Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
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Security Halt!
Military Culture & the Future of Warfare with 18 Good Guy
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SPONSORED BY: PURE LIBERTY LABS, PRECISION WELLNESS GROUP, and THE SPECIAL FORCES FOUNDATION
In this episode of Security Halt!, Deny Caballero sits down with 18 Good Guy to unpack the realities of parenthood, military life, and the evolving landscape of modern warfare. They explore the importance of pursuing excellence in every military role, building trust between conventional and unconventional forces, and supporting veterans during times of uncertainty like government shutdowns. The conversation also dives into language skills, technology’s growing impact on warfare, the rise of military influencers in recruitment, and the personal growth that comes from embracing challenges and failure.
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It's the greatest, but man, it is A, you're more motivated to do like big things to secure a financial future for them. But like, you know, the the the extra nights where she's, you know, a little fussy keeping you up, but man, it's the greatest job. It really is. Uh people undersell it. They really and modern media does a really good job because all you hear is like, oh, you're not gonna get any sleep. Yeah. There's oh man, they're gonna eat you, they're gonna, they're gonna eat you out of house and home. I'm like, dude, name a greater problem. Like, name once you once you have your first one, I think everybody understands that like, man, like this is fucking awesome. It's difficult, right? But it's fucking awesome. I'm really happy to be in this chapter.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was speaking to someone the other day. I was like, you know, when like complain about how hard parenthood is, you know, they they're afraid of it, they avoid it, but it's like the most difficult things in your entire life are usually the ones that have the biggest payoff and seem to be the most worth it. So why wouldn't you want to take on the greatest challenge possible and you know usher another person in the world?
SPEAKER_03:Dude, absolutely. It takes you it takes you immediately back to all the hard things you did that like immediately bring you so much joy once you like reflect on the journey. The destination is always fleeting. Like you get to the mountain, it's like, oh my god, like yeah, it's a great moment, you high five. But then all the moments that you're gonna recall are gonna be the moments where you're in that journey, in that rough period of time, trying to get to that objective. Once you get there, it's like it, it's it goes away, but you're gonna always remember it. It's like the same thing when you talk about fond memories of your friends. How many times have you like shared with your buddies that you went through selection or a hard course? You never talk about like, oh, remember the day we graduated? No, you talk about the day like you barely passed or the hard thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Always the best stories.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah, so the best stories and then uh are for when you're a parent is the the stories of like when your kid decides to shit their diapers four different times back to back. Just try to get out the door to daycare. It's like a different kind of hard. It's like, fuck, I'm gonna be late. No. That's my life.
SPEAKER_01:It's a good life, I'm I'm envious in many ways of that.
SPEAKER_03:Dude, welcome back to the show, The Man, the myth, the legend, 18 good guy. Um we have so much to talk about today. I think I prefaced it when we're talking about hey, are you available to come back on? Where it's just like a bro hang. There's so much going on that it's like just want to get your perspective and kind of just have an open dialogue on some uh some issues that I've been wanting to talk about with somebody. And um, you know, I had on there the top of the list government shutdown. And uh that's been resolved. Has it now? Yeah, as of like last night. I guess there was like this last minute session, and uh man, it's um but it's something that I I've been dealing with on the forefront with shout out to Special Forces Foundation. Um, we tend to think that like, oh man, Green Berets, you got pro pay, you've hazard duty pay, everyone's gonna be good. But um, you know, this time of season specifically, you forget about the guys that are out, our veterans, and a shameless plug right off the bat. Um and uh to anybody listening, please do me a favor. Uh the Special Forces Foundation needs your support. We need to rally as much as fun so we can continue supporting our Green Berets and their families in honor of this season. Please do me a favor, scan this QR code right here and donate today. Uh, but please do me a favor, just go there and donate. Just whatever you can. But if you can do multiple donations, I'd really appreciate it because they're helping a lot of families. Just a few weeks ago, we uh helped the Green Beret, who is in crisis needing a brand new furnace for his family, uh, secure one for free, 100%. Um one of the greatest things that they do is bridge the gap between our individuals that are out by themselves doing their singleton ops, just out there, you know, alone in the ether, reconnect with their friends and uh Green Bray counterparts uh through their Brotherhood Blueprint program. So please consider donating. Really appreciate it. Now back to our regular scheduled event. So, how have you been, man?
SPEAKER_01:Dude, I'm I'm very well. Just trying to get after it from uh the confounds of the office of the old B team. Doing my best to uh stay motivated within uh within that purview and excited to move on to the next thing as soon as it comes my way. The moment it comes my way, I'll be moving on at light speed.
SPEAKER_03:I cannot stress to you how ready I am to leave the B team. It's a lot of work, dude. It is a lot of work.
SPEAKER_01:It it it is more of an exercise in self-control than I ever would have guessed it would be, and that um you do you do all this prep work, you do all all this preparation for the thing, whatever the thing happens to be. And you know, you you put blood, sweat, and tears into it, and you pull strings and you ask for favors and pe and people pull through for you, and then in one way, the the crux of everything where everyone is it's all hinging on someone lets you down. And it feels bad, and it's and it's still your fault, so you you know, in some ways, so you you still have to yoke yourself with responsibility. So it's it's an exercise in patience with other people. Um as much as I hate to be a buzzword, but empathy, you know. Other people are working hard too, and uh you try try not to attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity or whatever that old uh heuristic is. And not not calling anyone specifically stupid, but um there there is a lot of extra work that is done at this echelon that I did not expect. Um so but but it's been it's been incredible. I've learned a lot more of the back-end processes, I understand the bigger picture a lot better, and um I feel like anyone who who I've seen come out of their B-team time uh with a positive attitude says that exact same thing. So I I have learned a lot, I built a lot of connections, hopefully built some trust and some some acumen in some way. But I will be clocked at Mach 10 leaving this position and going into the first one. So it's uh just just and grinding out those uh those last days in it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, man. It's um so for anybody listening that doesn't know, uh when it comes to special operations, special forces specifically, you know, we tend to highlight just the guy on the team, um, the individual operator, the 18 Echo, 18 Charlie, the Bravo. Um, but in order to support that team and then the entire company of all those different teams, there's the B team. Operational detachment Bravo. That's the headquarters. And I I know exactly what you're feeling. I was there. Uh and the thing that I realized when I look back, not only did I make some of my greatest friends on the B team, but I learned that excellence isn't just for a special force of soldiers. Excellence can be found in soldiers from all different types of OSs. And one individual that I feel taught me that was our NBC guy. Um dude, I I don't know what it is. Yeah. Um there was a few, but the one that stands out, he's out, so I'll throw his name out there. I'm sorry, Corey Popejoy. Um Corey came from seventh or from 10th group to seventh group, and Corey was a what I'd like to describe him as is a Swiss Army knife. Corey was highly intelligent, highly motivated, and was just a master of so many different like tasks, soldier tasks. He was really good at so many different things, and oftentimes he was confused as a green beret. And one thing that then like a lot of people didn't understand is like, well, if you're so friggin' good, you're so awesome, why aren't you a green beret? It's like some people don't want to be a green beret. It is not the end all be up for a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01:Our last chem guy, uh, he's also out, so I'll give him a shout-out, Jake. He was incredible, also a Swiss Army knife, super hard worker, and I'll never forget. I was I had just met him. I was like, dude, you're super cool, you're one of the boys, you're obviously competent, you're in shape. Why don't you go to selection, bro? Because that shit's gay, man. I was like, you know what? I respect that so much.
