CSM Mike S. Burke

Command Sergeant Major Mike Burke sat down with me for Heroes Live.

Still serving. Not retired. Second-time brigade sergeant major. One of the outfits the Army hand-picks. Legend of the 75th. That is how I introduced him.

Sidney, Montana. Not the mountains. Keep driving east until it gets flat. Right before North Dakota. Not a lot to do but get in trouble. Junior year he looked at the 21-year-olds still at the kegger. He did not want that life. He wanted the best. Hence the 75th Ranger Regiment.

1998. Recruiter did not want to do paperwork. He hunted him down. I want to be an airborne ranger. They told him that was not a thing. He knew better. Somebody said 100 push-ups. 100 sit-ups. Sub-11 two-mile. He trained for that. Running was the only one he got close to.

First mass-tac in Regiment. Airfield seizure. NODs with no batteries. Specialist Kelly was his ranger buddy. His roommate. Sergeant Jackson found them off the drop. Get your ass over here. They were the first from the platoon to hit the runway anyway.

Gun team leader. Corporal. Sergeant. He kept a blue book of what not to do. He did the opposite. That is how he led.

He hosts too. Legends of the 75th. Always in Pursuit. Fourth or fifth episode was Matt Nyman. Ranger. Delta. Lost a leg in a helicopter wreck. Three days before the episode dropped Nyman died in an avalanche in Alaska. The family said release it. That is the point. Get the voice while you can.

He is writing a memoir. About 65 percent done. Lessons. A takeaway you can use. He still tells other people's stories first. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.