January 18, 2023

Keith Nightingale: Retired Army Colonel who Served Two Tours in Vietnam with Airborne and Ranger Units, Author of Phoenix Rising

1 hour 10 minutes

If ever there was a man with more military experience than almost anybody, Keith Nightingale is the one. What an incredible military resume he shares with Marcus in this week’s Team Never Quit Podcast. From serving in the U.S. Army for almost 3 decades to serving in 2 tours in Vietnam, to serving as the Director of the Department of Defense (DOD) Counter-drug Task Force in Latin America, which was able to apprehend Pablo Escobar.

He developed the present Army Ranger Training Program and initiated the Snowcap Model Training Program for DEA personnel assigned to operational missions in Latin America. His experiences included the liberation of Grenada and Panama and a variety of special operations missions. All of the above doesn’t even touch the surface of Mr. Nightingale’s military experience, not to mention a myriad of awards and honors. Listen in as he and Marcus engage in a lively discussion about all of his military experiences.

In this episode you will hear:

My family has had some association with the military since the pilgrims, literally.

I’m an only child. My parents were old and had arguments.

We would give the enemy the maximum opportunity to give his life for his country.

[In Vietnam] in the course of less than 24 hours, we went from 450 people to 32 people.

[In battle] you don’t fear, you focus.

Life is luck and timing.

There’s nothing that I did that was planned for before it occurred.

Normandy is kinda the Arkansas of France – there hasn’t been a lot of development going on there.

We created a task force specifically focused to bring U.S. assets to support the Columbian government in getting [Pablo] Escobar.

You don’t think about what might happen you just do what you have to do. It’s later that you get into reflection.

In life, if something is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. There’s nothing you can do to control it.

Do your best when you have a chance to do something.

You can put 4 people on the same battle sight fighting the same fight, less than 20 meters apart, and they’ve got 4 different views of what actually happened - and every one of them is true.

My legacy is the bridge between what the vet said and what the active duty sees and appreciates.

Be good to people.

Do the best you can when you get a chance to do it, because you may not have another chance.

...more

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By Marcus Luttrell

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