SPEAKER_00:I had nothing to say. I was like, cool, dude. We'd love to have you on the team, bro. That was hilarious.
SPEAKER_03:I think I think that's exactly the sentiment Corey had because I think um, you know, I haven't been in in, you know, I've I only know superficially what he's gone off to do because I see it on social media and and he works with a nonprofit that's really like I think needs to be more supported, the Green Beret Racing Project. Uh please check that out. I'll put a link to it in the bio. But um the dude always had like a a brilliant mind into what's really important as far as like preparing for transition, having skill sets, having something of value as far as like what you can do with your hands, what you can do with your mind. So, you know, he he had things already in the works as far as real estate, business ideas, and we tend to not key in on that when it's presented. And when I reflect back and look at the all the different things that Corey was doing, I mean, he was modeling everything that we all should have been doing throughout an entire career, gaining insight into different, you know, you know, I think he got a real estate license while he was still in. I'm pretty sure. Contracting, figuring out how he can do things in the business world. And none of us were, we were just so hyper-focused on like, this is what's cool. I'm gonna go crush the range, work out. And I think what I want more people to realize is open up your aperture around your your other soldiers in your company, in in your profession, and understand you can learn from them. You can learn so much from individuals that don't have that long tab and don't have that beret. We're a team of teams, and I think that's that was lost in my time period. And I I hope it comes back, man. I hope we really realize that we're all part of an organization, or like everybody that's there with you can be an individual that is honed and skilled and of excellence.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. And I I will say I think it's um the onus also lies on those support functions. You know, uh I'm I'm sure many, many listeners had their parents say something along the lines of, yeah, I don't care what you do, just be the best at it. My dad definitely taught me that growing up. Um, and and I do think that's actually one change we really need within Regiment, is I think there needs to be some sort of assessment. I don't care if it's two days, I don't care if it's an interview or a freaking written essay, just something to show that our support are maybe a little more motivated than the rest, uh a small cut above the rest that they actually want to be there, because we do run into this um paradox where we end up kicking ourselves where we want to be really broy with our support, and we probably should be, because it's you know, you know, what do they say? You get more flies of honey. Um but then it there comes a point where you need that professional relationship and you need there to be some some boot to ass and like, hey, this has to get done. Oh dude, but we're friends, you know. It's and and so they it slides under the oh, I don't have to work as hard because we're super cool and he'll let me slide. And uh and it and it does hinder a lot of things. And and again, now we're back.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we're back, back at it. Sorry about that.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know what it is. Yeah, the old deployment Wi-Fi is a little shoddy, so apologies.
SPEAKER_03:Not to get off topic, um, I had um gosh, I'm fucking forgetting his name. Um, I apologize. First group, um Pat Tillman, scholar, great dude. Um I'm spacing your name out. Um, Jonathan, forget your last name, but uh he was showing me a uh a Bluetooth technique where you can take your multiple cell phones and make a a Wi-Fi network out of them. That's how he finished the dude's brilliant. That's how he finished his master's program while deployed. And I'm like, fucking, of course, of course the first group guy would know how to do that.
SPEAKER_01:I can barely connect a new pair of headphones to my phone. Connection not found um maniacal laugh and then delve into Madden.
SPEAKER_03:Anyways, before uh Riverside and Israel disconnected us, we're talking about uh uh they're always on, they're always listening.
SPEAKER_01:Um yeah, so I I I do believe uh our quality of support can be an issue, can be a hindrance at times. Uh I know I've run into uh a couple of our support personnel who on our last rotation really messed some things up um when we got demoted, and then they're the same exact people for this rotation, and you know, we're crossing fingers, hope it's different, and then the exact same thing we run into major issues that do change uh the outcome of um certain desired end states, uh, which which is a major issue. So I I I would love to see some accountability, but but I also don't think that goes just for the support. I would love to see them have an RFS system, I would love to see Green Berets have an RFS system. Um I I think that uh that would really incentivize a lot of people to work a lot harder. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Dude, you're 100% on it. And let's uh you know let's let's let's kind of dive into this because I was just talking about it with uh Trent Segmiller, Mike Edwards on on their new podcast for Titan Performance. Um selection process for our support people makes and has always made sense. We talked about it when I was still in. I mean, 160th, they have a great process. Awesome. Everybody everybody going through there. You have to all have the same standard. We look at ranger regiments, same thing.
SPEAKER_00:Like, oh, you want to be NSW support? Everyone but us. Yeah, literally everyone but us.
SPEAKER_03:And it's not about like gatekeeping, it's making sure you have, I think the greatest thing that I saw lacking in my time was the maturity. Yeah. The the maturity. And that's what I wanted. I I I found those individuals that were mature, that had that drive for excellence, and I didn't want to let them go. I wanted them to be on the next chase set with me and my team. I wanted to be on the next mission, and they got amped up about it. They became a competition to see who was going to be the sought-after guy from S6, the sought-after S1. It's we make fun of them, we make fun of admin guys, but even within there, within those offices, there were some individuals that performed at a high, high, high rate. And it was like, dude, it it's it's soldier, it's basic soldiering. You want the you want the individuals excited for their job, no matter what it is.
