Two Star General with Bipolar Disorder Who Engineered the Push into Baghdad | Major General (Ret) Gregg Martin, PhD
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2023
⏱️ 123 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is brought to you by DeleteMe. Go to www.joindeleteme.com/combat and use the code COMBAT to get 20% off your plan and keep your personal information online secure.
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This is a unique Combat Story with a Gregg Martin, a retired Two Star Army General who has two Combat Stories: one about fighting in uniform that included engineering the US military’s push into Iraq in 2003 and another that involved battling bipolar disorder for years.
Gregg was one of the highest achievers you can imagine as he road a wave of hyperthymia (a near continual state of mild-mania with abnormally high levels of energy, enthusiasm, and positivity that helped him graduate West Point, complete Ranger School, get a Masters and PhD from MIT, successfully command at multiple levels in the Army, while being an active leader in his community.
Eventually, during the euphoria of leading combined operations in Iraq in 2003, Gregg had what he describes as the onset of his bipolar disorder that manifested as times of mania followed by bouts of depression until, after attained the rank of two star general, he was relieved of command.
Gregg’s book has just come out and is aptly titled “Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness” that goes into detail about his military experience and career alongside the mental health challenges he faced.
I hope you enjoy this insightful interview with a retired General who has successfully managed bipolar disorder for several years as much as I did.
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- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Find Ryan Rogers Online:
- Website: https://www.generalgreggmartin.com
- Book Bipolar General: https://www.amazon.com/Bipolar-General-Forever-Illness-Association/dp/1682473805
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Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Guest Introduction (Gregg Martin)
02:03 - Interview begins
02:35 - Traits of a General
05:37 - Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder
18:04 - PTSD to Bipolar Disorder
21:02 - Family Military history
25:30 - Engineer Corps.
27:02 - 5 year mark commitment
28:10 - Time at MIT
33:15 - Pre 9/11 Military experience
39:23 - Signs of Mania during enlistment
43:01 - DeleteMe Ad
44:06 - Time at Army War College
45:30 - Bipolar Disorder and Genetics
56:40 - Time in Germany during war time
49:24 - Mission set for Engineer Corps.
58:23 - Bridges to Baghdad
01:06:26 - Average day in Iraq
01:16:10 - Onset of Bipolar disorder during Ops.
01:20:46 - Challenging moments
01:26:13 - Differences in character coming home
01:29:18 - Being Relieved
01:53:14 - Life with medication
01:54:29 - Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness
01:54:50 - Sentimental items
01:55:32 - Would you do it all again?
01:56:37 - Closing thoughts
01:57:33 - Listener comments and shout outs
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In general, Wallace, the core commander who I loved, he was a fabulous combat commander. |
| 0:06.9 | Before we attacked, he looked at me and he poked me in the chest and he said, |
| 0:11.9 | Sapper, you have to get the bridges in when we need them and where we need them. |
| 0:17.5 | If you get the bridges in, we will make it to Baghdad and we will win this fight. |
| 0:22.6 | If you fail to get the bridges in, this will be a long drawn out slug fest and a lot of |
| 0:28.6 | Americans are going to get killed. Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugid and I serve |
| 0:33.0 | war zone tours as an army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career. |
| 0:38.4 | I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and combat. On this show, I interview some of |
| 0:43.2 | the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines. This is Combat Story. |
| 0:49.0 | Today we have a unique combat story with Greg Martin, a retired two-star army general who has |
| 0:54.0 | two combat stories. In fact, one about fighting in uniform that included engineering the U.S. |
| 0:59.2 | military's push into Iraq in 2003 and another that involved battling bipolar disorder for years. |
| 1:05.1 | Greg was one of the highest achievers you can imagine as he wrote a wave of hyperthymia, |
| 1:09.4 | a near continual state of mild mania with abnormally high levels of energy, |
| 1:13.6 | enthusiasm and positivity that helped him graduate West Point, complete Ranger school, |
| 1:18.0 | it has masters and PhD from MIT successfully commanded multiple levels in the army while being |
| 1:23.8 | an active leader in his community. Eventually, during the euphoria of leading combined operations |
| 1:29.1 | in Iraq in 2003, Greg had what he describes as the onset of his bipolar disorder that manifested |
| 1:35.6 | as times of mania followed by bouts of depression until he was relieved of command. Greg's book has |
| 1:41.2 | just come out and is aptly titled bipolar general by forever war with mental illness. It goes into |
| 1:46.6 | detail about his military experience and career alongside the mental health challenges he faced. |
| 1:52.2 | I hope you enjoy this insightful interview with a retired general who has successfully managed |
... |
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