Andy Stumpf recounts getting shot in Baghdad and his unlikely path to officer

Former Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf sat down with Mike Ritland to walk through two very different chapters of his career: a commissioning path that broke all the usual rules, and the night he took an AK round on a joint raid in Baghdad.

Snapshot

Stumpf explains how getting medevaced during his LPO tour left his advancement record stalled, pushing him toward an obscure commissioning program meant for fleet sailors. He then describes the February 5, 2005 operation in Baghdad where he was shot in the hip during a joint raid with Army special operations personnel, and the chaotic seconds that followed.

Key points

• Stalled advancement: Stumpf says his record was passed over twice because the Navy considered his LPO tour incomplete after he was wounded and medevaced mid-deployment.
• An unusual commissioning route: He applied to a fleet-designed LDO program historically used only by senior enlisted sailors, and says he was selected as an E6 over 28 other applicants, becoming the first E6 picked up in that program within Naval Special Warfare.
• Overnight transition: Stumpf describes going from E6 to an O1 officer on October 1, 2008 with no additional training, later attending a brief officer indoctrination course in Newport, Rhode Island.
• The night he was shot: On a joint ground assault with Army special operations troops in Baghdad, Stumpf says he was hit in the hip while clearing a corner, got pinned under a vehicle under AK fire, and had to be dragged to cover by a teammate.
• Wider cost of the raid: Stumpf says eight people were wounded that night, including some from friendly fire and breaching charge injuries during the follow-on assault.

Quick take

Stumpf tells this story the way he lived it: matter-of-fact, with dark humor layered over a genuinely rough night. The bureaucratic absurdity of his promotion path and the split-second violence of the raid make for a candid look at how unpredictable both military careers and combat can be.

Watch the full video: Mike Ritland