SPEAKER_01:I get amped up when somebody's good at their job. Oh, you know the exact form that I need to fill out to remedy myself for the situation. That's badass. Give me that form. Yeah, and and you know, we talk on the teams all the time, like you know, when you're going to this office, stay away from this dude, stay away from this chick, go to this guy. You know, he actually knows what he's doing. Everyone else, there's, you know, whatever. But they're, you know, people who are reliable, they're gonna be that in whatever job they do. And those are the people that we gravitate towards. And you know, hopefully we reward them sufficiently in some way. But I definitely don't think that there is enough accountability uh within our support section. And and actually I do want to gatekeep to some extent. I mean, that's why I went to a selection, because it's because there's there's a there's a key to the castle, and if everyone gets it, it doesn't mean a whole lot to be in that castle. So, you know, I I I do want there to be something that is approximating an exclusionary process because we don't want everybody working in our organization. We want to be around people that are that actually want to be there, that want to be the best of their craft. You know, obviously the people that are are really good, they're gonna go to next echelons, they're gonna go to JSOC or or whatever organization is gonna take them. But we we want to facilitate that, you know, maybe maybe give them a taste of it, maybe you know, or maybe recruit a good green beret, you know, whatever we have to do. We want quality people in every position we can possibly get.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I used to one of the biggest problems I used to see were uh individuals were coming to seventh group as their first duty station.
SPEAKER_01:It's like it ruins you. Absolutely 100%. I I I walk into the office and I'm not even a rank guy. I don't I don't care, but I also am smart enough to know that if I need to use rank with people, maybe maybe you should be smart. I just it says something about you. If if the very first interaction, hey what's up, bro, and you're an E2 and I'm an E7, it's like okay, you know. If if if you're like, hey, what's up, darn? No, cut that out. No, no, that's dark and crap. You can you can use my name. But if if you just hey what's up, dude, and I don't know you, it's it's if you're you're setting um I guess um and I'm sure you know with being a Spanish speaker, in multiple languages, you know, you have this this formal tone or this formal um declension you use for when you're speaking to someone you know, in a lot of languages, you know, so you use like usted or v or what what have you, and then people go, yeah, cut cut out the formal stuff, just you know, we'll be familiar. And it and you build a lot of respect by automatically jumping to the respectful um respectful tone, I guess if you will. And um I think it's lost on a lot of people these days. They think if one person's growy to them, the next one's gonna be. And you know, but you know, as we know, you can be as broy as you want with your team and your team start, and you can have you know first name basis, but you knock on that next team room door, hello man, hello sir, you know, and and it's it it says a lot about you if you jump to respect as opposed to jumping to um extremely lax. Because we we all want to be lax, obviously.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I don't want people to call me Sarn, that's gross. Ew, dude. Stop standing like that. Put your hands in front of your body like a regular person. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03:But yeah, man, it it's true. Like basic soldiering.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I think that uh there's a responsibility on both sides, man. It's absolutely you know, I and and you gotta be able to to to do the right thing as a greenbird. Like that's a reality.
SPEAKER_01:And and it it is incumbent upon us to you know try to develop the dudes when they come up short or you know when when they're not meeting expectation. Um And those suck espe especially when you do build a a good relationship with someone right off the bat. Um and it sucks and it's uncomfortable to tell someone that they're they're not meeting the standard, they're not doing well. But you you have to do because if you if you do care about someone, you're gonna tell them. If you don't care about someone, then whatever. I'm gonna tell you. It's like someone having something in their teeth. If I don't care about you, I'm not gonna tell you. But if I care about you, I don't want you to look stupid. I don't want you to make an ass of yourself, so I'm gonna tell you, hey man, you have something in your teeth, get out of there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah, man. It's uh it's it's it's it's an old it's an old problem set, and I wish we could figure it out. Um but I think one step in the right direction is fucking get a selection process, man. Exactly. How to make a fucking pipeline for everybody.
SPEAKER_01:Just do a five-mile run and an essay, I swear, and you'll weed out half the problems. And this is coming from a dude. I'm not even a good runner.
SPEAKER_03:You're not lying. You're not lying.
SPEAKER_01:An essay would can you use proper grammar in the emails you send me? It doesn't sound important, but unfortunately it is. I wish that weren't important. But I would brutal. I would like there to be uh uh a little bit of intellectualism in my support stuff. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Just a bit.
SPEAKER_03:It's it's funny. You bring up the essay thing, and um it's true. I I can't tell you the amount of times a senior NCO from some S shop would send an email, and I'm like, motherfucker. I'll be back. I'm gonna have to go to talk to this person.
SPEAKER_01:This is scarcely intelligible English, let alone something approximating a viable request or work function, and I can't.
SPEAKER_03:It really makes you understand why we have PDFs or drop-down menus. Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01:Now, of course, almost all of my work except for when I can get out and actually get some UV light uh gracing my skin at some point through the day while driving a forklift. Um all my work is done on email and Microsoft Teams. Um Microsoft will win the next war, which I I think is pretty cool. Um but so it's you know, yeah, people really undervalue effective communication, especially when you take tone, when you take body language, you take all that out of it. You know, how well can you actually get a message across? Are you being detailed enough? Are you are you being thorough? Are you being too vague? You know, all these things, and then double that when you're working with uh allied partners. You think you think you're a good communicator until you're speaking to someone who they're speaking your language as their second language, or or vice versa. And then then it becomes a real challenge. Um and I I think Green Brays as a whole aren't as good at that as they tend to believe as well.
SPEAKER_03:No, you know, they're no, we're horrible within even our own force.
SPEAKER_01:We think we're masters of people, and and and some of some of us are, you know, and I'm some yes, yes, absolutely. Um I I I have a major affinity for people, it's my favorite part about the job. So I have such an interest in language, and and I don't want to sit here and tout myself as an expert. I'll let others decide for that. But I look at how other some people interact with others, especially partners. I'm like, dude, you have no idea what you like who raised you? Who let you out of the house? Who told you this was okay? It's you know, but at some point we um we believe a little bit of our own legend, and we you know we get a little arrogant and you know, we're all right, and all these things, and it's like, come on, dude. We can do better.
