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[Assistant] There was once Lord Shang of Chu was planning state affairs with his ministers. He discovered that none of his ministers could equal his intelligence. After he had dismissed the court, he looked very troubled. Official Shen asked him, why does your lordship


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[Assistant] Or such troubled countenance. In other words, why do you look so bummed out? And he said, I am not talented.


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[Assistant] Yet none of my ministers are equal to me. Our state is in deep trouble.


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[Assistant] And then, when, when, when uh, Wu Chi tells the story, the guy he's talking to gets embarrassed. Because what does that statement say? That statement says, surround yourself with people that are better than you, smarter than you.


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[Assistant] If you're smarter, if you're the smartest person in the room, you're on a losing team. You should feel horrible.


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[Assistant] National, next section, national alertness. Lord Wu addressed Wu Chi. At present, kin


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[Assistant] Coerces us on the west. Chu encircles us in the south. Chao collides with me in the north. And Qi encroaches us from the east. Yan cuts off our rear and Han occupies the front. These six states surround us and we have to defend against them. Our situation is precarious and it worries me. What can be done about this?


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[Assistant] Wu Chi said, in general, being alert of danger is true measure of good governance, ensuring security of the state. As you have now recognized the importance of being cautious, disaster can be kept away. So the guy's surrounded, he's like, what can I do? Pay attention to it.


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[Assistant] Next, next section providing opportunity for talent.


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[Assistant] And has the fleetness of a barbarian horse. I tried to figure out if there's some root word to tripods. It's like a stool. A three legged desk. I couldn't find that there was some.


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[Assistant] Ancient thing that was really heavy. So we're just going with that. We have to use our imaginations on that one.


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[Assistant] This is because in their hands holds the fate of the whole army. Those who are experts in weapons, strong and quick and capable and motivated to kill enemies, they should be given rank and prominence. We should also treat the family well, encourage them with rewards and warn them with punishment.


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[Assistant] This is because such people can solidly hold their position for a long time and exterminate enemies. If the ruler can discern and evaluate men described, you can attack double force your strength.


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[Assistant] People, you know, you get asked that question a lot. You know, what do you do when you get the, the,


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[Assistant] High performers on a team, right? Do you focus on them? And clearly the answer here is yes, and that's usually the answer that I give as well.


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[Assistant] You do have to keep a bench, right? You have to have some other people and you have to continue to work to get your bench to become high performers.


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[Assistant] So you don't ignore the bench. When you get the opportunity to give them some playing time, give them some playing time.


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[Assistant] But definitely focus on those ones that are definitely going to get up there and make things happen.


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[Assistant] Enemies you can attack. Next section. Wu Chi said in general when evaluating the enemy there are eight conditions under which one engages battle without doing an assessment. You don't even have to think about these. These are no brainers. These are go criteria. In violent wins and extreme close they arise.


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[Assistant] Early and are on the march while barely awake and breaking ice to cross streams. These guys are cold, they're miserable, and they're tired. You can just attack them.


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[Assistant] Next one. In the burning heat of summer, they arise late and press forward with haste through hunger and thirst concentrating on reaching far-off objectives. You see them? Attack them.


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[Assistant] The army has been out in the field for an extended period. Their food supplies are exhausted. The people are resentful and angry. Numerous bail for portents arise with the officers unable to squash them. You see them? Attack them.


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[Assistant] The army's resources have already been exhausted, firewood and hay are scarce, weather frequently cloudy and rainy, and if they even want to plunder for supplies, there's nowhere to do it. Cleared hot, attack them.


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[Assistant] The generals are weak. The official irresponsible. The officers and troops are not solid. The whole army is frequently in fear and the troops lack assistance. Attack them.


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[Assistant] Their formations are not yet formed. Their encampment not yet finished. Or they are passing through dangerous territory. Only half their troops are out of it. In these eight conditions you can attack without any doubts.


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[Assistant] There are six circumstances without performing too much assessment you should avoid conflict.


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[Assistant] Think about that. Think about that as a leader, how you treat your team. When you treat your team well, when you take care of your team, the enemy shouldn't even attack you because they know what's going to happen.


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[Assistant] You know, I don't, I see, I, a lot of times in my life.


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[Assistant] When I'm browsing the internet. When I find a good document.


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[Assistant] I just download that document or I copy paste it and I put it into this file which is called Books and PDFs.


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[Assistant] So in this thing, books and PDFs, sometimes I'll...


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[Assistant] I'll go, oh yeaah, I'll see something to remind me of it or I'll think of it and I'll just go and...


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[Assistant] And go in there. And that's where, so I forget where this actually came from because it was just in my personal file that says books and PDFs which is filled with ancient military documents and F field manuals and that's, so that's where it came from. So I'm sure you could go Google it and you'd find it on the internet somewhere.


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[Assistant] Number three, rewards and punishment system is fair and transparent and is implemented in a timely fashion. You shouldn't even attack somebody that treats their people fairly and transparently. Think about that.


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[Assistant] Number four, people are rewarded according to their accomplishment and the talented and able are employed.


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[Assistant] Got a talented team, we're not gonna play. Forces are massive and well equipped. I think that is pretty self-evident. They have assistance of all their neighbors and the support of a powerful state. Okay, cool.


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[Assistant] So those, those were maybe both those sections, little obvious.


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[Assistant] Which makes you wonder why you have to say it. And I know the answer to the question that I just asked. The reason that you have to say it is because people still don't


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[Assistant] Even execute on things that seem really obvious. Like, hey, where the forces are massive and well equipped. We, we should not attack them. But, go look at history. As obvious as it is, people do it all the time.


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[Assistant] Here's the deal. It's so obvious from the outside. Right. It's watching a movie. It's watching a lame horror movie where you're watching the girl


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[Assistant] Yeah, but this stuff happens all the time, not just in movies. People do dumb stuff.


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[Assistant] This is what I meant by see possibility and advance knowing difficulty and withdraw. So if you see possibility, advance. If you see difficulty, withdraw. Pretty straight forward.


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[Assistant] But using, by using one tenth of their strength, we can invariably cause them to be helpless. So if they're just looking rag tag, pfft, no factor.


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[Assistant] If reinforcements, if reinforcement has not arrived, there is disunity within the troops, preparations for defense has not been completed, orders and rules have not been announced, the morale of the army is shaken, they cannot advance or retreat, you can defeat the enemy with half of its strength and never lose it all. What's interesting about this perception is,


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[Assistant] When, uh, my first deployment to Iraq, we were running around in thin-skinned Humvees, meaning there was no armor. It was just super sketch.


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[Assistant] And one of the things we did, we would actually brief.


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[Assistant] That everyone was responsible for.


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[Assistant] Scanning targets, looking, and making our convoy look like a convoy that you don't want to.


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[Assistant] You don't want to upset. So we, we, we called it the porcupine of death because we had, we, we had guys in the back of our Humvees, we had these, we had articulating weapons, so we had weapons mounted


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[Assistant] You've got crew served weapons mounted on articulating arms. You've got one of those on each side. You probably had another couple machine gunners in the back anyways. They've got their weapons pointed out. You've got, everyone has got a weapon pointed out of that vehicle.


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[Assistant] You've also got the turret gunner, except for the driver. The driver's the only one that's not pointing a weapon.


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[Assistant] So those were some, if you were looking at that and you see five humvees and you see, I don't know, there's six guns on each humvee and some of them are, you know, heavy caliber weapons, belt fed machine guns.


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[Assistant] As I'm thinking about it even right now, I'm thinking if I was an insurgent, I would probably wait till the next convoy where it's all buttoned up, you know, people are sitting inside, they're looking straight ahead. We turned our seats.


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[Assistant] All in the Humvees because we didn't have doors. We turned the seats.


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[Assistant] To face outwards. Yeah. For two reasons. One, so that we could see and have a better angle to shoot, but also because our chest plates of our body armor would be then facing the enemy.


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[Assistant] As opposed to sitting where they can shoot you in the side. Sure. But just, just imagine, you know, so we would ride like our, we're facing sideways.


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[Assistant] And our feet are s- are out of the vehicle and we're just scanning for targets. And so when you see these UVs, you think, you know what?


