#108: Dalton Lauer

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Welcome to another episode of a
come together

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the entire world.
All right, Welcome.

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Here we are, dude.
Welcome, man.

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I'm so happy you're doing this.
So had you already had your

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cheers, but cheers again.
Thank you.

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Cheers to you as well.
I appreciate you having me man,

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I'm super excited.
To be dude, I'm so happy.

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So we met a couple weeks ago, I
guess one time we rolled a

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couple of times.
The jujitsu.

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Yep, you said was doing one of
your first classes.

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That was, yeah.
It's only been a couple classes

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since I've been there.
So.

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But you've wrestled.
I wrestled in high school.

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And then in the military we have
what's called combatives.

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Yeah.
Which is just kind of a overall

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umbrella of all the different
techniques of, you know, you got

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wrestling, jiu jitsu, a little
bit of like MMA fighting in

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there.
Yeah, just like survival.

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Stuff.
Yeah, totally, totally.

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Yeah.
Because I noticed when you were

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rolling that you, you were
awesome, like keeping your

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centre of gravity that you were
using your legs to like, like

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the whole time.
Like you could like, I don't

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know how, I don't know how to, I
barely know how to submit

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people.
And I don't think you did

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either.
Right.

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So like, we were sitting there
just like trying to like not get

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submitted, but without knowing
actually how to submit.

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No idea where you're going next
from.

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Yeah.
Dude, that's how I feel.

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Every time I'm in there.
I'm like, I maybe I can work

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around a little bit, hold
somebody, and from there I'm

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like, I don't know what to do.
Yeah.

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Or I'm getting out of something
and then I get to a point where

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like I don't know where to go
from here.

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Yeah, yeah, that's they don't,
they haven't taught me that at

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least.
And what they basically said was

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we're not going to teach it to
you.

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You're going to learn it as time
goes on.

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And like it's going to become
like mechanics and like you're

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starting on the ground and like,
because most of this muscle

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memory anyway, you're just going
to find yourself in like

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situations that like you'll be
like, oh, right now I'm right

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here.
I could just do this, you know,

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and, and yeah, it happened to me
yesterday.

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Yeah, you kind of learn what
like works for you because it's

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hard.
There's so many ways to skin a

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cat and and the way they teach
it might not be the move that

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works for you.
Yeah.

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So you just kind of roll and
learn.

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And when you get stuck, you just
have to take that and and OK,

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I'll learn for that specific
move.

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Totally, totally.
Yeah.

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And.
What I really like about it is

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the fact that even in those
moments, I'm still getting

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challenged and I'm still having
the opportunity to kind of

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overcome that and learn through
that.

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Totally, totally.
And everyone there is so

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dedicated to helping each other
learn, which is another great

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thing.
It's.

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A great environment, I'll be
honest.

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Awesome.
I don't know how you felt, but

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before I walked in there, I was
like, oh, it's going to be like

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very clicky.
Like people are going to be

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like, you have to kind of earn
your spot.

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Yeah.
And everyone's super welcoming.

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Like everyone's like if you show
up and put out effort, like

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we're going to help you.
And they're not just going to go

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in there and kill you because
they're a black belt.

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They're actually willing to take
it easy.

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Totally, totally, totally.
Yeah.

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That's been great.
Yeah, yeah, I agree.

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It's funny.
I was talking to, I just did a

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podcast actually earlier today
too.

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And one of the things I was
talking to her name was Janet

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about was how outside of the
states, I've noticed that

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everyone is much more willing
just to like talk to like a

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stranger and like everyone's
much more willing to just engage

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with people.
And like, I feel like we don't

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have that so much here.
And that's why that environment

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is so refreshing, you know, and
the Jiu Jitsu martial arts world

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is so far rooted way, way before
American culture that like it

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almost like supersedes a lot of
the, the downsides, I guess, of

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what we would potentially have
as a society.

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You know, it focuses on
leadership, it focuses on

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education, it focuses on manners
and being polite and

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sportsmanship and then also
being incredible or whatever

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you're doing, you know, and
like, I mean, you know, that the

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guys like Chris, I love that
dude.

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You know, Chris is like, dude,
I, I call him, I call him, what

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do you call it?
A cobra?

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Because he's just like, he's
like a snake.

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He just wraps around you and
he'll tell you what he's got to

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do.
He's like, okay, you're about to

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get submitted like this and like
you slowly feel his arm

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tightening.
You're like.

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No.
Dude, literally man.

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But then I was like, would you
do and tell me what I could have

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done to get out of that, right.
And he'll just walk me through.

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He'll OK, you do this to me or
I'll do this again and I'll show

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you slowly and you can tell me
what you got.

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And I was like, dude, that's the
that's awesome, man.

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I love it.
I love it because you really

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can't judge a book by its cover.
Chris does not look like the guy

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who's going to walk in there and
submit anyone, and yet he's

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probably that guy who submit
more than half class.

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Yeah, Yeah, He's a he's a great
dude.

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It's a great, it's a great
environment.

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I have to, I, I love that.
So I signed up.

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I, I was afraid to do it.
I never I was never physically

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confrontational in any kind of
way in my life really.

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I'm a pussy and and not anymore
though, right.

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Well, I still am a little bit.
I don't think that ever.

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Like I don't think that fear
ever goes away, but I think that

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you can kind of build like
around it, like, you know, like

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you could.
I mean, maybe it changes it.

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I don't.
Know what do you think?

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I honestly, I think that maybe
it could go away over time

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because the more you stack up
those wins is what builds that

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confidence where you no longer
feel.

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Yeah, that way, yeah.
And so, yeah, I mean, I, I think

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that going in there and just
repeatedly doing it, you'll

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eventually like gain back
confidence.

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Like people are going to see it
in you.

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And it's when you get those
positive affirmations back,

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yeah, that you're going to be
like, OK, maybe I got something

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going on here.
Yeah, I was talking to my friend

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that got me to start going.
He's a chiropractor there at

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that gym.
His name's Guy and and you were

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talking about how you can even
tell when you just like pat

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someone on the back or like, you
know, give them like dab them up

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and like give them a hug.
You can see how they react to

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someone else touching them, how
comfortable they are with their

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body, you know, and like there's
certain people that kind of like

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shrug away from a physical
confrontation and certain people

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that just kind of stay stoic and
like centered and comfortable.

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And you're like, oh, this is and
and you notice that for sure.

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And like, even if you're, I bet
that if you went around to a jiu

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jitsu class that was all levels
and you just shook everyone's

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hands or like, you know, say
what's going on, you can tell

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just from a handshake, you know,
whether whether or not that

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person's been there for a long
time or like totally, dude,

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totally.
It's all body language.

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I agree.
I agree.

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Yeah.
So cool, dude, tell me, tell me

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a little bit about yourself.
Let's let's dive into let's say.

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So we let's dive a little bit
into who you are, man.

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Yeah.
So I think the meat and potatoes

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exciting part of my life is my
military career, right.

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And so far, so, so far, so far.
And so I'll give you a little

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bit of context.
I was born and raised in

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Pennsylvania.
It's about South Central PA

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little town called Hellum.
It's not far from where the

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Amish are at.
Nice.

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So I grew up there and I have
two brothers who were all one

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year apart from each other.
Three, my oldest brother went to

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the Army, my middle brother went
to the Navy, and I ended up in

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front of the Air Force.
Nice.

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My mom, year 1 by 1, is watching
us just jump out of the nest.

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We're leaving the state, the
country.

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I mean, we're all getting
shipped around and.

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You're the youngest.
I am the youngest, Yeah, I'm the

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baby.
Gotcha.

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How old are your older brothers?
So my oldest brother just turned

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31 and my middle brother's
turning 30 and I am right behind

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him.
Wow, yeah, yeah.

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Crazy.
You guys close growing up?

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Growing up, we, we had a dynamic
growing up where my parents,

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they divorced when I was two
years old.

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My, both my parents very hard
workers growing up.

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I mean, my mom was working like
3 jobs at a time at one point.

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My dad 12 hour shifts, night
night shift, getting forced all

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the time.
He's an electrician.

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So they were both very busy.
And so yeah, we leaned on each

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other a lot as brothers.
We did a lot, but also I feel

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like we did, we're very
different in a lot of ways.

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And so my my oldest brother's
off doing his thing with his

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friends.
My middle brothers, he's more of

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the quiet one and he's very
smart.

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And I was just the young I was
observing and learning and

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watching and following and I
enjoyed hanging out with friends

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as much as possible.
But honestly, I probably

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followed in my oldest brother's
footsteps because he would be

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getting in trouble.
And not that I'm not doing those

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things, but I was learning how
to do it without getting in

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trouble.
That's the youngest child thing.

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That's the youngest.
Child.

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Yeah, exactly.
And they all say that I'm the

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favorite, but, you know, that's
just because I was the smartest

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getting out there.
Yes.

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Totally.
So growing up, it was kind of I

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was like a wild child.
I mean, I got kicked off the bus

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in elementary school twice.
Oh, yeah.

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Just for doing dumb things,
throwing a snowball at the bus

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driver.
Not, not smart.

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That's funny, though.
And then.

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Yeah.
And then growing up high school,

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I decided that I was going to
join the military.

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And it's a unique story of how I
decided to join the military

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because I didn't have those
intentions.

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Both my brothers went off and I
thought I was going to go to

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college.
I was going to get a business

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you.
Didn't want to go with them I.

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Didn't.
Yeah.

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And not that I didn't want to,
it just wasn't really on my

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radar at the time.
He just thought, cool, they're

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doing it and that's it.
Yeah, I thought that.

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I mean, I thought it was great
for them.

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I I think that they were
passionate about going and I

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just had other dreams, which for
me was going to college, getting

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a business degree.
I loved sports.

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I wanted to do something with
the sports industry.

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Sure.
And then?

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You play or like?
So in in high school, I was

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before high school, I thought I
was going to be in the basket

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in, in the NBA, you know, I'm
like 4 foot, you know, at middle

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school thinking I'm going to
make it to the big leagues.

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And my dreams got cut short in
7th grade when I didn't make the

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high school basketball team.
I would yeah.

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In 7th grade, I was, I was so
upset.

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Or I guess it was like the the
middle school basketball team.

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OK at that point.
Yeah.

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And my mom, she must have
already known because she

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already had lined up for me to
go to the wrestling practice

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immediately after.
Oh, nice.

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So I guess she knew her short
son was not making his NBA.

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00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,960
So when I got my dreams got cut
short, we went over to the

228
00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,520
wrestling team.
I said, mom, I'm not a fan of

229
00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,600
the singlets.
I think it's weird.

230
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,240
I want nothing to do with it.
I was upset I was even there

231
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:23,960
because I'm still thinking about
basketball.

232
00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:25,480
And she's like, just give it a
try.

233
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,760
The coach is really nice.
Like, you have some friends that

234
00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:29,000
do it.
And I was like, whatever.

235
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:31,680
I sat there, I watched them.
I left.

236
00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:33,760
She signed me up.
I went back.

237
00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:35,080
I fell in love with it.
Yeah.

238
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,640
Shortly after that, I realized
that I have much more talent

239
00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,200
that can be applied to to this.
You know, I'm short.

240
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,400
I'm stocky, yeah.
I did much better in wrestling,

241
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,360
so that was like my sport from
7th grade all the way through

242
00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,040
high school.
You were stock younger when you

243
00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,360
were younger.
I yeah, I mean, I would.

244
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,160
I was about the same.
Yeah.

245
00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,920
And so I got into wrestling and
then later I got into some

246
00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,360
lacrosse.
Lacrosse was fun, but it wasn't

247
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:02,640
like that.
Yeah, I loved it.

248
00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,680
I I I did it in my junior year.
I wish I would have started

249
00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,880
earlier.
Yeah, but it was a lot of fun.

250
00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:12,440
I just feel like for me, I never
took sports serious enough.

251
00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,600
I was always more interested in
hanging out with friends,

252
00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:17,920
finding a party to go to.
Yeah, sure.

253
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,160
Yeah.
It wasn't really.

254
00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:19,880
I wasn't really.
You were.

255
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,080
Disciplined about it I.
Wasn't disciplined in sports at

256
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,000
all.
But you're being a kid.

257
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:24,480
I was being a kid.
Yeah.

258
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:27,200
That's a good way to look back
on it because looking back, I

259
00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,400
feel like I wish I would have
taken a little more serious.

260
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:30,640
Yeah.
But it's.

261
00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,200
It taught me a lot and it served
me for that period of my life.

262
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,360
Totally, Totally.
So when I joined the military, I

263
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,480
I enjoy the combatives because I
did the wrestling.

264
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,360
Why'd you decide to do military?
Like if you're going to go to

265
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:45,280
college or you're going to
become a businessman.

266
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,320
Right.
So, yeah, my brothers go off and

267
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,160
funny enough, so you have to
take the ASVAB, which is a test

268
00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,080
to get into the military,
similar to like that test to get

269
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:56,080
into college.
Sure.

270
00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,840
My brother, my middle brother
who I said he's really smart.

271
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,600
He scored like an 88, which is
like almost maxed out.

272
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,360
It's very high on ASVAB.
And I thought, and I scored like

273
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,760
a 66.
I'm thinking, OK, that's great.

274
00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:14,160
It is what it is.
And he was trying to get in the

275
00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,520
Air Force before the Navy.
Well, the Air Force recruiter, I

276
00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:19,600
don't know if they hit their
quota, how many people they

277
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,000
enlisted, whatever.
They weren't calling him back.

278
00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,840
And he's somebody who could have
gotten any job in the military

279
00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,600
beat off of his ass back.
They didn't call him back.

280
00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:33,040
Well, next thing I know, he's
often that he decided to go to

281
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,920
the Navy, got a great job there
next year.

282
00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:37,480
What's the what's the test
consist of?

283
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,280
Like the it's, it's like a very
general everything.

284
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,760
It's got like math mechanics.
Oh, God, it's more of a it's

285
00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:47,840
more of an education test.
Yeah, exactly.

286
00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:49,240
It's not physical, not like a.
Physical.

287
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,200
So I can tell you about a
physical test I did have to do

288
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,960
once I decided, yeah, so I'm
working my job and I get a call

289
00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:58,960
and one day it's Air Force
recruiter.

290
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,480
And they're like, hey, we just
wanted to talk to you.

291
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:03,520
We saw your scores.
Would you like to come in?

