Active-Duty Green Beret Amputee Nick Lavery | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 126

About this video

Mike Ritland interviews Nick Lavery, a currently active-duty Army Special Forces (Green Beret) soldier with 15+ years of service, awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, and three Bronze Stars. Lavery recounts his upbringing in Boston, moving frequently as a child, playing college football, enlisting after 9/11, and progressing through Special Forces selection and training. He shares a detailed combat story from March 11, 2013, when his team was ambushed and he was wounded while shielding an 18-year-old frozen infantryman, and discusses his transition into training and consulting work through his company Precision Components.

Key takeaways

• Lavery attributes his resilience and toughness to childhood adversity, including frequent moves, financial hardship, and bullying, which conditioned him for later military challenges
• The March 2013 ambush tested Lavery’s training under extreme stress; he positioned himself between an enemy gunner and a frozen young soldier, taking multiple rounds to his legs before teammates neutralized the threat
• Lavery emphasizes that Special Forces selection and the Q Course provided only foundational skills—arriving at his first Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA), he quickly realized he had much more to learn from experienced teammates

Episode details: published February 13, 2023 · 250.8K views · 3:15:38 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

← Previous: Ranger K9 Handler Julian McDonald | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 125 · Next: The Sharp Woman Kelly Sayre | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 127 →

All Mike Ritland videos · Mike Ritland profile · Mike Drop (official site)