SGPT Interviews US Army Delta Force Operator Dale Comstock

From an 10-5-2014 interview with US Army Delta Force operator Dale Comstock

SGPT: Tell us about yourself.

DC: I am retired from the U.S. Army where I served for 20 years as an Airborne Infantryman, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol scout, Delta Force Operator, and Green Beret (light and heavy weapons specialist). My father was a soldier for 20 years and I naturally followed in his footsteps. After I retired, I worked for the USG as a paramilitary contractor from 2002 to 2011. I have participated in every campaign from Grenada to the present conflicts that we are involved in – except Bosnia – in a combat arms role either as a SPECOPS soldier, Infantryman, or Paramilitary Operative. In my lifetime I have travelled to over 50 countries from South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Far East down to Indonesia and north to Newfoundland.

I am married to Miroslava (The Little Amazonian) and I have four kids (James, Danielle, Channing, and Monica) and two grandsons (Harley Cruz and Eli Allen). Gotta admit my grandsons have some cool names ha ha. I am 51 years old and in the best shape of my life – I sound like a commercial right?

I have a Masters Degree in Business and Organizational Security Management and a Doctorate in Natural Health and Alternative Medicine.

SGPT: Did you have an athletic background growing up?

DC: I have been athlete since I can remember. I played organized football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, and karate; and I played a lot of disorganized sports like dodge ball, smear the queer, and combat racquetball ha ha. When I was in the Delta my team would wear Protech helmets, knee and elbow pads, flight gloves and play two on two racquet ball like our lives depended on winning.

I turned Pro as a Boxer while in the Army, not because I was looking for a new career path; but I wanted to prove to myself that I could train hard enough and be good enough to fight at that level. I also was an accomplished Kick Boxer, MMA champion, and Toughman champion. I have 6th degree Black Belts in American Open Karate and Extension Fighting under Jim “Smokey” West (10th Dan) who also was a Green Beret and Roger Dabney (9th DAN), and I have a 1st degree Black Belt in American Ju Jitsu. I have trained under Rorion and Royce Gracie, Max Coates, and Coach Bradley – the former coach for the Ft. Bragg Boxing team.

SGPT: What inspired you to join the Army?

DC: I was born into and raised all of my childhood in the Army because my father was a soldier. I love the military culture and the people in it. When my Dad retired we moved to San Francisco Bay area where he took a job with a radio-electronics manufacturer. I, like the rest of my family, was like a fish out of water. The culture was different and the people were different. I knew then that the military is where I needed to be. It wasn’t until one day that I saw an advertisement in the TV Guide calling for men to join the Army and become Airborne Rangers. The picture of a jocked-up and camouflaged Ranger coming out of the Jungle was all I needed to see to compel me to call an Army recruiter. A year later upon my graduation from high school I was on my way to basic training.

SGPT: How did you get selected for Delta Force?

DC: I was 22-years old and in the Army’s 82ND Airborne Division L.R.R.P.s when I received a letter from Delta notifying me that I met all of the pre-requisites to come and apply for the selection and assessment program. All that meant was that I was prescreened and cleared to submit a packet and go through a secondary evaluation to determine if I was a suitable candidate to go to Selection and Assessment. Yes, you read that correctly. Delta selection is a multi-level vetting process before you even get to try out. In fact, after I finally was selected, went through and completed the course, I still had to go through more psychological evaluations and then through a “murder board” comprised of the top officers and Sergeants Major in the Unit to determine if I was worthy enough to go to the Operator Training Course (OTC). OTC was also a selection course because you were constantly evaluated and counseled every week to determine if you met the standards and if your character was in line with what was expected of Delta Operator.

Upon successful completion of the course I was subjected to another peer and cadre evaluation, and finally another Murder Board. After surviving all of that, I crossed the hall to a Squadron and my initial in brief by the Sergeant Major included this statement: “Selection is a continuous process. We expect more than 100% from you everyday. Anything less will earn you reassignment orders where we are sure you can do great things in the regular Army and for your country.”

SGPT: What kind of experience was that (the unclassified version)?

