and stuff. that's what I've been interested in. lately but. um you know I never did I. never I didn't care about. politics never cared one bit oh there. was plenty elections I didn't vote in. cuz I was deployed or whatever you know. um and being a military type guy I'm. like hey man I work for the boss and the. boss is who the people elect if that's.

Obama or Biden or whatever that's the. rules man that's what I signed up for so. I kind of just stayed out of politics. until I jumped in face first and it was. just so eye opening dude a lot of this. stuff I learned during that time. period and. um the the the really bad thing is is. how available the truth is. is it's not like you're going to see it. on Fox News that's what I'm saying. though Tony that's. the there's a lot of Truth out there.

it's just nobody takes the time to look. there're too. busy watching yeah foreigners review. American Cal and they're too busy. watching reality shows of 16-year-olds. meet up for a dating game and and that's. just that's just how it is yeah they. were you God you got to give it to the. powers that being and if you want to say. liberals cool but if you think it's just.

liberals behind this whole pandemic and. the push to take. over to to subdue an entire the entire. world's. population right it's not just liberals. it just happened to be because I think. people. forgot the vaccine was actually approved. well Trump was still in office Y and. it's like people forgot that I mean he's. supposed to be the guy that's going to. save us. all I don't believe any one man is going.

to save this country and it's sad that. people are raised a single human being. to almost Godlike status that's scary to. me right that's how Caesar became Caesar. I'm glad you're saying this yeah. um you know I I watch Donald Trump. interfere in elections in the midterm. elections he used his influence to. interfere in elections and in some cases. didn't go very well right he did not. have this big crazy was it the Red Wave.

yeah um cuz he uh endorsed Dr Oz how he. endorsed Dr Greg Murphy the guy I was. running. against. tiny this because Greg Murphy paid him. for the endorsement everybody acts like. Donald Trump oh yeah Donald Trump's. endorsements are not free. oh no not even close to. free how much does it cost to get a paid. endorsement from Donald Trump any idea I. heard 1.6 but do not quote me on that.

don't were you just a couple hundred. thousand shot I was a little shy. that and you. know it's how do you know that I'm uh so. I you know I had friends that that work. for him okay you know uh which was sad. because like you know he Joe Kent Green. B was running out in Washington. state Joe and him he worked for him and. and Trump backed him big.

time um but I I I couldn't really get. looked at uh I didn't have that kind of. money um and I think Trump backed him on. Goodwill I don't I don't think Joe had. to pay Trump. anything um but it was funny if you. watch when. Trump trump never really announced that. he endorsed Greg Murphy Greg Murphy. announced that Trump endorsed him and. when he came to an event it was like. this cold handshake because Greg Murphy.

missed the vote for. impeachment so you know and Trump so you. know he's a loyalty type of guy from. what I understand um but Murphy spoke. out against him and some of the January. 6 stuff and then didn't show up for the. vote for impeachment and all that kind. of stuff so typically speaking you would. be like I I was almost confident that. Trump was going to endorse me um or at. least stay out of it which would have. been my preferred.

um. option but like I said if you watch the. way they interact it was cold it was a. ball and paid for endorsement and it. made a difference made a huge difference. because if Trump says something people. just believe it they love that guy and. I'm not I'm not saying I mean clearly if. you give me a choice I to vote between. him and Biden duh I'm voting for Trump I. think Trump is. mostly you cares about correcting things.

mostly or at least to his the way he. sees. it but I don't know man reelect no. one that's what we should be doing. reelecting no one yeah I don't care. right like if George. Washington was reincarnated shouldn't. re-elect him either yeah you. know these these folks are just standing. in power and they're coming back and. their power just gets more and more and.

and you know we we can talk about like. everything I learned about my in my run. we'll get into that we'll get into that. let's get back to let's get back to Iraq. and then and then we'll get into that. sure yeah yeah man. um so I break my back in Afghanistan. um and I thought my career was over cuz. I had just been going orders to orders. project to project and with the guard I.

was hold on you broke your back in. Afghanistan how didd you break your back. in Afghanistan Afghani. tripped took a couple catch catch-up. steps and bumped into me and knocked me. off the cliff we're kind of we're on a. it was a r a mission and um kind of. little switch back and he it was middle. of night um. he didn't have his nods cuz they're. heavy I don't know that wearing nods. would have helped him but he tripped and. he bumped me so you know I was carrying.

