1000+ Missions with the 75th Ranger Regiment | Nicholas Moore (throwback episode)

original air date - 9/30/22 This episode dives deep into the combat career of Ranger Nicholas Moore, tracing his journey from early deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq to some of the most significant operations of the post-9/11 era. He recounts the inside story of Operation Red Wings, the hunt for Marcus Luttrell, the Extortion 17 shootdown, and the brutal 2011 gunfight where he was wounded. Moore offers a raw, detailed look at leadership, loss, and what sustained the Rangers through two decades of continuous war. Grab Nick's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Run-Sound-Guns-American-Afghanistan/dp/1472827090 Help Support the show here: https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse 00:00 – Start & Origin story 07:05 – In Ranger School on 9/11 11:05 – First Afghanistan Deployment & Early Missions 18:05 – Iraq Invasion & the Jessica Lynch Rescue 41:05 – Operation Red Wings: Turbine 33 Shot Down 52:10 – All-Night Climb Toward the Crash Site 57:44 – Rangers Find Marcus Luttrell in the Village 1:01:14 – Recovering the Fallen SEALs on the Mountainside 1:22:23 – Extortion 17: Planning, Shootdown, and Ranger Response 1:39:07 – Securing the Crash Site & Recovering All 38 Fallen 1:55:10 – The 2011 Gunfight Where Nicholas Moore Was Wounded 2:12:40 – Finishing His Career & Leaving the Regiment Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:57Speaker 02

  The Team House with your hosts, Jack Murphy and David Park.

• 1:09Jack Murphy?

  Hey guys, welcome to episode 165 of The Team House. We're here tonight with Nicholas Moore. He is the author of Run to the Sound of Guns. He served in 2nd Ranger Battalion from the ranks of private to platoon sergeant, over 1,000 missions and 13 combat deployments where he was wounded. He was involved in some very significant operations from Jessica Lynch to Extortion 17, to Operation Red Wings, the recovery, to numerous other things that we'll get into tonight. So Nicholas, thank you for joining us.

• 1:42Speaker 04

  Oh, thanks for having me.

• 1:44Jack Murphy?

  Absolutely, dude. Really appreciate you taking some of your Friday to speak with us.

• 1:51Speaker 04

  No worries.

• 1:53Jack Murphy?

  So let's start off, man. Start, we'll start, start at the beginning, the beginning of the story. If you could tell us a little bit about sort of where you grew up and, and why you ended up in the military and why in Ranger Battalion?

• 2:07Speaker 04

  So I grew up in Newton, Kansas, and you know, just trying to figure out, you know, what to do. And I thought, you know, college sucks, but if I joined the army and I want to go to school and, you know, I served and I can don't have to take a student loan and I can go and it's all good. And, you know, some of us do it and end up going to school and some of us don't and we just end up staying in the military. But the, the whole thing was, you know, I had a recruiter, you know, that just based on the lifestyle that we had, you know, playing sports and being active and out, outdoor activities, hunting fish and all that stuff. He goes, man, you, you guys will love the army. But you'll never be happy if you don't pursue the, the Ranger Regiment.

• 2:50Speaker 04

  And so, you know, that was kind of, well, what's that? And, you know, so you do a little bit of research and you're like, okay, well, that's definitely what I want to do. And so, you know, you go and do it and and, you know, there's the old mantra that goes with it, you know, as you continue to be in the Ranger Regiment, what have you done for the Ranger Regiment today? So, you know, there's always that little aspect, you know, as your career progresses through, you know, it's always trying to, to better, you know, the, the organization as a whole.

• 3:20Jack Murphy?

  Yeah. Did you, was any of your family in the military? Was it something that you had been exposed to earlier than that? Or like, or is it just kind of, it seemed pragmatic at the time?

• 3:32Speaker 04

  No, um, my grandfather's both, both my grandfather served in World War II and then, you know, we've had, you know, family members in the military, but mostly it's always been in the Navy. And, uh, I had an aunt who served in the Air Force back in the late seventies, I think. And, um, you know, but no, nobody really in the army except for my grandfather's brothers, you know, they were in the army in World War II, but, you know, it's, we're basically a Navy family. And then me and my brother decided we were both going to join the army and be Rangers and you know, so it was fun. You know, that part of it, my grandpa didn't talk to me for like three weeks because he was mad.

• 4:15Jack Murphy?

  Really?

• 4:16Speaker 04

  We didn't join the Navy.

• 4:17Jack Murphy?

  Okay.

• 4:20Jack Murphy?

  So you and your brother, did you like have the same like entry date into the army? I mean, was it that close?

• 4:25Speaker 04

  Yeah, we're, we're identical twins. So we graduated school and went through a basic training airborne school RIP and then got stationed together. So we did it all together, all the way until, um, I think oh, four, oh, five. And then he went down to, um, his wife got restationed to Martin Army at Fort Benning. And so he went down to be a RIP instructor. And, and that's kind of where our careers split apart. I stayed at second and then he moved down to third for a while. And then, you know, uh, went, did some time in the big army and finished his career as an ROTC instructor at the University of Kansas.

• 5:06Jack Murphy?

  So what at that time, um, just to hit it up a little bit, um, going through basic training airborne school, what was the RIP experience like? But that was 1999, pre, pre nine 11, before the war kicked off. Uh, what was it like going through RIP during that timeframe?

• 5:23Speaker 04

  Uh, you know, it's a, I don't know if it's better or worse because now I think about it and you're just like, God, would I want to sit and do that for eight weeks?

• 5:33Jack Murphy?

  The whole rasp.

• 5:34Speaker 04

  You know, it was a, yeah, the whole rasp thing. It's like, wow. Um, no, but it would, I had a, I had a lot of fun. There wasn't really a lot of my Ranger experiences that I didn't like. You know, some of them good, some of them bad, but they're all memories. And, you know, um, just, just kind of fun, you know, it's always that, that mental challenge through some of the things, you know, is can I make it to the end? And, you know, when you do, you're, you're a better human for it and you're a better Ranger all the way around. And you have, you know, a starting point to learn what suck is.

• 6:08Speaker 05

  Yeah. So you get out of RIP and you go to the best company in the best battalion.

• 6:20Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, BCO two seven five, right?

• 6:22Speaker 04

  Yep, BCO two seven, went to first platoon. My brother went to third. And so that was always fun. I mean, it was always, you know, all the way up until we both got our tabs. You know, it was just, you know, who's got the better twin and they were always, you know, putting us, pitting us against each other. And so it was, you know, it's nothing changed from school or, you know, sports. And so it's just, you know.

• 6:45Jack Murphy?

  So two seven five, something, something different between two seven five and, and three seven five. And I believe one seven five is you guys all have platoon names. And three seven.

• 6:55Speaker 04

  Not every platoon, but yeah.

• 6:57Jack Murphy?

  And three seven five, I think my platoon was the only one that had a name, but I'd like to hear what your platoon name was and, and how it got that name.

• 7:06Speaker 04

  Um, well, one Bravo, it was eventually it became the sea bass.

• 7:11Jack Murphy?

  Okay.

• 7:11Speaker 04

  And it was just, uh, you know, it was at the same right, we, they tagged it right at, you know, um, the Afghanistan was just cranking off and Austin Powers had just come out and it was, you know, our PL was calling us a bunch of mutant sea bass. And so it just kind of stuck. And so that was that. And then, um, you know, I was in one Bravo till I, um, till oh, in the middle of oh, three, and then I went over to three Charlie. And, uh,

• 7:43Speaker 04

  uh, stayed there till oh, eight.

• 7:45Jack Murphy?

  So you, uh, you actually were in Ranger school during nine 11, right?

• 7:52Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:53Jack Murphy?

  So how did that get down for you? Yeah.

• 7:56Speaker 04

  Um, you know, it's kind of one of those things, you know, sometimes you, you're like, no, this can't really be happening. And, um, we just thought it was some kind of weird, you know, mo- false motivational thing that the ROI's were doing. We weren't, you know, nobody was really sure if it was something that. Everybody was, you know, accustomed to in every class that, you know, oh, you gotta hurry up because, you know, the army, the country's going to war and all this stuff. But what kind of struck at home was, you know, when they came out and they asked people if they had family that worked at World Trade Centers and, um, you know, you kind of get the weird look like, why are you asking that? And then, you know, forty five minutes or so later, you know, hey, does anybody have parents that work at Pentagon? And, you know, everybody's like, why would I raise

• 8:40Speaker 04

  my hand? I don't want to get singled out for something. And, you know, then they're kind of like, hey, no, this is, you know, serious. And they realized that we weren't believing them. And so they kind of called a couple of guys to go forward and just kind of see the news feed on the, on a TV and for about five minutes and then kind of came back and said, hey, they're not lying. It's, this is real. And so we had one guy raise his hand and say, yeah, my dad works at the Pentagon. And, um, you know, they said, well, you need to call him.

• 9:09Speaker 04

  And so that really messed with him. It was a kid out of three, seven, five. And luckily, his dad was out of the office. I think he was at Fort Lee, Virginia that day.

• 9:19Speaker 04

  But he, uh, you know, when he came back to work on the twelfth, he didn't have an office.

• 9:24Jack Murphy?

  Holy shit.

• 9:26Speaker 05

  Yeah. And then how much, so how far into Ranger School were you? And how much longer did you have to go? And how did that affect Ranger School?

• 9:37Speaker 04

  Oh, well, you know, you were basically, uh, day two.

• 9:41Speaker 05

  Okay. Oh, wow. Yeah.

• 9:42Speaker 04

  So, you know, we'd just done the PT test that morning. We'd just finished the, uh, the five mile run. And, uh, so it, uh, it was, um, it was interesting because you always hear the stories of guys, you know, you got to get, you know, seventy percent of your patrols, you got to pass. Well, I mean, at that point, they were, you know, the RIs knew the writing on the wall and this. So the whole point was to get the guys back to the units as fast as possible. So you pass one patrol and you never got another one.

• 10:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 10:14Speaker 04

  Um, so you know, and then it uh it became guys that failed patrols, you know, was putting the right guys in positions to help them get the next patrol to pass so that they could go on to the next phase so that guys aren't stuck, you know, playing the, how many months can I be in Ranger School game? Um, and graduate and then get back to your units because we gotta go do business.

• 10:39Speaker 05

  Right. Yeah. Uh, did you have any of those guys in when you were, when you were doing a jack where they just assigned like four, four bat guys to them and just say he's gonna pass this patrol. So you basically don't let him make any decisions.

• 10:53Jack Murphy?

  I probably was that guy going through his like, as an E two, I'd been in battalion for like two months. I think I was that guy.

• 11:02Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. No, but where, where they basically give you the reins and say, get this guy through this patrol.

• 11:10Speaker 04

  Right. You know, it's, it's not to pick on people, but it's usually the, the young lieutenants that they're just still trying to get their feet underneath them as you know, what it's like to be a leader and, and you know, we've got, you know, guys from the Ranger regiment been there 12, 18 months. You know, some guys that got hurt, you know, maybe 24 months of experience and they kind of understand the game. So, you know, let's just turn them loose and.

• 11:31Speaker 05

  Yeah. So you were, uh, you were in Ranger School when the first actions, when, when Afghanistan kicked off, right? Like the.

• 11:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, we were, uh, yeah, we were, uh, just finishing up mountains, uh, when, when everything kicked off and, uh, we were getting graded patrols and who was gonna go to Florida and it just happened to be the night that three, seven, five jumped on Rhino and the RIs wheeled the TV card out and said, hey, check this out. And, uh, all the guys from three, seven, five were crying and the guys from first and second are laughing and the guys from third are like, why are you, you know, why are you laughing? It's not funny. We're not a part of this. And it's like, well, guess what? Our battalions haven't gone yet.

• 12:12Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. Were you worried that that it was going to be like another?

• 12:18Jack Murphy?

  I'm gonna miss the war, bro.

• 12:19Speaker 05

  Yeah, that it was gonna be like Desert Storm. It's gonna be over before you're out of Ranger School.

• 12:24Speaker 04

  Yeah, there was a lot of us that were, you know, it was gonna be the traditional like Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm where it's gonna be over as fast as it started and uh, you know, you're gonna miss it all and.

• 12:38Speaker 04

  But you know, when you, when you start thinking about the, the amount of time that it was going to take to, to put everything over there, you know, and get it in place. It was just a matter of, you know, when, when's it going to be our turn? And is there going to be anything left? Cause regiment's going to rotate everybody through at least once and.

• 12:55Speaker 05

  Right, right. So you graduate Ranger School and how, how was your reception when you got back the second bat? What was going on at the time?

• 13:06Speaker 04

  Oh, everybody had just gotten back from Yakima. So it was kind of a, I got back like 24 hours before the battalion rolled back in from doing, you know, all the big fun stuff over in Yakima and,

• 13:18Speaker 04

  you know, it was just kind of figuring out, you know, how the rotation was going to work. Cause you know, 175 was just gearing up to go. And so we were trying to figure out what our training schedule was going to be and what it was going to look like. And then when was our window going to come to, to go? And was there still going to be anything to do when we got there?

• 13:35Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 13:36Speaker 04

  Um, you know, and then 20 years later, it's still going on.

• 13:40Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 13:42Jack Murphy?

  So what, when did you get the word that you guys were heading over and like, what, what was it like jacking up for that deployment, getting ready to go out the door?

• 13:50Speaker 04

  Um, we got, kind of got the word that we were still going to get to go is probably, uh, late November, December. You know, 175 is going to go and then it's going to be our turn to go. And you know, it might be the only deployment that we get in Afghanistan, but you know, it's as it stands right now. You know, we still had to go do, uh, rotor wing, um, bilats and, and all the, the training that, you know, was normally, you know, gearing up for, for all that stuff. And,

• 14:21Speaker 04

  so, you know, we did, and then, uh, BCO, BCO led the, the push for second battalion. Cause at that time it was, um,

• 14:31Speaker 04

  basically, you know, there was only the need for like basically one company. Um, we were still sitting, you know, split between Cannon Heart and Bogrom and that was about it. And then, you know, everybody realized that this was going to be the long fight. And so then we started. Uh, kind of pushing out and doing the expansion for the American footprint and setting up bases and, and all that stuff. And that's kind of what we ended up doing our first deployment. And then after we'd been there for, oh, I don't know, uh, maybe a month or so, they've rolled in with the rest of the battalion. So ACO and CCO came in and, and kind of helped expand the, the footprint and all the, the fun.

• 15:09Speaker 05

  So what was it?

• 15:10Speaker 04

  You know, like, yeah. Post-Taku Gar, post-Taku Gar, and you know, at Operation Anaconda, there really was nothing going on in Afghanistan. You know, it was basically, you know, when you look at what was going on, you know, you hear about one, seven, five in Roberts Ridge. And then three, seven, five is jumping on Rhino and doing all that stuff. And you know, we're going over there thinking, you know, it's going to be game on. It's spring, summer, and everybody's going to be fighting. And that was, you know,

• 15:36Speaker 04

  complete opposite. You know, let's say we're just as much as we were trying to feel out, you know, what was going on with Taliban. You know, they're kind of sitting back on the border and just watching, you know, how we're doing business.

• 15:49Speaker 05

  Yeah. So that first deployment was like pretty relatively quiet at the time?

• 15:54Speaker 04

  Yeah. I mean, we did, uh, one, there was one operation where, you know, they got it. The platoon got in a gunfight. I was on a fifty cal, so, uh, I didn't, didn't get to be, you know, on the ground for that one. But it was one engagement, lasted five seconds, and that was it.

• 16:13Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 16:13Speaker 04

  And the rest of the deployment was just setting up bases and driving around Afghanistan and Humvees.

• 16:18Speaker 05

  Oh yeah. You mentioned, uh, I forgot, you mentioned in your book that you actually had a, a, a guide, a tourist guide and, uh, a ranger who had been a Russian in Afghanistan.

• 16:32Speaker 04

  Yeah, there was a kid in, uh, well, not a kid, but you know, there was a guy in third platoon that was, uh, yeah, I, I believe he was Ukrainian, but you know, it was part of the Soviet Bloc at the time. And he was, you know, like eighteen, nineteen and got conscripted into the Red Army. And, you know, he spent a year in Afghanistan in like eighty-eight, eighty-nine, right? When they were shutting it down, but it was really cool because, you know, at the time, you know, he could tell you what everything was on, on Bogrom. You know, all the remnants of what was left. So that was, I mean, for a history lesson, that was kind of cool.

• 17:03Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 17:04Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, it's pretty surreal.

• 17:05Speaker 05

  So, so that was sort of your, your first trip. It was just, you know, um, setting the footprint. There wasn't a lot of activity. What happened then after that? You went back and reset and what was your kind of time between the deployments looking like at this point?

