Alex West | Advocate & Speaker

Navy SEAL Veteran • Advocate • Speaker
A/LPC-MHSP | Assoc. Therapist

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

The Moment Obama Earned This SEAL Team 6 Operator’s Respect 😳

Continue watching the FULL episode at 12:30 PM CST.
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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

Why SEAL Team 6 Only Had 38 Minutes to Get Bin Laden 😳

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

How the Taliban Saved His Life 😳

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

A Live Grenade Rolled Down This SEAL’s Shin 😳

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

The Deadliest Loss in SEAL History Came After the Bin Laden Raid 😔

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

The Tradition He Keeps for His Fallen Teammates 😔

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[Shawn Ryan @ShawnRyan762]

How SEAL Team 6 Used an Empty Helicopter to Lure Out Nearly 30 Taliban

“We were following this group of Taliban, about 30 of them. We knew if we went toe-to-toe with them, some of our guys were definitely going to get killed or wounded. As a ruse or a fake-out, we brought in an empty helicopter close to the valley to make a lot of noise. They started to get out and run, and we waited for all of them to get out in the open and ambushed all of them.”

“I pull the M67 frag grenade, and I try to get the perfect angle. I drop it in perfectly, and I turn to run. And I slip. I start sliding down into the hole of the bunker with the hand grenade. I could feel it rolling on my shin. The hand grenade with the pin pulled. I started crawling my way out and finally got out of the bunker just in time for it to be like, boom. Almost completely blew myself up.”

@AlexWestImpact

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

This was one of the hardest parts of my story to share. The attack snapped me back into the present and into the responsibility I had to the team around me. People can look capable on the outside while carrying more pain than anyone realizes.

If this feels familiar, please don’t carry it alone. In the U.S., call or text 988.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

How the Taliban Saved His Life 😳

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[Shawn Ryan @ShawnRyan762]

SEAL Team 6 Operator Recounts the Ambush That Killed Delta Force Operator Robert Horrigan

“Bob looked at me and he just says, ‘Get back.’ Then he drops his gun, it’s just slung, and he just starts maneuvering his hand like this, like, ‘Get the fuck back.’ There was no tactical reason for it. It was so unlike him to do that.”

“As Bob and Mike enter the door, there was two belt fed machine guns waiting for them and just unloaded on our train as we were running in. You could feel the bullets going right past you. When we got back, we were told they had both passed. I was just shattered by it.”

“Years later, he showed up to me and I asked him, ‘Why would you not let me die with you?’ And he said, ‘That’s because you have work to do. You need to help show people a healing path.’ I feel his spirit when I’m down. I can feel it in my heart that he’s like pushing me. ‘Just keep going.’”

@AlexWestImpact

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

@AVEVVUSA Appreciate your kind words and support!

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

This was one of the hardest parts of my story to share. The attack snapped me back into the present and into the responsibility I had to the team around me. People can look capable on the outside while carrying more pain than anyone realizes.

If this feels familiar, please don’t carry it alone. In the U.S., call or text 988.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

How the Taliban Saved His Life 😳

@AlexWestImpact

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

@Jaytrigs @ShawnRyan762 Appreciate it, Jay. You don’t need a war story to benefit from therapy. Sounds like your fiancée has your back...worth giving it a shot. 🙏

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

A lot easier to laugh about now…that one was a little too close for comfort.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

A Live Grenade Rolled Down This SEAL’s Shin 😳

@AlexWestImpact

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

War can hold triumph and devastation almost in the same breath. Any sense of victory was forever changed by losing so many friends in an instant. That contrast is something that is hard to live through and to process.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

The Deadliest Loss in SEAL History Came After the Bin Laden Raid 😔

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[Shawn Ryan @ShawnRyan762]

The Helicopter Crash That Nearly Ended the Bin Laden Raid

“One moment I see the building, I’m holding on to my buddy’s kit, and the next minute the whole world goes 45 degrees and spins. We’re diving into the earth. We impacted, and I remember thinking, ‘We’re walking dead. We’re not going to get out of here.’ If it’s just the two of us to start this operation, then the two of us are going to be what America needs right now.”

“I remember seeing this steel door leading up the stairs, and at that moment I knew he was there. We’re going to finish this and get this guy no matter what it takes. Then I hear the Geronimo call, which was essentially the call sign saying that we had gotten bin Laden. I thought to myself, ‘Wow, we actually pulled it off.’ We grabbed bin Laden’s body, threw the body in, jumped on top of him, and flew off.”

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

A Navy SEAL’s Warning to Soldiers Going to Iran ⚠️

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[Shawn Ryan @ShawnRyan762]

I Gave a SEAL Team 6 Operator the Rifle He Wishes He Had 😳

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[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

The Darkest Moment of the Bin Laden Raid 😔

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[Shawn Ryan @ShawnRyan762]

I Asked SEAL Team 6 Operator Alex West If the People He Killed Still Visit Him

“Unbeknownst to me, there was a guy in the bush with a pistol pointing it right at me. We were maybe three or four feet away from each other. I couldn’t see anything under my night vision. Then finally Spike catches the scent and, like a missile, just jumps right in. He drops the gun, and that’s when I engaged him and killed him. That was the first of dozens.”

“Sometimes I still struggle with people that I’ve killed. A lot of it was very up close, inside of rooms. It’s brutal, and it’s something I wish us as humans wouldn’t do to each other. If you don’t need to take the shot, don’t take the shot. Don’t feed into the bloodlust. You will pay the price.”

@AlexWestImpact

[Alex West | Advocate & Speaker @AlexWestImpact]

Thirty-eight minutes on the ground, backed by years of preparation, repetition and trust. In the moment, you are focused on the men beside you and the job in front of you. Grateful to Shawn for the space to walk through that night.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

Why SEAL Team 6 Only Had 38 Minutes to Get Bin Laden 😳

@AlexWestImpact