Ranger BORSTAR Actor Vince 'Rocco' Vargas Part Two | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 160

About this video

Vince ‘Rocco’ Vargas, a former Army Ranger and Border Patrol BORSTAR agent, recounts his transition from military service to federal law enforcement. He describes his experience in Border Patrol special operations, explaining that BORSTAR is a tactical medical unit focused on search, trauma, and rescue operations along the border. Vargas shares how he left the career after missing a critical mission while attending his daughter’s birthday party, prompting him to resign and eventually pursue acting and writing to share his perspective on border security.

Key takeaways

• Vargas explains that BORSTAR selection was physically harder for him at 27 than Ranger School, involving 23-27 days of sleep deprivation, constant physical training, and psychological pressure.
• He argues that BORTAC and BORSTAR agents are tactically proficient at levels comparable to military special operations units, though they receive less public recognition.
• Vargas recounts that in one summer, Del Rio sector alone found over 240 bodies of migrants who died from heat exposure, illustrating the humanitarian crisis at the border.
• He describes resigning from Border Patrol two weeks after missing the engagement where his team captured the escaped New York convicts, feeling he had failed both his team and his family.

Episode details: published October 29, 2023 · 13.6K views · 1:30:33 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.

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