• 17:22Speaker 04

  Uh, you know, so we, we went back to reset and that was kind of when everybody was thinking that, you know, this is basically a wrap up and, you know, we're, we're not going to be involved in this anymore, but you know, all the battalions got at least one deployment and,

• 17:37Speaker 04

  you know, three, seven, five came back over and ripped us. And, you know, so when it came time, you know, throughout the year that it was, we were going to at least go one more time. It was, you know, Iraq was ramping up. And so it was like, okay, well, who's going to go to Afghanistan? And so Charlie Company got picked to go to Afghanistan and the whole preface was for them to go was to shut down the, uh, special ops. You know, footprint over there and then kind of if things did crank off in Iraq, then they were going to join us over in Iraq. And, uh, you know, they ended up staying for six months. You know, they did their three month deployment plus the Iraq.

• 18:14Speaker 04

  And, you know, and stuff, so they got stuck in Afghanistan for six months. So let's just say Manning retention and Charlie Company was terrible after everybody got home.

• 18:23Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. So then you guys were working up toward, uh, towards the invasion of Iraq, right? Which was that, that was March of 2003? So were you guys part of that initial invasion or did you get through shortly after it?

• 18:40Speaker 04

  Um, we, uh, the, the battalion was infilling, you know, shortly before everything cranked off, but we didn't actually put wheels down, you know, uh, over there until the night that it officially cranked off. Because we got, I had a bird, we are bird broke in Germany.

• 18:58Speaker 05

  What was

• 18:59Speaker 04

  You know, it's always kind of one of those, those fun things are, you know, uh, you're riding in on the C-17, you got your gas mask strapped to your hip and you're wearing your mop suit.

• 19:09Speaker 05

  Right, right. So can you tell us a little bit about what a mop suit is for the people who might not be familiar with it?

• 19:19Speaker 04

  It's a, uh, the chemical suit that you have to wear and, you know, it's a charcoal lined suit and it's, uh, for, uh, gas and biological weapons and stuff. It's going to help keep it off your skin and they're terrible to wear.

• 19:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, they, uh, they're like

• 19:33Speaker 04

  Hot in the, they're hot in the daylight and cold in the, at night.

• 19:37Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah. They trap air. They're basically like sweats, like the plastic suits that you used to wear for wrestling or whatever, like they're, they're not comfortable at all.

• 19:46Speaker 04

  Uh, no.

• 19:47Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, so when you guys, because your bird got hung up in, in Germany, when you landed for the invasion, did you guys go to Saudi or did you go, did you go someplace else for, since you were

• 20:02Speaker 04

  No, we landed in Saudi.

• 20:04Speaker 05

  Okay. Yeah.

• 20:07Speaker 04

  So, you know, every, everywhere where the special ops footprint was during Desert Storm is the same place that we went to and, um, you know, basically, basically unloaded and then just, uh, got everything set. And I think within a, a couple of days, we were running cross border ops out in the west.

• 20:22Speaker 05

  Yeah. And so then what was that like for you? Like moving into, you know, from Saudi into Iraq and what kind of vehicles were you guys in and, and what were the lives?

• 20:32Speaker 04

  We were just, you know, we're running the, uh, like the soft skin, you know, Humvee gun trucks. We'd skin the roofs off and taking the windows out, which was stupid. Um, cause we caught one of the sandstorms right after it happened and I know, uh, third platoon got caught out in it, in the trucks and no windshield and they're trying to hold, hold MRE boxes up over their face to keep rocks from blowing in and, you know, nobody can see anything. So they're stuck sitting out there in it until the sun comes up and then they can at least try and attempt to get back and so it was interesting. You know, we had 550 cord from all the, the tents to the latrines and to the chow halls. So the guys could follow the string and, and, you know, walk around in the brown out.

• 21:14Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah, those, those sandstorms were something else out there.

• 21:21Speaker 05

  And then, so how long was your trip to Iraq and like where it was, did anything particularly notable happen during during your tour there?

• 21:30Speaker 04

  Uh, not, not in the first part of it, you know, until everything came down for, uh, for us to do the Jessica Lynch, uh, rescue and we had just rolled in off of like a 24 hour op to, uh, go tie in with 375 and help them come back from H1. Uh, where they, where they jumped in and then bring their vehicle convoys back. Um, so we drove out, tied in with them and then brought this like five mile long convoy. Back across the border and then we were rolling in dog tired and the commander comes out of his tent and he's like, hey, pack your stuff, we're leaving in three hours and we're gonna go do this. And I was like, huh, that's funny.

• 22:08Speaker 05

  But seriously, folks.

• 22:09Speaker 04

  Yeah, I'm a stupid E4. What do I know that the commander's not just, you know, not being a jerk and, and trying to get guys to have some kind of false motivation because he always, you know, get in dog tired and throw down on the cot and start cleaning your rifle and Squalider comes back in, he's like, no, pack your stuff because we're out of here.

• 22:31Speaker 05

  Yeah. And were you guys aware of Jessica Lynch of that whole situation at the time or was the mission?

• 22:36Speaker 04

  No, I mean, no, we hadn't really gotten any, I mean, we kind of got like a, a little brief of it, but the, the, kind of the, uh, the shit, you know, kind of the, the, the awe of the whole thing was like, how in the heck does a maintenance company get ahead of the frontline?

• 22:54Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 22:55Speaker 04

  You know, it's like the, the unfathomable, you know, how does this happen? It's, you know, we start kind of spitballing this whole thing and you start, you know, talking to some of the maintenance units that are out there and they just, you know, at the time, they weren't equipped with night vision at the time. They're still driving, you know, blackout lights and the way that, you know, everybody has since World War II. It's just slow moving and trying to navigate and, you know, only the combat arms units have night vision because that's the priority. So.

• 23:27Speaker 04

  He was just kinda like, how does this even happen?

• 23:30Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 23:32Speaker 05

  And so what was, what was the mission as, as it was briefed to you guys? What was your role and what was the overall effort?

• 23:40Speaker 04

  Um, we were gonna set in as far as Bravo Company's part of it, we were gonna infill on Marine Corps forty sixes on the west side of Nazaria. Um, kinda on this flat, looked like a, kind of a trash pit area on the west side of town. And then we were just gonna run in a few blocks off the desert and establish blocking positions around the, the hospital while, uh, one seven five, a company from one seven five was gonna skirt all the way around on the east and then come in from the north and then bring in the, you know, the big guns on the trucks and, um, just basically, you know, lock it all down until we had gotten her out and gotten confirmation and recovery of, uh, everybody else that was off those trucks.

• 24:27Speaker 04

  And, uh, I was, we were only on the ground for like three and a half hours and it was all done.

• 24:32Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 24:33Speaker 04

  I mean, by the time the SEALs came in on the hospital and did the whole, uh, you know, recovery of her, we had just basically put the blocking positions on the ground. We hadn't even gotten them established yet. As far as how fast that, that whole thing happened, it was a matter of just moments.

• 24:48Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 24:48Speaker 04

  And, uh, cause,

• 24:51Speaker 04

  you know, but it was fun. Um, you know, it was fun to be a part of it. And, you know, like I, we were saying earlier, this is, you know, there's all these things, it's just another day at the office until you get later in life and then you start talking to people about it. And then it's like, wow, uh, you know, it's kind of a historic, you know, event that we got to be a part of, uh, you know, it's the first successful POW rescue in over forty years.

• 25:16Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. And then what happened in terms of recovering the bodies? Were you, were you guys part of that?

• 25:25Speaker 04

  Uh, no, that was, uh, one seven five with, you know, their guys on the trucks as though they recovered them and then they, uh, ground X filled them out on their, um, on the Humvees. And, uh, so we just, you know, maintained blocking positions and stuff until, you know, that they were done and, and they had X filled the trucks and then we pushed out for, uh, X fill on the forty sixes and, you know, got back on the, on the airbase there in Nazaria and, you know, high fives and handshakes and it was all good. And, um, you know, go find your friends in one seven five and see how the, everything went on their aspect of it when they rolled back in.

• 26:00Speaker 05

  Yeah. And how, I mean, I can't imagine that, that

• 26:06Speaker 05

  that, that was, well, of course it wasn't pleasant, but was it, was it pretty harrowing for them? Because those, those bodies were in shallow graves, right?

• 26:15Speaker 04

  Yeah. Yeah. And it was, um, you know, they, they said it wasn't, it wasn't pretty.

• 26:21Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 26:23Speaker 04

  And I could only imagine, you know.

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• 28:19Speaker 04

  Yeah, you know, later seeing some of the things that I've seen, you know, later on, it's just, you know, I, it's not fun.

• 28:26Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, so was there anything else that happened during that trip to Iraq that was notable?

• 28:37Speaker 04

  We did, um, you know, Operation Reindeer, which was a, you know, the, the true, you know, the, the true Ranger mission. Smash everything, kill everyone, you know, destroy it all. And then, you know, come out high fiving and, and handshaking at the end. Uh, we had our first, um, wounded in action on that, on that deployment, a team leader from, uh, second, second squad.

• 29:03Speaker 04

  Got hit with an RPG and, and lost his, uh, lower left leg.

• 29:09Speaker 04

  Uh, so, you know, um,

• 29:14Speaker 04

  yeah, other than that, it was, it was a, you know, it was a, it was a great traditional, you know, typical, uh, Ranger training op, you know.

• 29:23Speaker 05

  Do you remember like, I'm sorry, but do you remember any, many of the details of Operation Reindeer, uh, in terms of like who you were after? And sort of what, how it was going to go down?

• 29:35Speaker 04

  Yeah. So what, what it came, came down to was that there was a, um, a Sigint collection that had, you know, large size force was kind of out training in the, uh, in the desert, kind of northwest, uh, Afghan or Iraq and, um,

• 29:55Speaker 04

  It was just basically, you know, it was like eighty to one hundred and twenty is what in Intel was was putting on. Uh, that it was and you know, you could tell they were holding formations and they were doing training and and things like that. And so it was. Uh, you know, who could hit this first and you know, at this is at the big command level and this is, you know, what's been filtered down through the company commander. At the time was that um, it was in the hundred first sale. Or area of operation and um, they were going to take like a week to plan it out and. That what didn't make, you know, the powers that be happy. And so it kind of came to the special offside and. You know, we just said, well, we can hit it tomorrow.

• 30:36Speaker 04

  And so we, you know, just worked through our normal off cycle and planned it out, rehearsed it. And you know, it it basically, other than um, Matt getting hurt, you know, it it worked. It, you know, the same way it does in training. Um, but even to that part, you know, we train, you know, casually play and all that stuff. So it. It just sucked that, you know, it would actually happen.

• 31:03Jack Murphy?

  Sure.

• 31:06Jack Murphy?

  So I mean, that's a pretty sizable force on that target.

• 31:09Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, it was um. Uh, the I don't the exact count, I don't remember exactly the number, but you know, it was over eighty. Um, so first and second came in on helos and and third had launched basically. Um, about ten hours before the half, the the Hilo package launched and and they drove up on trucks. They were going to do the backside blocking and set up the far. For the little birds and and all the stuff. And so then they, you know, after we X filled the half, then they stayed. And uh, kind of did the BDA, the bu- battle damage assessment afterwards and gave a rough count and. You know, handed the objective over to the hundred first when they they came in to take control of it and. Um.

• 31:55Speaker 04

  So it was kind of interesting when they came back, you know, it's kind of get the picture of you, what it looked like in the daylight.

• 32:05Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 32:09Speaker 05

  So, uh, so after that, then it was back home.

• 32:16Speaker 05

  Uh, you become a team leader?

• 32:18Speaker 04

  Or were you? Yeah, moved over to Charlie Company and took, took a fire team over in Charlie Company. And then, uh, we did the, the winter surge in oh, three to Afghanistan. We walked around in the mountains for six weeks. We always call it mountain phase research for those of us that were there.

• 32:37Speaker 05

  And can you tell us about that? What, uh, was, uh, was it similar to your first appointment to Afghanistan or was it completely different?

• 32:47Speaker 04

  Uh, it was different because we were up in the Konar and in the Pesh River Valley.

• 32:51Jack Murphy?

  This is that big surge and this is the big surge Wesley Morgan writes about, isn't it?

• 32:57Speaker 04

  Yeah, I believe so.

• 32:58Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 32:59Speaker 04

  Yeah. So we were, you know, kind of expanding the footprint and just kind of getting into the mountains to, to kind of chase down some of the rat lines that people were, um, you know, Taliban fighters were using to, to come in and just kind of deny the access through the mountains in the winter and, and show that everybody that, hey, we're not afraid to come up here and we're not afraid to, to hang out for weeks on end and, and, and do our thing, which was, it was fun. I mean, you know, like I wrote in my books, you know, so a lot of the people, you know, it, in villages at like 10,000 feet, you know, they're still thinking that the Russians are in there.

• 33:34Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 33:37Speaker 04

  And so, you know, just to, to see the disconnect in that country at, you know, at, at that, you know, at that primitive point was like, uh, no, they haven't been here for like 10 winters now.

• 33:51Speaker 04

  At least.

• 33:53Jack Murphy?

  Uh, what was it like operating at that altitude and such? Like, I mean, that's some of the most difficult terrain in the world.

• 33:59Speaker 04

  Uh, it was definitely taxing, if you will. Some of the guys, you know, they've never been at altitude like that. Some of the guys, you know, out of Florida and Georgia and, you know, never, you know, being on the, uh, Mount Yona. And Ranger School is probably some of the highest elevations they've ever been on. And so you're getting guys up there, you know, at 10,000 feet or above and guys are coming with altitude sickness. And they're just not being able to adjust as easily as, as some. And, uh, you know, Manning is still low and Charlie Company at the time, cause it's just coming off that Iraq thing. Guys are like, I'm out of here. We got hosed over. And so we're, we're in there with five man squads. So we're still carrying all the gear for nine.

• 34:43Speaker 04

  And so, uh, you know, the only, only nice thing is we went in with no body armor. We were just carrying chest racks and rucksacks, but the rucksacks were still weighing in about 80, 80 to 90 pounds. Depending on, you know, what is in there.

• 34:57Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 34:59Speaker 05

  Yeah, that land will break you too. That's not easy terrain to move over.

• 35:04Speaker 04

  No, um, you know, then we did, uh,

• 35:09Speaker 04

  we did hire on some pack mules, which is kind of interesting, um, for a while. And that was, a lot of it was just to go to the resupply points and be able to bring, bring back the supplies that we needed. Instead of doing the Ranger School ruck dump and then walking down and loading up and then carrying it all back up. It's like, well, let's just hire some people with mules and we'll pack mule this stuff up there. And, and all we have to do is just walk.

• 35:34Speaker 05

  So did you guys just hire like the mules or did you actually have people? Because you have to know what you're doing with a mule, right?

• 35:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, no, we, we hired the locals, you know, at the time. And it's like, hey, you know, here's however much in, you know, Pakistani rupees that makes them happy. And it feels like they're justified to waste a day, you know, renting their mules to us and walking them up the mountain.

• 35:58Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:58Speaker 04

  And then bringing a case of some MREs and, and whatnot and.

• 36:05Speaker 05

  Uh, one of the story, oh, I was gonna say, one of the stories you told during that time, uh, cause you, you guys were on the HVT, the high value target and the time sunset target. And, uh, can you tell us about when you went out with the SEAL team?

• 36:18Speaker 04

  Oh, so we had just coming out of the, out of the Pesh. We'd been in there for three weeks and it was like supposed to have like a 72 hour rest and refit back at Bagram. So we all get back, you know, off the, off the birds and, you know, just kind of standing around in line for showers and this HVT comes down and they said, hey, the team's gonna, SEAL team's gonna go out and, and hit this. And we gotta go out and do blocking position. So get it all back on and, and load up. And so, you know, I didn't get a shower. And, uh, so we roll in there, we hit this, this draw off the, uh, off the Konar. And, uh, you know, SEALs are hit the wrong side of the valley because intel's just not very good in Afghanistan at this point.

• 36:59Speaker 04

  It's just, you know, it's humid. So it's, there's a huge margin of error in it and, uh, they didn't want to walk across the valley and, and go up. So they just called the Hilo to come pick them up from one side and carry them to the other because they didn't want to walk it.

• 37:17Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 37:18Speaker 04

  Um, in, in a nutshell, I guess that's the, the nice way to, to put it short.

• 37:24Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um,

• 37:28Speaker 05

  yeah. So was there anything else on that? And for those of you who don't know, I, I'm not really drinking. I'm on meds. I had surgery. So if I'm a little like faded. But, uh, it was, was there anything else, uh, on that, on that particular trip that, cause you mentioned that that was up to that point, like sort of one of the best sort of all around, sort of, I guess, military experiences you had, just in terms of, of the type of job you guys were doing?

