Mathew Lehnig: Former US Navy SEAL & Combat Veteran Shares His Story Of Resilience, Overcoming Bizarre Obstacles & Achieving Success

The team never quit podcasts is proudly sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union. Go check out Navy Federal's Auto Buying and Flagship Awards to see how easy it is to save money when making a purchase. You can learn more about this at NavyFederal.org. I also found a, you know, just a fascination in watching you guys develop. And so for me, that was great to see. And so when I was putting you guys all through SGT, at the time I wasn't really thinking about, I'm going to deploy with all these guys. So my job was to hone you in, make you the best that you could be. And so when you went to your team, I knew eventually I was going to go back to a team, but it was just when. Who ain't never quit, who ain't never quit, who ain't never quit, who ain't never quit radio. All right, everybody, welcome back to the TNG Podcast. I'm your host, Marcus LaTrell. Every week it's my job to fire you up to ignite the legend inside of you and to push you to your greatness. Join me every week as I take you into my briefing room with some of the most hard charge of people on the planet. They're going to show you how to embrace the stuff of life, teach you the values of working your ass off, and charge through whatever life throws at you. This is the Team Never Quit Podcast. The buckle up, buttercup. What's up, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Team Never Quit Podcast. As always, thank you guys for listening and watching, and please go hit that like and subscribe button wherever you get your show. So today, before we kick it off with our guests, let's dive into the Patreon question of the day, which is, okay, so you know how everybody's got those weird smells that you like, you kind of like the smell of gasoline or chlorine or something like that. Like something you're not supposed to like. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So what's your favorite weird. That's a good question. That's a good question. Everybody's got one of those, right? Yeah, you know, it's quite interesting. I think both of those that you said are two things that I love. I love the smell of chlorine, and I think it's just because I spent most of my life in the pools, obviously, before getting into the ocean, but then being in the seal teams for as long as I have, and in the back riding those motors and those 55s and 35s consistently back in the 90s, I mean, I love that smell. And the other one I think I like is the smell of burning trash. Oh, gosh. Don't ask me why, but it takes me back to all of South West, here's why, okay, explain that. So you spend a lot of time in Southwest Asia, right? You know, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, which I did throughout the 90s. And then I was a country actions officer there as well from 2010 to 12. And so whenever I smell burning trash, it brings me back to that. But then after going down range and also burning the trash, I was going to say, wait a minute, it did a little bit of both. So now it mixed and both. So now when I smell burning trash, it'll take me into some combat times I'll be thinking about. But then other times it takes me into those times when I was running around like Sri Lanka or Maldives or something like that, that burning trash was everywhere. So worse. Yes, you dug that? Yeah, man, I don't know. So if I smell it now, man, it just, you know, I get the flashbacks. You know, just like down, down, Valucer or something, yeah, running over the trashy areas where it smells just, what's yours? Yeah. I would probably say one of mine is whenever you open a fresh can of tennis balls. So good. Yeah. That is the best. We did it like tennis. That's like tennis all the time. I said, there you go. I mean, that is a great one. That's a good one. It's good for me. It's one of the best smells. And then also, uh, freshly shot gun, uh, gun shell case. Oh, yeah. That's probably mine. Yeah, I have too many, man. I'm old. Yeah, there's just a gun. I'll have to go with it. When will you, John? Um, I don't know. The spit shell definitely gets in and I like, I don't know, something about us, huh? I was not expecting you to say that. That was hardcore. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know when I was little. My dad shot one. It was like the first time. So, so here's what's funny. So, you know, Nash was four years old when we got to Hawaii. Raya was maybe eight months and then my two others were born there. There's no skunks on a Wahoo. So it wasn't until we came to Texas that they smelled the skunks here and they're like, what is that? And I'm like, that's a skunk and they're like, what's a skunk? And then I had to remind myself, you know, they've never seen one. They don't have the Texas or they don't have them in Hawaii. That is so funny. I think mine, which I wouldn't have thought about it until you said it, but the spint shells, especially if I'm doing well on the range. Where it's cold outside? Yeah. Like, that is a really good smell. Yeah, I think I have too many. I don't know. I still love the smell of the rodeo arena. It's probably mine. Yeah. The horse bar. The horse bar and the newer and I have the attack and all that mixed together. That's good. That's good words. I think that the tennis ball one is the best smell out there. So when my, when my, when my kids were just babies, you know, and you were holding them and you kind of smell the new babies. That was great. Yeah. But I mean, it's just like it brings back so many, you can't replicate that either. Not a smell. Yeah. Like it's like new car. Well, it's like a new car smell. Yeah. Babies, there's a couple of things down here. When you get, when you hit you, you're like, oh, I know exactly that. And not only that. And not only that, it's specific to your child. Yeah. You know, and it's that, you know, it goes back to that primal. That's primal. And like, you're like, and if you see another kid and you're holding their baby, like, yeah. You know, but if it's yours, but if it's yours, you know, it's that time. But that changes too when you have a kid. Yeah. I've noticed that now, like other people's kids when they're screaming or yelling or something happens, I'm, I'm actually worried about what's going to go. Yeah, I saw that with you. Like my kids were here too. Yeah. I keep on. Matter of fact, we were asking some of the guys, the crew, who, who do you think, who, who, who gets treated better? I was like, my kids are my buddies kids. Like my buddies kids, because I want anything happen to them, right? Yeah. Yeah. But dammit. I keep an eye on them like you can't believe. Well, I think it's interesting too. As a father, you know, you want your, your sons to be very independent. You know, and then the, and then as a mother, you know, you want to raise your daughters. But what I find interesting is, you know, husbands are a lot stronger on their boys. Where moms are like, what are you doing? But then if you flip the coin, moms are a lot harder on girls. And then as a father, I'm like, what, what are you, what are you doing? Yeah. It's like this, it's like this dichotomy of, you know, and then you have those conversations, you're like, excuse me, raise them up boys. Yeah. And then, you know, you, and then, and then of course, the wife, the whole demean, I'm raising my, I'm raising my girls. You know, absolutely. Absolutely. A whole persona comes up. And then they step in and just like, well, you got to remember this because the reality is, is the first love of your daughter is the father, right? Because that's the reality that she's going to judge everybody else off of you. Oh, yeah. And that's why it's so important for fathers, you know, to be prevalent in, in the girls' lives and vice versa for the boys, which is super important. Yeah. And if you're a shitty dad or abusive to the mom, the girl is going to think that that's normal and go in, be okay in those situations and I, and that's why I just, it's so important to, you know, to have that, that faith and that foundation and that biblical book, you know, part of your lives in there. This is awesome. Yeah. It's going to Navy Seals a lifelong process. It is a lifelong. I think that going through years, yeah, like going to, going to buds and getting into the teams and then getting to do everything that we did is part of the training. Absolutely. And then we're now really getting into the job. It's kind of like, well, you know, trying to take all that to get here. What was the guy's name? There's a, there's a show where Van D so, you know, he plays a, oh, a pass fire. Yeah. Pass fire plays a Navy SEAL. Maybe SEAL movie at Red, Red Motor Machine, Navy SEALs, Vin Diesel. That's what he was like. Yeah. He lay harder, me and honor, one of mine was from the diesel. Right? That guy loves that guy. He loves him. Sure. When's the last time you've seen that? It's been a while. It's been 15 or so. Okay. So we were in Mania the day and I had to drive a minivan. Uh-huh. I had to upgrade. Don't look at me like that, man. I got to keep it up. Why did you have a minivan? What do you talk about? That's the first thing I picked up was a minivan. It was actually a humvee and I did, it said minivan on the thing, but, um, I immediately went to that whole thing. I was trying to spin into the parallel park job. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, dude, we had to give us a good time. But. So getting into you, you were a SEAL for 30 years, right? Yeah. You did 30 years. What bus class number were you? So I was 191. So graduated January 94. 