467: All It Takes Is All You Got. Risking it All For The People. With Chad Robichaux
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This is joke potestate for sixty seven with echo s and me, joko willink. The previous day, we'd visited mass graves, whole sections of forest cleared of trees with long, deep pits, curbed out of the soil and filled with bodies as many as fifteen hundred people on each. Nearly all that I saw were women, children with their hands bound .

behind their backs.

They'd all been shot. The head, some of the bodies had been burned, or at least someone had attempted to set fire to them, which is what people do when they want to cover up a mass execution. But bodies don't burn. Well, crimes like that are hard to hide.

Having seen those mass graves, I appreciated the few having a few moments to polls and think about and pray while we waited on in our land cruiser at the side of the country road, quiet buzz around our little internet cafe was interrupted when sea sprayed phone ring. In addition to gathering evidence about possible war crimes committed by russian troops, we were looking for a wounded and captured U. S.

marine. AmErica wasn't in the war, not officially at least. But my guess was that there was as many as four thousand former us.

Service men. Doing what they could do in ukraine. Some, like the marine hood, been caught by the russians at come to fight. Others, like sea brain me, had just come to help.

We Carry no guns and rode around the country and are specially modified vehicle rescuing people who couldn't rescue themselves and providing ukrainian troops with whatever support we could. Sometimes that was as simple as free medical supplies, some of the t fastest free wifi on the planet, and a double strength expresso c spray called, didn't last long. They lost comes, he said, nobody knows where he is now.

IT was not the news either of us wanted to hear, and the marines chances of rescue were now practically zero, but there wasn't time to discuss IT. Almost immediately, we heard the familiar whistle of incoming russian artillery, followed by the devastating wmf as IT exploded behind us, shaking the ground beneath our feet. Then seconds later, another one, this time even closer, the troops scattered in sea, spray and eye, took, took cover next to the nearby building.

Another round came in. Then a third and a fourth. The international fire was getting near with every explosion. Soon he was close enough to our position for us to see clouds of dirt spring out from the blast.

IT was heavy artillery y the kind where every impact sends a blast of pressure that rattles through your body, shake your brain and takes air from your lungs. Neither sea spray nor I spoke unarmed and protected by only level four ballistic vests and gator ballistic eyewear. We turned our backs to the wall and watch carefully as the ukraine an soldiers organize themselves to repel the attack.

None of them appeared anxious, but the russian gunfire got closer, still so close that the ukrainians engaged in small arms fire. And I could hear the sound of A K forty seven springs functioning as they fired. The russians couldn't have been more than one hundred yards away, maybe closer.

And that right there is an expert from a book called a mission without borders, why a father and son risked all for the people of ukraine. And it's written by chad Roberts. He is a force recon marine who also served in afghanistan, is part of a joint special Operations task force, j.

soc. He's the founder of the mighty ok's ranch foundation, which helps the veterans and first responders overcome combat trauma. He's the coal founder of save our allies and nonprofit that focuses on the evacuation of americans and our allies and other vulnerable people from war torn countries or hostile environments.

He helped coordinate the rescue of seventeen thousand people from afghanistan, including his interpreter and friend. As these, he's written blocks a book called savingly, his ease, a book called an unfair advantage and another one fight for us. And he has a podcast called the resilient show.

He is a black belt in jujitsu. He's been on this podcast before episode three seventy five. If you hadn't listen to that, go have a listen to hear his background and his origin story. But he's back here with us tonight to share his experiences from his latest, latest lessons learned and his latest endeavors around the world. So CD, thanks for come a back.

man. Thanks, thanks, thanks you.

Glad you avoided some of this. Some of this incoming heavy artillery come in your way.

yeah. Did not expect that when we went into ukraine but I mean, he wasn't a surprise, a very hostile environment as soon as one hundred thousand troops across in the ukraine and we just felt really burden to go and and initially just to help americans that will left in the when this first started um put put one hundred thousand troops in order and and we flex one of the things that happened was the White else made the decision to remove our our embassy our consulate in our our U.

S. Troops and we were there only hundred sixty but enough to to be a threat to article by violation in keep put that bay and the White house gave a Green light for russia to come through. And when we seen that happened, we knew that they were moving out our, our, our U.

S. Government officials before our surveyors and at in the four time we see that last couple of years. And so we knew we need to be there to help americans. So aboriginally the the effort washes to go and remove americans off the what .

you would be a battlefield. You talk about the book, talk about you basically like this isn't a book about the politics of ukraine and there's a bunch of different arguments and bunch of different directions on that. Sure um but you know from my perspective, what I what I get from you is it's like whether is war, there are people that are hurting, there are people that are suffering and obviously the americans is who you focus on first but then even after that, there are more people that are need help. There are more people that need food, water, transportation, life, medical treatment, all kinds of things, things and that's what you guys that's where you've seen that what you know and that's where you go and try help out with yeah.

when we first know I made in a real big, pointed to begin at the book to to make a point of the not being a op tics book, not sharing that side of the issue because i'm a very strong, conservative and a Christian.

So a lot of people from my world would writing me like, what do you doing crane? Like the wednesday corrupt, there's we're in hundreds ons of dollars there and it's been putting this corrupt machine like what even doing help in their um and my point is so when's c Price is corrupt? And so as every politician, most politicians at the begin of time, I I read a history book so we should change me surprised by that but whether that our politics get the way of compassion for people, we surprise, change our politics, right?

I mean, the people that are victims of the corruption that people are against, which i'm against IT as well, or or innocent human lives in in ukraine has been over hundred main. I mean, over, i'm sorry, over a main death at this point. And these are these people and say they are the victims of this corruption.

And I believe this work can be end in twenty four hours. I I believe that by the time this poke cash releases IT maybe may be over a IT may be negotiated, be over. But look, I didn't go there for present by in presence, asking anyone else with their help, people that could help themselves.

And so our team, and that was, we put all that aside. In fact, we worked with our with our U. S.

Government to do a lot of this stuff as a surrogate, as a fourth option. One of the effort, as I do this under called forth option for those who don't know of the U. S.

Government, has a protocol for people, americans or people, vulnerable people that are trapped other countries. First option would be diplomacy. Second would be military action.

Third option would be a covert action. In a first option would be a surrogate outside the government and notification ioc active. And those things happen all the time. But great patrons who have access in placement and different places around the world create that and work with the agency, the central intelligence agency, through the solo special Operators on officers to the pennon to say, hey, we're in this area. We have the capability, uh, we could either do what the government can't or won't do, and we working the island with that.

So is very important for NGO that work in the capacity to to to have those relationships are in order to deconstruct t because the lasting in NGO and our government organza and humAnitary rescue ever t wants to do is go to the front door while debt groups coming in the back door and and create a conflict. Um so you want to be decomposed ting those things. So we worked very closely with our government. Our government has been a strong partner with us in afghanistan there, evacuations in ukraine in other areas around the world that we we're working right now that haven't read books about and talked about.

Yeah, it's another vote against bureaucracy because a lot of times what slows up the government is government bureaucracy. They just can't make things happen fast enough where as if you have a very organization like years, you can just flip and make things happen.

which is I could do things faster and I could do things cheaper, a lot cheaper, but and much more effective. We talk a lot this book about about, I mean, we were in, we were in a crack, a pole and and a the a special mission unit in poland and was delta force, and they were we knew a lot of the guys that we were sitting on hanging out with him up and dinner, and they were just chopping at a bit, want to grow across the border.

So our guys want to go across the border in the ukrainean, but the White house was allowing them to. And um and so we are able to just an Operation comes up a rescue. We are able to just coordinate right with that solo especial Operations lays on after a roll across the border and and go get that done where you know we take days, weeks to get approval for them, roll across. We were able to just happen a car ago.

the ultimate red tape avoidance. Yeah the first because you know and when when you're in the military, you could do something like in five minutes you would like, oh, I can go outside and grab this thing or do this thing right now. Take us five minutes.

But once you start running that concept of Operations at the chain of command, and it's like all there's going to start asking questions that don't really matter and all making requests that don't make any sense. So he can be really problematic. Just any any big bureaux reaudit tic system is going to be really hard to work and really hard to maneuver.

And they're not going to be nimble and they're going to need permissions because they not willing to take risks. And there is a there is also a huge difference between, you know, some guys from the U. S.

Army get rolled up or shot up. Yeah, that's a, that's an international incident, escalation of war. Where is no offense? Pro, yeah, some random, uh, you know, american that's over there doing god's work gets blown up as I get that too bad, but doesn't really interfere with international politics.

right? Yeah, he chose to be there is there was his choice. And yeah, it's that's a very convenient thing. I say a fourth option is a very convenient thing for the government. There's no contract actual relationship.

There's no money exchanged as soon as money would be exchange a contract to the government now in a four option anymore, because now IT comes with the restrictions tapes to bureaucracy. So that also gives them A A complete like a this association with. And they like that. The best example I could give at the whole book was a rescue amendment ment hall.

which I am that sure if you want to talk. Yeah, let's get into the book a little bit. So this whole thing kicks often, obviously, is a huge underline theme in this book, which is you're going to war with your son, which is, you know, pretty, pretty craze to read about.

So go to the book here over over four hundred twenty twenty to two days after the announcement of the withdraw of U. S, S. From ukraine, bin flinch for a second time.

He announced the closer the U. S. Embassy in kev and evacuated the last of the american diplomats after a months of put and flexing on the border order, seemed inevitable that russia would invade ukraine.

That's when I got the call, the moon. I saw series name on my phone. I knew what he would be calling about.

Sera varo was a co founder of save our allies. This could only really be about one thing you're going to ukraine. ine.

SHE said that how should he talks to you? You say, I am. He said, yeah. C sprayed there. He says, the invasion is gonna en any day.

We want you to be there to prepare for when that happens, because when the invasion starts, we're going to want to be able to move people out. We talked about the details a little, and I told her our top of sea per seems I could reach him. But there wasn't need to say much more at this point.

I could feel my heart burning with that old familiar feeling to take action and help to. What I need most of all was to get to my easy prey. And you go on to say, you also to talk, talk to Cathy, your wife, about everything that you have going on. You ve got to be getting at least a little .

bit tired of you. Just, I was still like, burned out from afghanistan. Afghani, an was the worth role as yes is emotional, physical, emotional. I was just also parked out and so I was not expecting and I wants to doing thing like this and .

um and plus you have stuff gone on at home. We got the my ox foundation, which is awesome organza. And actually it's you know, I have called you yeah a multiple times and said, hey, I got a situation going on with somebody. I need help and you guys are sort of my fourth option.

You know, I run out of my options of like what do you talk to the V A? You talk, of course, I tried to help people and talking, but I don't know what i'm doing um and then you my forth option is like I want to call you guys and you guys I ve done a great job of reaching out to people, going to get people and taking care of people that are really not a good spot, veterans that are not a good spot. So I appreciate that from the bottom.

My heart, what you've done for some of my friends has been awesome. So so you have that going on. Yes, and the rest of your life going on. And meanwhile you get a frequent random called that says, hey, you're going to ukraine. How does you I feel about this when this .

when this happens?

You know what you got into and SHE married.

your done. I think so. I mean, I was, you know, we met when we were seventeen, eighteen. He also go through sea and come we come rain and SHE through all the deployment, ts, and all that stuff. So I think at the end of afghanistan, and I talked about this last time, was in a show.

SHE was like after the height a and and a moster report when I wanted to jastrow to do the river Operation SHE was like, you're pushing IT too for and as I talk about this is a book like I get just like you I get asked to do a me in different things. And what people read about is like me. I talk about is the things I do do people don't see all the things I say no to as they know a lot of things.

So I don't i'm that opportunities that know war kicks off and i'm like russia ding go to israel. I was asked five hundred times, like literally five hundred times to go to I venn went. So I don't just do things to just jump in. But if i've really feel my hearts burden and god's burden in my heart and you know, I have a process to go through, I pray about IT. I talk to matters.

And people have around me in my life that this good accountability, I talk to Cathy, and if all those things check, and I feel like guys open the doors and i'll go if the doors are closing, I don't person way through, and there would be my eagle of my dear. I want to be involved in these things and and I don't have anything to prove that i've done my diplo afghanistan. I've I, i've got to do all the things that want to do.

So I feel like I could be of help and it's not for me. Then i'll do IT. And with this, I really felt burden to go.

I I really did. And in c spray is someone i'm very close to love, the guy. He's one the most incredible human beings. Every I knew he is out there days before, like the invasion in in ukraine, who was out thereby himself. He anted me to be there and and know he's one of those guys. I'm sure you have brothers like that they call and say, you go, yeah, i'm going to go and and that was the circumstances. And Kathy action, this one SHE to push back and was pretty support of SHE was not so supportive when her comes in the picture.

Um so fast for a little talk about spray c space know sounds like a sounds like a real care never met before a Greenberry. Yeah, he was. He did a bunch of stuff there with the the military inside of our O G. A. So he's your .

experience ranch. I to let you know who he is as you hear these things, to get to ground branch, a more time branch, just matter up qualified. It's like a lot of me too, right? You got everything I know. October educated, incredible human being is a dream job, you know, to be a precision rescue Operator, a parameter officer, more time bridge. And then he goes to afghanistan, help us with withdraw.

He, he took vacation, say he was sAiling, gets caught there by agency, and they tell them, hey, you have to go home like we love you slap on a rist you got a, you can't be here doing this humAnitary rescue like you ve got to go home and to get. He resigned. He resigned from this career that like most people put out their hand off, or him included, to help people, they couldn't help themselves in a country at his zone.

I mean, the guy in ten days at h chair, he lost seven pounds because he ouldn't stop the drank water. Him and his good name shown, like, walked at the gate to get these little girls. Two taliban shot, two graduate.

And when they step right over them, kept going like, he's like one of those self as human beings, I know. And so when he resigned from that job to do that, like we've kept them employ, ever sense. And he leads all, all the stuff that I get to do, and I get the credit for okasan.

The kind of face of IT is really him like he's he's the guy. He's the brains behind that. He's the world cse. He lives in a hame or the back of a truck. You know it's I don't even know where that right now every few days have to check in at like because he just he's not a very good communicator, but he's just incredibly best that kind of people get to you is such a blessing, man, to be around people, human beings like that.