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[Assistant] And we wanted to have an aggressive posture, and we most certainly did. We also, you know, and those were the, were the Mad Max days. So we welded these big crazy, uh, you know, bumpers on them, and we'd put tires on the front so we could just get aggressive.


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[Assistant] And my point is we, we didn't, we got ambushed a few times, but


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[Assistant] When you consider the amount of time we were on the road, I think there was probably quite a few.


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[Assistant] Things that seem really kinda obvious. If they have just eaten and not yet established their encampment, they can be attacked. If they are on the move and the troops formation is disarray, they can be attacked. If they have labored hard, they can be attacked. If they had not seized advantages of the terrain, they can be attacked.


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[Assistant] When they have not seized any critical, the critical timing they can be attacked. When their flags and banners move about chaotically they can be attacked. When they have traversed a great distance their supplies and reinforcements just arrived and the whole troops have not rested.


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[Assistant] It goes on. When river, when crossing the river and only half of them across, they can be attacked. On treacherous terrain, on narrow roads, they can be attacked. When formations change frequently, they can be attacked. When a general is separated from his soldiers, they can be attacked. When they are afraid, they can be attacked. In general, in such circumstances, select crack troops.


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[Assistant] Factors in using troops. Lord Wu asked, in using troops, what is primary?


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[Assistant] Wu Chi replied, first you need to be clear about the four principles of lightness, the two principles of heaviness, and the one principle on integrity. Lord Wu asked, what are they? Wu Chi said, these are kind of cool. The four principles of lightness means the terrain that the horses, the terrain feels that the horses are light.


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[Assistant] The horses will feel that the chariot is light. The chariots will feel that the soldiers on it are light, and the soldiers feel that the burden of war is light.


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[Assistant] And he breaks this down a little bit more. The terrain feels that the horses means that one should choose suitable terrain that would not hamper the movement of the horses. Thus, the terrain would feel


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[Assistant] They can move soldiers easily, thus the chariots will feel that the soldiers are light. If the soldiers have sharp weapons and their armor are sturdy, they will feel confident about winning, thus the burden of war will be light.


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[Assistant] For the courageous that advance, they should be rewarded heavily.


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[Assistant] For those that retreat, they should be punished heavily. So there's the two heavies. There are four lights, two heavies, and the last one is integrity.


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[Assistant] There are two principles, these are the two principles of heaviness. As for integrity, it refers to the integrity of rewards and punishment system. If the ruler is to take note and implement these principles, the troops can achieve victory.


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[Assistant] That so much focus, if you're, if you're in combat arms, so much focus should be on understanding terrain. And then as you map that into the civilian sector and jobs and businesses,


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[Assistant] You need to understand what the terrain is.


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[Assistant] What's the market like? Where are people located? Where are your competitors?


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[Assistant] Is the best weapon, right? It's like positioning in jujitsu, that when you get the right terrain, it's like you have good position in jujitsu. When you get good terrain in business, you have that kind of massive advantage.


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[Assistant] Gaining control of the army Lord Wu asked what measures will ensure the soldiers will be victorious? This guy's asking these questions.


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[Assistant] But, Wu Chi has an answer. Cause Wu Chi's not playing. Control is foremost. Lord Wu asked again, is it not a matter of numbers?


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[Assistant] Their advance and withdraw stride is measured the left and right, look out for each other, even if recovered move, even if broken off from the main order, they preserve their formations, decentralized command, even if they scatter,


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[Assistant] They will reform lines. The whole army is very united and share wheel and woe together. When they are employed, they do not feel tired.


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[Assistant] No matter where you dispatch them, no one can withstand them. Such armies are called the father and son army. It doesn't go into any more detail about the father and son army.


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[Assistant] But that whole thing, you know, decentralized command, discipline.


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[Assistant] When they are employed, they do not feel tired. Think about that. Right? Think about that. Think about that in your personal life. Like you can be tired


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[Assistant] It going into a workout, and I mean mentally tired. Oh man, I'm tired, I wanna go to sleep. When you start working out, and you're actively engaged, you're not tired anymore.


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[Assistant] I mean I have to stop doing something and then I can get tired. It takes about 40 minutes.


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[Assistant] I don't know about the three tires, but I know that one is obviously physically tired, so when you're working out and you're doing your third set of burpees as fast as you can, that's a different kind of tire.


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[Assistant] Well, I'll tell you where I get muscular tired is like you, you either are giving or receiving a singular move for an extended period of time, i.e. you get my arm and I'm defending for four and a half minutes. Muscular tired.


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[Assistant] Three types of tired ancient echo Charles doctrine.


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[Assistant] Wu Chi said in general, the way to command a marching army is not to contra-intervene, not to contravene the proper timing, advancement, and stopping.


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[Assistant] My team right now needs to get after it. Big time.


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[Assistant] We can't take a break, but people are burned out. And if we don't keep going right now, we're not gonna make it. And Dave Burke. Good deal dude. Yeaah.


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[Assistant] He, he said, well, do you really? You know what I mean? Like, really?


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[Assistant] And then, and then the guy said, you know, it's like a marathon. You know, we're in a marathon. You know, if we stop, we won't finish.


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[Assistant] And Dave's works like, actually, you can be in a marathon, and you can stop.


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[Assistant] And then, what did he say? Max Q. Oh yeaah, so there's three.


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[Assistant] Modes of speed in a jet fighter. Max Q is we're going as fast as we possibly can. Max R.


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[Assistant] Is, hey, our range is, we're gonna go as far as we can. Because obviously if you're going as fast as you can, you might not be able to go as far because you're burning more fuel.


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[Assistant] And then the last one was max E, which was, I think it's max efficiency, meaning we're just gonna stay flying as long as we can. Gotcha, yeah.


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[Assistant] Then you push for a second, then you back off. And Dave was saying, almost never.


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[Assistant] Well, he would, he said all the time they would be constantly going between max Q, max R, max E, and just going back and forth between these things.


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[Assistant] How far can we go? How far? And then- No sorry, max q is as fast as we can possibly go. And then max- I don't even know if the new word was max. Yeah, it was max q, max r, cause now it says- Yep, and then the last one was max-


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[Assistant] No, Max E is staying in the air.


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[Assistant] Like, we wanna be able to stay in the air. Gotcha. Because there's an optimum time where we might be going slower, but we're saving a lot of fuel.


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[Assistant] Yeah, what is it? Um, anaerobic. Anaerobic, aerobic.


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[Assistant] In general, on the battlefield, soon to become a land of corpses, if the soldiers are committed to fighting to death, they will live. Whereas if they seek to stay alive, they will die. Makes sense. Gotta be aggressive.


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[Assistant] If you're scared of dying, your chances of dying increase.


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[Assistant] A general, a good general act as if they are on a sinking boat or trapped in a burning building. There is not enough time for the wise to make plans or the courageous to get angry. Only thought.


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[Assistant] Is the result of hesitation while the disasters that befall the whole army is a result of too much doubts leading to slowness.


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[Assistant] Perfect plan executed in two weeks.


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[Assistant] Education and training of armies. Wu Chi said in war, men constantly perished from their inabilities and are defeated by unfamiliar. Thus when deploying troops, training should be given the priority.


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[Assistant] One man who has been trained in warfare can instruct ten men. Ten men can train a hundred men, a hundred men can train a thousand men.


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[Assistant] A thousand men can train ten thousand men, ten thousand men can train a whole army.


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[Assistant] Use the advantage of being near to counter enemy that comes from afar. Use the advantage of being well rested to counter an enemy that's been labored. Use the advantage of being satiated to counter the enemy that is hungry.


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[Assistant] Having them from deploying in circular formations and change to square ones. Have them sit, then get up and move and halt. Have them halt, move left to right, right to left. He's talking about how to train these people. How, have them divide and combine, unite them, disperse them. When all these changes are familiar, provide them with weapons. All these mentioned are great. I used to do this with, I did this all the time. I would take my seal platoon, take my seal task unit.


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[Assistant] Go out on the beach. We wouldn't even have, we'd just be wearing PT shorts. And a pair of, whatever, sneakers.


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[Assistant] And get in our patrol formation and then go contact front, contact right, contact left.


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[Assistant] And people just have to figure it out, and you start going, hey, you come with me, here's a new call. And people start taking ownership, and people start making things happen, and you start to see initiative, and you start to see decentralized command.