94. So that's, that's right at a high school. No, I did a couple of years of traveling. So I joined the Navy and I want to say October of 91, but I was on the delayed entry program for a little bit. So they didn't have, I was talking with JJ about this the other day, man, the dive fair program was working. They did. We, we, we came in on that because I was at the end of that and then the SEAL challenge. Right. So we had dive companies. So I went through, so I was in a, I wasn't a, I want to say it's either, I think it was eye company in boot camp. We had male and female, you were using one of those. It was in Florida and then you separated at night. And so what I was doing, I was the, I was the master of arms. And so I would get up early in the morning at three. I would go do the PT with the SEALs, right? And then I would come back, then meet with my class and then take them. So I was doing double PT's in the morning. So I was running, which is good boot camp. It was great. I mean, I, I went in pretty heavy and I came out pretty trimmed up and ready to go. So for, for buds, went to A school, but it was, I went to A school in Pensacola because all this has changed now. So back in the day, back in the 1900s, when we came in, you understand me? Well, I went into, I was, I was a photographer's mate. So that's, so what's a Pensacol for Intel, right? And it was quite funny because the, the E6 that was there, which was our, kind of like the guy that guided us, he was, he was a team guy that lost his bird out into some series. Yeah. That's legit. Yeah, that's legit. And so anyway, he was the one that kind of got all of us that wanted to go to buds and train us every morning and everything like that. So you had to go and, what was your recruiter? Was he a team guy? Or was this something to do with it? So no, I was very fortunate. So I grew up in Imperial Beach, California. And I grew up kind of in the little area right now where, you know, the seal teams are, right? So my grandfather was quite interesting for many years and kind of wondered, like how did I get there? My grandfather was very quiet, but my grandfather was actually the very last CO of the elephant cage in 1960. What's that? So the elephant cage is where the seal teams are now. So it used to be, it used to be the telecommunication. It's where the crypto school was. So my grandfather was, you know, the room is a swirl about what that dang thing was for the longest time, man. That's crypto. I didn't know that you're grandad right then. That's cool, man. Right. So the very first house that you come into IVN, which is a two story house, that was my grandfather's house. And he actually used to have a gate and he would just walk through the gate and go to work. Right. So that were the military. Yeah. Was grandpa military? Yeah. So yeah, he retired in Lieutenant Commander. Right. He had what was he? Was he UDT or? No, no, no, no, no. So my grandfather came in. He was a cryptologist. And so he made it all the way up to chief. And, you know, he was, and then from chief, he commissioned. And then his crew were the guys that were like very, really instrumental. So he was what's called the on the rough gang. And there was a certain amount. He was the original crew that was on the rough gang. And those were all the cryptologists, you know, during the war. His group was very instrumental in breaking the Japanese code during the war. He was also in Korea. And so on. But he was a very quiet individual. And I didn't know that for many, many years. It wasn't until he passed away. And I was actually in a school. And my grandmother gives me a call and says, hey, make sure your whites are ready. You know, they're naming the head crypt a lot. Well, they're naming a building after your grandfather. And it was quite funny because at this point in a school, I had a good friend of mine. And we were always trying to get out of stuff. Like, we would always try to leave early on Fridays so we could go out and have fun. But anyway, so I told him and he's like, whatever. And I was like, okay, well, anyway, about two hours later, he comes in, where are your whites? I mean, this guy's freaking out. And I didn't know what's going on. And he's like, gotta get your whites together. And that's when I found out, you know, their name and ability. So I was there. You know, I think I had three little stripes on, you know, and that was around acting in generals and their name and the head cryptological building after my grandfather come up a hall. Yeah. So that's when I was like, wow, I didn't realize. And that's why we were in Imperial Beach. But because of that, you know, my next door neighbor was a guy by the name of Larry. He retired as CW-04 was the very first seal to ever be asked to be a W-5, but he decided not to because he had a GS position over at Buds and Rand Ops. But anyway, he was my next door neighbor. And he was the one that really kind of saw something in me that was kind of like, hey, you know, why don't you think about doing this coming into the teams? And I'd see him out there. He was on the experimental jump team, you know, and he was packing his parachute and doing some things. So we just started talking, you know, and then he was one of the guys and it was a team guy. And then another guy by the name of Dave Jefferson was another one who was in St. Moldova when I was about 15 or 16 years old. But really it was more like, from a leadership standpoint, it was really my grandfather. As you know, I was raised by a single mom and we were a dirt poor. They didn't have a lot of money. Mom worked from like six o'clock in the morning to like six o'clock a night. And you remember back then it was just like, be home by seven. So I'd wake up in the morning and really my older brother Greg kind of raised me. And then I would say when I was about 10 is when my grandfather was kind of like, all right, you're getting to that age where you need to have some leadership fundamentals. And because he had such vast knowledge in the Navy and the military, you know, he's really kind of set me on the trajectory of really kind of thinking about military. But at the time, it was Larry Dave who kind of pushed me. But then, you know, I had several different things that I wanted to do. I wanted to go to college. I was doing that. And then my mom passed away. And when she passed away, I was like, no, I'm going in. And that's literally the she passed away. Next day it was at the recruiter's office. So you're a senior when she passed? I was 20 when she passed away. I knew. Okay. So I was, I think I was in my, I was even out about, I mean, how did you just, why the seals? Well, again, Larry was a team guy and I met him when I was 10. And like I said, so I went outside and just stayed on it. I'm going to tell you. So I'm talking about like, what grabbed you that, that, that pushed you in as you saw something? I've been asking team guys that lately because there's usually so like one thing, like I saw this movie at this scene. So that was a lot of it, right? So then as I was in high school, so I moved out when I was 15. So I moved out of my own when I was 15 years old. And then, you know, when I was in high school, my senior year, I only had to take a couple of classes because I had knocked out most of my classes early. Didn't have AP classes, but I got rid of all the high classes. And Marvista, the high school that I went to, you know, we had, we lived next to the border of Mexico, so down in Tijuana. And so from an educational standpoint, it really, it really wasn't the best. So I just kind of superseded a lot of their academic stuff. And so I had two, two classes, and then in my senior year, I did, I had to take a math class, which I thought I finished. And so the guy who ran the chess club is just like, hey, just come in, I'll teach you chess. And so I basically, I had like an elected, I had a chess class, and then I swam from Marvista. So you're in the chess club? No. I just learned how to play chess. Basically, you're telling me in the chess club, I just learned how to play chess. Hey there, guys. So Hurricane season is just around the corner, and you know what that means. It's time to gear up and get prepared. If you remember past hurricanes, you know that it's possible to be hit with power outages and food scarcity that can last you up to weeks or even months. But here's the game changer for patriots. They've got these awesome food emergency kits that are like backup plan in a box packed to right here in the US. These kits can last you 25 years. And the best part, these kits are filled with tasty breakfasts, launches, and dinners. They're like your food safety net tucked away in a little covert storage tote. 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My butt class was a, so I almost, I almost wrapped into one 91, which was a winter class, but I'd only been there five days. And the one thing Larry told me. Did you get in a hurry? No, I was going to, Larry's like, get in, be smart, learn all the things you're going to need to learn. He's like, so if it was interesting because he's like, if you show up and a class is about to class up, he's like, don't do it. Yeah. And so I didn't. And so, you know, I waited for the next class and then went through the entire fourth phase, which was actually brutal, so we lost almost half our class in fourth phase. So by the time we, by the time we classed up for one 91, I would say we lost maybe three guys in hell week, maybe four, but we, but we lost a lot afterwards because of injuring us. Yeah, well, I mean, we already went in, really beat down. And I think that just really took a lot of guys. So we came out a second phase with half of that. What was the harsh part for buzz when you went through? What would you, what got you the most? So to be honest with you, I was actually, I didn't really have a difficult time in buzz. Here we go. Here's one of those guys. Oh, these guys. I was one of those guys because he's older than me. One night. I didn't have a problem. I never failed a run or swim. Matter of fact, I didn't even have to swim so fast. So here was the interesting thing, right? So I grew up in Imperial Beach and in IB, we surfed the waters all year around with shorts. So if you had a wetsuit on, you were called out. Well good for you, man. I'm glad that it wasn't hard. So I was used to the water, winter time and summertime. So it wasn't an issue. I ran and swam in high school. So that wasn't an issue. But why aren't all the guys in San Diego seals in? To be honest with you, most of the guys that have gone into the seals from Marvista high school have done quite well. I've met four of them. Because you know as well as I do the Pacific, she gets most. Yeah. So what I will tell you is probably it was interesting because there was one moment where I was like, oh my gosh, do I roll back or don't I? Because when I came out of hell week on Wednesday, I lost my socks. And so for Thursday and Friday, I had no socks on, it was just in boots. And it completely, so my entire, so they ripped off all the entire boxes of my feet and they just looked like mincemeat, right? And so when Monday came around, and I never really cared about what was happening next. I literally took every single evolution. Evolution? Yeah, right? So that's what I tell people to do. I had no idea that we had that kind of that work week, if you will, where you kind of did classes that week. Time to heal. I drove hell week and all this stuff. Right. With the charts. Yeah. And so like, here I am. And I'm, I can't walk. And I'm like, oh man, if we're running and everything. And then I remember going to the classroom. And they're like, yeah, so this week you guys all just kind of get to calm down a little bit. Everybody gets kind of relaxed. You know, we're going to keep you out of the water for a little bit. And I'm like, oh, I'm going to be fine. But for that, when I woke up that morning and I saw the bottom of my feet, I'm like, oh man. