CS#75: The Real 12 Strong Green Beret | Horse Soldier | Special Forces HoF | Author | Bob Pennington
About This Episode
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Today we hear a Combat Story that I’ve been looking forward to for years. As many listeners know, I closely followed the war in Afghanistan immediately following 9/11 and revered the Green Berets who rode into combat on horseback to take America’s fight to the enemy.
Today we hear from one of the very few men who was there, one of the Horse Soldiers as they’ve been called: Bob Pennington.
Bob spent more than 30 years in the service, much of that with Special Forces, including kinetic operations in the Gulf War to one of the first teams on the ground in Afghanistan and more. He’s a Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment and in the Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame.
He and his Horse Soldier teammate Mark Nutsch have just released a book about their experiences in the days after 9/11 titled “Swords of Lightning: Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America's Response to 9/11.” And if his life can’t get any better, he and Mark are also principals in the company that produces Horse Soldier Bourbon.
I hope you enjoy this inside look into what happened from 9/10 (the day before the world changed) through the some of the first operations on the ground in Afghanistan (and enjoy some of Bob’s celebrity moments given his representation as a key role in the movie 12 Strong) as much as I did.
Show Notes:
Bob Pennington
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 0:42Guest Introduction (Bob Pennington)
- 2:07Thank you for supporting The Trust & Safety Institute
- 2:45Interview begins
- 4:02Meeting Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon for the 12 Strong movie
- 7:40Growing up with a father in the military and early interest in Green Berets
- 13:32Starting his career in Ranger Battalion after college
- 24:37Being a Warrant Officer in SF community
- 34:51Combat Story - Experience in the Gulf War
- 50:10Where he was when 9/11 happened
- 59:48Mindset at the time of 9/11 and being one of the teams picked for the mission in Afghanistan
- 1:12:45Combat Story - First operations on the ground in Afghanistan
- 1:38:31Swords of Lightning book backstory and information
- 1:43:42Horse Soldier Bourbon
- 1:49:42What did you carry into combat?
- 1:52:05Would you do it again?
- 1:54:11Help connect those who served with meaningful and great paying jobs after service
- 1:56:49Listener comments and shout outs