• 37:59Speaker 04

  Yeah. You know, it was kind of the, um, for those of us later on that, the, that were, that were still in, uh, rain, in the regiment or the battalion, you know, that, that kind of became the baseline for the word suck. It was like everything else, if it did, you'll meet that threshold of just pain and misery, it, it wasn't that bad.

• 38:21Speaker 05

  Right.

• 38:21Speaker 04

  Cause that was, that was just brutal. I mean, You know, got knee, knees and ankles and you know, guys are quitting and it's like, oh, well, awesome. You can quit all you want. You ain't coming off the mountain. They're not sending a helicopter for you.

• 38:35Speaker 05

  Right. Yeah. Where are you gonna go?

• 38:38Speaker 04

  Yeah. Yeah. So you're a private. They're not gonna send a helicopter to come get you. It's great. Awesome. We'll deal with, you know, you quitting later.

• 38:46Speaker 05

  And, and those are also the type of operations that you hold over the new guy's head when they weren't on it. You're like, oh, you know, they start complaining like, ah, you weren't there.

• 38:55Speaker 04

  Yeah, but then you make yourself feel like a dinosaur later on.

• 38:58Speaker 05

  Right. Right. Um, so then, so you guys are on this hopping schedule because that was in 2000, like late 2003. And then the spring, you're right back in Iraq again.

• 39:12Speaker 04

  Yeah, we did the, the winters, the end of three, we were back in Afghanistan and then we were kind of doing the spring surge as we refer to it in oh, four. And it was just a short little 45 day to kind of reinforce the, the special ops footprint so we could move some, um, units around. Um, you know, shift guys and not have a loss in, uh, combat abilities. Um, so. Uh, that was, that was definitely interesting because that was like the, the introduction, if you will, to IEDs.

• 39:46Speaker 04

  You know, at that point, you know, it was starting to get armored vehicles and it's like, why are we driving around with this? You know, what's the, what's the big deal? You know, they're like pop can size explosives and you know, like within a year, you know, we're, they're planting, you know, 2,000 pounds of HME. Uh, under the road beds and, and blowing tanks apart.

• 40:06Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, and not just that, but you talk about your story with the, the tanks, the, the Abrams tanks, right?

• 40:15Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah, yeah. We had that, that trip. We were going from Biap, from the airport into, into town, into the green zone to, to link up, to do an op. And, uh, you know, we're running blacked out and you know, we got the city lights shining in our face. So you can't really see anything other than about. 20 yards in front of you, but you know, the highway is a long straight run. And so, you know. Put it down and and and just go and there was a tank that had been sitting in the median and they traversed the cannon to look at something with thermal off the cannon and they brought the barrel across at a zero plane and it was right at the same time we came in with the truck and um, almost killed the gunner out of my truck. Um.

• 40:57Speaker 04

  You know, he was in a medically induced coma for about forty five days and his face was broken in about thirteen places. Uh. Turned the mark nineteen on the front on the lead truck into a basically the receiver was a banana and the barrel broke in three places. The strike plate we never found. And, um, you know, it it basically almost totaled the truck. It took us two days to get the turret. You know, reconfigured with stripped parts off other vehicles and put it back together.

• 41:29Jack Murphy?

  Jesus, that's insane.

• 41:30Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's it's it's and it's weird sometimes too in combat how it's those, you know, in a war zone, how how it's some of the most random events that that, you know. You know, blue on blue isn't always just friendly fire. Sometimes it's just these incredibly random events like that.

• 41:53Speaker 04

  Um, you know, and it was just one of those things. They didn't see us because they were busy looking at something and we couldn't see them with the lights and just the, you know, the the, uh, we're all running, you know, the monocular PBS fourteen's and, you know, it's like, well, hey, we're we're good. We're on this. We own this section of highway between town and and the airport and there's nothing going on out here ever. And so, you know, we don't really need to you know, watch out for for other forces, but you know, there's tanks sitting in the median and

• 42:23Speaker 05

  Right, right.

• 42:24Speaker 04

  Happened to be the, you know, I just had chosen to drive in the left lane as the lead truck, you know, and we we hit it.

• 42:34Speaker 04

  Didn't damage the tank. I mean, we scratched the paint a little bit, but no damage to the barrel.

• 42:40Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, and so that was a fairly uneventful trip for you guys, right?

• 42:49Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah, that one, that one was, yeah. Uh, as, as far as any, any operations that saw, you know, any contact in it, you know, there, there wasn't really a lot going on at that point.

• 43:02Speaker 05

  Uh, and then your next trip was Mosul?

• 43:07Speaker 04

  Uh, yes. Well, no, Afghanistan.

• 43:10Speaker 05

  Oh, Afghanistan.

• 43:11Speaker 04

  We went to Afghanistan. That's oh, oh, five. That was, uh, Marcus Luttrell.

• 43:14Speaker 05

  Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. So can you?

• 43:18Speaker 04

  No, it's all right.

• 43:19Speaker 05

  Yeah. So can you tell us about that then?

• 43:22Speaker 04

  Uh, Marcus Luttrell, you know, is a Afghanistan targeting was, you know, still in its infancy is still a lot of human base at that point in time in, in Afghanistan. So, um, there really wasn't a great targeting platform to go on as, you know, we look for, you know, legacy targets and, and plan out some of that stuff and um, as far as what the Rangers were doing, a lot of it, we were just on, um, T S T's time sensitive target manning for one platoon. And then the other was on, uh, C S R combat search and rescue is a, it's the basic standard, uh, Ranger tasking at, at that point in time. And, um,

• 44:04Speaker 04

  we had just rotated off of the C S R tasking onto the time sensitive target tasking. So we had just finished all the, the standups for, you know, running through timelines and, and checks on all that stuff and got the, the word that, you know, uh, Marcus Luttrell's team was, was going to go out and do this, um, Operation Red Wings and, um, you know, as Rangers always do, you know, we get enough information to have a conversation about it at chow hall table. And so started talking with some of the recce guys and, you know, they're, you know, they're briefing us because they've been following this a lot closer than like a rifle platoon has. It wasn't kind of in our. Uh, in our wheelhouse as far as targets we were looking at, but the stuff that recce had been looking at in, in areas to do,

• 44:49Speaker 04

  to do some of their stuff and they were like, nah, we wouldn't do it this way. Not four guys. No, we'd take a whole recce section, you know, 12 guys and then, but we wouldn't do it without a rifle platoon and support. You know, even if it was a, you know, five K standoff between the two, because they can fight us and we can fight to them and it's a bigger footprint on the ground. Yeah. Do we run the risk of spoiling the target? Yes. But you know, on the other side of it, you know, we a- as Rangers, you know, we're always going to bring

• 45:20Speaker 04

  everything in the kitchen sink to bear on, on an objective and turn the, the, you know, the, the odds in our favor and um,

• 45:29Speaker 04

  you know, did they do anything wrong with the way they did it? No. They, they made judgment calls along the way and, you know, we can armchair quarterback this.

• 45:38Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 45:39Speaker 04

  You know, y- years, years later and say, well, I wouldn't have done that and I wouldn't have done this, but you know, they, they did what they do and.

• 45:48Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 45:48Speaker 04

  So, you know, that led us into, you know, you know, them losing comms and them getting in the fight and you know, as the, as the movie portrays it out and.

• 46:02Speaker 04

  You know, and then we got to go in and, and do the combat search and rescue on the turbine three, three crash site and then figure out what the question mark is.

• 46:13Jack Murphy?

  What, what was, what was going on on your base with your platoon? I mean, are you getting word that this team is compromised? There are guys who are MIA. We might have to go look for them. Then you find out a bird went down. I mean, can you take us through a little bit of that?

• 46:26Speaker 04

  So, so that morning, so June 28th, that morning, you know, we, we got up and we just did what Rangers do. You know, we've got up the PT, went and ate breakfast. Going on with our training cycle, we were going to go out to East River Range, uh, which is just outside of Bogrom, the little town of Bogrom. So we left the base, got outside there. We're, we're going to go do some shooting drills and, and just, you know, um, have a. Good session on the range and we get out there and start throwing the uh target stands off the trucks and that's about the time that you know, we, we find out that the, the bird's been shot down and um you know, it was, it was, hey, don't, don't worry about what you've thrown off the trucks, get back on the trucks.

• 47:08Speaker 04

  You know, we gotta get back and there was a lot of guys were like, what are we doing? And you know, we didn't have any of the answers at the leadership level of what was going on. We just knew that, you know, we had to be back. Or something that was gonna gonna get briefed, you know, to us and as the situation was developing and, and so then as we're rolling back in, you know, we find out that the, the aircraft's been shot down, that team's in the fight and you know, we're just on standby at that point. So I wouldn't really kind of understand the whole situation for, you know, probably another six years as I progress through, through leadership, but you know, as I tell people, it's, it, you know, it's, it, yeah, as a young guy,

• 47:52Speaker 04

  you know, it's not that we're not gonna get in there and we're not gonna be a part of this and we're not gonna, but we're gonna turn the tables. So that way, when we do recommit forces into this area, we've got so many assets to bear on the objective that it, nobody would be in their right mind to want to play.

• 48:08Speaker 05

  Hmm.

• 48:09Speaker 04

  Um, so you know, it was probably, you know, about 10 hours or so. Um, a- after the initial shoot down that, you know, that night as we're getting ready to, to launch and then you'll finally got the, the green light that we're gonna go and we load up everybody that's gonna fit on the aircraft at altitude and, and launch and then we hit mountain weather. Uh, on that night and have to divert infill and, and go sit at Jalalabad for a day.

• 48:39Speaker 04

  And then wait to get in filled the next night.

• 48:43Speaker 05

  What, what was your understanding at that time of the situation on the ground?

• 48:48Speaker 04

  Um, the, so the understanding was that the 47 had been shot down. There was no movement on that, you know, ISR feeds were terrible at the time. I you know, don't, I don't even understand how people could understand, you know, what they're seeing on that screen. It was such a bad quality feed even then, you know, um. And so we knew that the aircraft had been shot down. We're going in to do combat search and rescue on the crash. Um. You know, Murphy's team was still a question mark as to what's going on because there had been no radio comms with them since Murphy's sat phone call.

• 49:29Speaker 04

  So the the priority tasking was to recover the crash because we knew where it was. And then after that, it would just be to figure it out, if you will.

• 49:42Jack Murphy?

  So we we interviewed Tony Brooks on the show before. Was he in your platoon?

• 49:49Speaker 04

  Tony was in one Charlie. So he was the other half of the the element that went up. So it was a third platoon led the way because we weren't on the CSAR. So we didn't have all the recovery and crash axes and all this stuff to do that. So we we kind of plowed the way, if you will. And we were there to kind of take the brunt of any contact that was going to be made because we were just there to add security to to what they were going to come in and do. And as far as recovery, that was, you know, one Charlie's tasking at the time. So that was that was where Tony was. And

• 50:27Jack Murphy?

  Okay, cool.

• 50:29Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, no, it's cool to get like some different perspectives on it. So so then what was your platoon? Yeah, I mean, you just explained what your platoon's role was, but then walk us through infill and getting on the ground.

• 50:40Speaker 04

  So infill, we infilled somewhere about probably about 8,000 feet, you know, what we could get to with the package size that we had on the aircraft. And so there we knew there wasn't a way to land anywhere up there. So we knew it's going to be a rope and it was going to be at least a minimum of 40 footer. And it ended up 40. And then as a rope drifts, you know, it kind of goes 40 to 60 to you know, as as it works out. And then when one Charlie came in, I know their rope started at 60 and it ended at somewhere around 80.

• 51:15Jack Murphy?

  Tony Tony said they just roped down into fog with like no idea of where the bottom was.

• 51:20Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, it was. Well, I mean, the fog came in after we were already on the ground. I know what he's talking about because

• 51:28Speaker 04

  you know, it is just the way the weather was working and.

• 51:35Speaker 04

  You know, it's just, it was, it was, you know, one of those points where I, I never really, you know, after a private, I never roped with, with leather gloves, you know, fa- fast roping, you know, the working work gloves anymore. I always did it in, I'm a nomac shooting gloves.

• 51:48Jack Murphy?

  The hamburger helpers gloves.

• 51:50Speaker 04

  Yeah, I never tried, like trying to take those gloves off and always felt like my hands got so much hotter and you had a, uh, team sergeant said, hey, just, just rope in your shooting gloves because you don't have to grip the rope as tight. You, this pays the heat just as well. And he said, just try it on the fast rope tower. So I did. And that's, that's a 40 foot rope and you know, it wasn't terrible. And then I was watching guys carrying two 40s and stuff roping in and they've got the big thick gloves on and they're squeezing extra tight just to have a feeling on the rope.

• 52:18Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 52:19Speaker 04

  And so then they're burning in, you know, and their hands are getting so hot that, you know, they're blistering at, you know, still 10 or 15 feet above ground and they're just letting go. They're like, I'll just, deal with it when it hit the ground. And you know, when one Charlie came in, you know, they had the, the same problem and guys were falling off and then they were just ending up in a big pile. And I know their RTO had, had his, uh, arm broken because he got stepped on.

• 52:45Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, that's.

• 52:46Speaker 04

  And so, you know, you got guys that need to get medevac, but you ain't getting medevac.

• 52:50Jack Murphy?

  Yeah. Yeah. So what, what was it like for your platoon roping in and, and getting on the ground?

• 52:56Speaker 04

  Uh, it, it wasn't, we didn't have any contact or anything. Um, and it was, it was quiet, you know, and then when you, when the, the brownout cleared and, and all the, you know, the wash of everything and you know, you kind of look up the mountain, you know, you, you can see the crash because it's still on fire, still burning. And it's just kind of one of those, uh, ominous moments, if you will, you just kind of, you know, the gravity of what you're doing has, has finally set in because you're seeing it with your own eyes and not on a TV screen.

• 53:32Speaker 04

  And then you know, it just becomes the all night walk uphill through the nettles and you know, the Scotch burn or not Scotch burn, but you know, the pines and and all the ground cover that's up there in the mountains and it's just.

• 53:49Speaker 05

  Were you guys, was there any intelligence that there were enemies on the objective or around the objective?

• 53:56Speaker 04

  We had, you know, um, NAIs around the area, but it wasn't anything like, um,

• 54:05Speaker 04

  on, on the objective. We, there wasn't any movement on, on there, you know, throughout the day or, or anything. And there wasn't, there wasn't any, you know, people coming and going from it. Um, I think, you know, looking back at it now as they realized what they had done and what was about to happen. And so they were just kind of got a little bit of standoff and they really were, it was to observe, you know, how we were going to take care of it.

• 54:33Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 54:33Speaker 04

  And so, you know, um, as the, the, that day turned into, you know, a week to two weeks, you know, this at night, you know, you see little fires on the mountain and, you know, get eyes on it as best you can. And then AC 130s dropping, you know, 105s on it.

• 54:51Speaker 05

  Yeah. So what was that first movement, that first night? What was the movement like for you guys? How long did it take?

• 54:58Speaker 04

  It took all night. It, we didn't get to the top until about an hour before, um, you know, sunrise and then we're sitting there on it and then kind of listening to one Charlie, you know, suck their way up the mountain. And then, uh, one Bravo was still about halfway up the mountain because they had driven in from Jalalabad the night or the morning that it happened. They drove up the 90K in their trucks and then they started walking from the base of the mountain up and they didn't make it until the next day.

• 55:33Speaker 04

  And you know, only about half the guys that started to climb up the mountain made it up. The rest of them had to go back down and and get picked up by the the trucks and and you know, because they just either heat heat exhaustion or you know, twisted ankles and whatnot.

• 55:51Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah. And so what did that, what was the next like week to what how, what did that set in motion for you guys in particular?

• 56:01Speaker 04

  So what it set in motion for us was, um, you know, priority tasking was to accountability and recovery of all, you know, members of that aircraft crew and then the the QRF team that was on there. So that totaled sixteen and so we got those numbers, you know, kind of early afternoon and um, there was a small clearing on top of the the mountain. You could put a small helicopter like little bird on it, but it was um, you know, CDS drops for demolitions and uh, you know, basically had to create an HLZ to be able to get everybody off that mountain that, you know, the remains for those guys. And so um, it was kind of a

• 56:46Speaker 04

  was a a good distraction, if you will, to do timber charges and and clear that space to to be able to make enough room to bring, you know, helicopter in and and so um, we just finished our regimental breachers course. And uh, so all that old stuff, you know, that that timber stuff was still fresh in everybody's mind. So it was a, you know, we're all sitting there trying to do the math and the first arms are like, use the P method.

