The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 151: Kris "Tanto" Paronto - 13 Hours: A Secret Soldier Of Benghazi

Episode Date: August 17, 2016

Episode 151: Kris "Tanto" Paronto - 13 Hours: A Secret Soldier Of Benghazi Kris Paronto - "Tanto" as he is affectionately known in security contracting circles - is a former Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and private security contractor who has deployed throughout South America, Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. He also worked with the US Government's Global Response Staff conducting low profile security in high threat environments throughout the world. Mr. Paronto was part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack on the US Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, September 11th, 2012, helping to save over 20 lives while fighting off terrorists from the CIA Annex for over 13 hours. Mr. Paronto's story is told in the book "13 Hours" written by Mitchell Zuckoff and his five surviving annex security team members. Michael Bay directed the movie (based on the book) titled "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" Episode 151: Kris "Tanto" Paronto - 13 Hours: A Secret Soldier Of Benghazi Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show "I Will Never Ask You To Do Something I wouldn't Do Myself" In This Episode, You Will Learn: Being selfless, of service to others, and sacrificing will help you sustain excellence Humility, strength, and faith have led to Tanto's success and his ability to stay alive "The best leaders continually learn" All of the death he saw in Iraq and other war zones helped prepare him for the Benghazi attacks How accurate the movie "13 Hours" was to what happened in real life How often he still speaks with the other soldiers from that night Did he really wear shorts (like the movie portrays) that night? If so, why? "Rangers are experts at belt fed weapons" Why they were forced to wait 25 minutes at the annex prior to leaving What it was like hearing on the radio, "GRS (his group), where are you? We are going to F'n die" Tanto's thoughts Hillary Clinton's leadership (not good) Why there were forced to sign 2 non-disclosures -- including one at the memorials The amount of money you can make in 9 months as a security contractor What happens when you come home from a job over seas and how it negatively impacts your life How PTSD has impacted him The CIA fired him for telling his story publicly -- telling the truth Tanto and his teammates voted... They all chose to tell the truth -- And it got them fired What it's like to be in the audience for one of Tanto's speeches "Hillary Clinton is a failed leader. This is not a political statement. She is a sociopath." - Kris "Tanto" Paronto Continue Learning: Read: 13 Hours Watch: 13 Hours - The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Follow Tanto on Twitter: @KrisParonto To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12 You may also like these episodes: Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon Episode 071: Nate Boyer - Green Beret, Texas Football, The NFL Episode 047: David Marquet - "Turn The Ship Around" Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why Did you enjoy the podcast? If you enjoyed hearing Kris "Tanto" Paronto on the show, please don't hesitate to send me a note on Twitter or email me. Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell Bio From kristantoparonto.com Kris Paronto - "Tanto" as he is affectionately known in security contracting circles - is a former Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and private security contractor who has deployed throughout South America, Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. He also worked with the US Government's Global Response Staff conducting low profile security in high threat environments throughout the world. Mr. Paronto was part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack on the US Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, September 11th, 2012, helping to save over 20 lives while fighting off terrorists from the CIA Annex for over 13 hours. Mr. Paronto's story is told in the book "13 Hours" written by Mitchell Zuckoff and his five surviving annex security team members. Michael Bay directed the movie (based on the book) titled "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi"

And I remember taking out of his car. And I could see him and Bob, our chief arguing. It was very animated. And then he gets back in the car because I couldn't hear him because I was in an armored vehicle. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I said, what's going on? He says, Bob's telling us we got to stand down. So that's when Bob told us to stand down 15 minutes after we were called.

And then we waited 10 more minutes and that's when we did get the words. And it is verbatim from the movie. It's exactly what Alec Henderson said in the talk. He goes, J. If you don't get here, we're all going to F and die. And I remember in my car hearing that on the radio. I remember I looked at Boone. I remember Ty cracked his door and he gave him.

He basically put that big ass arm up. He's a big dude. He put his arm up, Tyrone Woods, and he gave me a thumbs up. It's like, we're going. Are leaders born or are they made? Our host, Ryan Hawk, believes that leaders can be made through determined, focused work on learning the art and science behind the makeup of other successful leaders. Now it's time to inhale knowledge and exhale success.

You're listening to The Learning Learer, Show with Ryan Hawk. Hey, and welcome to the Learning Leader Show. I am Ryan Hawk. Thank you so much for being here. This episode is just, wow, my featured leader is Chris Tonto-Peranto, former Army Ranger, security and military consultant and hero of the Benghazi attack. Tonto was part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack

on the U.S. special mission in Benghazi, Libya. September 11th, 2012. He helped save over 20 lives while fighting off terrorists from the CIA annex for over 13 hours. Tonto's story is told in the book, 13 hours written by Mitchell Zuckoff, as well as the movie with the same title. It's an incredible movie. What a surreal moment to speak with this true American hero, a guy who has defended our country for many years. A few of the topics we got into. The specific details behind.

what happened that night in Benghazi from a guy who was right in the middle of it, then how he personally feels about Hillary Clinton, followed up by why the CIA fired him for telling the truth. This episode is insane. You guys are going to love it with Chris Tonto-Parento. Chris Tonto, Prento. Thank you so much for being here on The Learning Leader Show. Welcome to the podcast.

