MY NAVY SEAL EXPERIENCE

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Intro

Life is about constant evolution. Always better today than we were yesterday.

Scott Williams

Welcome to 'The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday'. I'm your host, Scott Williams, and today we're gonna be talking about what it's like to be a Navy SEAL. And our guest today is Lieutenant J. Welcome.

Lieutenant J

Thanks. Thanks for having me here, Scott.

Scott Williams

Thanks for coming in and sharing with us your experience. To kind of just begin this, let's begin at the beginning. Let's talk about your origin story for NSW. Where were you in your life when you decided to come into this community?

Lieutenant J

Yeah, actually it started pretty young. I'm from a small town in North Carolina. My stepfather was a football coach there in North Carolina, and he coached SEAL team member Josh Harris, he was actually a SEAL team member killed in Afghanistan in 2008. So when I was younger, I'd heard about the SEAL teams and like the, you know, the fun action, you know how it sounds like a good time. And then when I was, I think roughly 14 is when Joshua was killed. And I went to his funeral and saw just the brotherhood and camaraderie. All of his team members and teammates come together and just the way they were talking about him and just hearing about the work they've done together and just the brotherhood that they had and shared, really interested me at a young age and influenced me to pursue becoming a Navy SEAL. From that, that led me towards the Naval Academy. So I played sports in high school – football and pole vault – and through pole vaulting, I was able to really get my foot in the door at the Naval Academy, actually. So I got recruited by them to come pole vault there. And then while at the Academy, I went through the process, they have a pretty streamlined process for getting into NSW from the Naval Academy. So that process looks like there's a screener, your junior year. And then after that screener, you come out to SOAS, which they're still running today. And then after SOAS I got selected to come to BUD/S.

Scott Williams

And that's the SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection, which we've talked about pretty frequently in most recent episodes. And once you got into the pipeline, what would you say was the most crucial aspect of getting through training for you?

Lieutenant J

I think the most crucial aspect for me was really my – which you're told this a lot in the beginning phases of BUD/S and Prep or BUD/S Prep and BUD/S Orientation, which it was before – was developing your why, which I'd never really thought about much. But I had developed my why, I knew why I wanted to be a SEAL. So I think it was in the, you know, the tough moments of going through the training pipeline, just remembering that and developing that mental toughness. To be honest with you, it's hard to reflect totally on how I was getting through it. But I would like to say that that's what kept driving me forward. I had an interesting experience with first phase where I went to Hell Week. So I really had to do first phase three times, which is really the grinder like it's the first introduction into the SEAL pipeline. So doing that three times really took me digging deep. And, you know, at the time, I was pretty frustrated and having a hard time dealing with that. And now reflecting back on that I'm very grateful that I was able to do it three times and really develop myself even more, and my mental capacity to endure through that process.

Scott Williams

You know, you brought up mental toughness. That's a term that people use around here. But from a personal point of view, what does that mean to you? What was your mental toughness?

Lieutenant J

Interesting question, because I think I now have a different answer than I would have had for you then. My answer now, in reflecting upon my time in the training pipeline, would be a sense of presence. Being able to not think about the next evolution, the next day, how much time you had ahead of you in the pipeline. And I think a valuable thing that happens in BUD/S that you don't really notice is happening at the time, but if you're doing it in a way that is mentally tough, or mental toughness, you are just focusing on the evolution at hand. You're not focusing on all the pain to come I guess you could say. I was talking to a friend the other day, a guy I went through BUD/S with and we were saying, man, it's really nice in BUD/S in a way because it's the most prized I've ever been you really are just in that moment with your buddies, just getting through the evolution together with that teamwork, camaraderie, and that sense of presence. I think that the ability to focus, you know, just on the task at hand is an invaluable skill that you learn, not only that applies to BUD/S. But as you get to the teams and even anywhere else, you find yourself in life.

Scott Williams

Yeah, so your focus is on the here and now. It's not the regrets about the past. It's not the worries about the future, you're too busy for that you're too fully involved physically, to allow yourself mentally to wander off the ranch, you have to focus on what is happening to you right now. Is that what you're saying?

