The Day I Lost a Ranger: Tony Mayne on Faith, Death, and Purpose | Ep. 305 | Pt. 3

Mike Drop - Mike Ritland

In this episode of Mike Drop, Tony Mayne shares his profound journey through the U.S. Army Ranger Regiment, navigating medical challenges, p

Key takeaways

• Faith and prayer became central anchors during periods of uncertainty and physical limitation.
• The Ranger for Life program was created to ensure lifelong connection and support for departing Rangers, inspired by civilian alumni models.

Main topics

• Military transition and reintegration
• The role of faith in overcoming adversity

Notable quotes

"I don't want to be the cool stuff guy. Mine's taking care of people."

Conclusion

Tony Mayne's journey exemplifies how service, faith, and intentional c

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:04) The Speaker 1 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 3 (0:15) The new Speaker 1 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 4 (0:28) So I already knew I wasn't as good as everybody else, which is just true. It doesn't hurt my feelings because it's the truth. So I'm good with that. Cognitively, the guy is so much better. And now I feel worthless. I feel like I'm taken from the team. And now I don't think in terms of legacy, I let God sort that out. But I do think in terms of... reputation. I just want to be a good guy who worked hard. That's what I get on the way out. Good. And now like all that's gone. So home life's horrible. We have at this point, we have two kids. I can't tell my wife what we're going to do next. And the regiment is extremely supportive. And the regimental commander calls me from forward, which is for us a big deal to talk to a captain. I know it's just colonel to captain, but it's just the way that it is. I mean, to me it was a very big deal. We'll do anything for you. You tell us what you want to do. Well, I'd like to stay in the Army for one. So the med board happens. I'm found unfit. Speaker 4 (1:45) And so, well, can we fight it? Just from hearing or from other things? There's some other things, too. Because I knew when I was leaving, I'm in the first generation where in the Army, you're med board. Speaker 4 (2:05) Your PEB, Physical Evaluation Board, is conducted with the VA. Prior to that, as I saw as a rear detachment commander, you would put people in the Army through the medical board process. If they were found unfit by the Army, they would then enter to the VA. And during the GWAT, we were running 18 to 24-plus months. for people to get out of the service with their benefits. So I said, well, why don't we have the VA docs assist with the PEB process and the med board? And now it was all kind of joint. So that was a very quick flash to bank, and I had to document everything. Because if I didn't, I'd be looking at a medical retirement, because I had the years in, which wasn't explained to me, which I learned later. But I just knew that like they say document everything. Now it's not the time. So I had the full kit and caboodle. And I thought because I thought it was the right thing to do because really my goal at that point honestly wasn't to keep on doing what I wanted to do. It was to support my family. So that's why I did it. And then it's like, okay, well, this is great. Now you're found unfit. You can be medically retired. I was like, no, but that's not what I want. And I got people who were helping me. So much like getting into Clemson. Let's see if I if I could stay in we found a way for me to stay in but There were two jobs available at regiment and the regiment loves free field grade officers any good staff loves Good or at least decent free field grade officers and it was electronic warfare officer or public affairs officer Speaker 4 (3:53) One involves science, reading, and being smart, and the other one was telling the regiment's story, which we generally don't do. And so I said, are we good with kind of like trying to see what a transition program looks like in the Ranger Regiment? I can do that as the PAO. I can tell the story that SF and the SEALs do so well about their assessment and selection that regiment wasn't doing with RASP. Which was newer for us, you know buds have been around for a long time SF selectionally y'all have always done a great job Using the faces and the names and the tears of the folks that you could show and that's all you need We never did it. And so I got really excited about the fact that I could stay in Ranger Regiment another three years and then only have one more assignment and retire. So I became the PAO, and we started what was called the Ranger for Life program. And the Ranger for Life program was the unit's transition program. But to get it set up, one, I knew there was a model. I knew their unit in Fort Bragg had something, so we talked with them. I knew that SOCOM had a transition program for their wounded, injured, and ill called the CARE Coalition. And I started around going to other ranger nonprofits to see what they did. And my time as a college boy, so I graduated from Ohio State, then enlisted and going to Clemson, I realized the one thing we don't do very good, we don't bring the alumni back in. That's the gap. I wanted to go to Ohio State because I grew up in the great state of Ohio because of Buckeye football. And then I had a way to stay involved. You know, you look at what the end product is. And our end product was kind of like, well, if you're leaving, we got another widget behind you. What if it wasn't like that? And the op sergeant majors of all the ranger battalions, the four ranger battalions and at our headquarters were all Charlie Company 375 guys. So I was able to talk to them. So it wasn't just some officer idea. So it took a couple years to develop. We started doing a little bit of marketing on the idea that you're a ranger for life, that service, honorable service here matters, and you have a way to give back. There's always a give back. That's why the college