Hey, Ryan. Thanks for having me, brother. Appreciate it. I got a quick question to get us going. So you've spent a great deal of time around some world-class warriors for many years. And I'm curious, if you had to distill it down and pull out a few common characteristics amongst the best of the best, what are the few of those that they all seem to share? I think, well, selfless service is definitely one of them.

none of the guys that I've been around volunteered to go into the Marine Corps or the Rangers or seals or so forth because they had egos. Now, granted, we have a little bit. Egos in the per se that we're very confident. Let's put it that way. There's a difference. But I see selfless service and sacrifice. They're willing to give their lives for others. That's one of the biggest attributes that they have. And as a leader, I think you have to have that.

Also the ability, and this is the saying, I always tell my troops, I will never ask you to do something. willing to do myself. So you're not put, they don't put themselves above others. They stay humble. And, and you get people, are you kidding me? I've seen Marcus isn't humble or maybe Chris Scott. He wasn't. Yeah, they are humble. It's very humble individuals that say, you know what, anybody could do what we did. Anybody could do what I did. Anybody could do what, what, what operate, in Operation Red Wings. The only thing, reason we did it and the reason we were able to do is because we were putting that situation. And because of the military training that we've gone through, we're able to handle that situation.

So I think a lot of humility is involved as well. And then strength in faith, faith in your brothers, faith in God, and faith in yourself. I think those three faithful attributes are always present as well. And they're also present as a leader. You have to have those things as a leader. The biggest thing, and this is what I've seen, if we're getting into a presidential election, the things that I have not seen from these two, and they want to be leaders, of our country is I haven't seen that selfless service, that that, that willingness to step back

and be humble and be human for a minute and say, you know what? I'm here. I'm here to serve you people. I want to do what you guys. I'm not to know at all. I don't know everything. And I want I'm here to learn. And I'm also here to be as your leader to do something that, and expect people to do things that,

that I would do myself. And that's really in a nutshell. Joe. You're always going to you. I think our leaders nowadays, and I had a good leader in general, Stanley McChrystal, who's Lieutenant Colonel Stanley McChry when I was first arranger, you're a very good leader. So I learned from a very good leader. But I think leaders nowadays put themselves above everybody else, and they think they're always learning. And good leaders continually learn. They never sit back and say, I'm the subject matter expert. No, you're not, because things are always changing. And we don't, we see that in our leadership nowadays. Every one of them thinks they're an expert because they've read it. a book or because they went through it in class or they wrote a research paper on it or heard about it from a buddy no you're an expert you're never an expert but you know more when you actually experience it physically and every one of us out there that have done things or have been in a leadership position or believe themselves to be leaders if we can when we're put in the situations we do so based of our experiences and our physical experiences and honestly combat is the best

test of leadership, aside from the training that you put, go through, whether it be Ranger School, whether it be Buds, whether it be a selection of acute course, then you're tested. Yeah, absolutely. So, by the way, do you like to go by Chris or Tonto? Doesn't matter. Either or, brother. That's another thing as a leader. We don't care what we get.

Okay. All right. I mean, so, I mean, just for the people who maybe haven't seen yet, 13 hours movie that documents what you personally went through in Benghazi. this is kind of a surreal moment for me to actually be talking to you. I love that movie. I've watched it multiple times. It's incredible.

And so that's why I was so excited to have this conversation. You talk about being prepared for big moments. And what you guys went through during those 13 hours, I'm curious, was there, what, were there specific moments you could draw from that prepared you for what you had to go through in Benghazi? Yeah, actually. I just did an interview on a faith-based radio station, and we discussed that a bit. Benghazi was a culminate, calm you can't, tell me out with Rangers Can't talk. Calimation.

Thank you, culmination. My master's degree is paying off really well. It's a culmination of good and bad experiences that I'd went through my life up to that point. God put me in that situation and put all this situation because we're ready for it. We're ready to be overmatched. We're ready to get out there and stand next to each other. We're ready to basically say, hey, we might die in this, but we're going to go sacrifice our lives anyway.

And the reason being is, and there's a specific example where I believe that it started. And this was when I was first in basic training, 1995. And we're coming towards our last field training exercise. And I had just learned that my first wife had been cheating on me. And she wanted to. I got my dear, what's called the Dear John letter? I got my dear John letter. Yeah.

And I remember standing out there. And this was, I was a private, you know, just when in my third month of basic training going to finish up. And I remember standing out there and just feeling defeated. And I shouldn't have been because I had done very well basic training. Actually, I just learned I was going to be the honor graduate of the class. So I was very happy that I have a hard work, it paid off. And I had got through it at Fort Benning.

