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Angel Cortez shares his incredible journey from growing up in Southern California as the first American-born in his Mexican immigrant family to becoming an Army Ranger and eventually founding a tactical training company.

• Being raised in low-income neighborhoods around Orange County while skateboarding provided community during frequent moves
• Experiencing 9/11 as a sixth-grader and feeling an immediate call to military service
• Enlisting at 17 as a Combat Engineer specifically to counter the IEDs killing American soldiers
• Deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan where he hunted for IEDs and experienced intense combat situations
• Working with Special Forces in Afghanistan living in a compound in hostile territory facing daily attacks
• Surviving a devastating suicide bomber attack that wounded dozens of Americans
• Completing rigorous Ranger training and earning his tab despite multiple challenges
• Transitioning to civilian life and starting Defense Strategies Group to train military, law enforcement and civilians
• Balancing tactical preparedness with enjoying life and raising children with accountability
• Running OG Pumpkin, which supports veteran and low-income community programs

Visit Defense Strategies Group in Beverly Hills for training in firearms, combatives, and self-defense skills. Follow Angel's community work at @the_OG_pumpkin on Instagram.

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