SPEAKER_03:See, we we kind of we naturally segued into something that I wanted to talk about. There's um there's there's uh there's there's actually a term for it now. It's operator fatigue. Oh people are sick and sick. Oh, I haven't heard that one. That hurts of the uh the personas that are largely lifted up in in modern media, whether it be podcasts, YouTube videos, the the breakdowns of famous battles, famous operators. A lot of people are getting really tired of being force-fed the stories that make one individual or or just highlight certain individuals as being the uh the ones that won the war.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Um I think one of the things that we're seeing is is um our conventional forces. Like it's become a derogatory term to say unconventional, and you conventional guys. Like, how do we bridge that gap? Because that's where we get the absolute and I've got great friends that were 18 x-rays, but some of the best leaders that I know, the people that mentored me, have a connective tissue to a conventional unit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:They had time and were mentored in field artillery, as a military policeman, as an infantryman, as a paratrooper. How do we start building back that trust and and really allowing our conventional counterparts to see us as partners and professionals rather than the assholes that are gonna get out and start a podcast, get a movie deal and write a book? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um it's it's about I I believe at least shouldering the responsibility of you know, we we always like to say, Oh, you gotta be a good dude. You just gotta be you gotta be a good dude to make it and soft. It's like, well, what is a good dude? You know, uh uh are you know Do you know your mission set? Do you know why you're different? Do you know what you're doing, how you're supposed to do it, how it differs from everyone else's mission, and does it make their mission any less badass? Did the Marines who cleared Fallujah house by house, were they less badass than you? You know, were the were the conventional guys that stormed the beaches in Normandy on D-Day, were they less badass than you? It's like, you know, I'm a soft dude, I have zero combat time. You know, I I I barely even have any anything approximating you know the super sexy CQB time. Is it so you know, do I have an automatic trump card on on that first ID first sergeant who was in Fallujah as a private? You know, do uh do I automatically have a trump card on that medic who's brand new? I don't, you know, I don't I uh you don't know the value people are gonna bring to the table. So I I I think the responsibility for us is to understand that we are an end, not the end all be all, and that our mission set is you know it's it's broad in application, but very narrow in implication. And that we are just one piece of the puzzle. And in every single war up until modernity, I would even argue in modernity, um conventional is the main effort. Conventional doesn't mean less capable, it just means conventional. Um and ha half a green breeds don't even know what unconventional means. Um you know, it's and then they'll give you some muddled version of the definition of unconventional warfare that they learn at Sage. It's like, you know, how how good are you at dealing with people? Oh, you want to go to Sephardic, oh you want to go to SIFSIC, oh, you want to be the free fall boy, oh nice. That that dive bubble is super cool, and all these things are very cool, you know. Uh having only one of those skill sets, I can tell you that it's like snipers one of the word isn't hard, but I was bad at it, man. I got like a 73% overall, and that was just level two, that wasn't even level one. So I'm like, I'm I'm 6'3, like 230 pounds, I'm not made to stalk my first dock, I got caught in there. Like we thought there was a wild animal where you were, but then it lasted for about 15 minutes. I was like, oh geez. Um you know, these get degrees still a sniper.
SPEAKER_03:But uh 100%, 100%. When I went oh go ahead. When I went, it was the same thing. Yeah, same thing, man. It's um it's tough. It it it's the reality that that I'm glad you highlighted is all these things, all these schools, all these specialties, they don't bring you any closer to the actual like definition and and principles of the mission of being an unconventional UW master.
SPEAKER_01:They can make you better at teaching it. And they can of course they give you a broader array of skill sets to give ultimately to your partners and you know, give your commander more options in in the execution of XYZ mission set, but at the end of the day, what makes us different from every other soft unit, what makes us different from every other entity in the in the DO the DOW now, it feels good to say it's the first time I've said that out loud. Um Thanks, Pete, is uh that we we work with foreign partners. Uh one of the reasons I I get so upset when I when I see GBs that you know don't even try with their language, that you know, all these um let's say networking schools um where you you know you learn to interact with people and you learn to truly build these relationships, oh that's gay. Oh really sphartic. Dude, Spartic's super cool. And learning how to shoot, there's and there's I've never met someone who shot too well. But I have met people who were too terse, I have met people who were bad negotiators, I've met people who are zero plus in their language, and it's like, dude, that's just to me, that's unacceptable. Um, you know, we we just ran into a situation where we were we were running short on on interpreters for this specific course being run. And um they asked my friend, I'd like, would you guys be willing to be interpreters? I'm like, hell yeah, easily, you know, that's we we could definitely do that. And and I thought to myself, like, in what world are the unconventional experts, you know, the masters of culture and language and people, and what world are we scrambling, you know, not not you know, running around with our heads cut off that we can't find a native speaker. We are supposed to be able to do this. I should be able to teach everything that I and can possibly give to a partner in in their language.
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SPEAKER_01:And for these hyper niche, hyper-specific languages, you know, sure. But but then it's it also comes from top down where recently they changed the language list. So guys are de-incentivized from broadening their skill set, broadening their purview. So now I was I was getting paid for three languages and now it'll go down to two. So you know what in I'm going to do because I enjoy it, but what incentive does a guy like that have to keep keep up on that, you know, that maybe niche language? Um, so so I I think it's a cultural issue, both from the bottom up and and the top down. And the GWAT, I don't want to say ruined us, but it got us used to being, you know, miniguns on Humvees and lateral. Absolute action.
SPEAKER_03:Absolute action.
SPEAKER_01:And and can we do that? Yes. Are there myriad other units in the DOW? Feels good a second time, uh, that do that way better than we do. Absolutely yes. Yes. Um, and and then we wonder, oh, why why do we get the good mission set? Well, you know, we we shoot ourselves in the foot when we perpetuate this culture of Civ Six Fartac, Free Fall, Dive, Ranger are the only good things that we can possibly do. And everything else, you're weak, you're a bitch. You know, everything everything else is gay. It's like, yeah, that's that's that's not exactly what it is. You don't you don't quite understand what we do. Um I'll get up my hours with that one, but I definitely do. No, dude, you're opinions on it.
SPEAKER_03:You're speaking facts, dog. It's everything that we talk about, and what we study So I hold this individual to a high and and and put him in a high pedestal because I think he was the if we would have followed Jim Gant's doctrine through Afghanistan, it would have been different. Yeah. I I think Jim got fucking burnt. I think he got thrown under the bus for doing exactly what Green Berets do, which is learn the culture, laying the language in bed. And when you know, I've tried getting him on the show, like I talked to him on LinkedIn, but the reason why it's so important to like lessons learned from his experience is Jim went out and he learned the language and he learned a culture. And if that process would have been brought in and made the standard, we would have had a better understanding and we would have had a better generation of Green Berets that valued language. None of us really valued it. I certainly didn't. And it's only it's it's not lost on me now. I it's the you know, the the typical former guy now sees the right all the things that he could have done right. And I I want to talk about it because you fall in love with the jiwa, you've you romanticize the shit out of it. But look where we're at now. It's bygone. Nobody gives two shits about it. Now it's you know, can you embed with Ukraine? Can you speak their language? Can you bring anything to them? Like they're that's real war. That's real fighting right now. The most combatic world right now. Yeah. If you have to go there tomorrow, having talked to some of the people that volunteered, you're nothing to me if you can't talk with me. I'm not going to speak English. Yep. We've got to move. Like we've got fucking drones coming after us, and I got to be able to communicate with you as part of my team. You better learn my fucking language, dog. 100%. Like, and that's that's just the the little small details that should have we should have had individuals that really forced the language. And and I get it. I'm Seventh Grooper, I didn't speak Urdu, Pashtu, but I tell you what, if they would have been like, hey, only the top teams that are language certified across the board are going to deploy to combat, that is a standard. You know how many fucking dudes would have been like, I gotta go to language lab, I gotta study this. That's the incentive. Like you want the mission, you have to be, you have to be proficient. Not a one zero one or one zero plus, like, no, proficient 100% across the board. But it's you're right. Like I saw myself and everybody else kick the can down the road, try to cheat, try to figure out a way to get this stuff, okay, I meet the minimum. But we were never meant to be those guys. We were meant to be the scholars, the intelligent guys, the guys that valued the culture and the language. And my only hope now is because GWAT's gone, the guys that remain or the guys that are coming in will breathe life back into that idea that, like, hey, we have to be intelligent. We have to not take anything away from the guys that taught me, the guys that were my mentors, the teams that came before us at the GWAT, not taking anything away from them. But we need to get back that spirit of being masters of our our cultural domains. And I just think that that's that's the truth. That's a the real important thing about a green brain is the it's the brain. Yeah. It's the thinker, the language guy.