And it just started raining on it. me and I felt miserable, the lowest of the low. And I do remember my buddies came out of their, because that was back when they still made us dig foxholes, just because, you know, we're going to fight foxholes, not really ever, but it sucks to dig them. So dig these foxholes in trenches. And they came out and they just put their arms around me and said, hey, we got you. And that was when I first started to learn and realize what brotherhood was in love of,

a love of your teammates and love of your brothers that you're fighting with because they're going to be with you at the worst moments. and that was 18 years before that was uh yeah I'm at 18 years before benghazi and then you know then going through the ups and downs of having children of of getting remarried of seeing death in iraq in bagdad when i was there from baghdad in 2004-2005 of then going to afghanistan working in kandahar and seeing being with the awful things that the Taliban were doing to the little girls that were trying to go to school and just seeing continually going through situations for the next 10 years. years before Pankazi of seeing not just the awful things that happened in the Middle East from

terrorists, but also seeing the good things that happened and just the experiences going through. So when Benghazi happened, and I was 42 at the time, lack of a better term, and you probably have heard this before also. And I see, and so when it happened, it was like, yeah, well, I've been through this before. I got my brothers next to me. I'm not worried about it. And also my faith in God had become very strong overseas at that point because I knew he'd in situations where I probably shouldn't have got out of and he got me out of it.

It's like, well, this is where God has me. Let's move forward. Let's drive on, Oscar Mike. And let's go. And that was it. So it was just a culmination. But that first one in 95 is where I really remember thinking, man, this is awful. And the brother's coming out and said, I got your back, dude.

And that's where it started. It makes a lot of sense. So I'd be curious to know how much in the movie, it seemed like you guys were an extremely tight team, like band of brothers like a group. And the reason I was interested in this is because I could see when you were a ranger, when you guys were seals,

you've spent many days, weeks, years training together. But in this case, you guys are hired help, essentially, right? You are hired by the CIA to be security guards, and you didn't necessarily train together and build that camaraderie.

And you're exactly right. And that goes, Because again, and I'm not a preacher, I'm not going to, but I do think that that was the reason why God put us there. We all were in our upper, we all had been deploying for a long time at that point. We all were in our 40s. I mean, Pig was 39, so he was almost 40. So all of us were very mature for Rangers and Seals and Contractors, if you know what I was saying. Mentally, we're good to go.

We still act like kids because that's how we are. That's how we all are. but we for some reason and you're right there's been times as a contractor where i've been in other places where the team didn't jail we didn't get along because you're right we don't train together and i may be the first time i've met these guys actually boone and i had been working together for 10 years so he was him and i were tight we'd been through a lot we've been served in yemen together iraq together in afghanistan so no worries there he was i knew he had my back he knew he knew i had his but the other guys yeah i'd never work with him before. But you got on that base and everybody just got a lot. Everybody and it says a lot for the military, whether you're a ranger, seal, Marine, or just any sort of special operations, you know, that does small unit tactics. They never change. They're all the same. Your small unit tactics are always small unit tactics. You cover each other and you move forward. You cover each other and you move forward. And the CQB doesn't change. You know, there may be a manipulation of weapons systems may change a bit,

but not enough that's going to mess up tactically. So tactically, it says a lot for the special operations community that doesn't matter who you're with. You can just all come together and fight together, even if you haven't worked together before. But I think the biggest thing, brother, was the personalities. We all were different personalities, but they all just seemed to work together.

Boone's very quiet. Tyrone was level-headed. I was a loud mouth and outspoken, very disrespectful for authority. Oz was the politician. TIG was the TIG was just the guy that you could go put to say go put your head through that wall and he'd do it. So we had all those personalities

there and for some reason it just gelled and that's not a coincidence and that's why we were very we were able to withstand the attacks that we did that night even though we lost four people. How often do you still talk to the guys? Boone and I are still my best friend. We try to text

every once in a while. That's the beauty of me in Boone is that I don't have to talk he doesn't it's not like he's a girlfriend or anything where he got to talk to him every yeah what are you doing today yeah i can talk to him we he lives in florida i live in nebraska talked to him every couple months and we're good and that's fine we're at the issue um i i talk to take probably every every month or two oz and i we you know personality wise we had a fallen out a bit not that we don't like each other anymore oz's i still would have us back in anything but i don't have much to talk about and that was that was like how it was downrange that too

We didn't sit around and me and him didn't talk a lot. Not that I, but we also knew that I'd always have his back and you'd always have mine. I know that. Jack actually just talked to him a couple days ago. And, you know, of course, the family members, I talked to Tyrone Woods' mom, Cheryl. I talked to her last month. And then, actually, I haven't just talked to anybody on the Doherty family side. But I try to stay in touch with the families, too.

But, yes, we still talk quite a bit, but we live in all live in different states. So it's difficult just to get together. How, looking at the movie, were you involved? Did you go on site to help them make this movie? Actually, we did, and we actually went on site. We actually were in Bay Studios, helping with the designing of the set. We read the first draft of the script there at Bay Studios together, going through and making sure that it was as accurate as you can't be for a two-hour movie

when you're trying to build a 13-hour story. The book, of course, is completely accurate because you wrote it. and we made sure with Mitchell that he didn't try to embellish or do anything. The movie, you don't have every character developed, but you do have the camaraderies there. The firefighters are pretty dang accurate, brother, and the timeline is awesome. And also the personalities are exact.