80 100 lbs of gear and went off the. cliff and the ru had just smashed me. freaking it was basically a compression. fracture of L5 and so it split my spine. part of the bone and cut my spinal cord. a little bit not all the. way uh when people say a you know you s. your spinal C and you can't feel your. legs that was not what happened to me. this hurt not a little. bit uh like I said when I was racing.

motocross I broke my femur two ribs my. arm and my collar bone in one crash and. that didn't come close to the pain of. breaking that that freshing that. vertebrae how far how far was that fall. do you think 12 15t not far but enough. to get crushed um you know the put in. perspective the average ceiling is. either 8 or 9 ft in America all right so. fell that. far.

uh in a brace and a. wheelchair ETS date was coming up I. didn't want to file for any disabilities. because my plan was to get healthy and. go back I had a flight packet in I. wanted to fly so I was supposed I. actually already had uh I was waiting on. orders I had been approved I was going. to Warrant course and was going to fly. helicopters I thought my career was over. being young and dumb scared to ruin. opportunities we've all been there right.

you don't want to claim that injury or. whatever I uh in a brace in a wheelchair. they said if you walk with crutches one. day you'll be lucky like your leg your. right leg's always going to. be. okay I think it was like8 months later I. was running a sub Six Mile again nice. now it hurt hurts it still hurts now. it's 05 what almost 20 years later I. have to be careful there's been numerous. times probably five times over that. since then that.

like oh. God and it hurts bad hurts uh last time. it happened I was out back laying the. pron earing a rifle and I went to get up. I was like oh my God crawled to my truck. cuz my phone was in the. truck got myself up in the seat but had. to lay the seat back because sitting up. hurt so. bad well I can't see to drive so I put. the truck in reverse and use the reverse. camera to drive. home oh my go called my buddy to come.

get me cuz I couldn't get out of the. truck he got me out of the truck and. into the door and I mean I pulled the. truck up to the door of my house like I. open the door of the truck and pretty. much there was the floor mat you to wipe. your feet. on he got there 30 minutes later I was. still sitting in the truck he gets me up. gets me out of the truck we got in the. door he shut the door and I and I threw. up from the pain I mean it hurts man um. but I wasn't hearing it you know I mean.

since then I've gone on to do some. pretty pretty cool physical stuff but it. reminds me it'll bite me every now and. then just as a reminder like careful. buddy yeah be careful you know or we'll. put you down gotcha all right I have to. pay attention to it but yeah thought my. career was over so I went ahead and let. my ETF s happened and got out ETS uh. termination of service right just let my. contract with the Army play. out. um I uh initially worked a few months.

for triple canopy and then waiting for. my clearance to go through with uh the. agency in. GRS and um so I did a few trips up there. met some cool people what were you doing. for triple canopy was it State. Department State Department stuff of. course they lost that contract um they. were holding on to two parts of it I. think they had already lost most of it. to. Blackwater um and they were still. holding on to two parts and because I. was a mle guy already I'd already worked.

in Northern Iraq uh W up there on that. team met some really cool dudes actually. became one of the shift. leaders um and then they lost that. contract too and it was like okay but. luckily myself and three guys from that. team had already put in for GRS and um. so it went over there that was with MVM. at time I think what was it blackw and. MVM both what uh time period is this5. okay yeah um oh so you started. Contracting early yeah yeah.

um so did a few trips with. GRS uh sock USA took over from MVM MVM. had a good way of running it like as we. would go in to get gear or whatever like. there was no operator type dudes in the. office it was. like the admin girls and you would go in. and whoever walked in like look through. the resumes you go through them and if.

you oh. definitely no trash can Shredder you. know and that's how JS was stood up you. know at least with the MBM side you know. it was it was self-correcting you know. it like oh all it took was one dude to. say this dude was a POS and he ain't. getting hired you know so GRS in the. beginning was hitters you know like I. was surrounded by studs you know Delta. guys freaking Dev group dudes I was like.

whoa I am you know low on this totem. pole and then it didn't take long before. a lot of those D were rotating out to. cooler better stuff GB sad and then then. um he there were some cool high pan jobs. like was it seic or us. uh they the guys who took the um like. the National Police and all that um you. know there were some good those jobs. were paying good and they were out not.

just doing Protection work they were out. you know advising try advise assist so a. lot of those you know initial super. studs went to those. projects and um so then that that sock. took over or won the contract out from. underneath MVM we were in country when. it happened so it was like the MVM. people people showed up took our gear. one day we're like we know we we kind of. need body armor we're in Iraq we need. your guns too I'm like wait a second.