model, college business model, it's something that everybody should study. Their end product is somebody involved. Their customers are involved in the product. And we just didn't do that. Speaker 4 (6:41) Of course, it hits home when you go through a medical board yourself. And so I'm like, what about the E4 and E5 that's getting out? What about somebody who enlists for three to five years? And not just they have a med board, what if they just do have to go back home? I've been around the military enough to know that people generally are running to or running from something, and they're going right back as soon as they're done. Right? We talk about the stress we have as senior and enlisted and officers getting out. And that might be true. But it's easier to find your purpose when you have income. I'm just saying, it helps. It doesn't make it easier. It's helpful. Those younger kids don't have that. So that's what we do. We started this idea of a Ranger for Life program. Did it for about three years. Very slow in traction. And part of being the PAO. Speaker 4 (7:38) I was kind of a gatekeeper for the nonprofit. So if they wanted to do something, I had to know the rules, talk with the lawyers, and then present it to the regimental XO. And if it made sense, was legally, ethically immoral, helped rangers, and the people providing the services weren't taking advantage of the placement and access, then we could green light programs, right? Or at least give it to the regimental commander for his decision. And I love doing that because... Speaker 4 (8:08) I knew the impact that that would have long term. When I was gone from the regiment for eight years and I was using Al Gore's internet, what do you think I was looking up? I was looking up, oh, that's Special Operations Warrior Foundation. There's something. If anybody dies, the dependents are all getting school paid for. Regardless of what the military is, it's taken care of with great people. Now with tutoring and all these other assistants that they provide. I knew about the CARE Coalition, Operation Healing Forces. I knew about all these organizations. And one of them, Gallant Few, the director who lives over in Trophy Club, Carl Monger, he came down and told about the Ranger program they had. And so I started volunteering with his program while I was still in Ranger Regiment and saying, this has legs. this isn't going anywhere. Well, at the time this is happening, pretty stressful on the family till we figure out that we're allowed to stay. Really causes us to spend a lot of time in prayer with our church. And a great pastor of our church at that time at St. Luke in Columbus, Georgia, used to have a military ministry. And it was run by a guy named Ralph Puckett. Now, Ralph Puckett is Colonel, retired Ralph Puckett, a Medal of Honor recipient who just passed away a couple of years ago. And in the Ranger community, he stands with Darby, Merrill, Downing, all the legends of the Ranger Regiment. Speaker 4 (9:42) And we knew after we had to leave Range Regiment for one assignment, and I was able to get United States Special Operations Command in Tampa, not a horrible place for a PAO, if you remember, got to put it all into perspective, as a PAO to go for a final assignment just to learn more about the enterprise. But I said, when we come back, we're going to retire in Columbus, Georgia, and we're going to run a military ministry. I don't know what I'm going to do for work. Don't know what house we're going to live in. But I know where my church is and I know what my purpose is. So that was my five years in Ranger Regiment that led to going to SOCOM. And the deal was SOCOM. I got SOCOM because I volunteered to deploy first. And this would have been in 2017, 2018. Speaker 4 (10:36) And that was the time when General Nicholson was a commander. And, you know, it was kind of like his all in one last hurrah trying to make Afghan. Well, trying to make a third of the Afghan army special operators. And one of his main, you know, arms was information operations. So I got to go out in the field all the time and soft, which had never happened. It was kind of like. What do you know? What do we do? And, you know, the last mission I ever went on with an ODA out in Nangarhar province, we were able to get in a firefight. And that is still one of the coolest experiences, like all these other times early in the war. And then but but, you know, you look at that as like the bookends and you now you have this ISIS presence there in this. Speaker 4 (11:40) It just tells you evil is always going to be there. How you deal with it becomes very important. But I spent two more years at SOCOM after that deployment and all really prepping with my off-duty time to do what we do for Rangers in Fort Benning, Georgia right now. That's incredible. It's Speaker 5 (11:59) a Speaker 4 (11:59) blessing. I didn't get to do the cool stuff because I wasn't meant in the rest of my life to be the cool stuff guy. Speaker 5 (12:04) And Speaker 4 (12:05) that's okay. There are some people who got to be operators or... to do things more technical, more advanced with more people who now have a skill set to help drive the next advancements. Mine's taking care of people. It's not. It's not the technology, the tactics, the procedures. I wanted to be that guy. I'm not. Speaker 5 (12:28) The firefight that you got in, what's your rank at this point? I'm a Speaker 4 (12:33) major. I'm escorting somebody named Marty Scovelin. You know Marty Scovelin? Speaker 5 (12:38) Yeah, Speaker 4 (12:39) Marty. He was at Black Rifle, Task and Purpose. When he came over one time, he was at Task and Purpose. I brought him over again. He got two two-week embeds with SOF. That just doesn't happen. But my op pace, I had people in and out of there because I was told to. So I said, well, let's just... kind of in the orders following business a little bit. And so we were at an outpost called Blackfish in Nangarhar. One of the few at this time, actual