Green Beret | 10th Special Forces Group | 18D Special Operations Combat Medic | Ryan Neel

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Join our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan for people who love and support our veterans, service members, and their families. It has info on a significant event in military and/or intel history, a funny military joke, an update on a current event I'm following, something I'm doing that week in my life, a book I'm reading, a look at an upcoming interview, a reflection on a past episode and more! ======= Today we hear a remarkable Combat Story from longtime Special Forces Green Beret and 18D medic, Ryan Neel, who spent close to 25 years in the Army, most of that in Special Operations, to include nine deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.

We spend a lot of time on Ryan’s combat experiences in this episode, starting right away with the story of how Ryan nearly died on his first Iraq deployment. I found Ryan through Darrell Utt (who many will recall from our interview #74 at https://youtu.be/Qzv6lISLnwA), who was a former Green Beret alongside Ryan. Oddly enough, both Darrell and Ryan share the same “Alive Day” as they both nearly died on the same day in April 2005.

Darrell described the event in the following way: “Ryan was 15 meters away when a tanker truck rammed through the gate and detonated 500 gallons of diesel fuel, 20 x 155mm HE Artillery shells, and ¼ metric tons of TNT…despite having multiple types of injuries and being trapped in his room while it was on fire for 2 minutes, his teammates kicked the door down and after a quick self-assessment – he proceeded to provide medical treatment to four SF brothers, two interpreters, three Peshmerga guards, reset security, and directed Iraqi & US reinforcements…And, yes, he has the actual terrorist video footage of the attack!”

Ryan provides a very real and honest perspective of what 15 years of combat does to a person and family and I am sure so many people will connect with his feelings and perspective. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! 

Find Ryan Online: - Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory - Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combats... - Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory - Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial - Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial - Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus - Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle Find Ryan Neel Online: - Indeed https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-neel-mba-cpd/

Show Notes: 00:00 - Intro  00:58 - Guest Introduction (Ryan Neel) 02:42 - Interview begins 02:55 - Darrel Utt and sharing an Alive Day 19:10 - 4Patriots 20:30 -  Alive Day continued 28:05  - Being a Parent and Husband 37:04 - Recruitment and the path to the Army 41:12 - Family history and reception on joining 44:50 - Influences to joining 47:15 - Going Green Beret 51:23 - Time in Kosovo  01:02:59 - Skirmish on the border 01:08:43 - First Deployment with Special Forces 01:22:14 - Missions leading up to the Alive Day attack 01:25:16 - A tough operation #1 01:33:35 - A tough operation #2 01:41:14 - Patching up a Soldier 02:07:32 - Impacts on Home life 02:25:44 - Sentimental items 02:29:43 - Would you do it again? 02:32:24 -  Listener comments and shout outs