The Toll it Takes: Delta Force Operator & Veteran Advocate Derek Nadalini
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 ā¢ 1.3K Ratings
šļø 2 August 2025
ā±ļø 42 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
Delta Force Veteran Derek Nadalini: Unfiltered Combat Stories, Hard Truths, & the Battle for Redemption
Step inside the untold world of Americaās most elite warriors. In this explosive episode of Combat Story, we sit down with Derek Nadalini, a former Delta Force operator, veteran of Joint Special Operations Command, Army Ranger, and Navy serviceman, for a raw and riveting conversation about the realities of modern war and the fight to find peace after the guns go silent.
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Derek Nadaliniās Journey:
- From a military family shaped by Vietnam to a career that spanned the Navy, Army Rangers, and 13 years in the legendary Delta Force.
- What itās like to assess for, join, and operate inside Delta Forceāthe US Armyās most secretive unit.
- First-hand accounts of high-stakes special operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and undisclosed combat zones around the globe.
In this Interview, Derek Shares:
- Life-and-death moments: Surviving a midair collision under canopy, escaping massive IEDs, and combat missions with Australiaās SASR and Britainās 22 SAS.
- Moral courage and split-second choices: The reality of targeting terrorists, the impossible decisions between life and death, and moments of mercy that haunt or heal.
- Brotherhood and sacrifice: The bond between operators, the unspoken fieldcraft passed down through generations, and stories of selfless courageālike shielding civilians from gunfire.
- The cost of war: The emotional burden, compartmentalization, and post-traumatic stress of maintaining relentless violence for years. Derek opens up about the struggle to reconnect with family and the price his loved ones paid for his service.
- Finding purpose after combat: Derekās powerful transition from warfighter to musician and veteransā health advocate. As director of outreach for MusicCorps, he uses music to heal invisible wounds and give hope to injured veterans.
Key Topics Covered:
- Ranger Battalion to JSOC: inside the pipeline
- The realities of combat: adrenaline, fear, courage, and aftermath
- Dealing with PTSD, TBI, and the legacy of modern wars
- Family, loss, and the cost of service
- Healing, redemption, and building a new life after the military
Who Should Watch?
- Veterans, active-duty military, and military families seeking honest stories about service and sacrifice
- Anyone interested in special operations, Delta Force, Army Rangers, or real-life military history
- Supporters of veteransā mental health and rehabilitation, especially through music and community
About Derek Nadalini:
Derek served in multiple elite units, including the US Navy, Army Rangers, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and spent 13 years as a Delta Force operator. He is part of Spookstock and Operation Relief Fund.
If youāre seeking a real, unfiltered look at the world of special operations and what comes after, this is the episode you canāt miss.
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Support Derekās initiatives here:
Spookstock - https://spookstock.org/wp-content/uploads/_pda/report-24.pdf
Operation Relief Fund - https://operatorrelieffund.org/Ā
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šµ Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My name is Derek Bethune Natalie. I was named after Derek Bethune Taylor, a cousin, and he was a British Commando, World War II. |
| 0:20.0 | I did one enlistment in the United States Navy. I was at |
| 0:23.3 | Mary Island in the Shipyard. Then I was in the active reserve briefly as a CB. I'd met some |
| 0:29.0 | rangers while I was on a break in service, so I transferred over to the Army after my break in service |
| 0:34.8 | and got ripped contract. I was fortunate to be able to go to the First Ranger Battalion. |
| 0:39.3 | From the First Ranger Battalion, I went to the Joint Special Operations Command for two years. |
| 0:43.3 | And from there, I went to, to, I assessed for the Delta Force and served the Delta for 13 years as an operator. |
| 0:50.3 | I deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and then the number of other countries I can't get into. |
| 0:56.0 | My father is a former Marine. He was an H-34 pilot in Vietnam, resigned his commission, |
| 1:05.0 | and then he went over and flew helicopters for the agency in Air America, supporting the covert action program in the |
| 1:12.3 | Laos. |
| 1:13.3 | Right. |
| 1:13.9 | So growing up in our household, we thought about, you know, we would have obviously thought |
| 1:18.1 | about the Marines and, you know, the Marines that my father supported on the ground in Vietnam. |
| 1:22.8 | Our, in fact, our entire orientation growing up at my age was all looking out, the Vietnam ground pounders and all of them, not just the ground founders. |
| 1:35.4 | Anyone who fought in Vietnam, those were the veterans we looked to as I was growing up. |
| 1:41.7 | It just was always there. |
| 1:47.3 | And so in my mind, we were a military family or a military oriented family. And I just, I just knew from the beginning that's what I wanted to do. |
| 1:55.0 | I did come from that generation of operator when you, the easy answer is you don't talk about this. |
| 2:02.7 | Period. |
| 2:03.6 | What I'll tell you today is that I'm a musician, but I'm a musician and a veterans advocate |
| 2:10.3 | because I'm a director of outreach for a music rehabilitation nonprofit called Musicoor |
... |
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