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it this week like I could barely walk. But because, you know, we had that week to heal my feet, my feet healed enough to wear it. But after that, I never, and of course, once you make it through hell week, you know, you're really kind of like, it's, at that point, it's either academic or you know, you're going to make your stinking diving. It's performance. Yeah. Right. Right. And so I never really had, you don't know that when you're in there. No, you don't. And they'll tell you that. Yeah. And the guys will tell you that. You mean, you think you know everything by the time you get to a different phase, but yeah. In reality. And you were at SCVs. I think the reality is, too, is, is, and I was just talking to a gentleman who's, he just started, what's that, he's there, what is it? Monday. Monday. So he just started, he just started today, he started first things today. So I was talking to him last week and I'm like, look, you know, I want you to have this type of mindset. You were going to be 10 times colder and 10 times more miserable than you're ever going to be in buds once you get out. And so they don't believe that. I know they don't. And neither did I. I didn't believe it either. And then you get out there and you're like, this is a matter of fact, not only did I not believe it. I cussed him under my breath. I was like, you don't know a damn thing. You don't know what the hell you're talking about. And brother. Yeah. Being in the teams was 10, oh, that twice is hard. Yeah. And then I also told him, I also told him like, like you just said, I'm like, one evolution at a time. One evolution at a time. Because it's going to end. Yeah. And then you know, you're going to get a little bit of a break. Get yourself set mind set wise and then move to the next evolution. The only way to get through is with the crew you got with the guy. I mean, I'm talking about when we get older too, even the stuff that we do because of the camaraderie. Sure. I mean, it gives you a story to talk about when you're in the next evolution. It sucks. Like, hey, remember that one time and you're like, oh, yeah, that one revealed. I mean, you're in a moment that was it is miserable in itself, talking about a different one laughing about it now. Right. Well, I think one good thing for life though, like one evolution at a time and just there's always going to be sucky things. But if you can get through it, yeah, I think one of the things that I was really, so I was very fortunate. I really caught on to things quick. And so because I caught on to things quick, you know, it was like, okay, I got that and I could just move on and I'm very good at multitasking so I can do a lot of things at once. So when I got to team one, and I remember getting in there, you went first, yeah, with team one first. And I got to my two and it was, you know, it was no fun one. I got it. Yeah. But, you know, it really kind of, it built a fail, it built a good foundation. And what was interesting was, you know, the first two platoons, I was very fortunate. I had, you know, some really good guys that kind of took me under my wing and mentored me. And that's kind of where I see daddy. Will Spencer. Oh. So he was the one that, as a new guy, it was him. Will Spencer. It was Dave Ducazal and it was a guy by the, I can't think of his last name off the top of my head. Ryan was another guy who was, it was an air guy because I went in his air rep. But Will was kind of like the way that he, he kind of molded me was kind of like, you know, really be very focused in what you're doing. Think about what you do. Remember, it's we're a team and you're stronger as a team than you are individually. And so I kind of built that type of mentality. And so they kind of honed me in on my skill sets as first two platoons and then my second two platoons and on at that point, I just started mentoring individuals, right? Now, one could say that from, from a time perspective and what the kind of mentality was back then, I felt that I was mentoring correctly. But I can look back now and say I could have been, I don't do that. I could have done things a lot better. That happens. That's part of the life. I know because as I commissioned and you know, went into the training side and when I went over to SKT, you know, I was, and when I started training, you know, you guys and stuff like that, you know, I also found a, you know, just a fascination in watching you guys develop. And so for me, that was great to see. And so when I was putting you guys all through SKT, at the time, I wasn't really thinking about, I'm going to deploy with all these guys. My job was just, okay, I want to ask you that. So my job was to hone you in, make you the best that you could be. And so when you went to your team, I knew eventually I was going to go back to a team, but it was just when, because when you guys came through, I was just starting out, right? Right. And so, you know, that's different in our community because a lot of people will go through programs and they work, they're going to work with their instructors. They do now because everything is so, I'm talking about like civilians and everywhere else. I mean, with us, you're going through with these guys and, and when you assume a role, you assume it's identity. Sure. So when I go into the instructor role, and then we look, I still call Spencer Calvin instructor Calvin. Oh, yeah. Instructor get. Yeah, yeah. I can't break that habit. Yeah. Well, you know, it was interesting because so the story goes like this. So I think I was at the time, you know, STT was under the group. Oh, yeah. So when I got into the group and it was only a two year billet. And so I was there for about 18 months. And I just, at the time, you know, I still wanted to be connected to the team. So I'd always go over to team one, team five, talk to the master chiefs and everything. Well, when I first got to SKT, the master chief that was there at the time is now the master team at STT five. So I get over there and I run into Ron Fosnock and him and I start talking. And he is the, I want to see who was the LPO at the time, or he was the chief of the platoon at the time. I can't recall. But he was like, hey, we have a man down, you know, we would love to get you over here. And the master chief just happened to be there. They start talking and I'm like, hey, man, like, I'm still an SKT. And at the time, we had just went under the center. So now they wanted to extend it to three years. So now I'm like, well, I'm like, I think it's going under the center. I think I'm going to have, you know, a three year billet. So, you know, I've got some time, but I appreciate he's like, don't worry, man, we'll make some phone calls. I'm like, hey, hey, if you're going to do that, let me get over there. And at least, you know, have a conversation with, you know, Bruce Cuttingham and Mike Lew, right? Well, anyway, by the time I left STT five and drove over to SKT, which is not very far, the calls already happened. And so I walk in and both of them are sitting up on top and they're like, get in here. So I get in there and they start ripping me up and I'm like, hey, man, like, I just went over there and like, you really want to go there? Is that what you want to do? And they're like, yeah, they're like, all right, well, you're going there in three weeks. We're going to let you go. And I went, like, what? And so it was quite interesting, you know, and I think the very last class that I was there was, was with, you know, the class, the first class that got their pins out of SKT. That was my brother. Stay your brother. Is that in the combination, and when we're talking about SKT and STT and the CLT has gone through phases. Sure. And, and implement and training. So it's more advanced, it moves, I guess, I don't want to say more smoothly, but there's just a lot more integrated into what it is. And the old school guys, it's almost like a dawn of a new time. Sure. Like, you'll hear old school guys say, I went through STT, CL tactical training. And then there's SKT, a CL qualification training. My brother was the first one to get that. Yeah. I mean, when I came through the, you know, you, you got trained. You put me through. Well, you got trained at the team. At the team. And that's why, you know, I brought that up and another conversation was that's why it was like, all of the West and East Coast teams, they couldn't work together. Because each team was independent. Yeah. Each team had their own language. Yeah. And we would deploy with SEAL team five, but we could not work with them. Yeah. And our chiefs, you should just say. Matter of fact, they tried to put us together on a few times. It's, it's in the, I mean, this is history and we don't do well. Yeah, but then we didn't, we didn't back then. Well, I think force 21 was a big multiplier, right? And then the SKT, when people started getting similar training and then I think it was the timing was good because then the war came. War stream lines at you. And then that streamlined in it. And everybody was able to augment. We were augmenting damn neck. Where were you at during that? During that. So I was literally sitting in my bedroom when that happened. It was pretty early in the morning and that happened. And I was like, all right. Here we go. Where were we at? What team? So I can't remember if I was at a team at the time. Where if I was at? Because I remember when our first appointment was in O2 and Iraq, back then. Yeah. Well, we got there in O3. O3, excuse me, O3. So we got there in April of O3. And you would come from where? To go to five. So I came from SKT. Yes. So I, like I said, I rolled over and then I got into that platoon, which was that platoon. And I, you know, I did there. I didn't have to, I don't think I did land war for I went right into close court combat. So you can see in all of that stuff mount. And then we deployed how many platoons have you done up to that point? So that was my fifth. What? Really? Because I did four at still team one. They were all pay completons. That doesn't, I'm talking, that's a, but that's still a lot of time. Yeah, but, yeah, but I did one of them was an augment. So I did, you know, three workups for deployments. And then when, and then two, five, I did three and, yeah, and then starting to wait. So we started in Kuwait and then we did the push and then our platoon. We were the first ones there and then we did. So Dave at the time, and I could say any last names, but he started working with, you know, Scott, who unfortunately was one of the guys that ended up on the bridge. And so we started working with them doing, you know, looking for individuals and doing stuff like that and mass grave sites and things of that nature. And then it rolled into our first direct action mission. And so we were pretty fast, we were pretty quick. It's quite interesting. I mean, I remember it pretty clearly. We came in and at the time, they didn't want to do it any explosive breaching. So it was all mechanical explaining that. The reason why is because we were going in, the gentleman that we were going after was super high within the difference between explosive and mechanical is explosive. And as so, you know, they're stair stepping, right? So mechanical used, you start off basically with the sledge and you can move up to, you know, chainsaw, quickie saw, whatever. We automatically knew it was either sledge and then right to quit. We're talking about getting into a building. That's what we're discussing. Yeah, we're just talking about entryway, right? And so we went up through that process and at the time, I was the number two man supposed to be going in the door. Another gentleman was the number one man. The guy was, you know, I mean, we were crushing the door. But again, we were in a very expensive neighborhood. So, you know, we should have, we should have been able to bridge because we kind of really put ourselves in a very not good situation because it was taking a long time because not only was the door massive, but it also had locks on the back. So our lead breacher was just going to town and he was not going to let me, I had that quickie saw ready to go, but he was like, that is not going to happen on my watch. So finally, I was just about to hit that, you know, quickie saw and then he was like, you know, open. So now I ended up being the first guy through the door. Are you craving a perfect night's sleep? If you're like me, you kind of used to dread bedtime. These toss and turn all night long in the heat, but fear not because they revolutionary solution awaits. My sheets rock the ultimate bedding brand that has transformed my sleep game forever. Here's the secret. These sheets are softer than a dream itself. 