292
00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,480
And I'm no intentions at this
point, but they kind of sparked

293
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,360
a light inside of me.
And so I'm like, let me just go

294
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:11,680
hear them out, see what they
have to say.

295
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:13,120
Was it because they were
interested in you?

296
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,440
You think it was?
Excited my very smart brother

297
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,040
did not get a call back from the
Air Force that I was like.

298
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,920
You know.
They want me.

299
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,880
So.
So I go and I, I, I hear them

300
00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,200
out and I, they sold me on the
whole special operations.

301
00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:35,200
And that really was a pivotal
moment for me because it gave me

302
00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,760
an option to like, for me, I
love being active.

303
00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,400
There's a reason I wanted to get
into the sports industry and

304
00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,720
that was why.
And so I saw that as like, well,

305
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:47,920
I'm not going to be looking at a
desk job.

306
00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,680
I'm going to get to travel.
I'm going to get a good salary.

307
00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:54,360
Like there's a lot of options.
And my brothers already did it.

308
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,560
They kind of paved that path.
So that opened it up for me.

309
00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,640
What'd your parents say?
My parents were pretty much on

310
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,200
board.
Are they American?

311
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,360
Because yes, both American,
yeah, both born and raised in

312
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,720
Pennsylvania as well.
A lot of my family is from there

313
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,000
and a lot of them haven't
really, nobody's really left the

314
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,240
area too much.
So a lot of my family is still

315
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:16,760
there.
Cool.

316
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,800
And so it wasn't a hard decision
for them to like accept for me

317
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,280
going in the military because
it's already happened with two

318
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:28,800
other of my brothers.
And so I was confident at that

319
00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:30,920
point that like this is what I
wanted to do.

320
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,040
And I I found a job I wanted to
do and it was special

321
00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:39,080
operations, which me being a
young 17 year old.

322
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,240
Who?
Realistically, was not somebody

323
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,920
who was like an overachiever.
I was AC student.

324
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,640
I was not like a impressive
athlete.

325
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,800
I just kind of like.
So what do you think made them

326
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,000
call you?
Oh, I think they just call

327
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:55,600
everybody.
I think it was a recruiting

328
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,320
thing.
I think the last recruiter met

329
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,280
their quota and didn't call my
brother back.

330
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,240
That's it then.
Something as simple as that.

331
00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,160
It's as simple as that, Yeah,
but it changed my life, yeah.

332
00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:06,640
Totally.
Dude, that's crazy.

333
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,080
And really, for the best, I
mean, those seven years in the

334
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,600
military board, some of the best
years of my life.

335
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,320
I mean, I wouldn't trade them
for the world.

336
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,200
Seven years is a long time.
It was how long is the minimum

337
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,080
service that you could do.
The minimum is 4 initially A4

338
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,200
year or a six year.
And so I remember when I was, I

339
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,880
was making that decision and
it's just as simple as circling

340
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,960
four years or circling 6 years
when you're there.

341
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,400
That's it.
And you're 17 years old and you

342
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,440
don't know what's going on in
four years or 6.

343
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,640
Years like I'm fully committed
to this.

344
00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,680
I think it's going to be really
good for me.

345
00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,920
And I'm someone who when I make
a decision, I'm all in and I'll

346
00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,440
figure it out from there.
And I try and put the best foot

347
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,480
forward.
And so I was like 4 years, OK,

348
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:54,400
But six years kind of locks me
in.

349
00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,120
And this is truly what I think
it's going to be for me.

350
00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,960
Why not force myself into that
position where I can't really

351
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:01,840
back out?
Yeah.

352
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,680
So I signed six years.
Wow, dude.

353
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,600
And I committed to that and I
ended up doing one more year

354
00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,000
prior to getting out of the
military, which made it that 7

355
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,320
and so.
But yeah, getting into it, I

356
00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,880
signed up for Special Operations
Combat Controller and what's?

357
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,880
That mean combat controller?
Combat Controller, it's just one

358
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,720
of the career fields within
special operations where they

359
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:32,080
deploy and basically they set up
security for runways.

360
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,280
It's it's very complicated.
They do a lot, but they're,

361
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,800
they're badass dudes.
And I just saw it as like, OK,

362
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,640
this is going to be something
that is going to challenge me.

363
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,600
And I, my mindset as a 17 year
old is so different than where

364
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,360
I'm at now.
And so much of it has changed

365
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,200
from being in the military.
So I was like, OK, I'm going to

366
00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,200
do this.
There's a, there's a, it's

367
00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,120
called a pass test and it's a
minimum requirement you have to

368
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,880
meet to get into that special
operations.

369
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,720
And each special operations
career has different minimum

370
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,359
requirements.
So at this point I was like, I

371
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,599
was saying somebody who wasn't,
I didn't really feel like I had

372
00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:13,440
much identity in high school.
I was always just trying to get

373
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:14,880
along with everybody and do
whatever.

374
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,319
And I was flying onto the radar.
As soon as I decide I'm signed

375
00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:22,520
up for the military, all of a
sudden people are thanking me

376
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,400
for my service and telling me
I'm part of the 1% and

377
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,000
congratulating me and proud of
me.

378
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,120
And I was just like, whoa, like
I kind of like took that as my

379
00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,760
new identity.
Like I was super proud of like

380
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,400
being a part of something.
And so that really encouraged me

381
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,240
even more.
And for somebody who didn't

382
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,040
really take any time outside of
sports to try and better

383
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,480
themselves, like I would show up
to practice what's mandatory and

384
00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,000
that's it.
I wasn't the guy who was coming

385
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,120
back to the weight room
afterwards or going for those

386
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,400
extended runs afterwards just to
like have the edge, you know, I

387
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,240
was just doing the bare minimum.
And so same thing, they gave me

388
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,760
the bare minimum requirements to
get into this.

389
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:10,360
It's like a mile and a half run.
You have a underwater swim, you

390
00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:12,560
have pull ups, push ups, sit
ups, all this stuff and I'm

391
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,960
thinking cake, cake walk, no big
deal.

392
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,280
I'm already special operating in
my mind.

393
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,600
I was so excited and so I did
that.

394
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,440
I I was training to meet the
minimum requirement and looking

395
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,960
back that was my problem.
Sure.

396
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:34,240
And so I go off into the
military, and for me, it was an

397
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,680
experience like no other.
You're just like, yeah, you're

398
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:39,000
getting yelled at by some
people.

399
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,520
Where are you training?
Where'd they send you to for

400
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:41,920
training?
For the Air Force, you go to

401
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,960
Lackland Air Force Base in
Texas.

402
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:44,640
Nice.
Cool.

403
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,560
Yeah, everybody goes there.
And that was fun.

404
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,320
It was your first time in Texas.
Was it like?

405
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,680
I remember leaving.
Philly, Pennsylvania.

406
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:53,640
Right, Pennsylvania.
Yeah.

407
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,840
I mean, I guess we've been to
like Orlando for like Disney

408
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,320
World, but realistically not a
ton of travelling outside the

409
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,920
States, especially older that.
So that was like my first time.

410
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,720
It was my first time flying by
myself as well because I had to

411
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,600
fly to be there.
So a lot of new experiences.

412
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:13,200
So I'm walking into this with
open arms, full of excitement.

413
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,240
And you were excited.
You weren't.

414
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:17,680
Nervous.
You're scary.

415
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,600
I don't remember really being
nervous, I just remember being

416
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,000
excited and looking back I would
be nervous if I had to do it all

417
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,080
over again because I know what
I'm getting into at that time.

418
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,200
You didn't know.
I had the luxury of not knowing

419
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:33,960
what I was really getting into
do.

420
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,680
You think that's our recruit?
They recruit 17 year olds

421
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,120
instead of 22 year olds.
They, from my, from my

422
00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:45,480
understanding, I think they get
that recruiters get more for

423
00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,440
their quota of how many people
they have to enlist if they put

424
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,760
people into special operations.
OK, so because it's much harder

425
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,040
to get people into special
operations, they need to get

426
00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,120
people into that pipeline and
send them at least.

427
00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,800
So I was the oblivious kid who
wanted to be a badass, and I

428
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,080
joined.
And from there, you know, basic

429
00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,280
training was what it was.
I had a great experience.

430
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,080
I got to meet people from all
over the world, from different

431
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,640
experiences.
And all of these guys were

432
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,440
trying to be special operations
as well.

433
00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,120
And so they're all bad asses.
And honestly, that's when I was

434
00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:21,680
like, wow, I'm, I'm much smaller
than the rest of these guys.

435
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:24,320
I'm much younger than the rest
of these guys.

436
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,000
But it was fun and everyone was
encouraging.

437
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,080
Then we get to, so we go through
basic training.

438
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,320
I think it was like 7 1/2 weeks
from there.

439
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,680
Then you go to your, if you're
going to special operations, you

440
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,560
you have to in process there and
then you wait for the class

441
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,960
start date.
And for mine there's a 10 day

442
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,760
selection period within that 10
days.

443
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,840
It is brutal.
What do they, what do they do?

444
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,560
Because they're trying to figure
out who's going to take who for

445
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,960
what operations.
They're trying to get you to

446
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,200
quit the whole time.
They're trying to break you.

447
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,280
Really.
They want you to go home?

448
00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:59,040
This.
Is just the first ten days you

449
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,120
make it through that, you now
have a whole another selection

450
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:04,560
process.
Basically, they're waiting out

451
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,640
people who should have never
been there in that first ten

452
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,160
days.
And then from there it's a

453
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:09,400
really.
So what did they do though?

454
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:10,960
So what was it like that was so
brutal?

455
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,800
Was it just like intensive
exercise or was it

456
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,320
psychological?
Was it everything?

457
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,640
Everything.
When I tell you leading up to

458
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,960
this I would be in my free time,
I'm thinking about, well, if I

459
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,600
can just meet these minimum
requirements, I'll be good.

460
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,280
I'm training for it.
I'm doing my runs in my free

461
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,000
time.
I'm doing my push ups and

462
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,400
flutter kicks like everything's
at leisure.

463
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,680
I think I'm training hard.
You get there, maybe.

464
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:40,920
I think there was a couple of
days till we started.

465
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,640
Within that couple of days
you're hearing from people who

466
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,320
have failed out, people who are
on like a medical hold because

467
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,680
they got injured and they're
waiting for the next class or

468
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,320
till they recover.
And they're telling horror

469
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:52,840
stories.
So you're hearing from people,

470
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,960
they're giving advice, they're
giving horror stories on top of

471
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,800
that.
Like for me, I felt like I was

472
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,320
in a frat house, so I was like,
I'm soaking it all up.

473
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,560
I'm like, I got new friends.
Like this is fun.

474
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,520
Like all of this stuff.
I'm still not really thinking

475
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,480
there's going to be any issue
coming up here.

476
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,720
Yeah, First day starts and it, I
don't remember how early it was,

477
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:19,000
but they start you very early.
From the moment you start,

478
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:24,240
everything is watched.
I mean, if you're, if the

479
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,640
instructor walks in A room, if
their foot even crosses over the

480
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,800
line and the team leader doesn't
call the room to attention for

481
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,760
them, you're on your face,
you're doing push ups, whatever

482
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,560
it's called a smoke show.
They will smoke you, which means

483
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,840
that you're getting like nose to
the ground push ups, sit ups,

484
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,320
whatever intense workout they
want to put you through to make

485
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,960
you quit.
But you start with that, the

486
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,160
pass test.
So the very first thing you do

487
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,720
is that minimum requirements.
So I already put myself on the

488
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,040
radar because when the pull up
section happens, they're always

489
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,560
it's it's it's like a comic game
for these instructors just to

490
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,120
see how they can get people to
quit.

491
00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:07,200
They know people are going to
make it and, and everything is

492
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,720
very uniform.
So when they're like, okay, step

493
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,400
up to the bar for the pull ups,
arms up.

494
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,280
And then they tell you like jump
up.

495
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,920
Well, I'm the shortest guy going
to jump up and I slip off the

496
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:22,880
bar and they're already on top
of me, you know, so get up on

497
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,160
the bar.
For me, that was easy.

498
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,440
I had trained for that.
I knew what to expect.

499
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,680
I blew it out of the water in my
opinion.

500
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,640
And we started with like 22
people.

501
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,400
By the second day we were down
at 8:00.

502
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,000
No way.
So a lot of people didn't even

503
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,360
meet that requirement.
Really the minimum.

504
00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:45,000
Requirement minimums.
Wow, some people failed out

505
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,560
there.
Were they not training for it or

506
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,280
is pressure or?
A little bit of both, I'm sure.

507
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,360
And so this is what the
selection process is for.

508
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,680
And then so as soon as you're
finished with that, they give

509
00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,320
everybody a rucksack like the
big backpack and you have to put

510
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,240
sandbags in it.
You have to weigh, it has to

511
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:06,480
weigh like 40 or 50 lbs around
there and then you get in a

512
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,840
formation and they're taking you
out on a rock run, which is

513
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:11,960
similar.
It's you're not fast-paced

514
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:13,760
walking.
You're you're basically jogging

515
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,440
with this 4050 lbs.
And another thing I never

516
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,000
practiced, I, I didn't see it as
being an issue.

517
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,640
However, I never knew what shin
splints were until that time

518
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,320
because when you're walking with
that weight or going with that

519
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:32,800
weight and they break it down so
if somebody's lagging behind,

520
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,240
they're not able to keep up, you
know, they'll stop the whole

521
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:36,480
group.
And now everyone takes their

522
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:37,960
packs off and holds them in
front of you.

523
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:39,680
Yeah.
And you're just holding it and

524
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,080
holding it.
And they're pretty much staying

525
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:43,680
there until somebody quits.
Yeah.

526
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,920
So you're just dying and trying
to find a way to continue and.

527
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,160
What do you do?
You think of something else.

528
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,880
You just, your mind goes blank.
You focus on anything.

529
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,200
What's like what's?
What do people do?

530
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:59,840
I could tell you what I would do
now, but in the moment I had no.

531
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,640
Nothing in your mind skills.
Of resilience, I don't think I

532
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,320
had any skills that would get me
through that adversity.

533
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:10,240
So it was all that excitement
and everything that I had before

534
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,040
leading into that was like so
eye opening.

535
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,000
And I remember we we one guy
quit, right?

536
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,200
And they're like, all right, he
quit, get in the truck, everyone

537
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,960
keep going.
So they keep going.

538
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,600
And I remember it was to the
point where I was falling back

539
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:26,560
and the rest of the people are
gone.