SPEAKER_01:For real. And and and there is a place for those guys who just want to shoot guns all day, you know, who just who just want to do tactics and who want to get after it and close with and kill the enemy. Those places absolutely exist in the military, and those places have selections that are waiting for them. Um but I I I completely agree with you. I I you know, especially when you're in a situation where you're where you're with partners, you having built that relationship and that trust is going to be way more important when you say, hey, we need to go to this next objective, we need to take it. That if the odds seem overwhelming or insurmountable, that guy doesn't trust you, he's not going with you. Yeah, he has to trust you. And and and obviously that you know language stuff is only a singular element of it. But um, you know, it's I I can't even speak to how valuable my my language skills have been. Um with within, you know, I I'm I'm at 110, which is in Germany, so you think that, you know, okay, only Russian will be really helpful. But I took German in high school, so just living it has helped me. And then my my third week in SF, we went on a J set to Spain, and I speak Spanish, so I was the Spanish interpreter for the whole thing. And then well when we were in Eastern Europe one time, we ended up sharing a range with the Portuguese, and I speak Portuguese, so I was able to help communicate and facilitate that, and it's like, you know, I I I've I've been able to use every single language I speak operationally in a place where you might think, you know, it might be lingually myopic, but it hasn't been. So you never know what kind of situations you're gonna get yourself into. Uh which is one of the reasons I'm I'm starting um a Mandarin course on SOFS, um, which is an actual.
SPEAKER_03:Get the fuck out of you.
SPEAKER_01:Um that's gonna be my biggest challenge yet. But like I I wanna I want to know, I want to learn because if if things end up shaking out that way, I don't know where I'm gonna get sent, you know, what with the way the world is right now. I want to, you know, obviously I don't think I'm necessarily going to be able to uh embed with and blend in in anything approximating Taiwan or mainland China, but Xiongdi, which means brother, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Um just towering over there, or better yet, you just hold them.
SPEAKER_01:100% wear a lot of bronzer. Um make them think I'm one of them. It's a b a big guy, you know. But uh I I don't think that's racism 25 out of the way. No, but um that's that yeah, so uh you know, just because you you can't foresee where conflict is going, you know, why why not try to make yourself as as broadly capable as possible in that domain? Yeah, you know, and obviously there's a there's a lot of people that struggle with language, so it's not to say everyone has to be a language savant or anything. Um, you know, like I I struggle with sniping and recon because uh you know poison ivy finds me everywhere. Um and and some people struggle with language and with people. So it's not to say that you know everybody needs to be an absolute master of everything or you or you're not valuable. But I I wish that writ large there was definitely a bigger emphasis on actually giving a shit about about the cultural domain and and the the interpersonal skills that are requisite to us inspiring confidence and inspiring people to follow us when we when we need them to.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I um I'm blessed. Uh I found a passion for education, a passion for reading and and you know, going back to school. And one of the great things that I get to do um doing social media for the Special Force Foundation is dive into our history. One thing that really sticks out to me as a missed opportunity was looking back at the way that our Green Beret ancestors, predecessors were able to be completely brought into the fold with their Montagnard counterparts and the ceremonies, the the f the bonds that they forged. And yeah, you know, you you you can have your favorite KK Afghan commando, you can have your favorite Afghan soldier, but you by and large, man, like Aside from some of the specialty guys that um we work with. Um you know, like our our our s civilian mind reduction teams, like those guys, like you know. It it still bothers me that we couldn't get all those guys back. Those were different. Like those bonds, I mean, those those guys like remember teammates, team members, you you fell in on the same teams. But the regular conventional Afghan counterparts, you didn't have that. You didn't have that cultural experience of like really truly blending in and bonding with them. And I realized that's something that um like we we have to take with us and and really try to hone like and teach that. Teach that lesson of like you are supposed to be a force multiplier, you're supposed to be the guys that are willing to study culture. And just me, like just sitting back and reading all that stuff, and I reflected on my own time, man. Like, how many times do I really like study the cultural implications of where I was going, what I was gonna be, who I was gonna be interacting, and I'm like, fuck, like we really lost that. We really lost that that idea that we had to understand the world is advanced. I mean, and every group's different. Like, you're not gonna be sitting at in a remote lodge, you know, experiencing a true cultural experience, you know, in tenth group, maybe. Like maybe that will that won't be your thing. But I would say maybe in seventh group, yeah. Maybe for sure. Um and I and I I wish that uh like we had a studies group or a studies and observation office within every group that really like sat down and like gave you like I remember the last time I sat down and really was getting ready to like deploy and study. Like I finally started cracking into Guatemala and looking at the implications of the American face in Guatemala. I'm like, fuck. If I would have done this for every one of my adjacents, I could have known so much more about my the people and studying, man. I think that's something that's lost. Like we don't make enough time with it. I think we we've oversold the idea that the the you know the heavy amount of admin shit a guy on a team has to do. Like, and it's probably still the same. Like I don't want I don't want my guys having to have a Microsoft Teams account.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. But I I was gonna say exactly that. You know, part part of me uh has to be empathetic to how much and there's there's no other term I can think to use, how much shit gets put on our plate. Just the the amount of hats that your average Greenberry wears, it's unbelievable. And I I don't think there's uh a soldier in any army or or sailor or marine or airman anywhere that has this level of administrative staff um logistical functions for every single one of the jobs. It is it is unbelievable in how many directions we all get pulled, how many training cycles there are, uh, you know, and so there there does have to be some empathy and understanding um within that. But then again, that's that's a top-down problem. You know, how do we how do we fix that? You know, how how do our leaders shield us from that? Um and I'm I'm starting to see that in in conversations um now. Like my current commander and serve major are the two best leaders I have ever worked for. They're just you know, usually you get a really good one or a good one or the other. And the fact that I have both of them right now simultaneously is just like it it boggles my mind that I have them. Um and they're those kinds of people, you know. How can we free the guys up to to better themselves? How can we free them up just to get uh uh some kind of um mental relinquishment from you know the pressing duties of the job? And they're just awesome like that. And they're they're they're really the two of them that I've I've seen that are pressing that narrative, but it's not uh again, it's not a conversation that's happening at least from from what I'm hearing, uh, across the force. And I it seems like all my buddies in other groups are suffering um from a lot of these same maladies that that we are here are, and you know it's each each generation has their time and nothing's ever gonna be perfect. And we still do have an awesome job and an awesome, excellent life. So I don't want to make it sound like you know it's all complaints like that. It's easy. It's not all dooming. Yeah, it's it's and it is easy to fall in that trap. And and I do believe that no matter what happens and what wherever the next conflict is, we're gonna be able to pull it off. I think there's going to be a lot more growing pains, and by pains I mean losses in the regiment. Um that I think could be I don't want to say easily, but simply and strategically avoided. Uh were we to shift our focus on other things that I believe matter, but uh again, I'm not I'm not very high in the totem pole or anything, and I'm just one person. Um but I I do believe that there will be a a mini reckoning when once we enter into the next conflict, but that no matter what, we're the kind of people that pull it off. Uh because we always have, and you know, may maybe hubristically, I think we always will.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I think so. I think I don't think we're gonna, you know, I I've been diving into you know, looking at companies like Endoril and everything they're coming up with, like the uh their new helmet, which was hey, look, if you like Call of Duty, it would be great for a video game. But uh I want to get your take on that. The uh massive heads-up display, all these tensor pods. I'm like that's just that type of innovation. And we've been seeing it for I mean, I remember the the future soldier concept, the the massive VR goggles, the motorcycle helmet. And that's that looks really cool when you're a kid and you want to enlist, and then you deploy, and then you realize that the more shit that's on your face, the less the less you're able to fucking if you focus on anything else.