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That's mysheetsrock.com slash TNQ, don't forget to use the code TNQ. And so the door is right there and now we're in a small little hallway and then there's another door. But that door you can see it's kind of a foyer door. It's not as big as the front door and as I'm sitting there because we've been there a while, the high value target walks right best. So I turn around, I do a donkey kick, knock the door, I come around the corner and now he's right there. So it turns in and instead of being high port on low port, turns into a hand-to-hand. So now I'm just like, Bob, did the old fire hands to the face five or six times, got them up against the wall and then basically just hit tossed them into the room. And the AOIC comes up, gets him and then we lock them and then we clear the rest of the house. We're in and out in 18 minutes with the guy and everything we needed. So from that point on, that was the starting point and then it just got really busy. And then at the time, I think we had done somewhere of about 20 direct action missions and then another crew came in and that's when I met, you know, the big D for, you know, Drago and those guys and when him and I met and, you know, we started working on that guy. He's phenomenal. How about that guy? We want to bless him to have him and arc me. When you talk about the teams, the best part, I'm sitting here listening to you tell that story, but I'm thinking about all of it when it was there and how if what I just thank you America and you know, for create, for putting this guy in this gaggle together, that fraternity lit and us run around the way we did just to have those guys, just the reaction of each one of those guys when someone else would do something crazy. So the interesting thing is is like when you talk about time and place, everybody that was supposed to be there, no three was there. It was just, it couldn't have been, you couldn't have put anybody else in there. It was just that's who needed to be there at that time. I met again. It was the same thing in RO607 deployment. Well, I was going to ask you the difference between those two, we got lucky as far as team guys go on deployments as when it's saddled enough for, I mean, I didn't make Chris made for me. There was a couple of guys who made, we got some guys who made every battle. I mean, they were in the coolest, and you got some guys who chase it. I mean, like, and that's the saying in the seal teams, man, you don't chase the war. It'll just kind of show. I think for me it was more, so, I mean, I was the number one number two man almost on every DA in that first place. And what was interesting, you know, this came back years later when we talk about, you know, when I was getting ready to get out of the military, you know, and I was going through the whole process of the medical aspect and kind of getting my head straight, you know, to get out and, you know, unpeeling and getting in and having those conversations, you know, I went, I went through that mental aspect. The way that I did it was I worked with my psychologist, but I also worked with my, with my, um, asher. And the, what I did was I had them work together because spiritually, I was good. It was the, the world outside of that, right? They were not aligned, right? And so I always tell people, I'm like, you can be spiritually fine, but the reality is, the mind is quite an interesting thing, right? Because your psyche is, is going to get the best of you and what does it get the best of you? It gets the best of you when you're sleeping, right? So you can't control the things that happen in your head while you're sleeping. And so as I started to really kind of unpack these things, it was, and I had this, it was such an incredible moment when I was sitting there having this conversation. And so when I did my very first, you know, up when I had that hand hand combat, what I didn't realize was, was you're coming in and we're clearing the house. You have a group of individuals that have to separate people, right? And I remember as we were doing that, you know, the SAC teams, you know, they separate the families and the kids. And in my head, I see these kids just screaming, right, for their dad, you know, and I remember just clear as day, you know, the eyes, the sobbing. And I thought to myself, really quickly, I'm like, you know, this guy is probably the most terrible man in the world for all the things that he's done, right? And he should hold, be able to countable. But there's innocent victims in that, like he's probably one of the best fathers, right? You just don't know, right? And so what I ended up doing was I never wanted to be a part of that crew. So I always made myself the number one or number two men in the house. I was on the breach team and, you know, I did those first four and obviously, you know, at that point, the, oh, I see it was like, yeah, we're going to keep them on there. He's doing great. And so I stayed on there. And when people didn't want to do it, I'm like, I'll do it because I did not want to be. So I put myself in, it was a moment of like, I literally put myself in that fatal funnel every single time because I would rather get shot and have to shoot back than see these kids get separated from the families. Well, it was the hardest thing on you when we were over. That was that. That one. That was really, I mean, of course, you know, the guys that you lose is horrible. And it's, and it's, you know, we've lost a lot of, I've lost a lot as you, you know, we've lost really, really, really close friends. And so that is very difficult, you know, but I worked through that process, you know, and it was the way that they did this is they have these threads. And the way that they work these threads is when you lose somebody, there's a connection right on how each individual is lost because it's in combat, it's either in direct action or you're taking people down, firefight, you know, IAD, right? So you, you work through that process and you, the two hardest ones, right? And then once you get through that one, you know, it, each one becomes a little bit easier. And it was the same thing here. I had to go through all of these threads, right? And I remember the worst one was, you know, we blew a door, I remember going in, and, you know, there's this little girl, you know, and she's, she's alive, but she's in my death the legs there. She, no, no, she just jacked up, right? And she's crying and she's all bloody. And I remember that one was very, very difficult, right? So that was my worst thread when I talk about the, you know, the separation of the kids, right? And I worked through that, worked through the other ones. And so, you know, by the time I, you know, fully got out of the military after 30 years, you know, my head was, my head was straight, plus my faith on top of that was another factor as well, right? Yeah, but were you running with that the whole time? Your faith was it on point in the whole time? So it's quite interesting. So when we talk about that, my faith grew a little bit, each deployment. Yeah. And I think, you know, that first one, you know, I don't know if you noticed, but every time that I came back, you know, it was, I was having a very difficult time because, you know, a lot of drinking, right? So I kind of was separating myself, but I think after that, really after that, oh, 607 deployment, I think that's where I was. That's a hard one. It was a hard one. It was hard. And I think that's when I really started coming back to my faith. I came back and it was quite interesting because I was getting ready to ramp up to do another deployment at five. But the power is that be because I had so I'd never been on short duty ever. So I had 17 years of C duty. So I was getting ready to get rid of that because our schools are considered C duty, right? Yeah. So that's QT was C duty. C duty. And so when I was sitting there, they're like, Hey, you need to go to short duty. And I'm like, no, you're, you're messing up my entire career path because I was being groomed by some of trying to do something. Right. I was groomed by some of the best master chiefs in NSW. And so this was going to hinder me from making master's because if you send me to buds, I'm not going to be in that leadership position. It's a three year billet. Then you got a fight for your position, which wouldn't have been an issue. But then that's another workup deployment. So that would have been very problematic. And so I remember having the conversation, I'm like, if you send me to buds, because I had talked to several of my friends that were over at damn neck that we're putting in warrant packages at the time. And so I remember them telling it was, it was actually, he's no longer with us, but it was Brian was the master for force mastery at the time. And so I told him, I'm like, Hey, if you send me to buds, I'm putting a warrant package. Oh, sorry. So I said, Hey, if you send me to buds, you know, I'm putting a warrant package in. And he's like, I'm sorry, man, you know, we got to send you over there. So I get over to third phase, I didn't want to be there. The master chief at the time was a good friend of mine. So I go and sit with him. And he's like, Matt, we're going to put you into first phase. And I'm like, that is a horrible idea. And he's like, what do you mean? I'm like, I'm angry. I'm mad. And you're going to put me in a phase where, you know, it's just a bad idea. So have you just real fast? Somebody sent me the other day, Mel and I went out to California to roast some of the older guys. Have you seen the 66 rules of being a frog man by Casey Ryback? I don't know. That's what we got him from. But number 53 is if you get orders to STV or buds, it says, kill yourself. Well, I mean, I had to do some of these rules. I mean, every team guy, if you don't have these or 66 of them, they're brilliant. I'm fine. I'm fine. It'll be a good life. Oh, it's so funny, man. Only team guys will get it, man. But it's full of those. So I told him I was like, Hey, I want to do, I want to do third phase because I was like at that point, you know, the guys are pruning themselves. I can mentor them, right? Which is what I did. And I was, you