540
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,760
And then structure makes his way
back to me all casually, and I'm

541
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,000
thinking he's going to RIP in
the middle.

542
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,560
No, he talked to me in a very
soft tone, like a very friendly.

543
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:46,040
Hey, Flower, why are you here?
And like repeating whatever the

544
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,320
guys who, who are in medical
hold are telling me to say, like

545
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:50,520
who?
Yeah, I'll never quit.

546
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,600
Like, you know, like they're
they're telling you just say

547
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,120
whatever to get them off your
back because then they'll move

548
00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:58,440
on to the next person and give
them a hard time.

549
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,120
But I'm alone and it's just me
and the instructor.

550
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,880
And so I'm like, I don't know
what I told him.

551
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,080
He's like, how old are you?
I'm like 18, Sir.

552
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,840
And he's like, you're 18, why
are you here?

553
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,920
Why do you want to be here?
Like, shouldn't you be in

554
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,880
college?
Don't you want to start a

555
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,760
family?
Like literally they just lay out

556
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,400
the experience and they try and
make it very real for you.

557
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,120
And they basically try it.
This is the psychological

558
00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,000
warfare.
They want to see who's going to

559
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,960
quit on themselves and where
you're at mentally.

560
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,360
So at that point, I, whatever I
said got him off my back and

561
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,360
he's like, you better get up
there with the rest of the

562
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,040
crowd.
I'm like, oh, yeah, sorry.

563
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,440
You know, I start jogging.
I'm already dying.

564
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,760
And I remember I got back in the
crowd and I had to really push

565
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,360
it to get back up there.
And I thought to myself, if

566
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,920
there's a corner coming up, if
we go around this corner and it

567
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,440
continues, I'm going to quit.
That's what went through my

568
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,000
mind.
We got around the corner and we

569
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,080
stopped.
Thank God.

570
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,120
In my mind, I was like, holy
crap, dude, this, this worked

571
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:05,800
out.
So I'm, I'm surviving another

572
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:09,480
day.
And it's really that whole

573
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,200
process is like, no sleep,
constant stress, constant

574
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:19,840
physical exertion, exhaustion,
just to, to get you to quit, to

575
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:21,120
see who's really going to make
it.

576
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,440
Yeah, I made it back to my dorm
that night and I remember I

577
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,760
didn't even get my rucksack off.
My uniform is covered in dirt

578
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:35,680
and sweat and I sat down on the
floor and I was just I really

579
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,200
was like, Oh my God, this is it
was the hardest day I've ever

580
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,080
been through in my life.
It.

581
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,560
Was the first day.
It was the first day and we had

582
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,000
nine more.
And.

583
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,480
Half, more than half the people
already quit.

584
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,200
Yeah.
And so that's already in my

585
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:50,760
mind.
Like, there's a way out.

586
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:52,240
Yeah.
And so as soon as that starts

587
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,800
piercing through your mind in
moments of weakness, it just

588
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,240
doesn't stop.
And they feed on it, the

589
00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,240
instructors.
Look for it.

590
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,360
Yeah, they know.
It and they push those buttons

591
00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,800
to see who's really going to
quit.

592
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,240
Because everyone has that.
Everyone has that voice in their

593
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,680
that says it's enough.
You don't really have to do this

594
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,560
or come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

595
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,360
You don't have to.
There's a way out, yeah.

596
00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:14,280
The people that that that
succeed.

597
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,600
I think the difference between
people who succeed and fail or

598
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,560
like you want to do the trick
that you did, which is just one

599
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,240
more checkpoint, you know, get
one more, just one more

600
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:24,360
checkpoint just around the
corner.

601
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,560
And then maybe, OK, I'm not
going to quit just around this

602
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:27,800
corner.
Maybe the next corner I'll quit.

603
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,640
You know, I'm like, you just
push that next step, then you're

604
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,400
ahead of like then how many
other people quit before that

605
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,160
first turn?
You know, after that turn,

606
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,560
they're like, there's more I
quit.

607
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,600
You know, if you could just be
that guy to hang on for one more

608
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,840
day or one more minute, one more
hour, then like you get

609
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,640
anything, it's that's sales,
that's that's business, that's

610
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,920
that's physical, you know
everything.

611
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,120
Yeah, for sure.
Are you familiar with Nick Baer?

612
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:51,840
You know the name.
No, dude, who is he?

613
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,920
He's, he's the guy who's in the
military, started a supplements

614
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,400
company called BPN.
But he has a phrase that's

615
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,080
called go one more.
And that's what he preaches on

616
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,560
whether you're lifting weights,
do one more rap.

617
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:06,440
Yeah, doing going for a run, go
one more mile, one more, just go

618
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:07,440
one more.
Yeah.

619
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,800
And I think that's a great
mentality thing where in that

620
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:13,920
case you go one more and then
from there you go one more and

621
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,560
it's it's bite sized pieces that
will get you.

622
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,000
Totally, because undetermined
period of time or undetermined

623
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,880
goal is almost impossible to
like for someone that's not

624
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,120
mentally a rock.
It's impossible to get there

625
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,880
right like, but if you just say,
if you give yourself little

626
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,560
tangible goals that you can
check off, then it gives you

627
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,880
something to build on.
But if there's no almost like,

628
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,760
you know, you have to, you want
to go for a jog, hit the one

629
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:41,600
mile mark, you know, like that's
pretty good.

630
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,080
You know, I could stop now.
Basically I can go, you know,

631
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,800
like you, you have that like,
OK, that that I I'm done.

632
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:48,880
I did that.
Like check that off the list and

633
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,160
on the next one and like check
that off the list.

634
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:52,960
And like if you just keep on
doing that.

635
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,880
Yeah, totally.
That's wow, dude.

636
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:56,360
And.
Crazy.

637
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:57,120
You made it.
Yeah.

638
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,560
So I'll finish the story.
But to continue on what you just

639
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:05,200
said, I think it's the process
of stacking those small wins

640
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,320
over time that builds that
resilient mind, which is why I

641
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,480
say I'm in a different mindset
now than I was then because I

642
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,320
never went through those
challenging times.

643
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,480
I never was able to callus my
mind and my body to where I had

644
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:22,480
resilient mind.
And so in that moment, I was

645
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,480
sitting there absolutely
defeated.

646
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:29,440
And I think.
I texted my dad or mom and I was

647
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,240
just like, I don't know if I'm
going to make it.

648
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,240
That's what you said.
Like I was, I was already like

649
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,120
kind of quitting in my mind.
And, and so I knew in this

650
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,440
sense, I just had to show up the
next day.

651
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,120
I couldn't quit right now.
And there were people who even

652
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:49,160
that night went to the cadre,
the office of the instructors

653
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:50,800
and said, I'm not coming
tomorrow.

654
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,120
I quit.
So I thought if I just show up

655
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,400
tomorrow, I'll let business
tomorrow handle itself.

656
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,640
Yeah, Yeah.
So tomorrow the next day is the

657
00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:04,040
pool day, which is a huge thing
that gets people out because

658
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,720
when they are trying to make you
drown proof and.

659
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,640
What your pool?
They mean like being in the

660
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:09,720
pool.
Oh, Pool.

661
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,000
Yeah, yeah.
You're in the pool and it's, I

662
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,480
mean, it's a different beast
when you're in the water and

663
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,280
you're panicking and you feel
like you're going to drown.

664
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,760
Yeah.
So the next day we go up, it's

665
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,440
like 3-4 in the morning.
We have to we are meeting with

666
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,200
our team.
We had a good team leader who

667
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,480
was like everybody get together
at this time before actual

668
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,880
Showtime, we're going to review
our rucksacks where make sure

669
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,560
everybody has everything and
make sure we're good to go.

670
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:43,720
And you show up immediately,
you're already your tensity is

671
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,880
at like 10.
You get to the pool.

672
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,320
For me, I thought the pool was
going to be my strong spot.

673
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,080
That's why I practiced a lot.
I felt very comfortable.

674
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:54,920
I held my breath for 4 minutes
at this.

675
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,360
Point really.
Above water, so a different

676
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,560
beast, but I I felt like I
surpassed that minimum

677
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:05,040
requirement where I could do my
underwater swims because you

678
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,520
have to do 25 meters underwater
without coming up without coming

679
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:09,800
up and how and how.
Long.

680
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,200
Does that usually take a minute
or two?

681
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:13,840
Good question.
It's been a minute for me.

682
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,080
Yeah.
And it depends on the person and

683
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,040
their form under the water, how
far they can push themselves.

684
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:20,600
Right.
So I was good with that.

685
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,040
I was good with the swimming.
I I felt comfortable.

686
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,840
What I didn't practice was these
flooded mask flutter kicks,

687
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,400
which is you're, you're on the
edge of a pool.

688
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,400
You're doing flutter kicks like
the workout, except you're

689
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,160
wearing a scuba mask that goes
over your nose and it's full of

690
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:38,800
water.
Oh.

691
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,080
Shit.
So and I practiced it one time.

692
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,160
So you have to breathe through
your mouth.

693
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,000
You have to be able to breathe
through your mouth and and be

694
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,600
comfortable with water getting
getting into your nose.

695
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:52,600
Yeah.
And it was something that I

696
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,320
that's that's what got me.
That's what it was the chink in

697
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,200
my armor where I practice it
once I saw it.

698
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,480
OK, this is going to be the
least of my worries.

699
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,520
And it was what got me.
So we're doing the flutter mass

700
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:10,880
flutter kicks on the edge of the
pool and the instructors are

701
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,880
walking around you're it's a
count off.

702
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:19,400
So it's like 1231123.
Everyone yells 2, you know, but

703
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,560
while you're doing this, if
you're talking, if you're

704
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,840
counting, you're inhaling water,
you're trying to like you're

705
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,400
already exhausted from your
workouts prior.

706
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,520
Their stress is at 10.
The instructors are walking

707
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:35,040
around with the hose full of ice
cold water, and they're spraying

708
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,120
you in the face or spraying you
in the body.

709
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:39,480
So I'm in the middle of doing
this.

710
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:44,040
One guy quits and he, he blows
the air horn, yells poo.

711
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,600
Yeah, I quit, goes out.
We're all suffering at this

712
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,760
point.
So now quitting is already back

713
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,560
on the radar.
Yeah, there's a way out.

714
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,080
Yeah.
Now at this point, I'm chugging

715
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,360
water for what it felt like I
was.

716
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:01,520
I could not figure out how to
breathe through my mouth and not

717
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,600
inhale water through my nose.
So and I'm exhausted.

718
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,040
I'm trying to count doing the
workout and I'm here I'm like

719
00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:11,800
like choking.
Finally I like I'm puking this

720
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,760
water.
I RIP the mask off the

721
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:18,560
instructor I'm singled out at
this point flies over get back

722
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,360
in the like get the water back
in.

723
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,760
So I jump in the pool.
I put the water back in my mask.

724
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,280
I get back on the edge of the
pool trying to do it, trying to

725
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:29,800
do the flutter kicks and I'm
like, I cannot breathe for the

726
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,280
life of me I cannot breathe.
So I RIP the mask off again.

727
00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:36,760
Every time I RIP the mask off,
restart, or anybody messes up,

728
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,600
the whole team restarts.
Shit like oh you just have to

729
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,239
get to 20 count flutter kicks,
but we keep restarting at 5 or

730
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,719
whatever and so at this.
Point.

731
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,280
That's also mentally enormously
heavy, right?

732
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:51,400
You're not just.
Everyone else, yeah.

733
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,280
And so this is one of the things
that somebody told me

734
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,360
afterwards, like, dude, it
doesn't matter because who's

735
00:34:57,360 --> 00:34:58,920
going to make it through?
Who's going to make it through

736
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,040
no matter the adversity.
Yeah, in my mind at the moment,

737
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,080
I had already had quitting, you
know, now in my mind.

738
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,440
And then on top of that, on top
of the suffering, I'm now doing

739
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,600
this to the team and somebody
else might not make it through

740
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,560
because of me.
So by the third time of ripping

741
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:21,200
my mask off and getting the team
restarted, I finally, the

742
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:25,680
instructor was like, you need to
like get get the water back on.

743
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,000
And I, and I stood up.
And at that point, I don't even

744
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,520
remember.
It was just like an unconscious

745
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,520
decision.
I just was, I stood up and I

746
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:33,280
went over.
He's like, are you quitting?

747
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,120
I was like, yeah, He's like,
bring the bring the horn or blow

748
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:38,280
the air horn.
So I blow it.

749
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:39,680
I'm like, Hoya.
I quit.

750
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:40,920
And he's like, I didn't hear
you.

751
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,560
And I was like Hoya.
I quit.

752
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:48,280
I was screaming at my mouth with
so much emotion because for me

753
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,560
it was like, Dang, dude.
Yeah, you didn't want to.

754
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,120
It's too late.
I already said it.

755
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,920
And so it's very emotional, so
upset.

756
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,080
I want to go.
You immediately go back into the

757
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,760
locker room and I wanted to walk
in there.

758
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:01,960
I'm like, I want to punch a
locker.

759
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:06,000
I was so mad at myself.
And then the same instructor who

760
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:11,200
I thought was the devil like 30
minutes ago is in there talking

761
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,640
so nice, so professionally, so
soft to us again.

762
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,800
And he's like, look, this, this
is like, it's a very tough thing

763
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,560
and he's just breaking it down.
He's like, you guys can go on

764
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,880
about your careers and you can
come back and try again and just

765
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,160
giving us more advice.
And I was just, I was like, man,

766
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,480
it's, it's over.
This is, this is it.

767
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,680
So then from there, I had to
decide what I was going to do

768
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,920
because I, I, you have the
option when you're going for

769
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,560
special operations to get out of
the military after.

770
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:42,680
You could have left the the
military.

771
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,320
Completely I could have
separated or I could read class.

772
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,160
And so I just, I, I decided, you
know this, I, I've loved

773
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:54,280
everything up until this point
and I want to continue in the

774
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,320
military.
So like, what are my options?

775
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:58,960
And so from there, you're part
of the group of people who are

776
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,160
like a holdover.
You know the guys who are

777
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:02,720
talking to you before you go
into.

778
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:03,920
Class and.
Tell their.

779
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:05,880
Advice.
And now you're like, I wish you

780
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,080
knew what I went through.
Exactly.

781
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:14,040
So then I got the somebody, you
know there was you get a list of

782
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,640
jobs and a lot of them are they
don't need a lot of people.