• 57:14Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 57:15Speaker 04

  So we're sending tree stumps and everything up, you know, like Roman candles. It was, you know, just pack as much explosives in these little burrow holes underneath and launch it. And so that that was fun. We cleared that and then we got to tasking for um, you know, what would turn out to be go down the mountain and and find Marcus um. And so that that started the fun of the mountain weather moved in that night and dumped on us and we're trying to walk downhill and you know, the trails a little stream bed at the time. And so guys are slipping and falling and guys are trying to not fall off the the ridge.

• 57:53Speaker 04

  And then we end up, uh, just for safety reasons, you know, we end up spending the last few hours kind of huddled under pine trees, waiting for the sun to come up so that we don't lose anybody.

• 58:03Jack Murphy?

  How many guys did you have left in your platoon at this point?

• 58:06Speaker 04

  Uh, we had split the four. So we had two, two squads in the PL's package. So, you know, the platoon leader, RTO, FO were with us and then the platoon sergeant had his, you know, uh, one squad, two machine guns. You know, on, still on the top and on the, on the top of the mountain and, um.

• 58:32Jack Murphy?

  Close to the crash site.

• 58:33Speaker 04

  We, we knew what we were, yeah, they were still up there with, with one Charlie and, and reinforcing them. And we're just kind of the, uh, the maneuver element, if you will, um, going down and trying to confirm or deny what this, uh, push to talk signal was that, that we were getting, uh, being triangulated down into this. I, I always forget the name of the village, so I can't even remember it.

• 58:56Jack Murphy?

  So you guys, you guys had to kind of like hide, hide out, not hide out, but you know, take cover under the pine trees until dawn and then continue to move down to where this, you know, extensively, there is a sigint hit that you had to go investigate.

• 59:12Speaker 04

  Right. And so that was basically confirm or deny. Um, you know, was it enemy recovered American equipment or was it actually in fact, you know, uh, Murphy's team or, you know, what, what the question mark was still for that. And that was kind of where we were at for the tasking, you know, the, the crash had been accounted for. So now we're just trying to figure out, you know, the fate of, you know, this four man SEAL team. And so, um, you know, finally pushed down in there.

• 59:43Speaker 05

  Was it a consistent signal that you guys were going off of, or was it just like a single, a couple of hits and they're like, okay, around this general area?

• 59:52Speaker 04

  Um, no, it was, it wasn't like a consistent, but you know, it was like somebody just key in the, key in the push to talk. You know, intermittently enough to get a, you know, an orbital transmission to triangulate, uh, you know, where it was and. Um, so it's kind of confirm or deny what that was. So, you know, there was an SF team that was walking up that we tied in with.

• 1:00:16Jack Murphy?

  Okay.

• 1:00:16Speaker 04

  And, uh, then pushed back down into this, this little, uh, village. And then, um, you know, as we're. Doing the Ranger smash through all the doors and clearing the village, you know, here comes Marcus, you know, from up from where they had him hidden. And kind of stashed and so, um, you know, confirm that and then start, you know, doing the.

• 1:00:36Jack Murphy?

  So, so they actually brought Marcus out to, to meet you guys.

• 1:00:41Speaker 04

  Right. They knew why we were there. They knew what we were looking for. And so it was to, you know, hand him over and then do the. You know, the kind of the whole SF thing where they do the, you know, let's drink some tea and talk and, you know.

• 1:00:54Jack Murphy?

  Well, what, what was that moment like? What was that moment like when you first got face to face with Marcus and confirmed this guy's alive? And what, what was your, your perception of all that?

• 1:01:04Speaker 04

  Um.

• 1:01:07Speaker 04

  I don't know. The big question, you know, that we, you know, the first thing that we asked was once, you know, we went through the whole challenge and, and kind of confirmed that it is him, you know, through the whole. You know, M I P O W M I A cards that, you know, we all fill out and going through that. It was, you know. Dude, where's everybody else?

• 1:01:26Speaker 04

  You know, and then, um, you know, he's like, they're dead.

• 1:01:31Speaker 04

  Well, okay, great. Not great, but you know, it's like, okay, but where? They're on the mountain.

• 1:01:40Speaker 04

  That's it. You know, it's kind of that, uh, you can't give me anything more. This CEO has just started kind of a frustration thing and I get it, you know, he'd been. You know, it wasn't, it probably wouldn't have been fun to come down that mountain the way he says he came down that mountain. Um, but. You know, I. I would like to hope to think that, you know, if my friends were dead on that mountain, I could at least remember some kind of terrain feature that. I could at least tell somebody that they're, you know, they're up here in this area.

• 1:02:11Jack Murphy?

  And so what was the next step after that initial, you had that initial questioning of Marcus? What, what happened next?

• 1:02:20Speaker 04

  So then what happened next was, you know, we just kind of secured the little village that we were at and, you know, confirmed that it was him passed up, you know, over sap that, you know, we had him and then we were in control of him and then we just had to sit and wait for nightfall to come so that we could bring in the medevac bird and, and get him out.

• 1:02:40Speaker 04

  And then it just started, you know,

• 1:02:44Speaker 04

  days and days and days of

• 1:02:47Speaker 04

  sweeping and searching this mountainside.

• 1:02:50Jack Murphy?

  For the rest of the team?

• 1:02:52Speaker 04

  For the rest of the team.

• 1:02:55Jack Murphy?

  I, I mean, did you guys eventually find, find the, the remains of those three other guys?

• 1:03:02Speaker 04

  Yeah, we exfil Marcus and then the next day, you know, we were sweeping the lower portion of this, of this

• 1:03:09Speaker 04

  spur and the other half of our platoon was coming from the top of the ridge. Down, we were just kind of meeting in the middle. And so after we had met in the middle and, you know, kind of traded information and they got a break. Um, you know, they started to climb back up for the night. We turned around and it started coming back down to, to finish our sweep. They stumbled on, on two of the remains just by happenstance. Somebody lost their footing and slipped into a little wash and, and ended up, you know, face first with, with two of them.

• 1:03:40Jack Murphy?

  Oh, man. That's rough.

• 1:03:42Speaker 04

  And so well, the rough part was is they still had to go like

• 1:03:49Speaker 04

  800 meters vertically with, you know, two, two sets of remains and all we have is the old school poncho method to, to carry them up.

• 1:03:59Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:03:59Speaker 04

  Uh, cause you couldn't do it with a litter. So it was wrapping them up in the poncho and, and kind of getting them up as best as possible. And, you know, then they had to carry it, traverse them across the ridge back over to the, the HLZ. And, um, you know, and then it, it, that was the hard part is after that. Now we're just looking for one person.

• 1:04:21Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:04:22Speaker 04

  And, you know, we ended up searching for, oh man, oh, well, probably another 10 days before we got ripped out when 375 came in.

• 1:04:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, and, and

• 1:04:33Speaker 04

  At that point, you know, we're, we're, we're 14 days, 12 or 12 days into this whole thing and it's, guys are just gassed.

• 1:04:40Speaker 05

  Yeah, I remember Tony saying that, I mean, the weather, you guys weren't getting enough water, that it, it was just, it was just nonstop for you guys.

• 1:04:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, it was, you know, from sunup to sundown, you know, and then you gotta, you know, we're pulling security and small elements and so you're not getting much sleep and guys are getting sick with, you know, dehydration stuff or guys are getting, you know, you know what happens and you, you get a bad MRE and then you got a little bit of food poisoning or whatever and, work doesn't stop, you just gotta keep going, even though you've got a little bit of food poisoning from an MRE that may have spoiled and you ate it anyway and

• 1:05:24Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:05:25Speaker 04

  So.

• 1:05:27Speaker 05

  Yeah. So you guys get ripped out before you find the, uh, the final body?

• 1:05:37Speaker 04

  Yeah, and then, but we got ripped out and then, uh, so I want to say it was probably eight hours later. You know, that 375 had, had found the, uh, the, the last one.

• 1:05:51Speaker 04

  And so, uh, you know, we were happy that we were upset that, you know, we didn't end up finding him, you know, because somebody else had to come in, but you know, we were glad it was over with.

• 1:06:01Speaker 05

  Right. Right.

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• 1:07:57Jack Murphy?

  Well, you said that you mentioned earlier on that, you know, there were things that you pieced together years after the event. Because at the time, you know, you're a sergeant, you're reacting on the ground as things unfold in front of you, doing the best you can. I just wanted to ask you real quick, you know, what's your perception of what what happened out there today versus what it was? When you were actually there as a younger man? I mean, is there anything you've learned, anything that kind of like opened up your scope or offered a wider context? That was surprising to you or that kind of that you look at this event much differently today than you did at the time?

• 1:08:37Speaker 04

  I think it just what you know it comes to mind is you know the the amount of effort that goes into this type of situation is one of those things that we never trained for. When you know, nobody ever goes into a training scenario that oh, we're gonna have aircraft shot down, we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do that, and then all this kind of stuff and. So it's like the worst of everything. Um, you know, as far as the circumstances and it's trying to understand all the pieces, you know, the wizard behind the curtain, if you will, of of what's going on. And you know, it's all the questions that we asked after we got back, you know, why did it take so long for us to launch? Uh, you know.

• 1:09:18Speaker 04

  What were the circumstances and you know, it's it's um, when this type of situation happens, it's it is everything stops in in in theater. Uh, you know, and then it's it's all assets shift focus and it's trying to. Put everything in place so that way, you know, like I said, you know, when we do commit the force, it is. You know, with all the odds can be stacked in our favor as best as possible.

• 1:09:49Speaker 04

  And so, you know. Not not to jump forward too far, but you know, it's kind of one of those things that always stuck in my head. And then when the extortion one seven shoot down happened. You know, we're on the ground and so then it's I can explain, you know, because I'm the old fart at this time. You know, it's kind of explains the voice on the fly is like, hey, look, you know, this is what's happening behind the scene, you know, we're here in the middle of it. Right now, but this is what's going on on the backside. And so it's not that, you know, we're not going to get things that we need, but. There are steps and things that have to that have to happen. And so it was one of those that was the big learning lesson for me was.

• 1:10:29Speaker 04

  You know, what are what are all these steps on the backside of of this type of um. Scenario.

• 1:10:37Jack Murphy?

  It's uh, as we we talked about on on last Friday's episode, I mean, it's it's amazing. The effort that the US military will go through to recover our soldiers, uh. Even if it's only to recover their remains, that'll go through incredible lengths to uh to to repatriate. Every American troop. Um, it's just incredible.

• 1:10:58Speaker 04

  Right. Right, you know, that was, you know, um, the, um, Warfighter series on History Channel. We did a segment with, with this Marcus Luttrell, uh, Red Wings recovery and, and you know, something that he said, you know, it's, you know, when they get in trouble, you know, they it's, it's not expected, but you know, when they say that the Rangers are coming in, you know, it's, they're coming in with everything, you know, cause you know, we're bringing everybody that we can, and we're bringing all the toys and all the stuff and, you know, we're bringing a big footprint.

• 1:11:36Speaker 04

  And.

• 1:11:38Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, it.

• 1:11:43Speaker 05

  I, I mean, and, you know, even though it was, it was challenging for all the Rangers involved, I mean,

• 1:11:51Speaker 05

  I, we, I mean, I'm grateful and I think, you know, obviously the families are grateful, like, everybody's grateful that, that those SEALs did come home, you know, that they were found. Um, because that would also be a horrible, you know, thing for a family to go, are they just out there missing? You know, are they still alive, being held somewhere like?

• 1:12:11Jack Murphy?

  To this day, I mean, DPAA, I mean, we deal with it with our Vietnam veterans, uh, you know, there, there's like a hundred and fifty Special Forces soldiers alone, I believe, were missing somewhere in Laos in Cambodia. And I mean, that's just terrible.

• 1:12:25Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah. Um, so after, did it, aside from that, you guys ripped out, so you left Afghanistan at that point, correct?

• 1:12:38Speaker 04

  Yeah, that was our last op, you know, we were out of there with just a, a couple of days, long enough to, you know, download the ammunition, pack everything up, throw it in the pallet and get on aircraft. We were, we were out.

• 1:12:48Speaker 05

  And then you turned around and then you were in Mosul in two thousand and six. And, uh, I thought you're, yeah, I thought that your, uh, your, your chapter name Fast and Less Furious was, was funny. Can you, can you tell us why you, why you called your chapter that?

• 1:13:05Speaker 04

  Uh, it was just a.

• 1:13:09Speaker 04

  I'm not really sure anymore. It was just kind of a play on, on words with, you know, you know, things are speeding up in Afghanistan, but you know, or in Iraq, but you know, not necessarily are we having more fun, if you will, there's not, you know, we're smashing targets and taking guys in, but we're not really getting in the fight.

• 1:13:29Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:13:29Speaker 04

  No gunfights really going on.

• 1:13:32Speaker 05

  And part of that, the way, what I got from this chapter and the way you explained it, the reason you weren't getting in as many gunfights is because you guys had really nailed down how to do these hits and that 98% of these hits were done silently, where the bad guys never even knew you were there until.

• 1:13:55Speaker 04

  Exactly. You know, it was one of these, you know, so we've just come out of Afghanistan. We've been dealing with this and you know, the other battalions are, are, you know, kind of setting this new trend, if you will, this new TTP for this, what we're calling silent entry. And, you know, it's not the traditional Ranger blow the front door open, go in, smash everything. It's, you know, how can we come in as sneaky and quiet as absolutely possible. And, you know, basically we're waking people up out of a dead sleep to take these targets. And so, you know, at first you're like, oh, this is such a big letdown. But then as you start going on and it, it really becomes this thing that we're all kind of driving for is, you know,

• 1:14:36Speaker 04

  mission success is now not how much can we smash, but how, how successfully can we get in repeatedly, silently, without firing any of these shots, because now we're getting all of this intel from all these people through interrogations and all this stuff. And so, you know, when you shift your mindset, kind of away from the traditional, you know, what we like to call the Ranger smash. And now we're kind of playing on the same TTPs and, and kind of lines that, you know, Team Six guys are playing on and Delta Force is playing in, and they've been having success for, you know, years. And, you know, all kinds of settings around the world that they're employed in, you know, we can, as a Ranger regiment, we can employ these types of, you know, operational.

• 1:15:23Speaker 04

  Guidelines that we're gonna go do this and we're gonna do it as quietly and mission success is now based on the amount of people that we can not kill on target, but we can drag off target.

• 1:15:32Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:15:34Speaker 04

  You know, and then it really becomes the, the driving force, you know, mission success is now. Can we do it and how many times can we do it? And then, you know, it's kind of the, not necessarily mission failure, but you know, if shots are have to be, you know, fired in.

• 1:15:50Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:15:50Speaker 04

  You know, what did we do wrong that, that got us into that gunfight because it's really impressive, you know, a- as a leader, when you can bring like. Thirteen plus guys into a target building and roll up fourteen or fifteen dudes.

• 1:16:06Speaker 05

  Uh huh.

• 1:16:06Speaker 04

  Without anybody knowing that you're even in the room.

• 1:16:10Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:16:12Speaker 04

  And so, you know, that was, you know, and then when we started going into, to other techniques later on, you know, was like, but we're so good at this. Why are we switching to doing this other thing and, and, you know? Uh, I, I never really liked what we call prefer, you know, later on, it would be the, the call out and I understand the, the, you know, as a leader, the, uh, the. Thought behind it is that it's less risk to force because we're now telling the enemy, and, and, you know, for those of people who don't understand it's kind of like what, you know, a SWAT team will do. Or, you know, the FBI does.

• 1:16:50Speaker 04

  You know, when they surround a, a house or a compound or whatever, and then they're getting on loudspeakers and they're telling people to come out and surrender and. And all that, but you know, it's never the fun way to do it. It's kind of. You know, if you will, it's boring.

• 1:17:05Speaker 05

  Right, right.

• 1:17:06Jack Murphy?

  Walk us through like one of those ops that really like stands out in your mind where you, you know, you just kind of like pride open the front door and, and Rangers and night vision just kind of slip through and.

• 1:17:18Speaker 04

  Um, well, there was, uh, Mosel, we, we had one op and I mean, we had been in probably four or five houses down the block trying to get the, the right house. And, and when we finally did get the right house, you know, we popped the front door open all nice and quiet. And I mean, there was no, there was no reverberation off the metal door or anything. We had, you know, pressure and counter pressure working and, and, you know, we ended up, you know, sliding in all nice and, and quiet. And then, you know, I had a whole squad of guys, you know, pulling security on dudes. And then it was, you know, we had the first floor, you know, secure as, as far as, you know, guys are, we got guns on the right amount of people. And, and, you know, we've got a whole nother squad is sneaking in to take care of, you know, what needs to be going on upstairs.

• 1:18:03Speaker 04

  And everybody's all super quiet and, you know, we're basically, we take the whole house down all in one shot. And we end up with like 16 detainees. And, you know, the whole target's done in 45 minutes. We got everybody's tagged and bagged. We've done all the site exploitation and, and, you know, and then we're, we're on to the next objective.

