Eric Tansey shares his journey from Army paratrooper to police officer to his current roles as a published author, podcaster and comedian in today’s episode of Tango Alpha Lima.
Eric Tansey is a former Army paratrooper and combat veteran, police officer, and now a published author, professional podcaster and comedian.
In 2004, Tansey had a life-changing moment that catapulted from his long-haired, deep sea fishing, surfer lifestyle to serving his country. It all started listening to the Battle of Fallujah on the radio. He shares his remarkable, inspiring and humorous story in today’s episode of The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.
“It was the first war experience I ever heard,” he recalls, noting others his age fought in that battle. “I felt like a waste of life, getting on a boat with my best friends. I didn’t know anything about the military. I never thought I was going to join the military, it wasn’t on my bucket list.”
From basic training to war
After returning to land, he stopped at an Army National Guard recruiting station “covered in fish guts and blood.”
Tansey requested and was put on the fast track to deployment.
“I didn’t have any responsibility other than to play with the big guns,” he recalls. “Basically go on patrols and pull security. Every day was a wild adventure.”
After meeting and marrying his wife, Tansey became a police officer. He graduated from the academy and was assigned to the “worst district in all of Raleigh. There was a shooting every day of my life from that day forward. It was just crazy.”
To deal with the stress from the job, Tansey began writing, focusing on the funnier aspects of the job. Among the examples: accidentally tasing a woman in the vagina while she was in the bathtub, driving around a homicide suspect who was getting rid of evidence and having a beer can tossed at him during a chase.
Those tales were compiled into his book, which is a “compilation of my screwups.” Previous Tango Alpha Lima guest Nick Palmisciano helped Tansey get a deal with Simon and Schuster for the book, “Pig Latin: A Seriously Funny True Story of a Former Police Officer.”
Tansey also acted in Palmisciano’s “Office Joe,” a six-episode comedy series available on Amazon, Apple TV and Google Play. The show covers the challenge veterans face as they hang up their fatigues and try to make their way into the civilian world.
In 2019, Tansey left police work to pursue his dream of opening a distillery with his wife, Ashleigh. In addition to running the distillery and homeschooling their five kids, Tansey is also a podcaster himself. “Failure to Stop” is a true crime podcast he is part of.
Tansey is a proud member of American Legion Post 1981 in Raleigh.
“The American Legion for me is like the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary but it’s full of like-minded individuals that are veterans and I don’t have to deal with the same kind of crap. It’s so much more meaningful at the Legion.”
Also in this episode co-hosts Stacy Pearsall and Joe Worley focus on Veterans Day. Among the takeaways:
• Why it’s important to share your story of service.
• Support veteran-owned businesses.
You can also check out the more than 300 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.
- Tango Alpha Lima