Veteran Chat Project
Veteran Chat Project
Guns, Gyms, and New Beginnings: A Conversation with and Chad Croat owner of Apex Animal House
What does it take to transition from a decorated military career to everyday civilian life? Join us as we sit down with Chad Croat from Apex Animal House to shed light on the unique challenges that veterans face when they leave the military. Together, we explore the parallels between the mentalities of high-level athletes and military operators, highlighting the same level of commitment, focus and resilience that both demand.
Chad opens up about his personal journey sharing how he has found a sense of purpose, motivation, and community in the gym. He talks about the difficulties in establishing a new identity after military service, and how the gym has become a positive beacon in his life, providing a therapeutic outlet for despair. His story underscores the importance of staying mission-focused and finding strength in humility to foster growth and maturity.
But the conversation doesn't stop there. We also tackle the complex topic of gun ownership post-military service. Chad offers his insights on the implications, emphasizing the importance of safety and security, while also highlighting the associated risks. He shares his experiences with firearms, stressing the importance of proper instruction and understanding for those considering owning a gun. So, tune in for an enlightening, raw, and candid conversation that you won’t want to miss.
We're gonna say something. Look up Marlon say she HURR, NOT THE BOYO. Hey everybody, what's up? Kyle and KZ.
Speaker 2:Yeah, more people get their voice out there than I think they'll realize. Like we're all the same really.
Speaker 1:KZ decided to f*** with the bait, so we were better in chit-chat project. We're encouraged to not be okay all the time. Hey, what's up everybody. Hey, what's up everybody. It's Kyle and KZ. And we are the veteran chat project. We are also joined in studio by our first in studio guest. My little man is here, Griffin Turner, First podcast episode. Say what's up, guys, say hi.
Speaker 2:Hi, hi, heck. Yeah, that was gonna be a fun one man.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah. Also, we got, as promised, chad Crowe from Apex Animal House here. He's also gonna. You know was in the army with KZ and I Sorry, I'm getting a little KZ. You want to start Burn up the boyo? Hey, everybody, what's up Kyle? Hey, what's up everybody. That was Griffin. He's my new producer. He's trying. We're working some things out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all good. Yeah, so we got Chad Crowe in the house here from Apex Animal House over there in Colorado. He served with us in Heavy Company for a first sit there back in. I want to say what is it from like 08 to like 10 or 11?
Speaker 1:October class Around that time frame.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you two, both of you, I think both of you went to basic training together, right? Or I said together yeah, yeah, old Knox, yeah, how you been man.
Speaker 3:Been good bro, been good man Working same busy. You know what I'm saying. What are we gonna do?
Speaker 2:Yes, what's up, dude? Yeah, glad to have you on, dude, we've had, yeah, we've, we've. I've talked about you I think, yeah, your ears I wonder if your ears were buzzing because I was talking about you last Friday because I mean I'll get into this right now. It's just because, like you know and we'll you know you can, we'll have you share your story here just a minute about what you went through the Army and stuff. But you know, with like what you did in the Army, and then, like I've been watching a bunch of because I'm a lazy piece of shit so I watch a lot of TV. So, like I've been watching all these like sports documentaries and shit and like all different, all different types of sports. But what I've noticed, like every like I'm like tennis, tennis, tennis players, crossfit athletes, whatever, and then football, baseball, documentaries.
Speaker 2:I've been watching golf. I mean golf, like they all have the same kind of mindset, right Of just like what things that have to be done in order to be successful, and like I was like I don't know why, but the question was like I wonder if that's the same kind of mindset that, like operators have. You know what I'm saying and I feel you know and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like that's like the same no 100%, man, if you I mean it's.
Speaker 3:I think athletes and operators are one of the same. There's a very I mean you're not an operator, you're an athlete. You know what I'm saying. And, in my opinion, you're the highest level of athlete you know as an operator For sure.
Speaker 1:So yeah, 100%, maybe, if you're you are an athlete.
Speaker 3:Everything that applies to athletes applies to operators. If you're not into the 100% of them given time that other people won't give in, you know, putting the extra work that there's going to be, you're not going to get ready to go, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure, all right, cool. So I was right. Yeah, just because, yeah, because me either I mean to be, you know, completely honest, you know you're, I think you're you and one other person I think are the only two people I've ever known personally that have that, have like dealt in that space, you know, and that's, that's a space I don't wish to know, so like so, so yeah. So I was just watching, I was like that's that, like there has to be the same, just because, like it's just so weird that, like you know, when you like tennis and football, completely like two separate sports.
