Rorke Thomas Denver (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, author, and former

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main func ...

commander. Denver is most known for his role as Lieutenant Rorke in the 2012 film ''

Act of Valor ''Act of Valor'' is a 2012 American action film produced and directed by Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh and written by Kurt Johnstad. The film stars active duty U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, as well as Ro ...

'' and for his appearance as a team leader in the

Fox Television Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

series, ''

American Grit ''American Grit'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Fox on April 14, 2016. The series stars WWE wrestler John Cena. Fox ordered ten episodes for the first season of the competition series. On July 29, 2016, Fox renewed th ...

''.

Early life and military work

Denver was born in

Saratoga, California Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Located in Silicon Valley, in the southern Bay Area, it had a population of 31,051 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saratoga is known for its wineries, restaurant ...

on October 26, 1973, and graduated in 1996 from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts degree A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

. While at Syracuse, Rorke played four years of varsity lacrosse, winning two national titles with Syracuse, and earning All-American honors at defense. Denver joined the U.S Navy shortly afterwards and graduated from

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

with a master's degree in Global Business Leadership. In 1999, Denver completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training BUD/S class 224 and SEAL tactical training to become a SEAL. He then began a 14-year career in the US military. As assistant officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon at SEAL Team THREE, he was deployed to

SOUTHCOM The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral in Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, ope ...

, the Central and South American Area of Operations, where his platoon was the "alert" SEAL team for

maritime interdiction Maritime Interception (or naval interdiction) operations (MIOs) are naval operations that aim to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to air interd ...

hostage rescue A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

and counter-narcotics. As SEAL officer aboard, Denver led his group's response to a murderous uprising in the nation of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

as part of

Joint Task Force Liberia Joint Task Force Liberia was a joint task force formed from August to October 2003 in response to the crisis that developed during the Second Liberian Civil War. The ongoing civil war destabilized the area and created a large number of refugees as ...

, launching advanced-force operations, conducting hydrographic beach reconnaissance and helping to get the

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) is one of seven such marine expeditionary units (MEUs) currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is an air-ground task force with a strength of about 2,400 personnel when at full ...

safely ashore. At Special Boat Team TWELVE, he started the Maritime Capable Air Deployable Boat Detachment, which specialized in parachuting large assault boats from U.S. aircraft. In 2006, Denver was officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon of SEAL Team Three in Iraq's

Al Anbar Province Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

in one of the most combat-heavy deployments of any regular SEAL team since

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Stationed in

Habbaniyah Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya (, ''al-Ḥabbānīyah'') is a city 85 km (53 mi) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq. A military airfield, RAF Habbaniya, was the site of a battle in 1941, during World War II. Lake Habbaniyah is als ...

, his team conducted more than 190 missions including sniper operations, direct assaults,

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...

and ground patrols. Denver's team has been widely credited, alongside Task Unit Bruiser, consisting of Charlie and Delta Platoon of SEAL Team 3, with propelling the "Tribal Awakening" that helped to neutralize Iraq's insurgency. Denver was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

with "V" for valorous action in combat. After returning to the United States, Denver was appointed flag lieutenant to Admiral

Joseph Maguire Joseph Maguire (born August 14, 1951) is an American officer who served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Acting Director of National Intelligence under President Donald Trump. He retired from the United States Navy as a vi ...

, commanding officer of

Naval Special Warfare Command The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM, is the naval component of United States Special Operations Command, the unified command that oversees and conducts the nation's special operatio ...

, traveling to Afghanistan and briefing Congress on SEAL operations. In 2009, he became First Phase Officer of

BUD/S The average member of the United States Navy's Sea, Air, Land Teams (SEALs) spends over a year in a series of formal training environments before being awarded the Special Warfare Operator Naval Rating and the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC ...

, then rose to Basic Training Officer. He went on to run all phases of training including advanced sniper, hand-to-hand fighting, communications, diving and language. Denver is also an honor graduate of the United States Army

Ranger School The Ranger School is a 62-day United States Army small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training w ...

. He is now serving as a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

for the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

. In a

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

article, Denver stated: "I witnessed the exceptional performance of SEAL, army, and Marine snipers on the battlefields of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. They struck psychological fear in our enemies and protected countless lives.

Chris Kyle Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confi ...

and the sniper teams I led made a habit of infiltrating dangerous areas of enemy-controlled ground, established shooting positions and coordinated security for large conventional-unit movement."

Film and TV career

In 2012, Denver starred in the war film ''

''. In September 2014, he guest starred on the last two episodes of season four of ''

MeatEater ''MeatEater'' is a non-fiction outdoors hunting television series in the United States on Netflix starring Steven Rinella. The show first aired on January 1, 2012, and is produced by Zero Point Zero Production. The latest 12th season premiered ...

''. In 2016, Denver was on the 2016 American reality series, ''

'', as one of the team leaders.

Author and speaker

On February 19, 2013, Denver had his book, ''Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior'', published. On April 5, 2016, Denver with

Ellis Henican Ellis Henican (born October 9, 1958) is an American columnist at ''Newsday'' and AM New York as well as a political analyst on the Fox News Channel. He hosts a nationally syndicated weekend show on Talk Radio Network and is the voice of "Stormy ...

had another book, ''Worth Dying For: A Navy Seal's Call to a Nation'', published. Denver now speaks for conferences and conventions nationwide. In December 2014, Denver was the keynote speaker for the US Lacrosse Convention. In April 2018, he spoke at the Alabama Trucking Association Convention in

Destin, Florida Destin is a city located in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is a principal city of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,931 at the 2020 census, up from 12,305 at th ...

Personal life

Denver is married to Tracy Lynn Myers. They have 2 children.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denver, Rorke 1973 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from California People from Saratoga, California Syracuse University alumni United States Navy SEALs personnel University of San Diego alumni