GRP 78-On for this week's episode is former Army Ranger Sniper and New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Irving. Nick served for several years in the military all with Ranger battalion. We discussed his journey as the child of two military parents and what motivated him to join the Army. We talked about mindset and some of the qualities that you need to succeed in anything you want to do in life. There is a lot of laughing going on in this episode so please bare with us. We talked some of the psychology of being a sniper which you guys might find interesting. Nick also shared some combat stories from his time as a sniper with the 3rd Ranger battalion. Below is an excerpt:

Nick Irving: I didn't learn until the first time I pulled the trigger with a sniper rifle is how intimate it is. We weren't getting shot at. There were 6 Taliban guys. It was on the news. A certain portion of Helmand province was shut down. Some Taliban commanders were killed that day. I and my spotter are zooming in with our scopes, and you can see the outline of a chest rack. Then we can see the outline of an AK-47. I remember getting the call for clearance to shoot these guys and right as we got that call a round cracks. I remember dumping one guy and they started to scatter, but then they stopped and stood there. It was the strangest thing.

My first mission into Helmand province we got ambushed from this rooftop. I got off the helo and once we got off the ramp the skyline lit up. Maybe its a party I don’t know. I remember this tracer round whizzing passed and we got lit up a little bit. We got up onto this roof. I and my spotter get up on the roof and his gun jams. I'm like dude screw it just light me up. He puts on his IR flood and lights up the targets. You can see the enemy's eyes blinking. I remember putting the cross hairs right in between this dude's eyeballs. I squeeze off a round the round misses. As dumb as he is the guy sticks his head back up and the next shot connects.

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