Security Halt!
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Security Halt!
Kyle Steiner: From Restrepo To Renewal
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In this episode of the Security Halt! Podcast, Kyle Steiner joins Deny Caballero for a heartfelt discussion on the realities of military service, transition, and identity. They explore the chaos of post-service logistics, the role of mentorship in shaping young leaders, and the value of conventional forces in combat. From fatherhood and community to leadership and legacy, this conversation underscores the importance of storytelling, human connection, and embracing life beyond the battlefield.
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Yeah. It's crazy. I tell the younger guys, I'm like, they hold your hand every step of the way when you enter, or when you get out, they just kind of like kick you out of a moving train. Like, figure it out. Okay. Like, we don't care what move.
SPEAKER_00:I need you fucking out of here because I got a guy I really like that needs a slot.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I'm like flying out of the train cars. It's moving, like, can you throw me my hand warmer? Please.
SPEAKER_03:Fuck you. You're gonna pay for it. Yeah.$275. I'm like, oh no.
SPEAKER_00:Sweet baby cry Jesus. Just let this appear somewhere. Yeah. I'll tell you where you need to go. Go to the Fort Walton Beach Army Navy store. It'll be there, and they'll give you a fair deal for it. Guaranteed. Yeah. It'll be there.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Kyle Steiner, welcome to Security Podcast, man. Good, man. What's up? I'm happy to be here. Yeah, pleasure to have you. You've been through a lot in your career. You've got uh quite the resume. You have the privilege of being now uh through media a mentor and inspiration to a lot of young men that joined. Just had lunch with a friend of mine, an old uh 1.7 friend, and uh he was telling me a story about his son and how he looked up to you because of the depictions in the movie that you were uh you and your company were a part of. And that's gotta be strange, man. That's gotta be very strange to reflect on as you are leaving the military. Not only do you focus on the impact you had on the team level, at the platoon level, but now on a wider level, the rest of America and maybe even beyond. Young men that saw your portrayal as just an American kid in war, you've inspired them to pick up service themselves. So today, man, I kind of want to dive into reflection of uh the career you've had, where you've been, but more importantly, where you're going. So before we start, man, where did Kyle get the inspiration to serve?
SPEAKER_02:Uh, you know, my dad was in the army um when I was young, and I lived on Fort Bragg and Fort now, joint base Lewis McCord. Yeah, I went to the elementary school by Fort Bragg Federal Credit credit, you know, honeycut in like first and second grade. So I remember seeing like everybody doing PT. I was like, yeah, that's like the coolest thing ever, you know? Like that auction course that's like out there by the road by Pike Field. Yeah. I was like, one day I'm gonna indoctrination. Yeah, I was like, one day I'm gonna climb that rope all the way to the top, you know? So I knew I knew it was what I was gonna do. My dad took me to work one one time. I don't know if it was we were at CQ or what, and they had the the pamphlets like in the the little pamphlet holders for recruiting, and they had they had an airborne one and it showed like a mastac jump, and then they had a ranger one, and they were like in a zodiac with paddles in their faces painted. And they had an SF one and it had a dude like peeling the skin off a snake. And I took all three of them. I still have them to this day, and I was like, I'm gonna jump out of an airplane and paddle this fucking boat and eat a snake. I'm gonna do all that stuff. I'm gonna be so awesome. That was that was I really I wanted to be it, man. So bad. You know, every little boy wants to be a soldier at some point. They want, you know, you I would put on like his LCE and be like fucking walking through the woods in uh in in Fort Prag. Like I'm glad somebody somebody didn't say anything.
SPEAKER_00:And what was your dad like back then? Did he encourage it all? Was he always like, fuck yeah, that's my boy? Yeah, he feel like it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he was he was into it, man. He was like, all right, cool, you know, whatever you want to do. And you know, I ended up joining as an x-ray and not not making it the first go round. And that's how like a weird turn of events sent me to the 173rd. And I was like, man, I let everybody down. Like I was supposed to be this awesome dude. And then by this like weird tumbling of the of the fates, I ended up at OP Rustrepo in the Corangal Valley, and you know, with you know, you know, in a in a company that saw three living Medal of Honor recipients, you know, and then you know I got shot in the head, and that became like the calling card for everything. And I that's why I went soft again, because I was like, I can't let it end like this. I can't, you know, like a lot of dudes, you know, lost their lives. That was a terrible deployment. But we were young, like you said, Denny. We were so young, we were just like, hey, this is how every deployment is, like Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Dude, not only were you young, but um the optimism at the very beginning, the a lot of people don't understand this. Soft is not the end-all be-all for experiences. I I say this a lot. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my 82nd platoon, to my squad mates, the squad leaders, the platoon sergeants, the PLs that formed me into the man that was willing to bet on himself to go to selection. And there's a different type of warfare, and it's a different type of mentality and love and spear of the core that comes from being in places like the 82nd and 173rd. And I think what I see, especially you know, refreshing for this interview, I see that young man that's embodied in every single paratrooper, and and the same for your for your platoon mates, your squad mates in that movie. I connect with that and I see that because I intimately remember being that young, capable paratrooper. Wars aren't won by soft guys and and delta operators. That's not the reality. True warfare and what people need to understand, what sucks about warfare is we send our best and brightest young men, 19, 20-year-old, 18-year-old fucking men, call them kids, and we all do now. But those were the best moments and the best capable individuals in those fights. And when you see the hope and optimism and yeah, the dread in those eyes, you realize for any veteran watching that you connect with it. Having now lived through that experience, gone through it, talked about it at nauseum. Do you ever watch it or find clips of it and see that version of yourself and say, fuck, man? We've been through a lot, buddy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, uh, I try not to watch the movie, but I'll catch a clip here and there. I was just recently added to a chat with those guys from the 173rd. Um, and most of them got out within a deployment, if not directly after that one. And it's funny because when we still talk, they I I you know, I I broke contact with them here and there over the years. They still see the like the 20-year-old kid at your strepo, you know, like trying to see who could roll a rock further down the mountain in in their board time. Like, yeah, mine went, mine hit them, went and passed. You know, being bored as hell. And uh, but through all those fights and everything, and you're right, they they were the best. And I get maybe that's where I'm a little different. I'm with you in this. I think that so much of the online spectrum has been devoted to the software. It's like, man, you don't know what the majority 95% of those that war, both Iraq, Afghanistan, even Vietnam, we'd like to tell McVee song stories, but like, come on, you know, like who does the heavy moving? You know, the grunts do. And uh I how do you build a house, you know, on a really strong foundation? And I credit that time and that platoon and that that squad, you know, my my Josh McDonald's, my Brendan Little Burns, those people built me into the man that could go to soft, become a diver, do all that stuff. You know, if it wasn't for that, who knows? You know, they built that foundation. And I'm forever grateful.