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[Assistant] Let's say land warfare and we'd thrown all this chaos at all these guys and they got used to making things happen. It just seemed easy.


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[Assistant] Cause as you work through it, you're getting better. Now we would have a debrief, you know, maybe go through 8 or 10 little mini maneuvers. And this is, you know, the classic one is you, you call your first call and everyone knows what to do. And then you let that start to get executed. Then right as it's getting executed, you call a different call.


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[Assistant] Then you call a different thing, you get confusion times too. Now we're all split up. You're, you know, you used to be your fire team being Bill, Fred and Joe, and all of a sudden you're not with Bill, Fred and Joe. And a matter of fact, you're a junior guy and everyone in your fire team that you randomly end up as all junior guys as well. No one knows that they need to step up in charge. Finally you look around and say, I gotta make a call right now. Hey fire team, it's on me.


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[Assistant] We're gonna bound forward. Ready? Move. And you, the guys listen to you. Why? Because they're starting to adapt to the situation.


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[Assistant] Like every seal knows what to do when you say contact front. Everybody knows what to do. And then you say center peel. Everybody knows what to do. Everyone's done that drill thousands of times. But then while they're doing the center peel, you say contact rear.


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[Assistant] And then you, so now they're jumbled up. But then you call another call.


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[Assistant] And then you say contact rear. And then you say the tactical call for we're going to flank them.


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[Assistant] And now people start to work the flank, but they're with a different group. And now as that flank is happening, you call...


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[Assistant] Contact front or contact rear again or contact left or contact right.


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[Assistant] And now we've got to start to orient to this new situation. And so you just keep doing all these different calls and it makes people think. And like I said, it felt like I was cheating. Because by the time we would get to land warfare,


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[Assistant] The problems would not be problems because we already scrambled our brains over and over again and everyone knows how to look around and figure out who to grab and hey, if I'm alone or no one's in charge, cool, I'm gonna grab three guys, we're a fire team, we're gonna move.


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[Assistant] So now imagine if you did that three times in a row. Four times in a row. Five times in a row. Then they're gonna have real problems.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and I think for, for the takeaway is like to just being a leader in general. You're putting your, putting your troops into situations that they're not familiar with. They learn how, they learn the protocol, they learn how to deal with those situations. Which I wrote about in, in...


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[Assistant] In the code. I wrote about how do you handle a situation when you don't know what to do. What do you do? Well...


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[Assistant] Cause it's a good protocol. It's, it's, it's a very, and it's the, it's the protocol that you have to fall upon the most because it's the unknown, right? The other protocols are straightforward.


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[Assistant] You know, here's the problem, here's the solution. This is the unknown. What do I do when I don't know what to do? Something bad happened and I don't even know where to start. This is this, this is the...


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[Assistant] Strategy protocol. Every scenario cannot be addressed.


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[Assistant] So this is the protocol for what to do when you don't know what to do. One, start by taking a step back, detach, take a breath, look around, make sure you assess everything that's happening. So this is what we do, so this is what's happening when you're in a seal platoon and there's three calls just got made and now you're in the unknown, you don't know what to do. Take a step back, detach, take a breath, look around, make sure you assess everything that's happening. That's, that's exactly what you should do.


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[Assistant] Next, think about where your possibilities are and decisions you could make right now and what could happen. So now you look around and say, okay, what could we do? Could we go to that berm over there? Could we go to that little ravine over there?


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[Assistant] Here I say write it down because we're in an administrative situation, but then you look at okay What what does the success look like does that get us where we want to be can I get there? Can I make that happen and then you work the plan make a call?


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[Assistant] And you want to make small, make a small step towards what you think is the right decision. And that's what I write about in, in Leadership Strategy and Tactics, which is the iterative decision making process, which is making small steps in the direction that you think is correct.


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[Assistant] And yeah, and then you assess if that was a good call or not. And you saw the ravine, you started moving towards the ravine. There's, doesn't seem like you're taking any further contact from that area, so you can keep moving there, so you can make another call that continues you pushing in that direction.


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[Assistant] When you walked out on the beach for the first time, this guy has no idea.


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[Assistant] And what's cool is, this isn't a drill that you had to run every single day. You could run this drill like three or four times and then people would just be good enough where, you know, you're like, okay, we got this. And they're, they're, they are,


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[Assistant] I was gonna say ten times better, and then I was gonna say a thousand times better, but then that sounds unrealistic, but the actual number is


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[Assistant] When you walk out on the beach for the first time as a new guy and you've never done this before, you're zero.


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[Assistant] You're zero. You, when that first call, when the, no. When the first call gets made, you go, cool, I know what to do. When the second call gets made, you're at a zero. You have no idea what's happening.


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[Assistant] When, when you've done this now for three hours one morning, when you're done with those three hours, you're a whole new man.


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[Assistant] You're a whole new man. Your ability to process what's happening, your ability to figure things out, your ability to grab two or three other people, put them in your fire team and start making, making, taking action to support whatever calls being made. You're a totally different human being.


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[Assistant] Which is amazing. And by the way, the only training, the only equipment that you need is a pair of shorts and a stick. And you can say bang bang.


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[Assistant] Wu Chi said the basic rule of warfare that should be taught is that men of short stature should carry spears.


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[Assistant] And Spear Tip Halberd. The tall should carry bows and crossbows. The strong should carry flags and banners. The courageous should carry bells and drums. The weak should serve in logistics. The otherwise should be involved in planning.


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[Assistant] People from the same village or district should be grouped together so they can look out for each other.


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[Assistant] It's, if you think about, you know, once you're carrying, once you're carrying guns, a lot of the physical differences between humans go away.


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[Assistant] You know, not that they go away completely. I was thinking about this other guy, a text from one of my Seagull friends that, one of my, you know, a guy that I grew up with in the teams. And he's just a incredible beast of a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Specimen of a human being, right? And I remember I was watching


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[Assistant] We were doing a training operation. We were down in the jungles of Louisiana. And we were doing a raid.


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[Assistant] A live fire raid. So we're using really real bullets. And I was in the base element. Which is the cover element. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was not gonna move, I was laying there and this is generally the place for the radio man, generally the place for the platoon commander that you're gonna sit next to the platoon commander and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were semi-cheesy targets set up for us. There was, you know, some, some, a couple plywood buildings, some barrels, and there was a picnic table, a random like picnic table was in there. And I'm watching the silhouette of this assault happen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I see my buddy and you know he's like 6'4 and just sort of just overall general beast of a dude and a great athlete and I see him


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[Assistant] He's carrying an M60 machine gun. This was before the modern machine guns that we have now. So this is a big, normally it's a crew served, it used to be a crew served weapon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Meaning you have a person to carry the weapon, and a person to carry the ammunition, and sometimes a person to carry the tripod.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We had them with bipods, we had modifications to them, but in the SEAL teams you carry those weapons by yourself. So he's got this big giant weapon and


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[Assistant] I'm watching him, and he's, he gets to this picnic table, and he's shooting. Cause they're shooting, it's live fire, and we have now shifted fire, we've actually now ceased fire. So we're no longer shooting, we're just watching them move for the target. And I see him, and he's carrying this giant M60, and it looks like he's carrying a beast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That pig gun. So, that's what I was thinking about when I thought of this section right here. That, you know, you, and you know, look, your point man, a lot of times the point men are these small guys. Hey, the Vietnam point men, they were legendary, those would be these, the small seals, right? Hey, that guy's gonna be a point man. The big dumb new guys, you're gonna be a 60 gunner, right?


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[Assistant] Uhm, they, they still kinda carry this stuff out. And of course it's not.


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[Assistant] Written in stone, and you can definitely be, there's plenty of guys that have been very small and carried a heavy machine gun. There's plenty of big guys that have been point men, but we do, you know, there's a little bit of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That means, it used to mean the M60, but now it also means the Mark 48, which is the new modern version. It's a big belt-fed machine gun. To put it in clear terms for you, the iconic Rambo weapon. And commando, by the way. Belt-fed machine gun. I don't know about commander, what kind of weapon he was carrying in there. M60. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, so picture that weapon. I mean, cause well, now you can picture it with, with Sly Stallone, right? Do you know how tall Sylvester Stallone is?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, exactly. So you can picture my buddy just laying there.