DC: Being an Operator was the most satisfying experience in my military career. It wasn’t a job as much as it was an adventure. Everyday I looked forward to going to work and everyday I returned home satisfied that I had accomplished something noteworthy. The most significant experience while in the “Unit’ was being the breacher that explosively breached the doors of Modelo Prison in Panama during the rescue mission of Kurt Muse. That rescue will go down as the first successful hostage rescue missions in modern U.S. military history. You can read about the entire raid in my book American Badass on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

While assigned to the Unit I was an assaulter and breacher. As a breacher my responsibility was to gain access into the target such as an aircraft, train, hostage barricade etc. I would use the appropriate technique that would guarantee entry and minimize collateral damage to the “good guys. “ I surgically – and sometimes not so surgically – used explosives, ballistic breaching, manual breaching, and mechanical breaching to gain entry. I eventually became an assault Team Leader, Troop Sergeant, and for a short while I wore the hat as “acting Troop Commander.”

SGPT: Can you tell us some of the workouts you would do on a typical day of training?

DC: Physical fitness training (PT) was part of our job description and you were given ample time to train and workout. No one ever questioned you going to the gym or working out. It was as important as shooting or practicing medical skills. I usually trained in the gym lifting weights 10am to 11:30 am and then I would go for a run, 2-5 miles, in the afternoon. In the evening I always trained in martial arts (MMA, Boxing, and Kickboxing) for about 2 hours on my own. Often I would train with other Operators during the day on our hand combat skills. Of course, between PT we also conducted tactical training that often included obstacle courses, running with gear, ammo, weapons, water, and body armor. We always wore body armor – we trained and carried the weights that we were expecting to fight with.

SGPT: Can you tell us about the type of gear you used? Backpacks, boots?

DC: I can tell you that most of the gear, uniform configurations i.e. pockets on the shoulders, weapon systems particularly the M-4 platform, accessories and the battlefield 240G machinegun that the military uses found their impetus in the Unit. Our uniforms, gear, weapons, etc. varied and were mission specific. For example we were the German GSG-9 Assault boots and Nomex flight suits for aircraft takedowns and permissive environment hostage rescue. In the jungles we wore jungle boots and uniforms, Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) and Jungle rucksacks, and in the desert or winter environments we wore kit and uniforms that supported our mission.

SGPT: You were on TV, can you tell us about that?

DC: Somehow I ended up going Hollywood ha ha ha. About four years ago I was notified by a casting agent and invited to apply for the Discovery Channel’s “One Man Army.” I ended up on the show and the several months later I was contacted again by NBC to be on the TV reality show “Stars Earn Stripes.” I went through a pretty tough “Hollywood” vetting and selection process and ended up being on the show, beating out thousands of other candidates, with Terry Crews. It was a great experience and I have made a lot of new friends in that industry since then. Terry and I still stay in touch and we are good friends.

Since that time I have been on several TV shows as an actor or stuntman. I have been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows and even made the cover of some magazines such as Tru Entertainment and the U.S. Patriot catalogues.

SGPT: What are you up to these days? Tell us about your training and website.

DC: I just finished filming ZULU 6 in March, which should be released in the next couple of months followed by a sequel and prequel that I will be in. It’s a movie with a SPECOPs team and me killing some wacked out Zombies. I have a couple of other tentative movies roles that I may play in the next couple of months. I am also one of the main characters in two books: Miami Spy Games and Khost. The latter is what the movie ZULU-6 is based on.

I just finished an 8-month stint as a Detail Leader and bodyguard for a multi-billionaire in Hong Kong. I am working on several other business initiatives, finishing the writing of my wife’s book (a true story that will be the female rival of some of the best sellers out there by male war heroes). She is battle tested in ways that you cannot imagine and is damn near bullet proof ha ha.

I just finished filming a survival/prepper video series in and around my hometown that will be for sale at www.fightfast.com by the end of November. This is a soup to nuts presentation that discusses planning, preparations, gear, weapons, emergency action drills, home, mobility, and field operations as a family unit. If you worry about things like the Ebola virus or other calamities that will put our society into total anarchy, this will be for you!

For webinar presentations on my Delta Force training program, diet, nutrition, mind-set, and psycho-soma training go to: www.facebook.com/Dale.AmericanBadass.Comstock (left hand column is the link on the page.

You can check out more of my “Stuff” like movies, projects, gear, activities at
www.dalecomstock.com

www.facebook.com/dacomstock

www.facebook.com/Dale.AmericanBadass.Comstock

www.facebook.com/pages/Comstock-Forward-Operating-Base

SGPT: Many thanks Dale.

DC: As always thank you for the opportunity to raise the curtain. Cheers!

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