know, to be honest with you, I was very, wouldn't say diplomatic, but like, if you came in and you were a strong class, like I didn't hammer you. But if you were weak, then, you know, I would. Are most of the guys pissed off to get first phase duty? No, I think a lot of guys like it. But for me, it just wasn't the right place, right time. Well, and it was right after it was really hard. And plus back then, they didn't really have the storms and shields had the Vietnam guys, and they were real pissed off. Yeah. And I think also on top of that, they just, they did at the time, there wasn't really a good way for guys like us to decompress, not just we didn't have anything. And so, you know, third phase was, it took me about six months in a decompress, and then I literally, I put my warrant back in. So what's the top process is that we decompressed by a sentence to third phase, so we can shoot guns and blow stuff up. It's kind of a detox for us. No, I think. But not in a context now. To be honest with you, third phase was really kind of a, it was an unknown great place to be. It is, right? It is. Okay. A lot of time off, because you were sectioned, and because there were so many flights going to and from San Clemente Island, you didn't have to be out there for the whole five weeks. Oh, okay. Check. So, you know, a group would go out, you'd fly out for your week, come back, go back at the end. So you still had time, you know, you could go to school, you could do things, and so I was able to spend a lot of time with Val, and that's really where, you know, I started my family, which was great. But at the time, also, both the exo and the CEO of Bud were both, you know, prior Mustangs. And so I talked to both of them, and they're like, absolutely put it in, Matt. You know, Stephen Hauer was the CEO at the time, he's like, put it in. And so I talked to my SCA at the time, which, another funny story. But so I talked to him, and he's like, yeah, but he was like, what are you doing, you know, because he was, he was on the match, chief route, too. And he's like, how dare you and all this other stuff? Of course, they gave me a lot of, you know, a little bit of heat for that. But anyway, I picked it up, and then, because I didn't tell a lot of people, once I picked it up and people saw it, man, I didn't, I didn't answer my phone for like two days, because all the master keys were like, oh, what, anyway, so anyway, so what's the difference? I don't know the difference between a warrant. So a warrant officer in the Navy, you're actually a commissioned officer, right? And so from that point, there's two directions, either you go, from that point, you go to training. Right? Like OCS. No, no, no, no, you just become on the training side of things. So you're really, you kind of like, I built, yeah, I built doctrine and, you know, kind of just change the whole way we do training. Okay. And implemented a lot of things, you know, not only in Buds, you know, like I brought out, I took away a lot of the, some of the explosive stuff and brought in a lot of stuff we were doing down range, like, which has been official after we came back from the war. Absolutely. We had too a lot of stuff out of there, right? Well, I mean, for example, I mean, I got there in third phase and we were doing Bangalore's. And I might, Bangalore's is just like a very long, anyway, it's like a old war war two day. And I'm like, we shouldn't be doing that. We should be doing loop charges, loophole charges, three footers, C2. All right. So when did you get sick? Oh, that was way, or that was in 1997. Yeah. It's a good story though. Yeah. So it was quite interesting. So we were. This is a team never quit home right here. This is you almost died. So I'm like, yeah, so we were overseas and this kind of thing scares the hell out of people would happen to you. Yeah. Okay, tell us. You're going to take me through this one. Okay. It's a great story. It is. I mean, it's, it's an interesting story. I'm not going to get into some of the other parts, you know, from the personal standpoint. But so we were overseas and at the time we were in Thailand, there's some things going on. I'm not going to get into that. But anyway, we were swimming across one of the rivers and in the Philippines or in those areas, the rivers, you know, their nickname is S H I T River, right? Because everybody utilizes them for a multitude of things, right? So anyways, we're swimming across this thing. I mean, I literally, oh god, there's the hardest part of the story. Yeah. So I felt something slithered down my throat and I, and I'm pretty sure it was, I'm pretty sure it was just a piece of feces, right? Oh, dude. And so I sat there and I was like, I tried to spit it out, but you know, by that time it was too much. So this is straight out of a movie. Just wait. So anyway, so I get back and now we're back in Guam and whatever's inside it is literally just festering, right? And so now I'm back in the United States and I'm about four days into being in the United States and I wake up and my entire aliens. Yeah, like everything is just, it's hard as a rock. I can't breathe. I can't walk upstairs. And so I'm like, something is wrong. And so I check myself into Balboa, dude, this is only, yeah, I'll never get to that. So I check myself into Balboa and they take my blood and they come back, my white blood cell cat was like 30,000,000, I mean, it's like, if you get really, really sick, it's maybe like 10. So mine is like triple. So they thought that I had something really bad. So they put me in a room and they secure me and people are coming in, you know, and they're doing all of these things. And in the meantime, I'm literally just starting to strip away. And I'm like, what is happening? And so the process just keeps going. I went into renal failure. So they come in and they, you know, they're like, do we put them on dialysis? They're like, no, let's just pump them filled with IVs and see what happened. So they did that and thank goodness, you know, my kidneys came back online because that was kind of scary. I'm like, man, what's your own dialysis? I mean, that's it, right? And so that was kind of scary. And then they did a bone marrow biopsy. That came back negative HIV, all of these other types of tests, and they couldn't figure out what was happening. Like in the episode of House. Yeah. And the whole time, I'm literally just deteriorating. Like I mean, I went in probably while getting to that, but I went in pretty heavy. I was probably about two, two 15 to 20 at the time. And I remember I was probably about eight or nine days into it. And it was funny. So Chris shows up and there's two names and they had moved the guy out of the room that I was in. And so he comes in and I see his head, you know, it kind of pops around the corner, kind of looks at me, you know, and looks at the name, looks at me again, walks back and he's like, hey, do you move better, officer Lennick? And they're like, now that's him. And he's like, oh, yeah, that's right. And then he walks in. He's like, man, what's up, man? You look great. And I'm like, I literally just heard you're in our side, you know, talking shit, but anyway, yeah. So about, you know, the ninth of 10th day, you know, the doc comes in and what I love about, you know, military doctors, I just said, hey, you know, you got to be straight with me. Like, what's going on? And he's like, look, we have a multitude of doctors working on you. We have no idea what's going on with you. And I'm like, okay, well, am I going to die? And he goes, if you keep going like this, yes. So I'm like, okay. And I'm like, can you give me a minute? Yeah. So I had a little bit of moment. And then he comes back and I'm like, hey, just keep me comfortable then. And so then the next day, a lady walks in and she's from the CDC and the suit. I can't remember a bubble suit. No, no, no, that was in the beginning. That's so much in the end. Like by this time, everything was like, you're good and everything like that. And so I'm sitting there. I'm like, we have, we think we know what you have. We have a medication. We've never hurt or they, they've got, oh, by this time, yeah, I already have my chest tube. Yeah, my chest tube is in and all that stuff because, oh, yeah, I've got a chest tube, which is, I don't know if anybody's ever had one of those most painful things. It's basically your gutted because they can't give you anything. They can't do anything. It's the worst. You know, put that thing in, crack your rib, and then they put that in, made a mistake. They do that. They had to rip it out. Pull it out. Wait a minute. Which I have no lower lobe. Oh, my gosh. Oh, right. So you only got two on each side? So I have, this one's fine. This one is gone. I didn't know that till really recently, but anyhow, but let me get back to that. So I come back in. They give me the drugs. I have to sign these waivers just in case. Here, sign this is like, there's nothing on it. There will be just in case something starts growing and appendages start popping out. You know, but yeah, that ended up, you know, kind of putting everything back on track. It ended up helping up somebody a little bit later on down the line who was in the same IO that got something similar. But yeah, I think by the time I left, and I mean, I was drinking five, six or sure as a day, or every meal, you know, for like four days before I left. And I was probably about 125, maybe 130 when I went. My gosh. So what did they say it was? They never really figured it out. It was just. It was some type of, it was some type of parasite they just didn't know, like drinking poo. Well, whatever was, it was inside. So it was whatever, whatever, you know, I mean, I don't know, I mean, but anyhow, yeah. So that's so hardcore man. Yeah. It was, it was not really. And I mean, I couldn't, it took me about six months, you know, to get back to normal maybe longer. But I remember I had to do pulmonary function test consistently and I was on the very last one. And the lady looks at me and she goes, if you don't pass this, like your med board. And I mean, I was like, I mean, I was putting his heart in the face, it was about to pop out. You know, I was bulging and I literally, there's a little line and she's like, you're good. And I'm like, I literally passed out because I had no more air left. And then they're like, well, hey, come back every year. And I was like, yeah, sounds good. And so I, it was really, really interesting. So you talk about never quit. So I had to learn. So first, I had to learn how to re-breathe because I wasn't functioning at full capacity. I feel like someone's grabbed you around the chest. So what it is, and it's still to this day, like I'm on an inhaler and some other stuff now. But when I take a deep breath, I can only go to a certain level. And so my left lung feels like it completely can still expand, but it can't. But because of that, I learned how to re-breathe. So first, it started out because I had to go and do, I went right into combat swimmer. So after I was healed up. Of course you did. Good for you. Exactly. So now I'm kind of like stick his ass underwater. Right. So