Medal of Honor Leadership Ryan Pitts | Medal of Honor | Leadership in Battle
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2025
⏱️ 85 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we have a once in a lifetime interview with Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts, who truly earned this prestigious award in the mountains of Afghanistan fighting off a very dedicated, organized, and determined enemy force. Ryan and I connected thanks to the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, a non-profit helping to share lessons of leadership from Medal of Honor recipients and the values they live by with people who lead at any level.
In this episode, we dive into Ryan’s near death experiences (there are several) while downrange but we never venture far from what leadership is all about, from a private in the foxhole to a Colonel at the TOC. Ryan earned the Medal of Honor in the Battle of Wanat in Afghanistan in July 2008 when I was flying Apaches in eastern Afghanistan out of Khost. Ryan made sure some of the gun pilots from the 101st like Jimmy Morrow and John Gavreau were at his award ceremony at the White House because he felt they were a part of this effort as much as anyone (which you know this gun pilot loves to hear).
Ryan is incredibly humble for having earned this amazing award and I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Chicago with him, the Center for Leadership executive staff, and another Medal of Honor recipient Col. Harvey “Barney” Barnum. They were treated like royalty at a Cubs game with everyone wanting a picture with these heroes. None of that has gone to his head, as you’ll hear in this interview.
I’d also ask you to notice how he remembers the name of so many of the people he served with and how he speaks of this as a ‘their’ - collective - award and not his own. We need more leaders and people like Ryan out there and that’s exactly what the Center is doing. Please have a look for a Center for Leadership event or course near you by going to mohcenterforleadership.org.
Special thanks to Andy, Elise, Tom, Forrest, John, and all the other folks who made this event possible. With that, please enjoy a detailed description of some of the most intense combat and true heroism from living Medal of Honor recipient, Ryan Pitts.
The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership exists to inspire, develop and empower leaders through the values of courage, sacrifice, citizenship, integrity, commitment and patriotism. Through fellowship programs, onsite training and a nationwide digital platform, we’re helping Americans of all ages learn what it means to lead with honor. Learn more at www.mohcenterforleadership.org and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn at National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, and on Instagram at @medalofhonorcfl and X at @MedalofHonorCFL.
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Find Ryan Pitts Online:
🥉The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership mohcenterforleadership.org
and https://mohcenterforleadership.org/exclusive-qa-with-the-nmohlec-education-director/
📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/medalofhonorcfl/
📘 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MedalofHonorCenterforLeadership/
💡 X https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-medal-of-honor-center-for-leadership
Find Ryan Online:
🎙️ Connect with Ryan & Combat Story:
🔗 Ryan’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/combatstory
🛒 Merch Store: https://www.bonfire.com/store/combats
📸 Instagram: @combatstory / combatstory
📘 Facebook: @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
📖 Learn more about Ryan: https://www.combatstory.com/aboutus
🎵 Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I don't want my family to see my head cut off on YouTube. |
| 0:04.0 | I looked at my wounds and like, if they capture me, |
| 0:06.0 | like there's no way they're going to be able to treat me. |
| 0:08.0 | Like I'm just going to die in the enemy's hands |
| 0:10.0 | and my friends are probably going to get hurt trying to recover my body. |
| 0:12.0 | I don't want that. |
| 0:13.0 | And on that moment thinking about, okay, what do you do then, Ryan? |
| 0:17.0 | And I just thought, don't let them take you life. Make it so they have to kill you. |
| 0:21.6 | And I just, in my head was like, okay, set a goal for myself. I want to kill as many as I can. |
| 0:27.0 | My personal goal was three. That seemed fair, considering I was immobile, I was just going to sit there |
| 0:31.5 | and wait and try and surprise them coming over the sandbags. And Carl Dua, that northern fighting position, got on the radio and talking to Matt Meyer. |
| 0:39.3 | And I tell him, hey, everybody up here is either dead or gone. And he comes back and tells me, |
| 0:43.3 | hey, there's nobody to send. We're in it down here too. You're going to have to hang in there. |
| 0:49.8 | Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugent, and I serve Warzone Tours as an Army attack, helicopter pilot, and CIA officer over a 15-year career. I'm Ryan Fugent and I serve Warzone tours as an Army attack helicopter |
| 0:54.5 | pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career. I'm fascinated by the experiences of the |
| 0:59.7 | elite in combat. On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat |
| 1:04.5 | felt like on their front lines. This is combat story. Today we have a once-in-a-lifetime interview |
| 1:10.7 | with Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts. |
| 1:12.6 | He earned this prestigious award of the mountains of Afghanistan fighting off a very dedicated, organized, and determined enemy force. |
| 1:19.6 | Ryan and I connected thanks to the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, a nonprofit helping to share lessons of leadership from Medal of Honor recipients, |
| 1:26.6 | and the values |
| 1:27.8 | they live by with people who lead at any level. In this episode, we dive into Ryan's near-death |
... |
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