Veronica Rector from The Boerne Star sits down with retired Special Forces veteran Tyr Symank to trace his 31-year military journey — from an 18-year-old who enlisted for college money to becoming a Green Beret combat medic deployed to Afghanistan. Tier shares stories from the First Cavalry's Horse Cavalry Detachment at Fort Hood, his experience in Special Forces selection during 9/11, grueling land navigation training in the North Carolina sandhills, and a unforgettable field amputation performed in a mud hut on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The episode closes with details about the upcoming Tides of Gratitude Gala benefiting the Real Warriors Foundation, a veterans' mental health nonprofit.

0:00     Intro — Veronica Rector welcomes Tyr Symank to The Boerne Brew

0:20     Early inspiration — Why Tier enlisted at 18 (college money, ski resort life, Marine recruiting ads)

2:11     Choosing the Army — Marines wanted 6 years; Army offered the same tank driver job for 2 years (he stayed 31)

2:55     Fort Hood & the Horse Cavalry Detachment — Ceremonial unit, parades, and rodeos across Central Texas

4:24     Trying out for Special Forces — Selected as a SF medic; 9/11 happens during training

5:01     9/11 experience — Working with FDNY weeks before the attacks; watching the second tower hit live

6:03     How 9/11 changed his motivation — From personal challenge to real mission

6:23     Special Forces training: Land Navigation — The infamous "Star Course" in North Carolina sandhills

8:03     Mid-show  — Veronica resets for new listeners

8:19     SF training phases — Small unit tactics, specialty selection, the year-long medic course (highest attrition)

9:27     Deployments — Language training (Thai), SERE school, then Afghanistan in summer 2003

10:08  Afghanistan environment — Bagram, "Disney Drive," conventional forces flooding in

10:47  Mission work — Weapons cantonment in Mazar-i-Sharif; border operations in Kunar Province

12:27  Naray outpost — Northernmost coalition presence on the Afghan-Pakistan border

13:28  The amputation story — An elderly Afghan local with an unhealed leg fracture; Tier prepares to amputate in a mud hut

15:33  Improvising surgery — Missing Gigli saw handles, thermobaric grenade rings, a Sawzall, and a "five-second rule" skin graft

19:26  Post-military life — Retired May 9, 2026; emceeing the Tides of Gratitude Gala

20:03  Tides of Gratitude Gala — Nov 7, Spring Branch, TX; benefiting Real Warriors Foundation (veterans' mental health)

21:20  Outro — Where to find the replay (boerneradio.com)

Original Air Date:  October 10, 2026, as heard on Boerne Radio 103.9FM

https://www.boernestar.com/