Delta Force & Ranger Regiment Commander | Pete Blaber (throwback ep)

original airdate 11-3-23 Pete Blaber looks back on his path from the Ranger Regiment to Delta Force, including operations in Panama, Colombia, Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the leadership lessons he carried from each. We also dig into his reconstruction of the Pat Tillman friendly-fire incident, the command failures that set the conditions for it, and why accountability and common-sense leadership matter so much in combat. VAER Watches ⬇️ https://www.vaerwatches.com/theteamhouse  get a free watch roll with your purchase. 20% for active duty, veteran, leo, & first responders  Support the show on Patreon:⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse Jack's news outlet:⬇️ https://thehighside.substack.com/ Find Jon Hackett here:⬇️ Jon's Twitter: https://x.com/jonathanhackett Jon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett Jon's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0C5L659N5?ccs_id=e11a2062-f8d3-498e-bfd7-7d2f3869caf6 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett Twitter: https://x.com/jonathanhackett Find Marc P here: https://x.com/Mpolymer Find Andy Milburn here:  Twitter ⬇️ https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fandymilburn8 LinkedIn ⬇️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmilburn2023 Substack ⬇️ https://amilburn.substack.com/ Andy’s book ⬇️ https://www.amazon.com/When-Tempest-Gathers-Mogadishu-Operations 00:00 – Start 01:09 – Growing Up Outside Chicago 02:48 – Cross Country, Endurance & Learning to Push Through Pain 05:45 – Desert One Inspires Him to Join the Military 07:07 – Trying to Figure Out How to Get Into the Army 08:38 – “I Want to Join Delta Force” 09:04 – OCS & Becoming an Infantry Officer 10:16 – The Fastest Route to Ranger Regiment 10:36 – First Assignment in Korea 11:56 – Joining 2nd Ranger Battalion 12:22 – The Ranger Battalion Commander Who Shaped His Leadership 13:28 – What a Healthy Command Climate Looks Like 15:12 – “The Best Welfare for the Troops Is Getting Them Home” 16:09 – Learning to Stay Calm on the Radio 17:52 – Company Command in the 7th Infantry Division 18:14 – Invading Panama 19:48 – The Friendly Firefight That Changed His Thinking 22:15 – Realizing They Had Been Shooting at Another U.S. Unit 25:21 – Learning Leadership as a Young Lieutenant 27:18 – The Sergeant Major Who Taught Him “Don’t Be in a Hurry to Die” 29:31 – Learning From Bad Leaders 31:07 – Preparing for Delta Selection 32:45 – Passing Selection & Joining the Unit 34:10 – Delta Force in the Early 1990s 35:54 – Counternarcotics Becomes a Major Mission 36:35 – Hunting Pablo Escobar in Colombia 38:17 – Building Teams Around Skills & Personality 39:08 – Learning How to Find People Who Don’t Want to Be Found 40:36 – From Colombia to Mogadishu 41:16 – Why He Distrusted Helicopter-Centric Assaults 42:24 – Black Hawks vs. Little Birds 43:16 – The Low-Visibility Approach He Wanted in Somalia 46:10 – The Hunt for Pablo Escobar 48:27 – How Colombian Forces Ultimately Found Escobar 49:25 – Arriving in Mogadishu After the Battle 49:53 – Searching for Mike Durant 52:00 – What Happened After Black Hawk Down 53:52 – Personality Conflicts & Interoperability Problems 57:51 – Somalia Becomes the Final Nail on Helicopter Assaults 58:48 – How Somalia Changed CQB & Special Operations 1:00:21 – Taking the Fight to the Enemy Instead of Sitting Still 1:02:20 – Bosnia: The “Living Laboratory” for Human Hunting 1:04:58 – Learning Low-Visibility Operations in Bosnia 1:07:11 – Humor, Creativity & Problem Solving in Combat 1:10:01 – Brainstorming Unconventional Ways to Stop a Target 1:19:52 – Transitioning From Career Stories to Common Sense Leadership Matters 1:20:41 – Why Pete Wrote the New Book 1:21:00 – Commanding Delta in Iraq 1:22:34 – Four Operators Wounded on a Baghdad Target 1:27:22 – A Ranger Asks Pete for Help 1:37:15 – Getting Access to the Pat Tillman Investigation 1:40:00 – Discovering the Pattern of Toxic Leadership 1:42:50 – Reconstructing the Pat Tillman Mission 1:43:15 – The Terrain Where Tillman Was Killed 1:45:02 – Why Pete Considered the Area Extremely Dangerous 1:50:00 – The Sync Matrix & Pressure From Higher Headquarters 1:59:59 – The Order to Split the Platoon 2:00:32 – The Platoon Leader Explains Why the Order Makes No Sense 2:02:06 – How Splitting the Platoon Broke Up Organic Teams 2:04:05 – Sending Troops Out Without Reliable Communications 2:09:57 – Why Rangers Are a “National Treasure” 2:14:49 – Who Pat Tillman Really Was as a Soldier 2:16:25 – How Toxic Leadership Set the Conditions for Disaster 2:16:54 – Reconstructing the Day Tillman Was Killed 2:17:29 – Entering the Canyon 2:18:49 – Serial 2 Struggles Through the Terrain 2:26:41 – Crossfire Begins Raining Into the Canyon 2:28:45 – Tillman Moves Into Position on the Spur 2:29:57 – Tillman Takes Fire From the South 2:31:30 – The Position That Became the Most Dangerous Place on the Battlefield 2:35:25 – Serial 2 Opens Fire Toward Tillman’s Position 2:35:42 – Pat Tillman Is Killed 2:36:03 – Why the Rangers Couldn’t Hear Him Yelling 2:38:08 – Could They Actually See Tillman’s Position? 2:40:02 – How the Investigation Judged the Rangers 2:43:40 – Why Pete Believes the Shooters Were Put in an Impossible Situation 2:45:19 – Accountability for Senior Leaders 2:47:04 – “The Cover-Up Was Worse Than the Incident” 2:47:51 – The Decision Not to Tell Kevin Tillman the Truth 2:49:57 – What Leadership Should Have Told the Tillman Family 2:53:54 – What Happened to the Senior Officers? 2:55:14 – Promotions Instead of Accountability 2:56:05 – Why Pat Tillman Was Revered by His Platoon 2:57:40 – Are Senior Officers Protected From Consequences? 3:02:09 – Audience Questions 3:05:44 – Lost Platoons & Conventional Wisdom 3:08:08 – Were Delta Snipers Involved in Escobar’s Death? 3:09:27 – Where Advanced Force Operations Came From 3:13:16 – Other Innovations From the Special Operations Community 3:19:58 – Military Working Dogs & the Evolution of the Program 3:21:49 – How Intelligence Support to Operators Has Evolved 3:22:40 – Could Pack Mules Still Have a Place in Modern Warfare? 3:24:11 – Closing Thoughts 3:24:30 – Pete’s Books & Leadership Trilogy 3:25:43 – Where to Find Pete’s Maps, Photos & Firefight Reconstruction Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support.