And yes, so, yeah, we sat in Bay Studios, helping design the set, helping with the script writing. Then we all took a turn over in Malta, where it was filmed. Malta was filmed on set just being there for the actors when they needed. And here's an example of how accurate they wanted to get it.

I remember Pablo Schreiber who played me, and Pablo and I hung out to we're still friends. He's a great guy, fantastic guy, and him and his kids and my kids get along the road well. But Pablo was on set, and he was manipulating his Mark 46 incorrectly. You know, when he was pulling the charging hand or the rear, and it's a common mistake for people that don't know this.

Your hand, he put his palm down, when he was trying to pull his charging handle back. And that is not as a experienced weapons handler, guys like myself are going to see that in the movie and go, whoa, this is not right. I'm not watching this thing anymore. And I remember he came off after it was a pretty intense scene where he was getting shot at.

It was where, and I said, hey, you got your hand wrong, brother. You got to flip it over. Any rangers are experts at belt-fed weapons. They are. You can't do that. And he says, okay. No problem at all. No qualms.

He said, Roger that. And they redid the scene, and he did it right. And that was, I just wanted to point out to people that, especially the naysairs out there, that they say this was an embellish story. They said, this isn't accurate. They say, I think it could Chris Hayes over at MSNBC, and of course it's MSNBC, saying that this is a fictional movie. No, it's not. This is a true story. And this is how much the actors and Michael Bay and Irwin Stoff, the producer, wanted to make it accurate, because we knew it would be scrutinized.

So, yes, we attended. We were on set, but we also were involved prior to, and we also spent time, and like myself, I spent time with the guy that played me, Pablo Shriver, in person or on Skype or just on the phone, Dangar every day up until he had to go to Malta to start filming, and then I was on set. So, yeah, it's very accurate. And people can watch the featureettes. There's featureettes out there. 13 hours featureettes.

There's several of them that show us on set. It shows me over Michael Bay shoulder looking at the camera, which was a pretty cool experience in this one right. I bet. Did you really wear shorts that night? Yeah, I still got him. Seriously? Oh, yeah. I got to the point, bro.

I was in the, again, the movie, the personality that I had, the movie, Pablo played it exact. I am at that point, after 10 years of going through stuff, you know what? I was, I was, I was this kind of guy. I did not respect authority that we had coming over there because it didn't know what it was doing. It would put us in dangerous situations. It was more concerned about politics. over than protection, over than this really protecting, I think protecting the really what our country stands for. But also there's a lot of BS where you do these meetings and you got to listen to the hoopla.

Oh, look at me, look at me, look what I'm doing. And so I just would not, I didn't want to put up with it. So I would say, no, I'm not listening to this. I'm not, but I would always tell them too, you guys want me to attend all these things and you think I'm being disrespectful. because I want to go sleep. I needed my sleep. I'm tired of sitting in these political meetings with you guys. But you know what?

I would give my life for every one of you. Is that not good enough? And that's where it was with me. So yeah, and that's why where the shorts came in is that I didn't think, you know, that little piece of a piece of cloth, that's not going to save my life.

And it's hot over there, dude. And so, yeah, I just, if I was on QRF, I would wear shorts because if I was on QRF, I didn't have to be low profile. If I was going out that gate, It was obvious I was an American because I'm going out, kidded up full gear. And I could run in shorts. Yeah, I still got them.

That's great. I love that part of the movie goes, you're going to wear shorts for this thing? And you said, yeah, or your character says yes. And he goes, strong move. It's just a really funny part. I don't know, like, the exact dialogue that happened that night, but it was a great part of the movie. And that was how, see, it got exactly right. That's how Boone and I were.

I was very outspoken, and Boone was very quiet and philosophical. cool that's exactly i mean that's and that's what i was like i remember sitting there and and yeah i was like you're wearing your shorts huh like yeah i'm going to wear my shorts so that's a strong move brother but you know saying guys is a smart ass and and that's but that's why when i watch it i see pablo i see me and i see dame and i see boon and that's exactly that that that that relationship and the mannerisms is identical to how we work and that's just again that's a that's a attribute and it's it's it's a it's kudos to the actors for getting it right and not letting politics get involved with it and saying we're going to portray these guys exactly and show them

how they were and and and and then let the chips fall where they may on the dang with the American public and I'm proud of that very proud one of the other key aspects of the of what happened is the fact that the CIA chief was not letting you guys go when you wanted to go you want you wanted to go as soon immediately whenever you heard it happened and he and you were held back. So what exactly happened in that moment? How long did they hold you for? Because in the movie, it's hard to tell time.

Sure, sure, sure. And just down and dirty, 25 minutes. We waited at the annex to get our okay to go. We got to wait at five minutes. And this is where actually we were ready to go with it. We were ready to go five minutes. That team was awesome. I remember coming out that front door of my hooch and seeing the firefight.

Because it's, we're just down the road from the constant. So you could see the tracers everywhere. And you could hear the explosions. You could hear the AK fire, the PQM fire, and the heavy machine gun fire. And then going, every one of us had a job. Every one of us shut our mouths and did our job. Nobody was barking. And that's perfect, that's perfect leadership.

