Captain Andrew Parks On Leading Marines Through Chaos and Combat | Ep. 76
By The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
November 17, 2025
📍Captain Andrew Parks — Bronze Star recipient and Marine Corps officer — joins David Rutherford to break down what truly builds warriors, leaders, and resilient men. From growing up around Vietnam veterans, to failing out of the Naval Academy, to unexpectedly becoming a Stinger missile platoon commander, and eventually deploying as an advisor during the most violent phase of the Iraq War, Parks’ story is the blueprint for courage, accountability, and leadership under fire.
He and David dive deep into OCS, TBS, mentorship, the Marine brotherhood, Iraq’s counterinsurgency fight, and the brutal lessons every young man must understand to lead others and lead himself.
Next Steps:
- 🏫 Get coaching by David Rutherford: https://www.froglogicinstitute.com/
- đź“• Get David's novel, The Poet Warrior: https://www.ballastbooks.com/ballast-bookstore/the-poet-warrior
- đź“° Sign up for David's weekly newsletter for free coaching tips, updates, and more: https://davidrutherfordletter.substack.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
02:44 - Why Did You Join The Marine Corps?
09:30 - Never Quit mindset, Leadership, & Discovering Who You Are
25:35 - Leaving OCS, First Assignment & Brotherhood
48:30 - Deploying to Iraq
56:50 - First Operation
01:01:00 - ROE’s, Leadership Having Your Back
01:07:20 - Leading In Combat
01:25:30 - The End of The Deployment, Coming Home, Lessons Learned
01:37:44 - Advice For Young Men
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This story originally appeared in The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show