Next Day sock rolls up with all new body. armor and guns and stuff it was like. what is going on you know this is so. weird but it was the way it handled and. it went pretty Flawless. um but. sock the people sock put in charge like. MBM had had these these administrative. females they knew they didn't know a. damn thing about what we were doing and. they were cool with it so they would. take our advice so put in these freaking.

dudes who were not. qualified who were not qualified to. manage soft. dudes or or a project that soft dudes. were running and some of those dudes are. still running that program from what I. understand are still involved in that. program. um I would is outspoken you know kind of. a I don't know borderline arrogant you. know but at this point man you know.

you're talking like 0708 now um got lots. of trips quite a few. fights um my attitude was I'm not. getting killed because y'all are stupid. right and so I had no problem voicing my. opinions and I was a quote unquote. senior guy at this point right I've been. a contract to for a long time or a few. years years at least in mosul most of. the time so we weren't running green. zone you know we were getting we were. getting chewed up here and there.

um anyway I bum can you go through some. of that oh yeah man one of the coolest. ones cuz you always you know I I like. telling people the dumb funny yeah. that happened to me all right like one. time I was run into a target fast as I. could I want to be number one man trip. fell and breached the door with my face. am I not right just you know fast as I. could go I'm a young stud trip fell. wound up in the foyer of this building. with my nods sideways my helmet all.

choking me out and my buds run by and. they like get up dude you know all right. I'll get up now breach her up um but. yeah I was sitting in traffic one. morning uh getting ready to cross over. Bridge one the northern most Bridge. high-rise bridge uh in. mosul traffic's thick we can't get. anywhere and I'm like. you know talking to the helicopters. we've got the uh the old kaiowas. supporting us on our way out we're. headed I think we're going to the hook. maybe or Bill the hook cuz we were going.

up that bridge and. um there's like one exit it goes down in. the downtown before the river and I'm. just we're just sitting there sitting in. traffic and sometimes when you tell. Americans like yeah we used to ride. around by ourselves and we were in. lowprofile cars and civilian attire and. just chilling sitting in traffic they're. like. what and typically speaking that low. profile is what kept us alive but that. morning we got made and uh so it was. like a late 97 series The boxy one not.

the space shuttle looking one you know. and luckily it was 11 level 7. and I'm talking to the helicopter. checking text messages you know doing. coms blah blah and all of a sudden my. bro goes and jumps and I look at him and. his eyes are this big and I'm like this. and right next to my window is an AK. muzzle dudes had pulled up in a red opal. what other kind of car is there right.

freaking pulls up next to us and the. dude in the back seat is leaning out of. the window and he's pretty much he could. have tapped my window with his AK and he. went full. auto and I would love I would love to be. able to tell people that my reaction was. cool tough badass this is I've been shot. up. before you'd think I'd have been cooler. nope I. went and threw my hands up like I'm.

going to stop those bullets and he. chewed about half that glass out and um. his driver floorboards it so like about. half his mag went it right here it would. he' killed us both you know for. armor and his driver punches it so some. of the rounds kind of hit the windshield. and went down the hood of the. car and you know unless you're a suicide. bomber you need a Exit Plan and they. didn't have a good one because the exit.

was completely stopped up with traffic. they went about 30 m bro and were. stopped they had one AK and one magazine. nice and they had just emptied it I got. out of the car commy cool he basically. walked up to. him and um well anyway. freaking they didn't shoot any more. Americans but that's the kind of goofy. stuff man that uh that happens that I.

don't think a lot of us want to talk. about you know like and I don't care I'm. like look man for the 20 funny stories I. have I have 200 missions that went. awesome or you know that it would. probably be a cooler War Story to share. I don't know man I mean I mean yeah so I. went in and we breached this door and. went into this room shot a. dude that happened all the time you know. that's that's just what we were. doing but it's the funny stuff like yeah.