That's perfect teamwork right there. Doing our jobs. Five minutes. Guys, they have to get the cars out. They got the cars out. Guys have got to get the machine guns, get the machine guns. Guys got to get more ammunition, extra get. And everybody's doing their job.

It was like an orchestra. It was like a beautiful symphony. And five minutes, good to go. Chief told us to wait because I remember I went up to him. I said, hey, Chief, we're ready to go. And he looked at our team leader. Now, our team leader is not portrayed in the movie. Our team leader and the chief are the same character in the movie.

We just didn't have time. In the book, you have our team leader. Actually, Tyrone was actually our assistant team leader. But he acted more as a leader than our actual team leader who was an employee of the CIA and had no military experience. But I remember going to our chief and saying, hey, we're ready to go. The chief looked at the team leader and said, hey, tell these guys they need to wait. And the team leader looked at me.

And I'm standing 10 feet from both of them. And he goes, the chief's telling you, and I stopped. I said, I got it, dude. Thank you. Thank for that respect. And I walked back to the car. And Ty's like, hey, what's going on? So the chief's telling us, we've got to wait.

Well, 10 more minutes go by. And that's when TIG jumps out of his car because we're getting fired up because we can hear the guys at the Anac. I mean, at the consulate, the State Department guys calling us. They're on the radio. The movies, it's verbatim. Guy, GRS, where are you? GRS, you don't get here. We're all going to F and die.

And I remember taking out of his car And I could see him and Bob our chief arguing It was very animated And then he gets back in the car Because I couldn't hear him Because I was in an armored vehicle I couldn't hear what they were saying I said what's going on

He says Bob's telling us we got to stand down So that's when Bob told us to stand down 15 minutes after we were called And then we waited 10 more minutes And that's when we did get the words And it is verbatim from the movie It's exactly what Alec Henderson said In the talk he goes

Jura if you don't get here We're all going to F and die And I remember in my car hearing that on the radio. I remember I looked at Boone. I remember Ty cracked his door and he gave him. He basically put that big ass arm up. He's a big dude. He put his arm up, Tyrone Woods, and he gave me a thumbs up.

It's like, we're going. And we all each other and we shut out the gate. So 25 minutes. Now what the media, mainstream media doesn't tell you. And they've said now, oh, yeah, they were delayed. They were delayed. They waited. Because of that delay and because people like the chief and people in the administration and

don't know tactics. That delay just led to a domino effect of more delays. So it took us another 25 minutes to fight our way onto the compound. So that scene in the movie where it looks like, you know, it's like five minutes where we're moving and we're on foot and we're running. And people are still watching soccer. And I remember saying, yeah, actually people are, hey, he's probably watching the Broncos game.

Actually, I said the Cowboys game. I don't know why I put Broncos in there. But it took us 25 more minutes to fight our way that 400 meters. So by the time we actually got on the console, it had been over an hour. since we got called. And there was no saving. I mean, the things, the whole compound was completely ablaze. It was just massified.

So you have, obviously, this is not your first firefight. But I'm thinking of the amount of adrenaline, I'm a former football player. And the amount of adrenaline I would get, as I'm leading up to playing in those games, was out of this world. It's impossible to match it. What type of, what's going through your mind,

your body, your heart, as you're getting ready to go into a situation where bullets are flying, bombs, fires, a bunch of people who want to kill you. I mean, what possibly is, I mean, I'm just curious as to what that feels like. Well, and I played football through college too myself, brother. So I paid for school. So, yeah, I understand.

It does prepare you a bit. I was going to say, so how does that compare? Well, in a far, you know, you can kind of let your emotions sometimes get the best you in football because depending on the position that you play, sometimes you want to be, those linebackers, they want to be amped. of ready to go. Right. But at that, and that's why that team was so special is because everybody had been through whether or not be a firefight, at least an IED or an attack where somebody has died in front of them or so they've been through a crash situation where that

adrenaline gets going. What you have to do at that point, me being 42 and being more mature and being through stuff like you said before, been through firefighters, been through explosions, seen people die before, been through crisis situations where I thought it was maybe not going to make it out. What you'd do. do is you get that adrenaline and you have to push it down. So you look, I equate it to a duck and water. Inside, you're going crazy. You're outside. You have to remain calm because you have to still use your burn. You've got a lot of thinking, a lot of planning that you've got to go through. So when you start moving out and those situations are changing, you continually have to war game in your

head. Okay, we're at five minutes now. What are we going to do? Oh, crap. Now it's seven minutes. The situation's changed. What are we going to do? And you start to rely on the training that you've been through the highest level of training that you've gone to you've got to rely on that but what you have to do and this is a difference between when i was playing football and then went through that night or that situation that night or even situations prior to that when i first started going overseas is maintaining that calmness you do because you still have to think yeah that adrenaline's going and you're pushing all that adrenaline on that fight that fight response you're pushing it out to your outer muscles you're pushing it out to your legs and your arm so you can fight and shoot and move

and your senses are height it's it's beautiful you're the most of the Tune senses in the world. Everything is just so vivid. It's beautiful. Green, green, green, oranges that oranges from the fires and most orange you ever seen. The grass was so green that night, even at night. But you have to also up in your head. Do you have to disassociate all that adrenaline that's going out to your outer body and keep your head on point and keep it, keep it clear. And also, how that helped me is I just, I just would give faith. I just, God, you got it. This is yours, brother. I'm not going to try to control the situation. Whatever situation you put me in, I will be proactive to it the best I can.