Um you guys link up on the phone. Hey, brother, when you get in here, he said when he was finally able to turn my call rush is gonna cross IT happening will make special Operation specially. You always look to, you always look to do something that no one else could do this on an eagle thing.

It's pragmatic if you are doing something that could easily be duplicated by someone else, what's the point? So any planning for any Operation always starts to the clear question, which is exactly what I ask spray. What's the unique need that nobody else can do, but we can? She's paused to be then game his answer.

It's not gonna a mass metaphor like a afghanistan where where we're moving thousands of people, anyone can drive a many vana bus over the border from poland and hold a bunch of people out to those who can't get out that are gonna need help. Injured, sick, incapacity, trap, americans. My brain was all refining.

Yeah, so it's gonna get bad real cRicky. He says, when can I when connected combat starts, there are going to be people who should have got out already, but didn't. We've got to build a capacity and the capability to help.

So that's how kicks off. That's all you need to hear, apparently. Yeah.

I was that I went in two things, Operational planning and fundraising. These things cost lot of money.

And this is everything you do when you read about this stuff in the book. It's all these .

donations from people. Yeah, I incredible network and I think my superpower and all this is not my military experiences, my networking ability.

I have built network relationships over time that when I call for something like this to support IT, we able to get the resource in place permissions, uh which are important um for access in placement and in the financial resources um because this stuff cost money and i've been speaking a lot corporate evidence on this uh type type of thing, networking and and integrity. Like how do you pull something like that off so quickly? Embraced that much money so quickly?

You know for afghanistan, tens of million of dollars in three days. We don't do in three days you do over fifteen and twenty thirty years of demonstrated, you have integrity. You can be trusted.

You have a you have the uh ability to the execute and and produce impact. Uh so you do that over years and then when he comes down, they really have the need. That's when you cash on IT.

And so yeah and front we say you can't build relationships once the emergency starts. You can just be like on you and I are friends now. You know, now that I need something from you, I want to be your friend.

It's like, no, we had to have been friends and now I need something. Of course, you take care of me because you will take care you, uh, that's awesome. So fast for a little bit in the book and by the way, everyone get the book um once again book called the mission without boris.

I'm going to read some highlights of today but get the book is all kinds of awesome details in here about about life, about the war, about the path. So pick IT up on the fast water little bit. March fourth, twenty twenty two. You say crackle, did you say cracow?

I always say cro, ccr, cr. They have like it's weird. Like even ukrainians say a different and you go look at different maps in a spell, different.

K, so very bad at pronounce anything other than english, and even english on marginal. But any other language I sock. So it's been two weeks and cease.

Ray and I spoke in russia, invaded in ukraine. Obviously, two million people already fled at the airport. I linked up with a roman, a ukrainian, russian national, who i'd brought on board through a trusted N.

G. O. Partner he'd been heavily veit in, was fluent in russian, ukrainian and english. Together we head to the share didn't located in the center of crack out where sea spray had based himself.

So again, this is the kind of stuff that doing this on such a rapid turnaround and having the money, you start execute this stuff. Do you keep a fund of money that's ready for this? You have to raise.

like I have fun ready to for the for initial phase like good the words phase y yeah but okay, keep tens of million dollars in the bank and sometimes some of these things costs that. And so but a lot of the relationships to have could could turn out really quick. So um and does IT like amazing like patris said, really they have well health capacity that really you know want to do something like this. They just don't know how and so give them the ability to build to a contribute something like this and they .

they jump on board. That's also some you got another guy in pool special Operations gather their work sea spray before he's as a metic professional um and you say he policies up like Clark, can me here? But you show up here are both were dirty, their eyes look like the hand seen a decent nights left.

Since you last spoke to sea spray fast for a little bit, I fired to take a day, at least a day, for sea spray and boat to recharge. So you go on the train station and you're going to go check things out for yourself and you're start to see the people of the transition that are fleeing ukraine said to be a pretty impact for you. You talk about them.

They're breathing, but they're scared, they're wake him up. The fact there's no next step for them going to the book here. I've been around refugee programs before in africa as well as other parts the world.

There's something instantly familiar about people gathered in the train station. I guess, the trauma of being forced to leave your home and your homeland is so deep and fundamental that IT makes people respond in similar ways. Parents hold their children tired.

Their children let themselves be held. Both of them keep their eyes open and learn possible. Danny danger, there are so much uncertainty and fear that you can not only see that you can practically IT with your soul presidents lysine had recently ordered that all males of fighting age were barred from leaving the country.

So there are no men waiting on the concourse. At least no man be between the ages of sixteen and sixty. As I walked among the groups of girls, women and boys, I couldn't help but thinking of all the father's husband and sons left behind.

That had to be, hey, yeah, I was just different than anything I seen before. And you've been in all of the world and M R. IT was just different. And there's always a transition, at least for me, there's always been a transition. When I go to a different worlds around the world, I go for one reason, right?

Afghanistan nine eleven retaliate for the for the attack on september um september um the two thousand one a and so I go therefore, but immediately feeling over the afghan people in in feeling the pain of their oppression and went to help liberate to bring the stability to afghan people. That's kind of what happened here. I went there, dealt rescue americans and walk at train station and see what was happening.

These these ukranian people, and i'm like, these people are like not much different than us. I've been a lots of third of countries, ukraine's on a threal country. I mean, you drive around, you see pizza as and ice cream shops and shopping walls and people dressed like us and and just very modernized people and and so that really caught me a and to see that in, to see they are them alone with other husbands.

And like, what would I feel like if if I was, if my wife and children had to leave another country and i'm back behind fighting, we have there were been in that situation. We ve, our wives and children always safe at home while we went out and thought, but they're staying behind in fighting and they're sending their wives and children off with no communication. And this is really IT is really struck acorn me.

Yeah, this is really wild. Watch that stuff on the news and see that you said the the visualization of the first world country in a full on war. And you think, in all, we are progressed at all. I was my thought. I'm like, really.

this is what we're doing, uniform and uniform. This not terrorist groups like uniform and uniform, but ballistic missile. This sides, a telephone poles gung in apartment buildings as an idea. This is make fighter jets, you know firing in the neighborhoods were only women and children are left elderly communities like, I mean the news has not captured IT at the brutality that really is um transformed .

at watching the crowds they collected and ate their food. I was struck by another difference between these refugees and those I met before, without the their winter coat on. The people looked just like folks at home.

This is my first time seeing refugees in the first world country. And they looked just like the people from my neighborhood, just like the people I lived them on. If IT wasn't for the buzz of ukrainian being spoken, I could have easily been in some church meeting attended by Cathy and her friends.

Um you meet to a person named sasa. I asked sasa if we could pray with the people SHE agreed. And so roman and I spent as long as little with people as they wanted.

I didn't have any magic words to say. I didn't expect to take away the pain or fear. Mostly I played that they would know that god love them and that he was going to be with them every step of away, especially in the middle of such hardship.

A lifetime of being around people who are living in the shadow was taught me that the best way to pray SHE gave me a look and told me SHE interested perfectly what I had said, but that he also thought I was just plain wrong. When russia, when russia come, will amErica help? This is the question will ask you.

I fell back the previous summer to biden decision to withdraw those hundred and sixty national guard troops and shut the embassy cave. If I was going to give her my honest answer, IT wouldn't ease her fear. So I chose to offer comfort instead.

If that ever happened, that there's enough compassion, encourage in amErica and among her allies to come here, to come in and drive, put all the way back. But what I really want to say to you is that it's okay that you feel scared right now. It's Normal to feel fear when wars closed by. But look around, we're all here for each other. So they knew and they were questioning what we were going to do.

Yeah, I mean, they were question, you know, if if we allowed russia to push our way to the eastern europe border, because this we're talking about people in eastern europe border, you know, where would IT in? Where were in? If we won't step in now, when will we step in? And a that's a very complex question because is a lot of like me, does amErica want to put troops at around ukraine? I'd say, no, we don't. Uh, but there's there's a way to stop IT without doing that and and I felt that way now and I thought that way from day one uh, we could have ended this without ever putting you know A U S. Move on the ground know in the ukrainy.

But I suppose we will find out .

yeah coming months yeah well, mean, you know it's one of things at present trumps said in the debate that he would end this at as present elect uh, that provoked response from from putin and and and from one ski no and just that that statement from present, from on the debate stage LED the conversation and now these president elect, these high conversations with both and I think he has, I think I say think he has, I think any strong leader in a White house and and or chief of the united states military and the leader the free world has the ability to negotiate a ceasefire in ukraine.

I don't think this a very complex issue. I think it's been allowed to happen for several reasons. In a lot of people, rich, very rich, of all wars, afghanistan was shut down. No conspiracy or not, the industrial military complex united states is most IT is the most profitable no line item in the states government and and people make a lot of money of war and there's a lot of pressure in for political figures to allow stuff like this to happen.

And sadly, IT is that's what one of things I hope to see industrial administration as a corruption um to be end IT because you know those kind of decisions lead to the military Young man and women who put on uniforms that trust commander chief to lead them to do in the being involved in just wars to be involved in in conflict. S that are unjust for personal profit. And we've we've been part of some of those things in and we have lost friends through some of those things.

And you know my sons, both my sons served and you know, my family served for eighty years. And I don't want any family to be part of serving that way. And you and IT IT also risk on actions here. We we deplete our our surplus in and spread our troops then, and that just lize our national security. And so I i'd just hope and pray that we have people that are going into this demonstration to make decisions that keep amErica out of these these wars in a way that we don't need to be involved in through just good leadership.

Well, that's real. I hope you have and I am right there with you. I mean this is I would say that right now you know the way this a the trump administration is shaping up with the people that he's um bring on board to his cabinet.

I'd say it's the most radical group to be coming in. And you know, one thing that I think is, you know, you look at like what we learned in the vietnam, al, and there were so many lessons to be learned and so many lessons that we did not learn and to be and not more. And you can say, now say the same thing about iraq, afghanistan.

So hopefully this new, you know, the new administration will will pay attention in those lessons that we should also learn to be at norm, less, less. We should learn from iraq and afghanistan, and they'll make more prudent decisions, and then that's the best we can hope for. Um they are different.

They're not coming from the institution. Most of these picks, including like pete and I know I just talk about this morning pete's hacks and people like why did present or truck pick a fox news host to be the the sector of the fence? He is not from an institution, you know he doesn't have the strategic level military leadership experience.

You know what you've you seen o six in higher um but I am going to be hard to be A C E O of construction company. I don't need to swing, hammer, give vision and you know how to lead and you know how to simply the right team of subject matter experts of construction guys and and I need to be trusted by the investors at present. Trump s trust pete, he does have military experiences to twenty years and reserves, and which is, he never LED IT a strategic level as the inferred officer.

He's LED IT a bataan level, but never LED IT a strategic level. But he that could be sitting the situation room in a silo, he will be sitting their shoulder shoulder with the commander, chief, and they joined in the head of sync m and socks out, and all those people, and they're to make decisions together. And he recognizes the most, and I think present trump, recognize this is the most crucial decision on national security right now.

The most crucial factor in national security right now is not our strategic a bill in the battlefield. It's am a recruitment in our attention. And so a guy from inside the institution of the military right now has proven not to be the best choice.

So that nevern t present trip last time. So thank you, wants some money from outside the institutions. And peaches, an example. But kind of what .

he's done and what he went to harvard .

instance.

harvard or something like that smart. He's well spoken. yeah. And like he said, he's not part of the, he's not part of the institution right now.

And so he wrote that book of a war warriors about D I. And weakness in our our moral and in recruitment retention, which is I think is the biggest issue milder.

I mean, if you have a motivated military who could recruit the america's best and brightest, uh, and can retain them h to stay in and keep that experience moving forward, special warfare who were leaving at rapid rates, uh, you have to be capable military and you could bring in subject matter experts and assistance to help with the strategic leadership. Still, I said, I think I think was a White choice work person trumps to them right now. Yeah, pizza Better.

I do no for sure. A while ago, in all the recruiting problems were happening, was kept meaning to to put some words together, write article and try the article. And I become a, and I just like that.

Yes, you wonder why didn't become about now. I wanted to Carry a machine. You see the same. I do. And that's what I never was like.

I never looked at a pair of of value issues and I was like, that seems like a good option. No, never had that thought. But I soon I knew what a machine gun wants was like.

That's what I want to do. So there's a bunch of people that feel that way, a bunch of Young men that want to Carry machine gun. And so when you tell them, a, you want to Carry a machine gun.

D, we got, we ve got the spot for you. Just come on over here. Sign up, will pay you money to shoot up machine gun.

And you go, oh, cool. I mean, and that's exactly what happened to me. Want to be commander. I I want to put camel as paint on my face and swim across the beach and O, K, bad guys, that's what I want to do. That's that's IT.

And so the recruiting at the time was like, pretty solid, you know, oh, you want to be a command, cool. You go in the army. You can be A A special for sky, you can be a ranger, you can go in the marine core. And the only the brand, the navy, the only have didn't have the best recruiting, which was kind of good recruiting at the time. Because if you know about you was .

that video that that was come on a strand.

I didn't see that until I was already in the um in the depth program delete program. I didn't see the video until that R T N others of video echo trails you can watch on youtube. It's called be someone special.

And IT is not great. It's actually pretty funny because it's like, it's like a super low budget emotiv video. So there's a fake explosion is an cheesy soundtrack and what not and so when I i'm kind of lucky, I guess that I didn't see that before because maybe because the marine coral does like .

kind of the best job with recruiting .

um explore in the demon .

I do exactly so my point .

saying all this was for a while, remember these commercials that they were putting out. The military is putting out these recruiting commercials yeah and the recruiting commercials had nothing to do with Carry a machine gun and putting camfed paint on your face and going across the beach and killing back guys. The recruiting commercials were about like just really weird things. That was.

I was raised by two moms. Yeah.

those these things really like, I don't understand what this is. I I don't that doesn't appeal to me. This whatever they're showing me, that doesn't make sense to me.

I do not want to do that. Just like if I would have seen a recruiting poster for the new york ballet when I was fourteen. I wouldn't be like, oh, that looks sick.