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[Assistant] And just laying it down as he's moving, as he's walking over an obstacle like it's no factor.


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[Assistant] And therefore, the guy that's carrying the pig can be known, can call it the Pig Gunner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And usually guys have a nickname for their pig.


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[Assistant] And as a matter of fact, the guy that was stepping over the picnic table, he, his pig,


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[Assistant] He had two of them, I'm not sure which one of them was called Frankenstein. But the other one was called Roadblock.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is, this is in the, you know, this is in the 90's man, there's no war going on. But let's face it, Roadblock is a legit name. Yea, what is that? So Ryan Job's, Ryan Job's nickname was Biggles and his, his gun was called Piggles. So it was Piggles and Biggles.


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[Assistant] I don't know, I just know that my buddy had an M60 that was called Roadblock.


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[Assistant] Yeaah. I'll tell you what, uh, so, so every different military has their different schools, right? Your different skill sets, sniper, radio man, you know, medic, they all have their own little schools. And we used to share schools, you know, sometimes our radio man would go to the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we share some of those schools. Sniper school, there's a Marine Corps sniper, there's all different schools.


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[Assistant] We are, the Seals run really, really good schools. Cause you get guys that are way, way, way into it. Way into it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Way into whatever their little thing is, but we would run, the, the machine gunners would go through a course.


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[Assistant] While we would go through land warfare, and it was like the 60 gunner's course.


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[Assistant] Or the Pig Gunners course. But man, they would get, some of the instructors, everyone was just so into it. That, and I would, the other guys, like when I was a radio man or when I was an officer, we would get, we'd do a couple runs.


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[Assistant] Cause you gotta be, but these guys will be out there for, you know, three days.


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[Assistant] Just burning through ammunition, and learning to do everything, and slap feed, and push feed, and combat feed, and you know, it just, the guys would get so good. And you'd see, there's another friend, another friend of mine I had, I was, it was almost the exact same situation.


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[Assistant] I think I was behind him, I was walking on an assault, we were assaulting through a target, and he was out ahead of me, so I wasn't.


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[Assistant] I was like, uhm, as the radioman, as a radioman, you're doing time on target, you get like the nerd roles, you know the stereotypical, so the stereotypical 60 gunner, he's like a big jacked guy, right? Even in every movie, right? It's the way it is. The stereotypical radioman, what does he look like?


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[Assistant] He's a nerdy guy. He's got glasses on. He has to keep cleaning them in the fields. And, and so like I was, I was not, I mean, I wasn't small, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the job that I had was that nerdy job. So when you're assaulting a target, your job would be to keep time on target. So you'd call out your one minute and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you're, while the assault's going down, sometimes...


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[Assistant] I would be tracking, I would kinda be, I would be a little bit more heads up, I'd be a little bit more detached, right? I got-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Three machine guns out in front of me, plus all the other guys with the pea shooters, they're all laying it down. And I might take a step back to be okay, I'm making comms, I'm making sure we're doing good, whatever. But I was watching one of my other buddies.


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[Assistant] And I just, like he was, so there's a, there's a feed train, there's a bunch of different ways that you can reload your M60. And I just remember him, he, in the most smooth fashion that you could imagine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The particular, he was, he was slap feeding it, so he opens up the feed tray, and he opens up the feed tray, and he whips his hand, he whips his hand, and what he does when he whips his hand, is he hits the links. So, you know those bullets, in the belt, they're held together by links.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that, when you fire that last round, sometimes that link will sit there, it won't make it out of the gun, cause it just fired, and so that link will sit there right in that spot. So he opens up the feed tray, he whips his hand, and he hits that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, what I'm saying is, when you've got people that are into what they're doing, they're gonna be good. They're gonna be good. You wanna, that's why if you, we should've videoed those two guys. In those two moments, if I could capture those two moments.


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[Assistant] And just propagate those two moments to the world. People will be a lot less apt to want to mess with America.


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[Assistant] Cause you think about what kind of humans are doing this. What kind of human has figured out how to open the feed tray cover, slap that link out, reach down. What kind of human is doing that?


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[Assistant] And has made that into a beautiful thing.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and then you just break down, and when I start thinking about all the little details that guys would do, every little piece of gear, they're honing it, they're prepping it, everything is taped, everything is quiet, everything is just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you'd get to see these guys. I'll tell you what, I was out on patrol, like towards the end of the Battle of Ramadi. You know, we're like of, I don't know, maybe a few weeks or whatever from going home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I run to some corner and I'm holding the corner as, you know, whatever, we're just on patrol.


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[Assistant] A machine. A machine that's alive.


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[Assistant] Ever. Until you are dead. Like that's from a movie, but that's real.


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[Assistant] Think about that. That's a, that's a movie. Somebody wrote that for a movie to make that as cool as possible, but that's a real thing.


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[Assistant] There's really, really people like that. I know them.


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[Assistant] And there's groups like that. And look, the only thing is you can say, oh they can't be killed or whatever. Did you say that? Where they can't be stopped?


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[Assistant] Can't be bargained with, or reasoned with, cool. Yep, we're there. So, it's just a good comforting feeling to know that there's guys out there like that. They're like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Next section, maintenance of horses. This is an interesting one. I'm trying to remember why I highlighted that. I should read that. There must be some reason.


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[Assistant] Not too hungry, and then the dichotomies continue. In winter, they should have warm stables. In the summer, cool stables. Little dichotomy there. Their mane and hair should be kept trimmed. Their hooves properly cared for. Yes. See, these are the guys... These are like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pig gunners, but with horses, right? They should be trained to be familiar with all sights and sounds so that they aren't easily startled.


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[Assistant] Practicing their gallop and pursuit, exercise, constrain, and halting the bond between the horse and men should be so strong.


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[Assistant] Before the horses can be employed. Imagine the bond between a pig gunner and his weapon, right? It's like a real thing.


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[Assistant] Similarly, they are either injured by hunger or overfeeding. That's the same thing that Dave Burke said about crashes.


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[Assistant] Plane crashes. They usually happen in the first 20% of a pilot's career or the last 20%.


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[Assistant] He must be one who is strict and flexible as well.


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[Assistant] You thought I made up the dichotomy of leadership? I didn't. It's been around for apparently thousands of years.


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[Assistant] Strict but flexible as well. In general, when people appraise generalship they usually focus on courage. However, courage is but one of many required characteristics of a general being only courageous.


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[Assistant] One would rashly rush into battle without any considerations for gain and loss. What do you need to be balanced?


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[Assistant] Such action is not acceptable. Now, the affairs to which the general must manage are five.


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[Assistant] First is control, second is preparation, third is commitment, fourth is caution, fifth is regulation. Control is governing the masses just as one controls a few.


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[Assistant] Preparation is during the journey to the battleground. Always be prepared for enemy ambush. Commitment means entering combat without any concerns for one's life.


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[Assistant] Caution means that even after conquering, one remains the same control and attitude as if just entering a battle.


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[Assistant] Orders kept to minimum, not abrasive. To accept command without declining.


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[Assistant] To accept command without declining. So when you get put in charge, you do it. Destroy the enemy only afterward.


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[Assistant] When the army goes forth, his only thought is to die with glory rather than live with shame.


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[Assistant] Wu Chi said, oh sorry, this is four areas to note and characteristics of good generals.


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[Assistant] Wu Chi said in general there are four vital points to note for warfare and they are morale, terrain, affairs, and strength. The control and management of armies movement lies in the hand of one general.


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[Assistant] That is the vital point for morale. When the road is narrow and perilous, at the vital point of the mountain route, deploying 10 men, a general can stop an army of thousands, that is a vital point of terrain.


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[Assistant] Making full use of spies, using light cavalry to harass the enemy, sowing discord between the ruler and officials and higher ranks and lower ranks reproaching each other is the vital point of affairs.


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[Assistant] When chariots have strong axles and secure pins, the boats have been suited with rudders and oars, that officers are thoroughly familiar with the formations, and the horses have trained in pursuits and maneuvers such as the vital point of strength.


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[Assistant] One who knows these four is qualified to be a general. Moreover, his reputation, virtues, benevolence, and courage must be respected by his subordinates and calm the masses.


