how you prepared mentally what kind of discipline you had routines in and out

of battle how I prepared mentally routines in and out of battle yep what

kind of discipline you had and routines in and out of battle I'm gonna fall back

on mental routine I think is probably your your your biggest because the

physical one is easy okay you you come back so battle doesn't mean

you know you're in gunfights all the time you know like like we say the first

stand and still were patrolling right you know which is just a static Patrol

so you know you got to make sure your gear is good you got to make you know

are your batteries changed right you guys like there's all the ways the

checklist checklist check shows checklist as a leader it actually makes

it easier I found because now I have a reason to check their stuff and check

that their routine so my routine stayed solid right because I think I had other

guys I had to worry about

so rest is a big one I just have to order my guys to go to ground because

they were so because there's only three of us and I used to might bury

especially I'd be like Barry you need to be useful I need you to sleep so my

routine was like make sure enough rest makes you because you know that the

saying mission before man sure except when the man is the mission so I need my

man to be good yeah and I'm gonna say if you abuse your man too much you won't

accomplish the mission yeah like you know you you know you know the sacrifice

the body well let's wait let's think about that because the body what is what

needs to get this thing the only there's only three of us and in our case you

know of your sniper you're you might be alone you might be with one or two other

guys I can't afford to have a guy run headfirst through a doorway to get

through it because I need him to be useful after you know if you have a

platoon sure you sacrifice Smith he runs through the door hey okay you got 29

more guys I can go through the door so my routine was always like you know make

sure everything's topped up mmm keep an eye out you know do that do

the mental checklist and then visualize visually out of battle I would try to

you know I'd be on my I'd lay on my bunk and I'd have my ID I'd always end up

with my right foot crossed over my left foot and my my my arms up here on my

chest and I'd have my head back and I would be going okay so okay we go down

you know and if contact left and I would try to like you know visualize these

things you know cuz as the team leader I had the radio and I was security cuz my

boys when they're in position you know my spotter is spotting my shooter is

shooting so like they're 12 o'clock so I'm now everything and everything the

rest of the clock for them and for myself so I was constantly rehearsing

mentally what what could happen I'm calling and I'm practicing a call for

fire I'm practicing and calling in an air strike I'm practicing a nine liner

I'm practicing I just a grit what do you guys do you guys use that Lauren's the

nine line four nine nine line is a casualty evac call for fire nine line

yeah no no but grit and I group range

indication fire yep yep so my first even with all the visualization my first

actual grit in a battle was did buds about to debate get over there it's

supposed to be six three three hundred by that tree you know all you know

fart for effect or at your own time or something like that calm cool collected

voice but you know the guy was like forty meters away and was addicted and

my sniper was actually looking over him wave he's like you know I'm looking at

that stuff and I was like fuck it and I just shot him myself but but my point is

that even with all that practice and visualization and training you know that

was my first attempt so I was always just trying to make sure that my routine

off off the battlefield was putting my mind back but in a controlled setting

mm-hmm you know and and all and and then also like I said make sure okay

yeah how much sleep did you get k good good good and that's the routine that

you know that you got to get the guys to relax especially like for me I had to I

just had to make sure because I only had me and two other guys I couldn't afford

to lose one of them whether it was to exhaustion or malnutrition or

dehydration or sprained ankles or whatever you know so I just I just did

my best to keep keep that checklist going and and visual and I would

encourage them to do the same I'd be like hey what are you thinking about

over there oh you know whatever it'll be like hey want you to think about it you

know remember when you may think making that shot and you missed or whatever

like try and visualize try and think about what you did you know there's a

lot of steps that go into pulling the trigger you know and and then you know

just think about that think about how it happened and encourage that you know I'm

