Geoff Speyrer is a veteran of the war in Iraq and the founder of the S.E.T. 22 endurance challenge that raises money to help veterans with PTSD. Shortly after Geoff returned home from the middle east he began struggling with the symptoms of PTSD. During our conversation he gives an honest account of how he struggled with addiction, became a fugitive from the law, spent time incarcerated, and time in mental health facilities.

Geoff Speyrer grew up in Louisiana, but he doesn’t talk much about his childhood. Instead, this warrior’s story starts with when he joined the U.S. Army. The September 11th terrorist attacks had occurred just a few years prior, and Speyrer watched as guys around him received deployment orders to Iraq straight out of basic training. After he finished training in February of that year, Speyrer got married on May 9 and deployed on May 15, where he spent a majority of his 18-month deployment working route clearance and explosive ordnance disposal. 

After serving his year and a half, Speyrer returned home to find that readjusting to regular life while battling post-traumatic stress disorder would take a significant toll on him. He began to struggle with addiction — first it was alcohol, then it progressed to cocaine and methamphetamine.