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 have a special Combat Story that takes us from commanding in bloody fighting in Vietnam to some of the seminal moments in our military’s Special Operations history, all courtesy of retired colonel Keith Nightingale. Keith served two tours in Vietnam, one as an adviser to the Vietnamese where he learned jungle warfare from one of the most interesting and lethal characters in country, followed by taking command of an infantry company in the 101st that had just been wiped out, literally, hours earlier. Keith was a founding member of the 1st Ranger Battalion when it was created by Gen Creighton Abrams in 1974-later commanding both that battalion and the Ranger brigade. He then gives us a fly on the wall perspective of the Desert One catastrophe and the subsequent birth and creation of what we know today as JSOC, to include why we have DIA, 160th, Delta and more. We even touch on Keith’s time as the DoD lead tracking down none other than the Drug Kingpin Pablo Escobar. Keith has gone on to write three books, “Just Another Day in Vietnam”, “Phoenix Rising: From the Ashes of Desert One to the Rebirth of U.S. Special Operations,” and “A Soldier Looks Back: Memories and Reflections of a Combat Veteran, from Normandy to Afghanistan.” This was a memorable Combat Story that gives us a look inside some of the most significant moments that created the modern US military we all know and love today. Find Keith Onine: -Facebook Col Keith Nightingale https://www.facebook.com/ColKeithNightingale -Keith’s books https://www.amazon.com/Keith-Nightingale/e/B016H5SV66%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Ryan Online Information Find Ryan Online: - Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory - Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/ - Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory - Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial - Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial - Email ryan@combatstory.com - Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus - Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Guest Introduction (Keith Nightingale) 2:17 - Interview begins 2:40 - What he did in the army 3:24 - how the military was “in his DNA” and being the first officer in the family that served as a career 7:30 - Getting orders to go to Vietnam and the most influential person in helping become a battlefield leader 18:10 - Combat Story #1 - first contact in Vietnam 24:59 - A “karmic” approach to combat learned in Vietnam 26:57 - Combat Story #2 - a long night in Vietnam 36:03 - Going back to Vietnam with Delta company 43:14 - An intense training in leadership 46:27 - Combat Story #3 - First time in the field with Delta and his leadership strategy for low morale 56:43 - The founding of JSOC and 1st Ranger Battalion 1:05:43 - Combat Story #4 - Operation Eagle Claw 1:32:57 - Tracking down Pablo Escobar 1:40:42 - What did you carry into combat? 1:41:54 - Would you do it again? 1:42:53 - Listener comments and shout outs