783
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,200
So it's hard to get into those
jobs.

784
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,640
It's and other jobs are more
demanding.

785
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,480
The one that stood out to me was
security forces, which was

786
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,160
you're the base police.
But within that is so many

787
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:35,000
opportunities to to try to go
through different courses to get

788
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,600
basically a different job within
that job.

789
00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:40,760
Yeah.
And so I was like, oh, what's a

790
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,240
Phoenix Raven?
What's a canine handler?

791
00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:45,480
Like the people with the dogs
who are dagger?

792
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,840
Like there's these really cool
opportunities within this career

793
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,480
field.
Let me put that on my list.

794
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,240
So I did and I got it.
And that was my journey with

795
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,440
getting into the career that
really fully satisfied me where

796
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:04,720
I was.
I did so much within that topic.

797
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,440
So what did you end up doing
ultimately?

798
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:08,920
What was?
What would you do for?

799
00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:17,040
I had to go through from there
was on the same base.

800
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:20,640
So I really never left Texas for
like the first several months

801
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:23,560
because some people they
graduate boot camp and their

802
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,840
tech school, whatever job
they're going to could be

803
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:27,840
somewhere in a total different
be in Hawaii.

804
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:29,680
It could be in Hawaii it.
Could be in North Carolina it.

805
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,360
Could be in North Carolina.
Exactly right.

806
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:33,520
Mine was still in Texas which is
OK.

807
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:34,200
I'll.
Do you like Texas?

808
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:35,200
Wait.
I love.

809
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:36,160
Texas.
You love Texas?

810
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,360
It's a lot of fun for me coming
from Pennsylvania.

811
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:39,720
Yeah, dude, Texas is a cool
place.

812
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,360
Yeah, I loved it.
It was, I mean, it was a new

813
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:43,320
experience.
Yeah.

814
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:44,960
And I like getting out you.
Have time to get out.

815
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:46,760
You have time to like, do stuff.
Yeah.

816
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,120
So depending on where you're at
in your training, once you get

817
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,640
to like your tech school, they
say you're getting into like the

818
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:58,440
big well, you go to boot camp,
everything's very restricted,

819
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:01,360
very monitored, very watched.
Then you get to tech school, you

820
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,280
know, you're still kind of a
trainee.

821
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,440
They're still kind of tight
about the thing, keep an eye on

822
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:07,920
you, but they relax the
standards.

823
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:09,080
You're a little bit more of an
adult.

824
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:11,880
And then once you graduate that
you go to your job, whatever

825
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:14,720
base you're at, and there you're
like a full blown adult again.

826
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,760
Like, yeah, you're not in
training.

827
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:18,360
So.
But when you're in tech school,

828
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,120
you do you get weekends where if
you have free time and somebody

829
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:23,360
has a car, Yeah.
And.

830
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,560
Then where do you go?
You Austin Like Dallas?

831
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,320
We never traveled that far.
We just mostly stayed in San

832
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:29,680
Antonio.
San Antonio, Nice.

833
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,760
Which I like San Antonio, I like
cool, right?

834
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,080
Yeah, there's you get to go to
the Alamo.

835
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,920
Yeah, that's fun.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

836
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,640
So that was like our area and it
was, it was cool.

837
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:43,600
And I actually had a buddy from
high school who join the

838
00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:47,120
military at a separate time was
going in for security forces.

839
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,720
No way.
And I when I failed out I ended

840
00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:52,160
up in his class.
No way at the same time.

841
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:54,520
It's so funny, dude.
It's such a crazy feeling.

842
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,880
It's such a relief to see
another familiar face, right?

843
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,040
Yeah, and it's a.
Small world, really.

844
00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:00,600
Totally.
And so he had his group of

845
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:03,640
friends and we all kind of
united and and went from there.

846
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,040
And so after tech school, I went
to Hawaii.

847
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:09,280
Oh, he did.
Yeah, it's funny to say, Hawaii,

848
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,880
that was my first base and I
almost traded it.

849
00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:15,240
You don't want to go to Hawaii.
Why not that I didn't want to go

850
00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:17,440
to Hawaii.
I never been there.

851
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:20,800
I come from a small town.
So like I didn't really

852
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,320
visualize what that lifestyle
would look like.

853
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:24,440
Oh man.
And I had.

854
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:27,120
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy you went.

855
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,160
I'm so happy I went.
I had just started kind of

856
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,600
talking to a girl and when I
failed out of special operations

857
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,400
or before that, somewhere around
that time.

858
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,400
And so I was thought, man, well,
if this is ever going to work

859
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,760
out, how am I going to make it
work out in Hawaii?

860
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,320
And there's a lot of people who
like there's a small period of

861
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,320
time where everyone gets their
orders to their base and people

862
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,280
are allowed to trade them.
If I could, if you wanted to go

863
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:52,760
to where I'm at, I wanted to go
where you're at.

864
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,440
You can mutually decide.
Other than that, you can't just

865
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:56,640
say, hey, I don't want to go
here.

866
00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:58,680
You have to find a replacement.
Cool.

867
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:04,040
And so somebody wanted to trade
me for Hawaii, and fortunately

868
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:07,840
nobody had the base I wanted in
Pennsylvania or near

869
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,760
Pennsylvania or I probably would
have traded it.

870
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:12,880
So I decided, you know what, I'm
going to go there.

871
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,040
Dude, I'm still happy you picked
Hawaii over a girl, man.

872
00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:18,600
Oh my God, I think.
I think everybody is considering

873
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,840
it worked out.
I know dude, because when you're

874
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:25,840
when you're that age, especially
that age, you feel like the girl

875
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:29,160
is everything in the universe to
you and you're willing to

876
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:33,640
compromise on certain
experiences for that emotion,

877
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:34,520
right?
Because you're still like

878
00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:38,160
emotionally invested and like
you just like, it just

879
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,840
completely overwhelms you and
like, you don't like, you don't

880
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,080
know to not do that, you know,
but I.

881
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:45,720
Think this is going to be my
whole.

882
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,040
Life.
But if you're talking to you

883
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,200
again, you like, no dude, don't
do that.

884
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:51,040
First stellar when I'm back
there.

885
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,320
So you went to Hawaii, dude.
So it's a long flight.

886
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,640
Oh, such a long flight.
So, I mean, my family, all of

887
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,880
them are in PA, too.
So there was another reason I

888
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,920
was thinking about I should get
closer to home.

889
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,680
Hawaii.
They're sending me so far.

890
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:06,680
Yeah.
But even my family was on board.

891
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,280
They're like, you shouldn't give
up that opportunity.

892
00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,520
Yeah.
So I went and I had a contract

893
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:14,000
for three years in Hawaii.
Wow.

894
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:17,480
So I got to spend three years.
Three years there. 15 years old

895
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,960
spent living in Hawaii.
Man dude met which?

896
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,560
Which island?
Oahu.

897
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,080
Oahu, yeah.
So where Pearl Harbor is at,

898
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:27,200
Yeah, that was the base I was
at.

899
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:31,520
And it gets even crazier because
while I'm there, this is towards

900
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:33,080
kind of the end of my time
there.

901
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:37,640
My brother who's in the Navy,
who's on a submarine doing his

902
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,280
thing, that they bring the
submarine to Hawaii and they

903
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:43,200
pull it out of the water to work
on it.

904
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:45,480
So he's there.
Hanging out with you.

905
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:47,560
For like a year or like almost a
year.

906
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:47,840
Yeah.
Wow.

907
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,080
His own house.
And now we're there.

908
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:51,320
We're living in Hawaii together.
Wow.

909
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,440
That's just so cool, dude.
What's what's What's Hawaii

910
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:57,520
living like?
It's definitely the island life.

911
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:01,400
It's funny because, well, the
military brings people from all

912
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,240
over the world, so you get so
many different perspectives and

913
00:43:04,240 --> 00:43:06,480
ways of life.
And there's people who were

914
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,920
before I was going there, like,
oh man, you're not going to like

915
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:10,520
it.
Like it's just a rock in the

916
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:13,120
middle of the water.
After three years, you're going

917
00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:16,040
to be tired.
You can do it all and this and

918
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,720
that and just a lot of bad
attitudes.

919
00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,320
And now you go there.
And I never got tired of it,

920
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:25,680
even after three years.
I could have lived there longer.

921
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:27,600
I had more things I wanted to
do.

922
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,800
Dude, it's amazing.
You wake up, you see mountains,

923
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:34,440
you see the beach.
It's beautiful weather.

924
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:39,360
I mean, it's like a range of
like 70 to 85�� all year round.

925
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:45,280
Like it's just, it's amazing.
I met my my fiance, no way there

926
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:46,280
really.
We have.

927
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:47,360
Is she in the military?
She was.

928
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:49,800
She was a native.
No, no, she wasn't even.

929
00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:52,240
She wasn't military.
She wasn't there for.

930
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:54,600
No way visiting.
At a mutual wedding.

931
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,120
A mutual friend's wedding.
Wow.

932
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:58,840
Yeah, it's an interesting story.
That's a great.

933
00:43:58,840 --> 00:43:59,880
Yeah, I want to hear.
It I'm there.

934
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:01,840
For.
You know, maybe.

935
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:05,000
We got married in Hawaii.
Yeah, So we're all stationed out

936
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,360
there and I have my close group
of friends, and one of the

937
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:11,200
friends was going to get married
while they were there.

938
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:15,840
So because Hawaii is so
expensive, all of the groom's

939
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:20,840
party was staying at his house
off base and then the whole

940
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:25,760
bridal party and was staying at
my best friend's house on base,

941
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:28,600
which was I could walk there
from my dorm at the time he was

942
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:29,880
married.
So he had a house.

943
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:35,840
I was still in the dorms and so
I'm we're basically there every

944
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:37,640
day.
You know, we're partying.

945
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:41,560
He's like the party house.
And now there's a group of girls

946
00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,320
coming, so why not go over even
more?

947
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:47,880
Yeah, sure.
And I, I'll be honest, I had

948
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,360
already scoped out ahead of
time, like our buddy was showing

949
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:54,080
us some stuff and like, oh man,
she's really cute.

950
00:44:54,760 --> 00:45:01,240
No big deal.
She comes and we both have our

951
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:02,840
different perspectives on the
story.

952
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:10,040
The first night, I never forget
I was coming over there, We were

953
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,400
having a little house party,
like a welcome party kind of

954
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:14,960
thing.
And she didn't stay long.

955
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:17,080
She flew in late.
So she was like in the kitchen

956
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:20,200
filling up her water bottle and
I had a twisted tea in my hand

957
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,920
and we were there partying.
We got to exchange like a couple

958
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:29,720
words and she went up to bed.
The next day I come back and I

959
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:33,840
am at this point in my life, I'm
in a shell like I'm very.

960
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,200
Reserved.
Yeah, I'm reserved.

961
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:39,520
I why is that?
I'm not like.

962
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:42,760
Are you naturally cultural?
I think naturally, I think maybe

963
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:45,320
growing up as a younger sibling
just kind of being like a

964
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:50,160
follower, like I just what's the
word I'm looking for?

965
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:53,600
Inclusive.
Yeah, exactly.

966
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:57,400
Just not antisocial, but
definitely not somebody who goes

967
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:58,720
out of my way to make
conversations.

968
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,160
So for me, you know, I would
honestly enjoy the parties

969
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:03,600
because it would make me more
social.

970
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,800
So that's kind of why I liked
being in The Who Doesn't.

971
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:10,680
Who doesn't love that, exactly?
So the next day I come back and

972
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:12,520
work.
The guys had planned to go

973
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:15,160
golfing on base and I never, I
don't even know if I've ever

974
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:18,040
been golfing, but they're like,
oh, you have to wear a collared

975
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:18,800
shirt.
Yeah, dress code.

976
00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:20,960
There's a dress code.
For the sport.

977
00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:24,480
And I'm not like prepared for
this, so I throw on my best

978
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:28,720
collared shirt and and shorts
and I feel like a nerd.

979
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:30,800
Like I'm like, man, this
doesn't.

980
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:31,880
I don't.
Look.

981
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,680
Comfortable, like all the girls
are off, like they already left

982
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,280
the house because they're off
doing like adventure things.

983
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,120
And I'm coming over to like get
with my buddies and we're going

984
00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:43,520
golfing.
I step in, I open the door.

985
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:47,320
I'm like, hello.
And I'm like yelling something.

986
00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:50,880
And I didn't hear my buddy.
And then all of a sudden I hear

987
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:52,680
a female's voice from the
kitchen.

988
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:57,240
Hello.
And my heart sank and I'm like,

989
00:46:57,240 --> 00:47:01,400
I'm dressed like a nerd.
I just hear yelling like crazy.

990
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:04,320
And I thought to myself, they
didn't see me.

991
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,280
They don't know who it is.
I could turn around and leave

992
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,160
right now and they'll never
know.

993
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:11,040
I'm like, I can't, I can't do
that.

994
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:14,360
So I walked over.
Sure enough, it's my future love

995
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:16,040
of my life sitting there.
Wow.

996
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,000
What's her perspective on the
story?

997
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:22,400
She thinks it's funny, like I, I
was definitely in like a party

998
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,640
phase, you know, like a lot of
our like when we first met, I

999
00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:27,640
was coming over, we were having
a house party.

1000
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:30,640
She thought it was funny.
She she didn't think I was like.

1001
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,520
Viable.
She didn't think it was anything

1002
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,320
with like me, like she thought I
was dressed nice.

1003
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:37,800
I'm like, I thought I was
dressed like a dork.

1004
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:42,600
And so from there, she was there
for about a week and a half and

1005
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:46,520
it was like every single day we
were together for some sort of a

1006
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:51,720
fan, like hanging out.
And she was kind of playing hard

1007
00:47:51,720 --> 00:47:54,720
to get, or at least I couldn't
tell if she was into me or not.

1008
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:56,560
And so we were just like hanging
out, like.

1009
00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:59,040
Dude, how difficult is that man?
It's never easy.

1010
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:01,080
It's.
So difficult, dude.

1011
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:05,000
It's so difficult.
And you and reading the reading

1012
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,600
women is impossible, dude.
I mean, I think so.

1013
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,040
It sure is so hard and for for
her.

1014
00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:12,920
I always joke because I was
like, I know the moment that I

1015
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,840
learned that you were into me
because it was when I was

1016
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:20,000
issuing her a pass to get on the
base and I had to take

1017
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,880
everyone's picture for like the
security of getting on base.