• 1:18:24Speaker 05

  Yeah, that, that's amazing.

• 1:18:28Speaker 04

  When, when, you know, when, when you can look back at that and, and be like, wow, as a part of that. And, you know, that, that worked out great. And, and, you know, when you can explain,

• 1:18:39Speaker 04

  you know, that, that is, you know, mission success because, you know, intel drives the targeting. And when you don't kill the intelligence, then you get more targets and you get to go have more fun.

• 1:18:52Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:18:53Speaker 04

  Uh, you know, when you could explain that to the younger guys who are, you know, 19, 20 and just kind of chomping at the bit. And it's like, no, hey, relax, relax. We're, we're being smooth. We're being quiet. You know, this, we started, you know, climbing walls and, and, you know, then, then it became the whole, you know, can we do a top down, you know, can we come in from one building or can we ladder up the side of the building? And, and, you know, not only can we come in from the ground floor, but can we send an assault force in from the top floor and, and still do it all silent? You know, the, it just becomes a, a whole other side of.

• 1:19:32Speaker 04

  You know, this developing persona that we're creating in the Ranger Regiment, it's not just are we the ability to go smash things, but we can be as precision as anybody else, but do it with twice as many people.

• 1:19:46Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:19:49Jack Murphy?

  I, I want to take just one second here to give a, a little advertisement actually for our own podcast. We have a Patreon site and there's a link down the description if you guys check it out. And if you join, you will get ad free episodes. You get all these episodes without any of the ads in them. And there's also a couple of bonus episodes and bonus segments that you guys can check out. So the link's down in the description. That's all I wanted to throw out there tonight.

• 1:20:18Speaker 05

  Oh, you get deep thoughts by Jack and Dave sitting in our smoking pajamas and, you know, talking about the way of the world, plus a lot of great bonus content.

• 1:20:28Jack Murphy?

  Yes.

• 1:20:30Speaker 05

  But, uh, so then after Missoula, you guys did Ramadi, which is a lot more of the same, but now you guys are operating on boats.

• 1:20:39Speaker 04

  Yeah, we're on the, on the swift boats on the Sock Cars.

• 1:20:42Speaker 05

  No shit.

• 1:20:43Speaker 04

  Yep. So that, you know, it was a, it was different. It was totally fun. I mean, um, you know, cause at the time you gotta remember Ramadi and Fluzia, they're still on the, you know, still a wild west out there. You know, Marines are still having it out all day long, every day. And we're trying to, you know, kind of squeeze in the seams and do what we're doing. And, uh, you know, we had a company commander at the time. He was notorious for, you know, any holiday. It was the day that, you know, he had been blown up. And so he didn't really like to drive anymore. And so he's like, the only holiday I've never been blown up on is Halloween. And so we took the ground assault force out in strikers and, uh, hit a target, driving back and, uh, his truck gets popped.

• 1:21:28Speaker 04

  And, um, you know, it was what we call a catastrophic vehicle kill. So it's a striker, but it had a hole penetration. And, uh, it was enough to penetrate the bottom of the floor. And then what came through stuck in the back of the, the seat on the driver. But nobody, nobody was hurt and you know, it was testament to the striker as a vehicle platform that we were using it blew all the circuit breakers in the vehicle and all the driver had to do was just reach around, push the breakers in and start back up. And it drove all the way back to the gate. And then it gave up the ghost, you know, the whole, the steering linkage in the front broke apart and it was plugging the, uh, the ECP there at the, uh, at the gate onto Ramadi. And so that was kind of fun because we had to move the,

• 1:22:10Speaker 04

  the T barriers out of the way to open it up so we could get the wrecker in there to, uh, hook onto it because there wasn't a way to, to pull it through the chicanes. Um, with, with that, with all those barricades in place. So we had to, you know, it was probably a three hour process to get that truck. Through the gate, you know, we got all the marine convoys and army convoys and Ramadi, they're all backed up sitting outside waiting for us to, to move our piece of junk. And so, uh, after that, you know, the team six guys were like, hey, we've got, you know, the boats are down. You know, at the little offsite, you know, on the, on the river and you know, um, we can start employing those. And so we started doing, you know, boats in helicopters out or helicopters in and boats out. That's pretty cool.

• 1:22:54Speaker 04

  Kind of, and riding the rivers. And, uh, it was definitely really cool because we could get way closer to target. Uh, on the boats than, um, you could with, you know, helicopters without the noise signature and, uh, it just, you know, opened up a whole nother avenue of, of a technique that we hadn't really, you know, been utilizing, um, and it was, uh,

• 1:23:19Speaker 05

  Yeah, I just

• 1:23:20Speaker 04

  Only thing, only thing I wish that it was, it had to been in the summertime instead of in the winter.

• 1:23:26Speaker 05

  Yeah, I bet.

• 1:23:27Jack Murphy?

  I've never been to Ramadi before, so I'm, I'm actually looking up on the map. So the Euphrates kind of runs right through the center of the city and there's a few like outlets. One of, one of which it looks like it runs right into like the city center.

• 1:23:40Speaker 04

  Um, right.

• 1:23:41Jack Murphy?

  That's pretty, that's pretty cool, man. So you were, you said you were able to get closer to target using the boats.

• 1:23:47Speaker 04

  Yeah, we could get within, you know, a K of, of the target building or, you know, depending, sometimes it was within, you know, four or 500 meters of the target. And so, you know, you have the last, you know, the, the LCC is, you know, basically at the boat drop off point on the beach and then, you know, move the target and take the target down. And

• 1:24:09Speaker 04

  you know, then move the exfil.

• 1:24:12Speaker 04

  And, you know, just short helicopter ride back onto the base. And so it was, uh, you know, it was definitely fun because we were the, one of the first to actually implement it. And so, uh,

• 1:24:25Speaker 04

  you know, we kind of got to be on the, on the front side of that as far as what the Red Rangers were doing with, you know, boat, boat ops.

• 1:24:33Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, now, did you guys, did you guys have those? I mean, I know that boat ops was always supposed to be a Ranger thing, but it really, we only, at least like in the nineties, we only used it for training. Like, did you guys have those in theater? Did you acquire them? Did somebody else have them and you borrowed them? How, how did that all start?

• 1:24:53Speaker 04

  Well, it was the, there were the SWCC boats. So the teams brought them and the, so the, the SWCC teams were the guys, they were manning all the boats. And so they're the SAW cars, the, the, you know, the 900 horsepower twin jet drive.

• 1:25:07Speaker 04

  Uh, you know, 40 foot uh, salt boats. And so, you know, they've got a whole, there's a whole crew, this Navy guys that drive the boats, gun the boats. All we did was just get a ride. And, um,

• 1:25:19Jack Murphy?

  That's pretty cool, man. I, I never even knew the Rangers did that. That's interesting.

• 1:25:25Speaker 04

  Yeah, it was a, it was definitely fun. Um, you know, in the, in the, the boats of, you know, everybody's like, well, I wouldn't want to do that. Well, it's a fully armored boat. You know, it's 900 horsepower. It'll do 50 miles an hour on the water and

• 1:25:37Jack Murphy?

  Safer, safer than driving. It's safer than driving down a road that's packed full of IED.

• 1:25:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, must they're like deploying mines or something like mines. Yeah, exactly. Well, there had been, there was a time, you know, early on where the enemy had been trying to figure out how to IED the river. And they couldn't figure out how to do it. And there wasn't any success with it. They tried hanging them from the bridges, but you know, you can see that. And then they tried to uh, plant them in the riverbanks, but it wasn't anything that was going to cause any kind of lethality to the boat. So they just basically gave it up. It's like, well, if they're going to use them, then there's something that we can do about it until they come on target.

• 1:26:17Speaker 05

  So, uh, I, I know that, so we have like more Mosul and Afghanistan. And I don't want to leave too much out, but I also really want to get to I, I want to talk about, um, 2011.

• 1:26:33Speaker 05

  Um, I want to make sure we talk about that. Uh, am I missing anything? I'll speak, uh, yeah. So can we talk about, about, about your injury, about how all that came about?

• 1:26:45Speaker 04

  Yeah. So do you want to skip the extortion?

• 1:26:48Speaker 05

  Oh, no, no, let's talk about the extortion. Yeah, let's talk about extortion 17 first. Yeah. Sorry about that.

• 1:26:54Speaker 04

  No, that's okay. I, we can. So this was kind of the, uh, the 2011, um, deployment was the, it was the last of the, the surge, the special ops surge into, you know, Petraeus's surge into Afghanistan and, and kind of in, increasing that force. So, uh, BCO was the last company in second range battalion to, uh, surge, whether stay late or, or go early. And, um, so we just finished the, uh, the CAPEX at Fort Barag, which is the big, you know, the special ops dog and pony show for congressmen and uh, you know, the president and, and all that stuff.

• 1:27:34Speaker 04

  Which was fine because it gave us, you know, an extra week of training with, you know, 160th and, and some. You know, platoon time, if you will, to run around and work through, fine tune some TTPs and some SOPs and uh, bring some of the new guys a little bit tighter online with, you know, how we were gonna accomplish these, these tasks when we getting overseas. So, um, you know, we got tasked to go to, um, uh, Fob Shank, uh, and be tasked with, uh, Team Six, uh, under their command. And so, uh, we went over and, and did that. And, uh, you know, we had a pretty good working relationship with, with, uh, Gold Squadron, um, for, for that,

• 1:28:19Speaker 04

  uh, early part of that deployment. And then, uh, the, uh, you know, night of August 6 rolls around. And so, um, Objective Lefty Grove comes up on the table as a, you know, it's a, a target that had been tracked and chased and kind of lost, but never could get a lot of fidelity to, to it. Cause he's a pretty dynamic target, meaning he's constantly on the move and, and, you know, hard to nail down to, to one location, but he had rolled into the Tangy Valley on this, you know, this day and, and Siget had kind of pinned him into a certain location inside the, the valley and a little cluster of buildings. And it was enough that

• 1:29:00Speaker 04

  it was probably about 70% fidelity on the, on the objective targeting that it was, it was still solid. And, um, we had just come off a few days of weather. And, uh, we're looking at maybe some more days of weather on, on the back end of this. So it was, we had this little like two day window of, of good weather to, to do an op. And I was kind of, you know, looked at the, at my P L and, you know, we went to Chow and we were sitting there having the conversation. I'm like, look, I'm willing to take a swing at 70%, you know, for this target, you know? Uh, you know, we're gonna be stuck sitting for weather for a few days and I, I don't, you know, we've already been stuck sitting and Ranger doesn't do well sitting, sitting around

• 1:29:43Speaker 04

  with, with weather. We don't have anything to do. So, you know, I was like, I'm willing to take a swing at 70, you know, we're going into Tangy Valley. So it's basically guaranteed gunfight and. Um, you know, what do you think? And he's like, yeah, I'm willing to take a swing on seventy percent. So we went back and pitched it that we'll take a swing at it. And if nothing else, you know, we'll let him know that we're chasing him and kind of break his pattern of life and and usually when we can do that and break the pattern of life on people. That's when they start making mistakes and it becomes easier to um, you know, launch, launch a follow on operation because he's not sure what he needs to do.

• 1:30:21Speaker 04

  And so, you know, we uh, drew up the plan and um, uh, got approval and and then uh, briefed the plan, pitched the plan to the boys. And you know, it was one of the only times I've ever told the boys, uh, that's actually was the only time I ever told them, I was like, you know, this is the tangy valley. And and it's not an if we're going to get into a gunfight. It is a one hundred percent. We are walking into a gunfight on this night. And there's a reason why we only go into this valley on the the no illumination cycle. And that's because they're going to shoot at anything, helicopters, aircraft, people. So, you know, switch it on, put it on straight.

• 1:31:03Speaker 04

  And, you know, we're going to get it on tonight. And so we had an uneventful, you know, infill and no rounds taken. Because we had flown in uh, extortion one, six and one, seven had been our infill aircraft. And so then they um, flew back, cycled through and uh, gold squadron was on uh, QRF. For for us or any follow on objectives that that came up from what we were doing. And um,

• 1:31:33Speaker 04

  so infill, got the guys on, got the boys on the ground, uh, you know, started movement to the objective, got word that, you know, there was um, eight to ten enemy fighters moving off the objective. And so. We uh, hold the formation, got clearance for fires with the Apache gunships and, and lit into with the Apache gunships. Uh, two gun runs per aircraft and, and then push the target. Uneventful after that and then cleared through the, the contact. And uh, had stirred up a bunch of, you know, stuff. In, in the valley and so, you know, I was, it's just, you know, guys in their rebel rousing.

• 1:32:17Speaker 04

  Um, trying to get guys to come out and, you know, gather a force to come and fight and so we're clearing through our target and. Uh, you know, it's, it's looking good for. What's being seen on ISR because they're seeing a bigger picture than what I've seen within, you know, a thousand meter circle of my objective and so the. The call came from the, from the jock to uh, my platoon leader and myself was like, hey, are you guys gonna go? You know, you're gonna go push farther into the valley and, and, you know. Take on this contact and, and at the time, you know, we're working a pretty good objective and we were actually kind of thought we had what we were looking for on the objective as far as who we went into the. The valley to get and um, we said, no.

• 1:33:02Speaker 04

  No, we think we're, we're working it and we have what we want. Um, they said, you know, do you care if, you know, gold squadron comes in and. You know, it starts their own movement to contact on, on the rest of this objective and, you know, about 5K to the west of you and I said, well, that's. Plenty of deconfliction of space for small arms fire. So if they want to come in, you know. And that's what they want to do, good on them, you know, it has had been a, a pre-briefed. Uh, discussion between um. My platoon leader, myself, uh, Jonas and Lou, the, the. Master chief and the commander for the gold squadron that, hey, look, if, if it does ever happen, that it's a single objective, but we end up bringing in the other element.

• 1:33:45Speaker 04

  You know, we'll link up and then we'll just kind of work exfil. You know, as, as it plays out and if we have cycle aircraft and we'll cycle aircraft and, you know. Um, we'll just get it done. And it's like, okay, great, awesome. So. We knew how that was gonna go. We kind of had a pre, pre-planned position where we were gonna link up, you know. If that had happened and. Um, you know, we. Got the word that they were loading on the extortion and we weren't sure which way they were going to come into the valley and we kind of said, hey, we recommend, you know, if you overfly our objective, then we can at least, you know, provide ground cover or anything.

• 1:34:28Speaker 04

  And, you know, but that will, you know, we only get a small amount of say and it doesn't really carry that much weight as far as what the airplaneers are doing. Um, you know, because these are conventional aircraft, so the pilots are only flying what's been approved through their S3 airshop and, and so, you know, what we were saying to our jock is not necessarily making it over to theirs. And so we were like, well, okay. So you get the call that their wheels up and they're 10 minutes out and, uh, so we wanted to clear one more building. So we've kind of pushed to try and clear the building real quick and, get the call that, you know, they're six minutes out and then, uh, three minutes out. And so we held our, our assault and what we're doing and we're just kind of sitting there waiting.

• 1:35:12Speaker 04

  And I'm waiting, I'm waiting to see the birds flush after infill and, and so that we're not, you know, if we end up shooting on target that we're not getting to ricocheting something into aircraft because they're within, you know, small arms distance and then that, that never happened. Kind of wondering what's going on and then we get over the fires net from the F O's that there's a fallen angel and I had known what the, you know, the, the pro word, if you will, is, and I was just kind of dumbstruck by it. And I said, say that again. And he's like, we have a fallen angel. And I was like, okay, now so that my brain and my, you know, it's all connecting, you know, speaking English.

• 1:35:55Speaker 04

  And, uh, he goes extortion's been shot down. And I was like, okay, great. So then it was, you know, how fast can we back out of this target building? How fast can I get the guys on the load and get them to start moving? Even though we don't know exactly where it is yet, it's, I just know the general direction that we need to go, which was to the west. And so we got the boys backed out of the objective, off the objective, and we're moving in about three minutes. You know, as far as getting guys pushed out and then it's trying to, all the weapons and everything that we had accumulated on our objective is trying to. Take all that stuff with us and you know, get everybody and everything on the move and and not leave.

• 1:36:41Speaker 04

  You know, all this stuff to.

• 1:36:45Speaker 04

  Potentially be shot in the back with it. So send it forward and find a place to blow it in place and.

• 1:36:52Speaker 04

  You know, then the question comes to like, what do we do with all these detainees? And so it just becomes, well, leave them. And, uh, you know. People are like, well, are you going to untie him? I was like, nope, somebody will come over and cut him loose later.