SPEAKER_01:You're like, I've got to be the only one in this formation who's such a pussy that my neck hurts this bad. There's no way everyone else has got to be handling this way better than I am. And then you take a knee, and you you can find that one bro, you're like, dude, my neck hurts so bad. He's like, Oh my god, bro. I thought I was the only one. You're like, oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I remember the I remember the first time somebody gave me a counterweight.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I didn't think there's no I didn't know this kind of women are like, oh, when I get home and take off my bra, I feel no, when I get a counterweight, that's when I feel good, lady. But um, and I I uh I'm I'm too much of a relic already, even at my young age. I I very much fear AI. I don't like where it's heading, I don't like the autonomous stuff, I don't like the heads-up displays. I just want people to shoot at each other the old-fashioned way. But I know the same thing. But I know, you know, I know that that's I'll have to accept it. I hope that you know somebody in invents and widely implements the truck-mounted EMP before we get in the next conflict, because drones are absolutely terrifying. And uh I even see you know, I'll be on like the beach or something on vacation, and and I'll see, you know, a little one of the hobby drones. And I haven't even seen combat, dude. I'm you know, I'm there's no anything tough that I've seen, but even from the training, I'm like, oh, you know, what the hell is that? Like the noise just you know freaks you out, knowing uh I can't even imagine what those guys who've been on the front line deal with, you know. But um my my commander he he put it really succinctly, he said, you know, this is our generation's ID, and it's just gonna be something that we have to learn how to overcome. And and I do believe that's true. So with you know, with the AI and the drones and all this tech that's coming out, it terrifies the living hell out of me. Absolutely, and and it changes the um much in the same way that people thought guns change the honorability of war. You know, it's oh you stand at a distance, that's cowardly. That's rubbish. And and then when you do at a distance, stand in a formation and don't move. Because if you do, you're a coward and a scoundrel. But uh in a so this this again is just one of those other evolutions where it feels like the the killing of man becomes less and less personal and more and more um technologized and more um uh I don't even know how to how to adequately describe it, maybe virtualized, so that it doesn't even feel like it's you know you're not you're not facing a person, you're facing some subhuman character on the other end of uh uh a heads-up display. And and what what are gonna be the psychological implications of that? There's no guessing right now. Um but it's uh so in summary, I do find it all absolutely terrifying. And um I I do think that it's going to be um psychological unprecedented in how our warfighter has to wrestle with it. Not not to mention the amount of information that your average person on a battlefield has to process now. I mean, you know, think if you add those goggles and everyone is connected to it, now you you have access to everything. You have access to more information moment to moment than one of Alexander's generals did on a campaign.
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SPEAKER_01:You know, it's uh and and uh to think that it's the it's the same brain that was able to do that, that's processing this and a comp I mean that that is an incredible feat, but it's um you know there it will get to a point in where the tech the technology is so exponentially capable that there would have to be some sort of cybernetic integration. You'd say, I mean, you'd think that's a logical evolution of it. And uh being that I am a dirty traditionalist, I do fear the um what do they call it, transhumanism or you know, because I I like being a human being and I and I think it's something absolutely lovely, and um it it uh you know we we live in that generation where it's gonna be you're gonna start seeing people with cybernetic organs and you're gonna see people with brain chips. You know, it's it's already happening.
SPEAKER_03:Um I just picked up the new meta glasses and um I am yeah, it's yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean if it's crazy. If you think about uh the cell phone is almost at this point a cybernetic extension of your mind. Um and that's a I get made fun of by my buddies a lot for it, but I refuse to use AI, like I won't use Grok, I won't use Chat GPT. Well, why? I'm like, well, you know, I've already given them a lot of my data, um, with my ad ID and you know metadata, and you know, and I do that knowing the the bet I'm making, but I don't want to interact with that. That's you know, and there's just something off about it, and I probably sound like a wacko, but I uh at the same time, you know, just I'll be one of those old crotchety guys. It's like you know, using slurs against machines. What's the slur? They said clankers or something like that.
SPEAKER_02:You turn any clankers.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I'll be that guy on my porch with a shotgun someday.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna have to edit this. You can't say that.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. I'm not racially prejudiced, but I'm mechanically prejudiced for sure. Get out of here. You know. In 10 years, I've got canceled for saying that, but whatever.
SPEAKER_03:We found this old obscure podcast. You said clan security ball or something. You said clankers on it. You want to take a moment to comment on that? Nope.
SPEAKER_00:MS MBC.
SPEAKER_03:You're running for office now. Yeah, exactly. Mr. 18 good guys.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, then there's gonna be a whole party of supporters.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Get him out of here. I know he was prejudiced against robots when I had him on. He said clankers 15 times. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What's the clanker count on this guy?