I stay at like nine feet. And I'm kind of like, okay. And then I would go a little deeper and I'm testing because this thing has to close on its own. You can't, there's no sutures. It just heals. And you don't know if you're going to get bubbles in there. So I'm like, okay. So I was diving. So I'm like, okay, I'm good. Like diving is good. Then the next thing was jumping. So now I'm like, okay. Well, I want to go free. Just get it out of the way. So now I get up to there. And I'm like, okay. And there's no paint. All right. Jump out of airplanes. I'm okay. Right. And so then I had to learn how to re-breathe because when I ran, I couldn't take a full breath. So I learned how to shallow breathe. When I was swimming, I learned how to shallow breathe. So I've never been able to breathe the same senses. And it was funny because when I was getting out of the military and I was going through the process, I brought that up to my SMO and he goes, whoa. So he sends me over to Trippler in Hawaii. And I go through all of these tests. And the kernel that's put me through this test is like, okay, this is just really, really strange. He's like, why didn't you ever go back? And I'm like, but I didn't want to get booted out of the military. And he goes, so how long is it better? And I'm like, well, I did an extra 20 years. So I would say that I'm good. I don't know. It's about 20 years. I'm like, I think I'm good, right? And so he gets me on the machine and I mean, my inhalation and exhalation is horrible. Ciao, Dilpacha Nostro podcast. So thanks to Babel, I'm finally learning Italian. And guess what? You can too. Once you sign up, you'll be amazed at how quickly you can start speaking any language and we're talking as little as three weeks. So why Babel? It's simple. Babel delivers results. Their 10 minute little bite-sized lessons are created by over 150 experts who really want to help you understand and engage in real-life conversations. 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I've got a five and a seven millimeter couple of tumors in my right lung, but they're not sure if it's, you know, cancer or if it's just from all the scarring. Because you know, over the years, technology's gotten better. And so if you just did a quick X-ray, you wouldn't see it. But because they're able to do all those 360 scans, they were able to find those. So they could have probably been there forever. So I got to go do another one. They're going to figure out if it's grown and they'll do a biopsy. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Yeah, so you know, it's kind of funny. But yeah, the process of all of that, you know, and then getting out, becoming an officer. And then my, my first trip, you know, I went over to Southeast Asia again or Southwest Asia. And I ran Sri Lanka, moldized India in several other countries while I was over there. And that was phenomenal. Because I learned a lot from that perspective. I was in embassies a lot. So, you know, I started going back to school, learning a lot about, you know, diplomacy. And several other courses that I went through because now I was sitting in front of very high-ranking individuals. And so, as you will know, you go to different countries and you're at that capacity, anything you say or do, you know, can be an international incident. And so, you know, I wanted to make sure that I was very solidified in having those discussions. Oh, that's not just a phrase. That's happened. All of our, I mean. Oh, yeah. And so... Team guys are notorious for that. Well, what was great about is, at one point, we were working with the Indian Navy. And, you know, we were doing this big, massive exercise with them. And... It was quite interesting because we're sitting in there. And we wanted to work with their special forces. But it was very difficult because India is a very interesting country, right? They... You have to go and meet with individuals. You have to get... You know, everything has to get put in the minutes that you're going to train with them. You know, because they train with several different others. And they don't want to act like they're, you know, partial to one or the other. Which is, you know, that's diplomacy, 101. And so, we're sitting and we go on to the main Indian boat. And the commanding officer or the CEO of the Indian... Was... When it was either in our Buds class or... Oh, you had some of those? Right. Or we train with him at some point because he sees me. And he'd like... I don't know where they're talking. Everything's fine. And then he's like... Matthew! And he's like... And so we start talking. And like, he's like, how have you been? You know, how is so-and-so, and so-and-so? And I'm like... This is just incredible. And so, from that point on, I told him why what was going on... Three weeks later, we were, you know, in the end... I'll tell you what, man. You don't think about it when we're going through that. Because of all the different people we get to interrupt with and work with. Sure. I mean, because they move on, too. Yeah. And what's interesting is... And what they become is... Well, they're like... They do similar. They're kind of like our... You know, they do their time and then they have to go up through the process. Right. The difference between them is they don't stay in special operations like our officers do. They have to go up into the Indian fleet and they do all of those types of things. Right? So it's a little bit of a different, you know, beast. But, you know, coming out from there, I said, hey, I'm going to do this deployment. Because it was an ass, because Guam was a very... It was hard to get war officers out there, right? And to be able to run those AOs. And I said, okay, well, if I take that, then I want assaults at trade at one. And they're like, absolutely. And so I was able to do that. So I came back, did trade at assaults for a little while. Which is our training department and assault teams. Yeah, on the west coast. Sorry. For the people that don't know that. But what was even more interesting is the time, the admiral, which was Losi, he wanted to get back in the water. Great man. He wanted to get back in the water. And no one at trade at had the skill sets that I had because team one was the water jungle team. So I'm sitting in there and I'm starting to hear the rumblings of, you know, I think they're going to pull you over to maritime. And I'm like, I don't think so. Anyway, a couple days later, you know, the OIC of trade at pulls me to his office. He's like, man, I'm like, you're going to put me in there, aren't you? Listen. You know, it tries to. He tried to sugarcoded, but to be honest with you, I mean, again, God's timing. It was the perfect setup for me to get a lot of experience because even during that time, went out to SDV several times. Yeah. And it set me up for, you know, the next 10 years, nine, I'm sorry, nine years that I spent over and why. You finished up there. I did. Is that nine years? I went over there. It was quite interesting. So it's a funny story. So I was actually had a completely different assignment after I finished because I took maritime to the next level. I mean, I got rid of some of the guys that I brought in some extremely town, a lot of talent. Guys that had done real world over OTVs, the damn Nick, guys that were taking real world takedowns, you know, overseas, you know, like Matt ran in all of those guys. So I brought in magnificent talent. I helped Bobby Hall out a lot because, you know, he was taking the blunt of it because he went over there and he was the SCA and unfortunately the person that was in there before me wasn't really. And, you know, we had a great crew. We had a good, a good team of guys. And so, you know, bringing in all that technology and taking it to the next level. We started off the 21st century frogman, which really took things to the next level. But, you know, that's what all of our guys when we got back. I mean, the war was just ended, but once the guys who came off the line, we had to rotate into something. They were right, rotated into making the community better. Yeah, I think it was phenomenal. I think, you know, during that time frame, it was just it took our organization to the next level. And it also took it to where anybody could work with anybody. You know, the foundation was the foundation was phenomenal. So you could have so many different people doing so many different things. But I got recruited to go out to Hawaii to be the, to be the OIC of trade-up. Trade-up three. And so, but when I got out there, they had just shifted group three out to Hawaii. So they were minimally manned. And so the Commodore is a good buddy of mine at the time. He had different ideas. And so he, as I was doing the onboarding process, he's like, hey, Matt. I know you're out here to be the trade-up, you know, OIC, but we don't have an N32. What's that mean? The N32 is a guy that runs all of the training for all of NSW group three. It's like the N32 runs all the training from the group level and oversees all the trade-ups, all the teams. It's the same thing, right? And so I said, okay, well, East Coast, West Coast, you got about eight or nine guys, right? And so I'm like, that sounds fantastic. You know, how many guys do I have? You know, under my command, or how many guys am I going to be running? And he goes, well, if you look in a mirror, there'll be two of you. And I'm like, hey, it will mean we're going to mirror. So I'm sitting here. So yeah, so I was like, okay, that's interesting, right? Because we're just building it. There's a lot of things that have to happen. And so I was very fortunate. It was a gentleman. He may have been there when you were there, Ian. So, you know, he just happened to be in there. And that guy had been in this community for quite some time. So he was really my saving grace. He was really my mentor. He kind of, he basically gave me about 10 years of undersea, you know, professional development in about six months. And I had to build out the entire training pipeline, working with, you know, trade it. But I mean, I was like, I had to rebuild all the doctrine. You know, to keep me sure everything was good. Because they were really fundamentally, they were, they were training. If something would have happened, a lot of people would have fried. Because they weren't really following a lot of the types of procedures that needed to be followed when you talk about from a war comm standpoint. And so, you know, we brought in the N32. You know, I did a lot of great things there for four years. You know, changed kind of like how we were doing everything. You know, East Coast, West Coast. And then, you know, STV Team 2 popped up. A lot of things were going on. And then after four years of that, the Commodore who came in, who again was one of my greatest mentors. He was like, hey, I want you to be my trade at three OIC. And so, the last three years, I was the trade at three OIC and, you know, running all the training for the guys that were doing it during this massive restructure. So, I got there and I kind of started some of the process as the N32. So, rolling into the OIC was very