I wanna done that if you showed me a freezing guy come across the beach and I, that's what I wonder what I sign up for that so with the military started put out these advertisements and recruiting posters really like, well, I don't any eighteen year old do can on, oh, I guess I don't want to do that. Yeah, that is n't look like what I want to do. I want to Carry machine on that.

They didn't show machine gun in that commercial what's happening. So I know i'll go somewhere, do something else. And so that's my point in saying I didn't want to be about arena and that's why didn't become one.

I want to become a commander. And all they had to do is show me, there's the commander place. Go down there.

The good thing you want to be won't to go down there. Yes, we got you. You get paid money, or you get paid money to shoot machine guns, blow things up, to jump out airplanes.

It's the best when you're fourteen years old. If they show that to you, you're like, oh, you show me a picture of guys jump on out of planes, shoot machine guns and one things up. Okay, cool.

Where do I sign up if you show me some random, weird things you go on that doesn't really look like my jam? So there was actually, while echo where else thinking you and I should just start make recruiting commercials? I told you that did.

Yes, we are just going to go rogue. Yeah, IT was like the fourth option was being the fourth option to get people in the world I like. We will make some sick freak commercials.

You know what though? Here's the problem with that. I don't want to recall people.

I don't want to do IT yeah because and listen, i've recruited a lot of people, regret a lot of people. I meet all the time. I meet all the time and it's awesome.

I'm super stopped. But occasionally you're like, hey, this person, their life didn't go the way they wanted IT to. They didn't make IT through the training or whatever.

And so IT IT doesn't make me feel good that somebody kind of went down a path that they maybe shouldn't gone down just a little. I'm a little nervous about making recruiting things because we get people that it's a too much brain washing. You know, the man, yeah, where IT should be, if you want to go in that door, you should build to find IT.

But we need to at least tell him about the door. We need at least tell people in is there? Hey girls, you don't number two or door number three, door number three, there's a machine we today on IT. So that's the way works, man. Yeah um are right. You are at you at this place with all these refugees and you you end up going to a floors and get a bunch of flowers and and walk around just giving flowers to people given a little, a little light to the world.

That was pretty moving. I was actually worried when we passed us for shop. And i'm like, hey, what do you think about, like all these women going to get free? Their husband's aren't there? They are scared.

Now, two goods come in with a butch of flowers, like, is, this could be creepy. They could think we have bad intentions. And in roman was like, let's do IT.

And so I just start all of these lowers. And ladies are like that, the floor shop. Like, what do you do in this form? We told them they were just like all in the next of flowers.

And and and then we went in there. We're just given these flowers to these ladies and and they were like little to take a ball up and was crying like, smell these flowers. And so as just we had time and I just feel feel like opportunity so nice yeah imagine .

a lot of those a lot those women and children lost their husband's in his own husband's and fathers at this .

point for sure for sure.

Um fans forget a little bit next morning drove out the ukrainean polish border. You a line of cars disappearing in the distance for people waiting to get in the poland. Some people wait in five up to five days to get in there.

I was days that .

I was days .

and was cold and was cold and wet. Kind define physics. You know what is like cold enough and wet enough to wait? That should be snowing.

But like freezing temperature, thirty three degree rain is the worse than ten degree snow. Yes, as far as is be in freaking cold, yes. And this is common from a place of experience. Echo drone you over them, but you can know nothing about this stuff.

And aren't jaco human being? These are women and little girls coming across dragon or stuff soaking wet. And is gray the gray guy? It's just it's just cold, ld man. And um you say .

on the policy of the border, of the expressions on the face of those who had just crossed, told their journey so far exhaustion, relief, sorouh, confusion, fear and hope, many people displayed the mall. Tens of thousands of refugees where there are hundreds of volunteers, ngos, kind harder people who turned up to help um everything like people given them um rides, people given them cell phones, people given them sim cards and these are all .

no one government agency represent.

Yeah that's the point that you make. Like I recognized most of the names, the profits who had shown up, and many more more from the Christian community. But not one single government was represented there. Not one.

No IT was. I mean, there was there was a one thing that still most there was this group of gasha india.

And they have the p yeah they are .

seeks and they just had a food truck out there and they were making they were making color flower or curry. And IT was like people were lined up just having his, well, I mean, imagine be in that cold for that alone. You've been there and and haven't of them warm go inside and hit your internal porch, your body like they were delivered the goods. Man.

that was. I mean, the six is a warrior culture right there big time. Um so these medical ngos, you end up there's a field hospital.

This was pretty ving you um there there's someone in there you go to this field hospital and there's you can hear someone just like crying history ally in the back and you say I introduced myself to one of the medics and was told to wait while the team leader finished up with someone the sound of the person weeping gradually eased and eventually the doctor was waiting for a much from the back. John couper was my age american. I had the air of someone who'd been in places like this before.

I knew a little as bio IT was a former U. S. Navy surgeon who had worked in the cash on the battlefield.

Ds, in iraq and afghanistan. That's comments for hospitals. He had chosen to come to poland to see if he could provide emergency medical care for those crossing. He'd been in there only a few days, but he he's clearly disturbed by what was going on.

We're seeing a lot of people like that, john said quietly, noting in the direction of the back cubicle where the woman was still crying, SHE was held captive by russian soldiers who killed her husband and then raped her repeatedly over five days, SHE said. The soldiers have forced children to watch. We pauses in both SAT in silence.

What gets me as their strength? He continued. They've been through such trauma, but they don't crumble. They keep IT together long enough to reach the border and get their kids to safety. It's only when they get here and realized they're safe that they do let go like this.

Ah amazing strength in these people, especially as women. And and you think like these women aren't going not words and I fighters, they were there from first world country. They are housewives and and moms and and this moment they dish rose up and protect their children, some of them that their children say, they went in back across the border. I went .

back to help you end up at a, you go back to hotel and what this way do you talk about this, a key crocks of the story you guys going through, like a brief and you said, don't know who said at first, but this, since the word was mentioned, everyone to focus, identify, and the conversation became a tub of ideas. If russia takes out the phone grade of the power, great, those s will be in trouble. They won't be effective.

They're all be vulnerable. They don't have SAT phones. Not enough interesting.

We could help with that, set up an alternative communications grid, exactly get them the right equipment and teach me how to use IT satellite phones in H, F and V, H. F. radios.

And needs to be that these are all these comments from your team. And with solar panel charging stations, i'd be complicated and expensive. The room pauses.

Since when is money have been a problem for god? I said, if it's god will, if it's god's will, it's god's. Bill been a model .

for quite some time.

You'll find, you will find the money. But yes, the reason, again, i'm scammed the book. But the communication thing is huge, is this in in war, you have to be a able to communicate with other people. And if they're relying on their civilian network of communication and the russians take that out.

it's a disaster yeah of the moment in the vulnerability point like this is something we could do that be and overlook by others. We were watching how the ngs were working so well with the ukraine, an government, ukraine, an military. But there was all based on their ability to communicate.

That goes down, then, you know, people just can be blind, not build. To continue this coordinating efforts, I was successful. So we knew we need to step in and in role and build something check.

uh, fast for a little bit. Our contracts, our contacts in the U. S, polish and ukrainian ments were able to give us help for information about the Operational threat environments on the ukrainian front lines.

Most important, we learn that russia had been sending its own special forces teams into ukraine to identify possible arts and collin air strikes. These guys, mainly thirties and forties, were women to be athletic, looking and confident, have been given blue american passports, and we're wearing high end adventure gear and posing as humAnitary arian workers. In other words, they look exactly like us.

That's sketchy. Yeah.

this was bad news, but I wasn't necessary. Catastrophic c spirit already told us how nervous some of the ukrainians were on their checkpoints. At least now we had a little more understanding as to why most of the countries shaft checkpoints were mind by everyday citizens armed with hunting, rifle, shotgun and Mercedes.

IT was easy to imagine how nervous they would feel and how suspicious they would be if a bunch of middle aged humAnitarian workers look like us. So you guys double down on china to look as low key and unthreatening as you possibly could. Um fast additional in high viz forecast yellow jackets and covering all our vehicles with prominent red crosses.

We created official looking limited I D cards with A Q R code that links to our ng s website. We also added a little extra flourish by visiting a local stationary store and getting a rubber stamp made foreign ganim ation. We had made up the international association of humAnitarian services.

Look, tradecraft tip for everyone has said, rubb stamps work. Rubb stamps place at work. Give my laminate laminated fast .

for a little bit. Finding the vehicles that would service ambuLance ces was a chAllenge of building comes network packages was proving to be a big undertaking as well. You finally come up with a list of what each comes package should contain a radio m's satellite telephone with year LG subscriptions are reliable, extensive satellite network, very high frequency radios for vehicle of vehicle communication, go to a two hundred and fifty four bit encrypted close loop network, allowing a group to create their own secure secular mesh network and track each other others locations in real time GPS you so so we could track each package and be easily notified if any user, if they got in distress, good start solar panels and power bank to keep everything working. If the power good went down.

So you put these kids together that you're thinking about, they're going to cost about ten grand, uh, fast for there's only one real solution to our problem and that will have someone by the gear in the U. S. And bringing IT over the poland in person.

And there's only one person I could think of who I trust to to tackle a task like that in such a short time frame. My oldest son, hunter, so you you talk in here about your, your, your family has eighty years of service. World war two, korea, vietnam, find the afghanistan.

Both your songs. Hunter and hadden both went in the marine core um hunter and up in angle COO. So was he out by this time?

He was out. He was out. He had did the plumped afghanistan.

He did IT years and he was working with me at my jokes. He was ported in afghanistan. Withdraw however.

I kept him batched. He didn't get forward that carbon be a little protective but like what we going to do right .

take a swim across the panjal river in afghanistan .

was not going to do um so yeah, you talk about that you talk about some of the stuff that he did in and be in bench. You talk about him being bunch so fast. You give a call.

Hunter, I said when I called him for crack out on wednesday, march nine, there was three, A, M, and houston. There no other ways used to want to be a part of this. sure.

What I have to do, i'm sending your list of comm equipment and a three hundred thousand dollar budget. I need you to buy everything on the list. You're going to have to search the whole country to pull IT off because much of this stuff won't be in one place.

Then you're going to have to get everything backed up. Flight here and turn around and fly home is not super sex or anything. But i'm telling you, this is super important.

This is literally an opportunity to change the course of history and how we helps world war three. okay. He said, calm as ever when you need me to bring IT to you.

I paused for a moment. I was wednesday, already saturday, hundred and kip, a beat OK. He said, send me the list so your boys is ready.

rocky. He's like, super stoic is like he's real. He's not really easily like excitable and he just like, guess just him and he's very compete. You come in at angle all those kids and angle of those kids, they are just calm nerds there.

They're coms guys. They're not just calm emotionally. They are coms guys because have to talk to radios and still talking the radio aircraft and so he knows he's actions, equipment.

which is he just geeks out all that stuff and and he's is going to regard ahead yeah he like i'm buying itself and get that stuff together and I can trusted him to do and in man, he pulled that off. Are you .

say we added a couple more members, the teams? SHE lee, who was a former eighty second airborn soldier, worked for Sarah and doctor mike simpson, who served over with thirty years, a Green brey airborn ranger and a doctor on the premier special Operations medical unit. us. Military might get a couple of the doctors within, including Richard, jack and will done.

And I know a jc.

so you get more people on the team.

Yeah, every matter experts in their different fields. And that's how you build the team like this. You by when you doing something that everyone wants, come on.

And so always so grateful and like flatter than never wants to come on board. But you ve got to pick the right people that you need. You can clear the team and you know, just subject matter experts in .

different areas you need.

And does your phone just start blown up when something some people want to go, want to go? My god, I go hi guys there, but I wasn't there.

Um you talk about some of these other ngos seeing guys from on the payroll of the world health organization in the world food program, lounging around the shan restaurant, testing on stakes in red wine while I knew for a fact they were still doing nothing at the borders of ukraine itself, really blob .

my blood yeah I think anyone thing to this. Yes.

it's disgusting. Then you had an encounter, one of your favorite Angel, semarang ans purse. You you link up with those guys is particularly meeting no, talk about congregation numbers, building programs around which evenement ts here was all about the war and what the churches within the network we're doing to help keep people or help people that were in need. So tell me little bit about .

a person mean a lot there's a lot of big organza, right? But smarts purse, i'll tell you first hand from afghanistan to ukraine, all of their legit like people at, I mean, I raise money from, but i'll tell you like if you ever want a good place, donate to smart person there. Absolutely credible when they do their capabilities and their integrity, how they Operate. They're always always like right there in in the front of everything, every cries around the world.

And that we gram who is one ranger, he's the the grants on a billion m sound of Frankly gram just incredible him being um he actually wrote for this book, uh in kin Isaac ki Isaac, the good person no one knows about, he's he leads all there are international Operations, incredible human, one smaller human beings I know and that's who we release and I went there and and they they really like build networks really well. And so they had built, built network with the local church in ukraine. When I say local church, me just like pastors.

And that was the most trusted, reliable network because I was a leash to communities. And so we needed to tap into that. And our partner, the tap that was, can I say, and he brought us in the top because we want to get this communication systems that worked at trustful label, people that were doing good work, and that was a local church and smart person was the one at on that course.

Yeah, you say the ukrainian church had formed its own underground network and was playing a vital role in getting the aid that the ngos were providing across the country to the troops themselves. So there you go. There they are getting after IT. Meanwhile, fast water, little bit honor, walk through costumes at crack hour port two P. M on saturday, march to wealth.

and can pull somehow .

managing to put three, three with a combined total teen bags and a little under one hundred dollars, he'd been able to locate, acquire, pack and personally career. Everything we do ask to bring, we hope, yeah, now he's OK you want me to set this stuff up? Of course, you guys don't know what how you're doing this.

And so for three days, all he worked very much without sleep. I resist the urge to play dad and time to go rest. He just making things happen.

May we set the step up you like, I mean, just setting up a enrich like, or you know, GPS like, and then getting IT connect IT onto the flat screens. We are building like a talk now. So now we have flat screens around. You were able to see where all these things going to be distributed throughout ukraine. Like he's building all of that like you stuff that .

I can do this is it's not stuff for the boomers. Exactly a fast for the later the afternoon, march fifteen, the call came in the moment, sea spray turky. He held up his hand for silence and crossed over a pad of paper.