• 1:37:07Speaker 04

  I'm not, not cutting anybody loose. They can figure it out. Right. And so we got off the objective and started moving. I just. You know, I'll never forget, you know, when the lead element and the snipers and the, the dog handler finally got within eyesight of. You know, around the terrain feature and it was just this. Uh, you know, I won't use the profanity, but it was one of those, oh my God moments. You know, the whole night sky is just lit up with just fire. And, you know, the, the, the burning wreck of it and, you know.

• 1:37:42Speaker 04

  Uh, you know, we're still trying to figure out, you know, the fastest way and, you know, should we, you know, the, so the tangy road that runs through this valley is heavily IED. I mean, it's IED like every three to 400 meters. There's something planted in that road and it's to stop. You know, the trucks. And so there was this, you know, do we want to go over land? And. I told the, the P L. I was like, hey, look, sir, my recommendation. We got to assume the risk, the force, and we're just going to have to stay on the road because we got to get there.

• 1:38:10Speaker 04

  And he said, I agree. So we just, you know, I told the dog and the handler up front. It's like, if it looks suspicious or he wants us, you know, to, to. You know.

• 1:38:21Speaker 04

  Say that there's something in the road and just mark it and mark it good and just tell everybody to stay out of the way because we got to go.

• 1:38:30Speaker 04

  And so it took us about an hour to go the 5K to get up there. Um, and then, you know, it's a kind of trying to put this whole thing together on the fly and you know, everybody's radios are going nuts as far as, you know, the PL is, you know, like basically glued to the stat radio and just like, hey, sir, we got to, I need some information here. You know, we got to, you got to tell me how many people are on this aircraft, you know? So we're working through that and it's, you know, he, I finally get the numbers and I'm thinking, you know, it's half the force.

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• 1:41:00Speaker 04

  I'm like, okay, so, and they, you know, but he gave me the number thirty-eight. And I was like, so how many are on the other aircraft? You know, I'm not joking about it. I'm like, I'm in disbelief. It's like, how many people are on the other aircraft? And he goes, empty ship. And I was like, oh.

• 1:41:20Speaker 04

  And I was like, for those people that donors, you know, that aren't listening, that aren't, you know, in the military mindset of this is that, you know, it's a technique and it's not a bad technique. You know, it's a, it's a risk, the force, risk, the aircraft decision that leaders make. Do we put everybody on one aircraft and only risk one aircraft to enemy fire? And get the force all in at once, or do we only put half the element on one aircraft? And the other half on the other. And the, the problem with that, you know, split force on multiple aircraft is, is that that lead aircraft makes contact. That second aircraft is not getting on the ground.

• 1:41:58Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:41:59Speaker 04

  And so then you only have half your force on the ground. So given the situation that they were going in to pick a fight with, you know, anywhere twelve plus fighters on that side, it made more sense to just risk one aircraft and put everybody on the ground all at once. And it's not a bad decision. It's just, um, you know, people ask me, well, why didn't you do that then? Well, I brought fifty-five guys to the fight that night and we don't fit on one aircraft.

• 1:42:27Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:42:30Speaker 04

  So, um, you know, we finally get up there on, on the crash and, and we start, you know, saying, calling for supplies that we're going to need. And, you know, the, the backside support, you know, from, you know, guys in the rigor shop to doing CDS drops. Cause we're out of, we're out of water by this point, you know, there are supplies that we just don't have. And the whole way up there, I'm in my mind, I'm, I'm flashing back to all the stuff that we brought in the night. We did the, you know, the turbine three-three and the Marcus Luttrell. You know, that's six years ago, all that's flooding back into my mind. And, and I'm trying to think of all the stuff that we had and all the stuff that one Charlie had.

• 1:43:12Speaker 04

  And I'm trying to, you know, request this stuff because at this point in the game, as far as, you know, the GWAT, this is. Combat search and rescue is not something that we have time to train on anymore. And it was something that, you know, back in the day when we assumed Ranger Ready Force One, it was one of those one day, two day taskings that, you know, we all trained, you know, it was like crash axes and smashing through and this is what we do now we get fam egress once a year when we do rotor wing vialts. Um, you know, if the aircraft has a hard landing, not destroyed, but it has a hard landing, you know, this is how we destroy the radios, it's how you destroy,

• 1:43:50Speaker 04

  you know, the airframe if need be, you know, and so on and so on. But at this point, it's like, okay, well, I need, I need body bags, I need water, I need biohazard. You know, and I, i- if you can find them, I need class D fire extinguishers. And so I'm trying to get all this information requested to the jock so that they can build this weird CDS pallet to, to hopefully help us, you know, get everybody recovered because by the time we got on the crash site, you know, it was still a fireball. It was still on fire for hours after. And, you know, um, it was one of those

• 1:44:33Speaker 04

  learning points, I guess, if you will, for the, for the job that, hey, look, you know, this is the second time in less than 10 years that we've had this happen and we don't have any class D fire extinguishers to put out a metal fire.

• 1:44:45Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:44:45Speaker 04

  And heli helicopters have a lot of magnesium in them.

• 1:44:49Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:44:50Speaker 04

  And so, um, you know, we did correct that, you know, later on, that, that all this stuff did, did make it into country and thankfully that never had to use it again, but it was one of those, well, we probably should have some of this stuff at least on standby. And, um,

• 1:45:08Speaker 05

  Given, uh, uh, given that you are already in a non-permissive environment, I imagine that you probably had a decent air package to start with, but what happened at that point? I mean, did they start pushing all the assets you guys needed?

• 1:45:23Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah, so, uh, air package, you know, we had a patchies on station and then we had an AC 130 and then we had fast movers in the stack, uh, at altitude. And, um, so what happens is when this kind of situation happens is everything in the country shuts down. Doesn't matter where in the country it is, all operations are cease and desist. If you're not on target, you better be calling for exfil or you're walking home. Uh, because you know, every ISR platform manned and unmanned, you know, fast movers, rotor wing assets, they're all coming to wherever that crashes at and it was nuts, the amount of support that we had. Uh, you know, and the, so the big armies combat search and rescue element, the pathfinders um,

• 1:46:07Speaker 04

  in the book, they're not, you know, Pathfinder, Pathfinders, that was just their call sign was Pathfinder.

• 1:46:14Speaker 04

  You know, those guys almost didn't make it in. Um, because they were shutting everything down and so it was either gonna already be there, which was us, or it was gonna have to come in on a truck.

• 1:46:29Speaker 04

  So they made it in just moments, moments before everything got shut down as far as rotor wing assets and, and the, the, the strange part is, is that, you know, uh, transport aircraft have flying pairs or triplets. And so, uh, extortion one six, the, the other aircraft in the flight, um, I had to get special permission to fly back from the objective area as a single ship.

• 1:46:56Speaker 05

  No, I, I must have misunderstood because I thought when you were saying everything in the country got shot, shut down, I thought you meant because it was all pushed to you guys. But why would they shut down the, the Pathfinder, the, the combat search and rescue effort?

• 1:47:15Speaker 04

  It's a rotor, the rotary wing aircraft are, are getting shut down. It's not the fixed wing aircraft or the ISR platforms or, or any of that stuff. It is the, uh, you know, uh, the Apaches are, are getting grounded. Uh, all, all rotor wing air assets are, are getting shut down at this point, you know, and it's, it's a timing issue of can we get these in and, and basically what it is, is, is, it's allocation of assets and we just had a helicopter shot down. So we're not going to commit any more helicopters into this area. And so what their whole thing was, is that they had to get on the ground after we had containment of the area to provide a ground force security element on their HLZ for them to be able to come in.

• 1:48:03Speaker 04

  And so we had that just, you know, right before the sun came up.

• 1:48:09Speaker 05

  So it almost, I mean, it almost sounds like they get super risk adverse. Like we have one helicopter down.

• 1:48:15Speaker 04

  It is, it is very risk adverse, yes.

• 1:48:17Speaker 05

  We have that, we have a helicopter down. And so we're not going to risk another helicopter to get you guys the assets you need. Cause we don't want to lose another helicopter.

• 1:48:26Speaker 04

  Right. And that, so then a lot of it becomes like things that we were requesting that normally would come in like on the back of a forty seven and just get kicked out in a kit bag.

• 1:48:35Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:48:35Speaker 04

  Uh, it has to get put on a fixed wing aircraft. So a C one thirty and then it has to get it. CDS drop combat delivery system has to get dumped to us that way. So they can fly in, you know, A tens as air support and, and all that other kind of stuff. And, and it just becomes a risk aversion to more ground fire. Uh, for rotary wing assets.

• 1:48:55Speaker 05

  So how, how did this unfold as, uh, as the sun came up and you're continuing with this recovery, uh, mission now? That's what this has turned into.

• 1:49:04Speaker 04

  Right. It's, you know, um. So it, it was all this is going on and, um. Uh, you know, we're trying to, to figure out, well, you know, is there going to be anybody else that's coming in and, you know, so we're, we're securing the crash site in a, you know, kind of a football shaped. Uh, perimeter as loose as we can. And, uh, to start working the recovery efforts of it, you know, it's still dark and night vision is not working because it's so bright with all the fire. It just becomes this, um, I basically sent two fire teams out, one on the north side of the, the, the creek that.

• 1:49:43Speaker 04

  Uh, the tangy river and one on the south side. We just started doing concentric arcs, you know, basically fire teams online, just kind of. Calming around this. And what we're looking for is, uh, anybody that had been possibly ejected from the crash, you know, whether they had survived or, uh. You know, hurt or whatnot. And, um. So that was the first thing is, you know, how, how, how much of this can we clear within reason, you know, get out, you know, a hundred, two hundred meters and make sure that, you know, when we start. Pulling remains, we're not missing somebody because they got pitched out of the back. Um, so that's how we found like the first, um.

• 1:50:25Speaker 04

  Six to eight guys were kind of in this arc pattern that had been kind of thrown out within, you know, fifty meters. Um, and then, you know, we got started getting the accountability. And so then we started finding chunks of the aircraft. Uh, the rotor assemblies, the front and rear rotor assemblies, you know, are, are in these positions and we're kind of assuming that that's the farthest that any of this wreckage is going to get is, you know, people aren't going to get that far, but you know, the rotor blades are still spinning and and torqued out and they're going to, you know, wobble off and, you know, end up in an orchard here or get slammed into a tree.

• 1:51:03Speaker 04

  You know, a cluster of trees over here and, um, so then it becomes, you know, how can we work this problem while it's still on fire? And so then it becomes, you know, how long can we sustain? You know, the exposure to the heat and things cooking off and exploding and, you know, the risk of force for us to make this as fast as possible and, you know, it, it.

• 1:51:31Speaker 04

  Um.

• 1:51:33Speaker 04

  It's just kind of one of those

• 1:51:37Speaker 04

  surreal moments, if you will, because you start, you know, as the sun's coming up, you're starting to see the look on everybody's face of just, you know, horror and disbelief that, you know, I can't believe this has happened and

• 1:51:49Speaker 04

  um, you know, you, you try not to expose everybody to that. So you're really relying heavy on the guys that have a little bit more seasoned under their belts and the squads that are a little bit more mature and you know, so I was really relying real heavy on second squad at the time to, you know, to work this. And then as they started to get gassed and, and just worn out, uh, you know, rotating one other squad in to take over until we kind of got this all.

• 1:52:26Speaker 04

  You know, accounted for.

• 1:52:28Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:52:30Jack Murphy?

  And I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't want to get like too graphic, but I, I mean, they're, they're actually having to recover the remains of, of these seals and, and attachments.

• 1:52:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:52:41Jack Murphy?

  Who burned up in the crash.

• 1:52:42Speaker 04

  And we're, we're picking them up out of the firing, you know, wreck and, and stuff. So.

• 1:52:49Jack Murphy?

  It's a pretty difficult job. Yeah.

• 1:52:51Speaker 04

  Yeah. I mean, you know, if you were, for the guys that were there, you know, it's, we, we had talked about it later. It's like, you know, Hollywood couldn't have written anything. More graphic.

• 1:53:02Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:53:03Speaker 04

  For people that, you know, want to imagine what this is like. I mean, you, you couldn't have written a script like this. Any.

• 1:53:12Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:53:13Speaker 04

  Any more graphic than what it actually turned out to be as far as the way your movies are made now is.

• 1:53:19Speaker 04

  It's crazy.

• 1:53:20Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:53:20Speaker 04

  And, you know.

• 1:53:23Speaker 04

  And I, I give the credit to the boys because they, you know, they handled a lot.

• 1:53:28Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 1:53:28Speaker 04

  That night. And, you know, for some of them, you know, it's their first deployment and. You know, they're seeing the worst that can happen. And so.

• 1:53:39Speaker 04

  You know, it's trying, trying to make sure that everything was.

• 1:53:44Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:53:45Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:53:47Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 1:53:47Speaker 04

  And so.

• 1:53:50Speaker 04

  You know, we, I think it was probably about four, four and a half, five hours and we had everybody, you know, pulled out and accounted for and.

• 1:54:00Speaker 04

  You know, it wasn't, there wasn't a lot of some people left. Um, so, cause that was one of the questions, you know, later when talking with the jock and. And things after it was all said and done, you know, there was, you know, questions, questions over, you know, how did you get accountability? Because. You know, through the investigation, I mean, there was investigations that went on. This thing went on for weeks of, you know, there's. Everybody wants all these answers. And so then, you know, one of the questions comes is like, how did you, you know, come up with that? You had accountability of all of these people, you know, and it wasn't prefaced, the, the statement wasn't prefaced correctly because they're getting information from like mortuary affairs that says,

• 1:54:46Speaker 04

  you know, you can't count it as a human unless you have fifty one percent of the remains. And some of these guys are, you know, not to be graphic, there's, you know, it's sea spines and skulls.

• 1:54:59Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:55:00Speaker 04

  And that was.

• 1:55:01Jack Murphy?

  You did the best you possibly could under combat conditions.

• 1:55:05Speaker 04

  Right. Right. And so, you know, we go, uh, uh, you know, we go up for the ramp ceremony. And so anybody who's spent any time in the Ranger Regiment, you know, personnel and accountability of people and equipment, that is the senior NCO's bread and butter. That's his baby. And so I just remember going into the jock and, and, you know, we're up there for the ramp ceremony and kind of talking with the, you know, the regimental staff and the officers and, you know, bumped into somebody that I, you know, knew and I respected. And he goes, you know, hey, you, you did really good under the circumstances. And I said, sir, I got a bone to pick. And I don't care if it gets me fired, you know?

• 1:55:45Speaker 04

  It was one of those, I, I, well, since when in the Ranger Regiment is personnel accountability of main weapons and equipment, not the NCO's job. And when you grill my platoon leader over something that he's not involved in, I have a big problem with that. And so, you know, I'm being polite about it. You know, uh, but, uh. It was a one of those those things where you know it's like.

• 1:56:16Speaker 04

  You know, we we did the best we could under the circumstances and you know, I wouldn't have given you a false report in these circumstances if I wasn't sure that we had everybody.

• 1:56:24Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:56:24Speaker 04

  And so.

• 1:56:27Speaker 05

  Your P L was taking heat like they were trying like your P L was taking.

• 1:56:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, there was a there was a a V a V T C. So a video teleconference. It's like a few days later and he was being grilled over. You know, accountability and how did we get these numbers, but they never prefaced where they're getting their. Questionable. You know.

• 1:56:48Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:56:49Speaker 04

  Numbers from or or how we could say we had accountability and and so. Uh, you know, that came to to light and I just I I you know, I was still short fuse from the whole thing and I just was like, well. I don't care.

• 1:57:03Jack Murphy?

  No, I I I get it. You're you're the platoon sergeant and the buck stops with you and you you you've said that, you know. I I understand.

• 1:57:11Speaker 04

  Well, no, I mean, what was fun is that, you know, I I excused myself from the big jock and, you know, we went over to the ramp to stand by for the ceremony and somebody came over and they actually apologized to my platoon leader. Or, you know, that grilling, if you will, and I was. I actually thought that, you know, the the fabled Blackshinuk was going to come in and and carry him off and I was going to be without a platoon leader, but. Uh, it didn't happen. And, uh, you know, it's I I felt, you know, justified after that, that, you know. He got raked over the coals for something that wasn't in his lane.

• 1:57:43Speaker 05

  Right.

• 1:57:44Speaker 04

  And, you know, I got him an apology and so then everything was straight. Um, not. I'm trying to to brag on the situation, but you know, it's.

• 1:57:54Speaker 05

  Well.

• 1:57:54Jack Murphy?

  His. Yeah, you guys speak up.

• 1:57:56Speaker 05

  Also that they are using an administrative standard for.

• 1:58:00Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:58:01Speaker 05

  You know. It yes, you know, this.

• 1:58:04Speaker 04

  Right.

• 1:58:04Speaker 05

  This is this is a sailor, but it's not enough of a sailor. To be counted.

• 1:58:10Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, get the fuck out of here.