I've been in that situation tried to put. my head in my bro's shoulder you know. and was going to stop bullets with my. hands you know but it just shows us that. you know like you're still going to. react you know we can't help it um. stupid stuff like that man goofy stuff I. mean. you know I I enjoyed Iraq because you. know working with my Kurds and stuff uh. after I left GRS um got to do a lot of.

amazing missions them dudes became my. brothers um you know they were awesome. the little pesh murer Special Forces it. was a platoon a s platoon worth of uh. Kurds and uh stood up by Dev CIA. sanction thing Dev group guys stood it. up and then handed it to the you know to. us as cont. contractors and it was cool cuz it was. train advise and assist you know um. where did you move to uh up in uh the. palace barzani's compound I mean from.

GRS to oh oh so over to sad um which I. guess now they're calling thems the. director ground director ground. Branch um so I went over there and sad. stands for special activities division. which is the umbrella for the director. um like I said last I heard JS was still. underneath sad not sure. um but yeah man I.

mean you know one time we had a dude run. out in front of. us and my bud just floorboards it you. know drive drive drive and this dude had. that trigger pin on that AKA even when. he was underneath our car we had a. suburban and uh his uh one of his rounds. hit the brake reservoir and the computer. shut the vehicle down so follow vehicle. comes up pushes us and we had Suburbans. all taxi out you know you know all hji.

out or whatever and for folks listening. basically we would just take armored. vehicles and then make them look like. you would and there people don't know. this there are American cars in Iraq and. so like the Suburbans you know you put. little tassels and you hod it out put. Chrome on it uh you really want get hod. you got to put chrome and gold you know. shiny things all over your. Suburbans um and yeah this dude man God. bless his heart he was committed cuz.

underneath our truck he was still. pinning that trigger and um the guys. that were pushing us were like dude you. guys druged that guy for you know 500. meters before he popped under our. vehicle I think we drugg him for another. freaking 500 meters you know just. creating a slick down the pavement with. this poor guy. you know I I had um I had a fight in. Iraq where I wound up by myself because. one of one of my guys uh got killed and.

it was just the two of us doing um. surveillance stuff and how did he get. killed. round kind of suck man we were we got. made um we were pretty low profile. thought we were pretty good but um as we. were leaving this neighborhood one of. the lookout tip bad guys or whatever. definitely made us man he did the Double. Take and it was like we got we got. slowed down as we passed him and it was. like oh like we're made and.

um made the call hey guys hey just FYI. guys you we're compromised freaking. we're rtbn returning to base uh you know. all. cool we pull out went up made a uturn. and this dude comes running out with an. RPG and I'm already on the gas I was. driving and um probably 55 65 mph and uh. po RPG and I SAR right into it you know.

took it in the hood took it in the. grill um that made the steering not work. and we went into one of those big metal. light posts you know yeah and the median. the median was like this tall up in that. Wham and um you of course on all those. Vehicles we had the airbags to say what. and all that kind of stuff and I ate the. stering wheel pretty good and was Dazed. and Confused and my guy's like wake up. man wake. up and get together and he's like we got.

to go that way Roger yep hardpoint over. there got it and uh it's like ready. ready let's go pop the doors and you. know I moved around to the hood started. giving the guys and they were pot. shotting us at this point you know they. weren't 100% sure what they were dealing. with and so the bad guys you know it's. three lanes and then uh so full six. Lanes there of Road and then the uh. sidewalk and then kind of an Alleyway.

that they were kind of you know shooting. at us from and and it didn't take much. to back them up they were just real. uncertain with what they were dealing. with you know I mean they're like what. are these guys you know what I mean they. knew that big bearded dudes in Humes and. IM wraps were not to be messed with. those are scary guys but they didn't. know what we were in this Sedan like. what. the so anyway it didn't take me but a. few rounds into that fight to realize he.

had not come around the other side of. the. vehicle yeah and I'm like I just kind of. looked and I could see his leg still in. the car his door was. open so I ran around there and um yeah. he was he was done the round that went. through. him hit me in the back. and the only reason I know it was that. round is because I had blood on my back. and I had no other time in this fight. that I could have gotten blood on my. back um yeah round went through him and.

