Andy Stumpf: Identity, Failure, Fatherhood & Truth

Send us Fan Mail Andy Stumpf spent more than 17 years as a Navy SEAL, served with SEAL Team Six, became a record-setting wingsuit pilot, entrepreneur, author and host of the Cleared Hot podcast. But those are things he’s done. They aren’t who he is. For the first episode of The Americana Series: Montana, we traveled to sit down with Andy for a conversation about identity, failure, leadership, marriage, fatherhood and what happens when the life you built your identity around begins to disappear. Andy talks about nearly losing his Trident early in his career, leaving the SEAL Teams after being injured, the difference between good and bad leadership, and why tying your identity too closely to your occupation can make moving on so difficult. He also opens up about divorce, raising children, building businesses, finding happiness, moving his family to Montana and why he tries not to measure his life by accomplishments. When we ask Andy what he values most in life, his answer is immediate: truth. That leads to a candid discussion about Roberts Ridge, John Chapman, the Medal of Honor, the Rangers who fought on Takur Ghar, and Andy’s years-long effort to understand what happened on that mountain. This is Andy Stumpf beyond the résumé. The Americana Series: Montana - Episode One. Follow Not Special as Herb and Corrie Thompson travel across Montana sharing five very different American stories.