From Solo Ops with USASOC to Writing Novels w/ Retired Sergeant Major Sean Hagerty (Round 2); Author of Cabal
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we have our second round interview with retired USASOC Sergeant Major Sean Hagerty. Sean retired only a few years ago after close to 25 years in service that included combat with the Ranger Regiment in both Afghanistan and Iraq followed by many years in the Tier 1 community.
Sean is releasing his second book, Cabal, in the Dane Cooper series following the success of his first book Jones Point. We discussed Jones Point as well as some of Sean’s more direct combat experiences in our first round interview that you should definitely check out.
The Dan Cooper series are truly novels - not memoirs or biographies - but certainly draw on his experience with weapons, enemy networks, and US government and law enforcement entities. In this episode we talk about some of his leadership lessons downrange, some of the best leaders he worked with, and more about his writing process and how he applies his experience from elite Special Operations units to his work as an author today.
Cabal comes out on June 6th, 2025, and you can find it easily on Amazon or wherever you get your books. Please buy a copy for both a good read but also to help a well deserving combat vet. With that, please enjoy round two with Sean Hagerty.
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Find Sean Hagerty Online:
https://authorseanhagerty.com/
Amazon pre-order Cabal https://www.amazon.com/Cabal-Cooper-Novel-Sean-Hagerty-ebook/dp/B0F815PCQN?ref_=ast_author_mpb
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🎵 Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
00:51 Interview with Sean Haggerty
02:33 Sean's Writing Process
03:21 Life on the USS Nimitz
05:04 Sean's Military Background
07:18 The Dane Cooper Series
15:53 Leadership Lessons from the Field
28:04 Mission Planning and Flexibility
28:25 Unit Cohesion and Solo Work
30:40 Leadership and Bureaucracy
35:42 Technological Challenges in Modern Warfare
42:20 Writing and Publishing Journey
46:45 Ranger Reunions and Camaraderie
49:45 Reading and Writing Habits
52:18 Upcoming Book Launch and Social Media
Transcript
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| 1:08.0 | Sometimes people would get too, maybe too regimented. |
| 1:11.6 | And on that note, some guys and girls can't work alone. |
| 1:15.6 | We traditionally work alone. |
| 1:16.6 | But if you think about it, it's totally normal. |
| 1:18.6 | We build fire teams. |
| 1:20.6 | We build squads. |
| 1:21.6 | We build platoons. |
| 1:22.6 | We build companies. |
| 1:23.6 | And what do we do? |
| 1:24.6 | We have competitions and it's Charlie Company versus Bravo Company, |
| 1:27.7 | and first squad versus third squad, right? And you build that unit cohesion. I had my first |
| 1:34.2 | team leader in the unit. I didn't meet him for two years. Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugent, |
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