Vietnam Green Beret Col. Rich Wall

About this video

Ritland interviews retired Army Colonel Rich Wall about his 35-year military career, with particular focus on his early years and path to Special Forces. Wall recounts growing up in a military family, enlisting as a medic at 16 (with his father fraudulently signing papers), later becoming a commissioned officer, and ultimately serving three tours in Vietnam with Special Forces and MACV-SOG. He discusses the evolution of Special Forces under President Kennedy, the draft-era Army’s social composition, and the contrast between warrior-focused training of his era versus today’s more bureaucratic military institutions.

Key takeaways

• Wall attributes his success to exceptional NCOs he served with, emphasizing that in Special Forces ’the non-commissioned officers are what make special forces, not the officers'
• Wall describes how President Kennedy’s 1961 visit and support officially authorized the Green Beret, which had previously been unauthorized headgear outside Fort Bragg, transforming Special Forces funding and mission focus
• According to Wall, Special Forces selection in the early 1960s was less rigorous than today’s process, consisting primarily of a psych test, PT test, and Ranger School requirement, which he believes led to ’ticket-punching’ officers with conventional mentalities that undermined the team-oriented SF culture

Episode details: published June 3, 2024 · 57.4K views · 3:07:35 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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