a big fan of of meditation and yoga and all that stuff like if any like I think

an hour side of the world we've lost a lot of that stuff and I know we try to

get it back and got people that do it or tree-hugging you know spandex wearing

weirdos or whatever but yoga and meditation and stuff like that's all

warrior culture from the past yeah you know like samurai meditate you know

ain't warrior monks fasted and prayed that's that's just meditation and and

they looked inside themselves a lot to try and you know a samurais job was

pretty tough call him a pussy for meditating make sure I'm there so I

could watch and and I and I firmly believe that that type of stuff keeps

you functional for when you hit the battlefield you know that self you know

as Grossman calls it the self reflection self inoculation as well so that was my

routine it was just a constant rotation of thoughts and then but the actions

were always to prepare the but you know the the situation for what was coming so

it makes sense yeah okay yeah the one one thing that I

that's actually a really practical thing that I did that and that is I had this

is again this is just like a real practical thing I had two cots right

slept in a cot slept in one cot something one caught the other cot was

all my gear and it was just laid out gone body armor you know everything was

right there and when I when I got dressed to go out

all that thing was empty and so never forgot anything when I came back

everything went right back on the cop spot same spot everything squared away

so those that to me was and I figured that out really quickly okay just gonna

I don't want ever want to forget anything

here's I'm gonna do I'm gonna put everything that I need right here so not

I had I didn't think of it around my you know how I said I would sit there mm-hmm

right foot over the left all around me because we had a cot we had a cot we

didn't we couldn't afford to yeah I remember

but around I had we all had two by fours around us because we were in like a fob

we built ourselves and each nail had its so I had my my chest rig my rifle my

ammo pouches and a you know like and then all around and but that was what I

would when I would go through my stuff that's what I mean like I would hang it

up open up the pouch okay everything's there close it next pouch make sure top

up my mags all that stuff and I would make sure I'd make get the guys to do

the same thing and when you're ready to go out and operation all your nails are

empty that means you've got everything yeah but the biggest thing with roots

like people people call it routine and they think there's magic to it right

there's not it's it's just making sure you do the same thing over and over and

over again you know as as magical as Navy SEALs and snipers want to be like

it's not really that it's not that mystical I guess it's a it's just a lot

that what's meant that's what makes you good at him ya know still I was telling

you when we were driving over here some point how we used to try and do

everything yeah when you would fire weather like no we'd hours together five

or six Humvees lined up for an operation they'd all be lined

ready to go and then everyone would like get the word it'd be like load them up

and then you just see everyone would just get in the zone

boom you see ever get into vehicles and then we'd start the vehicles at the same

time there's no reason to do that no but there is I know there have loves dog

types there's no there's no definable reason why you would do that but our

deal was you know okay starting up in three two one start up and then you hear

all the vehicle start up once and it's just like all those little things would

all those little disciplines would lend themselves to the team being more

disciplined those ignition switches might as well have been the switch and

each guys mind yep you know as the as that vehicle is starting everyone's

brain is going to into combat mode and work together at the same time

synchronized from the word go when that I love it when you told me that that was

I was like yeah badass thing to watch bunch of Navy imagine what your Navy

SEALs load up and they have vehicles all stare at the same time I'd run I'd be

like I'm not fucking these guys I'm out here it was it was an awesome sight with

my guys when I was at a ski - commander you know I'd be sitting on bases guys

were rolling out and I'd stand out there and salute him like just like old school

hikes but and it's you know it was and they loved it and they loved you for it

but I thought well I love those guys but the the those guys I mean every time you