We knew, as on what's extend of their injuries. I asked. He asked in his voice, calm and clear.

I could just about hear a woman's voice in the other end. What was the last known location? Anyone they spoke to recently? Cell phones all have U.

S. passports. The call ended in c. Spray added final use to the pad. Before turning to us all, there's an american journalist, Benjamin hall. Work for fox news appears the rest of his team were killed.

He severely wounded, and with his injuries, possibly only only has forty eight hours to live. He won't get the care he needs in ukraine and won't survive if he stays there. He paused.

He's likely in cave, which is currently undersides ge by the russians. He's in america. He's got a wife and two little girls at home and no one's gna get him.

If we don't go for him right now, he want, won't make IT who wants to go. There are eleven people in the living room of our safe house that night. Without hesitation, single man there, including hunter, said yes. Yeah and just to reiterate at this point, like key is under siege.

that's the moment that they're trying to take key of that like it's about eighty percent and circled a inferred mechanized vehicles mags ballistic missile uh that's that's why uh Benjamin hall was was hit because he was hit the middle that and um in I mean we're a phone that phone call we're in a phone with the pentagon talk and directly the solo and the White house has said no like um they're not going to go go there not going to go so we were literally his only is on the option and yeah I mean was he was a god dame thing too because we talk about when you doing things like this, access and placement. The be the group the most capable units in world. But if you don't have access in placement in area, you can put those those skills solve the problem.

especially here you know you got like you guys, you guys are actually the perfect solution because your low is low profile, like it's it's the ford of option for the option.

But like what I was got or dangerous because to build to have that access of placement IT happened about hour before that. Mongo, we got the ambuLances. We have got all the jackets and know everything that we were equipped.

Ed, to build to pull that off only for about our previous state cle and and have we have been equipped this was late night. Of course, everything happens like this late night. You're never going to call like, right? You did like you're about to go to bed and I get the call right. So now we have to call you eighteen hours through ukraine, in through the checkpoints and stuff like that, pass her of you and those ambuLances and passes was able to get this through.

About ten, fifty five, nine of us. And three vehicles rolled out of the talk, leaving hunter and shown behind. We are gona get bad hall and bringing home to his family so hundred said he gets radio watch and you know, you talk about his attitude here, of course he wants to go like everybody else wants to go yeah.

And he realizes he's the guy with the best capability to be in the talk, making sure all the comes works. And so he does what the team needs him to do. Yeah.

and he did IT grateful. I'm sure he was was eating them up. But and then I think another real important that with that is the solo actually came our talk and work children shoulder really so that was kind of like shows that real true collaboration with our government of forth option ah he comes in there are talk shoulder shoulder show on the solo and and hunter kind of run the talk and we're wrong with the pentagon the whole time where we are work with the pentagon and the solo and lea zoning with the eighty second air borne.

So they're staged at the polish border waiting to to receive yeah so the second I went with a black helicopter, the area medical stand by and launched to germany. So they're standing by for us to do this. So it's kind of new way to tell about a fourth option because of we take IT from a fourth option back to a second and we handed off and now it's back.

We handed off to them. Yeah, there's just sketchy zone animal. I really, like I said, if you can imagine if if a rescue on american rescue force gets rolled up or get shot up or even get accidentally, you know, shot out of the sky, which there is a bunch of terrible things that can happen, they are onna create global catastrophe, right? And that's why the government goes the risk averse and so it's the fourth option, a real thing and it's necessary.

Ah um started .

on this mission a little, but i've been held at gun point at checkpoints many time in my life. I've never like having a gun pointed at me. And it's not good to feel out of control the situation where people are tense and armed, but checkpoints are necessary part of the job. If you're onna visit that kind of area where we work, you have to learn how the tokyo out of situations like the one we are facing. So this is sort of a nights are you're going to these checkpoints and everyone's on edge and you got a gotta basically not provoke anybody explain what's happening without explaining too much what's happening like it's serious business .

civil war in amErica and in olam backwards or glom and you pull up next three duos of millets next a barrel yeah with with them a shady and a shot on and and you're trying to convince them that you're there for the right reason.

I haven't seen the whole movie, but there's a movie called civil war clip of IT long hair and pink glasses on and the guys like what american he's like, what kind of americans are you you that's what I was thinking at of when I was thinking of these checkpoints at your role through because this russian special Operations guys that are saying, hey, where, you know, we are here to help, where americans and we are here to help, and is like, what kind of americans are you the russian of americans?

They're scared and you will scared people, hurt people. And h so you got to be smiles, hands up and totally CoOperative. You you want to give them things, but you don't want to sound like you you're trying to be them because then you're you know so it's it's baLance and you got in. It's it's like time consuming. They can take your bags out dumper thing out maybe rob you like it's .

yeah you go to a lot of details, get the books, you can get the details on my fast word, some first time of that stuff um out i'm good.

Okay IT was like .

when we finally approach a small town on the outskirts of key and IT taken us fifteen hours to get there yes, dozens of checkpoints. You finally end up in the safe house um c spray boat dock. Jac djack and roman were to go ahead to the military hospital where band hall was go head fast for a little bit.

Benoit lost his legs in the attack. His eye and handed injuries were serious, and he suffered significant burns, but the main problem, the shrapnel l in his neck, dr. Jeff, said that there was a risk of IT coming loose and severing an artery that made driving potentially fatal, given the bomb out stave, the roads around keep.

Not to mention the fact that ban didn't have the twenty plus hours that are taking us to drive from the border in the first place. The only options were air or rail, and neither of those were actually feasible. Flying out.

Flying was out of the question, unless you want to be immediately shot down in the chances of trains running in the middle of war zone is practical. After the night, sea spray sera r ricco risk a riscal, and I had been contacting people to find a solution. After hours of getting no, a possibility emerged.

We learn that a secret meeting was taking place in cave between the prime ministers of poland, the checked public in sylva, who would come for a high level security talks with president zille si. I. They traveled by train, accompanies the polish gram yeah forces and equivalent.

They're equivalent to U. S. Delta force. And we're due to leave that morning. As soon as we heard about the train, we got to work trying to secure permission for ben and the team to be on IT.

IT was kind of frantic and realize a bunch of things happening that were way beyond our control. We needed god to be in the director's chair. So there, are you going to get the ground common in grom? Let's go. grom.

Never work the ground. No, expect that accept you there.

I actually really, because my first important to iraq, we, we, we were linked up with them and we lived with them. And so we did ops with them all the time. I mean, I did.

I going to how many ops I did the ground, and, you know, sometimes they would be, sometimes they would be like driving and we would be assault. Sometimes we would drive them and they're be assault. Sometimes we be sault t and we did stuff for them.

But and in my friend, dragon was the liaison with the ground for, like the like half the war, something crazy. So yeah, what the ground fast for a little bit. Eventually we had good news, kind of benefits team had been granted permission to ride on the train, but they only had thirty minutes to get to the station. IT was a high risk journey, requiring them not only to navigate checkpoints where soldiers were Operating under the shoot on side order, but also avoiding the advancing russians, all while keeping ben hall alive. And they had to do IT all an ambuLance that could still .

Michael fashion in fifty milan hour.

Um again, I get the book is is the story so awesome to read? Somehow he spring the others made IT on to the train with banal lives is incredible achievement possible only by the Grace of gun and commitment of our team. Soon after we heard from the talk with an update on the russian assault on cave, they had to yet to gain complete control, the city, but their python grip had tightened in the hours since we'd left.

They're captured more land to the southern west, including one significant building, a hospital in the same neighborhood as the facility. C spirit found benin. The russians were holding five hundred patients and staff hostage.

yeah. Um the mission was in. Over four others have been killed in the attack.

Peer bands, camera man and socia foxes, ukrainian correspond, as well as two ukrainians liner, who were their security? I've been thinking about all of them during the drive back. I guess we all had.

Do you know anything about the other bodies? I asked. Are they recoverable? Sea spray? Show his head, not social.

All they could find of her was a piece of her ARM peer was hit by shrapnel, several from moral. So yes, there's a body, and fox wants us to go out and get him. So the missions is not over.

My response was, no, I mean, russia was making a second attempt to take care that by time I get back and and we were just like, i'm gonna rise the team to go recover a body. I mean, this guy, they fox love, this guy had been twenty five years with fox piers as esky he he did afghanistan. He was just amazing of arabia, like, loves this guy and so we had said, no and then they said, hey, we have someone in the phone I was talk to you he was wife Michelle and he said, guys, I want my husband and we were like, yes. May have change plans and and A A decision to go back in a peers body .

yeah yeah that was is a powerful part that you read about the book to get the here and I always on the phone .

yeah then the flag, like I get, I get really shaken up yes, with flag. Really something about IT is .

really rock me. Yeah no. So you guys go out, you have to you have to you meet with a horse because you're going out to kind of um get here once you kind of located where he was and then you have to check on the body to make sure it's him um because moving .

a body out of across the borders like a big deal. We have to get all paperwork, which very complex, he spray had done this before, so he had knew exactly to get on payor. Ks, we had to pull a lot of strangers through the agency, the people we handle, the paperwork.

But one of things you have to visually identify that the body, so we opened the case, get identify the body. And and he was pretty grow dignified. He was clean.

And and they want to put the the lid back on. I seen as irish flag in the corner. He he was irish and immediate.

My mind went back to our our guys when we bring him back, like when we bring him back, we put the the stores over their head and red, White strips go down to their feet. And we like put that flag crisp on their basket to return them home with dignity. And i'm like, we have to put the flag.

I saw literally google, because self one service works Better in ukraine that he does here in city ago. A literally google like, is that is a Green, White, orange is orange, White, Green and to get IT right and and I was putting IT on, I think I was shaking and he became a grammar ARM. He's like, you okay? And i'm like, I actually know i'm not and please let me help you. And we put that flag on like like super crisp and and that we and I actually drove the house because the guy wanted he wanted to drive out because he wants to escape war. And as long of getting him, you know, getting the horse, but we you paid.

you built the horse from them.

Yes, like either either you make the deal your life with fox news right now. And so this horse or we're taking IT like we're stealing IT from you. So here's the phone, make daily life and any did and and so I drove her with, peer and man are so tired, like, and sleep ten days.

I was like driving as horse was like having a hard time. See and road and we cross when crossed. The ukrainian fox news had a they had two vehicles in front of us and his wife mi was, but we don't want to stocks. We will come out. So we just kept moving and they kind of jump in.

And so there in front of me, i'm following them, sea spray and bows behind in the ambuLance and and i'm like trying to stay awake and like peer like help in like and i'm like just like trying to stay awake, the whole drive back to crackle and and we get back to, we meet, we pull in in a mork and we take him out, deliver the body to Michelle and SHE was really sweet and grateful. And we just spent a moment, a few moments with her, with pierce body. And yeah, that was IT felt like, I really felt like was the right thing to do, even the risk, I felt like the right .

thing to do to do that the way you write about the whole transaction and and the flag and everything the book IT was it's I get joke and because you know um what that's like um with for americans and the fact that you are you don't want to do the right way was just powerful to read about man, fast forward little bit what we're russia do next the answer was revealing itself before eyes we were contacted by a church leader about a large group of civilians who were leaving the city of how do you say the jimi O D N I P R O O negro?

yeah.

When the russians blew out a bridge, the civilians were trapped on the eastern side of the river and their leaders send pictures showing the crowd of a hundred women and children with nowhere to go.

Um c spray was on a call with one of our senior military generals that depending on bridges, he said, when the call is over, that's what we need contingency to for if russia starts taking them out or puts checkpoint ts on them, they'll have people trap that we need to wait to manage e vacs without bridges. So you guys start trying to figure out the contingency for that. The the contents you figure out as the f 4 seventy O D X， which is votes that we we used to actually use the to. It's a different brand, but it's what you and I were raised on. Yeah four seven .

o um bat bat red crafts.

bat rober red craft.

C S ah so the .

C R C i've heard people come cricks.

which is interesting.

It's interesting how something something is good get more over time like cricks. And then another funny one is the guys in vietnam, like when I when I see like a fob F O B, I got A B, they call F O B. They don't call IT fob. Like title was like what's IT fob? And I go F O B, oh.

so just I O C.

O R C or yeah yeah like I never heard to see we we never called this. We got zi x or za birds for some reason.

But which is the brand?

Yeah which is the brand. But the the crick, I think the first week I heard to say that was marines OK was like we got a create like what's a correct new so do .

you .

go yeah um so you guys get this idea, you guys got to get the cricks the od ax. You guys got to get him ready um and once again, you have a great network of people and you need to get him brought back in amErica where ever you can buy him and then you forgot to fly me. You forget about the best way to get him there is to fly me yeah. And of course, in order to do that, so how do you have to manage in this you with a .

frequent private plain called someone that fortunately have a lot of relationships that have people with private planes, and you need one big enough to put a for clicks in and and h gas engines and in the blatter and electric engines and the batteries. And and so we litter like this. My my friend used this plane.

This is like a seventy million hour plane, and is brand you and is really first mother and law. And so we're like trying not to tear off the traun and keep this this thing superstar in the pilots, like loving the pilots. Like i'm used to fly in a bunch of rich jokes around a gulf in, and now I ve going to do this guys of marine veta veterans. So he was like loving and ah and up to sneak these .

things in if I would let anyone get near my seventy million dollar playing with a bunch of freakin zi ax .

explains most be comfortable, right? We get all stuff like sleep on on the floor to get no there. And we taller merit from a nine line was he was gone to a different trips. So we get he hits the with us.

right? No, that's all some good for that. Put coy Scott making that happen. Yeah.

coral human being, marine as well. Yes, but yeah, but his mother loves playing on the light room. As a big, great man you get that can ruin your Christmas and thankful .

ving fans for a little bit. And inspired everything that was happening. ukraine. The work of my deo at home continued before having a crack.

Our court, I took a trip to camped in california, the west coast based, the U. S. Marine core.

Where are the honor of addressed in the graduating class of basic Constance course, class two, tag twenty two. This was my third time as a guest speaker at A B. R. C. graduation.