Lieutenant J

Yes. And I think the toughest part about that is, which makes it an element of mental toughness for me, is the ability to focus on the here and now. I don't know if you ever tried your hand at like meditating or anything like that, but it's really hard to just focus on where I am right now and just clear your head of all the thoughts of all the other stuff that you can be thinking about, especially in BUD/S in a place where it's like, tomorrow's another hard day, it's another tough day ahead. So not focusing on like the next surf immersion, or anything like that.

Scott Williams

Beyond BUD/S, and I've heard a lot of team guys say this, that in some respects the team life is actually harder than BUD/S. The challenges that they've had to face on deployments were more difficult than BUD/S. How do you see it?

I'd agree with that. I think it's always again, during the day at hand, right. BUD/S is in the past, it's hard to really look at the past and think about how challenging it was versus I think today, because you know, retrospect kind of makes it seem easier than it might have been at the moment. So I think the challenge at the team is maintaining that sense of focus and presence, and you're working long hours and the expectation is high. In order to be a good teammate, in my opinion, you need to have that 100 percent focus on the task at hand. And it comes to that switch in BUD/S, your only thing you have to focus on is BUD/S. That's it. When you're at a team, you might have your family life, you might have, you know, bills to pay all these other things you got it you're thinking about, but to be able to like make that a separate entity from your present moment, and being able to focus on bringing 100 percent to your platoon, to your teammates every single day can be really challenging, especially when there's a lot of work, it almost feels like more work than there's time to get done on deployment. But being able to know and trust that your buddy's doing 100 percent his job and you're doing 100 percent of your job. So collectively, it is challenging to have that focus at all times. And it is exhausting.

Scott Williams

Yeah, 100 percent involvement – that doesn't seem like that leaves much room for things like a family life or a personal life outside of the teams. What's been your experience with that?

Lieutenant J

I've experienced it being both challenging and rewarding. I think it is a challenge to be able to separate that home life. But at the same time, I found it more difficult to find myself focusing on anything other than the task at hand in the platoon life. I'll be honest, it's a lot of fun. Like the job is a lot of fun. You're around your buddies all day, you're doing a really fun job with really fun training, really exciting mission at hand. So I found it more difficult to focus on home life. So I think the challenge for me more was being able to delineate between I've done all my work for the day, and now I have to switch off to try and focus on home life things. But I think it teaches you a lot about I mean, that's an invaluable skill. If you can bring that to anywhere in the world, you can bring the ability to dedicate yourself 100 percent to what you're doing, which actually makes you more efficient, and then be able to switch over to the other thing and have again that sense of presence. It's that ability to focus on the task at hand without thinking about your bills, thinking about your wife, thinking about your dog at home, whatever it may be.

Scott Williams

We call that compartmentalizing.

Lieutenant J

Yes. I think that's where the challenge comes in.

Scott Williams

Yeah. Well, you were talking about having fun in the teams. And aside from deployments, what are some of the fun moments in training that you can talk about?

Lieutenant J

Man, all of it, even the bad times. I mean, not even, I wouldn't even call them bad times the tough times of you know, starting out in first phase, it's really challenging. But now reflecting back on, it was a lot of fun. And it's fun to remember all those, because you're going through it with your buddies, right. So like, it may have been really challenging, but that really builds camaraderie. And it builds like, trust in a group of people that you just met. So that aspect being a lot of fun. And then obviously, when you've made it further along in the pipeline, and the more shooting, explosives, jumping, diving, all of that stuff. I mean, I think if you're the kind of person that's looking to come to this community, you already know all those things exist, and look forward to them. And then once you're doing them, and it's very exciting, it's cool to like put on your gear for the first time to go do some dives, or to jump out of a plane for the first time. It's all really exciting adrenaline rush. And I couldn't tell you what would be the most fun, I think it's just all collectively been just a really exciting, great time for me. And I think most guys in the teams would agree that it's one of the best jobs in the world, because it's really just having a really exciting time. But again, it requires that sense of focus, like you have to be in the moment. So you can do all those things correctly and be efficient at them.