1018
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:29,720
And she came up and like the
counter was so tall and she's 5

1019
00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:32,640
foot one on her license but 5
foot in real life.

1020
00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,720
Sure.
Her little eyes came over the

1021
00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:39,800
counter and she was like, are
you going to the party tonight

1022
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:42,880
at Gabe's?
And I was like, she very excited

1023
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:44,160
to ask me this question.
Yeah.

1024
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:46,720
And that's I was like, Oh, well,
no, I'm going to be here all

1025
00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:50,280
night because I work all, all
shift and but I was like.

1026
00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:53,760
We'll hang out.
Yeah, she wanted to hang out, so

1027
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:54,520
that's kind.
Of what?

1028
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:56,840
That's the best feeling in the
entire world, isn't it?

1029
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:59,160
It really is.
And so we, we went the rest of

1030
00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:03,240
the week hanging out and then it
was a couple months after that,

1031
00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:07,240
I think from May, that was May.
And then in October, we had

1032
00:49:07,240 --> 00:49:10,360
stayed in touch afterwards, like
just kind of communicating.

1033
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:13,880
And I was like, I'm really in
for this girl.

1034
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,720
Let me see where this will go.
So I traveled to, or that's what

1035
00:49:17,720 --> 00:49:20,560
she did.
She was in UCF to work on

1036
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:22,520
getting her master's degree.
She was still getting her

1037
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:25,960
bachelor's at the time, but
aiming to get her master's in

1038
00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:31,200
speech language pathology.
And so went out there and hit it

1039
00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:33,280
off again and everything was
what we thought.

1040
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:35,000
And she tell the story
differently.

1041
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,600
So that's why you're in Florida.
That is why I'm in Florida.

1042
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:41,720
Yeah, exactly.
So that was maybe 3 years into

1043
00:49:41,720 --> 00:49:45,280
my military career.
And then we did it.

1044
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:48,960
We ended up doing about 2 1/2
years of long distance traveling

1045
00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:50,280
back and forth.
What is that like?

1046
00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:52,360
Not easy.
That sucks, right?

1047
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:55,120
Not easy.
But we made it easy because we,

1048
00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:59,720
it was better because she was
focused on her goals and she was

1049
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:01,280
adamant about getting her
masters.

1050
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:05,120
And I was in tune with my career
and building that.

1051
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:09,720
And so fortunately, we weren't
like the couple that like always

1052
00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:13,120
had to be at each other's hip.
And if we weren't, we were like

1053
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:16,520
panicking or, you know, we were
Facetiming every night.

1054
00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:20,960
We, I would help, we'd call
split the tickets to get her to

1055
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:25,000
Hawaii or I'd fly to Florida at
that point.

1056
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:29,000
But again, you get another wish
list towards.

1057
00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:32,960
So each time you're coming up on
the end of your time at a base

1058
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:34,960
and you need to travel to
another one, you have a wish

1059
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,680
list and you hope that they've
review it.

1060
00:50:37,720 --> 00:50:40,840
They say they do review it, but
realistically everyone knows

1061
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:42,000
they just send you wherever they
need.

1062
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:45,120
To OK.
So I I was coming up on the end

1063
00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:47,680
of my time and I'm like, Oh my
God, this is getting serious.

1064
00:50:47,720 --> 00:50:50,800
And I didn't change my wish list
and all I have on my wish list

1065
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:54,640
is South Korea.
With South Korea there.

1066
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:59,000
Because there's a little trick
in the Air Force, in the

1067
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:03,560
military, I guess, where if you
go to specific bases, it's like

1068
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:06,200
a one year tour.
And from there you get a base of

1069
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:09,520
preference.
So you're almost much, much more

1070
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,240
likely to go to where you want
to go.

1071
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:14,600
If you go to that year.
South Korea if you go to Turkey.

1072
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:16,520
Just trying to think warehouse
by.

1073
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:18,160
Place that people don't usually
want to go, yeah.

1074
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:19,680
Exactly.
It's like short tour.

1075
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:21,400
Turkey would include.
Your family.

1076
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:23,880
So it's like, yeah, people don't
necessarily want to.

1077
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:27,800
However, Korea is one of the
places everybody wants to go

1078
00:51:27,800 --> 00:51:31,240
there because it's just like
Party Central.

1079
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:33,880
Oh, is it there for one year?
Most people, they're like, oh,

1080
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:36,600
you went to Korea.
Did you make rank or did you

1081
00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:40,000
lose rank?
Most people, it's like, really,

1082
00:51:40,240 --> 00:51:42,960
you're toeing the line of losing
rank because you could skip a

1083
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:46,880
stone from Osan Air Force Base
and hit the first club,

1084
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,000
restaurant, bar.
Like it's like the entertainment

1085
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,360
district right in front of you.
Wow.

1086
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:55,320
So yeah, what's that?
If you disciplined.

1087
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:57,960
You do.
You do so for me, I found out,

1088
00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:01,320
oh, I need to change my list
because I don't want to go to

1089
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:03,200
Korea.
I want to yeah, I've changed it

1090
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:06,440
up first, but this time it's
much more serious.

1091
00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:10,000
And I was like, let me I know
where what I want to do with my

1092
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,640
career and I can do it at these
specific bases.

1093
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:17,880
And so I put those bases and I'm
out on a mission and I'm over in

1094
00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:21,520
I think Philippines or Thailand
at this point and the.

1095
00:52:21,560 --> 00:52:23,320
Guy being in these places for
the first time.

1096
00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:28,760
It's super.
It's it's it's eye opening it I

1097
00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:30,880
mean, if you.
It's surreal, it almost feels.

1098
00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:34,200
Real to some extent, yeah.
Like the more you do it, the

1099
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:38,400
more like it, it feels like less
surreal and and sure like this

1100
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:42,680
is like an experience.
The the and it depends who you

1101
00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:45,800
go with, because some people,
they want to hit the first bar

1102
00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:47,840
in a new town.
And then there's people who are

1103
00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:51,600
like, man, we're in a new place,
why don't we go hit historic

1104
00:52:51,600 --> 00:52:53,760
landmarks?
We like actually explore the

1105
00:52:53,760 --> 00:52:56,760
area.
So I will say one of my biggest

1106
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:59,960
regrets was not voicing that.
Like I wanted to go do more of

1107
00:52:59,960 --> 00:53:03,200
those landmarks and I would go
out and drink with people and

1108
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:05,080
we'd enjoy the local area that
way.

1109
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:07,160
But that's a really good way to
get to know a place, too.

1110
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:09,240
Like, I like that.
Like when I travel remember.

1111
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:11,000
Next day, but.
If you remember the next day,

1112
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:15,760
sure, but I think that it's I
think like I went to I went to

1113
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:18,600
New Orleans and one of the first
things I did was ask a bunch of

1114
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:22,640
local people and local breweries
or local rump distilleries, like

1115
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:24,800
where do where do like where do
people that live here go?

1116
00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:27,240
And I went to hang out there and
it was like, it was such a

1117
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:30,120
cooler way to get to know the
place than going to the tourist

1118
00:53:30,120 --> 00:53:31,760
spots.
You know, I mean, like you don't

1119
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:33,720
get to new Orlando by going to
Disney World, you know, I mean

1120
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:35,240
exactly.
You do a little bit, but you

1121
00:53:35,240 --> 00:53:38,200
know there's a lot more to it
that like the locals actually

1122
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:40,120
live in.
Yeah, Anywhere I go, I try and

1123
00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:42,360
ask the locals like, hey, like,
what do you recommend?

1124
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:44,600
And a lot of them are like, oh,
go to this restaurant.

1125
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:46,280
Go to this restaurant.
I'm like, no, no, no, I don't

1126
00:53:46,280 --> 00:53:47,480
want to go to another
restaurant.

1127
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:51,280
Tell me like, where are the
spots that like, I can sightsee?

1128
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:53,160
Where can I get a lay of the
land?

1129
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:56,000
And like, like, I'm going to
remember this more than just the

1130
00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:57,640
inside of a restaurant.
Yeah, sure.

1131
00:53:57,840 --> 00:53:59,600
And I want good food.
You know, I want to try the

1132
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:03,560
local food, but I also want to
kind of experience that where

1133
00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:05,160
I'm at.
And I don't think.

1134
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:08,560
Is Thailand awesome?
Thailand was.

1135
00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:12,640
I got my first suit there, so
yeah.

1136
00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:15,160
Everything dirt cheap there,
right?

1137
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:19,280
Everything is very cheap, I
mean, but it comes with there's

1138
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:23,640
very not the best areas.
I can remember the smell that I

1139
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:25,880
would smell walking down the
streets in some areas.

1140
00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:29,080
Even though the military will
put you in a very nice hotel, at

1141
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:30,920
least the Air Force, you know,
they always joke on the Air

1142
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:32,960
Force.
We get put in hotels while other

1143
00:54:32,960 --> 00:54:34,720
people are like in a tent.
Oh yeah, is that a thing?

1144
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:37,600
Between the branches, it's like
the running joke.

1145
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:39,720
So yeah, we're in like a nice
hotel.

1146
00:54:39,720 --> 00:54:44,000
I can see the beach and the
water, but they're it's still

1147
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:49,040
not like the nicest and but
everything's cheap and so you it

1148
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:51,960
is what you make of it.
Whatever your interests are like

1149
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:55,240
you go have fun.
I enjoyed every experience

1150
00:54:55,240 --> 00:54:57,680
travelling and doing and.
You were in a relationship the

1151
00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,680
whole time.
So I'm in a relationship, yeah.

1152
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:03,520
And while I'm there in Thailand,
which is the guy I'm bunking

1153
00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:08,160
with is he's like in charge of
finding out where people are

1154
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:10,480
going next.
And he's like, oh, I just got

1155
00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:13,000
the list.
Like he's got the inside.

1156
00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:16,000
He's like, I'll tell you where
you're going.

1157
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:19,560
Let's and he's like all excited
and I'm kind of nervous because

1158
00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:23,440
I took Korea off my list to like
I'm like last minute kind of

1159
00:55:23,440 --> 00:55:24,600
thing.
I revamped my list.

1160
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:29,320
He's like, all right, oh man,
you're so lucky you're going to

1161
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:30,360
Korea, dude.
I.

1162
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:36,680
Was like how do I explain this
now to my girlfriend?

1163
00:55:36,680 --> 00:55:41,360
Like, now I have to go to Korea
for one year and you can't you

1164
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:46,200
get 1 one time where you can
trap, like, leave, go on your

1165
00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:47,560
vacation from there.
Yeah.

1166
00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:51,840
So I had to try and space it out
to where I would still get to,

1167
00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:55,360
like, see her.
So I thought, this is the end of

1168
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,520
my relationship.
She's going to call it off as

1169
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:59,160
soon as I tell her we're going
to Korea.

1170
00:55:59,240 --> 00:56:01,600
And I told her, and she was
like, well, we'll make it work.

1171
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:03,880
That she said.
She's like, we'll make it work.

1172
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:07,120
And I was like, all right.
Then if you're on, what was

1173
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:07,760
your?
What was your?

1174
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:12,320
What was your response?
Would you, would you feel?

1175
00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:13,280
Would you think?
Would you said that?

1176
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:18,280
I was just so grateful, yeah, I
was super grateful that she we

1177
00:56:18,280 --> 00:56:19,920
didn't really have to work
through that.

1178
00:56:20,200 --> 00:56:23,640
It was just like, okay, that's
where the military was going to

1179
00:56:23,760 --> 00:56:27,280
go actually.
Getting to like actually hang

1180
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:29,280
out with her and spend time with
her on a consistent basis

1181
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:31,200
because like it's a totally
different, like it's totally

1182
00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:33,960
different relationship, right?
Like one relationship is like a

1183
00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:36,240
long distance relationship where
you're on the phone and you're

1184
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:38,080
texting and you're calling and
you're Facetiming.

1185
00:56:38,560 --> 00:56:40,840
There's another experience where
like you're in each other's

1186
00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:45,000
space, you know, like for days
or weeks or months on end.

1187
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,720
And like, that's a totally
different aspect to like being

1188
00:56:47,720 --> 00:56:49,680
with someone, you know, is that
was that different?

1189
00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:52,360
It was a learning curve for us
when we moved in together.

1190
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:55,440
Because of that.
Because we've had such and it's

1191
00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:59,680
like one of those things where
we had to, we had to learn each

1192
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:03,520
other's habits and what we like,
liked as we live together.

1193
00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:06,880
I think most relationships go
through that and when you when

1194
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:08,520
you move in together for the
first time.

1195
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:13,720
But for us, we had already had
like a 3 1/2 year relationship

1196
00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:18,880
before we moved in together, or
I forget how long it was.

1197
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:21,280
Time flies.
But yeah.

1198
00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:25,520
So she said we were going to go
on, we were going to do our

1199
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:27,880
thing.
And then it was South Korea.

1200
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:31,520
I went to South Korea.
South Korea was a very unique

1201
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:35,560
experience because I was part
of, instead of doing security on

1202
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:39,640
base, I was part of a small team
that pulled security off base.

1203
00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:43,640
So because that entertainment
district gets just wild and

1204
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:46,840
people lose rank, like the
military just Wilds out.

1205
00:57:47,120 --> 00:57:50,400
We have the army come down from
their base on weekends and it

1206
00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:53,040
gets so tense.
You can feel like the tension in

1207
00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:54,440
the air.
Tense between who?

1208
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:56,160
Between.
Like they want to get, they get

1209
00:57:56,160 --> 00:57:59,400
drunk, people want to.
Fight always with locals or with

1210
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:01,560
each other.
Mostly with each other.

1211
00:58:02,320 --> 00:58:05,160
It's pretty bad to get in fights
with locals because that's like

1212
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:07,480
an international incident way to
happen.

1213
00:58:07,560 --> 00:58:09,440
Yeah.
And so we're there to make sure

1214
00:58:09,440 --> 00:58:11,280
that doesn't happen because the
military.

1215
00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:13,880
So you guys are like policing
themselves?

1216
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:17,160
We're like, we're like policing
the military off base.

1217
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:20,480
And so like, you can't have an
open container walking around

1218
00:58:20,480 --> 00:58:22,960
with the bottle.
So like, you got to stop that.

1219
00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:25,880
And fights break out at clubs
all the time.