And while I felt the same burden to say something that these warriors remember for a lifetime, with everything that i'd seen so foreign, the ukraine and fresh in my mind, my desire to encourage and inspire them was even greater as the concerns marines and as men. You will continually be given the choice to do what is right, to do what is wrong, or to do nothing. I said in closing, remember this, there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. I trust when the time comes, you will follow the giants who came before you and you will .

do what is right. I ended .

with a PRC saying, quote, all IT takes is all you got. And quote.

like the me man.

is that their model .

takes is model as all that takes you. That's all they look for there and not just .

give us everything that's IT.

That's the way we roll. Yes, I seen guys there that you know have more than others but this but then I given that they're all in and they want the guys could give everything.

you know that yeah I heard model I D this book. Yeah, what takes all you got? I thought that before. So my god, you just need to like, get just want you to give everything like that.

Just give everything you ve got. That's what instructors look for there. They they don't look for the best athletes. They don't. They look for the guys is git that's to leave all on table and because you know then you know because three kinds of small community is just like teams like, you know that that guy, what you give them, that M S, and he becomes a reconsider marine.

He be oon be friends patrona and and you going to walk through a door with one day and you don't want to look over your shoulder and wonder if you could be there. You know that he's got me there because when he when he earned was he gave IT all. You keep the .

standard tie, yes. Keep the frequent standard tie. No slack.

You heard that .

pepe's listening.

Hold the line for .

us back to crack out. Um there were signs of russian change in tactics from the start. We've been aware of the rumors that russian to kill squad going into ukraine posing as american humane italian workers again. But as a ward entered the second month, west began that russian special Operations snipers were actively targeting genuine us humAnitarian workers in ukraine, people just like us. None of us were surprised by this, but with something we are factor into each mission under talk over the border, do what are they thinking they Priced, don't want people come and help kill a few aid workers .

and like that going active the battlefield. I mean, without the ng o community, the ukrainian military would not have been equipped to resist the the russian. So I mean, if you're I mean, it's if I was them, if I was a russian, you're combat at that point.

Like we are providing uh we are providing support. I mean, you can't blame them for targeting and me they're if you can blame them that to be an engaged war, but they're going to be engaged in war. You can't blame them for kill the logistic train and the ags.

We're threat to them. And so yeah it's we're legitimate talk onto about now. Horrifying too, I mean, was, I think I was about this, was I went to the border.

That first trip there was this german a bus IT was all german volunteer paramedics in in empty, and they in smile sponge, this bus anyway, out there, and they were cruise around. They showed us their bus because we were trying to build medical vehicle and and we had spent like the day with them. They are just amazing people.

They're doing the right thing. And they were going on the front line. And russian said, the rocket inside that thing killed, I mean.

where were they? Were they fighters? Or were they like medical people?

There was medical people were just providing medical. Aand I am sure if you've found a wounded russian, they would treat their them too. They were there just to help, and but they were those resources, those agis. That's a threat to the russians. It's it's improving capability of the ukrainian military.

Meanwhile, all this is going on. You ve got this question in the book. Well, I ever let hunter go with me on a trip over the border into ukraine. I didn't have to wait long before the question was reality. So yes, it's coming going .

to I say.

levive, is that right? Ah levive going to levive was routers relatively short distance on the map of a slow journey? Reality, driving a few hours you approach the city. Um I miss what this would you guys going to do deliver .

some there. You so so you're .

going to do that as you approaching the calm, a black smoke up ahead as we approach, we saw that there was the aftermath of a russian strike on a fuel depot from the thinness of the smoke. I guess that happen the day before. Maybe two is a brutal attack.

One of the main ones to hit the the vive since the invasion had begun by this stage in the war, the russian's use of about ballistic cruise missile had all had been well reported. But this is my first time seeing the aftermath, the strike with my own eyes. Two missiles, both roughly the size of a telegraphic poll, had been used in this particular attack.

There's nothing much left of the deepo or the shopping mall or the grocery store or the rules of houses nearby. Nobody was searching for survivors. Honor drove slowly as we passed by part, out of curiosity, mostly out of respect.

He was doing great eye, on the other hand, could feel the first wave of doubt. What kind of my father takes his son on a road trip into a world zone? What's not ready for them? Was I? All right, so how do, how do you make that decision?

So.

and how do you freak, explain that decision to your wife? Dady, this is one thing, free to make that decision, but get on the follow like a baby you know your son that you birth and raised um i'm going to put .

in harms yeah that you trust to me to protect yeah I mean that look this hunters was raised by me. He's grew up around people like you I mean his his friends is old to a strange or my friends like he was around CEO and recommends his whole life in the mafias. He started into a three, never want to be anything other than marine.

He had been a marine. He had been that combat ready. He he's proven his worth in afghanistan draws in so far.

This is crane Operation and so I was pushed in this corner to say, like, okay, as a father, um I want to protect them. I want to control this. I was want to be very control.

I want to control situation so as as if I want to control to protect the situation. But I had to come this realization that he's his old man. God burns his heart.

Just saying he burn's mine. He's a strong believer. H he's very personally convicted as as a Christian.

And he has a real heart, compassion. He matter in heart. So that do lima, like I, income this conclusion? This is the conclusion I came to.

I love hunter, but I don't love him more than guy loves them as much. I love my son. God loves them more.

I could protect hunter, but got to protect them more. And and well, god's burden is heart to do these things. That is burden.

My hard to do to realized that is pretty no safer place for my son to be safer than being in a couching houston or or in the front line of the krayton. The russian ukrainian war is part no safer place from the Better than in the will of god. If god's burden is hard to do that, who am I to keep him from doing those things?

I could store IT protect IT a but I should not keep keep him from IT. Let's really easier say right here, a very difficult thing to say when you're when I had already been to the front. I bet that time I had already been the front lines.

I always seen the dead bodies in ukraine, and i've seen, I see the way a diplomat, afghanistan. I've never seen more connected combat than than my my time in in ukraine. Personally.

both sides have the weapons like this next level type war. Yes, so I D D. Never seen .

anything before. I'm, i'm recently exposed to this and haven't to make this decision. So very sounds easy to say that then, but he was a very difficult sion to make. But I just felt like I could take something from him that he was like ordained to do and be part of growing in a being.

I think the person, a guy created to be, and I didn't want to get in the way of that, so I had to make this decision to relinquish my fear and control into a trust in him and a trust in god. And and I did IT was private house decisions ever made. However, another side, quickly, IT was prior one, the most credible things.

I got to witness this, witness some of things that I would got to see my son do in ukraine and go through some of them. But he he did some incredible things there that made, made me see him in a different way and have a terminus. Mother spect for him and just be proud. I'm just so proud of him like some of things he did. There was just incredible.

Most of that story of john the came when he's over in prison camp in his dad was the animal in overall in charge. And so he's in present camp, and the admin has to make the decision. Do we continue bombing like around hanoi? H how do you know my own sun is in a prison camp there? There's no like this. This is you back in the day there's no GPS guided bombs, so you start drop in a lot of bombs, then there's a chance that you kill your kid .

yeah and he drop .

those bombs, man. And he never, like, treated his on any different than he did the rest of people that was there that he was trying to help win the war, you know, broadly speaking, and taking a risk gally with this, the prisoners of war. But it's a very similar scenario that you're in right here.

I not know that .

here and also john the can, they were like the the, the enemies north metal, like, hey, you can go home they wanted him to go home early because they wanted to be able to say, like, you see, the advance wanted his son to come home. And they took care of, he took care of his kid wasn't taking care you. But john cain did not leave.

He was like, nope, i'm not going home. So credit to the mccain's for heroic behavior, or on all fronts. So you say .

this .

too. This is like a little bit of a life of you for a big, and some of this we talked about before, but for a big part of ho childhood, I was not a good place. By the time is thirteen years old, my life was on fast.

After eight special Operations appointments to afghanistan, I was deep in the pit of P, T, S, D. And i'd brought my family, along with me, honour his Younger brother haden and their sister. hay.

That right? yeah. And Cathy, too, I pushed everyone away. As far as I could tell, the only option ahead of me was killing myself and becoming another veteran suicide statistic.

IT seems that some of the biggest changes in life happen only when were pushed our limits. That's I was able to become a force recon marine. And now, and it's how I became a father and a husband again, I was ready, give up on myself.

There were handful of people around me who weren't. They refused to be swayed by the man i'd become, and they still had faith in the man god had created me to be. IT took a lot of prayer and a lot of tears, but six months after being suicide, my life had been transformed, not changed, not improved, transformed.

I was a new creation plane in simple IT was though he was through these new eyes that I saw my wife and my children clearly, for what felt like the first time ever I saw their gifts, their character, their potential, each of them boom me away. I decided to make up for the last time. And through myself at the task, I was obsessed reading every book about parenting I could get my hands on.

IT was like I was planning for the most significant mission of my life, which I guess is exactly what I was doing. I read captivating by sai l. Ridge to understand Cathy and hai Better as women.

After reading one book, in particular, raising a modern day night by Robert Lewis, I got real deliberate about everything with my boys, who are becoming Young men. Over several weeks and months. I followed the programme that taught them what I meant to be a man of god, the in cultivated in a ceremony in which I got to tell hunter and hate, and exactly what I saw them.

And you go through that little ceremony type thing, very, very cool to read about. In the thirteen years since I hit my rock bottom, I gotta me so much. He surrounded me with people who love and care for me enough to fight for me.

He's given me mentors who have disciplined me and taught me how to retaliate. Ate my life. Most important of all has been the second chance and Grace that god gives us.

IT. Turns out that rock bottom is a pretty good foundation to rebuild your life on. So yeah, there you yeah transformed, not just changed, not just improved, but transformed your life.

Yeah, now I was a mess. I mean, when I came home, I talked by lot in your last epsom was I was completely train where and I I felt like a completely lost identity purpose and, you know, and there's a lot of things I tried in my in my route to recovery medicine and va programs, slim programs and professional success, financial success, I had had been successes in in that rock bottom moment I was in professionally. But my life was was dead.

And there's a lot of things that helped a Roberto recovery by pride. Neth was more profound, the restoration, my faith and becoming a Christian and really kind of try to identify, build identity and something bigger than myself and in my life had really took a, took a big turn of to be burden towards the server, others different than I was in a uniform. And that would LED to the building in my dios foundation, and some, the work that you do now and and meant I my job is force to come rain, like i'd never would like.

I'm extremely proud that, and it's important thing. But my ian was tight to the job and not the cause of the service. IT was M. I didn't. He was tighter to that. So prom, with these jobs, you know, be a police after being a school, whatever you proud of, like those jobs in noble and we should be proud of them when you identities tied to those um is dangerous because at any moment those can be taken away from you.

You injured, you get sick, you win a retire and when you, when you lose those things, if your identity was higher, that did you feel like have no identity purpose anymore, that could be detrimental. And that's what had happened to me. So the transformation for me was really understand my identity was bigger than any job, as as cool as those jealous maybe is bigger than any job. My identity realized in my eternal purpose to be a servant. And and so that was really transformation on me.

Well, you been in after IT, so the servant levels have been high. Go back to this mission after several hours of drive and you guys go through some of these checked input um again, you go through good learning for anybody get these like how you guys handle these checked input. Really good information in there and it's a also a good read free contents fast were little late in the evening.

We reached our destination on the outskirts of the vive. We're using our uh, visiting friends of pasture boat on uh IT is a husband fe, and you talk about passable. I did. I didn't cover in the book, get the book to read. But he's a pretty .

powerful figure. He is, he is, he's incredible. One of the ukraine of the hundreds of thousand.

And ukraine, as I went back to, chose to be back there and talks about, yeah, everybody talks about the ukraine is leaving and fleeing but there's hundreds of thousands, I think like two or three hundred thousand that had chosen go back to participate different in their country. And he's one of them. Pretty not .

worthy. Then I had a great part of the book. You so you're visiting some of their friends. They are kind of use them and are using their house like a safe house type thing, stay for the night in in some shelter and then SHE let you .

know .

about her son yeah you know her son when the war started he was sent to car car cave um which is a very bad place in front line you he ended up getting hit there's a missile he gets strapped of formal argerich um his name was a .

worse named Andrew andy.

He was only one of the men who was with andry phone me after his. After he died, the man said that he had called for a medic, but none of them was around. He said ukrainian soldiers are not given any real medical training or equipment, and that soldiers are not to do first aid on each other.

Only doctors can treat a wounded man even if he's dying. So even if he had a bandage or anything like that, he could not have used IT to help andry without knowing how all he could do was hold him as he died. This is this mom that telling you the story that her her song got IT with shrapnel.

Its for more argerich, which is really bad, but if you know how to apply, turn to get you, not to stop the bleeding like you, you can absolutely save someone's life. You've got to do IT fast. But in our war know that you and I fought in the global war on terror, know there was all kinds guys that had for moral bleeds that we're saved.

sure. yeah. And so you hear the story like.

by the way, by a mom at a table inner house while she's making us breakfast, just cooked this black lesson. She's telling us that you can't escape, that you're sitting her face to face with you. You like, you don't want to tell her, but like he easily save where by turn icy ratched down. And so as you .

say goodbye, you drive away. You drive a way. The hand said exactly what i've been thinking. We have to do something. And with your next, next focus of your mission, not the full focus, but a define another line of Operation that you get into, which is doing training for people.

This area we can help, though IT was not fault to decide to pack up our Operation center and crack out and leave for an entirely. The ukrainian military hadn't just resisted the russians advance on chive. They pushed the invasion weight back, which meant the city was now relatively safe and stable outside of rocket attacks.

Made sense for to be there. So again, you go through a bunch details in a book, but kev had pretty much been held by the ukrainians, which was amazing to watch from the outside. And IT was weird too, like they were living.

It's so weird.

like you go a .

restaurant there, you might hear rocket every now there. But I mean, they just were like, they were so defined and they were like, we we're not gonna ve covering on our basements, I think, are right about there. There was just moment that really just defined.

There was against the sky is like his his houses burn down the smoking of background and is a bright fresh ukraine flag up on this building. And he's mulling as lawn. It's like a big F.

U. To the russian. Yeah, you can do that. You can blow my house when no, my lawn, like.

Yeah.

thanks for a little bit as we .

drove into butcher my son, that, right ba ba. What I saw was much worse than i'd expected, worse than the story the media had communicated. Parts of baka had been dissected.