SPEAKER_00:You um you touch on something that's really important too. The the platoon framework, the love you have for each other, inevitably it gets blown up. Everybody fucking when you come back, rotate back, you get orders to go to Brag. This guy gets ordered to go to fucking Alaska, Hawaii. Did you have a core group of guys that you stuck with and you re you reached out to on a constant basis, or was it something that fell apart and you didn't have access to I came back from Restrepo and and I think five months later I went to selection again.
SPEAKER_02:Um this was because I I met my my now wife and uh she saw like uh at like one of our crests that I had like in a drawer and she was like, What is this? And I told her, It's the thing I really wanted to do when I was younger, and I tried once and was unsuccessful. And she kind of gave me the like what a woman's supposed to say. She was like, Well, try again. Okay, okay. Yeah. She's like, What's stopping you? I got like she was like, Well, what the hell's wrong with you? And I was like, I don't know. So I dropped a packet, and like a month later, I was gone to brag trying again. You know, I was like, okay.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, simple enough. Um, what did the rest of your buddies say? Uh, did you have anybody that was in your and on your side cheering you on and telling you to keep going? Or did you have somebody that was like, hey man, like you just rolled the dice, like you survived. Maybe, maybe readjust and think about getting out because war, there's no certainty. And you already took one to the fucking head.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I it was like split down the middle. Some of them were like, You really want to press your luck, man? Like, yeah, come on, dude. And I was like, Yeah, but I really want this. And the other dudes, you know, like there was like seven guys from the platoon that ended up going at some point. And um I had a bunch of friends in that the the documentary one where the kid says hash browns that like the however many days in hell. Yeah, that whole scene is littered with like OP Restrepo kids that went there and were like, What yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I got a couple friends that were in that class as well.
SPEAKER_02:So people were like, it sucks, it's terrible. But I remember like kind of going through selection. I trained so hard. I was an x-ray, I trained so I was in such good shape, and I failed. And they could see the immaturity, they could see the you know, everything that I that soft looks for, I wasn't. And I didn't train hardly at all when I came back. I just walked the mountain for 16 months and I was like, yeah, ruck, I'll be all right. And I did a couple runs, did some, did some push-ups and some PT, and went there and crushed it, not as in shape as I was the first time. But I remember like kind of walking through selection being like, Well, it's not the corn gall, so like this ain't that bad. Like, nothing here is that bad, you know? And I credit that kind of a mindset. But yeah, the platoon was like, when I got back, they were fired up. They were like, Oh man, we knew you'd make it. And I was like, Cool. Um, I really appreciate that. You know, I got the I got the guff from the dudes being like, traitor, huh? And but it was always with with half arts being like leaving the blue cord behind, like, should go to Ranger Regiment.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, all right, well, yeah, it's it's um you get both. You get both. You get guys that are proud of you and happy for you, then you get guys that especially like 82nd, 173rd, definitely an 82nd. 82nd, it was not so much lighthearted, it was very much fuck you, you're leaving the division behind. It's like, oh, with that attitude, absolutely. Like, 173rd's different. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Because it's uh it's an O'Conus thing, so like you have to, you can do what what used to be called an IPCOT aim, place consecutive overseas tour. You could do a couple of them, but you knew your time there was limited. Yeah. And if you did, I think uh at least one Ipcot, you almost always came back to a trade-off spot. So like a a recruiter or a drill sergeant or a few ranger tab, you went to be an RI because you had just had like a really good tour in in Europe and Italy, so now you're welcome to Galaga or whatever.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So dudes knew our time was limited. So when they're like, oh, you like they they knew hey, we were gonna get rotated out sooner or later, and and uh so we all knew it wasn't like that much of a traitorous thing, plus a lot of RFS rangers at that time got sent to Italy, like any Ranger tab dude I knew was like, yeah, man, I got a fight at a gas station. I was like, hmm. And that that's what made it so good, too. We had kind of like cowboy ranger tab dudes, and I was like, cool.
SPEAKER_00:Dude, that's yeah, uh, some of the best dudes I've ever met were guys that were unfortunately let go because of those strict standards, man. It didn't fuck around. But that that gives other units a chance at having some really, really awesome, qualified fucking dudes. Um, but 173rd also creates some of the best paratroopers, man. Like shout out to Rusty Campbell. He came to us, and uh man, as a corporal, easily could have been better than some of our squad leaders. And uh Rusty was just like to this day, I have such a fond memory of the guy because he was a the absolute best ambassador for that um that unit because he was just so high speed and miles ahead of some of the leaders we had. I was like, fuck, as a corporal, like fuck, dude, all right. 173rd, fuck yeah, dude. Uh and he was a really funny fucking dude, man. Um, so Rusty, wherever you at, brother. Hope you're doing well. No, the 173rd was a solid unit.
SPEAKER_02:I loved it as a conventional unit, man. I was like, and the funny thing is, is that like so for lieutenants, for officers, especially, people don't know this, and I might have spoken about this before, but uh I didn't know that you could be an infantry lieutenant and not have a ranger tab because obviously coming from ROTC and the service academies, their number one choice is infantry, and then they get a duty station choice, and it's Italy. So we got like the top four at the service academies every year. So until I came back to the States, I was like, that dude doesn't have a ranger tab, he's an infantry lieutenant. I had I I thought you had to have one to be that. They'd be like, go join the tank corps. I had no idea, and I was like, oh, that's a thing. Because we just got we got really good lieutenants, and I was like, we were very fortunate for that because you got the stand-up dudes.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but you didn't get a lot of guff for going to selection. You got a lot of guff if you went if you failed ranger school from Italy because they'd come back and be like, Do you know how much that plane ticket cost us? There's like a$1,600 plane ticket. Yeah, whole quarters worth of money is gone now. Which is one if you passed Ranger School, they'd be like, All right, stay there and go to Junkmaster. And then you would, they'd be like, Can you get into sniper school? Okay, do that. You'd be all frail just trying to go to like air assault and pathfinder back to that because they didn't want to pay for you to come back. Yeah, did you come back just badged and tabbed out?
SPEAKER_00:This episode is brought to you by Titan SARMS. Head on over to TitansArms.com and buy a stack today. Use my code CDny10 to get your first stack. I recommend the Lean Stack 2. Start living your best life. Titan SARMs. No junk, no bullshit, just results. Just keep keep going there. Just be a standby.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because the$2,000 ticket was too much.