• 1:58:11Speaker 05

  Yeah, exactly.

• 1:58:13Speaker 04

  Yeah, you know, like I said, you know, we. Yeah. You can't. Nobody can have more than one skull and one sea spine.

• 1:58:20Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah, no, I.

• 1:58:23Jack Murphy?

  Facts.

• 1:58:23Speaker 05

  I did. Did the. Did the army or did the military? Take steps to make sure that that your guys were okay after that because that especially if you think about some eighteen nineteen.

• 1:58:39Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:58:40Speaker 05

  His first deployment.

• 1:58:41Speaker 04

  So we, sorry.

• 1:58:43Speaker 05

  That's.

• 1:58:45Speaker 04

  We had, you know, throughout the rest of the deployment, we had, you know, the, the psychologists and the chaplains, you know, they were always coming in and checking on the guys and, you know, as leaders, you know, we were constantly asking if they were, you know, doing okay. And, you know, if anybody was still having issues from the floor, but the, uh, the hardest challenge as a leader was to, you know, look, look the boys in the face when it was all done and everything got cleared to, to operate again was to, you know, tell them, hey, we're going out. And we're going to load back on these aircraft and we're just going to keep doing business. And, you know, to see the look in some of their faces, it's just, you know,

• 1:59:27Speaker 04

  there's timidness in their eyes. Like you can see is because they've seen the worst that could happen. And, you know, to ask them to step back on those airframes and to, you know, assume that risk, you know, that was the hardest, you know, and then it, it, it got easier for them, you know, as we kind of settled back in, but you know, then we started, um, and we went back into tangy like six weeks later and we lost one of our guys. Uh, Tyler Holtz was killed. Um, had one other guy, um, a specialist who was wounded and all in the same area of,

• 2:00:08Speaker 04

  you know, where that crash had happened within about four hundred meters, five hundred meters of the crash site itself, because what we had done was we had gone back through all the video and the ISR and, you know, figured out where that those rocks were fired from. And so that became a target in itself, a, a very deliberate target. And, you know, we'd brought the rest of Bravo Company up and did a big company op in there and, you know, we put a hundred and fifty Rangers on the ground and, you know, we were just basically what it was, was to, to say, hey, look, you may have shot an aircraft down, but we're not afraid to come in here. And, you know, then, you know, unfortunately we have a team leader that's killed, another guy that's, you know, severely wounded and

• 2:00:52Speaker 04

  you know, so it is kind of this big, big downer for that and, uh,

• 2:00:59Speaker 04

  And then, uh,

• 2:01:02Speaker 04

  you know, and then I get hurt a few weeks later. And so it's just kind of weird to, one Bravo just continues to just take a beating,

• 2:01:10Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:01:10Speaker 04

  either physically or emotionally or mentally. And, um, it was a, it was a rough trip. I always, you know, guys always ask, you know, what was that one like? I was like, well, at that point in time, you know, one Bravo had been in more gunfights at deployment than the rest of the battalion together. All the other platoons, we had been in more gunfights on that trip and guys were just spent.

• 2:01:34Speaker 05

  Yeah. Nicholas, before we get into the operation that led to your injury, I, I wanted to ask you, because it's something we've talked about on the show before. And as a senior NCO, you know, you mentioned the one side of how the guys responded to the extortion one seven, the, the, the timidity or the timminess. Uh, how is it, how is an NCO, did you have to deal with the other side of that too, of reining in the guys that wanted to get some, that wanted payback? And, and would look, and, and that was a broad definition of a payback.

• 2:02:14Speaker 04

  Sure. I know what you're, I know what you're getting at. And you always, it's to say, hey, look, you know, we're going back in here, but we're still going to be as professional as we possibly can. And there will be no shenanigans. You know, it is to beat that into them. It's like, no matter what you feel, no matter what happened with those guys, we're not going to get shut down operationally because somebody wants to do something stupid as payback. We're going to get it and we're going to give it to them in the right way and we're going to do it our way.

• 2:02:44Speaker 04

  You know, within the rules of engagement and, you know,

• 2:02:49Speaker 04

  and, and that's going to be it. There's, there's not going to be any shenanigans.

• 2:02:53Speaker 05

  Were there during your time in the Rangers, were there like leadership challenges? Uh, and if in that, in that sense, and if so, how were they dealt with?

• 2:03:06Speaker 04

  Um, not really. Um, I, I know what you're getting at. And, and you know, as, as the the Ranger regiment or even just the battalion as a whole, you know, the,

• 2:03:19Speaker 04

  Kind of when you look back at the way things were when when everything started in 2001, you know, we started kind of as a special operations support, you know, we're there to, you know, provide security and blocking positions and things for, you know, Delta Force and Team Six and, you know, to

• 2:03:39Speaker 04

  get to the point where we're now we're running and gunning on the same target decks and, you know, the same targeting lines and we've earned our right to to be in this point. I most of the guys at this point as far as squad leaders and, you know, even some of the senior team leaders, but, you know, team starters, we we know what it's like to be the guy on the outside looking in and now we're on the inside. Right there, there was no way that anybody was gonna risk, you know, ruining that reputation that that we had of for anything. And so,

• 2:04:19Speaker 05

  no, that's it's it's really interesting.

• 2:04:23Speaker 05

  Because it sounds like it really was a a matter of responsible leadership in the sense of,

• 2:04:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:04:32Speaker 05

  you know, setting the tone and making sure that that making certain that that tone is stuck to.

• 2:04:40Speaker 04

  Right, you know, and, you know, a lot of that, you know, it comes down to the to the the people that, you know, we pick as NCOs to continue to lead inside the regiment. It's not, you know, it's not just me. You know, it's all the other 11 team sergeants that were there at the time and, you know, it's all the squad leaders that we say, hey, this guy has what it takes to be that squad leader. It's that guy that has the personal integrity to, you know, continue to push, push the, you know, what we're doing in the right direction. It's not to compromise

• 2:05:17Speaker 04

  our integrity or or any of that stuff because, you know, when those kind of things start happening and you start getting questionable.

• 2:05:28Speaker 04

  Circumstances on target, you know, then then your freedom of maneuver and freedom of movement and and you know what you do, it starts getting, you know, put under a microscope. And so nobody wants to be under the microscope. And so, um, you know, I give it to the guys that that took over after I got hurt. And, um, you know, the guys that are even still doing it today, you know, it's it is carrying on that legacy of what we started 20 years ago and and still continuing to develop, um,

• 2:05:59Speaker 04

  you know, where it's going in the future. And, you know, um, you know, it's it's awesome to be, you know, a part of that history, you know, because I I look at what the Ranger Regiment is now and back to what it was when when you were there and, you know, when I was a young private. And, you know, it is hands down a completely different organization. And, you know, we can do all that old stuff, but we are so much better at fitting into the operational roles that we have now.

• 2:06:30Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, we'll just talk about the incident where you were wounded and then we'll take some viewer questions and

• 2:06:38Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 2:06:39Speaker 05

  Yeah. So can you tell us about, yeah? The operation which

• 2:06:44Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, presumably a Purple Heart is in the works here.

• 2:06:47Speaker 04

  So, uh,

• 2:06:51Speaker 04

  yeah, so it's October 6, 7, um, 2011. Now we're taking the swing at an IED and weapons facilitator. It's a mid-level target, you know, kind of the middle of the deck. It gets you the guys above and the guys below, which the guys below are, you know, the the targets in the pyramid that, you know, the BS Battle Space owners are dealing with. And and so when you slice out the middle, you can work the targeting from both sides. You can get the guys who are providing stuff from across the border. And then it gives you the ability to pass on to the Battle Space owner who's putting this stuff in the roads and trying to blow their trucks up. So, you know, that's kind of where we're swinging across the the food pyramid, if you will, is right in the middle. And so, um,

• 2:07:35Speaker 04

  uh, we're in, uh, Baraki Barak or, uh, well, Baraki Barak was the the little, the the town that we're in, um.

• 2:07:46Speaker 04

  Logar province, kind of on the east side of the, the tangy valley. Uh, and

• 2:07:55Speaker 04

  the, the target uh grids dropped in a little cluster of four buildings that all shared walls. So it's like a plus symbol. And, uh,

• 2:08:05Speaker 04

  you know, you get 25% chance of taking the swing right the first time. And so we swung wrong. And so we reset all the pieces to, to move and, um, strike the next compound. And, uh, as we're resetting all the pieces, you know, I, uh, made a stupid decision that I had preached a thousand times before and shoot houses. Don't ever put your body in front of an open doorway. And I had just instinctually, I just stupidly put my leg across this doorway. And as soon as I did it, to hold the door open, I took a three round burst. Uh, took first round to the right thigh. Then I took one as I was getting spun out of the way. I took one through the right armpit and

• 2:08:49Speaker 04

  uh, entered in my armpit and exited out my bicep. And then I took the last one, uh, through the, through my helmet.

• 2:08:57Jack Murphy?

  Through, through the helmet?

• 2:09:00Speaker 04

  Well, I mean, it split the helmet like a, the Kevlar, uh, opened up. So it, it hit right temple right here. And then it, it blew my nods off my mouth.

• 2:09:11Jack Murphy?

  Holy shit.

• 2:09:12Speaker 04

  And came out right, right on the top.

• 2:09:14Jack Murphy?

  I'm, I'm looking at the picture in your book. I mean, that's, that's bad. From your leg. Yeah. That's bad.

• 2:09:20Speaker 04

  Yeah. So, and you know, dual tube, dual tube night vision, you know, when I, when I got everything, when I hooked it back on and, and went to flip it down, everything was offset. And, uh, so I always, people go, what did that feel like? I was like, well, I know what a baseball feels like when somebody hits a home run.

• 2:09:41Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 2:09:42Speaker 05

  I mean, and honestly, all those, I mean, all three of those areas, your leg, you know, with the femoral and everything down there, and then, and then your armpit, like around going to the armpit is one of the worst things. Yeah, is one of the worst things.

• 2:09:59Speaker 04

  Right. So when I finally, you know, after it was all said and done, and I got, you know, I finally made it to Germany and I was talking, you know, had a chance to kind of talk with one of the surgeons who happened to be one of the old battalion surgeons. And, you know, he came in and he was kind of joking with me. I heard about this cranky old ranger NCO who's down here, just, you know, he's just giving me a hard time. And so I was like, you know, I was asking questions. I said, I know I got shot through here, but you know, what were the, you know, how, how, how lucky am I? Or how was it? And he goes, well, you, you have the, the, you know, the femoral artery and the femoral nerve, they, they run parallel to each other down the inside of your thigh. And he said that round went right between both of them.

• 2:10:45Speaker 05

  God.

• 2:10:49Speaker 04

  And I was like, well, okay.

• 2:10:54Speaker 05

  And all those ops, and this was the one that got you.

• 2:10:58Speaker 04

  Yeah, all that. And, and this was the, my stupid mistake. And so, you know, that being said, that night, that gunfight went on for, you know, they brought in the QRF two, two Bravo came in to back up first platoon because we had, I was wounded, urgent surgical, specialist Saros was expectant. And then we had it.

• 2:11:27Speaker 06

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• 2:11:58Speaker 07

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• 2:13:21Speaker 04

  An Afghan partner who was expectant, he had taken a round to the face. And, uh, you know, we had, uh, two other guys that were wounded severely, but they didn't say anything about it because they were still able to conduct ops.

• 2:13:38Speaker 04

  And then we had, uh, 12 other guys that had received fragmentation because I got shot. And then, you know, there was an exchange of gunfire and then the enemy threw a hand grenade out in this little alley. And so then it went off and, you know, I got a whole bunch of fragmentation in the back of my, you know, hamstrings from it. And then a bunch of other guys caught frag off it, but that, that objective alone that night, we gave out 14 Purple Hearts.

• 2:14:03Speaker 05

  Wow.

• 2:14:05Speaker 05

  Wow. So even after you got shot, you kept getting him like they just wouldn't leave you alone. You kept like you were like, right? You're like, I'm out.

• 2:14:13Speaker 04

  It was like, I got shot and then you, you know, it's like time out. No.

• 2:14:17Speaker 05

  Yeah, right. Right. I'm already out, guys.

• 2:14:20Speaker 04

  Everybody goes, everybody goes, you know, did you have this, uh, you know, surreal moment where it's like time slowed down? Yeah. Because what I perceive in my mind as being, you know, just a minute or two, it just turned out, you know, it's probably about six or seven minutes.

• 2:14:37Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:14:37Speaker 04

  Cause you know, my bell's rung.

• 2:14:39Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:14:39Speaker 04

  The lights got real dim in the tunnel.

• 2:14:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:14:42Speaker 04

  If you will, and uh, I'm in my mind, you know, we do all this casualty play during training, but when it actually happens, you got it. It's a conscious thought effort to go, okay, I have to put a tourniquet on.

• 2:14:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:14:55Speaker 04

  You're like, I know where they are, but uh, can I reach it?

• 2:14:59Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:15:01Speaker 04

  Can I get to it? Cause I'm kind of laid over on it. And it's like, well, I can't really move. And I knew my femur had been broken because I stupidly stepped, you know, I put pressure down on my leg when I lost my balance after I got shot in the head. Um, so I was like, okay, good. You know, in my mind, I'm like, my femur's not broken. And uh, so then I'm like, okay, I've got a tourniquet in my mid pouch. And then I also have one down on my left calf, but I've got all this crap and I'm kind of in this weird position. Can I even reach it?

• 2:15:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:15:29Speaker 04

  You know, cause I've got a, I've got a team leader and two other guys who are straddling over top of me trying to get guns through this doorway and they're, you know, in the, in the fight and I'm not in the fight anymore. And I'm trying to like, reach between their legs and my legs and grab this tourniquet and put it on. And then, you know, that is sucks. And then you're like, okay, but I still have to crank this thing down and you know, get it as tight as I can get it. And then there's a lull and then, you know, I know that Sarah is, is hurt. Um, you know, so I know I can get, I can probably walk. And so, um, you know, I get help stood up and then,

• 2:16:09Speaker 04

  um, I try to get myself out of the way, you know, as best I can. And so I start walking, uh, back down the alleyway to where we're going to have the CCP. And then, uh, you know, then, then my leg starts going numb and it's like, hey, Doc, come here. You gotta help me. And, uh, you know, really what I'm trying to do is just get out of the way, uh, so that they, the other medic can get in there and, and help Saros. And, and get him kind of drug out of the way. And to the CCP, but, um, I didn't really start panicking, uh, about the whole thing until I, I got my equipment cut off and my radios came out. And so then I'm, I lose all situational awareness to the fight.

• 2:16:53Speaker 05

  Right.

• 2:16:53Speaker 04

  And then it's like anxiety comes in. It's like, I have no idea what's going on anymore and I am not in control of anything. And, you know, as a leader and that, that just sucks. Uh, but I knew when we reorganized, uh, the priority for, for medevac. And it became, uh, myself and one of the snipers who took frag through the nose, took, took frag through the bridge of his nose. Uh, I knew that when I and him went from being on the second aircraft out, being on the first aircraft out in the Afghan and Saros. Ended up on the second aircraft. I, I just knew that, you know, things were not, not going well. And, you know, Doc wasn't going to tell me anything anymore.

• 2:17:35Speaker 04

  Cause I'm not in, you know, the first sergeant saw on the objective. So he's kind of taken over those duties and I just, you know, was bad at that point in my mind. It's just, you know, everything that's gone sideways can go sideways and inside out.

• 2:17:52Speaker 05

  And, and so they medevac you and then when did you, when did you become aware of how the operation went?

• 2:18:01Speaker 04

  Um, so I got medevac and got back to Shank. Um, it was probably about 30 minutes after I'd gotten shot. Uh, by the time we got, you know, from the CC, you know, point of impact to the CCP and then over to the HLZ to medevac and then loaded it on and then into the cache and then, uh, surgery. And then I didn't find out that Saros was killed. So I got to Bagram and then, um, you know, some of the guys that were on the S4 shop come over to, to tell me what was going on on the objective and that gave the QRF came in and the boys are still out there and it, you know, the whole thing went for like six more hours.

• 2:18:45Speaker 04

  Before, you know, this sun, you know, it was done and over with and they were pulling both platoons out just as the sun was coming up.

• 2:18:53Speaker 05

  Yeah. And so then you both, you begin that long process of rehabilitation.

• 2:18:59Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah, yeah. Uh, uh, so, you know, it was a probably three or four days in Afghanistan and Bagram waiting on the medevac transport to go to Germany and then it was a week in Germany and then back to Madigan. And, you know, another week to 10 days at Madigan and, you know, by the time it was all said and done, it was a dozen surgeries and then, uh, you know, rehab.

• 2:19:29Speaker 04

  So I, I didn't make it back on active duty status until after New Year's 2012.