Scott Williams

Sea, air, land. After you got in the teams, which part of those was your favorite?

Lieutenant J

I gotta say air, I really enjoy jumping. I find myself doing it in the civilian sector now just for fun. But you know, my last platoon ended up being on our dive element, where we just had an extra, I can't remember a few weeks of diving. And at first, I wasn't that excited about it because I mean, it's not like you're recreational diving in clear waters or fun times. It's pitch black, can't see anything, staring at a compass, or staring at nothing. The bio lum in the water rushes past your face as you're swimming. And I found myself at the beginning of that dive block being like, not that excited about four-hour long dives, but towards the middle end I found myself really enjoying it and finding it like a place of honestly, it's just forced meditation like that you have nothing else to do. So yeah, it's kind of just little bit sensory deprived. Yes, is like it's almost like a float tank, you could say, you know, just nothing going on, you're just kicking, going making your turns. Now, if you're driving, if you're the person who is navigating, it's a little more pressure. But even, that's fun, because you have this task at hand, and you're just focusing on percent on that.

Scott Williams

Water tends to be a little cold in places.

Lieutenant J

It can be cold, you know, actually I dove in some colder waters and other places overseas. And I found the equipment they give us – they take care of us. So the equipment you're using is typically well suited for the environment you're in. So I haven't ever found myself being, I would say, miserable cold or anything like that. I have heard stories of teammates having experiences where they have been extremely cold on dives and stuff like that. But I haven't really found myself being too overwhelmed by the elements on dives specifically.

Scott Williams

So broadly speaking, in your career so far, where have the teams taken you? What parts of the world let's just say.

Lieutenant J

So, the teams so far, I'm not exactly sure what I can say, I would say.

Scott Williams

Without naming countries. Broad areas of the world.

Lieutenant J

So, I've been over in Europe, and I've been over in Africa. Both were fun experiences for me. It really was an opportunity to see some places that I wouldn't imagine I'd ever gone to otherwise. And also, be very down and not in the tourist attraction areas. Just down and working with partner forces, getting to know actually no SOF element people who are in other countries and just understanding their culture better, which has been really exciting. And I think that offers a lot of perspective to understand other countries and other places.

Scott Williams

Yeah. I know when I deployed and when I got out and just kind of went among the people wherever I was that it really opened up my mind and I started thinking about like, hey, they're just like us. They want the same basic things. You know, be left alone in peace, have a job to provide for their families and just live their own lives. Generally, people are people everywhere. And despite any language or, or cultural differences, it all comes down to the basics. So, let's talk a little bit about this, I get this question, what kind of supporting resources are there in Naval Special Warfare? For family members? Like while you're on deployment. You know, are they left alone to fend for themselves? Do they have like a spouse's group? Or is there anything that you can tell us about that?

Lieutenant J

From my experience, what I will say about the SEAL community is it is a community, it's tight knit. My buddy's wife is friends with my other buddy's wife. My wife's friends with their wives, their friends, and they all will end up hanging out while we're on deployment. And it does create a friend group of just like experience for the family members. And it's just a, it's just a solid community of our people taking care of our people right.

Scott Williams

No one's isolated, left behind, that kind of thing?

Lieutenant J

I can't say no one's isolated or left behind. But I can say that there is a lot of resources and a lot of availability, and opportunity for spouses and family members to come together. And it's because we do hang out, like outside of work, like I was on the East Coast. And I found just being like, a lot of all the guys from my... are good amount of the guys from my platoon and other platoons alike would hang out. And when we would hang out, we'd all have our significant others with us. And they would hang out with each other. So then when we're on deployment, they found themselves also hanging out and being able to just have a similar lifestyle of having their partner gone doing the job.

Scott Williams

Yeah. Let me switch gears a little bit. You're a junior officer in the teams. So for those guys out there who are thinking about joining the community, as a SEAL officer, what can you tell him about what it's like?

