Today we hear the Combat Story of Kristen Murdock, who spent 13 years in the Navy as a Naval Intelligence Officer from an Aviation Squadron off a carrier to Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU).
[Check out our Patreon page for more images of Kristen and for an upcoming Q&A with Ryan]
Kristen spent most of her military time deployed around the world and focused primarily on intelligence in the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa, including deployments at the strategic level with joint staffs to the tactical with SEAL Team 3 and DEVGRU.
After her time in service, Kristen transitioned thanks to a phenomenal program designed for Special Operations service members and support staff called The Honor Foundation which helped her find her next career in Silicon Valley working in the Trust and Safety space at Facebook and, most recently, Twitch, as a senior leader.
Kristen narrowly avoided be kicked out of the Naval Academy and had her dreams of flying shattered at the last moment but ended up hustling to find a more rewarding path in Intel that serves as a great lessons for those still rising through the ranks and I hope you enjoy her insights into the shadowy world of intel at a Tier 1 unit as much as I did.
Find Kristen online:
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenmichele/
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-murdock/
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristenmurdock
Find Ryan Online:
– Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory
– Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/
– Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
– Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
– Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
– Email ryan@combatstory.com
– Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
– Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Show Notes
0:00 – Intro
00:41 – Guest introduction for Kristen Murdock
6:05 – Reality check from an active duty father and aviator at Dover Air Force Base
12:17 – Avoiding the use of Intel “Jedi mind tricks” on regular people
12:38 – What is the “2” in military language (S2, N2, J2, G2, etc)
15:54 – Going to the US Naval Academy and almost not making it
25:00 – Losing your ‘dream’ career and finding your true path
30:27 – Unfortunate advice from another officer to a woman in service
32:27 – Arriving to your first assignment as the intel officer on a carrier
42:22 – Running intel at SEAL Team 3
45:02 – Strategic work as an intel officer and preparing “The Book”
49:47 – Doing time with DIA to get broader intel experience
53:48 – Detailed to a Special Forces Team (ODA) and then sent to support ISAF (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRf_vdx0lg the International Security Assistance Force)
55:19 – Supporting General Stanley A. McChrystal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA0yXWAAais) and General Michael Flynn while meeting tribal leaders like Karzai
1:03:01 – Learning of the deaths of Brendan Looney and Travis Manion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhn4vAgQneE)
1:05:28 – Working threat finance as an intelligence officer and the skills it teaches you
1:08:30 – Getting to SEAL Team 3
1:15:55 – The weight of giving intel to a team of operators and how much confidence you need to have
1:17:19 – Walking past the memorial for a fallen friend (Brendan Looney) at SEAL Team 3 HQs
1:18:28 – The transition to Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU, also known as SEAL Team Six)
1:20:43 – Had a great experience with all the Team guys
1:22:19 – Transitioning out of the military and into Tech with Facebook (now Meta) and then on to Twitch
1:30:18 – What did you carry with you on deployments?
1:31:12 – Would you go back and do it again?
1:32:55 – Listener comments and shout outs.
Thanks for listening ya’ll! Stay safe.
The video is all about special operations and special operators and intelligence officers and the intelligence profession. If you want to learn more about special operations and intelligence, you can click: https://www.combatstory.com/
This video is describing what it takes to be in special operations and make it in Intelligence but also try to cover the following subjects:
– What are special operations?
– Combat Story
– Navy SEALs
– Combat Operations
– DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency)
_________________________
Have I responded to all of your questions about what are special operations and what is intelligence?
Individuals who searched for Kristen Murdock and intelligence also searched for Navy SEALs and intelligence officers and we have interviews with many Navy SEALs and former Intelligence Officers at www.combatstory.com, including those in Naval Special Warfare Development Group (or DEVGRU), which many people refer to as SEAL Team Six, and with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
If you would like to learn more about the intelligence profession or SEALs, look into our various other video clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyApoJr-mNmdMNwdk22xEQ
source
What a lovely Woman.
What a badass
Ryan , I love your content but she is over the top. She always thinks she is right and over the top.
Plus you gotta love that “uptick talk” that’s she does like Rogan always notes.
She seems full on left. Cause she claims trump told her to make the decision. Lol
Ryan, you have been in community , please tell me a time that POTUS told you to make his/her decision lol.
Uggh. She's insufferable and Woke, to boot. And, no. I'm not "triggered by a strong woman." Men and women who lack humility are impossible to listen to.
For someone who was knocking others in the profession for telling tall tales and profiting off them, she should probably walk that talk or keep it to herself.
Dover, Delaware resident count:
3
Absolutely amazing!
I think one of my favorite podcasts was the one where Ryan got interviewed honestly I listen to these on the bus ride to school
She doesn’t speak like a Naval Officer. Anyone count how many times she said “like?”
Wow! I had no idea there was a woman who made it through BUD/s! And to make it through BUD/s then Green Team for DEVGRU?!!! Is she the very first and only female to do these things? Incredible! She's an inspiration for every female out there! That they can make it through the hardest military schools on the planet!
It's really awesome to hear these stories of the inner workings of the American military. Military families are really the glue
👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾🤝🤲🤝🤝✊🤝🤝
Not sure how you could serve this nation for the freedom we all enjoy and then work for a company like Facebook and Twitch who is so far left and taking away the very rights she fought for. With that being said thank you for serving our nation and allowing my family and I to be free.
Thank You Ma'am for picking up the Shield! Total badass !
A simple Bill that doesn't require CIA clearance & EVERYONE can read and still she thinks it's about being gay in FL…. Lost credibility & started to doubt the "success" & think what other lies did she believe & base her "intelligence" on that resulted in unfavorable results or the failed missions we dont hear about.
I wonder if the main character in the show Homeland is supposed to be her? Or the cIA chick in Seal Team the TV show, the kinda narcissistic, shady one?
So many guys in the comments triggered by an emancipated, strong opinionated, successful woman. 😂 Grow up folks.
FET was one of the biggest failures of the gwot.
From Seal Team 3 to Facebook, just like the CIA intended. Props to all that made it through this self indulgent and self serving waste of skin. Highlight the lowlight for us to see
I can imagine she would be a pain to work alongside. The tone etc.
We had a cool intel officer in VF-1 he showed me some interesting things
It was good until the woke ending!
Killer episode Ryan:)
What a amazing person!
BTW, it is not illegal to be gay in Florida which she is saying it is… She really disappoints at the end… She went WOKE.
Ughhhh. Her wokeness at the end ruined it. Let’s not forget her role in banning President Trump from Facebook…
NAS Lemoore, California. Loving referred to as "NAS Manure". 15 years in the pasture.
Who cares quite beating your chest and move on to the next task
FACEBOOK is a shit hole……..
I wish I joined after highschool. I’m only 26 but I feel like I should have gone sooner
Lovely guest.
👏👏👏👏🏅
👍🇺🇲💪💯
I love seeing women suceed in the service.
WoW,she is great 🇺🇸
You should also reach out to Edward Buyers the first SEAL from DEVGRU to receive the Medal of Honor.
You should also reach out to Don and Dj Shipley both are father and son Navy SEALs and Dj served on DEVGRU. And he now runs GBRS group on you tube Don served on SEAL teams one and two and now runs extreme SEAL experience which is a camp that gives a kid a taste of what it is like to be a SEAL.
What’s said at 1:22?