Combat Story (Ep 38): Chris VanSant [Part 1] Delta Force Operator | Ranger | All Secure Foundation | TYR Tactical

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp (go to https://betterhelp.com/CombatStory for 10% off your first month of professional therapy or counseling).

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! 

Today we hear the Combat Story of Chris VanSant, a retired Army infantryman and NCO who spent time as a Ranger, Green Beret, and Operator in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (1st SFOD-D), aka Delta Force aka The Unit or the Army’s Special Mission Unit (SMU), and survived 11 combat deployments and hundreds of combat operations.

As you can imagine after so many years at the tip of the spear, Chris ended up confronting and overcoming (with tremendous difficulty) traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS); he remains a committed Veteran and advocate helping others through these tough times.

Chris is now the Chief Operating Officer of TYR Tactical, which manufactures body armor and tactical equipment for the military and law enforcement.

He’s also a board member for Tom and Jenn Satterly’s All Secure Foundation, which assists special operations active-duty and combat Veterans and their families in recovery of posttraumatic stress. Listeners will recall our interview with Tom and the similar success he had and corresponding struggles he overcame.

Chris is certainly humble for all his achievements and I hope you enjoy his Combat Story as much as I did.

Find Chris Online:

Instagram @vansanttyrtactical
Website TYR Tactical www.tyrtactical.com
Board Member at All Secure Foundation 
Instagram @allsecurefoundation 
Article VA Article from July 2021

Find Ryan Online:  

Instagram @combat_stories
Email ryan@combatstory.com 
Learn more about Ryan   
Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle  

Show Notes

0:00 – Intro
1:01 - Guest bio
3:16 - Interview begins
3:48 – Dangerous hiking experience
15:40 – A grandfather’s storytelling
20:30 – “I was a drinker at a very young age.”
23:38 – “I always felt like I could do whatever I wanted.”
27:13 – Finding your way to the military.
33:06 – “The goodness of one individual and somebody being selfless changed my life.”
33:49 – Did you plan to go into Delta from the beginning?
35:09 – Being a young Ranger and Blackhawk Down vets.
40:40 – “It was probably the first and worst thing that had ever happened to me.”
43:33 – Deployment to Kuwait: Operation Desert Thunder
58:46 – Failing Selection the first time and coming back again?
59:36 – “I felt like they were testing me. Like they’re going to send me home because I’m 23 years old, and they want to see if I’ll do it again.”
1:01:47 – 9/11
1:04:09 – Emotions after completing the selection.
1:04:58 – “I felt a sense of accomplishment and redemption like I stick with it despite all the things that happened.”
1:05:53 – First Combat Experience
1:15:23 – First Experience in Iraq
1:21:17 – Hunting the “deck of cards”
1:30:26 - Shout out to listeners.