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[Assistant] It's interesting that you think of these guys back in the day of these rulers being, you know, ruling with an iron fist and it's the caste system and you're just dominating. And he talks about benevolence all the time and righteousness.


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[Assistant] And how that's, he's saying if you know, if you've got a, if you've got a group that loves their leader, don't even attack them.


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[Assistant] And decisiveness. When he issues orders, no one dared a bit disobey him. Whenever he may be, wherever he may be, rebels will not dare to oppose him. Gaining such a person, the state will grow strong. Losing him, the state will perish. This is what we call a good general.


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[Assistant] Flags, banners, and pennants are meant to awe the eye.


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[Assistant] Prohibitions, orders, punishments, and fines are meant to awe the mind.


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[Assistant] Since the air is awestruck by sounds they must be loud and clear. Since the eye is awestruck by colors the colors must be discriminating and bright. Since the mind is awestruck by penalties it has to be strict and impartial. If these three are not established


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As much as we talk about communication, and it's under the, it's under the law of combat, simple, simple, clear, concise communication. If you're not doing that, if you're not giving clear, concise orders, things are going to fall apart. Wuch, knowing the enemy general, knowing the enemy general Wuch, he said, in general, one essential of war is to know who


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[Assistant] A commanding general who is stupid and trusting can be deceived and entrapped. One who's greedy and insensitive to honor.


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[Assistant] If the upper ranks are wealthy and arrogant while the lower ranks are poor and resentful, so discord amongst them.


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[Assistant] If they're advancing and withdrawing are often marked by doubt and the troops have no one to rely on, they can be frightened off. They can be frightened into running off. If the officers despise their commanding general and have strong intent to return home,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Block off the easy roads, leaving the treacherous ones open and they can be attacked and captured. If the terrain over which they advance is easy, but the retreat route is difficult, wait for them to come forward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I would like to know more about him, what methods can I employ? Wu Chi replied, gather some lower ranks, men who are courageous and have them lead some light shock troops to test him. When the enemy responds to attack, they, the shock troops should run off and he basically goes through how to do little


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probe to find out what kind of reaction you get if they give an organized defense or not and you can judge from there. Next one, chaos in communications.


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[Assistant] Lord Wu asked, if the chariots are sturdy, the horses are well bred, the generals are courageous, and the soldiers are strong, but when you suddenly encounter the enemy and the troops are thrown into chaos and formations are broken, what can be done?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is exactly what I talked about doing these sand, uh, uh, rattle battle drills on the beach.


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[Assistant] When outnumbered by the enemy, Lord Wu asked, what if our troops are outnumbered?


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[Assistant] Less it is said, for one to attack ten, nothing is better than narrow passage. Pretend to attack a hundred, nothing is better than deep ravine.


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[Assistant] But, don't worry, have no fear, because Wu Chi replied. A very good question.


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[Assistant] Such enemy cannot be overcome by force alone, but by the wisdom of Sage.


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[Assistant] If you can, prepare one thousand chariots and ten thousand cavalry and support them with foot soldiers. Divide them into five groups, each one traversing a different route. Now the five groups will move out in different directions simultaneously. The enemy will certainly be confused and will not know what we are up to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is a smart move. And then he goes on to a whole section of when surrounded by the enemy, when caught in unfavorable terrain, caught in a valley, fighting marine battles, wet and dry weather, also known as moist, just dry weather, fighting plunders, after cro- this is a good one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Control and use the former bureaucrats to take over their supplies. Relay orders that troops are not supposed to cut down trees, destroy houses, take the grain, slaughter animals, or burn people's supplies. This will show the populace that you do not have any vicious intentions, except those that surrender and settle them. This is very good advice. Especially that bureaucratic idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we're gonna take off, we're gonna try and maintain their society. We're not gonna rip it apart. It's gonna be easier to control. It's gonna be more beneficial to you and them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Going back to the Iraq war and the disbanding of Saddam's military, which is


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[Assistant] We talk about it on the other podcast. The new, the newly named podcast, the podcast formerly known as The Thread, which is now known as the Jocko Unraveling podcast, which will be up soon.


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[Assistant] Next section. Just to go back, look, we don't have to take this from a war scenario. When you acquire a business.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Makes people not do what I just said cause they're ego. They're like, you know what Echo? We just bought your company.


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[Assistant] You're fired, or even like, like, you know, you can be, you can be work as my, you know, whatever. Yep. You, I'm gonna take your authority away from you.


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[Assistant] Now everybody's looking at you that should be working hard and they're going, oh man, they're treating our boss.


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[Assistant] Incidence? Nope. No. They kinda stole that plot line from Wu Chi.


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[Assistant] Alright, Lord Wu asked, is making punishment severe and rewards clear adequate for victory? Wu Chi replied.


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[Assistant] Even so, they cannot be totally relied on. When you issue orders and the people willingly follow them.


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[Assistant] When you raised the army and mobilize the masses, the people take pleasure in going to battle. When engaging the enemy, the people take on pleasure in fighting to the death.


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[Assistant] Wu Chi replied, you should identify men of accomplishment and honor them with a grand feast. Also invite those that have not accomplished anything. This would stimulate them.


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[Assistant] Thereupon Lord Wu had sitting on, had sitting mat set out in the ancestral temple hall, arranged in three tiers and held a feast for officers and chief officials. Those distinguished by great achievement sat in the first tier and were feasting in the finest food and cutlery. Those who ranked in the next accomplishment sat in the middle tier and dined with


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fine food in less lavish vessels. Those who had not accomplished anything.


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[Assistant] Also honored the parents and families of the meritorious outside the temple gate, again according to their accomplishments. He annually sent emissaries to call on the families of those who had died in service for the country, bestowing aid on their parents. So doing he showed that they would not be forgotten.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Check. This is the last section from Woochie. I read a bunch of it, didn't read the whole thing. You can go download it yourself for the details. This is the last section.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All aides and officers must confront and capture enemies chariots, cavalry, and infantry. If the chariots do not make prisoners of the enemies chariots,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The cavalry do not make prisoners of the enemy's cavalry. The infantry do not make prisoners of the enemy's infantry. Then even if we forge an overwhelming victory, no one will be accredited with achievements.


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[Assistant] That was his, that was his message to the troops. On the day of battle, although his orders were not onerous, meaning he didn't give these massive words, he just said that right there basically. On that day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is the last line of the woozy written by Wu Chi on that day of battle his awesomeness


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[Assistant] And, you know, look, these principles, we read them. We have some level of understanding of them. We see the same advice coming from different people over a spread of thousands of years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We keep hearing the same type of advice over and over again. What we need to do is put that advice to work. Right? Put these principles to work. Not just for yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How can you help us do that? How can you help us?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you're not shaking anything. With pure lack of awesomeness yourself, you're gonna have a hard time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, apparently Wu Chi's rolling with it as well. Yeah, very nice.


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[Assistant] When you're saying, hey, you know what I'm gonna do? No factor. Just no big deal. I'm just over here shaking the world with awesomeness.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, I, uh, yeah, I agree. But, I've never even heard a person


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[Assistant] Make a statement that might be the strongest possible. What's stronger than that? What's a stronger way of saying this person made a mark on the world, right?