SPEAKER_02:An infantry company's like entire half a year's worth of money, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like that's the other thing, Matt. You get used to doing so much with no fucking money, no budget. And you get to SF and it's like, fuck, like, we we have so much money. Like, can I can I go to school?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. One of my favorite stories is when I first got to an ODA, they were like, hey, do your DTS. And at that time it was on paper still. So I'm like staring at it and I'm like, well, I don't know what to do. And they were like, What? How do you not know how to do your DTS? Like, you never did this in the infantry. And I was like, Are you kidding me? Like, what? What? I ended up messing it up and getting like$1,800 taken back from me. It was to be it was to be a role player at level three. I was like, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm just gonna I messed up. And they like took all my money back.
SPEAKER_00:Oh fuck. Yeah, dude. That that's always been a pain in the ass. Um, I I've had a few I had a few of those when I was a young Green Beret. Yeah, they'll they'll fucking wait five, six, seven months to pay you, but if they overpay you, they'll pull that shit like that. Quit.
SPEAKER_02:But then the old guys in the ODA were like, you don't know how to do TS? Like, what do they teach you in the Q course? I'm like, certainly not DTS, homie. I'm an 18 Rravo. Like, I don't know. I'm just staring at this paperwork with my government pen. Like, oh God, help me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we we had a block of instruction on DTS, like right after mortars. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Mortars and clue. And I was like, oh, there's my DTS block. Oh.
SPEAKER_03:You know?
SPEAKER_00:Dude. Yeah. Yeah. That's what battalion do you go to straight?
SPEAKER_02:Were you a third battalion guy? Yeah, I went to 3rd battalion and I kind of like finagled and lied my way to it by by weird chance because when I was in, this is a funny story. When I was in uh I was going on doing some RR from Restrepo, I I stopped at a PAX terminal in Asadabad or Jalalbad, I don't remember where it was. And I'm sitting in a PAX terminal waiting for this helicopter to take me to Bath or Kandahar, and there's like church pews, and on the other side of the church pews is one dude, and he's got BDUs, he's like dusty with a beard. I'm like, that's the coolest dude I've ever seen in my life. And these girls came in and moved some of the pews, and they played music and they started like dancing their PTs. And uh I like looked over at him, and then we're just staring at these two females, like, what are they doing? And they stopped and they're like, This is for American Idol Night at the FAB. And they're like, You can get something going like this at your fire base if you wanted to. And I was like, What? And I looked over and he was like, He's like, Are you gonna tell him or do I have to? But he said it with a Scottish accent. When I say that, you know now. So it was it was Darren Marquick sitting across from me, and I was like, Oh man, he maybe he's he's not an American soldier. So I got to talking with him. Years later, I'm in the Q course, I had past selection, and I'm standing in the line, and they you know, I wanted Spanish, Bravo, and I'm in the French line. And I was like, oh and uh I had made friends with Jeffson Carricker and uh he knew Darren from before. So Darren's now an IOD8 cadre, and he's walking by and he sees me and he was like, You you're the and we're like, Yeah, he's like, Yes, my buddy. He's like, You're the guy from the pastoral. And I said, Yeah, he's like, Do you want to be in French? I was like, No, I I want Spanish. And he's like, All right, hold on. And he grabbed some pork hit out of the Spanish line and moved him to French and moved me to Spanish. There's a dude in third group right now that just he was like, No, what's happening?
SPEAKER_01:No, just move me over to Spanish in the line, and then I just like there's a dude in third group that fucking hates you. Yeah. Just hates you. Just sitting in Sudan like this motherfucker, dude.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I'm doing Six Monthers in Medie, and he's on the border of Chad, like this motherfucker dude, I'll find him.
SPEAKER_01:It's like that scene from fucking, oh god, uh, 21 Jump Street, where he's having a bad trip.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man. Oh, Darren, good dude. Great.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so Darren told me he was like, Going to go to third battalion. So like slowly I was like, I would go up to group and they're like, hey, do you have a battalion yet? And I was like, Yeah, they said I was going to third. And just the S1 dude was like, okay. Okay. So he would do that. And then as I'm like finagling my way, I remember this the CSM at the time, he's like, Hey, I know you're looking for a company. Or I went into S1 and they were like, hey, CSM's got to assign you a company. It's either A or B co, obviously. And and Darren and a lot of the dudes that I had knew, because I'd also run into 782 on a quick reaction thing. Um, they went out to help, and we went out to help our sister chosen company where Eric Phillips was. So I met like Af she and Ariana uh Ari Ariana, Af. I met uh a whole bunch of Bob Westman was out there. I met these guys. So I was like, I want to go to B37, that's where my friends are. I've I've seen them before. So the S100. I know these dudes. Yeah, and I was like, hey, there's a there, I'm gonna be welcomed. So the CS uh the S1 Third Battalion was like, well, go ask CSM what uh what company you're in. So I go and CSM's like putting stuff in his car. He's like, I gotta go to Bogota, some stuff went down. He's like, I know you want to know what company you're going to, and we'll handle it on Monday. And I'm then my head, I'm like, he's not gonna remember. So I go back into S1. He was like, What did CSM tell you? I was like, hey man, he said I'm going to Biko.
SPEAKER_01:And I just like weaseled my way in the V37. He was like, okay.
SPEAKER_00:He said he needs me in Biko right the fuck now. So if I were you, I'd get that in there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he was like packing a ruck in. I was like, he's not gonna remember that something's going down. I'm gonna tell him Biko. And it worked out.
SPEAKER_00:He just every story in group is like you like kind of oh you know, 100%, 100 fucking percent. And it's the thing that more people need to understand is we do we spend thousands mil millions of dollars, honestly, in the military to recruit, but the number one recruiting that really is impactful is is the connection, the one-on-one connection with the Green Beret that you happen to meet. Happened to me, it happened to every Green Beret that I know. They met by by God's infinite wisdom. They had a run-in with a green beret that gave them the the idea of what group to serve, what MOS. It was these chance encounters, man. Always the human connection will always do more than the fancy ads on fucking TV, the fancy gamer dude you have playing for the Army's E team. None of that shit matters. It's the human connection. When you meet guys like Flo, Darren, those Green Berets are impactful. AF, another impactful Green Beret, dude. Like you meet these dudes in person, and instantly, like you just said, oh, my friends are there. Because you had a good interaction. Like if you're listening, if you're if you're a soft dude, if you're Green Beret, if you're if you're especially if you're a young Green Beret, don't drink the fucking Kool-Aid. Yes, what you're doing is fucking awesome. It's great. But dude, the interactions you're gonna have with a paratrooper, a conventional mortarman, if a tanker, like you have the ability to impact somebody's entire fucking career, or just be or be a great footnote in their life. Be professional, be a good fucking dude. Like now more than ever, people are having the soft fatigue. They don't want to hear another fucking Tim Kennedy story, they don't want to hear another fucking I'm greater than that individual story. They want to hear the real human connections, man. Like you there still is that human aspect of it. You serve a purpose to make the battlefield better and more open to conventional forces. That's it. Yeah. Like you you can have cool guy stories are gonna be great, but at the end of the day, you're a supporting element for the infantry. You are. That's just the you're all the greatness, all the cool JTAC stories, all the cool blow em up, shoot them up stories. That's great. It's if it's a conventional fight, you're making it easier and you're opening lines of app, like you're there to maneuver, close with, and destroy the enemy so that fucking infantry force can go in and do their job. Um, yeah, that's just the truth, man. Like, that's people don't get that.
