Behind The Shield

Richard Rice spent three decades in the US armed forces and was one of the founding members of what would become the revered Delta Force. We discuss his journey into the military, being hunted in Vietnam, compassion in combat, Mogadishu, transitioning into education, innovating veterans' education, GORUCK and so much more.Richard retired from the U.S. Army as a Special Forces Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in 1994 after 30 years of service. The last 25 years of which were spent in various Special Operations Forces (SOF) assignments. He was a Program Coordinator, Director and Vice President at Fayetteville Technical Community College from 1994 to 2015.He began his career in the 82nd Airborne Division before joining Special Forces and then MACV-SOG, the most elite and decorated unit to fight in the Vietnam War, where he did two combat tours to begin a long and storied career. Colonel Charlie Beckwith, a fellow Special Forces soldier who he met in Vietnam, became both friend and mentor and personally recruited