1220
00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:27,760
We're like breaking out fights.
Legit fights.

1221
00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:30,760
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, it was one of
the IT was.

1222
00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:33,800
It was honestly one of my
favorite jobs because it wasn't

1223
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:37,720
all the time.
We're constantly you'd be in a

1224
00:58:37,720 --> 00:58:44,080
club and you would just military
members love to wild out.

1225
00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:46,400
They work hard and they party
harder.

1226
00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:51,000
So we'd be standing outside of a
club and next thing you know, we

1227
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:53,600
see this, this, this argument
starting and we're like, it's

1228
00:58:53,600 --> 00:58:56,600
about to happen and boom, one
guy gets sucked and then all the

1229
00:58:56,760 --> 00:58:59,000
friends come in.
Then you have 18 people and

1230
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:02,280
we're like calling for backup
and trying to pull people off

1231
00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:03,600
each other.
But you're and you're all

1232
00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:04,640
Americans.
And it was.

1233
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:07,320
We're all Americans, yeah.
And and we're just trying to

1234
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:09,040
like.
There's no sense of like karate

1235
00:59:09,040 --> 00:59:11,200
when you're in South Korea and
you see another American that

1236
00:59:11,200 --> 00:59:13,960
you're like, yo, what's up?
As opposed to like, yo, what are

1237
00:59:13,960 --> 00:59:17,680
you up to?
You know, like, I mean in that

1238
00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:21,520
area specifically it was like
all military people and then the

1239
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:23,440
local so like it.
Was in a little like military

1240
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:25,840
city.
Kind of kind of they're very

1241
00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:29,600
heavy on the military there.
And so, yeah, it was a lot of

1242
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:32,120
action.
And then even to that year go by

1243
00:59:32,120 --> 00:59:38,760
quickly, very quickly actually.
Like nowadays I feel like my

1244
00:59:38,760 --> 00:59:41,640
life sometimes goes by faster
than there because just like

1245
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:46,760
every day I was like doing so
much and within that one year

1246
00:59:46,840 --> 00:59:48,920
there was like more
opportunities and different

1247
00:59:48,920 --> 00:59:52,120
things and, and a lot of things
keeping me busy, a lot of new

1248
00:59:52,120 --> 00:59:56,480
things that I got to do as well.
One of the craziest experience

1249
00:59:56,480 --> 01:00:00,080
that I had in Korea was working
that job.

1250
01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:06,440
And we have basically our area
of operation outside where we

1251
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:11,520
kind of stay within and manage.
And there's the maybe 12 of us.

1252
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:14,800
We're split into teams of 2.
So we kind of split off and like

1253
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:17,640
monitor different sections and
you work night shift.

1254
01:00:17,720 --> 01:00:22,000
And then at the end, let's say
12 O clock, one O clock.

1255
01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:23,280
I can't remember when we
finished.

1256
01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:27,400
We all kind of meet up by the
gate and we're getting, we do

1257
01:00:27,400 --> 01:00:30,240
our last final sweeps.
We come back easy night.

1258
01:00:30,720 --> 01:00:33,600
Well, one night we get a call
from somebody and they're like,

1259
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:37,080
hey, there's somebody who's
suicidal there.

1260
01:00:37,080 --> 01:00:40,000
We have them, we have their
first Sergeant, like who's in

1261
01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:45,560
charge on the phone right now.
And he's he's talking about

1262
01:00:45,560 --> 01:00:48,120
killing himself like he does.
And we've gotten these calls

1263
01:00:48,160 --> 01:00:49,920
often.
A lot of people don't want to be

1264
01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:52,320
in Korea.
They they lose their mind or in

1265
01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:55,240
our minds and a lot of the
team's mind being complacent.

1266
01:00:55,240 --> 01:00:57,400
They were like, it's just
another drunk person spouting

1267
01:00:57,400 --> 01:00:59,040
off how they feel.
They are.

1268
01:00:59,800 --> 01:01:02,760
Well, I said, you know what, let
me, I talked to my partner.

1269
01:01:02,760 --> 01:01:05,080
I was like, since we're all
grouped up here ready to go home

1270
01:01:05,080 --> 01:01:07,720
for the night, how about you and
I, since we don't have a

1271
01:01:07,720 --> 01:01:09,840
confirmed location, we're going
to be out here until this gets

1272
01:01:09,840 --> 01:01:13,000
solved anyway.
Let's work down to the other

1273
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:16,440
side of our operation, area of
operation and just kind of stand

1274
01:01:16,440 --> 01:01:18,720
post there so we cover more
ground quicker in case they do

1275
01:01:18,720 --> 01:01:23,000
give us location.
As I'm walking down, I just

1276
01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,960
happen to look up and, oh,
fourteen stories.

1277
01:01:26,080 --> 01:01:29,200
Don't tell me.
I see a silhouette just up in

1278
01:01:29,200 --> 01:01:32,920
the sky just wave like this,
like standing there on the edge

1279
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:37,640
of the building.
And I was like, I look at my

1280
01:01:37,640 --> 01:01:39,280
buddy, like, dude, we got to get
up there.

1281
01:01:39,840 --> 01:01:42,800
At this point, we'd call it in.
We're running, we're we don't

1282
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:45,760
have the codes to get into this
hotel building to get up to the

1283
01:01:45,760 --> 01:01:47,960
top.
By this time, like 10 other cops

1284
01:01:48,320 --> 01:01:50,960
show up with us.
One guy has the codes.

1285
01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:53,680
We get up and we're like all
game planning.

1286
01:01:53,760 --> 01:01:55,720
What do we even do?
This guy's on the edge of the

1287
01:01:55,720 --> 01:02:00,920
building wants to kill himself.
None of us are negotiators in

1288
01:02:00,920 --> 01:02:03,400
this instance.
Like we don't know how to talk

1289
01:02:03,400 --> 01:02:05,640
somebody off a ledge.
We're not trained for this.

1290
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:08,600
So we're like, do we just try
and grab the guy quick?

1291
01:02:08,600 --> 01:02:11,440
Do we sneak up and grab him?
Do we try and talk to him?

1292
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,720
We're really figuring this out
on the fly in the elevator going

1293
01:02:14,720 --> 01:02:18,280
up and we get out, we get on the
top floor.

1294
01:02:18,280 --> 01:02:21,160
We like got out below and walked
up some floors to be real quiet.

1295
01:02:21,160 --> 01:02:24,800
And we're going out and there's
some bushes between US and this

1296
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:29,040
guy on the on the railing.
And we we're walking up and a

1297
01:02:29,040 --> 01:02:31,680
Bush catches my leg and makes a
noise.

1298
01:02:32,080 --> 01:02:35,680
This guy turns around, sees us.
He's still on the phone with his

1299
01:02:35,680 --> 01:02:38,240
first Sergeant.
And he's like, oh, now the

1300
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:41,240
effing cops are here.
Like what?

1301
01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:44,520
You know, he's flustered.
He climbs over this railing and

1302
01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:47,520
goes further out, like literally
on the edge.

1303
01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:51,040
And at this point, we're like,
whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, Hold

1304
01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:52,480
on.
Like, let's talk about this.

1305
01:02:52,480 --> 01:02:55,160
Yeah, you're not in trouble.
Yeah, We don't want like, we're

1306
01:02:55,160 --> 01:02:56,400
not here.
We're like, if you want us to

1307
01:02:56,400 --> 01:02:58,440
back up, whatever.
Like at this point, it's all off

1308
01:02:58,440 --> 01:03:00,440
the off the cuff George, trying
to figure this out.

1309
01:03:00,480 --> 01:03:04,280
Yeah.
And I had a buddy who was very

1310
01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:08,000
good at handling this situation,
was talking to him and we kind

1311
01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:10,920
of like took the lead.
And as we're talking, we're just

1312
01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:12,440
slowly getting a little bit
closer.

1313
01:03:12,440 --> 01:03:17,120
The guy, I just remember he was
smoking cigarettes and then he,

1314
01:03:17,560 --> 01:03:19,680
he was kind of like relating
with us a little bit.

1315
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:22,200
And we're like, all right, this
guy, we got him to sit down on

1316
01:03:22,200 --> 01:03:24,040
the ledge.
He's having a conversation with

1317
01:03:24,040 --> 01:03:26,040
us.
We're trying to get him back,

1318
01:03:26,360 --> 01:03:29,560
not really biting on it, smokes
his last cigarette.

1319
01:03:30,680 --> 01:03:34,320
And I just, I remember the guy,
he just started looking off the

1320
01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:37,360
edge and he stopped talking to
us and he's just kind of leaning

1321
01:03:37,360 --> 01:03:38,960
at this point.
He's just kind of rocking.

1322
01:03:39,080 --> 01:03:41,960
And at this point he's just
like, we're just like, it's

1323
01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:45,120
happening.
He's about to do it and we had

1324
01:03:45,160 --> 01:03:48,000
sent some guys down below
because it was like a terrace

1325
01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:50,520
where like there was a floor
drop below.

1326
01:03:51,040 --> 01:03:53,240
And so the people out on the
terrace got on each other's

1327
01:03:53,240 --> 01:03:56,760
backs and they're coming up from
behind the guide to where, as we

1328
01:03:56,760 --> 01:04:00,280
have his attention to the left,
we can see the hands come up

1329
01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:01,880
around the guy's hips.
So they catch.

1330
01:04:01,880 --> 01:04:05,080
Him to grab him and pull him
backwards and they were going to

1331
01:04:05,080 --> 01:04:07,040
pull him where he drops the
floor, but we have people to

1332
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:09,480
catch him.
Yeah, well, the guy talking to

1333
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:12,440
him glanced down for a second to
like give him like the heads up

1334
01:04:12,440 --> 01:04:16,560
and he caught on to that and
goes to jump this point, the

1335
01:04:16,560 --> 01:04:21,200
guy's barely got his belt.
I'm on the edge.

1336
01:04:21,200 --> 01:04:24,240
I leap over at this point grab
the guy.

1337
01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:28,280
I I ended up falling off
backwards.

1338
01:04:28,280 --> 01:04:31,840
The ledge, the ledge backwards.
It's 14, four stories on one

1339
01:04:31,840 --> 01:04:35,160
side and I'm looking at it.
I'm looking down and I'm holding

1340
01:04:35,160 --> 01:04:38,040
on to this guy and like through
the struggle, I fall off.

1341
01:04:38,120 --> 01:04:42,200
I hit the floor behind us.
Adrenaline's pumping.

1342
01:04:42,520 --> 01:04:47,520
I get, I'm, I get right back up.
I run up the stairs, back over

1343
01:04:47,520 --> 01:04:50,920
the edge and, and grab this guy.
He's still trying to like get

1344
01:04:50,920 --> 01:04:53,440
off the edge.
And I remember holding on to one

1345
01:04:53,440 --> 01:04:57,760
point and feeling my nails like
starting to separate.

1346
01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:01,520
They were just like, it was, it
was like I'm losing my nails or

1347
01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:05,640
this guy's going off.
At this point, somebody had tied

1348
01:05:05,640 --> 01:05:10,320
together a rope and lassoed it
up and I was able to like throw

1349
01:05:10,320 --> 01:05:13,440
it over this guy's like neck.
Oh my.

1350
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:16,920
And they ripped him back and so
they were with the rope able to,

1351
01:05:17,240 --> 01:05:19,120
we basically got him held in
there.

1352
01:05:19,600 --> 01:05:22,640
They pulled him back and they
caught him down below.

1353
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:26,880
Do you know what happened to?
Him in the end, I don't know.

1354
01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:28,240
They would have for sure.
Was he?

1355
01:05:28,240 --> 01:05:31,400
Crying was he?
Oh, yeah, I mean, he was, he was

1356
01:05:31,400 --> 01:05:33,880
very distraught.
He was just kind of like in his

1357
01:05:33,880 --> 01:05:37,240
own space at that point.
We actually got caught shit from

1358
01:05:37,280 --> 01:05:41,240
the Fire Rescue who was like,
you guys should have never went

1359
01:05:41,240 --> 01:05:42,920
on that edge.
It's a safety thing.

1360
01:05:42,920 --> 01:05:44,160
He could have taken you with
him.

1361
01:05:44,360 --> 01:05:45,800
Yeah.
We were just acting off.

1362
01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:47,120
Yeah.
Yeah, totally, totally.

1363
01:05:47,120 --> 01:05:50,160
You know what to expect.
So holy that was.

1364
01:05:50,440 --> 01:05:52,840
Dude.
A wild experience I'll never

1365
01:05:52,840 --> 01:05:56,880
forget.
You saved his life man, that's

1366
01:05:56,880 --> 01:05:58,640
crazy.
It was, yeah.

1367
01:05:59,840 --> 01:06:02,040
Was there, that was there that
actually I have to pee real

1368
01:06:02,040 --> 01:06:03,760
quickly, then we'll continue one
second.

1369
01:06:04,240 --> 01:06:05,640
The other way you probably,
yeah.

1370
01:06:05,640 --> 01:06:07,000
I would.
I mean, that would have been.

1371
01:06:07,400 --> 01:06:09,320
I would think about it a lot.
Yeah.

1372
01:06:09,600 --> 01:06:14,440
I, I don't know, I feel like in
the moment we just, we did what

1373
01:06:14,440 --> 01:06:19,280
we felt was right and we're very
happy that we were able to save

1374
01:06:19,280 --> 01:06:21,720
the guy in that situation.
And I, I hope the best for him.

1375
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:25,520
I hope, you know, I hope they
got him out of Korea and he

1376
01:06:25,520 --> 01:06:28,360
turned his life around and is in
a much better state now.

1377
01:06:29,680 --> 01:06:33,920
I don't really know.
And it was just back to business

1378
01:06:33,920 --> 01:06:37,280
after that.
And I have, I have some crazy,

1379
01:06:37,520 --> 01:06:40,240
there's so many crazy stories
about Korea in terms of like

1380
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:43,720
massive fights.
We broke up people we had to

1381
01:06:43,720 --> 01:06:46,640
kind of haul back to base on a
stretcher because they were

1382
01:06:48,080 --> 01:06:50,960
completely covered in their own
feces, drunk in a bathroom,

1383
01:06:50,960 --> 01:06:54,000
underage drinking.
I mean, and imagine getting a

1384
01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:57,360
person like that out of a club
that's filled with people who

1385
01:06:57,360 --> 01:07:01,400
want to fight and it's shoulder
to shoulder and this guy's

1386
01:07:01,400 --> 01:07:03,240
covered in, you know.
So you're fighting a lot of

1387
01:07:03,240 --> 01:07:05,240
people that want to fight him.
They want to fight in general.