SPEAKER_02:I'm telling you, Danny, people don't get that. And like, I like when I say I met F, I met F in a half-built chow hall, it wasn't done yet, and he was sitting on a rolled thing of like the plastic wrap that they put on the floor, and he's eating an MRE, and I kind of barreled through with like a saw, and he was like, Hey, do you want a beef stew? Or something like that. And I remember thinking, like, looking at him, be like, is this guy Afghan National Army? Because you know how he looks. I was like, he had like the hugest black beard, you know, you know, because he's Iranian. So I was like, He's Iranian. I was like, I don't know if I should trust this beef stew, but he was the nicest guy ever. And I met so many dudes in that trip, and I've taken that with me. So I've done, I was able to do the NTC rotation where SOF was reintegrated with the conventional forces for the first time. Nice, and that must have been 19 or 18. And uh it was so cool, you know, getting to interact with the armored divisions and their brigade support battalion people, and then be like looking at you from behind like the med shed curtain, like, whoa, who is that? I'm like, hey, what's up? And you know, having people see like I've always thought about going to selection and being able to be like, you can do it if you just like really like buckle down, dude, hit this, hit this, get your GT up, get some PT on. I have faith in you. And like, you know, they walk away with a good feeling, and I want them to have a good feeling when dealing with us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and even if you don't go to selection, like being able to let them know that, hey man, what you're doing is still really fucking cool. Like it's hard, it's hard for people to understand that there's it is a team of teams, it really is. And we we shit on each other, we shit on S1 because they their work hours are insanely stupid. But the kid that works at the fucking at the mortar pool that loves his job should be proud of his job. The idiot Mike should be proud of his job, the fucking conventional mortarmen that's exposed to more blast exposure than half the fucking fighting for should have the ability to say, you know what, I'm proud of what I do, but still be able to say, like, hey man, if you want to have the higher calling, if you want to move forward, there's a pathway for you.
SPEAKER_02:You've seen it when like um there's a during group, the support guys will have like uh they have their their like shop days where they'll go and do something. And you pretty much, if you have something to do, you're like bumping into walls, being like you're in the echo, you're like, I guess I'll just hang out. Because you you literally need a lot of support to make anything roll, you know. You just like sit in the team room, like, yeah, I'll guess I'll just uh you know, you want to order ammo, get a range going, you can call down to anywhere. If they're not running, you're like, you guys wanna do some pull-ups?
SPEAKER_01:What are you not gonna do? Yeah. No, like, dude.
SPEAKER_00:I always tell people some of the greatest teammates I had weren't ODA members, like organic members. It was the attachments that go with you on deployment. Like the best, the best communicator is a you know, it was an E5 named Trong that came on every fucking trip we had if he was available because he was that fucking good. And 18 Echo doesn't know everything about an SDN or the fucking Buffalo or this and that. He needs support, he needs a communicator from the fucking S6, and those guys are world fucking class, dude. And the best fucking dudes to have on a team when you need them. A lot of people don't realize that. You know, if you need somebody on the gun, a lot of times, you know, there's only 12 of us. Are you gonna outfit an entire fucking vehicle without support, without fucking maybe one of the kids from the B team that's or is a fucking supply sergeant or an NBC guy? Like, these dudes are vital to the mission and they deserve to be be uh known and supported, man. That's one of the greatest things that I realized that about my service, being a guy that came from you know the 82nd first, like not that 18 x-rays don't do it, but you you have more awareness of what it means to be a regular soldier and the importance of acknowledging their service, man. That's one of the big things that we have to do. It's like you can't do it on your own.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Going back to what you said, x-rays, something that used to bother me. X-rays used to say things under their breath, then be like, man, I'm happy I didn't have to do any time in the regular army. And I would like to sit back and you know, think to myself, that's some of the best times of my life. Like, I loved, yeah, I loved the fact that my barracks was clean and he was coming to check it. I was like, this motherfucker spick and span, wait till you see it, you know? And like just you, you didn't you didn't have to think at all. You just, hey, you were there in the right uniform, we're going for this run. I'm gonna say the army values real quick, do these stupid stretches, and let's run, you know, and it was such a good experience and it was valuable. So when they say that, it kind of it kind of hurts a little bit because I'm like, man, I I consider that a really valuable time in my life, you know, and then going to war stories, you know, I 82nd, right? So I I got a good friend that came in as a replacement later, but he had been in, I think it's the second battle of solder city with the 82nd. His stories, and I was like, what? And like, you know, at Restrepo, we were like, yeah, we were we were getting shot, and he would have similar stories, but like in urban confines, and I was like, man, that is a huge thing. So when people dog on conventional stuff, I always think of him. I always think of the stories he would tell. I don't I don't directly think to my own stuff with uh the 173rd battle company and second platoon, but I think of his stories. I'm like, how can you downplay that? Like I I wasn't at Solder City for that, but like what Hurt told me. Oh my god. Dude, we we we are better.
SPEAKER_00:I don't want to say like, oh, we're not in the terms of like I'm better than you. I think we're better for having those experiences of having been mentored by men that had seen some insane shit. Because just like you, I had guys that their previous rotation was in Afghanistan and was a fucking knockout rumble. Like their stories, the leadership that was developed, the brotherhood that was developed, and it made it hard to integrate. It made it hard because those guys had Afghanistan combat experience. Like we're talking real combat in that brotherhood you forge, but when you get invited and when you Finally break through and you're invited into that fold, then you realize, like, oh shit, these guys value me. These guys see me as one of them. Like, I've I value that and I cherish that more than anything because that's true brotherhood forged in something that few people can understand. This episode is brought to you by Pure Liberty Labs. Quality supplements designed to elevate your health and performance. Check out their full line of quality supplements, whether you're looking for whey protein, pre-workout, creatine, or super greens drink, Pure Liberty Labs has you covered. Use my code security hall10 at checkout today. Like it, it's you know, Jim the banker down the street doesn't have that. Timothy the uh the invest the the high-stakes sales guy doesn't have that. We have that. We have that through our experiences of having served in you know a regular line company. I think it's important to honor that and understand that that is a sacred brotherhood. Um and I hate people that try to minimize it and shit on it that never experienced it. Like that's where real soldiers are are made, and that's where a lot of experience comes from. You don't get some of the best leaders without that.