but I also will react to that situation. And I know you have my back. And that gives you that confidence. So it's just if that makes any sense, and it's hard to explain unless you've been through adrenaline situations before. And that's why the lot, that's where our chief failed us. That's where I think the Hillary and her minions are sitting up on the hill

wondering if we should put these Marines in certain uniforms. They locked up. They don't have that experience. They don't have that crisis. They locked up. They didn't know what to do. And that's what happens if you can handle it. You go in the black is what we call it, where your brain just does not function anymore,

and you start going in slow motion, and you're not thinking clearly because you're panicking. And I really honestly think that night that's what took place on at our, I know that's what happened at our base. That's also what happened up on the seventh floor and also what happened in the White House and also happened in Rosalind at the State Department. They didn't know what to do. They panicked. What are your, Hillary Clinton is obviously a candidate to be president. What are your thoughts on her? Biggest mistake in the world, brother.

You can't. And this is not a political statement. This is a leadership statement. She is a failed leader. She's done everything that she's ever put her hands on. She's failed. Benghazi is a perfect example of that failure. And like I even said prior, just by her, something small where you kind of have troops,

you got an ambassador. And this, Chris Stevens was a high-level ambassador, leaving this guy behind. And whether it be an affairish or not, which now more things are, coming out, which it may have been a fairest, leaving Americans behind, leaving troops behind, leaving not contractors, you left rangers, seals, and Marines. All of us were former in that base fighting for our lives ourselves. And then also just trying to decide to not offend the Libyan government because you want to put people in certain uniforms. You want that person as a leader? No, she can't lead. She will go into the black when things get bad and she doesn't respond well

and it will cause more lives. And also, I, I, she's a, she is a sociopath. She, she honestly can tell lies and then rationalize it to herself that she's not. By continually going on TV and calling the family members of, of my brothers that fell, liars, that is the most despicable person in the world. And I, again, Donald Trump with him comparing his sacrifices to the sacrifice of Captain Khan, I know that's a big issue. No, that's a big no, no, too.

You don't do that. Yeah. But gosh, dang it, by calling gold star families, liars, that's 10 times worse. And, oh, yeah, it's, it, brother, if that happens, we're going to have more attacks here. Yeah. And then on another side, besides getting out of Benghazi, you know, she's going to adopt the policies that we've already had from this administration. Our debt's going to go up higher. Veterans are still not going to get the care they need.

And again, and the lone wolf attacks, if not bigger attacks, are going to continue to come into the United States. So it's a huge mistake. Have you and your brothers ever received an apology or a thank you from the CIA or from her or from others? When we first got back, the agency that, you know, behind closed doors, our guys that we worked with said, hey, thanks, you guys did a great job. But as the truth came out and as we started to see it getting spun and the truth, and then when we said, hey, when we were made to sign new nondisclosures, our second nondisclosure in a span of, I think it was a span of, I think it was a span of. maybe six months, which is odd because those things last. I signed one in five years before I signed the next one. And doing it at the memorial ceremony for Ty and Glenn, that was a bit classless act by the agency.

And so to answer your question, we got to thank you in-house with our group of GRS guys. And you guys, basically, you know, it's like our team coming in after winning a big game and saying, hey, good job, guys. That's what it was. Getting an official thank you? No, I've never heard. And you know what? I don't care. I don't want to if for some reason, and it won't happen. But let's say President Obama wanted, I might say even saying the president, but Obama wanted us to come in the White House or Hillary gets elected and says, we need to honor you guys. I tell them no. No, no, no, no. I don't want your award. I don't need your award. I know you're doing it just because you feel like the American public and you're trying to placate, you're trying to placate to people.

No, I don't want. It's a slap in the face. But, brother, I'll get care less. I've never seen the award. I don't expect the thanks from them. And the only thanks I need is just from guys that have been down range or guys that I served with. And that's good enough for me. Yeah, the respect of your peers, I got to believe.

Was that your last, Benghazi, the last contract? No, I actually went to Yemen. I went to Sana'a and saw a little bit of that debacle when the State Department just pulled. everybody out of the country that year. No, I kept working. I love my job. And that's to the nayshares out there. And there's even naysayers, veterans' naysayers and say, oh, you guys just wanted to

write a book. You guys just wanted to make money. Believe me, guys, I would make more money contracting in two years than I would with the amount of money I got from the book and the movie. And now I went to Yemen because I love my job. I wanted to keep serving. I did. All of us kept deploying, except for us.

The whole team went back to Yemen or Lebanon. They split us. But except for Oz because, you know, Oz was severely injured. He'd been hit by 81 millimeter mortars and his arm had been severed off. What is, like, how much would you make on a nine-month contract? For that particular contract, you're making, you're making pretty good money. Nine months, you're going to make six figures. Six figures.