1388
01:07:05,640 --> 01:07:08,200
In general, there were so many
people that would just get drunk

1389
01:07:08,200 --> 01:07:10,440
and want to fight out there, do
whatever dumb stuff.

1390
01:07:10,440 --> 01:07:12,640
So for us, it felt like an
episode of Cops.

1391
01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:15,160
Yeah, it was exhilarating, you
know, where you just, you got to

1392
01:07:15,720 --> 01:07:19,320
do your own thing.
And most people didn't really

1393
01:07:19,560 --> 01:07:21,720
do, I don't know, like people
didn't mess with us.

1394
01:07:21,720 --> 01:07:24,600
We just kind of like made sure
everything was.

1395
01:07:24,600 --> 01:07:25,880
Following.
Would you, would you get to?

1396
01:07:25,960 --> 01:07:29,240
Would you pick now that you had
their preference?

1397
01:07:29,520 --> 01:07:31,760
After Korea, Where'd you after
all that?

1398
01:07:31,760 --> 01:07:33,280
Yeah, Where'd you end up
deciding?

1399
01:07:33,320 --> 01:07:38,560
So I think I had a list of like
5 bases, maybe 10 bases.

1400
01:07:38,560 --> 01:07:40,840
Would you speak to people about
the bases before you got there?

1401
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:43,880
You ask around, you ask people
their opinion if they've been

1402
01:07:43,880 --> 01:07:47,240
there, what they think.
It's also very dependent on like

1403
01:07:47,920 --> 01:07:52,280
what jobs you can get there.
So I was really chasing after

1404
01:07:52,280 --> 01:07:55,480
ever since I failed out of
special operations, I was really

1405
01:07:55,480 --> 01:07:59,280
chasing after Phoenix Raven, The
Phoenix Raven Schoolhouse, which

1406
01:07:59,280 --> 01:08:04,960
is basically you go through a
selection processes that as

1407
01:08:04,960 --> 01:08:07,480
well.
And if you make it through that,

1408
01:08:07,560 --> 01:08:11,840
then you get a tab.
And what they do is anywhere

1409
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:15,840
that our aircraft goes into like
an austere environment where

1410
01:08:15,840 --> 01:08:20,160
there's like not adequate
security, we're there to secure

1411
01:08:20,160 --> 01:08:22,359
the airfield, the aircraft, the
airfield.

1412
01:08:22,359 --> 01:08:24,200
You're like mobile security.
Exactly.

1413
01:08:24,319 --> 01:08:26,359
We're we're like the mobile
plane security.

1414
01:08:26,439 --> 01:08:30,520
And so the best way I can give
an example of that is the

1415
01:08:30,520 --> 01:08:36,439
Afghanistan evacuation from 2021
where they mandated every flight

1416
01:08:36,439 --> 01:08:39,479
that went in there had to have a
team of Ravens with it.

1417
01:08:40,240 --> 01:08:42,520
So that's another story I can
get into.

1418
01:08:42,520 --> 01:08:45,680
That was the end of my
deployment when that oh really?

1419
01:08:45,760 --> 01:08:47,560
And I was a part of that.
You were part of that.

1420
01:08:47,640 --> 01:08:50,920
Oh yeah, everyday.
I mean, it was that was chaos in

1421
01:08:50,920 --> 01:08:52,600
itself like that was.
A shit show.

1422
01:08:53,359 --> 01:08:56,479
Yeah, that was absolutely a.
Shit show.

1423
01:08:57,240 --> 01:09:00,720
I mean, just to say it in the
nicest terms, I think that would

1424
01:09:00,720 --> 01:09:02,080
be the really the best way to
put it.

1425
01:09:02,439 --> 01:09:07,080
How so?
For my personal experience, I

1426
01:09:07,080 --> 01:09:12,720
was, I was stationed to deployed
to Qatar for six months was my

1427
01:09:12,720 --> 01:09:16,840
rotation and there was about 12
of us there.

1428
01:09:18,800 --> 01:09:23,640
My six months was at an end and
we there was talks about the

1429
01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:26,760
whole Afghanistan evacuation,
like people were going to the

1430
01:09:26,760 --> 01:09:28,800
withdrawal.
It was called the draw down.

1431
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:31,960
Do people in the army hear about
these things before everyone

1432
01:09:31,960 --> 01:09:33,319
else hears about it?
They hear about it at the same

1433
01:09:33,319 --> 01:09:35,920
time as everyone else.
Generally we hear about it

1434
01:09:35,920 --> 01:09:39,319
before, like we're already
planning for a lot of and, and

1435
01:09:39,680 --> 01:09:45,160
well, the talks about it was
that we were going to withdraw

1436
01:09:45,160 --> 01:09:48,240
our troops, we're going to start
to draw down the civilians, were

1437
01:09:48,240 --> 01:09:50,319
going to get their own flights
out, yadda yadda.

1438
01:09:50,800 --> 01:09:54,360
I don't know the specifics
behind it, but all of a sudden

1439
01:09:54,360 --> 01:09:58,800
it was like one, one second, OK,
yeah, it's going to happen, but

1440
01:09:58,800 --> 01:10:00,120
it's not going to affect any of
us.

1441
01:10:00,120 --> 01:10:02,440
Like they're probably just going
to like, handle it flying out on

1442
01:10:02,440 --> 01:10:04,160
civilian aircraft.
They're going to catch a

1443
01:10:04,160 --> 01:10:06,080
Southwest flight home, no big
deal.

1444
01:10:06,960 --> 01:10:11,520
Then I'm a couple days past when
I was supposed to leave already

1445
01:10:11,520 --> 01:10:15,400
to go home and I'm like, hey,
you know, where's my rotation

1446
01:10:15,400 --> 01:10:16,600
at?
Like I'm ready to go.

1447
01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:19,080
Like I've already my family's
waiting on me.

1448
01:10:19,080 --> 01:10:20,160
I.
Got a girlfriend, man.

1449
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:24,520
One morning they call they,
they, I get added to a group

1450
01:10:24,520 --> 01:10:27,320
chat with a couple other guys
and there was only me and one

1451
01:10:27,320 --> 01:10:29,600
other guy who had been there for
six months and they were like,

1452
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:34,440
your flights on this day at the
end of the week, start getting

1453
01:10:34,440 --> 01:10:36,320
your stuff ready to ready to go
home.

1454
01:10:36,400 --> 01:10:39,720
I'm like, absolutely heck yeah,
call my family.

1455
01:10:39,720 --> 01:10:41,640
We're excited.
We're getting, we're making

1456
01:10:41,640 --> 01:10:47,440
plans already for when I'm home
that same day, that evening,

1457
01:10:47,920 --> 01:10:52,480
they call me back out of my room
and they're like, hey, the

1458
01:10:52,480 --> 01:10:55,960
evacuations happening and it's
happening right now.

1459
01:10:56,360 --> 01:11:00,480
Grab your 72 hour bag, which is
just your bag for 72 hours worth

1460
01:11:00,480 --> 01:11:04,200
of supplies that's always ready
and get on the first flight like

1461
01:11:04,200 --> 01:11:05,600
it's happening now.
Oh shit.

1462
01:11:05,960 --> 01:11:09,480
And I'm like, So what does that
mean about me leaving?

1463
01:11:09,480 --> 01:11:12,560
And they're like you're extended
indefinitely.

1464
01:11:12,760 --> 01:11:14,200
That's what they said.
We don't know when you're

1465
01:11:14,200 --> 01:11:16,640
leaving.
So that's the news I got.

1466
01:11:17,560 --> 01:11:20,960
And so at that point, I'm like,
OK, as I'm grabbing my bag and

1467
01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:24,280
getting my stuff ready, I'm now
telling my family I'm I don't

1468
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:26,800
know when I'm coming home and
that this you're.

1469
01:11:26,800 --> 01:11:34,560
Freaking out.
I feel like for me, no, you just

1470
01:11:34,560 --> 01:11:39,520
I was, I felt like I was upset.
I was very distraught about the

1471
01:11:39,520 --> 01:11:42,720
fact that like, OK, now I'm
staying with my family even

1472
01:11:42,720 --> 01:11:44,760
more.
If it wasn't for the fact that

1473
01:11:44,760 --> 01:11:47,440
like, like I was already
supposed to be gone, I would

1474
01:11:47,440 --> 01:11:50,880
have been all on board, ready to
serve and do what I was trained

1475
01:11:50,880 --> 01:11:53,400
to do.
And so I had to let that go and

1476
01:11:53,440 --> 01:11:56,880
and realize I'm not leaving.
This is what I'm here for.

1477
01:11:57,080 --> 01:12:00,040
And I have to finish up.
You know, I got to finish the

1478
01:12:00,040 --> 01:12:04,240
job and this is now the job.
So yeah, get on the first

1479
01:12:04,240 --> 01:12:05,680
flight.
At this point, there's twelve of

1480
01:12:05,680 --> 01:12:09,680
us.
A week later, there's 120 of us

1481
01:12:09,680 --> 01:12:13,960
or 100, you know, Plus they
pulled Ravens that weren't even

1482
01:12:13,960 --> 01:12:17,560
like actively flying.
They pulled everybody out of the

1483
01:12:17,560 --> 01:12:22,640
woodworks to come support this.
The tempo when we had 120 people

1484
01:12:22,840 --> 01:12:25,720
was like the same exact tempo in
the beginning.

1485
01:12:26,400 --> 01:12:30,000
So the 12 of us that were
mandated me on every flight were

1486
01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:33,120
just being worked, like
grinding.

1487
01:12:33,120 --> 01:12:38,360
Like, I remember I got on flight
3 hours on Kabul airport.

1488
01:12:38,920 --> 01:12:42,440
At that point, everybody's just
like trying to figure out what's

1489
01:12:42,440 --> 01:12:43,520
going on.
We're landing.

1490
01:12:43,520 --> 01:12:47,040
I'm up in the cockpit.
I see groups of people who

1491
01:12:47,040 --> 01:12:48,280
aren't supposed to be in this
area.

1492
01:12:48,280 --> 01:12:50,760
Like they're getting like, like
held in an area because they

1493
01:12:50,760 --> 01:12:54,680
rushed the airfield.
We're getting Intel briefs

1494
01:12:54,680 --> 01:12:56,400
before.
So they're talking about like

1495
01:12:56,760 --> 01:13:01,120
how ISIS wants to come blow it,
blow up the gates, like work.

1496
01:13:01,680 --> 01:13:06,560
We had a pact with the Taliban,
who are the 2?

1497
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:09,480
Two basically have a ceasefire.
The same people were fighting

1498
01:13:09,480 --> 01:13:12,360
the day before.
We're now we got the inner

1499
01:13:12,560 --> 01:13:15,000
perimeter secure.
You guys are like securing the

1500
01:13:15,040 --> 01:13:18,360
outer perimeter basically.
It was a very weird situation.

1501
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:21,360
It does with the Taliban.
Yeah.

1502
01:13:21,440 --> 01:13:23,000
So you're working with the
Taliban?

1503
01:13:23,360 --> 01:13:26,800
I don't know if not you but say
that it was just like a.

1504
01:13:27,080 --> 01:13:29,440
Coordination.
They were basically, yeah, they

1505
01:13:29,440 --> 01:13:31,920
weren't going to kill us and we
weren't going to kill them.

1506
01:13:31,920 --> 01:13:35,040
And that was the agreement.
And because ISIS.

1507
01:13:35,040 --> 01:13:38,000
Was a mutual.
Well, no, but ISIS wanted to

1508
01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:41,720
come foil that plan where it was
just going to be this nice, neat

1509
01:13:41,720 --> 01:13:44,360
withdrawal.
Everybody who wants to leave

1510
01:13:44,400 --> 01:13:47,640
Afghanistan comes here and and
it's OK, the Taliban's going to

1511
01:13:47,640 --> 01:13:50,640
take over.
That didn't quite happen next.

1512
01:13:50,720 --> 01:13:53,720
You know, the Taliban's killing
people right outside in front of

1513
01:13:53,720 --> 01:13:59,920
our.
The desperation of like humanity

1514
01:13:59,920 --> 01:14:03,400
in that minute was in that
moment was just like something

1515
01:14:03,400 --> 01:14:06,080
you'll I'll never get over.
There were people who were like

1516
01:14:06,080 --> 01:14:10,040
throwing their babies over the
wall who are landing in like sea

1517
01:14:10,040 --> 01:14:14,800
wire because they didn't the
other side they they wanted to

1518
01:14:14,800 --> 01:14:15,920
get.
I mean, you can look at the

1519
01:14:15,920 --> 01:14:20,120
videos and just see the hordes
of people outside trying to get

1520
01:14:20,120 --> 01:14:24,800
in Taliban stirring up trouble.
They'll kill people, they'll

1521
01:14:24,800 --> 01:14:27,400
shoot into the crowd, whatever.
And our guys are just like

1522
01:14:27,400 --> 01:14:31,400
trying to A not get killed
themselves and B, get people

1523
01:14:31,400 --> 01:14:34,600
through security without letting
everybody like rush through.

1524
01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:37,520
And, you know, they're they're
people who are trying to just

1525
01:14:37,520 --> 01:14:40,640
live so they don't middle.
East is a different universe.

1526
01:14:40,880 --> 01:14:42,360
Yeah.
And they're doing whatever they

1527
01:14:42,360 --> 01:14:45,040
tend to survive.
So they were really trying to,

1528
01:14:45,040 --> 01:14:47,520
like, push through.
At one point, they flooded the

1529
01:14:47,520 --> 01:14:49,640
perimeter.
They rushed the airfield.

1530
01:14:49,640 --> 01:14:51,800
That's where you see the video
of our plane taking off off and

1531
01:14:51,800 --> 01:14:56,440
people were hanging on it.
There was an explosion at the

1532
01:14:56,440 --> 01:14:58,920
gate that happened like gunfire
out the perimeter.

1533
01:14:58,920 --> 01:15:01,840
It was a very chaotic, tense
situation.

1534
01:15:03,240 --> 01:15:08,720
But that's what I was there for.
And and to answer your question,

1535
01:15:09,040 --> 01:15:14,040
in that moment, I felt worried
for my family mostly as if, you

1536
01:15:14,040 --> 01:15:16,440
know, if something happened to
me, like for them.

