Combat Story (Ep 36): Mark Wales | Australian SAS | Troop Commander | TV Personality | Author | Entrepreneur | Kill Kapture

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2021

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today we hear the Combat Story of Mark Wales, a former Australian SAS (Special Air Service) officer who spent 16 years in the Australian Military, including six years in the elite SAS. He led special operators as a Troop Commander and completed 10 deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon, and the Solomon Islands.

After separating from the military, Mark battled depression and stress disorders but found a way to power through and turn his life around. Mark would go on to earn an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of Business and then worked at McKinsey & Company.

He has since written the book Survivor: Life in the SAS, was on Australian Survivor (where he met his wife) and competed in the Bear Grylls’ World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji 2019, which I highly recommend watching on Amazon with your family.

And since all this isn’t enough, Mark also founded Kill Kapture, a tough-luxury ecommerce brand and is now a sought after keynote and motivational speaker.

I hope you enjoy Mark’s honest, self deprecating, and relatable Combat Story as much as I did.

Find Mark online:

Website
Instagram: @mark.a.wales
Book - Survivor: Life in the SAS
LinkedIN
Kill Kapture: Website | Instagram @kill_kapture

Find Ryan online:

Follow on Instagram @combat_stories
Email [email protected]
Learn more about Ryan
Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes

0:00 - Intro
0:46 - Mark Wales bio
1:42 - Interview begins
2:32 - Combat Story (in a way): Going to a brothel at 14 years old
8:19 - What is the pipeline for an officer?
16:42 - The view of 9/11 from an Aussie's perspective
18:08 - Training on how to throw a grenade
24:35 - Combat Story #1: Mark’s first patrol in East Timor
30:20 - The road to SAS and Selection
42:45 - First time being deployed to the Middle East
45:45 - For a team of six SAS guys, how do they feel about doing executive protection?
47:04 - Two more rotations to Afghanistan
49:25 - Combat Story #2: Tracking an HVT in East Timor
51:40 - Combat Story #3: SAS Troop Command in Afghanistan
1:02:36 - The language of the "unconscious body".
1:05:00 - Combat Story #4: Dangerous experiences in Helmund Province
1:16:02 - Combat (Reality Version) Story #5: Getting on Australian Survivor
1:19:20 - Combat (Reality Version) Story #6: Completing World's Toughest Race Fiji 2019 Eco-Challenge
1:23:40 - Kill Kapture
1:24:24 - What did you carry into combat?
1:26:17 - Would you do it all again?

Transcript

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0:00.0	One of my guys had been shot in the opening minute to that battle,
0:03.7	kind of high and left on his chest.
0:05.7	We were kind of pinned, we were stuck there.
0:08.0	While we were trying to treat Matthew, calling fire,
0:10.6	you know, deal with the Taliban here,
0:12.4	I knew they were going to try and flank us around the south.
0:15.5	So the snipers were firing to guys that were coming around to cut us off.
0:19.3	So it was just, it was busy and I was sitting there just going,
0:21.7	holy shit, I'm, you know, in my head here.
0:24.0	And I've gotten my whole team, you know, over our heads.
0:27.2	Welcome to Combat Story.
0:28.5	I'm Ryan Fugid and I serve Warzone Tours as an Army attack helicopter pilot
0:32.4	and CIA officer over a 15 year career.
0:35.2	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and combat.
0:38.6	On this show, I interview some of the best
0:40.8	to understand what combat felt like on their front lines.
0:44.0	This is Combat Story.
0:46.3	Today we hear the combat story of Mark Wales, former Australian SAS officer
0:50.5	who spent 16 years in the Australian military, including six years in the elite SAS.
0:55.6	He led special operators as a troop commander
0:58.0	and completed 10 deployments to Afghanistan,
1:00.2	Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon, and the Solomon Islands.
	...

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