Hall streets were reduced to rubble from holes in several park and burned out cars. I was pretty sure the russians have been five, twenty five mile ter or thirty seven rounds, most likely for tanks. If the attack on the previous house had been designed to instill fear, what I saw could have been planned with only one goal in mind and evil intent to terrorize. So this is sounds like it's absolutely terrific, worse than anything we are .

in on the neah, IT was definitely to break the world of ukrainian people. I mean, you'd be like a military complex here. And and they were like when to go total to total by direction ons and directions ons and move here and destroy elderly community because that's how they break them right then they could fight the troops and and they're to they might take big losses, but they're IT to fight for their freedom in their homes.

They going to fight to the end. And so life like the ukrainian troops, when they could totally break their world by kill in their parents or their lives and children. And so we see apartment complexes. There were no military target insight and brought like bombs dropped from the sky like three buildings is that is this is not like collator damages three apartment buildings with a bomb in the center beach of them know we're only women and children or or un bua that elderly community we went and was just levelled.

Fast forward a little bit. Between April and August, we were busy. We made a number of trips to rescue more people, distribute medical supplies, provide more resilience training for front line troops.

At one point, I made a trip, denis corry and jeremy storm maker, a former marine industry commander, cofounder of my dios, to keep to the with severance, first local chapters and other NGO, and providing from my medical care as an ambitious project, working together, working together to turn our six wheel ler into a mobile field hospital to treat troops injured on the front line. Meanwhile, you say I was ready to let someone else take charge of the planning and preparation for the upcoming Operation. Hone stepped up and spent weeks print together detailed ed plan for a fourteen day trip in the red zone front line of the battle area in eastern ukraine. So you're going to go on another. Will you consider this a commission on Operation to go .

up there for fourteen days? This is more where steps, international training, training them. The one you know in his team really do is just stick.

Great job. I got to off veterans that went through the modifies that found new purpose again. And they want to go out to other countries and eleparu ers and train them what we do in mediates.

And and so we wanted to be to to bring the ministry type aspect of them, but no one really cares about a lot of commanders like we don't want to be ministered right now. What we need is, is so part of that building relationships. And what they need most is they need a medical training and medical care.

So we were bringing really good medical, all its billions, and ology were in the there. The guys didn't have turnkeys on the bed field. So we are bring eternal kids.

And first day kids, I fax no individual. First kids said we weren't really good. And that slide inside you, that slight inside your body on that you could just pull out with a tab off um and teaching them how to use that.

So we're bring guys they were like uh doctors from a who who teach at eighteen dota school. So we're bring in high level instructors to built not just give them the equipment, but teach them how to use IT. And now we will poor, allow our guys to share their stories and help build some spiritual agency in a battle field for them, a offer things like some of our resources.

So we have videos, audio, bible sticks to encourage, encourage them. So that kind things that the medio x said to do, one of things that's really proud I was, they came up with a plan based on the void of chaplains and ukraine. Itar, and they didn't have a chaplain.

Cy, and so that all these pastors, a, imagine a pastor going to a church one sunday has half men, half women. The next sunday, IT goes, it's all women, right? The men have been conscript or draft IT.

And so these are small communities. The pastors i've been known in the little of baLance says he was in you sunday y school, and I care about you. I don't want to go to the front lines, but I don't know to be a chapter.

I don't know how to how to sleep in the woods, pop into woods, like provide first day or or anything like that might be a burden to to them. And you know, being a passage doesn't quippy to be a chapin. The average lifespan on the front of ukraine war four and half days.

So like, how do you minister someone like that to someone that their their bodies are dying? And so so media ax and hundred like this effort, they train three hundred pastors covered in the chaplains, equipped and deployed them the front line and help distribute in the front lines. And so there was a really three hundred minutes. I sound like a lot, but when you talk about like at three hundred chaplains, that's pretty impactful.

Um so for this mission you've got some of your guys from midy ox that you were mentioned Dennis read hasty hast hast every he's a combat engineer and uh two former seals luu vera and colon fields you very well. Um all four midy ox instructors in fact, was in the pancakes. I think I .

talk you about that they hear that about .

ludo breakdancing I did I never saw he kept that um you know concealed and his breakdown, at least I never know .

his big bombs go off his dancing competition with ukrainian and the we are posted a video and people are saying that it's fake. Like guys won do that in the war zone. Actually they do.

They I just shout to fuel crash survival and summer point training these and you guys did tax combat as we care with them to get ready for this trip.

Just cool driving training, form weapons from around like they did a good job turning our guys get our guys up to speed .

um fast for liba car key. We'd been home to one point five million people as a major city built for modern living. Yet the russian missiles had dragged back decade highrises apartment blocks have been decimated, shopping Miller into two piles of metal ice cream pillers produce to broken science and piles of rocks. Kids playground equipment, charge melted dead bodies were japanese. Ross homes apartment complexes, even if not one more bomb, felt IT would take years to put car key back together again.

What keeps like is like apocalyptic, like we're driving in. And at first of all, at night time, if you have a light, it's going to get hit. So you go light out notes.

No, no, we were just I think we had some notes, but we had notes, but we didn't have a by driving on ice that's like that night that we drove in, that particular night we drove in, that was pretty, pretty ambient and but we are driving in and and just I just remember how like airbag quiet because IT just looked like is like you were driving through like downtown houston or downtown and ago and just think like just designated like buildings knocked down, like high rise buildings broken in half, just like so apocalyptic. And one of the ukrainians came over the radio and he said to welcome their car key. The only thing that lives here, willis ith and his dog, the movie I am legend. And that just exactly had felt that was crazy.

Um and well, you guys were going to be to chain people.

I was those yes, we're going to provide provide medical equipment and the care training.

you say, from time to time. Vitally, his .

guides. But also a chaplain so into taking the role of a chaplain. Um I just really like he he had started on profit to rebuild people's home. He's just an amazing guy. And so he is very network and connected that so be pretty bital able to have access to different areas of ukraine.

Well, name them because his name is vital, and he is very vital to you. 呃， take photos. He'd say, show people what happened here.

We did, as he said, walking slowly, quietly, staring at the courage all around us. Eventually, someone asked the question. We'd all been thinking, where is everyone? Vitally stopped and turned around like he was convinced.

He seen people, if you only looked hard, if you only looked hard enough, almost everyone has gone. Those who stayed live among the ruins and know how to hide fast for a little bit. That evening, I found myself talking with the woman who had been leading the worship earlier that day.

He told her name was anna, and he was around my age. He looked and sound like a regular soccer mom. And I told her that I enjoyed the service when he responded her words or nothing like the typical conversation i'd have over coffee after church at home.

There is evil in this world SHE began. There is danger and violence and people who want to hurt and destroy you. And just because you put your trust in god for your children, your loved ones and everyone else that you care about doesn't mean that they're going to be safe.

You understand? I do. I started to share some of my experiences, but stop myself. This was a moment to listen and not speak. People say they trust god, but what they actually say is, I trust that god will.

They have a contract or grown up or drawn up, and they expect god to come through for them exactly the way they want him to. But really trusting god means letting go of the outcome. That means giving up on getting results that you want.

And when you do that, everything changes. That's what you saw today. Almost everyone here is learning what that means to truly put your faith in god.

And when the russians came, we all started from the same place telling god that we trusted him to do what we wanted to protect our children and loved ones. But everyone here is lost them when they loved. Some of the people you are worshipping along side have seen their own children shot to death, blown up or executed.

But they're still here. They're still believing that god exists and is with us, and they're finding that god can take their rage and their sorrow and their pain. He can take IT all every tear and every shout.

He is enough. This was a lesson I deering needed to learn. IT was also won that I would soon be tested on.

Yeah, I walked away. I wrote that down after choo, just so moved by IT that morning.

They had asked, we had a bomb that night, that night prior, and in that morning they were having the church service and this is like people like, she's had lost everything and they're having a church IT asked me to speak and i'm like, what am I going to say to these people that lost everything like, and only thing I want to say is like, I don't have the answers. Like, I can explain what's happening here. I can just tell you that people care and we're here.

We're here as IT. If anything else is a representative that people around the world do care. You're not alone and I, if anything, got a desire to let you know you alone. And and when he said that, I was just like so struck by because in the moment that I was in deal with hunter and some of other things, I was in that time, I spoke directly to me and I roll that down yeah.

it's kind of were talking about making that decision with unter earlier. It's like this was the verb SHE kind of verbalized the thought process that you had IT was like trusting god isn't like, oh, he's going to give me the outcome that I want, right? That's not that's not what you get, right? You're going to get what's supposed to happen.

That's right. That's right.

Fast for a little, but we drove south vati hitch, arranged for us to stay in an inn for the night. And then he explains, you going to go work with this, a group of ukrainians. He says they are called so far.

He explained me when we stop the next morning to buy a load of pizzas in the newer town. And they are not like other units. They are special. The unit was created by a call, a guy called battle. That right, but on.

but on.

which means concrete, jack. He's like the dana White of ukraine and MMA and former ukrainian special forces from the two thousand fourteen war. When the invasion happened, paton was asked to create a special unit that would cause chaos among the wrong russian, basically a hit squad.

He used his influence and context to reach out to all the coaches for ema fighters, boxers, wrestlers and martial arts grapples. He brought them and their athletes together, and the level of commodities they have is hard to find. But what how we paused like, he wasn't sure whether what he was about to say was okay.

So he is tough, but they need military training. That's why the town and the men of sahara are so excited to meet you. You are professional fighter from strike force and and you were special Operations to fought in afghanistan. If they like you in the team, maybe we can come back and help them some more.

I think i'm most like, I think i'm most excited about this interview right now that you got to read this story. This is like A A movie. And when I like, you've been for real, like we put together, can you imagine, like Victory is a company.

Yeah, it's not just Victory. M, A, A. It's like every freaking bad as M M A G M in america. Just like we send us your best five fighters.

the coaches in the pan. Arges, yeah, it's .

freak. Awesome man. Very cool story. The fast, for all of the next two days, our guys were spread among but tons unit.

All of us spend hours hanging out, talking, sharing gear, giving advice, training, demonstrating things that we picked up through the years of training. Combat hunter spent a long time demonstrating how to use water filters we bound. And of course, hunter, i've got to do little restless with some of the men, trading techniques and sharing all stories. There is a culser. I didn't read the story, but there's a story where you like, basically, you guys have to earn your respect .

through a frequent sniper show.

and you have pulled that off just recken epic. I was, I imagine I was a little bit that .

with the judges as well. Oh yeah, to all these guys are call off out jack like jack guys and they hundred I we were right on the dirt as Price did that shoot off with ukrainian and good and he was great. Uh.

all the time there I could hear a mighty oak guys, Dennis read, Lewis and cAllen and hunter, sharing part of their own stories and talk about the importance of being spirit too strong, just like i've heard them all do countless times. Our programs back home with the american veterans and service members. So you're really trying to not just give the military training, but give them some spiritual training as well.

It's really great. You know, he just so he demand respective anyway, I mean, I think in the teams they call a malee and we call a mama leu at IOS but he immediately like I just like kind of father figure and he just stepped in a role so well, Colin fields as a team guy and he he's eighteen delta, so he was providing medical training. All that read hasty. Those guys just did such a good on that trip and in and respect to the una fire in many other units, but that will, particularly with one that I wanted to connect with him.

they just did such a good job. Yeah, we can outstanding. yeah. Like and you do you get the job done and you know this is a part, if I remember correctly, you have like a the sticks with .

the bible .

and bible and you didn't like say I didn't issue, you left them out and the guys tell .

they took him in in vitality. He said they had been very four where those and never took any. And IT was like, over thousand between those, between two units who went to, they were all gone, and they were able to get away any before. And I was just through that relationship.

Where is not there? Just be Angela zing pushing you, pushing faith, or pushing what everyone just like, did you know them? And in a personal level, connecting to the build in a relationship, build in a reporter and trust and sharing our personal stories, be vulnerable with them.

And here's things that we ve met through. We never, we've ever experience that I ever tell them. Like here, i've never had someone to vade my country.

We had nine, eleven, but then we left and went to afghanistan. But the ones that I didn't have to worry about my wife and kids at home like I can't relate to you guys. But but we here and and you know and we're going to be here for you um .

fast for a little bit. You are you say back at home for much as september um ukraine launched a rapid com offensive in northeast and carie. So this fighting is just just escalating.

Keep going. Um you decided going back to ukraine going to be your last visit. You arrived to talk and chive sea spay received a call that there was A U. S.

Marine hood and fighting for the ukrainian orts suggest that he had been shot the abm, and was captured but there was credible intelligence to suggest there was potential for him to be rescued if we were willing to go and get him. So you have that coming down the pipe. And then on on top of that, within the hour we received another call, there's a report of mass graves in asian asm assume fifteen hundred women and children.

S go wants to go get eyes on and verify with billions of dollars falling into ukraine from the biden White house, there was clearly an incentive for ukraine to embarrass or falsify reports atrocities. So our government contacts wanted to verify, wanted independent verification. If IT was true, we needed to know the world needed to know both the rescue of the marine and verification of mass grapes felt exactly like the kind of thing we were there to do.

But saying yes to both of them would mean leaving hunter to Carry out his mission without me. Do I leave hunter, leave the Operation without being by aside? Or do I give into my desire to be a hovering dad and say no to a sea spray? There's a question of trust, but not my trust of hunter is about my own trust of god.

Was I prepared to let go? Was I willing to put aside my own need to be there to protect my son, ensure safety? Or was I OK with handing him over the god? Could I accept that the safest play hunter could be was in the center of god's will, not under my own supervision? After all, i've seen in ukraine, I knew what I had to do.

IT was time to let go deep down, deep than the fear I was sensing. I knew that I trusted hunter, and I knew that I trusted god even more. As much as I love hunter, god loves him more.

As much as I want to protect hunter, god can do a Better. So yes, he was time to risk at all. He was time to trust god. So, U, N, C, spray and up pedn for the mass graves, and hunter goes to try and recover the wounded. Marine.

yeah, well, we would actually won't. Marine in the mass were me and see.

spray the I get backwards.

Well, in hr was doing the original meeting, which was provide a medical supplies, okay, so bring medical. Had to break off from that to do this spray. And I would do, and that there was both in a zoom, which is zoom may be occupied for six months by the russians.

