Episode Details

David Aceron served in the United States Army from 2003 to 2012 as a combat engineer and counter-IED specialist, conducting deadly route clearance missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. His job was simple in theory, but brutal in reality: find the bombs before they found his convoy. As a Husky operator and combat engineer, David spent years hunting hidden IEDs, landmines, command-wire explosives, and roadside bombs designed to kill American soldiers.

In this episode, David Aceron shares what it was really like to serve as an Army combat engineer during the Iraq War and Afghanistan War, including the moment he sat directly over an IED while watching the enemy try to detonate it.

This conversation goes far beyond war stories.

David talks about growing up in Southeast San Diego, joining the Army after 9/11, becoming a 12 Bravo combat engineer, deploying with 10th Mountain, surviving route clearance missions, and the psychological toll of spending every day looking for bombs.

He also opens up about the moments most people never hear about: the guilt, the anger, the moral injuries, the loss of innocence, and the terrifying point where hunting IEDs became an obsession.

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