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[Assistant] So there will be benefits. Even for truly any ailment. So you're actually speaking factually.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, cause really when it boils down to it not being on super grill and not being on joint warfare is not a good idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I must say I drink the powdered form of Discipline Go like basically all day long. Basically we're talking about all day long. Uh, you wanna, you got some


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want to prevent some ailments. Even ailment prevention is what we're talking about. Vitamin D3. Get some of that. Get some Cold War.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can deny these threatening enemy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Beasts, ailments, that are out there. Just get rid of them before they even show up. Oh yeah, immune system. This is like somebody walks up to your immune, some, some enemy walks up to your immune system. They see the D3 and they see the Cold War. They're sort of like, hey, that's not, we're not attacking. Yup. They write in that category of don't attack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Cold War, do not attack, is a losing battle. Got the RTD cans. You want to get some, you want to get some Jocko Palmer. You do want to get some Jocko Palmer. This stuff is ridiculously good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well yea, he's talking about the term proprietary blend, which is a way of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Masking what you actually have in there and the quantities that you have in there, which means that you can sell people things that...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For a lot more. But even though you didn't put very much of them in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You won't. But, here's the thing. We're making something else. We're making up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, no, this one won't. It can or cannot. I mean, you can have caffeine-free coffee, you can have caffeine-free tea, so we're making ginger ale without caffeine. The reason is, the rea- this is what I was gonna say, the reason I said that is because I told, I told Belittle, I was like, listen,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This stuff tastes freaking delicious. And I want to drink it all day. Oh yea. And I don't want to OD on caffeine. There's 95 milligrams of caffeine in every can of go. So, you know, you have a can of go, maybe you have two a day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The maximum you're supposed to do recommended is like 400mg of caffeine a day. That's gonna turn me into a psychopath.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it's a little discipline test cause you gotta draw the line. But, also the cool thing is, when you,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so we're gonna make that, uh, I already, I already had, I told, I just, probably about the sixth or seventh iteration of, and he's still keeping in all the positive stuff, all the good, nootropics, all the healthy things that are in there, it's all still gonna be in there, it's just not gonna have caffeine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause I know someone that when they go out for dinner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, since you can't, unfortunately, just wear a gi wherever you go. Unfortunately. I mean, you can, technically, but it's not recommended. Yeah. You can also get other things there, like jeans, t-shirts, boots.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Without compromise, made in America. American hands. Up there getting after it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a, in a vacuum environment with just Pete Roberts in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All you have to do is look at rash guards from origin, right? You can look at those and you can see where it's gonna end up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You get that balance, like the genes, man. Let's face it, there's some things about the genes that are a little bit


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it just so happens, let's face it, they look super dope.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you, if the paparazzi was waiting for you, you'd wear something different? No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Again, I tried to find out if woozy meant anything, and I couldn't find that it meant anything. That I could comprehend. Other than room, and I know that this book is not called room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think I could be wrong, but- I think Wu by itself is martial. As in martial arts, as in Wu-Tang Clan.


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[Assistant] Have you ever seen a YouTube comment that says Echo in quotes like your middle name, nonetheless, Charles?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Subscribe to this podcast if you want to. Uhm, Echo seems to think that's a big concern in the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So hey, not only is there this podcast, we also have the name, the podcast formerly known as The Thread, which is now known as the Jocko Unraveling Podcast. That's, we actually recorded a couple more.


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[Assistant] With Daryl. Yesterday. It'll be back. It'll be live.


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[Assistant] We'll put them, we're gonna put them on this feed and then eventually we'll move them off to another feed so we don't confuse people. Grounded Podcast.


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[Assistant] We haven't done one of those in a while. That's probably negligent. Same with Warrior Kid podcast, but they are there. We will work on more. Also, speaking of Warrior Kids, we got that, we got that Warrior Kid, so irishoaksfrench.com or you can get it on the Jocko store. And this is made by a Warrior Kid.


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[Assistant] Who's putting his effort in life to create something so that people in the world


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have a YouTube channel where Echo Charles makes


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This will be on there. This whole scenario will be on there.


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[Assistant] You can see what I look like. You can see what Echo looks like. Echo then also makes these videos where he'll, in a three minute video, by the way, he'll put 900 explosions, but in a three hour video, he'll put none.


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[Assistant] I think that certain things, why don't you do this, why don't you start with, like today you talked about 14 different 80's movies, why don't you put a little clip in there or put a little something, make a Terminator robot or something, right? Just put it in there. People will go,


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[Assistant] Bro, can you at least try to put one effect into a three hour podcast video?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I also got flipsidecanvas.com, Dakota Meyer's company, and he makes visual representations to keep you on the path. I got a bunch of books. The code.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can start to get on the right path. Also, I have a leadership consultant company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's called Echelon Front. If you need help with leadership inside your organization, go to echelonfront.com. We have EF Online, which is where I've been investing a ton of time.


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[Assistant] Going online, interacting, we do, right now we're doing three times a week. I'm there. You wanna, you wanna ask me a question? And you sent me a Twitter thing three months ago and I didn't respond?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause there was 19 million of them, where you sent me a Facebook message and I didn't respond. Look, I apologize. I, I, it's not possible.


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[Assistant] For me to look at them all. If you want to talk to me, go to efonline.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just go to efonline.com. You will be, I will be in your living room with you on Zoom.


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[Assistant] The Zoom call. I will be in your living room. You'll be talking to me. We'll be having a conversation. That's what's happening. Go to efonline.com. There's a bunch of other information on there. There's a bunch of other, we got, we got courses to go through. We've got


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Question of the day, we've got leadership primers, we've got all kinds of stuff. So go check it out. EFonline.com. We really ramped that up and we got into the COVID scenario.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is our leadership event. The next one is going to be in Arizona, September 16th and 17th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then Dallas, Texas on December 3rd and 4th. Go to ExtremeOwnership.com for details. Look, it's probably gonna be a social distance situation, which means we're gonna have less tickets to sell, which means it's gonna sell out faster.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So ExtremeOwnership.com if you want to come. EF Overwatch!


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[Assistant] If you are a military individual that is moving into the civilian sector,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or if you're a civilian company that needs people that understand the principles we talk about here, go to efoverwatch.com. Fill out the appropriate information, and we will move you in the right direction. Both of you. AmericasMightyWarriors.org. This is Mark Lee's mom, Mama Lee.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she is out on a daily basis making it her mission to help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Service members their families and gold star families around the world So if you want to get involved or you just want to donate go to americasmightywarriors.org and if you want some more of my


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Inept interpretations, or you would like to hear more of Echo's prolonged proclamations.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can find us on the interwebs, on Twitter, on Instagram.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And on Facebook, that goes at Echo Charles and I am at Jocko Willink and to all the folks out there in uniform actually enacting and living these military principles to keep us


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Safe and free, thank you to all of you and to police and law enforcement and firefighters and paramedics and EMTs and dispatchers and correctional officers and border patrol and secret service.


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[Assistant] Thanks to all of you for holding the line for us here on the home front. And everyone else out there.


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[Assistant] Maybe we should try to shake the world with awesomeness. But like he also said, stay balanced. Don't run with that idea. Stay on the high road.


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[Assistant] Keep that thing in check. Instead, follow the way. How things should be done. Do things with righteousness.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do things with propriety. That means you hold the standard.


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[Assistant] I've, uh, I've obviously watched your, uh, I'm familiar with your, your history, your name and the podcast and.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it was a Hail Mary. I thought maybe I'll send him a book. Uhm, and maybe, yeah, you'd take interest in the, uh, in the subject matter. Uhm, yeah, as you know, marketing books these days, it takes a lot of the efforts on the, the writer themselves, the author. So that was, uh, yeah, my objective was to get it to you and hopefully,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This would happen. Here we are. And again, I appreciate the opportunity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It could also be used as a call out, uhm, you know, double word, uhm, but yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, yeaah, I don't know, I mean, I wasn't a bad kid, a bad seed, but I think I hit an age, as we all do, where I started to try to push barriers and figure out what I was made of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And being a hockey fan, there were certain type of players that I respected or wanted to emulate. And I didn't necessarily have the size or the chin.


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[Assistant] To do so. So my game kind of changed unfortunately for me, but, uh, yeah, that's kind of the early onset to, uh, a pal is a young man trying to figure out what he's capable of and who he is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, possibly. But they, they checked that. Uhm, and I think deep down I knew what was, I was wrong. Like I was raised properly, had, you know, good parents.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But as you do, you check, you check yourself and you're trying to figure out what you're made of. And yeah, I figured out that that wasn't me. I wasn't, you know, a bad ass per se. Certainly wasn't going to make the NHL with my, my size of my hands and chin.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I don't think the why matters. Or the what? It's more the why. Uhm, it was, it was nothing.


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[Assistant] You know, I'm sure imaginations will flow. There is no, it's not drug related. It's not, you know, anything.


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[Assistant] But uhm, it was dumb enough that the police took interest in my association with certain people.


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[Assistant] And, uh, you know, I wasn't, I wasn't charged or anything, but it was, it was a good kick in the ass.


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[Assistant] I experienced sitting down with my father who was visibly upset, uhm, at the fact that potentially I'd be going to jail.