So that was poor of the that's why the mass pressure uncovered red because the ukraine es to push them out. And I was risk of as a super name, by the way, as is for the solo, the special Operations lease and officer, that was the agency asking us those yeah, I was a big decision, right? Know there. Here's some good guys in team for guy guy and a more saw guy. I came over four person, but he some good guys in his team but send them them off to do that without was was a big decision and your cesare and I we we set up, we set up before them in and we drove through the night and headed out his own.

Um picked this up. We park near one of the pits and followed the deam you .

have a team here. He's the chief of police for the entire country of ukraine, which is like the it's got a wear position to be like almost like the sec dev, the director, the FBI, the tourney general like all one position. Yeah.

you absolutely toward a few soldiers were gathered around at, some working, some starting in the space and taking a omen moment. Hardly anyone to speaking, someone to put hazard tape around the edge of the earth mine that's surrounded of the pit. But I didn't need the tape to tell me was a crime scene.

I could smell the year the sense of decomposing bodies. I wanted to take a moment before walking in there. But no matter how much I anger or sorry, I wanted to feel, I had a jump to do.

I needed to focus to observe what the russians had done, and report back we needed a bear waiters to what we are seeing. The earth mounds were mass graves. As I watched, the ukrainian soldiers were working through each pile, pulling out bodies, transfering them to awaiting open grave, then bearing them in the individual graves that were, they were digin nearby.

None of the bad boundary could be identified, but each was buried with a cross bearing the name of one of the missing people from the town the ukrainian had been working on the site for six days. In the mass grave I was standing by, they had found four hundred and seventy five bodies. In another grade, they'd found eleven hundred bodies.

Most of them had been burned, likely to try and hide the evidence when he had their hands tied in front or behind IT, a clear sign that had been executed. They were all civilians, all of them children, women, elderly. IT was a war crime and attractive and active evil.

And from everything i've seen and heard, this was in the only mass grave in ukraine. And IT wasn't a rog act by the individual commander going behind the backs of his superior officers. What had happened here? The invasion of a town, the six months occupation that ended when the civilian women and children were rounded up with their hands bound and brought here to be executed.

This was a pattern. This was a strategy. This was a logical final step for an invading force that a targeted civilians. From day one, I shared the deem that I would tell the right people about what we witnessed, but I didn't feel like enough to simply file my report back with the intelligence agencies who commissioned us in the first place. I wanted to bear witness to the rest of the world.

So I recorded a video, and senator fox news, who broke the story later, while we are driving away, one of the reporters called, I put her on speaker so sea spray could be part of the interview. When SHE was almost done, he said he added two final questions for us, why are you guys out there helping these people? My answer was equally as simple, because it's the right thing to do.

Her final question was directed at sea spray. His answer will stick with me for the rest of my life is IT worth IT SHE asked. IT doesn't have to be said, see spray not skipping a beat.

Those five words summarized everything about our time in ukraine. IT doesn't have to be worth that to do the right thing. Sometimes we just do the right thing simply because it's just that the right thing to do that doesn't always need to be an R Y.

We don't have to calculate what we will get return if we choose to expend our time, money, energy or resources. We don't need to worry about who gets the reward or who deserves credit. Forget whether it's safe. Forget about whether it's safe, popular or dangerous. When IT comes to helping people in need, the world needs fewer people who are calculating what they're going to get out of IT and a whole lot more people who will simply do the right thing.

That's from a guy that says he doesn't have to be who gave up everything. You think about the context of who he is and what he gave up is a worth. And to a guy who gave up his own career and he didn't have to be.

Yeah, this is those mass graves and everything just free and horrific.

Yeah, you know, I can see why I never want to eyes on validation to me is a great way to get more sympathy more. But those, like, says the first hand, first testimony that was real. And in the ukraine, an forces that came in to recapture resume, that we were with, the begin we were talked about, that they gotten fight.

They were got into those guys. That was their families. That was that that unit was local to the area. That was their wives, children, they were in that area. And so that we actually one of the, I don't think I write in the book, but I showing the video a later, if you want to see, they captured some movement and we got to get a video them jailed and and know the ones russians that they captured.

That's not a gonna, a comfortable prison sentence.

No, no. Yeah.

fast for a little bit.

Sea spray took the call .

telling us the effort to rescue the marine had hit a dead. And after a couple days with no updates, I wasn't surprised that they lost comes altogether. But I was troubled by, and sea spray was, we'd been a long shot, but but still a shot.

I doubt the marine would have any more chances at rescue, even if you still alive. And we heard the familiar whistle of incoming ruction artillery. And after round we're shaking the ground and c spring, I took cover as each explosion crap closer to our location.

The ukrainians headed under control. And I felt calm. At least I didn't tell the moment I phone hunter and heard the explosions going on around him too.

We're taking indirect fire to dad. Don't worry. I am driving like a bad on the hell.

We're good. I'll call you when we're clear. Hunter disconnected before I had the genes respond.

And that was a crazy people, maybe in that moment kind of question, that decision know that to make the right decision here, I was totally fine. Well, what was happening with us, of course, and I wasn't fine. Got that go.

And well, luckily, you know hunter did make IT through that and he's still with us. Yeah and i'm on a fast board to the apple log here, which is actually written by your son hunter, because he did survive that indirect wire attack. And he says this when I was sexual old, I had a dream.

I didn't know what country I was in, but I knew overseas. My sexual old brain recognize the dusty streets, the men wearing they are long and flowing robes, the women in their black whales. But I wasn't there alone.

My dad was with me. And in my dream, I knew that meant everything was going to be OK. We were doing some kind of work that I didn't fully understand, but I did know that whatever we were, whatever we were doing, we are helping rescue people who need IT.

I liked being there with my dad at working side by side like that. Sadly, there was chaos that we were running, heading toward a bunch of people who needed our help. Bad men were shooting at us and trying to stop us from rescuing the people we in the fight of our lives, and had no weapons to defend ourselves.

But we still continue to rescue anyone that we could. The dream ended soon after. And the thing is, my dream wasn't a nightmare.

I didn't feel, didn't even feel much fear, knowing that those bad guys had the intention of killing me and my dad along. I just felt like I was okay. I was where I was meant to be, helping people who couldn't help themselves standing up to evil.

That dream never left me. He was in my head when I listed the united states marine core. And I thought about IT often when I was the point to afghanistan too, but even though there were plenty of times when I could have help, I want I could help people as a marine and never felt like the fulfilment of my dream.

I always have the sense that at some point of my future, i'd be doing exactly what I dreamed about when I was six, helping rescue people with my dad, while bad guys tried to stop us. Close IT out. What this says when god puts a burden on your heart is like a seed.

IT can take a long time before you see any signs of life up above the surface, and even longer until he starts to bloom. But if you want IT with faith, if you put your trusting god, that seed will grow. IT might not look how you thought I would spout when you wanted to, but when he is ready, it'll grow, and eventually it'll produce fruit in the perfect season of life.

I when I read that, when he wrote that, since to me like I I just got tear up crime it's like, yeah, that's that's why not .

my log and I mean, got IT done you you deserve together with your son yeah he went.

you re more way so I did ten trips. He is thirteen trips there. He's doing he's a he's doing a lot of the stuff in south amErica right now. Yeah, he's he really this is kind of want this art beats for you.

Raise them right? outstanding. So he's on the thirteen trip. You're in your ten trip. You did ten trips.

So what else what else you focused on right now? What got going on you got I know one thing, got one. One is the resilient podcast, resilient show, which is your podcast yeah you get ready. Record one one for me here in a little with, and what's that all about? What's the reason for all about?

You know, I just like you have access to some amazing human beings and and I get to hear their stories and and I just feel like in the world needs to hear more stories like that. And and a lot of my veterans have incredible stores overcoming, don't really have a platform to do that. And I also want to create, make sure that they had opportunity develops, share their stories and share stories of brazil and overcoming.

And then I also feel like I have a lot to a lot of people to have a lot of information that could inform the listeners and and the major media seems like they've lost the desire to share true journalistic c stories and informed american public and and watching guys like you shown, ryan especially has really shared a lot of information with the public that helped make people resent because informed be being rezone as of being rezin is been informed. And so because of have access to these people, I just want to create a platform to do that. So we're were thirty right now, thirty four episodes have that incredible Terry cruise, ryan, have a master trail, a doctor, Stephen greer, the UFO guy like that's some great guess and just sharing stories that are i'm interested in that.

I want no more about some having fun with that and just sharing incredible stories that people never heard before to share a story with that got iron and hall. Never never been a on a big pocket before anything we lost. This is total vision and total hearing. And I D blast in the interview that that he had a calculating plant that barely he could hear through you to where microphone to talk to him and he just seeing her with him being runs athons ithona White.

But he makes, he makes like he's a chocolate tear. Yes, makes what is fudge company called?

You know 喂喂 我的 是 yeah C O D extraordinary extraordinary something delights。

Yeah not the .

chocolate or .

O D food all right so that's awesome. Um and then and then you also wrote a new like a series of box right, but a fiction types .

scenario yeah was I was approach to the that asked me if i'd be interested to infection and and I always had interested so it's just right away as I guess i'd love to know a lot of my career I couldn't put IT I mean saving as he was like extremely reacted about the pentagon. So a lot of stuff I can't write about so figured that can mimic the character a little IT enough to my career and and it's called solid horizons as the programme name, the SAT program and is in salad horizon.

horizon like that. I have not has had agora.

Sly SHE inks .

is right, and that's right. Cho.

like so, so faster in the characters.

Foster, q .

what up? Foster was one of my best body's fact, gets brace little right now. Foster, Foster, harton, who was killed in in, in two thousand and four, and know he's certain a wedding was there, all three, about ten years together.

So he was the first big loss ahead. A lot of the characters in the book are named after set stone, friend of yours. He's so a lot of characters in the book guys, we straight .

up character name set stone and .

that's done with you. She's first names, but the book is dedicated to because my with author that helped me write IT Jackson, he he he was at, he was he served with him as because jack was a, is a top gun pilot, top gun instructor, but his ground time, he worked with. And so so we had a dedicated two guys each and sets one.

yeah. So the book just really about a former com rine was a dev group as A F, O. Advanced, separate with the logistics. And interesting story. Yeah, no, not afghanistan, an act and africa, iran and um and he stays on as a contractor there and doesn't great self he but he's really at hands. So do you .

have to get here? Six, three? Do do you still have to get pentagon reviewed? Uh.

no cept to the publishers and the publisher choose not to you know like jacket anymore. You could um I had I kind of pick the independent panel to read IT and review IT. I had some guys out IT the unit, a cag that grew uh ground branch to kind of read IT and tell him in some out of guys, uh, former until l after me coro six coral.

And let me know that the past a crossing lines with t tps or our means and methods. And I feel pretty good with that. But one of things I did, look, even those fictions, I want that everything be extremely accurate, so important me, like, I do a chapter, about half the chapters of free vogue.

And so I use my experience to ride as military free fall parachute us. However, I had like a guy, a ground branch, a guy at the unit right now, whose free fall jump master read IT, this is dad and perfect. Like the dive stuff to the equipment, everything, she's double them, perfect. And even if if I .

have the dive stuff.

sea spray, more time and more time. Branch guy, because a lot of stuff was used and he's using surveying .

er like some saying thers and stuff ah.

So if he's he's like in iran and i'm like you're in the street, iran and there's a coffee shop here, that coffee shop really there. So I wanted to have that accuracy.

That's cool. Yeah, that's one thing. Jack car is level twelve detail on stuff, weapons systems and belts and like watches and all this.

And it's because when we rode extreme otherness with life, life was like, add all these details like, pero, no one cares about this time I was like, no one cares what you know, which rifle this guys Carry, or what scope this guys used like, no one cares. And we little legally that pulled stuff out like this, too much detail. Then, of course, there are obviously different. The fact that jack carr will tell you, like what type of knife or do IT has on is .

ini kid you're like, okay, but it's a thing people love people type but IT IT is .

pretty wild to to see that people are so interested in that.

So yeah so three books series so bon comes out may thirteen is actually for sale now. So people that want to support IT can right then every year, every year new one to come out for three, maybe more. But right now it's we have a contracted for three books, everyone written diverse .

two and you like him.

It's really fun. It's been really fun writing. I mean, and jack, amazing. Jack, jack, jack, do to go right?

Worth know he's broke and obviously is top of aviation instructor, is a really smart guy. And so it's difficult. Writing with you is the difficulty thing. Sometimes two people, when you try to master one voice, but we have a system in place and and so we're parky work together for a while.

Yes, I mean, they actually didn't really do that because I wrote chapters and he wrote chapters and their they're t like they say like who wrote IT OK. Although when we are like A T some of the parts the books we've writing is a little bit of that, like I said, like the forward or something. So yeah yeah, you get a little system going.

So yeah the reality show writing books, speaking and still speaking a lot and definitely you very involved with this international staff .

making sure that our teams .

in place this no fourth option like so tim and seron, they still wave several eyes and for not any bad reasons why we just did different cus now and so doing. The forth option is what we call IT. So in madia ax medio x, of course, this is the .

fourth option. Now like a charity.

IT is a non profit. We're really like I mean, I could say that here is not like this, but we don't like publicized appetizer. I still listening support for IT a it's five, one, three, three. You know, people can go there to do, but we just we don't have to run like a charity campaign for work because went when we need something, people step up in a bigger significant and say.

lize our sorry.

my ois, still strong, strong media running. H, O, there's running, running that new student. This is a great stuff at north alon and and and also can time right before got here he said to say, hi, by the way, some but yeah, there's a lot of great hero, humanity, americas so many great organza that are doing great things uh, fourth option, we specifically are focused internally on rescuing americans are people that are in war zones that the government either canter won't get. And so is very specific, each area.

And then mighty ox, how many people are you run in through my oax year?

Well, midi x on the residency side of speaking on basis, which primarily me doing that, i've spoken about half troops on basis, a lot of right here next door sand O M C R D making a binkle book camp. Um so I speak to the troops on residency pluie cy my body spirit social speak at spiritual residency conventual suicide prevention captures the recovery program at our ranches.