SPEAKER_02:100%, brother. Do you remember showing up to the A2nd and and when the formation would break apart, they'd go into the smoking and joking circles. The CIB crew was by themselves, and you wanted to be you wanted to be well, you were like, what are they talking about? You wanted to be with the CIB crew, and you didn't have one, so you were like, who's gonna stand out to the outside? And when you got one, you'd be like, Yeah, dude. And you did the smoking and joking with the CIB crew, and you knew the other dudes were like, Oh man, I can't wait to have that. Because in this day and age, Danny, you know, you know, for for for thousands of years, young men had a rite of passage, you know, and and in some third world countries they still do, you know, with the whether it's a Maasai hunting the lions or whatever, you're no different than when you come back from that, uh, you know, whether it be a short period of time or a long period of time, but you you have a sense of, hey, I belong, I'm a man, and that's what that was. I wanted to be in the CIB crew so bad.
SPEAKER_00:Dude, you are 100% correct. The the rites of passage that we don't have that. Uh uh well, we do. We have a false sense of what that is. People raise men or young boys into believing that the pathway to manhood is you get out or you go to c you go to high school, graduate high school, go to college, and in college you join a frat and you drink with men and you have tons of relationships with women, and that's your pathway into becoming a man. Then you get that job and you're a salary man. Now you've done it, Jimmy. You're a man. And that doesn't make you a man. Doesn't make you a man. I'm not saying to go, I'm not saying that you have to go to war to become a man, but I'm saying that there's a process that we went through that gave us that. And for all its flaws and for all the the wrong turns that's led some of us down, at least it gave us that sense of holy shit, I went through this fucking insane fucking experience. And now I owe it to myself and to the men around me to be better. Like, because now I'm a mentor. Whether I'm a specialist, a corporal, people look up to me with this fucking CIB. Like now this means something. Now I have to uphold the standards of my fucking formation, my organization, and do better. Because that's what I felt. That's what I know a lot of us felt that way coming through, but I gotta imagine it was a little bit different when the entire fucking world has seen you and your your platoon and your company on TV in movies and relived in Hollywood movies. And it's like, fuck, dude. Now it's like I gotta uphold the standard in front of everybody. Now I'm a green beret and I have this experience. And and then, you know, in our profession, everybody takes their jabs. Everybody fucking finds a way to find you, like, oh, you're the fucking Restrepo guy. It's like, fuck, dude. Like, yeah, what was that like?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, well, you know, I showed up to to B37, and they, you know, I like knocked on the door. I I did an interview for the dive team, and they're like, yep, okay, you're gonna go there. And then something happened, and I got sent to a different team, 786, right off the rip, and uh I went and knocked on the door, and they told me to stand outside, but then just never let me in for like a week or five days. So I just like hung out like outside of the team room, you know? And I was like, all right. And then uh I can't remember his name, but somebody opened the door, and there was uh an article about Restrepo, and he goes, and there was a picture of me doing something, and he goes, Hey, is this you? And I was like, Yeah, he was like, You were you were here. I was like, Yeah, and then the door slammed for a minute, I could hear some bustle and they opened it and I got come on in. And and yeah, there was the guff, like, well, well, what do you know about this? What do you know about fast rope and I'm like, clearly not a whole lot, but I have eaten MREs for 16 straight months. Have you? It's terrible, you know, it's pretty shitty. Yeah, definitely have to cut your teeth, you know. And uh, but it's worth it because I I enjoyed that. I enjoyed being like, hey, I can show you that I can be a productive member of this team and and do everything I can, you know, and and and try to figure out how to fit in with dudes that I just thought were the coolest thing ever. And you're right, and soft we do a lot of cool stuff, but it just doesn't have that flavor sometimes to um to the original.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I think the um the thing that a lot of people don't understand is uh the bonds we build in uh places like the 82nd or 173rd, you you don't shit them. I smile like a fucking little schoolgirl when I see my phone and it's one of my old 82nd buddies. More often than not, when I see an old teammate calling, I'm like, oh fuck. What what's going on? That's really like it's more like a mission, like work thing, like, hey yo, like what are we doing? What's going on? But it's different, man. It's like an old family, like, and and it it's hard to explain to people that it's a different type of love, it's a different type of of nostalgia when when you see those guys, when they reach out. And one of the things that you know few, few get to experience is you know, both of those those families, both of those lives. Like that's um that's something that's very very hard to explain to people. And I I find everybody highlights the one, and it's like, no, dude, like you have to understand both worlds, both complete worlds, and it's it's it's something that we need more people talking about, man. It's it just it hits different, man. Like when you go to the older reunions, when you go see each like your brothers from that platoon, like have you made it a mission to reconnect and re-engage on a yearly basis?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I like recently, you know, I I I fell into the trap early in the software. It was like, don't have social media, don't do any of this stuff. So I kind of broke everything off, and I regretted it for a long time. And just recently, now that I'm starting to get the retirement ball rolling, I was like, you know what? And I've been added to chats and talking to dudes and reaching out and talking about reunions, and it's just it's lightened me up, man. I'm like, I'm so pupped to go like Reno or whatever where these dudes are, and just just hug them and see them, and and I love it. Um and and you're right, like being having the camera in your face for that was really tough because a lot of people I've come to realize that a lot of a lot of conventional guys, especially infantrymen, airborne infantrymen, went through a lot of the same stuff, and soft soft has their has their moments, but people asked him the difference a lot. A lot of civilians would be like, Well, what's the difference? I said the difference is you have a lot of support in the soft, a lot of eyes on you at all times. At Restrepo, none of that stuff was published while it was happening, so they were just getting footage to do later. The amount I can't count the amount of times where a high-end, high-end brass would be like, hey, we want to see OP Restrepo, we want to see the boys, not realizing that you can't get vehicles and you can't land a helicopter up there, so they have to land pretty far away. It's about a two, two and a half hour walk up, and they would land, and we would, hey, put your top on and shave, because we were all nasty, like Lord of the Flies, nasty up there, and we'd be like looking down, and they'd have the bynos and this, you know, whoever, whatever two, three, four star would land and look up and be like, all right, well, we don't have time for that. So next time, you know, we had nothing. Nobody, you know, they were just like, do your thing and hang out there soft. You know, you'd be, you get the world thrown at you. Money, everything, you know. We had nothing, you know. So I I tell you, it's the level of support in eyes that the the young men that you were talking about, uh, us as young men, you do it alone. You do it, and that's why the bond is so much tighter because you're up there eating, sleeping, and just sucking with hardly anything next to the same dudes for 12, 15, 16 months. Whereas with Soft, you know, you're like, here, have these new, have these new uniforms, have these new watches, have everything. Hey, you can't go out unless you have seven aircraft overhead. Where like I remember being at Restrepper, we found a 155 ID. They're like, well, can you carry it back in a ruck? And we're like, what? Are you gonna use it? Yeah, we're like, this thing's super heavy, but B, like, nobody wants to touch it. We're all 19-year-olds, like the red wire, the blue wire, man. But I remember thinking what the hell are we doing?
