Green Beret & SOF Operator | Alex Dekker

Alex Dekker looks back on his path from conventional infantry in Ramadi to 5th Special Forces Group, combat in Afghanistan, the Special Forces Combat Diver course, the fight against ISIS, and his final decade in a more specialized Army special operations unit. We also discuss his transition out of the military and how his experiences in Special Forces, intelligence, archaeology, and the Middle East shaped his debut novel, Desert Heist.
Grab Alex's book here: https://a.co/d/00h03vHa
Find Alex here: https://www.alexdekkerofficial.com/
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00:00 – Start
00:53 – Alex Dekker’s Interest in Archaeology
02:17 – Growing Up as an Army Brat
03:43 – His Father’s Career in Military Intelligence
04:00 – Why Special Operations Was Always the Goal
05:29 – Starting Out in the Conventional Army
06:39 – Deploying to Ramadi With 1st Infantry Division
07:20 – Seeing Special Forces in Iraq for the First Time
08:52 – What Conventional Infantry Life Was Really Like
10:32 – Leaving the Army & Going Back to College
11:00 – Returning on an 18X Contract
12:48 – Passing SFAS & Starting the Q Course
13:58 – Learning Arabic for 5th Special Forces Group
14:41 – Joining a Combat Dive Team
16:28 – Deploying to Afghanistan Six Weeks After Arriving
17:00 – His First Special Forces Deployment
18:16 – The Taliban Ambush That Nearly Killed Him
20:34 – Taking Over After the Team Was Wounded
22:53 – Fighting Through the Ambush With Shrapnel in His Leg
24:44 – Recovering & Returning to Afghanistan With a Cane
26:54 – Preparing for Combat Diver School After Being Wounded
29:06 – Inside the Special Forces Combat Diver Course
31:13 – Drown Proofing & Learning Not to Panic Underwater
32:26 – The 5th Group Guys Watching Everyone Else Deploy Somewhere Nice
33:41 – Sitting in Kuwait as the ISIS War Begins
35:30 – The Early U.S. Response to ISIS in Iraq
36:53 – Training While Waiting for the Mission to Expand
38:28 – Returning Home & Preparing for the Next Deployment
39:10 – Becoming an 18 Fox Intelligence Sergeant
41:15 – Targeting, Intelligence & Building the Battlefield Picture
43:04 – Working the Syria Problem as an 18 Fox
44:41 – Training Partner Forces Against ISIS
46:17 – Why ISIS Struggled Against Professional Forces
48:48 – What Special Forces Is Actually Designed to Do
50:15 – Looking for the Next Step Beyond 5th Group
52:03 – Moving Into a More Specialized Army Special Operations Unit
53:13 – What He Can Say About the Final Decade of His Career
54:48 – Retiring From the Secret Side of the Military
56:39 – The Honor Foundation & Transitioning Special Operators
57:34 – Why Networking Matters More Than Blind Job Applications
59:28 – Meeting His Wife, a Former CIA Operations Officer
1:00:09 – Leaving Two Secretive Careers Behind
1:01:52 – Why Intelligence Officers Struggle With Transition Too
1:03:34 – Writing Desert Heist in Three Months
1:05:32 – Finding a Literary Agent
1:08:00 – Combining Indiana Jones, Special Forces & Real History
1:09:22 – Building Characters From Real ODA Personalities
1:11:06 – Why Veterans Sometimes Miss the Chaos
1:13:03 – The Lost City at the Center of Desert Heist
1:14:28 – Green Berets, Russian Mercenaries & the Bigger Conspiracy
1:16:21 – Turning Desert Heist Into a Series
1:17:25 – What to Expect From the Next Nate Wilde Book
1:19:07 – Where to Find Alex & Desert Heist
1:20:21 – Jack & Alex Compare the Fiction Publishing Process
1:22:27 – Planning Storylines Several Books in Advance
1:23:31 – What Comes Next for Both Series
1:24:07 – Keeping Survival & Combat Realistic in Fiction
1:25:23 – Closing Thoughts  

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