CS#73: Lessons from a Delta Force Commander from Afghanistan to Panama | CEO | Author | Pete Blaber

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2022

⏱️ 107 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we hear a rare Combat Story from a long-time Delta Force Commander and operator, Pete Blaber, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Colombia, and Panama.

Call to Action: For former military, government and law enforcement, if you're looking for a high paying and meaningful job, check out our Trust & Safety Institute.

Pete is an understated, humble, and soft spoken warrior leader who applies a commonsense approach to all of his decisions, to include those in combat. His decision to join the military came from studying centuries of warfare and how seemingly brilliant leaders made senseless decisions and wanting to avoid making the same mistakes.

He spent most of his career in the special operations side of the Army from Ranger Battalion to Delta Force and then, after retiring, took on a role as a senior leader in a multi-billion dollar tech company.

He has since written two books (The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander, and, more recently, The Common Sense Way: A New Way to Think About Leading and Organizing) that share the lessons he learned from leading in some of the most historic and high intensity conflicts in the past 35 years.

I hope you enjoy this humble, understated, and unique perspective into the life and thinking of a Tier 1 operator and officer as much as I did.

Find Pete Online:
The Common Sense Way: A New Way to Think About Leading and Organizing
The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander
Instagram @blaberpete

Find Ryan Online:

Trust & Safety Institute - Jobs/Careers, News, Training, Policies
Patreon Community
Combat Story Merch
Ryan’s Linktree
Instagram @combatstory
Learn more about Ryan
Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes

0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Guest Introduction (Pete Blaber)
2:02 – Introducing The Trust & Safety Institute
2:54 - Interview begins
3:14 - Childhood and the origins of the common sense perspective
7:16 - Being obsessed with military history as a kid and the impact it had
22:12 - Using notes from when he was deployed or in service to write his books
28:19 - If the military wasn't an option, what would you have done?
31:50 - Story of navigation skills at work trying to escape a wild animal in pursuit
46:37 - Path including Ranger Battalion, Infantry Offer, and Delta
49:29 - Combat Story #1 - First time in combat in Panama as a company commander in the military five years
1:05:33 - Formative time with Rangers and how it informed tactics as Company Commander and later with the Unit
1:10:05 - Combat Story #2 - Afghanistan mission from a leadership perspective
1:28:56 - The most rewarding point along the journey
1:38:38 - What did you carry into combat?
1:40:02 - Would you do it all again?
1:43:11 - Help connect those who served with meaningful and great paying jobs after service
1:45:49 - Listener comments and shout outs

Transcript

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0:00.0	So we went out and, you know, we prepped that battlefield based on 100% common sense.
0:07.2	I had three teams, mostly made up of unit operators.
0:12.4	I had one team made up of SEAL sniper reggae guys.
0:16.7	We had our special forces guys, we had our agency guys, and we just started learning and
0:23.3	developing the situation.
0:24.3	And the more we learn, the more we realize we can do this, but it's going to take one
0:28.1	of the longest and most difficult, clandestine infiltrations that's been ever been conducted
0:34.4	in modern-day warfare.
0:36.8	Welcome to Combat Story.
0:38.0	I'm Ryan Fugid, and I serve Warzone Tours as an Army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer
0:42.9	over a 15-year career.
0:44.6	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.
0:48.2	On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their
0:52.3	front lines.
0:53.6	This is Combat Story.
0:56.0	Today we hear a rare combat story from a longtime Delta Force commander and operator, Pete
1:00.7	Blabor, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Colombia, and Panama.
1:06.9	Pete is an understated humble and soft-spoken warrior leader who applies a common sense
1:10.9	approach to all of his decisions to include those in combat.
1:14.8	His decision to join the military came from studying centuries of warfare and how seemingly
1:19.2	brilliant leaders made senseless decisions and wanting to avoid making the same mistakes.
1:24.8	He spent most of his career in the special operation side of the Army, from Ranger battalion
	...

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