Veteran of War in Afghanistan & Iraq
Kevin Garrad

Interviewed by:

Matt Dadoly and Ben Torres

You're either a hunter or a gatherer, and I very much believe

that you're not so much the hunter, but the wanderer.

~ Kevin Garrad (01:30)

Kevin Garrad's Story:

Kevin Garrad, a young man from England, moved to the United States and joined the army. He made this decision after graduate school in England. Kevin had dreamed of being a soldier his entire life.

After basic training, Kevin was chosen to go into the Special Forces. He was one out of three hundred chosen to join the Rangers,a well known group that is part of the special forces, mainly being used as a rapid deployment military formation. After completing his training to become a Ranger, he was selected to become a Green Beret,another group known not only for their distinctive headwear, but also tasked with unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter defense. While in training to become a Green Beret, one of the requirements was that he had to learn a foreign language. The language that Kevin decided to learn was french. Next he had to go through advanced training in the medical field and combat.

Kevin was first deployed in Iraq in 2001 and for the next sixteen years of his life, Kevin would be deployed every year for six months before returning home, also being deployed in Afghanistan. One of Kevin’s jobs in Iraq was to train local militias to defend against. Also Kevin took part in several missions including breaches, where he was in charge of planting the charges to get into a compound or building. Throughout his time in Iraq, Kevin took part in many unnecessary missions including a mission where he and a few other men snuck down into a town at night, only to have their night and their mission be ruined by a kangal, a large dog used by the locals to scare off snow leopards.

Kevin's proudest memory from Afghanistan is giving back to the villages that were affected by the Taliban. Kevin felt that giving back and helping those in need was more meaningful than the fighting.