simple. And so, I came in and, you know, we were, at that point, we divested of two massive organizations. Group 3, Group 10. We started to build out Group 8. My job was to build out the entire training side of things. So, not only were we building out trade at eight. And we were East Coast, West Coast, and Hawaii. Because now, we've gotten multitude of training pipelines everywhere. But also, we were consuming the advanced training command. So, we took over both the STV schoolhouse, which had never been done. Because that is a Netsy course, which is Naval Education Training, which is ran by the center. But myself and another warrant, we did all the legwork. And I didn't see the fruition of it, but I did all that legwork to get that done. And by the time I left, I think I was retired for about maybe a couple months. And I got a call from the incoming OIC. And he's like, hey, we consumed a great job. And so, now we run both the schoolhouses on the East and West Coast, which is the first time that an ever-and-operational command has ever took control of a Netsy. That's so cool. Yeah, so it was great. It was good. I mean, I found my passion in mentorship. And really, you know, building guys, because I had five or six guys. Because I went through and got my bachelor's and master's while I was the OIC of trade at the same time. Plus, a ton of certifications. And so, in that process, I pushed my guys. And I had five or six guys get their bachelor's, multiple guys get their master's, a lot of guys going and getting certifications and project management. Because I was like, hey, you know, what you're doing now is great, but you want to get that education. You want to set yourself up. And that really set me up for the job that I'm doing now. And so, talk about, I mean, you did all these things in the Steel Teams over a span of 30 years. Yeah. And you get out, and it is hard to transition. Yeah. So, for me, I started transitioning in 2018. I knew there was a possibility that I was going to get out in 2022. Right? Because if I made W5, yeah. But the problem was, is the calculation shifted. And so, it used to be three to four, or I'm sorry, four to five was four years, and then it shifted to five years. And so, I was like, mmm. So, really, it's like, I would have had a look at September of my very last year, and if I didn't make it, then I was out in November. Are we going over time? Yeah. Right. So, I was out in November. So, I was like, there's a possibility I'm not going to make W5. So, in 2018, I got with my uncle Patrick, who very smart individual and has been in the leadership development realm. I mean, that guy ran some of the most incredible things. And he was one of my biggest mentors. When my grandfather died, he took over as my mentor, and I was 18. And that guy had just been my mentor throughout my entire life. He's been, he kind of became my father figure. And he's from Texas. So, yeah, he lives, he just lives a couple hours from here. But he spent the last, I mean, when he retired in 2010 before that, he was 15 years in South, or in, in Bahrain. So, he was working for a Ramco. And so, he was a professional development guy. Anyway, he's like, I told him what I wanted to do. And he said, okay, well here, let's, let's figure out what school you want to go to. So, I got my degrees in leadership and development, masters in strategic. And then he connected me with some incredible CEOs that were prior military, that built incredible companies. And so, they became... Oh, there's a network. Oh, yeah. So, they became my mentors. We're all the guys still in. Yeah. Some of these guys, one guy was, you know, he was a, you know, he was an Apache pilot and started an incredible company. Several others, right? And during this process, as, you know, I meant them. And it was more like, just to pick the brain. But then, you know, I realized I'm like, no, I'm asking them to be my mentor. This is before I went to the Honor Foundation. So, they became my mentors. And then they're like, I would recommend this school. And I would recommend this. And I didn't do it to get the certification. What I did was to be able to transfer all the things that I learned in the military. And then be able to transfer into the civilian sector. So, when I went through, like, I'm, you know, I'm a certified project manager, Lane Six Sigma Black Belt. I mean, you know, project, all of these things, right? But what I did was I, as I was going through these schools, I realized, oh, we do that. Like, I'm a scrub, agile scrub mat, all that stuff, right? But the reason why I did that was to really kind of understand organizational speak. And so, I was doing through that process. And these guys were phenomenal. I mean, I have, like, a 45-minute conversation with, you know, Martin Goldsmith, you know, who's one of the... I mean, these are the people that my uncle knew. And so, then the Honor Foundation presented itself. And at this point, I realized I was getting out. So, I went to the Honor Foundation, which was phenomenal. And crushed that class. And then that built another entire network. And then, I was getting ready to get out. And I think I would say I was about a year out. And I had multiple opportunities. I mean, what was interesting is when I was going through the Honor Foundation, you know, they build out your resume and they do all these things. So, what I did was I sent those to all the mentors. They all looked at them and they said, hey, let's get on a Zoom call. Those all turned into job opportunities. That's awesome. Which was, I was like, okay, so I'm set there. Then Brent and I started talking and started having a conversation. And the difference between a lot of those other entities was Brent's like, you can run everything that you want to do. You can do, you know, you'll be my VP of programs. But you can also do keynote speaking. You can also do this. You can do that. So, everything that I wanted to do and everything that I, you know, that my master's degrees and all of these things, it gave me the opportunity to utilize them all. And so, as I was going through this process, I think the hardest thing I had to do was go back to those other individuals and say thank you for the opportunity. But I'm going to go this route and they were totally fine and we're still great friends now and we still bounce things off one another. That's actually better that you're going to do that. Yes. I suppose you're just leaving it blank. Right. And so, from there, anybody listening, I know it seems easier and you would think that. Right. But I mean, take the time. So, there's a lot of people that didn't do it, right? And I saw that. And so, now I'm mentoring a lot of guys that are getting out, you know, and then if you go on my LinkedIn page, I wrote, you know, kind of some of the things that I learned on the way out. And it's really kind of, you know, some steps on the things that I did in it. That's been helping a lot of guys. I've had a lot of Zoom calls, helping a lot of guys through, you know, their transition coming out of the military. And so, for me, it's like kind of giving back. I'm working with the Honor Foundation. I'll be doing a couple of events for them coming up. And so, and our, you know, we're trying to get, taking point leadership. You know, we kind of partnered. We talked to punky and several other guys. So, you know, we're going to be doing some stuff with them. But it's been great. I mean, the company is phenomenal. It's a little bit different. I mean, we do long leadership programs. We're talking 10 months, 12 month programs. With taking leadership? Yeah, with taking point leadership, which is the company that I am now. And Brent is phenomenal. He's written a couple books that have done incredible, you know, and, you know, the companies that we work with are very high caliber organizations. And they really, really want to change. And I think one of the things that our company has been really good at. We've never had an organization stop in the middle. They've always wanted to do more stuff after the fact. And so, we have several companies that continue. We've worked with one of the companies for like six years, seven years. Have you ever found yourself grappling with changes in your insurance coverage? Or facing the challenges of losing Medicaid? We get it. It can be tough. That's where GoodRx steps in. Your trusty sidekick ready to simplify prescription savings. And guide you through coverage shifts like a pro. Here's the scoop on how GoodRx is changing the game. You can score discounts of up to 80% on all regular retail prescription prices. No, it's not magic. It's GoodRx. GoodRx is the free ticket to savings. All you got to do is search for your prescription on the easy peasy website or app. Then just flash your discount at practically any pharmacy counter. And voila, savings unlocked. 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There's guys that have been out long enough. If they have the opportunity, you definitely because that program is phenomenal. The Honor Foundation is phenomenal. We're actually looking at getting one of the guys that works for Honor Foundation to come on the show and be able to explain. Yeah, I mean, you got some great guys on there. I mean, punkies out there too. Yeah. You know, pigs is on there. You've got Bob Newman is also on there. You've got a lot of great guys on there. And, you know, you know, both of them. I mean, Bob Newman used to work for an organization, you know, consulting firm. So, he knows a lot about that. What I would tell guys is your value is 10 times what you think it is. Because organizations, just for me, working with a lot of organizations, the reason why we're doing what we're doing is because there's a lot of gaps in leadership in big companies and big organizations. And not only that, you have a lot of up and coming organizations too that are growing so rapidly and they're not able to do, right, because they're young, CEOs are young. They need a lot, you know, we do a lot of executive coaching now as well. Within our organization, so, you know, we're doing some coaching with some, you know, high level CEOs and senior executives, you know, not just from the, you know, development programs that we do, but, you know, we're able to kind of, you know, get a lot of leadership development from that standpoint. And so, you know, you learn from them and the more you work with CEOs and senior executives, the more knowledge that you gain, right? So again, what I would say is, you know, get yourself smart on organizational speak is what I like to call it because what you'll realize is everything we do in the military, they do in this civilian sector, but we do it way better. We just don't know the terminology and we really don't understand, you know, the difference, right? But once you start going to these certifications, which, by the way, the military pays for, the Navy Cool Program will pay for all of those certifications. So you can go through the Navy Cool, you can get, you know, human resources, you can get project management, you can get Lean Six Sigma, and the military pays for all of that, right? And then, of