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[Assistant] Ruin your life. And that, uh, yeaah, that set me straight. Seeing that reaction was sobering, I guess would be the word. And from there, I took, took ownership.


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[Assistant] Yep, fair one. And this, keep in mind, this is early 90s, so.


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[Assistant] Nothing was going on. The government at the time was, you know, checking their budgets, so it was cost-cutting.


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[Assistant] So yeaah, there wasn't an opportunity to go right for us. There was other positions, like Radar Tech or Navy, whatever, but that wasn't...


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[Assistant] You know, unfortunately I had a VHS tape of Hamburger Hill, and I watched the shit out of that thing. And that was all about...


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[Assistant] The infantry, you know. Uhm, and my grandfather, who was my dad's dad, uhm, third wave, Juno Beach, he had given me, I didn't put it in the book, but he had given me a jump smog from 101st Airborne.


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[Assistant] The jump in me that, you know what I mean, I was, but uhm, yeaah, I agree to your point, the military, and certainly the legion.


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[Assistant] Got my shit together. And that's a big reason for the book is I owe the Legion and France a lot for myself for how it changed my life. And that was my effort was to do something or give something back. Albeit small, it certainly showed my appreciation.


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[Assistant] That's correct. So you still go to bootcamp? Yea, you do the same battle school. Basic is different, but you go and do the same battle school.


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[Assistant] And from there you'd support the PPCLI if they had any taskings overseas or whatever he would be. That's the way the Canadian military was working. That would be one third percent would be reservists, militia in our case. Um, so that, that was the objective. And then if positions came available for a rig force, you would be top of the list to get into the rig force.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so Somalia, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, they had that incident in Somalia and it resulted in them being disbanded.


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[Assistant] They caught a local trying to steal food inside their camp, and he was, uh,


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[Assistant] I think it was four soldiers, uhm, they tortured him and in the end he died and that got into the media and obviously as a result the government disbanded the complete regiment. Uhm, so while that was happening all jump courses were put on standby and us as a regiment we were retasked to be anti-tank uhm, basically, which was a hard


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and I called actually, I called the, uh, Marine Corps recruiter. And, uh, yeah.


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[Assistant] Well, at the time, no, you'd have to go through the whole process of applying for a green card. So it'd take, he said like two years. So I was like, you know, you're young and zero patience. Two years is like the rest of your entire life. You could never wait two years.


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[Assistant] Well, I think now it's a lot easier, but again, at the time there wasn't a lot going on. So they're a little more selective, but, uh, yeah, that's what I was told two years minimum.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I actually went down to the French Consulate in Vancouver and, uh, went to the front desk and...


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[Assistant] Ask the question. Kind of a strange look that I got back from the nice lady, but they gave me an address.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yeah, I wrote a letter and the letter came back with all the, uhm, information needed to, to join. So I, uh, I read that a million times and, uh, yeah, I was like, I'm going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Albeit I'm in France, I can't go home. So there's that difference. If I may interject, my grandfather, my mom's dad who retired a three star, um, before I left, he, he was my hero, as I mentioned at the end of the book, um, when the DSO, um, he had said to me, are you sure?


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[Assistant] So I always had that in the back of mind is, you know, as soon as I knocked on that door, I was representing Canada somewhat.


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[Assistant] I took it, the Canadian military school system is French immersion. So I took, which is basically half English, half French. I took that degree. So I had a good base, which I think was a huge factor in my decision to go. That's a challenge if you don't speak the language.


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[Assistant] So I was a little bit older. But I wasn't. I was still dumb.


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[Assistant] Just go for it. You came all this way. But yea, I definitely. How long did you sit there for?


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[Assistant] Not much because that was the issues is pre internet really. There was Legionnaire that you mentioned the book, which I'd read and that was definitely a big part of my joining.


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[Assistant] I read the mouthful of rocks, but again, as you mentioned, deserter didn't take into account. It was just, you know, someone writing their own narrative. Um, and then the history books, you know, seeing the, the beps jumping in Indochina and then Algeria. That for me was the.


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[Assistant] I didn't know much, whatever the books talked about and all that being said, Legionnaire was the sixties, that was the French Indochina or the French Algerian war.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so time had passed, but I didn't know much. That was the big question mark is what comes next.


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[Assistant] They had a cassette for every language in the old VHS machine and old TV and you sit there for whatever, it took 25 minutes and you just watch their presentation on what you're about to join. Yeah. So that was actually my first real bit of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, and they've been doing this for a long time. They know what it takes and the right type of candidate to choose. So that's the first step. They look at the basic information that they have and they go from there and they've been fairly successful at what they do. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now you go to Obanya. Obain, correct. Obain. Obain. So they do a pre-medical exam prior to that. So they really check the sound of body and all that kind of stuff to make sure that you're physically fit. And then off you go to Obain.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, they look for the basics. Any scars showing, you know, previous injuries.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I don't know what exactly they look for, but they spent a lot of time. We sit in a dentist chair and they go, they go at it and guys were, were cut cause they had teeth. No, I don't know if that shows.


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[Assistant] Bad bone structure, bad DNA, or it's gonna cause them problems down the road where they have to do dental work. Especially overseas, I think that's...


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[Assistant] Still at the recruiting phase. So we're not even, when you do get chosen, you go off and do your basic, which is four months at another regiment. This is just screening, really getting everyone still screen. Yeah. So all the different, um, recruitment, uh, sites that they have in France, they all ship the volunteers to O'bying. And then there they start doing their triage basically would be the right word. And, uh, from there they'll do their.


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[Assistant] Selection, background checks, more medical stuff, physical fitness.


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[Assistant] Not anymore. Originally back when it was initially designed, it was to.


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[Assistant] Have soldiers to go do France's dirty work that weren't French. So they would take whoever they could. Or they would give, uhm, criminals the opportunity to not serve their time in prison and join the legion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, you know, as the Legion grew and became a little more professional and a part of the French military, then it was, it was a different system. They basically selected what they could, the best of what showed up. So this is the process they start doing there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Through background checks and make sure that you, you need a valid passport, obviously, um, no major criminal offenses and then have the physical attributes to make a good soldier. And they take one in, one in 12, I think, when I was there, one in 12 applicants get through, now it's more one in 15. Wow. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't for example. But yea, you can apply. It's not a given. Uh, if you're injured in battle, you are given French citizenship. Uhm, but yea, most of the people will apply after five years and they're pretty, they're pretty good at, at issuing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so we're through. So I'm in. And that was probably the worst.


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[Assistant] Part of my experience in the Legion, not that it was a bad experience, but that was definitely the least enjoyable. Or just the whole... Yea, the atmosphere. Processing. If, I don't know what prison's like, but that was kind of my...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My go to experience here, you know, there's just a bunch of meatheads around. Everyone's kind of, you don't know what's happening. Yeah.


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[Assistant] Yeah. Yeah. And then every day there'd be a roll call. They'll yell out a whole bunch of names and those guys, you're out. You just go off to the side to go back and get your kit and they'll send you back to your original, um, spot that you applied and that's it. You're done. So every day you'd be in roll call and you'd be just hoping your name didn't get caught. And how long was this time period? It took about a month for this to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So for the eastern countries, uh, it's illegal for them to serve in a foreign military. So for that reason, the legion will issue them a false name, uh, typically a Swiss, based on a Swiss passport, Canadian passport.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they use that for a duration of their career before they can go through an administrative process to get their name back. Uh, in my case, I was Canadian, that's not an issue, so I kept my name.


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[Assistant] So uh. But if the country finds out what that name is and they call and ask the legion is, you know, Simon Murray in your ranks, they'll have to say yes. So it's up to you to maintain the anonymity, I guess would be the word.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, our corporal is a sergeant, and our corporal showed up from the Ketskrim Error, which is the training regiment that we'll be going to, and this is them taking us for a run, and, or taking us out, and that's where we see the first sign of what's to come. It was interesting.