SPEAKER_03:Talking about carrying a 155 ID back.
SPEAKER_00:Dude, the ideas that come, the good idea fairies, man. Like, yeah, it's fucking asinine. The shit we did, and the and we have to remember too, like the guys are given that order often time, like a PL, like he's just a 20-something fucking kid himself. It's a good idea fairy, yeah. Yeah, yeah, dude.
SPEAKER_02:And you know, my memory is going bad, and like I'm using my chats now a lot with the old boys to to uh to kind of get my memory right on a lot of things that happened. Because it headshot is it I as you know, it's like coming full circles where I'm like, man, I can't remember anything. People would be like, Chief, tell us a story. I'm like, ugh. But I was just talking about the things and I was you know talking with uh like a the side the P3, the psychologist, and she's like, Well, see what you can remember. So I was going back and I was like, hey, did we drop like something on somebody's house one time? Like we were getting a sling load to restrepo, and they're like, Yeah, it was Thanksgiving, it was vanilla pudding. I'm like, what? And they're like, Yeah, we dropped like a whole pallet of vanilla pudding on this poor dude's house, and they were all covered in pudding. And I was like, Oh, how did I not remember that? But it's things like that, and then everybody chimed in, like, oh man, the pudding, and we wanted it so bad. And I was like, Damn, we dropped vanilla pudding on somebody. But that's that's a shit you don't hear a lot about in soft, but in the regular time, we're like, oh, that's crazy ass shit we did, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, dude. You know, it you know, now steering it to a uh a serious subject, we um we minimize and we downplay and we compartmentalize a lot of the shit that we experience throughout our career, and it always happens in these periods of transition where stuff starts to like find its way out. You went through and you survived not just one deployment, but several deployments, dude. Are you finding yourself now being able to take a knee and finally talk through, process, and sort of reframe the things you went through? Like you mentioned P3. What is your pathway to mental health, to making sure that you're taking care of yourself, mind, body, and spirit, as you're finally taking a next step in your life?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I I've been doing a lot of the talking out of nice, good. Yeah, it was great, man. And the lady there made me re-watch Restrepo and write down my feelings about how it was. And you know what? It was different than I thought. I thought it would be a lot of somber stuff, but it was me remembering the good times with the boys, you know. Yeah. So, but me being able to process a lot of things and get it out, I it's hard because I'm using my my family as a tool mostly right now. Uh, still looking out the window at the civilian world, you know, how are they gonna take it? You know, because just like you, this is I've done this for more than half of my life. It's uh it's it's scary. It is. People don't understand, it's like getting out of prison. So uh, but I am working on it and I found an outlet, you know. I coach kids and I I love coaching kids. And um, and that's what kind of led me to what I'm doing on the outside, which is or what I'm trying to set up for the outside, the operator mindset and the uh the interoperator is trying to get it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's talk about that, man. Let's let's talk about this next chapter, dude. Um, one thing that we need more of is individuals such as yourself that are willing to engage with our next generation, are willing to engage with people that then come from a service background and are like that's how we inspire the next the next group of kids to pick up that that green beret or maroon beret.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah, I mean, whatever, just to just to do something bigger than themselves, get out of their comfort zone and you know, see what they're made of as as young men, you know. And uh I I started this because uh several different things, you know. I I didn't want to be known as the guy that survived the headshot alone. So I was like, all right, I gotta figure something else out because everybody when they when then when the movie came out, it came out at Bragg when I was when Seven Croup was at Bragg and I was with them. So I went and saw it, and everybody in the theater knew who I was, and they were like, oh man, I gotta stop being the head. I know, I gotta stop being like sneaking in the back, and I was like, I gotta stop being the headshot guy. And then you they're like, oh, he just because all I did all I did was survive, you know. I went to Medal of Honor ceremonies at the White House, Sal Junta's, and I was the first one I went with a Green Beret, and I was like the only Green Beret there because it was all that they invited the Platoon company. I was like, all right, I'm gonna keep building on this and trying to bear the legacy of what I think I can be further on to inspire men. I don't want to be just the guy that survived, but that definitely helped me. That was my rite of passage. Like I remember Matt McDonough, my my squad leader saying, like, hey, welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. I was like, okay. And that that changed me. That that completely turned my world around. And then meeting my wife and telling me to go to selection. But I started the the uh operator mindset that it's like a weird story because I was always like, All right, I want my sons to be men that I can hang out with. Um, I was trained in Belanaga uh for some things a while back, and I ran into like these just not good teenagers on the uh like somewhere down there, and I was like, my wife was pregnant with our first child, and I was like, all right, how do I get my son not to be like that? Like, how do I get my son to be a man of honor, integrity, character, somebody that I would like to hang out with as an adult, you know, um, given the values that have been instilled with in me through the Brotherhood of Combat, SOF, and everything like that. So that's that's the never-running question, right? Is how do you instill these values into people without the trauma induced in getting them for you and I, right?
SPEAKER_00:How do you do it? This episode is also brought to you by Precision Wellness Group. Getting your hormones optimized shouldn't be a difficult task. And Dr. Taylor Bosley has changed the game. Head on over to precisionwellnessgroup.com, enroll, and become a patient today.