• 2:19:35Speaker 05

  Did, did, uh, did you, were you able to contact your wife from theater or when did she find out about it?

• 2:19:44Speaker 04

  Uh, I, I called her right after I got out of the first surgery in, in Shank and, um, but they handed me the sat phone and I'm still, you know, trying to come out of sedation from that. And so, you know, sat phones don't work well when the antenna is pointed to the ground. And so I was kind of frustrated, you know, my mouth's all cotton balled from, you know, the anesthesia and the fentanyl and, you know, uh, I'm frustrated that I cannot be coherent enough. I just remember handing the phone up to the, uh, platoon, sorry, platoon. I'm like, just please tell her.

• 2:20:17Speaker 04

  And so, uh, he gave her the, you know, the, you know, the information that was going on. And then, uh, you know, the battalion commander called her a little bit later. I was in surgery and, and Bagram. And so, uh, she, she knew within, you know, a couple of hours.

• 2:20:36Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:20:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:20:38Jack Murphy?

  You you write in the in your book that, you know, probably the most difficult conversation you had to have was with uh, the family of Specialist Saros. And, you know, how he passed away.

• 2:20:49Speaker 04

  Yeah, and you know, that that was a, you know, it was, it's always tough, you know, when you have to look, you know, them in the, you know, in the face and say, hey, I'm, you know, I'm sorry that your son died and he died, you know, right next to me from, you know, not not getting shot. But, you know, he died from fragmentation that just happened to catch him under the arm and just the right spot where there was a gap in the armor. And, you know, that I survived and your son's dead and, you know, that's, that's one of those, those tough situations. And, you know, because they can go one of two ways, you know, they could be, they can hate you for life or they can embrace you and

• 2:21:30Speaker 04

  um, you know, luckily enough, his dad had spent uh, time in the army. Uh, so he understood and so um, that was okay. And, you know, that was kind of one of the harder things, you know, uh, last year I got a chance to to meet a bunch of the Gold Star families for the SEAL team that was killed. And, um, you know, I'm always proud to to meet him, but it's kind of one of those double edged things is that, you know, they're still holding on to anger or grief and, you know, uh, which way is it gonna go, you know, are they gonna embrace you or are they gonna hate you? And, you know, that that's tough because I I never not want to meet them.

• 2:22:10Speaker 04

  But, you know, on the same same side of it, you know, I I'm, you know, their their son is not here and I am.

• 2:22:17Jack Murphy?

  Right.

• 2:22:18Speaker 04

  Um, you know, but regardless of the fact, you know, I I have a sense of pride and all the boys that were there that night have a sense of pride, you know, that, hey, you know, regardless of whether you like us or hate us, you know, we brought them home. And, you know, we're willing to accept, you know, your anger or or frustration at the situation. You know, that's just the way it is on the survivor's side of it.

• 2:22:42Jack Murphy?

  Right. Right. Yeah, you, I mean, you can't blame people for their emotions and their circumstances, you know. How so how did uh, how did you end up finishing out your career after getting shot up pretty badly?

• 2:22:57Speaker 04

  Uh, I spent six months on battalion staff and running the S two shop. And then we had an incident happen where uh, we had to relieve a platoon sergeant in one of the companies. And so I ended up moving over to snipers for my last year. And uh, was running the sniper platoon for the last year. And and then uh, I was on the sniper range. We were uh, out eastern Washington. Um, shooting on a department of energy range over there. And you know, the company commander and the first sergeant come over and you know, offsite training is always fun. Cause everybody gets to be out of the office. So you know, I'm hobbling around and and kind of dragging my leg.

• 2:23:41Speaker 04

  And the first sergeant's like, hey, you're going to see a specialist when we get back. And so I went and saw the specialist and he kind of just laid it out, you know, bluntly for me. Uh, he goes, do you want to walk when you're forty? And I said, well, yeah. And he goes, well, then you need to stop now.

• 2:23:58Speaker 04

  And so, you know, that started the whole uh, you know, med board process. And so then I was out of the army about six months later.

• 2:24:09Jack Murphy?

  Wow.

• 2:24:10Speaker 04

  Wow. So I know a lot of guys that take some a year or two or three to get out. But because I wasn't on uh, any kind of pain medications or or any of that stuff. Um, you know, it was, they didn't have to, you know, worry about substance abuse or any of that. And so um, my packet kind of went a little bit faster than than some of the other guys. Some of the other guys from uh, that had gotten shot that deployment, you know, were still in for another year or so, even after I got out. Because they had to get, you know, through kind of a. Um. I don't want to say rehab process, but you know, they kind of had to get weaned off the meds.

• 2:24:51Jack Murphy?

  Yeah.

• 2:24:51Speaker 04

  And you know, and finish the the rehabbing and and stuff.

• 2:24:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, I also, I noticed it in your book. You also, are you involved with Gallant Few? I know that you have the postscript for them.

• 2:25:07Speaker 04

  Um, they, I'm, I'm friends with, you know, some of the guys that did Gallant Few, Tim Abel, and, um, I'm drawing a blank on some of the others, but it was one of those things. Yeah, Carl Monger, and so it was one of those things that he, Carl asked me if we would put that in there. And I said, I will most definitely gladly, you know, put that in there, um, to kind of help, you know, all the fellows out. Um.

• 2:25:36Speaker 05

  Yeah, I mean, since it's in your book, uh, hey, folks, if you have a spare five bucks this month or whatever, why don't you, uh, head over to Gallant Few?

• 2:25:46Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, I, I, I haven't spoken to Carl in a while and probably I should correct that, but he, he's a good guy and Gallant Few does a lot to help guys out.

• 2:25:55Speaker 05

  But it's, it's a gallant few.

• 2:25:56Speaker 04

  They really do.

• 2:25:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, gallant, gallantfew.org. Uh, check them out. Throw them a buck or two, you know?

• 2:26:03Jack Murphy?

  So I know we've kept you for a while here, uh, Nick, but, uh, let's hit up these user questions real quick.

• 2:26:09Speaker 05

  Yeah, we've only got a couple. Uh, one, uh, from Jackson. Thank you very much. Uh, did you ever work with any of the tier one units, Delta, SEAL Team Six, uh, HRT? And so which impressed you the most of the bunch and why?

• 2:26:23Speaker 04

  Um, I've worked with all of them, you know, in, in some aspect or another. Um,

• 2:26:31Speaker 04

  I, I lean towards, you know, I, I did enjoy working with, um, Delta Force a little bit more. Um, and a lot of it is just because there's kind of this, I don't know. Um, you know, and all the tier elements have their own personality and, you know, we kind of sometimes fit better with guys in Delta Force because, uh, especially early on, you know, a lot of the team leaders and squad leaders and, and guys, you know, the career progression is, you know, from the Ranger Regiment is to go to that organization. So there is a familiarity with people who understand where you're coming from as a unit or an organization. Whereas we didn't really have that for a while with Team Six. And so we always kind of got looked at

• 2:27:16Speaker 04

  as like the kid brother thing. And then, uh, as far as the HRT, I've only worked with a few guys from there. And that was in the. Kind of middle part of Iraq, um, you know, it was only a select view and that was the kind of we were building the terrorist database with the, you know, the three letter agencies. For, you know, homeland security and whatnot. Um, so. As far as that goes, but you know, everybody's, they're all a great bunch of guys. I mean, I know, you know, in certain aspects. You know, we all talk trash on each other because we can, and you know, it's a cultural thing. And if you're not a part of the culture, then sometimes it gets looked at as unprofessional, but.

• 2:27:55Speaker 05

  Right.

• 2:27:56Speaker 04

  You know, uh. You read enough seal books and they take cheap shots on us. And so this, some of this was, you know, a chance to. You know, level the field, if you will, and take a few shots at them. And so.

• 2:28:09Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:28:10Jack Murphy?

  Crash some shade down.

• 2:28:11Speaker 04

  That's right. Call me unprofessional, then, you know. Then so be it, but.

• 2:28:17Speaker 05

  Yeah. Um, Oms, thank you for the donation. So Oms gave us a sticker and I'm not, and Oms later comments, that sticker didn't work out right. Dang. So I don't, the sticker is either. Somebody raising us up and worshipping us.

• 2:28:35Jack Murphy?

  Or I'll go with it.

• 2:28:36Speaker 05

  Or it's a, it's, um. I, I don't know. It's, uh, like holding up a new baby. I'm not sure, but I, I'm going to go with the worship thing.

• 2:28:43Jack Murphy?

  I'll go with that. Yeah.

• 2:28:44Speaker 05

  That, that the three of us, the four of us, including D, the four of us are, are the new pantheon for Oms. Um.

• 2:28:54Speaker 04

  Hey, can we take like a five minute break?

• 2:28:56Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, go ahead, man. We're, we're.

• 2:28:58Speaker 04

  I've got a crap.

• 2:28:59Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 2:29:00Speaker 04

  Kind of crap going on.

• 2:29:01Speaker 05

  Yep, yep.

• 2:29:01Speaker 04

  All right. Sure.

• 2:29:02Speaker 05

  Thanks. Yep.

• 2:29:03Jack Murphy?

  Um, yeah. So guys, uh, next episode is going to be, hold on a second. I'll tease this out here. Uh, okay. So on the third, actually we have an extra episode that we crammed in here. James Laporta. Who is an investigative journalist with the Associated Press. He is also a former Marine and he's, uh, broken some of the stories about, what's that guy's name? Majewski? Guy running for Congress, who's a stolen.

• 2:29:32Speaker 05

  Oh, that's stolen valor dude.

• 2:29:34Jack Murphy?

  I shouldn't say he's a stolen valor guy. He, he, he actually did serve, but.

• 2:29:38Speaker 05

  But it's still stolen valor.

• 2:29:40Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant. So I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic. In a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:30:11Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:30:17Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:30:37Speaker 00

  Chat GPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. Chat GPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 2:31:05Speaker 02

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• 2:31:35Speaker 05

  You say that you did top secret deployments and you didn't.

• 2:31:38Jack Murphy?

  My deployments are classified.

• 2:31:40Speaker 05

  Yeah, that's still like, I think that's still stolen valor. I don't know. We'll let you guys vote whether it's stolen valor or not. But if a dude makes stuff, stuff about his military career, it's kind of.

• 2:31:49Jack Murphy?

  Not cool.

• 2:31:50Speaker 05

  Stolen valor-ish.

• 2:31:52Jack Murphy?

  And then next Friday is Tim Weiner.

• 2:31:56Jack Murphy?

  Tim is a journalist. He wrote, he's written a number of books. He's written some pretty definitive histories of the Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI.

• 2:32:10Jack Murphy?

  And a history of political warfare between America and Russia. So that'll be a pretty interesting conversation, I think. And then on the 10th, another extra episode, Joan Barker, and she was facilitating some of the aviation foreign internal defense in Afghanistan. And in both Tim and Joan, they will be in studio interviews. And so will on the 14th, John Fox, who, he was a Marine and he worked, or he went and he became an international volunteer with the YPG in Syria. And he, he wrote this book that I'm almost done with it now.

• 2:32:51Jack Murphy?

  He wrote a book about, it's co-authored him and two other guys who are foreign volunteers. And, and fought with the Kurds in Syria against ISIS. So it's a pretty fascinating book. I think it'll be a good interview.

• 2:33:06Speaker 05

  Good stuff. Good stuff. And if you haven't joined our Patreon, join our Patreon. Like hook us up, hook yourselves up. There's a ton of bonus content on there. Like I said, you get to see John, Jack and I in our, I said, smoking pajamas earlier. I meant smoking jackets. But we keep it casual.

• 2:33:21Jack Murphy?

  We don't have smoking jackets.

• 2:33:23Speaker 05

  We keep it really casual. And our waifu pillows.

• 2:33:29Jack Murphy?

  That we have, we have the humidor and the cigars are on their way. So we'll see who wants to smoke it up.

• 2:33:35Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:33:37Speaker 05

  Nicholas, thanks so much, man, for, for spending a Friday night with us. We, we really appreciate.

• 2:33:44Jack Murphy?

  Yeah. A quick, quick, quick one from one of our.

• 2:33:46Speaker 04

  I appreciate you guys having me.

• 2:33:48Jack Murphy?

  One of our, one of our Patreon users asks if, since you were in 275, did you ever serve with Pat Tillman and, and his brother?

• 2:33:58Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah. I mean, they were in Alpha Company and I was in Bravo Company and Charlie Company. But yeah, they were, Kevin and Pat were both there at the same time.

• 2:34:07Speaker 04

  Do I know them? Not really. I mean, I know him about as well as I, you know, know Matt best. Which is I know who he is and I know he was in Alpha Company and you know, that's about where it's at.

• 2:34:23Jack Murphy?

  Yeah, yeah, fair enough.

• 2:34:25Speaker 05

  So, everybody, some great, great war stories. I mean, on the ground stuff for, for so many things that have happened during the GWAT firsthand accounts. Run to the sound of the guns. Check it out. Get it on, you know, we say Amazon.

• 2:34:43Jack Murphy?

  The link is down in the description.

• 2:34:44Speaker 05

  Down below. But yeah, we highly recommend it. Check it out. Do you have anything that you want to plug? And aside from Gallant Few, are you involved in any charities or organizations or businesses that you want to plug? Anything that you want to do?

• 2:35:01Speaker 04

  Not, not currently, you know, um, uh, no, I'm not involved in, in anything. I'm just the retired guy who got conned into writing the book, if you will, and you know, the people ask me, you know, hey, would you, would you write another one? And I was like, no, because if I hadn't known when it was going to take to write the first one, I would not have even written that one.

• 2:35:27Speaker 05

  Um, yeah, it's a great book. Tons of references, a lot of great pictures too, which is something, you know, you, you see a lot of pictures in Vietnam era books, but you don't see a lot of pictures, I think, in like modern GWAT books a lot of times. Which is, I think is, it's really cool. You know, it's something that, a lot of really interesting, and that one of your wound, I've never seen a pump like that.

• 2:35:48Jack Murphy?

  That sucks.

• 2:35:48Speaker 05

  Yeah. It's very interesting.

• 2:35:52Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 2:35:52Speaker 04

  Yeah. It does suck because it's a wound back. So it's sucking out all the other fluids and whatever.

• 2:36:01Speaker 05

  Sorry. All right.

• 2:36:03Jack Murphy?

  All right. Thank, thank you, Nick, so much. You know, again, I really appreciate, appreciate your family's patience with us while we suck you away on a Friday. Um, and you know, if there's anything, you know, we can do, feel free to reach out anytime and hope to talk to you, talk to you again soon.

• 2:36:20Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 2:36:35Speaker 00

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 2:36:45Speaker 06

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:36:51Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:36:57Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 2:37:16Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:37:44Speaker 02

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• 2:38:12Speaker 04

  All right. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

• 2:38:14Jack Murphy?

  Have a good night. Take care. Thank you everyone who joined us. We'll see you next Friday or we'll see you before that.

• 2:38:19Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 2:38:34Speaker 00

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant. So I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 2:38:44Speaker 06

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you are not alone.

• 2:38:50Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:38:56Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 2:39:15Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down rather than giving teens the answer. Study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:39:43Speaker 02

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:40:13Jack Murphy?

  With my name.

• 2:40:20Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 2:40:34Speaker 00

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 2:40:45Speaker 06

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:40:51Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:40:56Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 2:41:16Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:41:44Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:42:18Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 2:42:33Speaker 00

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation.

• 2:42:38Speaker 06

  I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:42:49Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:42:55Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:43:15Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:43:42Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A plus by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star trust pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:44:17Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation. I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:44:47Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:44:53Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:45:13Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 2:45:41Speaker 02

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:46:17Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation. I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:46:48Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:46:54Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:47:14Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 2:47:41Speaker 01

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:48:16Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant.

• 2:48:34Speaker 05

  So I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 2:48:42Speaker 06

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:48:47Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:48:53Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:49:13Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, Study Mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:49:40Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:50:16Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 2:50:30Speaker 05

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation.

• 2:50:36Speaker 06

  I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:50:46Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:50:52Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:51:12Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:51:40Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:52:15Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At The Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation. I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 2:52:45Speaker 07

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 2:52:51Speaker 06

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today.

• 2:53:11Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 2:53:39Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star Trust Pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 2:54:07Speaker 01

  She's been thinking about this sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribed Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens.

• 2:54:20Speaker 02

  Zolir 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolir, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolir. Zolir may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis.

• 2:54:40Speaker 02

  Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolair should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Zolair is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens. Serious side effects such as cancer, fever, muscle aches and rash, parasitic infection, or heart and circulation problems have been reported. Please see zolair.com for full prescribing information. Ask an allergist about Zolair. This is an advertisement for Zolair, paid for by Genentech and Novartis.

• 2:55:07Speaker 00

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 2:55:34Speaker 02

  Cash Flow Crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.