hit me right in the back. plate freaking so I ran around and. grabbed him and he had a Mark. 46 and I'm dragging him and as I around. the car his foot catches the muffler cuz. I rounded the corner a little too short. and so I slip and fell so he's basically. he's in my lap and I'm looking and here. comes these dudes they're like oh. opportunity so I'm just. like yeah trying to give him a little. love push him back a little bit I get.

back up turn around and you know with. his grabbing his armor and ran had to. drag him over that Medan which he was. all hung up on cross the lanes there's. traffic man there's people bullets are. flying and like people you know how like. yeah and. just sometimes people would scatter in. fights in Iraq and sometimes they would. just going about their business yeah. gunfight people leave yeah and uh so I'm. trying to drag through traffic and stuff. and you know not a lot of traffic just. couple cars in my way trying to get to. this one little you know.

storefront and. uh as I'm pulling him up on the dag on. sidewalk on the other side of the road I. slipped and fell again and at this point. I pulled up his saw and went on like. like a 200 round burst I shot an almost. an entire drum with like three bursts. just figur ating um and that was very. helpful cuz now all of a sudden these. dudes and and like you know they've got. a couple of their buddies that ain't. ain't fighting anymore so I was doing. okay and uh I'm at this point like I'm.

like okay I'm still okay my buds are on. the way right bud got to be on the way. by now. right I've been asking for help contact. contact contact asking for help they. know it wasn't until three or four. buildings later I realized I had also. been shot in my in bitter oh I'm talking. on a radio that doesn't work and I left. my cell phone on a velcro patch on the.

dash of the. car so now I got no coms and like I. said I'm still talking on the radio. asking for help you know freaking you. know trying to give updates on my. movements and stuff and um I get him in. and the the store owner. basically in in English asked me you. know can I help you and I'm like please. just leave just get out of here bro you. know and so he took off and um I rolled. up this dude in a carpet and stuck him.

underneath the. stairwell and uh I tossed a PDM in the. doorway uh for folks that don't know a. PDM is a Pursuit deterrent munition a. little little mine if you will that you. pull a little string or pull a pen on it. and um I can't remember six or eight. wires pop out of it little trip wire. and uh so when someone comes after you. they trip it it goes off and I and I. ideally deters them for pursuing you. Pursuit deter. munition and um threw one in the doorway.

took a couple more shots took off and. started bounding back right um I took. everything I could off of him uh his. pistol mags he didn't have any AR. mags and um he had like a 100 round nut. sack uh it's a smaller sack for the saw. I took a saw so man for my at this point. I'm like okay right I'm going to get up. on the roof make a call helicopters will. be here in a. minute and so I went up on the roof and.

it was a flat roof with no knee walls. had my vs7 panel out and that is when I. discovered my radio was making a lot of. it had some radly pieces and what it was. you know like those. um those radio holders that you fold. down yeah you know like hinged I was. like man I must be on the wrong net. something's wrong so I'm like I'm going. to a different net and I opened that up. and I was. like and I was like ah scream was.

blanking funny thing was that AK round. is still in that in bitter I have it at. home I still have the radio and that AK. round is in the init it did not go. through and hit my plate wow who would. have thought yeah our radios are. ballistic or at least in this case mine. was um. stupid stuff right I left my bs7 panel. on the roof because I started taking. fire and I was like oh I went jumped off. the. roof it was.

like basically the roof I was on Second. Story first story roof that was like. this but wasn't. here when I got up there I didn't make a. middle note that this that part of the. roof didn't exist so I went running and. jumped off thinking I was going to land. on this and. [Applause]. missed all the way to the dirt dude two. stories you know and I was just like oh.

my god that. hurt you know got myself together and I. remember as I stood up dude came running. around the corner. like I mean maybe double the distance me. and. you and I'm just on I'm like on my knees. I'm starting to get up and I look. and he runs and he looks and he looks. right right through. me he's mid 20s looks looks and takes. off and I'm. like his buddy runs up behind him keeps.

keeps going past the little Alleyway and. I hear him hitting the brakes he saw me. out of the peripheral vision and he came. back and poked his head around the. corner so I dumped him his buddy sees it. happening and I start to move to the. corner and we almost run into each other. he comes hauling us around the corner. fre again and I'm like it was kind of. weird cuz it like pow and he hits my. muzzle and like kind of you know kind of. like pushed him out of the way with it. it's weird as. um back back up went in the building so.