SPEAKER_02:So I went about that using just different anecdotes that we learned throughout the course, our course of the military and warfare and my son's wrestling. And I started doing it and getting positive reactions over it. And then further down the line, a lot of dads started coming up to me and being like, hey, not for coaching, they'd be like, Hey, can you talk to my son? Like he's having this problem. And I'm like, oh yeah, sure. So I would start doing it, and I got more and more to play. But then I started noticing a lot of fathers would use it as an excuse. Uh they would be like, Well, you know, that's that's that's their dad, and he's he's a green bray, so he's different. And that really tore me up because I was like, No, I'm I'm not different. Like, there's none of us are different. It's a mindset thing that you go through. You and you know that that's a mindset that uh that you can put yourself in to be the man you want to be, you know? Yeah, I'm not any tougher than anybody or any smarter. None of us are, you know. Um, as a matter of fact, in any other line of work, we might have been at the bottom of the barrel. Who knows? But uh but we have a mindset that pulls us through, that pulls us through Cant McCall, that pulls us through that 96-hour patrol when you're like, oh God, you rolled your ankle, you know, you're like black on you're black on water, you're like eating the snow off a river, like this is terrible, you know? And so how do you induce those values without the trauma of combat or a headshot or whatever? Um, and that's kind of where I started going with this is just helping some some men, young men, older men, uh, new fathers. I I launched the frontline fathers challenge, which is like I always tell my sons what I'm gonna do, so but they they'll hold me to it. They'll be like, Did you get up and go for your run? I'm like, Yeah, I did. You know, and if I don't, I feel like a complete shit bag. So I started this thing and then I'm relaunching it again because I got a good vibe from it. Dude's like, hey, I'm working out with my teenager for the first time ever, and I'm like, cool, man. And it all starts with leading by example, right? Like, you want uh, you know, we had a group commander that once wrote me a letter of recommendation and said I would let Kyle lead my sons in the combat. And I thought that was the glowingest thing anybody's ever said about me. So I started thinking about like any man can lead his sons, any man can be a leader in the home, but how do you do it? Well, you do it by being a man of your word first. If you say you're gonna do it, do it. And you know this, the hard, the hard right over the easy wrong every time. It's gonna suck, and there's no way around it. I'm not here to be a David Goggins where I'm just like screaming at you for motivation, like if you're not inherently motivated, but we can definitely find a thing that'll pick at you to make you be the man you want to be. And that's what I'm looking for.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's needed, man. The um the crisis that we're seeing right now on multiple fronts, it can easily be identified to the fact that we don't have fathers and husbands at home that are leading their families, that are involved, actively involved in their children's lives and and helping them by set then by setting the example, just as simple as that, just setting the example of what a good man is. Like our our kids shouldn't have to look into science fiction or TV shows to find the example of what a good man is. That's just and that's a sad thing, man. Like there's there are a lot of kids that don't have direction, but if there's that, if there's a dad at home, that should be the template for success. And a lot of men are, you know, whether it's they're focusing too much at work, they're lost their identity, whatever it is, they need help, they need assistance. Because like now more than never, like it just seems like a desperate situation. But I think we can if we can just start at the simplest thing, which is identifying how to get yourself back into the mindset of being a leader within your own fa within your own family and your household, like you can start turning the tide along uh for some of these battles, man. Like I think that's just as simple as that. Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I always tell men, like, hey, look in the mirror, and if you what you see, you wouldn't be happy having your son turn into that or your daughter marrying that, then it's time for you to make some changes, you know? It's time for you to make some changes because they are inevitably going to become what you are, and she's gonna marry that, and you need to figure it out.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, dude. That is a hundred percent, dude. That that is that is the truth that a lot of guys need to focus on. Like, but we have there's a lot of people that are advocating for it. There's a lot of people, I don't think it's a hopeless endeavor. I think there's a lot of people that are now talking about it and bringing a light to it. Um, are you thinking about doing more public speaking? Or you said you're launching a program.
SPEAKER_02:Um Yeah, I'm launching a program. I'm definitely gonna do some public speaking, trying to trying to get my footing while looking for my hand warmers and stuff. So uh as soon as soon as I get uh get forward ahead on all the turn and stuff and I'm just kind of waiting, then I'm really gonna take off with it. But yeah, definitely do some public speaking. You know, I'll talk to Nick Lavery a little bit and some other people that are doing it. But it's because like uh uh you know, everything I've learned about leadership in the army, I learned or in life, I learned the hard way in the army, you know. And uh I created this so that my sons and and other men and and boys and whatnot could uh can learn the same lessons that I that I kind of learned and you learned you know, through getting getting slapped, you know, I can't slap you or whatever. But there there are there are ways to impart this stuff on to other men, and whether that's you know hearing it from one of us or going through your own sort of rite of passage, I'm in I'm into that. I like that, and I like seeing it for my sons, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, man. I really think that um whatever approach you take, I think a book is definitely definitely in line. I think that um I always tell people, tell your story, and though part of the story's been told, but there's more to Kyle than just the valley. There's more to Kyle than just Seventh Group. I think that the real lessons, the real takeaway are are still waiting to be told. And I think that as you move forward, you gotta take ownership of your story, man. I think that there's more to it. I'm glad we got to dive into just a little bit of it, but I think that when you're able to sit down, brother, write your story, write your book, get it out there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. I and I want to, you know, I was just talking to Jay Jolly about you because, you know, I you know, I I I always like my life and most of us, we always want that next challenge. You know, I went to dive school at 37 years old because he said he was like, I don't know if you can do it. And I was like, I'll show Jay. And it was terrible. It was the worst thing I've ever done. Yeah, I love Jay. To this day, he was like, I you know, I'm doing the 50 and I keep coming up, and I'm like I can't do it. And he I look up, everybody's giving me tips. They're like, well, maybe you should do this. And he's like saying there, he's like, maybe don't be a pussy. That's what that's all he said. And I was like, Yeah, okay, Jay. You know, so it's always seeking that next that next thing. I credit Jay for that. I was like, I wouldn't have done it without you. But at 37, you know, so it sucked.
SPEAKER_00:No, Jay can never get me to. I've I've had the privilege, the greatest team, greatest team I've ever been on was 3-5. The greatest men, the the greatest mission. Like to have my career end on that note, like there's no better. Like, you couldn't like I looking back, that was the greatest thing, the greatest people, the greatest moment. Um, and I'm a free fall dude, like free fall JM, AIDIC, fucking everything, everything free fall. And I wouldn't trade all of that just to have done a time my time as a warrant officer on a free fall team. Yes, flying in the sky is the greatest thing. Being a human meat missile is way better than drowning in the water, but I wouldn't trade one day drowning in the water with Micah for you know a five-year stint on a free fall team. Like those guys were just fucking amazing. Like it was amazing being able to witness um that culture in that company with those men. Like, I'm nothing. I'm I'm absolutely fucking nothing. I served with giants, I served with men that are infinitely better than me. And to have had the opportunity to bend with those guys, um, sounds hella gay. To have had the opportunity to serve alongside those dudes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and it's just, it was the best fucking team ever been on. From the junior, the most junior fucking dude on the team to our our captain. Best fucking dudes. And I think there's something to it. I think there's something in the culture, and not everybody was a diver in that. Um, we we had a we we were able to get a lot of guys dive qualified after the combat deployment, but going into that deployment, we have very little divers. Yeah. But it's just uh, I don't know. I I think there's something in the water, I think there's something about that. And uh, but for me, dude, like being a free fall dude was just and I'll be all I would constantly chase that high of being an Eloy and uh doing doing that a fucking archangel package, man. It was just such a thrill, dude.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm a free fall dude, I'm a free fall jam. I've done several archangels too, and and I liked diving more, but you're right, there is something, you know, and it goes along with what we were talking about. Like you have to you have to leave no room for failure. You have to burn the ships. Yeah. Because when I went, 37 of us started dive school, 14 of us pass, and I failed the first one, man. And I remember thinking to myself, like, all right, well, they'll either have to pull me out of here, in which case I'll go home and see my kids play T-ball, or I'm gonna pass. And you know, I was like, so you have to burn the boats. But you know, I was thinking about you said something. We stand on the shoulder of giants, and we we did. I'm a warrant, you were a warrant, and I thought about this the other day. There was they were doing some training with the 60, and they couldn't do something with the safety switch on the 60, you know, uh handheld. And I like leaned down and I did something, they're like, man, Chief knows everything. But I remember somebody showing me that, and everything that we say is a as a warrant, as the subject matter expert on a team, you had somebody better than you tell you and take the patience to tell you. I I say nothing original, everything I say that the young dude's like, Oh, Chief knows, somebody told me, you know? Yeah, it's just regurgitated information. You've just been around long enough to have it all. And thankfully, those dudes took the time to teach you. No, no dude wakes up in the morning and is like, we can't wait to be a fuck up today.