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[Assistant] I thought it was actually kind of, kind of cool. I don't know if that sounds right, but it's more like, yeaah, this is, you know. My experience in the Canadian military was, was good, but it wasn't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's, as I said, they know what they're doing. This is how they weed out the, uh, the weak or those that aren't meant to be there. You can't handle them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so there's not, I mean, there's nothing mean about it. They're just trying to figure out whether or not you want to be there. And if you don't, well, you know, well, that being said, you, you gotta do your, your four months of basic. You can decide to leave at the end of basic, but they're, they're definitely putting the pressure on early. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Once we were, we had 50, uh, the next group showed up. So I think I was there for a couple weeks before we were a complete set.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was super foreign to me, coming from the Canadian system, albeit short.


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[Assistant] You know, they had said, were, you guys, we going to the farm for a month. I was like, you know, what? And, uh, yeah, it was, it was definitely an eye-opener, but effective. Well, what, what part was, was strange to you? Well, just the term farm, like I was, well, you know, we're going to go farming.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then we show up and it actually looks like a French farming building.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Landscape around it, but uhm, it's an effective tool. You're there for a month and you just get beasted on and they show you the way of, of the Legionnaire. And if you can hack it, good for you. If not, off you go. How often are people quitting? Uhm, we had a handful probably every week, one or two with dessert. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was kind of, as I mentioned, you know, kind of a, an understood thing. If it's not for you and you deserve it, off you go. If the gendarmes pick you up, they would, you know, be sent back to the Legion. They'd do their time in the jail and then they'd release them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We definitely weren't eating enough to compensate for the calories you're burning, but that was also part of it. Trying to turn this down, get us into the right shape.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In reference to the, the deserters, I think I mentioned that it seemed like it was more that the Brits, the Kiwis, the Aussies, the Western era, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Non-eastern blockers that were, were deserting. And I think that's cause they had something to go home to. They have, yeaah, they have it easier at home, whereas eastern blockers, where are they gonna go? You know, they got no choice. So it's a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I, I should talk it, but I respect it and it has its place and its purpose and it's effective and that's, you know, that's the history of the lesion. So it's, it's what they, what they do and what they use.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it builds cohesion, right? There's the teamwork, it's learning, figuring it out together, uhm, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pulling along the weakest link, but when you do finally get it and you start marching together collectively as a group, there is that pride like, yeah, we nailed this, we got it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it, it's effective. And as I mentioned, we, we march into the, into the regiment four weeks later as a cohesive group in step, singing them in the right tune. And yeah, it's, it's impressive that they can do that in a short amount of time with, you know, all these different nationalities and people that don't speak French, they have different alphabets. Like it's, it's a, it's an effective system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, especially for the Russians, I mean, they had a different outfit, we had Koreans. I mean, I had it easy, and I say that, having that base made it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hell of a lot easier for me, I don't have to worry, but I could just focus on the soldiering and the not getting beasted on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, depends on the individual. Obviously there's some that pick it up quicker than others. If you're cleaning toilets all the time and working in the kitchen, you might want to put a little more effort into it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's certain nationalities like the Romanians that have that Latin base that pick it up quite well. Uhm, and yeaah, it's down to each individual to put in the time and effort.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The system within those four months, you have a basic level of French before you can go to the next step to your regiments.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that being said, about a third of the men in the ranks are also French.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what they'll do, as I mentioned in the book, is they'll put those who speak French, you'll be a being home with a non-French speaker, and you have to assist, and if they're not pulling. So what did they class you as?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I was given that, so I was given, uhm, a couple of angle phones, a Brit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't, you know, I don't, to be honest, I don't remember the exact number. Uhm, enough to, it would progressively increase.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, once we get our legs and behind us and we'd be marching all night, get back early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the next NCO will be there saying, glad you had a good night's sleep, let's get to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so it's, yeah, you finish the farm and then you go back to Castel for three months and then you start your training as a legionnaire, as an infantryman. And they basically set you up, so depending on what regiment you go to, you have the base skills needed for them to work with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's not a lot of, as I mentioned, there's the basics, but it's not, it's just more about the discipline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I finished, I finished first. Um, and hats off to, I mentioned Benny, he was an ex, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, British soldier served in, uh, uh, over in Ireland. A good guy and he was my, you know, go-to during training. You know, he had his history and stories and he had a bad knee so he decided at the end of your basic training you can decide to call her quits. And he did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I think it was 17 that did. I don't remember the exact figure I mentioned, but there was a chunk that decided it wasn't for them. I finished first, and generally how it works is, depending on where you finish, you can pick and decide where you want to go, the different regiments. In the Legion, there's one airborne regiment, the rep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that was my, my choice, my only choice. However, because I finished first and I had the French, the language ability, they wanted me to stay on as a foot foot. Now it's in the book. We have these acting corporals that aren't corporals, but they've been given that grade or ability based on their


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Language or language skills. And they could be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fox, am I allowed to say that? Some of them took advantage of their, their authority and dealt out punishment, which was unfair because they haven't done shit. So they had a bad name for themselves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we all picked up on that and we had one in particular that I had no time for and never ran into again, which is probably a good thing, but they wanted me to stay as a foot foot. And I think my head NCO could tell.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Based on my reaction that wasn't, I didn't want that. I didn't come all this way to be a foot foot. I wanted to go to the rep. So they came up with a solution was if I went and did my sports monitor course, I could go to the rep. What's the sports monitor course? It's basically in the regiment you'll have your sports bureau and they dictate, you know, just the athleticism of all the Legionnaires. They do all the planning for sports events.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, basically just run the sports bureau. So that would be a course that gave you that qualification to be a part of the, the regiment sports bureaus. Got it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I was able, you know, I had the athleticism and I was able to, you know, do well enough that they, I guess, saw the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every day I just uh. Just across the board. At the end they have an evaluation. What were you good at? Uhm, I could run.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It started to come on, you know, I was heavier when I joined, you know, being Canadian, because I had a bit of muscle on me and they, they told me that I'm pretty good. So I picked up the running, I did well and the big staple, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Physical side for the Legion is the 8km run with rucksack and weapon. You actually do a 1500m sprint. There's a, I think a 5 minute break and then you do 8km. There's that, there's the rope, then there's the obstacle course. And, uh, you know, I was able to do well on those. So with that, on the range, I was consistent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, obviously I had the language, my kit was in gear. You know, it wasn't a problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, I mean, there's room for improvement and everything. Yeah. But, uh, overall, no, I wasn't, I was enjoying it. You know, I was, I wanted to soldier and that's what we were doing. I could see the, the progression and where I wanted to go was, was coming. Uh, I was getting to that spot. So I think I had the right attitude. Obviously like in anything, attitude is, is a huge factor. I think I just put my head down and soldiered on and that was looked up on positively.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. And consistency is always better than excellent one thing and then weak and others. Like you got that, you can build on those, but if you're, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hand to hand and things get tight, close, whatever you have that ability to look after yourself. But yeah, there was a bit, um.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and there would be an evaluation at the end and part of the sports course you had to have a minimum level so that you could teach it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a, that's a crazy story. It is and prior to that the the legion had its own Air Force or its own airplanes after that they were


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That control was taken away. Um, now, Matt, you mentioned Mac Menera. So after my sports monitor course, I go to back to O'bying, which is the headquarters for the, the Legion. And I'm there for the summer as lifeguard. I called it operation lifeguard. Um, but the promise was once I did the summer, I could go to the rep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mac Monero was a Canadian soldier that had left, uh, and he was actually the guy that did my B2 interview.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I saw him at the pool with his wife and child and I introduced myself and he kinda took me under his wing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And during our time off we'd go on hikes, and that's one of the hikes. So we'd go to this chateau.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the gentleman living there was an old, uhm, French officer that had been in jail for numerous years as a result of the poach. And what happened is that Pinoirs were French citizens, French blood, that were born and raised in Algeria. Part of the French military, but that was their home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And after their time in prison in France, they couldn't go back to Algeria because the civil war was over and they weren't necessarily welcome. They didn't have any family or place to be in France. So what a lot of them did was take over these chateaus that were owned by the Algerian government and just decided, okay, these are now our homes and they would live there with their families. And there are, you know, they didn't have the money, so they're all


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Broken down old chateaus, but no one wanted to take responsibility. So this was an old poochist and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, he told us some of his stories and this for me and why it's mentioned in the book is it's a history lesson on, on the legion and certainly the rep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. A hundred percent. And there's some history from Indochina that played its part too, because a lot of.