Hold on and say, I'll give you the exact. I'm a problem giving you that. Yeah, okay. Because believe me, I'm going to tell people right now, you may think we're over, we're over paid until that first bullet snaps by the head. I don't know if anyone's saying that. You'll get people on MSNBC or seeing, oh, you guys are so. I don't know if you could pay me enough, man.

But you're going to make roughly about a two, for, if you're overseas for nine months. And honestly, on a CIA contract, you're not allowed to go that long. Oh, okay. So how long are they? What's a typical tour? Typical, it's going to be two months on and two months on and then usually 45 days off. So you're doing about seven-month contracts. you're going to make about 200,000, 210 in a year.

But that's 1099. That's you have to, you know, that's not taxable. So you got to do all your own taxes and so forth. And that's a lot of money. You know what? For the job that you're doing for putting your life on the line daily and then coming home. And I want people to realize this, Tim, I can talk about this if you've got time. Yeah.

It's, it's not. It's worth it because the job is worth it. You're not doing it because of the money. Believe me, you're doing it because it's the, job is worth it. I want to tell people too because their buddies are mine because and this is why they lengthed. We used to be able to stay overseas as long as we wanted. I did one contract that I stayed for 13 months because I kept getting offered bonuses to stay out there because they couldn't fill them. And your mind goes. You lose it. And the reason they started to cut it down so you can

only be gone for 60 days, 75 days tops is because guys were coming home and killing themselves or they were coming home and becoming domestic abusers or they were coming home and becoming alcoholics. People don't realize because of that GRS Ellen, because you're in a small two-man team, because you really are at your wits, you're realizing you've got to use your brain before you pull the trigger. When you're pulling the trigger, something's gone horribly wrong on GRS because you don't want to pull the trigger because you're going to be outmaned. It's highly stressful.

And people, what was going on is guys were because of these contracts. The reason that you can't stay out as long as you're saying because guys were those in their minds. And I was one of those guys. I was diagnosed with PTSD. I don't like to call, I don't like even use the D because I don't think it's a disorder. To me, it's a badge of honor having that mental scar. That's a purple heart guys. So all you guys listen out there, that's, that's, you should be honored to have that because it means you've been through something. You've been through something that people can't go through or are not willing to go through. But I was diagnosed with it in 2007. And so I have post-traumatic stress and I still deployed with it for six more years.

So I just want people to realize that that when you have to live and continue, leaving your family whenever you leave every two months leaving your kids and knowing that this might be the last time i i see my kids and doing that for you know doing that at minimum three times a year or four times a year and realizing that that gut-riching feeling and i did that for 10 years that boy that just that tears you up people that go on business trips want to think oh man i got to leave my family for two weeks but hey leech you're going to chicago or l-a i just want you to think how that feeling is when you're like, I'm leaving my family again. I may not be coming back.

All right. And how that just wears on you mentally and emotionally. And we do that for years and years. So when people complain about contracts from making too much money, I want you guys to think about that. All the negatives think, could you do that? Could you leave your family, realizing four times a year, realizing that might be the last time you see your kids?

Could you do that? And that's why I want that question to be. People ask themselves that when they start knocking on contract. I can't even imagine it. What made you eventually stop? I had the CIA fired us. They fired you? Really?

Why? They pulled our clearances because we told the truth, brother. They're going to say it was due to affiliation. Our names are out there now. Our true names are out there. But we were told prior to that that if we did the story, this was in a, we actually, we had to write a little, we told them, hey, it was after eight months and after this non-disclosure agreement where they made a sign of multiple non-disclosures, the team had

voted and said, we got to tell the truth. They're destroying the heroism and tub of what Ty and Glenn did that night. And they're bastardizing the story for political gains. And we sat down and said, we voted in Tyson's corner sitting at the Ritz Carlton. We were having a drink and we voted and said, we're going to tell the truth. And when we did that, we had to write a little, like we went to the agency and said, hey, we're going to write a story. We wanted to hire a clearance lawyer, somebody that specializes this. So we make sure we're not violated. our security clearances. And they said, we had to write a little three-page synopsis of what we thought the book was going

to be. And Oz wrote that. And we presented it to our chief of support. I can't give you her name because she's still working. But when we sat down, we had to do a meeting with the CIA legal team. And then our lawyer was there, our clearance lawyer, Mark Zaid, who, oh, I think has done a great job helping us. He sat down with us.

And I remember when we walked in that room, that chief of support, the lady that's in charge of all GRS, everything. all the support elements within the agency. She comes up, she goes, if you guys do this, you're going to, you realize you're not working with us ever again. Like, yes, ma'am. All right. And we move forward.

So it is a little bit hypocritical, especially nowadays with, you know, with Hillary and her, using unclassified servers and giving up national security secrets, obviously they've gotten out. They've been leaked out. And she keeps her clearance. And because we told the truth, we lost ours. The whole team lost, we all lost our clearances, every one of us. And so when you lose your clearance as a contractor, you can't work for the agency or any government agency anymore. So they're never going to say they fired us because as a contractor, you really don't get fired because you're a 1099 deployed.

