True Blue Conversations - Australian Special Forces SASR Brigadier Ret. Dan Fortune, DSC and Bar Part 1

True Blue Conversations Podcast

On this week’s podcast, I speak with former Australian SAS soldier and officer, Brigadier Dan Fortune, DSC and Bar (Retd).

Dan joined the Army at 17 years old as a private soldier and served for over 42 years before discharging for medical reasons. Between 1982-1992, Dan completed the SAS selection course three times (Yep wait for the story.. He served in a Sabre Squadron for four years as an operator/gunslinger in both HALO / Freefall and Land Assaulter Counter Terrorist roles. We spoke of Dan’s early years in the regiment and his growth as a soldier. We spoke of Dan's time at RMC becoming an officer and then after a short period in 1RAR reattending the entire SAS selection again and passing the course as a LT. We spoke of his service as a Troop Commander and on exchange with US SF then his time as an SAS Officer Commanding on multiple deployments, Bougainville, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Dan’s time as the ADF Tactical Assault Group for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

We discussed his more senior appointments including as CO RMC and as CO of the SOTG (2008) then, when serving in multiple year-long deployments to Afghanistan in senior ISAF SOF Command role, SOHQ as a Brigadier.

We discussed his transition from the Army to the Commonwealth SES Public Service appointment in AGSVA and the cost of service to one's family and the challenges facing contemporary SF veterans and their families. For Dan’s leadership in action (under fire, outside the wire..) in Command in Afghanistan, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (2008)and Bar.(2014)

Presenter: Adam Blum

Guest: Dan Fortune

Editor: Kyle Watkins

Investigative Consultant: Adam Holloway