meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Combat Story

Jimmy Settle: Pararescueman (PJ) | Special Operator | Purple Heart & Air Medal (V) Recipient | Author

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.81.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2020

⏱️ 126 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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! 

Jimmy Settle is a retired Air Force Pararescueman ("PJ") credited with saving 38 lives and assisting in saving 28 others in combat, in addition to saves in the Alaskan wilderness.

He racked up over 270 combat search and rescue hours in Afghanistan, where he earned an Air Medal with Valor for his life saving heroics and a Purple Heart after being shot in the head (and returning to combat 24 hours later).

Jimmy catalogues these and other near death experiences in his book, "Never Quit: From Alaska Wilderness Rescues to Afghanistan Firefights as an Elite Special Ops PJ," where he shares the friendships, hardships, pranks, and events that changed his life, from being an elite athlete competing at the Naval Academy to completing the daunting PJ pipeline to live saving ops in the most austere environments.

5:47 - What is a PJ and the military's pararescue.
13:33 - Introduced to PJ by Chris Robertson.
19:43 - "Cardiac Event" aka the first (of many) near death experience.
27:56 - "19 year old decision" to leave the Naval Academy after invasive surgery on the heart.
30:46 - The PJ "Pipeline" of elite training, INDOC (80%+ attrition rate), Combat Divers Course, Airborne, Free Fall, SERE, Pararescue EMT and Apprenticeship.
48:05 - "Cones" aka unfortunate trainees going through the pipeline (better than a Toad, not yet a Maroon Beret).
50:17 - Covertly free climbing Fort Benning's 250' Jump Towers for a prank.
52:48 - The "Green Feet" image used by PJs, an homage to Vietnam helos.
58:13 - The first time working on a live patient (intubation) in Philadelphia in a paramedic apprentice program.
1:05:51 - The first rescue from an aircraft as a PJ in Alaska at night in the wilderness to help a woman who had an accident with an ATV, chainsaw, and a scalping.
1:09:51 - Another near death experience while training in Alaska's Cook Inlet at night.
1:27:29 - Supporting Operation Bulldog Bite in Kunar province, Afghanistan in November 2010.
1:29:21 - Another near death experience getting shot in the head.
1:36:29 - Going back into combat 24 hours after being shot in the head to rescue dozens of people.
1:48:48 - Saving two soldiers on a chopper and thinking, "This is my purpose in life."
1:49:17 - Losing memory after getting shot in the head and how it creeped in "insidiously."
1:53:12 - Describing the difficulty in transitioning from the service to the civilian world and the loss of identity.
1:56:36 - Living in a car in the Commissary parking lot until a senior enlisted airmen intervened.
2:02:06 - "Without hesitation" would do it again.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Just a quick word from my sponsor, and we'll get right back to this combat story.

0:06.3

If you haven't heard about Anchor by Spotify, it's the easiest way to make a podcast with

0:10.3

everything you need all in one place.

0:12.5

In fact, it's how I produce all of my audio-only podcasts.

0:16.5

Anchor has tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast right from your phone

0:19.9

or computer, and it distributes your podcast on platforms like Spotify, Apple, Google,

0:24.7

and more.

0:25.7

It's everything you need to make a podcast in one place, and best of all, it's totally

0:29.4

free.

0:30.4

Download the Anchor app or go to anchor.fm to get started, and now back to combat story.

0:37.4

I see this guy jump out, and I see three muzzle flashes in my mind, like, oh, we're taking

0:41.4

fire.

0:42.4

And I instinctively reach from my comms to identify the threat.

0:46.2

The second round went through the belly of the helicopter, and through the fiberglass

0:50.3

floor, and then bounced up and went under my helmet, through the scalp not breaking

0:55.4

the skull, and it just rode my skull all the way around to the side.

1:00.3

Welcome to Combat Story.

1:01.3

I'm Ryan Fugget, and I serve WarZone Tours as an Army Attack helicopter pilot and CIA

1:05.6

officer over a 15-year career.

1:08.0

I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.

1:11.5

On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their

1:15.7

frontlines.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan Fugit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ryan Fugit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.