rolled out in the streets of Ramadi there was a decent chance gonna make it

and blown up there was a dude gunfight was almost guaranteed to happen but that

guys getting blown IEDs was a real issue for you guys and and I was thinking

about this today the IDS there was we had statistically the most heavily ID'd

road in all of Iraq was route Michigan called from one end of the one ended

Ramadi to the other and there was IEDs all over the place there was I mean it

was it was ridiculous and we didn't hit any IEDs while we were there which I was

thinking about that today because I was thinking about my EOD contingent read to

you guys and I never told him like hey we

never had an ie D thank you never told him that

so you credit them with that I credit him with part of it yeah yeah part of

the briefings that they gave part of the now there was some close calls lace

platoon and as a matter of fact it's in the book when they the EOD guys were

watching the front door that couldn't quite keep an eye on it but they were

they did a really good inspection of it when they came back out they're like

something looks different they went out there there's a 120 millimeter mortar ie

that would've taken out I don't know four or five guys there was a time where

we went over we went over an ie D we'll the point man navigator in the vehicles

was like hey I think there's something specific suspicious actually got out of

the vehicle to look at it you're like mmm you know looking back what do you

think about that decision-making process you know maybe that wasn't a good one

anyways we decided oh I don't think it is we drove over it and about half an

hour later the ie D clearance team found a triple stack 120 so that's everybody

in the vehicle dead if you hit it so yeah IEDs were massive threat the number

of guys that were killed and wounded by IEDs and Ramadi was ridiculous there was

a hole there was a vehicle graveyard you know vehicles that had been blown up

and then dragged back in with I mean it was it was massive I mean I want to say

50 to 100 vehicles are you spiled up and including em wraps which are the

mine-resistant vehicles those things are they're broken in half what kind of bomb

do you got to put together to do that we Boosh we got real lucky and I know

this sounds weird my rotation they had conventional mines so any person any

tank and there was the occasional ie D but it was usually SV and and in the

city SV means a suicide vehicle so our our regimental sergeant major and his

driver were killed by a suicide vehicle-borne IEDs

and I stepped on a landmine if I had stepped on an ie D I would in vaporized

but the rotation I can't that replaced us their sister battalion that's when we

did the intelligence says guys from Iraq started showing up and we went from

losing a tire maybe having one guy get killed through a penetration in the hall

or whatever - we had a whole lab go up and seven out of the ten guys in it were

killed and it was like like like that's how quickly it escalated yeah and

suddenly it was an issue for our guys as well almost every vehicle we had hit a

landmine on my tour and that's the only time I was ever really scared over there

when I was walking or in a helicopter or even out on a four-wheeler no problem

when I had to drive on the roads in a vehicle that's when I was like my that

pucker factor was the highest for me ever

IEDs man like that and the guys that would go out everyday and deal with that

shit like ID clearance guys Fox man like my hat always came off to those guys

yeah like talk about a nerve-wracking job yeah great yeah

what's that movie with uh with the EOD guy I don't look hurt locker I'm like

everybody who does that job says it's a total bullshit movie but yeah could you

imagine though that's your gig well like we had embedded VOD you guys with us and

SEOs usually have a OD Navy EOD guy basically like the two guys are guys

were like they go through our training with us they bring well they don't go

through the basic training the basic SEAL training but they go through

everything else yeah and our guys are like supporters the once our guys our

guys were like other seals you know right they were that good yeah and but

yeah it's not it's amazing but and the guys that are with us that with us and

so they're not quite it's their primary job for us but it's not their primary

job right right whereas the guys that you're talking about the guys that did

route clearance oh if anybody's listening to this

podcast right now if you did route clearance in Iraq or Afghanistan thank

you Jaco and Jodi say thank you because you saved us so many times cuz we drove

down those roads all the time my guys drove down those roads all the time and

you found all those bombs that saved saved our lives and in so many lives

kept the supplies rolling have even kept a local populace safe and you know how

much credit and glory those guys get no not a lot none and there was the in in

Ramadi there would be the the big vehicle like a buffalo you know a

buffalo it's like a giant MRAP you have to climb a ladder to get into it so

there'd be guys in there that would disable the bombs from inside they'd a

big robotic arm and they would do that but behind them would be a contingent of

Marines in Humvees and I'd say oh yeah oh yeah we're just support get some

devil dogs Marine Corps doesn't play around they're like oh you need you need

support cool just getting Humvees and roll behind it

but there's gonna be big bombs blowing up yeah we're in the Marine Corps yeah

no factor would be loved I love Marines