I was like I need to stay off the. streets and it was getting to the point. now right where like I'm okay you need. to manage your. ammo uh and I'm like okay what are we. going to do you know no one knows where. you're at no one knows this is. happening crap all right um so I'm like. okay I'm going to the river hji can't. swim if I can get to the river I'll swim. down south freaking get out the river. and walk to the freaking Air Base I'll.

be fine that was my best plan I had come. up with and it was not a bad plan it. would have work had I ever gotten to the. river and uh so this goes on this is. June it's hot and I don't have any water. I got bad enough probably probably about. just over an hour into this. that I drank water out of a sink in Iraq. and I was like well hopefully I'll be. home before this kicks in I knew I was. going to have have the shits right I was. like well but I was bad.

dehydrated and um lesson learned there. camel back on your body armor I found. like a one lit camel back and I put it. in my back plate in my body arm in the. back as a reserve you know emergency you. know I wouldn't drink off of it it was. only there for an. emergency it would been nice to have. that day I never had to really use it. since you know that's problem with. lessons learn they always apply to that. that thing and then they like never.

happens again anyway so have that. Camel Back still in my back plate um but. uh as I got less and less. ammo when I went inside I transition my. pistol all said and done man um. well I got to the marsh and a kyowa. screamed by me and I was like please. don't shoot. me and he looked they were looking for.

me no sh my guys my guys knew supposed. to be home no we didn't hit the tracker. or nothing we had the Blue Force. trackers getting shot up and I was Daz. and confused and my partner get shot you. know what I mean Blu Force tracker. didn't think of hitting it yeah I mean I. thought about it I didn't know if it was. on the whole time or you know did the. RPG so they found it right because you. know the Blue Force trackers admit all. the time but I didn't hit the emergency. so they knew IBO right they knew in.

vicinity of and um but I mean I'm at at. least an hour and a half now and they've. they had the guys had come my guys were. out looking um and they had gone and got. uh the. Oda um I think it was a seventh group. pod uh so they everybody was out looking. for me they just weren't sure where and. so they were getting little ticks as. well and they could hear the gunfire. they said here and there but gunfire and. Iraq yeah um very common right I was.

managing my ammo man I was no using. my pistol inside and switching a rifle. outside um I threw two pdms both of them. went off I heard them both go off and I. just laughed I was like hell yeah. they're not very devastating like the. reality is if a PDM went off right here. between us it probably wouldn't kill. either one of us you know they have. less uh explosive in them than a frag. grenade and um but I remember hearing. them both going off and I just laughed I.

was like yeah. like ha um like y'all are. going to kill me today but I ain't going. alone you know uh and that's kind of. where I was at I was like man I just. don't know if I'm going to get out of. this. one um and I I never got red up or any. of that stuff it was just like just keep. you as as they show themselves I'll. shoot them and. um long story short man I uh I got to. the marsh and that KY screamed over and.

man he hard banked it freaking up. settled back down came right up on top. of me and freaking waved and I was like. I just kind of sat down in the marsh it. was um sitting on my butt it was about. bit head high but I could see and um he. sat there for a minute and kind of. pulled off just a little bit and I have. you ever heard the the 50 cows on the. cyas they're not like Bo boom they're. like they're turned up their cycl rate. of fire is totally different than the.

ones we put on the uh Humvees and I had. never heard one before and he's right. there and he's just like man I have not. heard that yeah never I was like what. has he got you know it's 50 cal but. they're just much higher almost double. the rate of fire those the ones that we. put like shooting on Humes and stuff and. I was like holy um he had I think. is it three I think they only had three. 2.75 rockets and he shot two of those if. I remember correctly maybe three um and.

peeled off and. um it kept popping up you know if. anything present itself take a shot at. it and maybe a couple minutes later an. aache came out of the river like he was. screaming up the river popped up off the. river. came right over waved at me I could see. the rivets in the bottom of the. helicopter and I was kind of like let me. get a hold of one of them tires get me. out of here dude and sure enough around. the corner rolls in a striker it's the.

