FS: Why don’t you give us a summary from the beginning, and I will ask questions.

DC: I grew up in Kansas in a nice family setting, on a fifth-generation farm from the 1870s. It’s been in my family ever since. As a kid, I was into sports, reading and being outside on the farm. I was drawn to reading about military, combat and war. It intrigued me, not to glorify war, but the human element. In my freshman year of high school, I wanted to go to the Naval Academy. I don’t know why, but I wanted to. So, I explored options. At the Naval Academy, you can be a Marine, go on a ship or be a submariner, whereas at the other service academies, West Point and Air Force Academy, it seemed more concentrated. West Point, you go in the army. All of the things you do in the army, you can pretty much do in the Marines or at the Naval Academy. At the Naval Academy, you have ships, can fly, and have other options. I really wanted to go to the Naval Academy and had that goal. I think the theme to my story is setting goals. Sometimes these goals are long-range, many years into the future, and they’re not going to be easy to achieve. But you can start to come up with a process. For me, it was clear that I needed to have good grades, demonstrate some athleticism and leadership. That’s what they were looking for at the service academies. In my junior year, I started applying. You also have to apply to your representative and one or both senators in your state. I did that, and got into the Naval Academy in my senior year. I was really proud and excited to be accepted. I went to the Naval Academy in 1998, after graduating high school. 

By the end of the first year of Naval Academy, I had a new goal of being selected for the SEAL program. My Naval Academy class started with around 1200, but some quit and some got booted out for not having good grades or having bad conduct. About 900 were going to graduate, and 16 were going to (BUD/S) basic underwater demolition/ SEAL training. I was hoping to be one of the 16. But I didn’t really know how to swim. So, I had to orient myself in those four years towards getting in the swimming pool more often and getting more comfortable in the water. Just being selected at the 

Naval Academy had no bearing on my ability to get through that training. It's very difficult. I was given a ticket to the door, but I had to get through it. It was very difficult for me, but I learned a lot: about myself, how to be a good teammate, and I grew in character. When you're challenged like that, you recover and you're stronger. I set that goal, worked hard, and I was one of 16 in my class who got to go to BUD/S. I attended USNA for four years and was selected to attend SEAL training (BUD/S) in the beginning of the final semester there.

I can’t talk about the Naval Academy experience without mentioning, that during senior year, before being selected for BUD/S, 911 happened. It was clear to me, that if I was selected for SEAL training and got through it, I’d be involved in special operations that would be directly as a result of those attacks. That was a big moment. I’ll never forget that day at the Naval Academy. The environment there changed. Although, I had entered during peacetime, I was thinking that combat and war were probably going to be in my future. I went to SEAL training in 2002, graduated in 2003. I started deploying as a SEAL officer in 2004. I did three deployments before I was a platoon commander in charge of a SEAL platoon. Early during that deployment, when the entirety of my platoon wasn’t yet on the ground, I stepped on a buried improvised explosive device (IED) on a remote hilltop, during a night mission. The teammates around me, none of whom were seriously injured, were able to save my life and get me out of there. It was precarious. To get me off that hilltop at night, they had to get a helicopter back. The timing was down to the minute. Everything had to line up to get me onto a helicopter where there was a flight surgeon, and for that helicopter to get back to a field hospital, where I would be going through surgery. I’m told I was in a medically induced coma, and it was 50-50 whether I was going to pull through. But I did. I got better.

I eventually ended up in Washington DC, waking up in a room with my mother there. That was disorienting, because my last waking memories were being dragged onto a helicopter. 

READY TO LEAD: Lt. Commander Dan Cnossen during his second year at the US Naval Academy in 1999; Dan was deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan and rose in rank to become the officer-in-charge of an 18man SEAL platoon. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor.

FS: When you woke up did you know about your legs?

DC: Not really, maybe subconsciously I did. When you’re in a medically induced coma, people are talking in the room, and I think things are getting processed. When I woke up, I was disoriented, on a lot of painkillers and not thinking clearly. My lower body was covered with blankets. I think I kind of knew, but no one was telling me anything specific. I remember asking someone whether my legs were gone. They said yes, and I came to find they had amputated above the knees. That’s even harder. I never really