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Today we hear the Combat Story of Chris VanSant, a retired Army infantryman and NCO who spent time as a Ranger, Green Beret, and Operator in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta (1st SFODD), aka Delta Force aka The Unit or the Army’s Special Mission Unit (SMU), and survived 11 combat deployments and hundreds of combat operations.

As you can imagine after so many years at the tip of the spear, Chris ended up confronting and overcoming (with tremendous difficulty) traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress (PTS); he remains a committed Veteran and advocate helping others through these tough times.

Chris is now the Chief Operating Officer of TYR Tactical, which manufactures body armor and tactical equipment for the military and law enforcement.

He’s also a board member for Tom and Jenn Satterly’s All Secure Foundation, which assists special operations activeduty and combat Veterans and their families in recovery of posttraumatic stress. Listeners will recall our interview with Tom and the similar success he had and corresponding struggles he overcame.

Chris is certainly humble for all his achievements and I hope you enjoy his Combat Story as much as I did.

#deltaforce #combatstory #chrisvansant #veteran #tier1 #CIA #ryanfugit # specialoperations #specialforces #aviation #rangers #allsecurefoundation #tyrtactical

Find Chris Online:

Instagram @vansanttyrtactical https://www.instagram.com/vansanttyrt...
Website TYR Tactical www.tyrtactical.com
Board Member at All Secure Foundation (Tom Satterly’s organization) https://allsecurefoundation.org/
Instagram @allsecurefoundation https://www.instagram.com/allsecurefo...
Article VA Article from July 2021 https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/90423/ne...

Find Ryan Online:

Follow on Instagram @combat_stories (  / combat_stories  )
Email [email protected]
Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle


Show Notes

0:00 – Intro
1:01 Guest bio
3:16 Interview begins
3:48 – Dangerous hiking experience
15:40 – A grandfather’s storytelling
20:30 – “I was a drinker at a very young age.”
23:38 – “I always felt like I could do whatever I wanted.”
27:13 – Finding your way to the military.
33:06 – “The goodness of one individual and somebody being selfless changed my life.”
33:49 – Did you plan to go into Delta from the beginning?
35:09 – Being a young Ranger and Blackhawk Down vets.
40:40 – “It was probably the first and worst thing that had ever happened to me.”
43:33 – Deployment to Kuwait: Operation Desert Thunder
45:46 – Meeting Colonel Lee
47:53 – “It was a good lesson of sticking to it, staying resilient, keep fighting, and keep doing the right thing.”
52:31 – Reclassed to 11Bravo
58:46 – Failing Selection the first time and coming back again?
59:36 – “I felt like they were testing me. Like they’re going to send me home because I’m 23 years old, and they want to see if I’ll do it again.”
1:01:47 – 9/11
1:04:09 – Emotions after completing the selection.
1:04:58 – “I felt a sense of accomplishment and redemption like I stick with it despite all the things that happened.”
1:05:53 – First Combat Experience
1:09:58 – “These guys are incredibly phenomenal. They’re good at what they do, and I have a long way to go.”
1:12:49 – What was the first operation like?
1:13:07 – The two things that stood out from that experience.
1:14:57 – “You literally felt like you were surrounded by the best in the world.”
1:15:23 – First Experience in Iraq
1:21:17 – Hunting the “deck of cards”.
1:24:35 – “We are the greatest nation in the world.”
1:26:57 – The first time encountering foreign fighters. “That was the first time it dawned on us that people from other countries coming to kill us.”
1:30:26 Shout out to listeners.