1537
01:15:16,560 --> 01:15:20,360
But personally, I felt like all
my training LED up to this

1538
01:15:20,360 --> 01:15:22,680
moment.
And it was something that

1539
01:15:22,720 --> 01:15:26,520
getting in the military, I
remember asking God like, use me

1540
01:15:27,440 --> 01:15:30,960
in my time in service for good.
Like if like I don't want to

1541
01:15:30,960 --> 01:15:33,240
just like train and do this and
that and not get to serve my

1542
01:15:33,240 --> 01:15:35,200
country or have to serve a
higher purpose.

1543
01:15:35,920 --> 01:15:38,760
And so in that moment when I did
feel a lot of stress where I did

1544
01:15:38,760 --> 01:15:41,800
feel like this, like, why am I
here kind of thing.

1545
01:15:43,080 --> 01:15:45,360
That's what I had to remind
myself was like, OK, this is

1546
01:15:45,360 --> 01:15:47,520
what I asked and this is what
I'm here to do.

1547
01:15:48,040 --> 01:15:50,080
He's spiritual.
I.

1548
01:15:50,280 --> 01:15:54,600
Yeah, you were then I would say.
I'm very spiritual.

1549
01:15:54,760 --> 01:15:56,600
I would say I'm very spiritual.
Yeah.

1550
01:15:57,480 --> 01:16:01,880
So those first three days were a
mess because I would get you get

1551
01:16:01,880 --> 01:16:03,800
on a flight, you're you're
exhausted.

1552
01:16:03,800 --> 01:16:05,600
You didn't sleep.
You barely ate.

1553
01:16:05,720 --> 01:16:08,680
You don't have enough water.
We're bringing in more people

1554
01:16:08,680 --> 01:16:11,520
than a plane can carry.
And so there's like no room to,

1555
01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:13,720
like, sleep.
You're up in a cockpit, like the

1556
01:16:13,720 --> 01:16:17,240
crew is up in a cockpit too many
for us to be up there.

1557
01:16:17,240 --> 01:16:18,840
So you're not sleeping there
either.

1558
01:16:18,840 --> 01:16:23,320
And then we're getting off.
We're in like tension level 10

1559
01:16:23,320 --> 01:16:26,440
and Poland security and then
also once we get all the

1560
01:16:27,280 --> 01:16:30,600
refugees on the plane, I'm the
guy who's guarding the cockpit

1561
01:16:30,600 --> 01:16:33,960
to make sure that nobody tries
to overthrow the plane as well.

1562
01:16:34,320 --> 01:16:38,160
So again, I'm still on my job.
Nothing happened there but but.

1563
01:16:38,560 --> 01:16:41,840
It does happen.
Oh, well, yeah, it definitely

1564
01:16:41,840 --> 01:16:45,640
could happen.
I mean, so for me it was like I,

1565
01:16:45,800 --> 01:16:49,600
I never, there was no breaks,
you know, And then so I got back

1566
01:16:49,960 --> 01:16:53,560
and I went through customs
because at the time it was

1567
01:16:53,560 --> 01:16:55,760
still, you're supposed to go
through customs until things got

1568
01:16:55,760 --> 01:16:58,680
so bad and backed up that
finally they were like, security

1569
01:16:59,560 --> 01:17:03,240
skipped customs because they're,
they're moving and gunning the

1570
01:17:03,240 --> 01:17:07,120
whole time, you know, So I went
through this whole long process.

1571
01:17:07,120 --> 01:17:08,800
I had to check my weapon back
in.

1572
01:17:08,800 --> 01:17:13,200
I had to go through the customs,
get a bus back to my dorm.

1573
01:17:13,200 --> 01:17:17,400
It just felt like like more than
24 hours of being up.

1574
01:17:17,440 --> 01:17:19,240
I got back to my bed.
I kicked my boots off.

1575
01:17:19,240 --> 01:17:22,920
The best feeling in the world,
lay down.

1576
01:17:24,080 --> 01:17:26,440
Somebody comes in, taps me on
the boot or on the foot.

1577
01:17:26,440 --> 01:17:28,720
They're like, hey, you got to
go.

1578
01:17:28,760 --> 01:17:31,080
You're on the next mission.
And I'm like.

1579
01:17:31,080 --> 01:17:33,680
How long has it been?
Not even, I don't even think I

1580
01:17:33,680 --> 01:17:35,480
was laying there for 10 minutes.
Wow.

1581
01:17:35,800 --> 01:17:39,240
And then I got back in.
I went back on the next mission,

1582
01:17:39,400 --> 01:17:42,040
did that three times in a row.
The next time I didn't make it

1583
01:17:42,040 --> 01:17:43,960
back to my room at which is
actually nice.

1584
01:17:43,960 --> 01:17:45,120
Like at least just put me on the
next.

1585
01:17:45,160 --> 01:17:48,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Catching the whole long process.

1586
01:17:49,360 --> 01:17:51,880
And then yeah.
So for like 3 days it was like

1587
01:17:52,200 --> 01:17:55,840
barely eating, barely sleeping.
I had a water bottle with like

1588
01:17:56,280 --> 01:18:00,800
maybe I had 1/4 of water in it
and I had a caffeine, you know,

1589
01:18:00,800 --> 01:18:01,960
death wish coffee.
Yeah.

1590
01:18:02,200 --> 01:18:05,080
It's like a three, 400
milligrams, like a packet of

1591
01:18:05,080 --> 01:18:07,080
caffeine.
And I would put it in that and

1592
01:18:07,080 --> 01:18:09,840
just shake it up.
And that's what kept me alive,

1593
01:18:09,920 --> 01:18:10,720
basically.
Yeah.

1594
01:18:10,800 --> 01:18:13,880
Security.
And so it was very, it was, it

1595
01:18:13,880 --> 01:18:15,480
was very rough.
It was very chaotic.

1596
01:18:15,480 --> 01:18:18,200
But I didn't have time to think
about the politics of it.

1597
01:18:18,200 --> 01:18:19,680
I didn't have time to think.
About how to get.

1598
01:18:19,760 --> 01:18:21,920
Done.
Yeah, you're just there and and

1599
01:18:21,920 --> 01:18:24,400
I'm pulling security and I had
to just make sure that the

1600
01:18:24,400 --> 01:18:29,280
mission happened, which also led
me to like one of the lowest

1601
01:18:29,280 --> 01:18:32,040
points of my life right after
that where I really felt like a

1602
01:18:32,040 --> 01:18:36,360
tool watch for the military
because this is I would have

1603
01:18:36,360 --> 01:18:39,720
gotten back from that deployment
and I would have had one month

1604
01:18:39,720 --> 01:18:42,400
until the date of separation
from the military.

1605
01:18:42,520 --> 01:18:45,600
And I'm like, that's not, I
really want to set myself up for

1606
01:18:45,600 --> 01:18:48,080
getting out.
And so I extended for one more

1607
01:18:48,080 --> 01:18:49,600
year.
So that's why I ended up doing

1608
01:18:49,600 --> 01:18:51,920
the seven years.
And that's you thought to get

1609
01:18:51,920 --> 01:18:54,680
to.
That wall so the end of the the

1610
01:18:54,720 --> 01:18:57,760
end of the withdrawal right we
got everyone out of Afghanistan

1611
01:18:57,760 --> 01:19:01,840
and now we've we've been taking
them to Germany to Spain to

1612
01:19:01,840 --> 01:19:05,280
Qatar to Kuwait wherever we
whoever will take these people

1613
01:19:05,840 --> 01:19:08,880
and from there that's like phase
one just get them out of

1614
01:19:08,880 --> 01:19:11,560
Afghanistan.
Well, Phase 2 is start really

1615
01:19:11,560 --> 01:19:13,880
processing these people and get
them to where we want them to

1616
01:19:13,880 --> 01:19:16,800
end up.
And I'm, I talked to my mass

1617
01:19:16,800 --> 01:19:18,960
Sergeant.
I'm like, hey, like this is this

1618
01:19:18,960 --> 01:19:22,360
is it, right.
Like I'm the hundreds of planes

1619
01:19:22,360 --> 01:19:24,520
we brought out to support this
and the hundreds of people who

1620
01:19:24,520 --> 01:19:26,480
are now flying back literally
the next day.

1621
01:19:27,120 --> 01:19:29,000
I'm on those planes, right?
Absolutely.

1622
01:19:29,040 --> 01:19:30,400
Yeah, you're you're on those
planes.

1623
01:19:30,400 --> 01:19:35,400
You're going back tomorrow.
I go to sleep, I wake up to my

1624
01:19:35,400 --> 01:19:38,560
roommate was like, hey, you're
on the next mission.

1625
01:19:39,160 --> 01:19:44,400
And I'm like, there's no way.
How like they told me no and

1626
01:19:44,640 --> 01:19:46,160
they ended up sending me to
Spain.

1627
01:19:46,680 --> 01:19:50,280
Acted like we never had the
conversation while I'm in Spain.

1628
01:19:50,720 --> 01:19:53,360
They're like, there's a plane
there, it's coming right back.

1629
01:19:53,600 --> 01:19:55,960
So within tonight you're going
to be back here again.

1630
01:19:56,080 --> 01:19:57,760
OK, no worries.
I'm not going to complain.

1631
01:19:57,920 --> 01:20:01,200
It is what it is.
Get this pain the plane's broke

1632
01:20:01,200 --> 01:20:03,000
of.
Course it does.

1633
01:20:03,120 --> 01:20:06,320
The plane's broke, so now
there's not have to sleep there

1634
01:20:06,800 --> 01:20:09,800
while they're like come back the
next day, we're going to check

1635
01:20:09,800 --> 01:20:11,840
the plane.
Parts should be here and it'll

1636
01:20:11,840 --> 01:20:15,200
be fixed for like 3 days, three
or four days.

1637
01:20:15,200 --> 01:20:17,640
It's the military, man.
It's the government, man.

1638
01:20:17,640 --> 01:20:22,320
They do shit slow.
So as I'm stuck there, everybody

1639
01:20:22,320 --> 01:20:26,480
else is, including my own team
member, is getting on flights,

1640
01:20:26,480 --> 01:20:26,960
going home.
Oh.

1641
01:20:27,520 --> 01:20:29,880
Man.
So that was like the point where

1642
01:20:29,880 --> 01:20:33,080
I really like broke down for the
first time and was like, dude,

1643
01:20:33,080 --> 01:20:36,200
this sucks.
Like this really is like painful

1644
01:20:36,200 --> 01:20:39,160
to like be in a situation and
you want to talk about

1645
01:20:39,160 --> 01:20:41,920
spirituality?
A friend of mine who really got

1646
01:20:41,920 --> 01:20:47,080
me into my faith in my own faith
journey, just like called me at

1647
01:20:47,080 --> 01:20:49,840
that moment.
And we had this for like a a

1648
01:20:49,840 --> 01:20:54,160
long time, like really.
And calls me while I'm like

1649
01:20:54,160 --> 01:20:59,480
broken down in tears in a hotel
and just like speaks life back

1650
01:20:59,480 --> 01:21:02,320
into me and was just there for
me like in that moment.

1651
01:21:02,480 --> 01:21:05,520
And I was and that's what I was
like, OK, like this is what I

1652
01:21:05,520 --> 01:21:06,920
was meant.
I was meant to be here.

1653
01:21:06,920 --> 01:21:09,200
Like I asked God for this and he
gave it to me.

1654
01:21:09,920 --> 01:21:12,840
And so yeah, that was towards
the end of my career.

1655
01:21:13,160 --> 01:21:17,520
I ended up getting, I ended up
getting an award for that with

1656
01:21:17,600 --> 01:21:21,360
the nice Distinguished Flying
Cross, which was very honored to

1657
01:21:21,360 --> 01:21:22,480
get that.
That's awesome, dude.

1658
01:21:22,480 --> 01:21:24,280
It actually delivered at my
doorstep.

1659
01:21:24,280 --> 01:21:26,520
Like he deserved it, man.
The year after I got out of the

1660
01:21:26,520 --> 01:21:28,680
military.
He deserved it man, for sure.

1661
01:21:28,920 --> 01:21:30,200
I appreciate it.
That was crazy.

1662
01:21:30,640 --> 01:21:34,960
Yeah, it was, it was chaotic.
It was so eye opening, but it

1663
01:21:34,960 --> 01:21:37,160
was, it was very humbling as
well.

1664
01:21:37,880 --> 01:21:40,600
And I'm just happy I I could be
there and play my part.

1665
01:21:40,600 --> 01:21:42,640
Yeah.
Yeah, we're going to have to do

1666
01:21:42,640 --> 01:21:46,800
a follow up episode, dude,
because this is like Part 1 with

1667
01:21:46,800 --> 01:21:50,000
like a story and now we could do
like another hour and a half of

1668
01:21:50,000 --> 01:21:52,120
just like everything from there,
dude, because.

1669
01:21:52,120 --> 01:21:54,400
There's so now that I'm out of
the military and.

1670
01:21:54,400 --> 01:21:57,680
Like, yeah, OK, we'll have to
have to roll Part 2, man.

1671
01:21:58,520 --> 01:22:00,760
Dude, fucking phenomenal.
Dude.

1672
01:22:00,800 --> 01:22:02,280
I'm so happy that I hit you up
for this, man.

1673
01:22:02,280 --> 01:22:04,720
I'm so happy you all did that
jujitsu class because that was

1674
01:22:04,760 --> 01:22:06,440
we're going to make this happen
again.

1675
01:22:06,440 --> 01:22:10,040
Are you are you going to come
train again soon?

1676
01:22:10,760 --> 01:22:12,760
Dude I would love to that.
'D be a time.

1677
01:22:13,320 --> 01:22:15,520
Thursdays and Fridays have
mostly been when I'm like doing

1678
01:22:15,520 --> 01:22:18,720
the training, but it's one of
those things like I love being

1679
01:22:18,720 --> 01:22:21,240
there because I love being
around other savages and being

1680
01:22:21,240 --> 01:22:26,040
able to push myself, but I just
haven't dedicated enough time.

1681
01:22:26,040 --> 01:22:27,560
To make it happen, dude, make it
happen.

1682
01:22:27,560 --> 01:22:28,800
Thank you so much for doing
this, dude.

1683
01:22:28,800 --> 01:22:30,440
We'll be in touch.
Thanks everyone.