CPT (R) Alan Preizer

CPT (R) Alan Preizer sat down with me for Heroes Live.

Ranger. Doctor. Jumpmaster. Author. That is how I introduced him. That is who he is.

He calls it a tale of two lives. Eleven years enlisted. Just over eleven and a half commissioned. First eleven having fun. Second eleven paying for it.

Enlisted time was all in the mud. Squad leader in Second Ranger Battalion. OCS branched him engineer. Light sapper platoon. An infantryman with more demo. Then the stars lined up. The battalion commander had been the S3 of Second Ranger Battalion when Alan was a squad leader there. He got his transfer back to infantry. He took a heavy weapons platoon to JRTC still wearing castles on his collar. Messed with the OCs' heads.

He commanded headquarters company in 2nd Battalion 187th Infantry. The Rakkasans. That is where he retired. Company change of command and a retirement ceremony on the same day. He pinned major on terminal leave. 2005.

He went right back to the sandbox. Ran RSOI training in Kuwait. Instructors in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Director of training for four years. Helped write the counter-IED doctrine when it first became a thing.

Then school. Airborne ranger with a PhD. Taught leadership. Seminary at Liberty. Masters in divinity. The book is A Philosophy of Muddy Boots Leadership. Apostle Paul. George Patton. A philosopher. Shake the bag. Nobody ever rises to the occasion. They default to their level of training or to their character.

Lead the Way Ministries is next. Young leaders. He is the gray beard now. He wants to act like one. Never put off talking to somebody. Tomorrow is not promised. COMPANY ATTENTION. People are most important. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.