Rangers and I'm. like cool you know the rangers they only. do one thing you know I'm like yeah. um I had nine 9 mm rounds and 14 556. rounds. left 9 mm rounds and how many 556 99 mm. and 14 5.56 rounds left holy man I. thrown my three frag grenades and his.

two frag grenades and two pdms one of. the frag grenades I literally threw in. the room I was. in how many combatants did you face that. day they picked up 26. bodies Jesus. man it was nuts yeah and it. definitely remember I said I didn't. realize I was Immortal until Ben. died that day made me think I was. Immortal you survive something like that.

you know it was like and it's all wrong. I should have but I was young and dumb. right you just young and cocky and I. mean I just spent you know almost two. hours Fighting by. myself. and made it through. it you know um with no training there. was no training I had ever done in my. life to set me up for that there was no. single person CQB classes right how many. people it take to do cqp two period and. that we were still in that phase like no.

one was doing Singleton work no one was. doing single person. CQB what year did this happen so well. that was that's. 2011 yeah I think that's about the time. we started doing single man CB it wasn't. my chance cuz there was other um. instances of other guys um we all got. together and started talking about it we. um what was the the place over in.

Maryland that j s used to use to train. oh I don't remember the name I'm talking. about what you're talking about the. place over hooded box drills and all. that stuff they did so we went over. there to use their their indoor range or. CQB house and tested all kinds of crazy. John Wick type um like hey I'm. breaking out of a room I'm talking. shooting in all kinds of weird angles. behind you as you ran through a shoot. house we tried all kinds of stuff and.

just you know and opt for it you know. had to test it on force on force and. then we just basically kind of came back. to okay single person CB needs to be. kind of just like point of domination. only you're by yourself so you can go. anywhere you. want and that's an over supplication of. single person CV but that's the essence. of single person he Comm so you're the. one that developed the program not by. myself no there was like eight or nine. of us up there when we were doing it but. I was it that was it that that instance. that that's what part of it part of it.

fueled the development of it yeah myself. handful of other dudes not to mention. way more Singleton operations going on. out there we had females running around. um and it needed to be a solution to. this problem um because like with JS you. know it was like okay the tough guys are. going to sit outside the meeting while. the uh you know the case officer inside. if something happens they'll go get him. or her well you know in GB you got pmos. and and you know so they they're not.

rolling with GRS they are by. themselves so you know tried all kinds. of stuff and came down to the basics. that hey man it's not the tactics or the. techniques that make CQB by yourself. different it's the speed the situation. is going to dictate the speed am I. leaving. I mean I had a meet and go bad one time. where I literally just. ran I left a 760 in a bad neighborhood. uh we had to go back and get it that. night um because apparently you can't.

just leave half million dollar cars. laying around Iraq and uh but I did I. mean that you know that's why that is. why I've always maintained or tried to. maintain a six-minute. mile um as big as I got or you know not. that I was huge or anything but as I got. bigger and put on more weight from. lifting I still maintain my 6-minute. mile um. because I ran 1.2 miles in the mosul. mile you know uh trying to get away from.

a bad situation didn't even pull my. pistol I mean carbine was in the trunk. pistol plane clothes Ran So when people. talk about like oh running Breeze. cowardice well but it also can save your. life or it can get you to the fight. before everybody else. so yeah man um that was some pivotal. but at the same time like I said. it's. still it was just another day at work it. did it wasn't a profound thing um in my.

career even though it was looking back. at the time it was just hey let's get. back to work you know let's not make a. big deal out of this let's get back to. work um cuz they wanted me to hey you. need to go home and take a couple days. off man I'm like for what just doing my. job bro you know but I will tell you. this Ive there's been one other time in. my life I was more dehydrated than that. day them Ranger boys freaking rolled up. dropped that. tailgate they grabbed me kind of you.

help me you know cuz I i' had been. sitting for a minute my legs were. getting tired they were already pretty. smoked they drug me up in that thing. handed me a water bottle I drank it I. remember my stomach hurt you know I was. like oh that hurt I was like I'm going. to need an IV and they're like hey man. we're going we'll be back at base in 5. minutes you're going straight to the. hospital like all right. cool and uh you know going home get out. they like you out here by yourself doing. this like not on purpose fellas you. know I wasn't supposed to be doing this.

