Today we have round one of a fantastic two-part Combat Story with a former guest: Darrell Utt, a long time Green Beret and retired Master Sergeant.

Darrell just finished writing a book (Grit to Glory) going into great detail about one deployment when he was a Team Sergeant with ODA 043 in 2006 to Iraq that includes all the highs and lows of leading a team of elite Green Berets.

We met with Darrell two years ago for an episode (#74) watched by over a 100K+ people and this time around we get into more of the moments, experiences, and emotion in some of the fighting that Darrell has unearthed while writing the book.

If you pre-order his book before Veterans Day (2024), you get a signed copy of the book and one of the coolest challenge coins you'll find. Pre-order the book at ballastbooks.com/purchase/grit-to-glory/. You can find Darrell on the socials at darrell.utt on Instagram or darrell-utt on LinkedIN.

If you haven't seen the first episode, don't worry, you'll get all the context you need in this one to be up and running and I'm sure you're going to enjoy his very real, raw, and down to earth storytelling as much as I did.

Darrell on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/darrell.utt/?hl=en

00:00 Intro

00:35 Darrell Utt Bio

03:09 Writing the Book: Challenges and Inspirations

10:12 Morgue Day: A Haunting Memory

19:26 Growing Up: Building Grit and Resilience

21:15 Family Struggles and Finding Strength

32:44 Military Path: From Humble Beginnings to Special Forces

44:53 The First Marine in the Family

45:16 Mentorship and Military Service

45:48 Challenges in Joining the Marine Corps

47:48 Receiving the Green Beret

50:28 Reconnecting with Influential Figures

54:08 Operation Ugly Baby: The Initial Invasion

01:06:05 Cultural Encounters and EPW Camp

01:18:03 Navigating Mosul and Military Strategy

01:26:13 Strategic Reflections and Military Planning

01:27:18 Looted Infrastructure and Insurgency

01:29:04 Early Signs of Trouble in Iraq

01:31:11 The Ba'ath Party Dilemma

01:33:22 WMDs and Misconceptions

01:35:27 2006: A New Team and Mission

01:47:20 Challenges and Leadership Decisions

02:03:57 Owning Up and Moving Forward

02:07:44 Conclusion and Upcoming Content

#usarmy #veterans #combat #specialforces