#40 - Seal Team SIX Member Battles The Endless War of Identity | Kristin Beck

Kristin Beck is a former U.S Navy Senior Chief, SEAL team operator, and decorated war hero. Kristin proudly served the United States as a Navy SEAL for over 20 years, serving on 3 different SEAL teams. She was deployed 13 times, serving in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq including 7 combat deployments, earning more than 50 ribbons and metals including the bronze star with valor and the purple heart. Following retirement from military service in 2011, Senior Chief Beck continued high level clearance work at the Pentagon working for the Secretary of Defense.  While in active duty, Kristin respectfully remained silent regarding her gender identity - following the the U.S military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy during her service but since retirement has announcer her decision to live openly and as authentically as possible, releasing her memoir "Warrior Princess" and starring in the CNN Documentary film "Lady Valor" where she recounts becoming totally detached from fear due to living through constant rocket and mortar strikes, and sometimes being more than willing to risk her own life the end the problems of having to face her gender identity issues. In this podcast Kristin shares her lessons from getting through Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training at the top of her class, to dealing with failure on the battlefield, specifically during a raid on Saddam Husseins palace.  She also specifically describes the courage it took to publicly display her true identity at the risk of not only losing the respect of her peers, but having to face bigotry and hatred as a result.

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