SPEAKER_03:Unbelievable. Yeah, dude, as we wrap this up, man, I do want to get your insights on something that um came across, I forget where I saw it. There were um we're talking about military influencers and the utilization of influencers for recruitment, which is still a murky, murky situation. You're seeing I won't name them because I think I think by and large, the individuals that are out there nothing I'm not saying this personally. I just think that they're I wouldn't pick these individuals that represent the military. I think that's it it would be more beneficial. I've I've seen private or individuals that aren't brought into the that are the I follow this um this individual as a tanker. And um the way he discusses and talks about his job, it's all professional, but you can see the authentic passion behind his profession. And I'm like, that that's the fucking guy you want as the army influencer. That's the guy you want trying to recruit people. And uh it just blew me away. I'm like, that right there, I wish the army would see that guy. Because when I compare the content to the individuals that have the ominous, the ominous that are verified, I'm like, I wouldn't want you in front of my private talking. Like I I would immediately be like, no, absolutely not. Like, get out of here. Again, not trying to make a personal jab. I'm just saying when you look at the content, when you look at the person talking, it's like, okay, that's not authentic. But by and large, when I see your stuff and other individuals like the individual who had runs that tank page, I'm like, this is what I'd rather have my guys or a young potential soldier seeing and engaging with. Um if you ever had the opportunity, if the program, the right program existed and somebody within Soft, because that's one thing like we don't have a voice. I think there are pages for other MOSs for other services. The National Guard has a guy, uh, PFC Kearns. Yeah, again, not the greatest, but he's doing a hell of a job. If you were ever given the opportunity with the right team, with the right authorities, do you ever see yourself being willing to say, you know what? I'm gonna create content and I'm gonna speak specifically to the the guy that wants to go to the Q course.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I I've actually I've had this conversation a number of times with my dad. Um because he he he keeps encouraging me to do that. And we actually we talk a lot about Nick Lavery, because he he's the one I see as like that does a fantastic job of that. Yeah. Putting out an authentic message while not sterilizing it. Yep. Um, which I think is really easy to do um within the confines of Department of War directives. And uh and I guess this is the first time I've I've ever said this. I probably should have said it you know years ago, but my views are obviously all my own, not not endorsed by the Department of War. He's not even in the military. You know, I I'm a I'm a big advocate for like hand tattoos and you know, not not conforming to uh grooming regulations, you know, g given certain contexts. Um so and I know that's obviously not sanctioned and not uh not okay with uh with with the leadership, and and you know, I don't claim to to think that it's necessarily the right answer, just my my preferences. But within that, I think that um I don't think that what what I say really aligns with a lot of what the Department of War really wants in a, I guess, an exemplary role model. Um and I I would feel in some way that my what I would like to put out um because I do try to reach more than than just the military. I don't want to ever, you know, I don't ever want people to think that oh you know I'm that what I say is valuable because I'm a soft dude. Obviously, you know, it gets your foot in the door with grabbing people's attention, but I I hope that uh any value I can provide um to people just is able to stand on its own without the title, without the accolade. Um so I I I don't foresee it. Um I I've been thinking about this a lot lately, kind of at uh a point in my career where I I I could start the process of getting out and you know maybe trying to do this full time, or I I could you know go down some uh some other rabbit holes. Uh but um you know I've been planning to release a book um with the next couple of years. Um I I've self-published um a number of them. This one I actually I I would like to um because I'm a dirty capitalist, I would like to actually you know make some money off this one and hopefully. Absolutely. But um I I've been leaning more and more towards using uh a pen name for this one as opposed to releasing it under my actual name, which my other books are, but yeah, I don't have them connected or affiliated in any way, shape, or form. Um kind of keep that delineation. But uh I I so the long and long of it is that no, I don't see myself um even if approached, accepting any um formal sanctioning or endorsement by the Army or Department of War. Um I also just don't think I'm good enough of an example for it. You know, I'm not some fitness god, I'm not some you know, I I I probably have some some things that are out of rigs about me. So it's uh I I don't think that I'm necessarily the uh the spick and span sterling example they're looking for. Uh and and that that's totally okay with me. You know, I I don't necessarily want to be that. Of course, selfishly, I would like to um, you know, in increase the size of the platform and reach more people. Um and again, being a selfish capitalist, I would like to make this an avenue for myself to make money someday, but I I wouldn't feel right um utilizing the uniform as a specific means to get that. And I I wouldn't feel like I uh necessarily reach the benchmark standard for what they're looking for, for someone to be able to do that. And if my stuff does inspire people in some way to join and and contribute, that's excellent. I love that. I think it's great. Obviously, I'm biased, I think it's a good thing. But if, you know, whatever it inspires you to chase, that's that's really what I care about, is that you're bettering yourself in in some way, not just a specific myopic way. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You gotta stop saying things that just make you that much more of a cooler dude, man. It was all rehearsed. We talked about it before we started.
SPEAKER_01:Even had me rehearsal.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah man, it's um you know, for a lot of us, myself included, this much clarity and ability to be authentic didn't come until I was fucking damn near late thirties. Um everybody has their own path, but being able to sit here, talk and engage with you now a second time, uh it gives me profound hope that more and more young men finding themselves in the military, especially especially within soft, um, will be able to have that clarity, to be able to focus more on their own development rather than going out to war. Yeah. Because I do feel uh well, it makes you a better human being uh to to you know go experience that in some ways. In many ways, it kind of stunts us.