You get let go. And by being let go, you can lose your clearance. And that's a huge deal to us because we're done working for the government. We've lost our clearances. You know, Tonto, a family friend of mine came to me months ago, right? I think as the movie was coming out and he said, I have the best guest you could ever get for your podcast. It's Chris Tonto, Peranto from the movie, 13 hours. The real guy, though, not the actor.

And he saw you give a speech. So I'm curious, what does it sound like? What does it feel like? Because I have not seen one in person to be in the audience of one of your speeches. I don't know what it feels like for the audience. I know what it feels like for me. And it's a roller coaster because I want people to feel emotionally what I felt. But also what I want people to walk out of there.

And yeah, that you are, people are angry because they can actually put a face with the guy that was one of the guys that was left behind there by our own government. But what I want people to get out of it, too, is especially is there was so much leadership and heroism and courage and selfless service and faith that went on that night that night that night that night, that I want people to get that of it too. And also never give up. You never quit when the chips are down and you keep getting smacked in the face, whether it was that night in the Gazi or how we are getting continually being beat up by the, the left-wing media, you never give up. You never quit. You overcome every obstacle and you overcome it by having faith in yourself and by having that strength, the inner strength, and by having that courage to stand up for what's right. And I want people to get, I think they pull that out of it as well. I don't think, I know they do. I know they pull that. And so it's not a, it's not I get up

there and say, oh, Hillary's awful. She's just, no, I may say her name a couple times because it's part of the story, because of the State Department and their failures of not getting security there. That's just part of the story. But the story is just to me is getting up there and trying to showing Benghazi as an inspirational story, making lemonade when you got lemons. And it is, brother. I couldn't have overcome a lot of those things. If I hadn't seen Tig do so many remarkable things at night, if I hadn't seen Ty do so many remarkable things that continually motivated me to like, I'm not giving up. I got my brothers. I'm not giving up. And also, I have faith. I believe in God quite a bit. You always see me on TV with my crucifix out because in today's society,

that's politically incorrect. Bull crap. God is never politically incorrect. And you have to have faith to overcome everything that, all the adversity that's gone on through your life, people's lives. And I want to use Benghazi as a stepping stool to continue to push faith out there. And also, again, just immense sacrifice that not just we have, but continually that the military and contractors have protecting people in this country and giving us the freedoms that we do. We still have the greatest country in the world, even with all our problems right now,

even with all the diverse, we do have a divided country right now. This is still the greatest country in the world. Still is. And all people realize that. Yeah, well, Chris, I'm so appreciative of you investing your time with me today. I really appreciate it. At the beginning of this conversation, you said,

all the great leaders continually learn, and that's what the learning leader show is all about. So thank you so much for being here. Is there anywhere you'd want to send my listeners to learn more about you online? You know what? I had to, begrudgingly, I had to get into social media stuff. So if people want to see where I'm speaking, I have a public figure page. I try to get on as much as possible.

I do have somebody that helps me with it. So if you ever want to see where I'm speaking at, or even if you want to come in the crowd and heckle me, hey, but just be expected to be heckled back because I'm up on the stage and I have no problem heckling you back. But it's on there. I do have a website. It's very easy, Chris Tonto-Pironto.com, and you can see where that also shows where I'm speaking at, but it also gives a brief bio.

And then I also have Twitter, and I have Instagram and Snapchat. It's all my name, just Chris Perrano. I don't try to hide out. You'll see my picture on there. And Twitter, Twitter, I've realized that is a political social media site, and I do get very political on those things. Instagram, that's fun. I just post pictures.

That's fun. And me being, and you can see how, if you want to see that, I am a good. I am a jackass. I completely am, and I'll post pictures showing as such. But all those things out there, just all you got to do is Google my name and you'll find them. But I think if people want to see where I speak, going to the Facebook page, public figure page, or going to my website and they can see where the speaking events are.

And if I've done other media, I usually posted on there. And you can see that I'm a goof. I'm just like everybody else. I'm a big goof. I love it, man. And I'm really looking forward to the day I get to see you speak in person. But this has been just a, I've been on the edge of my seat the entire 40-some minutes we been talking.

So thank you so much, Tanto, for being here. It really is a surreal moment for me. So I'm really appreciative. And thank you for your service. I can't say that enough. There's no words that can really justify or put, say it enough to really share how I feel and how I know almost all Americans feel about the work that you've done. Thanks, brother.

You don't need to say anything. I appreciate you. Just have me on. That's thanks enough to me. Right. Thanks so much, man. All right, brother. God bless you, Ryan.

You too. Bye-bye. This episode of The Learning Leader Show is over, but we have plenty more to keep you locked in until next time. Head over to Learning Leadershow.com for more information and to request your favorite entrepreneur, CEO, world-class athlete, or anyone else that inspires you. You can also talk to Ryan directly by reaching out to him on Twitter at Ryan Hawk 12.

Thanks again, and we'll see you next time on the Learning Leader Show. Thank you.