course, you can get your education, your bachelor's degree, your master's degree, through the military, they pay for it. If you can do it while you're in, which is what I did, so I did it through, you know, I did TA, Twissons Assistance, and then I gave my wife, you know, and she got her master's through what I heard from the other days, like, hey, maybe the Navy is going to work here, or you can work the Navy. So what I did the last four years is I took advantage of everything the Navy had to offer. And that's it, you can do that, that's what it's there for. I mean, you work hard, it's just a regular life, and you can also get everything out of it too. And what I will tell you guys is, it's not difficult, and it's attainable. You just have to take the first step. Once it becomes part of your battle rhythm, it's easy, because right now you can get degrees, masters, whatever, military pays for it. You can get it anywhere in the world. Right? And there's organizations and colleges that are out there that are going to work with you. I mean, we had people that were deployed, we had people on ships, we had people everywhere. I remember guys studying at the school of the middle of combat. Right. Absolutely. And so when somebody said they got them to combat, they were more worried about a test they had to take. We laid up in a building, getting shot at, and the guys over there studying something. Yeah. But again, that's also that mental fortitude, right? You really have to kind of, but again, once it becomes part of your battle rhythm, it comes very easy. So I would say is, get out there, learn that organizational speak, realize what you have to offer. I think what was even, to be honest with you, what's even more interesting is when you go through these programs, and what I found, you know, just fascinating is you have O5s and O6s that are like, I don't know what I want to do when I get out of the military. And to me, I'm like, you are way behind the power. That'd be scary. That's scary. But I think once they get out there and they start doing it, but I mean the more that you can educate yourself on how big organization works, and you know, getting a great mentor, I mean, Brent Gleason is one of the greatest mentors I've ever had from a standpoint because he's just, he's got a lot of knowledge because he's ran multiple companies. You know, he's built and sold organizations. And why he wrote his book was because he saw all the gaps because he owned a company and he worked with so many companies. And so he took the leadership fundamentals and his book is phenomenal. And so learn organizational speak but also never, I mean, what we've learned from the leadership fundamentals and how we organize and how we do things, they just don't have that in the private sector. So guys, even if you start out, and what I also will say is like negotiate, negotiate, negotiate, right? Because the reality is is, you know, if you're a senior senior leader within NSW and you go out there, they're going to try to lowball you. So know your worth and then negotiate. So like one of the things that I said was I said, well, hey, what do you think my, what do you think? And you know, he came in just exactly what I wanted. So I was fine with that. But you know, some people are going to be like, well, hey, what about this? And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, you're crazy. Right? So you can negotiate because the reality is you're going to move up in that company really, really fast. Because you just have that drive, you have that mindset, you're going to, you're going to see, but it's better to go in with open eyes, then blinders, and then opening up those blinders as you move forward. So it's better to go in, you know, just like anything else, if you're going to do a mission, know your playing field. So how can people find, like, help you with the plug that you can give for the company that you play? So the great thing about, so the company is called taking point leadership, you know, it's a consulting firm. We work with incredible organizations. There's a couple books, which I mean, you probably heard one is taking point leadership. The other one is embrace the suck, which is the other book that he wrote, which is also a great book. But we also have taking point academy, which we just launched, which is you get an actual certification in change leadership, which is phenomenal. And then you get private coaching and some other things in there. We do a lot of things like that. But again, go to our website. And then from there, just just take a look at that. And I think, you know, it's very, the website is really easy. We just rebuilt the entire website. We just did a lot of rebranding. And so the company itself is, we have not only CEOs, we also have some top done pilots. We have a lot of consultants that come in. And we have just, like I said, we've most of the organizations we work with, we consistently continue to work with. Do you like it? I like it. So I think I found, like I said earlier, I found that calling when I was actually at STVs, I found that calling of just really building, you know, taking people not only building them professionally, but also personally. Yeah. But being able to bring those two together. And so I really found that passion. And then of course, going through that school and doing all those things. I mean, I just loved it. And so now going into this, I mean, I do it because I love it. I mean, the reality is I don't have to work. But I do it because I love the job. And it's just a different perspective now because now I'm working with people that understand that. And they realize that leadership is so important in these big, huge major companies. And so, you know, when you see these people and they're just hungry for that. And our organization is phenomenal. And I build all the programs out. And that's the one thing we do differently. Our programs are built out. They're custom designed. So we get all of that information that these companies will do. So they do a lot of things that we get. We grab all of that, you know, data that we get from them. And then I take all that data and we build out a custom. So it's it's designed for that organization specifically. And so that is what I think is is a lot different from a lot of the organizations that are out there. It's awesome. A little shout out to Honor Foundation because I have my little sister working with them. Haley. A phenomenal organization. Yeah, Haley loves it. And I just. Best evens the CEO is phenomenal. You know, loves what he does, cares about that. So, and what's even more now is not only is the Honor Foundation open to NSW, but it's also open to Army, Green Beret, anybody that's SF and anybody that works within SF. So like even if, you know, you're in it, if you're an enabler and you've been in that organization for a long time, they will help you, which I think is phenomenal. So they've they've really opened up their aperture. They're all over the place. East Coast, West Coast and several other locations. And so yeah, you've just their phenomenal. We're so glad to hear that you're doing well and it's good to see you. They moved out here. Texas too. Yes. How's the family digging it? I told you it's hot in August and September. Well, you know, it's really interesting because because and this is when we talk about faith. So our move was completely faith lit. You know, Val and I, you know, the the family is doing phenomenal. You know, my older boy, you know, he's still into MMA and boxing and doing a lot of that. We go to a UFC gym here locally. So they're doing great. You know, my daughter, Viana, if you guys haven't seen her singing, she is phenomenal. She's she's incredible. So she is about ready to start. She just got a part in James in the giant peach, which she's going to be doing. And then the little one does gymnastics. But anyway, so when we decided to move here, which was interesting, you know, we put our house on the market right at the right time. And you know, we prayed about it. And we knew we were coming to Texas. We just didn't know where. And it was funny because I got a phone call from you. Got a phone call from Charlie. When I was I was actually fasting. And I was kind of like, where do I go in Texas? And then I get a phone call from you. And then like three hours later, I get a phone. And both of you guys are like, hurt or tired coming to Texas. I said, and I remember looking over in Val and I'm like, we're going to Houston. Oh my gosh. And so we started looking for houses here. And it was the same thing because we bought our house side unseen, as you well know. Yeah. And we bought our car side unseen. And so the people that we sold our house to in Texas were a faith-based family. The people here were a faith-based family. We took a less offer there. They took a less offer here. We closed on the six. We closed here on the 15th. So for 10 days we're in a hotel. We're not sure. Didn't have a car. Because none of that had come to fruition. Because we'd given our cars to the church. And to other people in Hawaii. And what was interesting is like, I thought, oh, it's going to be easy to get a car here. It was not. And we were literally in the hotel. And then a guy calls and was like, hey, I have a car you're looking for. You know, it's a 2019. We utilize it for here. But if you want it, you got to buy it right now. So vowels at the pool with the kids. And so I didn't even ask. I just bought the car completely side unseen. And then, yeah, we just, we came in and, you know, there's the house. And we stayed with you guys for a few days. Yeah. But that was all just told. I mean, moving with six kids. Or I'm sorry, with a family of six and a couple animals. Easiest move ever. Everything was completely smooth. It was just totally led by the Lord. Have you moved from Hawaiian to tune? Total faith. Oh, yeah. So it was a little hot. Yeah, open you get here. We were totally fine. Yeah, we love it here. I mean, you know, we're doing our polls almost done in the backyard. You know, we're building out a pool. We're doing a lot of stuff. Yeah. Well, thanks for having you guys. It's been amazing. We got a good crew here now. We do have a good crew. It's phenomenal. There's more and more people moving over here. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. So, anyhow, so that's kind of, that's kind of where I'm at. So I've had an, it's been an incredible 30 years. And I, you know, I love what I'm doing now. And that'll be incredible. And just love what I'm doing. This is fun part now. This is fun part. This is fun part. You know, and I get to work 85% for home, Mama home schools. So it's a lot of time with the family. That's, that's good. That's awesome. It's awesome. Yeah, thank you so much for coming down. We really appreciate this talk. And thank you everybody for listening in. We really appreciate you. If you do have any suggestions on any guests that you like to see us do, please just hit us up on Instagram. You can go to team underscore never quit or comment on YouTube. Do whatever to do. We want to hear your suggestions. That being said, see you next week.