We're not about seven, eight million years programing there with at six thousand graduates. We were about thousand per year now we pay for everything for activities members, veterans for responder, spouses even pay for the trouble. And so that that is an effort that people want to support financially, get behind, donate to buy.

Ox definitely needs support because the demand on is so huge. And if you are listening is like you said earlier, that needs help, no strings s attached. We pay everything, include travel, go on the website, fill out application, someone to get back to you right away.

You don't have to be a train wreck to go Better away. Get if you need some life course corrections, get on IT early. You and she's amazing program. I get great people to work there. Yeah, I was a team.

Yeah, my god said I have literally called you and send you tax. And absent ent lue tax to of group tax, you get off. but.

Know, because sometimes people, by the time they are talking to me, they're pretty hurt and they really need some help. And you guys have been freaking amazing. So I really appreciate what you guys have done there. And my ox program about work.

my ox programs, we can ask that programs here and then we also do like i'm in D C, that tesone before congress a do an advocacy work. We get some great team guys in congress and dev van orden marking the trail.

There's more common to yeah .

I me meals is is there like rain are yes, all those guys like i've been working with those guys a lot on on on policy and legislation for veterans care. And one of things i'm big advocate for us, alternative treatments, including base care uh, that currently right now, the current administration only allows the V A can only do programs that approved by the fda, which is crazy zy.

And so i've just got back from congress testifying on that somebody yokes because of success is we have an independent doctoral studies. We ve had some success of space programs and give us a voice incredibility to testify before congress. So midi ox is a strong voice in that a Price serve in the disease strain.

Again as as a chair of a coalition, which is not a huge task, but it's is kind of leading some efforts there. And once again, you're step up and serving, yeah, got to do. And everybody asked to contribute to something right now was much can.

And in the last thing we did, midian x is the international stuff, right? The medio x really participate in a lot of international stuff. Hunter and a team there to do a great job is, is on a team there.

Now, oh, really, yeah, it's good. awesome. My guys said, people can find my dios programs that org save our is just save our.

People can find you .

if they want you to come talk, uh, chat, robot show is R O B I C H A U X dot com that that kind of links to solve the difference stuff. You're on facebook, at chat robot show, on twitter chat robot, on instagram chat robot official underscore official.

it's grams are are most active.

okay? And then you've got your podcast, which is out now, which is also it's got a youtube um yes youtube .

place forward as well. Yeah please describe to the pocket incredible gas and conversation and .

like we get you coming .

out new year's episode echo .

anything we missed know how these questions .

hatters twenty eight, he has two daughters and in a son and away I I have five, three adult kids, five grandchildren. And we just adopt IT, our new baby girl a last year. So we started all over again. So I was everything that's like six years and our new sky pregnant and we stepped in and so brain baby girl, she's we've had her since was since he was infant now she's she's SHE .

is .

twenty two months how do you forty nine generation? Yeah yeah I like the, he says, age of my granddaughters .

I like .

the name fourth option by the yeah, that's kind .

like the third measure, third member. I got little side project called third measure, which is, you know, what is in faction is IT faction. Cy, it's a long gest story, but it's basically a repository of all my C. G. I projects that robot.

I am. The name is exactly that. Is, is the force option the option?

When I was a Young team guy, there was a guy that was like, a awesome seal. And no one will seal anything back then, right? And actually, in the seal teams, like people don't you don't wear seal teams off of you in the seal teams.

But this guy was this legend, legend guy, and he had a freak hat. He had a hat. Whether to try them on IT, and they only need to try and just said, silent option.

And I was always like you, that and I was a new guy too. I was a new guy just like you. That and that .

was a bull shirts where body.

哦， yeah, back in the day .

to close down class for .

t shirt for your last t 续 store and coronado， that you'd go get t shirts made for your class. And how did I have one? I know our class had one because I had like a really dumb saying on IT, and I can't .

remember what I was.

Was student IT was like one of those things where they made like the class voted on our t shirt and he was dumb. And I was like, you know, IT just when you get done with a week. So I didn't have like any kind of voice or anything like that sounds dumb to me and some other people thought that was cool.

When will be able to find IT? One of my friends will provide text. Me like, this was the same. What was I was freaking dum. Um I wanted to be he who suffers remembers because one of the instructors, like we are suffering at some point, like guys going to remember this but IT was I was like I was in rerated rime IT was like once we were crushed and now were super tough for some my hose to wear this thing jack asia is this but that's pretty Normal, I think. great.

Well, we had that for football too, where we'd have like a shirt if you when we finish camp and then they give you an every one of us was, I survived camp. Get you Better. Get you Better.

Not really. I was, and anyone was. Last year, my son went to this camp, the j robber, in times of rustling camp, and if you, they have a hot like grading system and it's really strong, is like blue camp of vietnam anger jab.

But they were doing that. You trying to get this. sure. That just said I did IT and they had a video know everyone just freak in hiping up and like I, I, I you get this teeth that's for the my son has like a real bad ankle injury and you have to do a twelve mile run to get the shirt like you have to do all the things in the last at two at twelve male run. This is a software high school, or between the software in junior year.

And I talked him on the phone and like, hey, do do you go at the round? Oro would like your angles jacked up. You know, you can barely walk.

What are you going to do? He's like, i'm going to tape IT up so IT doesn't even move. And to get that, sure I like that.

Tell me, roll in. Um awesome. Um what do we mention anything that's going on right now?

No man, I just appreciate the in your man um you know get to see you super proud all the things you're doing. Voice awesome voice right now.

Appreciate that man we're gonna judge to after this ah you going to a little open that activity atos and out our open of the school when you're doing, you get to, by the way, good new fuel. I recommend jack fuel, so I recommend so we got jack of fuel. We got protein, we got hydrate.

We got go drinks. We got joint warfare. We ve got super cruel. We ve got Greens, got creative, you put creating and Greens. It's a good way to be jacked and healthy.

I just told echoes mok K, S, so good.

can taste good. Look at about, can hear. Check out jock of fuel back calm. If you need, need this stuff, you need to be stronger, faster, smarter or Better. Also, you can get a wa vita shop, G, N, C, military commerce around the world, around the world. By the way, I know people that oversee right now, like, oh, we're getting IT done, a hanford dashes in american wake for in shop right .

he .

down in taxis MIT that's where b hot active in texas A.

T, B and you get in bucky.

yeah bucky, interesting. It's an interesting dynamic. Um we've been talking a book is see, will see, attends. It's really hard a in in that environment um with bucky there so much competition and you know the people that were going against a ah billion dollar companies, right?

And so they will literally come in and just buy your space from a shelf, you just to keep you at back. So it's all good. Well.

we're win N. I just, I just packed my mall on the road there, stopped at bucky at the day and has gone on a hunt. And for smith, western and a packed, I mean, I stopped at bucky. And look.

I looked for unfortunate. I apologize for that. Next time. Stop H.

B, that's mires up in the mid or mired up in the middle. st. Wegen hair tear like time fit, wheels, wheels, two wheels. Big freak, awesome store and small gams everywhere, you know. So judge schools, cross IT, James, power lifting, James, wherever you're at, if you, if you're in one of those schools, or you want you in one of those games, E, E mail, J, F sales, a jog field back com. And we can hope you a little wholesale activity.

You get your gym down in huston saly quarters. And that, in fact, that I even know if I can announce IT a junior. I said he's moving from chicago to us.

So he, our school, and we got a good one. Low pass is a world champion, like producers, ton's world champions out of real learning english. But is, you know, what you talking about is incredible. So one low passes there, like twenty five boys under me that that can have junior at a school for time.

amazing. yeah. So checked that out. Also, if if you don't judge to, you need a key and you american made.

I don't buy a communist key, a communist. I don't do that. Buy an american. May I go to organ USA doc m, get american made key. And while you're there, get american made genes, american made boots, amErica made hunting gear.

Uh, jogger, I was just out of walmart, thirty four, or and I had to borrow pair of a job and jobs, woo, as they like to say. But unluckily, you know, he had american made jogger from the origin. USA, so look, don't buy stuff that supports slavery.

You support slavery? Ec, I don't. Jad you sports? Slavi, no, I don't think anyone over here supporting sla, we stand against and against. We stand again in slavery.

And yet people all over the country stand against lavery. And yet that those walk down and buy a pair genes, literally made by slaves, literally made by slaves. So don't do that.

Go to virgin USA dot com. Get american made freedom pants. You see you i'm sane if you don't get that we're doing what I don't get about the we represented on the path on where what we are, whatever freedom comes .

from .

our freedom um also oh anyway, we got sure that cities on there also we have what we call the shirt locker, the subscription scene, new design every month on a shirt good people need to like and a little but outside the boxes for his designs and ideas. but. Again, people seem like you check that out of all that get there. Also, we got some you need steak, you stake.

Of .

embarrass.

Corner berry.

so when .

reading stake, I recommend you check out coral craft beef dot com or a primal beef dot com. We are awesome people with awesome stake that can deliver to your door call of craft. We've got com prime moo.

We've dot com get the good stuff also described the podcast also check out jack on the ground 点 com also youtube channel also flip side campus dot com to code mire making cost stuff hanging on your wall。 We got books. Look, cat has got four books.

A mission without all borders talk about today, saving these will talk about last time fight for us. He's also got a book called on an unfair advantage. Check all those books out.

They're all available wherever you buy books. And then i've in a bunch of books too. You ve heard too much about this junction, much ready to stop.

You have the world, your good books. good. A little kid like a neighbor across the street. Maybe it's, you know, a nepal that you've got.

I hear more about your kids books than I, even about extreme owners. Now, everywhere I maybe circle, man, kind of very community, or you get church and stuff everyone raise about.

there's a movie coming, I know. yes. And the movie E S done filming at this unction you and gonna be a very powerful film. It's really, really like just, it's gonna awesome.

It's so due, it's so due for that kind of message.

Yeah, the world are waiting for her right now. Echo, Charles has been up there. He's in IT, by the way, got a real significant I the role.

Lot of people say that that's the the whole scene, like the whole epic scene echoes just keeping IT with this excEllent sm of gentium. M I do in the best. great.

So he was in the background of a scene and there's ma may going on and he's in the back in a cage with his guy on doing doing digital in the background and as his film in the director guy, mig terminal cell ation yeah who direct to terminology and Charles Angels. And we are Marshall, just a bunch of really great movies, the O. C, great guy. And in the middle of this, while we're film in the scene, like there's a bunch of stuff going on, he could say, everyone hold and he was, hey, you too and he didn't really know who echo just was that you know, you just new. That was just another extra.

He .

goes, you do in the cage, you do in grade up there, providing us with excEllence and legitimacy for this scene. And right here you can see echo, he just talked out all I go, okay, excEllent. And legitimacy has arrived in.

He was completely correct. Um they have a the super stock, obviously Chris prat, he's plane uncle jake and all that. So looking forward that anyways, get those books for your neighbor, for your news, for whoever your knees come up.

As on front we have a leadership consulting. We saw problems through leadership. Go to s on front dot com for details.

Uh, next monsters can be in dalla. We are C, D, O, come up february twenty three and twenty fifth. We are santonio apple, twenty nine, may first.

Just if you want to go to these things, go on register because everything sells out. And then these things sell out to where the fire Marshall is like no one else can come in. It's not like the last minute and like a cool come on out.

It's like, hey, last minute just that I look like, no, you can't come so don't do that to yourself um don't make me do that to you if you want to come to this stuff at national on front, go national front dot com and come and get IT an extreme owercome academy. We got a way to learn this information that we put out through an online platform. Go to stream ownership dot com.

You can learn these lessons. You can apply them to every part of your life, family, everything that you're doing, we can help you. So extreme mothership dot com, go and check that out.

Also, if you want to help out service members, active and retired, you want help their families who want have golds, are families. Check out mark le's mom. Mom, I got an an amazing charity organization.

If you want to donate or you want to get involved, go to america's mighty warriors dot org. Also, Michael thinks, got heroes and horses dot or gue. And then Jimmy maze organization beyond the brotherhood dot orgues.

And then, of course, we talked about today mighty oak programs dot org chez, great organization. As I said, I personally, they have personally helped my friends, and they will help thousands and thousands of more. So if you want to help them go to mighty oak programs dot org, and then if you want to connect with chat, chat robot show, and that's R O B I C H A U X dot com.

He's on facebook, he's on twitter and his on the gram, the instagram, youtube and the pod casters called the resilient show for us outcome. I'm on social media to and i'm at jo willink echo at echo is just watch because an algorithm on there and you know destroy your life. You're not careful like anything else.

Any other questions get any questions for today? No, that was I like I like the last name, Robin. The name it's like no one because there's other words that end with the x right like that right? And it's like, no, what what other word has like x is like it's like a sophistic on a lots of feel kind of thing. But anyway, have always like that opportunity.

the strong name, yes.

anything else?

No, no, man, i'm just like super thing beyond and this this book to me is appreciate you kind of break a delay. This book to me is like this last special things got to be a apart of saving is in this book is way for me to share some of things i've got to be apart of, especially with this one so special in my son. So people want to father, but they.

but no, not a 会 worked through every day's father's day。 How about that?

Yes every day's fathers day here go awesome stuff .

though thanks again for joining us man thanks for sharing your lessons learn and thanks your service and in the marine core and special Operations and and thanks what you're doing today um with with my dios and and everything that you do overseas now with fourth option is just outstanding and thanks for a thanks for raising some warriors yourself man.

Really appreciate IT and thanks for all the military personnel out there around the world right now that step into the fray every day to protect our freedom and protect our way of life and to protect innocent people around the world. Thank you for what you do also thanks to our police, law enforcement, firefighters, parameters s em t dispatchers, correctional officers, border patrol, secret service. Appreciate the uh hospitality this past weekend, much appreciated as well as all of our other first responders who step into the fray to protect us here at home and everyone else out there thinking important message from chat book is that there's not always an immediate positive short term return on investment for doing the right thing. You you can count on reward or praise or even reciprocation, but you can even count on reciprocity .

if you do the right thing.

That doesn't necessarily mean someone's going to do the right thing back to you. But you will know, you will know that you stepped up and you do the right things, the right reasons. And if you do that in the end, you will win. That's all we've got for tonight until next time this check and echo and jo out.