SPEAKER_03:You're just trying to do your best here.
SPEAKER_01:Maybe a forehood, maybe.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man, so fucking true, man. That's the um I always tell guys like everybody everybody should know that the end all be all greatest fucking position on an ODA, the person who has the most influence, the the the guy that will bring that attachment home is a team sergeant. But for me, selfishly, I will tell you that there's no better job than being a warrant officer. I absolutely loved it. I hope more people take that job on. I I think that it's it's just remarkable. It's incredible. And it's the greatest fucking title I ever had the chance to like borrow for a few years, being chief. That is the greatest thing. You don't you don't fucking fully earn it like your Green Beret. Um you're it's rent's due every fucking day. Every fucking day, that title is earn and rent. Like if if you're not a good warrant officer, people call you fucking WO as you first show up. Like, oh Mr. Like if you're a good warrant, people call you chief. Like, and that's that's something that um, yeah, man, it it is a great fucking profession. And it's a great fucking end note, man. Like uh it is a great way like to finally like it to to be heading out the door with that title, that is such a great thing, man. I know it's not lost on you. I know it's something that truly resonates with you as you're moving on in uh your next chapter, man. So I'm I'm glad we had this talk, man, because self-reflection is something that isn't talked about. We don't we nobody I think there was one person in my career that said, hey, like when it's your time, reflect and look back at the journey you had. So I I hope you have more time at the locker to at least sit down with Jason and bust his balls a few times before you leave, dude.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Reflection is key, brother. I took my kit apart like two days ago and it was sad, you know, where you just staring at something I had worn for so long. You know, shit's all grimy, you're trying to peel stuff off, and I was like, this sucks.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I was fortunate. I bought my own kit for the last few years, and I took this is the one thing I will say this now. I think enough time has passed. I took two of my three three of my own personal weapons of combat and uh rocked them. My took my own sniper rifle, took my own fucking M4. I had I called this is the greatest thing. I called Daniel Defense and the rep, well, I shouldn't say his name because what we did was technically illegal, but it was a it was a group guy, and he's like, we put in an order, fucking ten of us got the same rifle, did everything, just like straight out of uh for a SOCOM contract, got those puppies in time, fucking took them to Afghanistan. So I had my going Glock, took my own sniper rifle, and it took my own fucking M4. And um now those are proudly at home. Um but being able to like see that and be like, okay, like I'm at least I still have that. That's still there. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. Yeah, everybody was like, oh, they're gonna check serial numbers. I'm like, trust me, does this enough? They're not. Sure shit.
SPEAKER_01:Good to go. All right.
SPEAKER_00:The amount of shit you can smuggle in a country is pretty alarming. Well, talk about the things you can take out of country on this episode. Right, dude, Kyle, thank you so much for being here, man. If people want to connect with you, where can it go?
SPEAKER_02:I'm on Instagram's my biggest thing right now. I haven't my wife help me. I'm not great at it, but it's at real real Kyle Steiner, also on Twitter or X. Yeah. I'm working it right now. I'm I'm trying I'm learning the ropes of the of social media, you know. I remember MySpace and the Facebook, so I'm like, I'll figure that out. You had MySpace, Denny. Don't Tom was your top Tom was your friend.
SPEAKER_01:Best friend I ever had.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. I had your music. So I'm learning the ropes of Instagram. And like, you know, my wife will be like, I'll look at like a video of Ronnie Coleman deadlifting, and then it'll all be deadlifters, and she's like, What are you messing up your algorithm? I'm like, I don't know what that means. She's like, it's nothing but it's nothing but lifters now. I'm like, oh or like keto pancakes, like how to I'm like, oh, sick. So it'll be all like how to make keto chili, all this stuff. And like, she's like, You stop doing this, you're messing up your algorithm. Like, okay. I won't.
SPEAKER_00:That's why you need a burner account to search and look for all the things you need, and then you leave your uh your actual profile.
SPEAKER_02:Just like search stuff associated with what we're doing. I'm like, okay, not not keto pancakes.
SPEAKER_00:Well, good. At least you have somebody that's giving you the ropes, man. I had to learn that by the way.
SPEAKER_02:At real Kyle Steiner. Just look for me.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah. Fuck yeah, dude. Well, guys, do me a favor, go ahead and pause. You know the episode's almost over. Go down the episode description, click those links, and one more link. Throughout the entire month of Thanksgiving, we need to support the Special Fortress Foundation. So uh I'm calling it Operation Support the SFF. That's right. They need your support. So the support requests aren't gonna be dwindling now anytime soon. And because we're heading into the holiday season, we're probably gonna see a lot more. So do me a favor, scan the QR code right here and donate to the SFF today. It doesn't matter if it's like five bucks, twenty bucks, but I'll do you one even better. If you donate from November 3rd till December 15th, I will throw in your name into our new giveaway. You want Titan's Arms? You got it. You want a brand new Whoop 5.0, it's in the running. Tons of other shit, some supplements for some great companies, they'll be available. All you gotta do is donate. Send me a DM with a screenshot that you donated, at least 20 bucks, and I will throw your name into the hat. And then hopefully you'll win. And I'm gonna be throwing in a lot of different things. So stay tuned for more. Just donate today. Kyle, thank you for being here and thank you all for tuning in. We'll see y'all next time. Till then, take care. Secure to have a podcast is proudly sponsored by Titan's Arms. Head up to the episode description and check out Titan's Arms today.
