Episode #54
Jason Van Camp
Special Forces Green Beret Talks Intimately About Life on The Front Lines & Post-Military Success
Guest Bio:
Jason was born in Washington D.C. and raised across the Potomac River in Springfield, Virginia. In 1995, Jason was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point. While at West Point, Jason played Linebacker for the Army Black Knights football team, served a two-year LDS-Mormon mission to Russia, and, upon graduation, won the prestigious General Loeffke Award for Excellence in Foreign Languages.
After graduating from West Point, Jason volunteered to attend U.S. Army Ranger School in Fort Benning, GA where he earned his Ranger tab (2002). Jason then began a one year tour to Korea serving a few miles from the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea. Immediately after serving in Korea, Jason was deployed with the 101st Airborne Division in the invasion of Iraq (2003). In 2006, Jason won the coveted Green Beret and began serving as a Detachment Commander with 10th Special Forces Group in Fort Carson, Colorado. As a Detachment Commander, Jason led his team on close to 300 combat missions to kill/capture high value targets as well as created and commanded one of the largest Foreign Internal Defense Force in U.S. history, training nearly 4000 Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers in hand to hand combat, raid and patrolling techniques, unconventional warfare and personal security detail tactics as well as deploying these forces on the battlefield. During his 14 years in the U.S. Army, Jason has won numerous awards, notably the Bronze Star with V device for Valor as well as two additional Bronze Stars during numerous combat rotations as a Special Forces Detachment Commander in the Middle East and Africa.
In 2013, Jason earned his MBA from Brigham Young University and it was there that he developed a passion for entrepreneurship. Jason believes in servant leadership, the art of determination, and the power of storytelling. This philosophy has served him well in his life and has made him an experienced speaker and proponent of Mission 6 Zero’s six-domains Total Warrior Intelligence model. Jason is passionate about his experiences and his stories resonate with any audience; students, athletes, businesspersons that want to be “passionate about passion.” Jason is married to his wife, Elizabeth, and enjoys traveling, the history of the Roman Empire, the study of religion, playing with his dogs, the art of Krav Maga, supporting DC professional sports teams, and helping veterans through the non-profit organization, Warrior Rising.
Selected Links and People from the Episode:
Show Notes
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Introduction (1:49)
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Jimmy shares a Lake Powell experience with Jason (2:18)
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Jason's statistics of being in the military and where was he located during tours (5:15)
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What is it like to be a special force leader (5:45)
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Struggles with being at war and dealing with the enemy (7:15)
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The spiritual moment that Jason had and what type of impact it had on an event (10:12)
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How often did Jason and his team run into enemy territory (11:15)
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What is it like at the beginning of the military (13:25)
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What does it take to be apart of Special Forces (16:00)
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What some of the hardest moments that Jason had to go through (24:10)
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Jason shares a story of why he finds success in marriage and how to make it work (31:30)
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Jason on starting his popular Non Profit companies and how Jimmy was introduced (33:21)
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Giving back in a way that isn't just a "charity" (40:11)
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Working with NFL Teams and giving away / auctioning Super Bowl Tickets (45:23)
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What was Jason's best day during his time in the Military (48:54)
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What advice does Jason have for someone that is considering the military (53:15)