SPEAKER_01:Um I I feel short in many ways. You know, I joined PGUT in 2013, and because of my own shortcomings, because I got fat, I was undeployable at my old unit, and and though I volunteered for myriad missions to Middle East and Africa, they just wouldn't send me because I was flagged. And so, and and then you know I got to SF. And while I'm in the Q course, Afghanistan falls. Okay, well, there goes that, and then I'm in the Q course later on, and Russia invades, and I'm like, okay, well, I guess I'm going to that. Maybe, and then you know, I'm on Microsoft Teams eight hours a day. And so in some ways, you're like, man, I I really want to test myself, you know, who am I? Always. I think I'm the guy that can do that, that can be that guy. And then I'm like, man, I didn't get I didn't get all these cool trainings that I want. Because I still even you know, possibly juxtaposing what I said earlier, I still do think Spartic's cool, and I still do think breaching's cool, and I still do want to do free fall. So call me a hypocrite, but you know, uh all those things are still cool. But then I think about where I'm at in my life. I'm 31 years old, I don't have severe bass blast exposure, I don't have any uh post-traumatic stress disorder, you know, I I haven't been through uh a lot of these hyper-traumatic things, I haven't seen my friends die. You know, I I so in some ways not going to war has been an immense blessing. Um, you know, and and so you know, they say you know, grass is greener where you water it, and if if you choose to just look at the grass that you never got to step on, you're not gonna worry about watering your own grass and you're not gonna be thankful for the grass you're standing on. So even though, you know, if if I never get to see it, there will absolutely be a part of me that dies wondering who I would have been then, and there will be a part of me that will be thankful for having been spared from the horrors of it. So I I I think people have to to be careful what they wish for, and then understand that when they get what they wish for, that you know, try to look at it with a retrospective, oh I did ask for this. Um and not not to, you know, devalue anyone or you know, say that they're horrible experiences or what they the burdens they bear afterward are, you know, you've looked at it coming or anything like that. But but to to know that there are things to appreciate on on both ends of the spectrum.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely, man. You can just at the end be grateful for the life you have. Exactly. Be grateful for where you wake up and you get a chance to experience 100%. Um, you know, some of the the greatest individuals that taught me the most. Um I won't say his name. I don't think he likes being out in the public, but one specific instructor at the War and Officer course, he didn't have this great um background in combat. But man, I walked out of that course, not only a better human being for having stolen some wise words and some great experience, but for understanding that, like, dude, the greatest gift that you can give to anybody as a service member is just figuring out how to be a person of excellence. Like, and that man mastered it. Like, I I learned so much in that first few months because that was his primary block of instruction. But uh, you don't have to have combat experience to be a great soldier or be a great influence on somebody's life. Like, understand that like you can be an amazing teacher, an amazing warrior, uh, having practiced and honing yourself for that fight, even if it doesn't come. 100%. Um, is the reality of it, man.
SPEAKER_01:Um and that that's positionally as well. You know, you can try I I I just went to another selection recently and got eliminated super early on. No feedback, no, you know, um anything. I'm pretty sure I know what went wrong. Um I won't say for who or or what I think went wrong, but what am I gonna do? Am I gonna bitch and complain? Like, no, guys, I swear I'm you know, and am I gonna spend the rest of my life thinking that I'm worthless and not valuable just because I didn't, you know, achieve a certain thing? It's like, no, I I was unbelievably blessed that all of my life circumstance culminated in me being able to lean into my dream, and then I I was able to say I'm the dude that had the balls to try. And you know, winner don't win, you know, you're the man in the arena. And and again, that's not even just for anything within the purview of soft, that's for anything whatsoever, applying to college or applying for a job or asking the prettiest girl out there, you know. It's like if if you are blessed with the opportunity to try and then you harness that opportunity, that says more about you than the outcome of that thing itself. And so I I I think that's that's really and maybe that's the uh the guy who came up short in me trying to make myself feel better about it. No, dude, that's an amazing lesson. I genuinely believe that. And and I I don't think that me uh achieving a certain thing is is what gives me the substance or the value. It's it's me being the guy who's willing to risk failure. Honestly, absolutely do. And and absolutely hold your head high. There's a lot of people that failure is more common than success out there, otherwise success wouldn't be so such a spectacle. And then people that hold their heads high and then re-keep trying, keep trying, they're gonna make it something, you know. So I firmly believe that. So whether it's positional or experiential, you know, you you you can extract joy, positivity, and a uh some sort of um fulfillment uh out of all of it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Damn fucking that's a great way to fucking wrap it up right there, man. Um to everybody listening, uh, if you're still in the military, don't pass up an opportunity to go test election or a school. Be willing to put everything on the line for a school, for a shot at greatness. Uh you know, don't get wrapped up on that perfect score. I know I had a lot of friends that were like, man, I haven't I haven't failed any school, and I'm but I won't go to that school. I'm like, why won't you go to that school? No fuck, dude. Have you seen the success rate? Fuck. It's always dive school.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you're gonna keep yourself at the threshold of mediocrity because you can't go in a failure, huh?
SPEAKER_03:It's like, yeah, man, I like oxygen and I don't want to come back failing at school. I've got a perfect record right now. And you know what? Like, hey, still had a great career, still did great things, but but I tell you what, there will come a class, there will come a time where something will be so great and and the idea and the allure of it will be so amazing, but there's the the chance and the data that says maybe you won't pass it. And are you gonna be the person that just says, no, maybe it's not meant for me, or are you gonna will are you willing to roll the dice? I hope all of you are willing to roll the dice. Um it'll it'll be it it'll make the greatest stories of success.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Uh we know actually I'll end it on this note. We were talking about sniper school. Uh I am not the world's greatest sniper, and that course challenged me more than any military course ever. Um I didn't think I was gonna pass the entire time it was just a roller coaster. Roller coaster. And but you know what? The greatest course that I ever passed, it was sniper school. Why? Because I pulled it off at the end. And and seeing the celebration of my final shot, not just because of, you know, like I fucking did it, but just seeing how everybody else wanted me to win and the instructors wanted me to win as well, like that showed me the caliber of men that are in special operations. It's not about just getting there, it's about making sure you are trained, you're proficient, and you get that going. Everybody wants you to pass. So if you're willing to understand that, at the very basis that everybody around you wants to see you achieve, even if they're the meanest instructors, even if they're the nastiest and you feel like they have no compassion and no interest in you succeeding, trust me, they want you to succeed. Absolutely. They want you to make it through there. So roll the dice, go. Even if you don't make it, at least you'll have some experience and you'll have a cool story out of there. You can say job back. I can't thank you enough for coming back. Yes, exactly, dude. How many people don't try? When when did it become not cool to fucking try? Fucking losers. All of them. Prove them wrong. Go out there and try it. Go out there, write out the the greatest things you want to accomplish and go do them. Absolutely. Why not? Dude, thank you for being here today and for at least being willing to champion the idea that we should be masters of our profession. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for having me on again. Sorry for get your canceled for the uh for the robot racism.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, and thank you for the awesome fucking swag. I'll be wearing your hat to the gym again. It's uh one of my favorites, classic. Um I just uh I'll be taking some pictures for you, not in a nude way, but uh, you know, put out the that's for that's for the personal account, you know, not not the He sent me a picture of just him with a hat on. Fucking nude.
SPEAKER_01:Just the hat. Exactly. Well, yeah, thank you again for having me on. I've I've had an excellent time, excellent conversation, and pleasure as always.
SPEAKER_03:There, dude, always. Thank you all for tuning in. One more thing, please do me a favor, head on to the episode description, click the links there, support the Special Forces Foundation. Uh, all you have to do is donate some money and support a great mission and a great cause for a great nonprofit. I'm Denny Caballero. This has been Security Out Podcast, and this has been 18 Good Guy. Take care, everybody. We'll see you all next time. Boom.