Lieutenant J

Yeah, what I would say is one, I would argue it is one of the best opportunities for personal development, for anyone looking for an exciting place to work, and to grow themselves as an individual in their own personal development. So I mean, we can talk about mental toughness and work ethic, and all the other great skills that I've learned. But the question was one more time?

Scott Williams

What is it like for a junior officer in the teams? And is this something in your experience so far that you think would be career enhancing or even an advantage for when you decide to get out and go into maybe corporate world or whatever?

Lieutenant J

Yeah. For me, personally, I couldn't imagine that I would make it to the heights of personal development that I have made it to without doing this job, I think it has offered me such an opportunity to put me in, I guess, the way I'd say it was like in a box really, and within parameters of from age. I mean I can even start at the Naval Academy because I went to the Naval Academy wanting to become a SEAL. So starting my career at the Naval Academy, and then as a SEAL, it's put me in a community of like-minded individuals who are seeking to be the best they can be at whatever that it is they are doing there. And being surrounded by that you find a mentorship that I don't think you can really find anywhere else you find a lot of, like all the skills translate is what I'm trying to say is like all of the skills when it comes to working hard at work, focus, giving it your best effort and really being dedicated to what it is you're doing and yourself and your perspective around what you're bringing, I guess what you bring to the table. Yeah, so I just don't think that I could have made it to where I am today without it. I think it is set me up for whatever it is I choose to do. I know with a great deal of confidence that I can do it. I know that because of doing this job and setting a goal and achieving that goal and being surrounded by mentors and just a job that requires you to be very focused. It has set me up to with skills that I will be able to translate anywhere. The SEAL teams also sent me to grad school, so I did my first platoon and then they sent me to grad school. And obviously, I was opposed to that at the time. I just wanted just to be in the job. And then, again, anything you do offers perspective. So it was a great deal of perspective there that they gave me almost forced upon me that I am now grateful for. So like that there's many opportunities I find, there's a lot of opportunities for leadership, especially as a junior officer. And I think on the enlisted side, just as much. And maybe the more I'd say, especially as a newer team member, as a new guy, I feel like everyone's kind of in the same boat of trying to just take care of their job, but also finding opportunities where like, you're in charge of something like you're gonna be in charge of something, whatever it might be just like supply officer or supply LPO, or something like that. But I find myself in the process of potentially getting out here in the near future. And I find myself wanting to start a company in my own and start a nonprofit. And with a focus on something I actually did in my last platoon, it was winter warfare. So like, would that be in the focus and my love for snow sports. I've learned the ability one to not only just be focused on the task at hand, and really like that work ethic that is required. But also, I think a lot of it is the confidence that you gain in the SEAL teams. And that confidence is invaluable, because I think any of us can relate to wanting to do something and that voice in the back of your head trying to talk you out of it. I think I learned a lot in the SEAL teams about how to quiet that voice and just have confidence in my abilities, and myself and just put that next step, the step in front of the next step in front of the next step to just keep moving forward one piece at a time. And, again, that's that skill you learned in BUD/S at the beginning is just being in the moment taking care of what needed to take care of there, and then taking care of the next step. So I haven't had the ability to translate it totally yet to the civilian sector, I'm looking forward to doing it. And I know that because of this, the shaping that I have from being in the SEAL teams, it will set me up for success in the future when it comes to doing something on my own and having the confidence to do something and the work ethic to do something that would be required, and to build a team that will be efficient at accomplishing that task.

Scott Williams

Well, that sounds great. The keys to unlocking success, confidence, shutting up that voice that tells you that maybe you can't do it. And being in the present, and having the confidence to go after the team, go after the task at hand and be able to work with the team to accomplish that. Wow, so there you have it. Thanks, Lieutenant Jay for joining us today on 'The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday'. We'll have another podcast soon. We'll dive in more into team life and what the SEAL and SWCC are really doing. Thank you once again. My name is Scott Williams. And this was 'The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday'.

Lieutenant J

Thanks Scott.