you know it just happened so that was. kind of nuts um you know. freaking it it it changed my perspective. about so many things um you know what. guns we choose what gear you have I mean. it was a 416 with a EOTech on it yeah um. and a Glock 17 you know nothing fancy. you know uh it got the work done um so. when guys are like you know latest. greatest guns and gear and stuff that.

things like that throughout my career of. just using whatever was issued or. whatever we could buy that's why I don't. care about gear yeah it's it's you know. I don't know if we can say this anymore. but it's the Indian not the arrow you. know that's a that is a very factual. statement a good somebody that's any. good and don't get me wrong man like I. sometimes joke that you know I'm only. still here because Scott likes me. there's really not much other. explanation for it with all the close. calls you know and the injuries and all. that it's.

like I must still have something to do. here right like why else would I still. be here yeah there's got to be something. else and one of these days I'll figure. it out it'll fall in my lap and be like. maybe you know maybe like yeah this is. what God wanted me to do you been asking. hm if you been. asking yeah yeah you know um we were. talking about this earlier off camera. you know I I'm a Christian I was raised. in the Methodist Church my mom wanted me.

to go to church so my dad made me go to. church uh I've read the Bible. twice I need to read it again I need to. start reading it instead of like reading. it cover to cover like I did you know. when I was younger I I need to start. reading more often and we're going to. Melissa just bought us. Bible study for couples like a a guide. to you know have help you go through the. Bible where it's you know very um. specific to couples in relationships you.

know I'm looking forward to. that um but as far as ask you know. specifically asking God like hey what's. the point what you got me here for no I. haven't and I probably should I really. thought about it it's weird I that you. said that I don't know that I've ever. asked God for much of anything I mean. there's been times where like and I'm. probably sure that day I probably begged. for help you know but as far as like. that type of conversation I don't know. that I really have it like that with God.

I I thank him for all the things and. blessings that I have um and I'm usually. kind of more. like whatever you want from. me I'm here you know um so yeah to. answer that question I guess no I've. never specifically asked you what is. your plan for me I guess I just trust. that I'm living. it well might be a good. time yeah I I I just trust you know I.

I've never questioned my faith. um you know some people say when they. lose their buddies you know like why God. or you lose your Mom why God I've never. done that not once my faith has never. been. compromised there's been times I wasn't. very faithful very different right. misbehaving sinning um yeah had a lot of. that but never once have I questioned my.

my faith I've always believed um and. it's cool because. like uh we had some Jordanian SMU guys. they're they're I don't know I don't. know if we should say Delta Force. equivalent but their tier one unit uh. came and and helped us and worked with. us with the. Kurds and you know their St major stud. his name is a dude's a stud dude have. been in like more Wars in places I was.

like you did what you know like and of. course sometimes we use our allies to do. things that we can't get away with and. that unit was is definitely one of those. units um but it was an amazing. conversation I would have with those. guys who like it's the same God. man you. know and you know how Americans can be. right. like Muslims you know as if Muslims are.

all bad clearly not the case I have. spent many a time on my hands and knees. on a Prayer rug I still have it it's on. my front porch uh that was gifted to me. by those guys I would pray with. them next on the Sha Ryan Show we're in. a sedan and we were the lead vehicle um. one of we were leading Ranger ement to a. Target Target too big for us. so you know platoon plus worth of.

Rangers and Strikers not far behind us. we were supposed to pull up and when we. stop the gate prior to us and to the. left they need to just drive through. that gate that's the target. house um we didn't get there we got. stopped at a light in traffic and we. just happened to part next to an efp. that was meant for a. striker and then the video shows it.

never happened two very different. stories so we put it all together and. launched it local media wouldn't touch. it hello I'm Tony calden and I'm running. for US House of Representatives was fed. up I was fed up with the government not. doing the right thing they're just not. doing doing the right. [Music]. thing hey everybody I'm Shawn Ryan click.

here to subscribe to the Shawn Ryan Show. YouTube channel for the hottest and most. compelling interviews that you will not. see anywhere else I've also made a. playlist of all the previous SRS. episodes so they're easy to find you can. find that right here.