Speaker 2:But then I'm watching how they talk about how they prepare for the game and it's almost exactly the same. You know, it's like I wonder what like it has to be. It has to be the same mindset for for operators too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean your focus has to be 100% on what's what the next mission is, obviously you know the next game, whatever it is, you are honing in everything. Do you specialize? Everything you've worked on put together is focused on that point to knock out. Whatever the mission is, the game is whatever it is. So I mean, obviously you got to hone in everything you put together and you know work it as a as an individual athlete. Obviously you know be able to kind of assess those things and throw them into play.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, dude.
Speaker 1:It's like giving yourself up to something bigger than yourself, on like away, another level to you know. Oh, yeah, what am I going to feel about it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let's back up a little bit, like you know. So you. So what was your? If you don't mind, just, you know, highlight it. You're highlighting your impressive army career like what was that? You know? Take us through that, if you don't mind.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man. So obviously you know I met you guys in you know what. 08, kyle Casey, probably closer to 09, maybe.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know he got the unit, went straight over to deployed, did that small stint, came back and I went straight. Well, there's probably about nine months later I ended up, you know, with the selection. I got picked up, went through the course. I did two and a half years there, a lot of stuff. The course was just not. It was not an easy route for me, like a lot of cats had it.
Speaker 3:I had a lot of a lot of hiccups. A lot of stuff went down in the course and at the. I was a month away from graduation and I actually Vdubbed. I just couldn't, I just wasn't feeling what was happening there. I didn't really get along with the catcher. I just things were just not the right way and I I felt like I needed to stop where I was at and go somewhere else and try something else. We'll come back later, possibly.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So let the Q course ended up over here at Carson. I hung out here for a while, deployed a little bit, was on GRF, did some you know quick reaction stuff you know for attached to the 82nd, you know the farmer crew. Then I went to ranger school, I knocked that out, came back home back to the car. So obviously, fourth ID, I switched over to infantry, obviously with a ranger tab. You can just switch over that. You don't have to, you know, do any kind of accessory thing or any kind of like if you're a, a IT or anything.
Speaker 2:Oh shit, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah it's. Once your tab is automatic, you just think they'll give you infantry. So I, they wouldn't let me leave as a tanker, as an armor NCO. There was not an office at the time, so they weren't going to let anybody go anywhere. So I was like, fuck it, I'm going to raft. So I got a raft contract signed for rafts too. At that point, man, I was pretty mentally broken with the military. That was my nine year mark. Raff for me, was kind of a get out kind of thing. I just need to get away from this place and do something more high speed. Unfortunately, I was kind of mentally deteriorated at that point. Yeah, drinking a lot, messing around, and I got a second DUI and I was kind of given the option. Like I luckily had a good record in military, I did a lot of things.
Speaker 3:It didn't get me real trouble. So I was kind of giving the option hey man, do you want to fight this thing and stay in, or are you just ready to go home? And I chose go home and I was done. So no, you know, you seem J didn't get in trouble or anything, Didn't lose rank or anything. They just pretty much gave me the option to leave. So nice, I was kind of like I'm not going to be able to get out and win man. So pretty rough on that spot, you know. But in between the pretty fun military career got a lot of good action, you know. But obviously a lot of that fun stuff takes us tolls after a while.
Speaker 2:So oh for sure.
Speaker 1:I just had a quick question. I mean, how did that feel, dude, like that day, that day you got out? I know, I know how it felt for me when I got out. We talked about how it kind of like for him, but I mean, it seems like we've all kind of gotten out on different circumstances obviously, but like, take us through, kind of like what you were thinking, that day gets sitting there, you know, fresh out, like, oh shit, brother, I was, I was lost man.
Speaker 3:I was in a really, really bad place when I got out of the military. I had no idea where I was going, I like. So I had my second DUI, so I didn't have a driver's license. I just had a son, which I really wasn't. I was kind of unexpected kind of situation. Yeah. So I lost the career, couldn't have a driver's license, just had this kid had to serve jail time. I was trying to go to school and the thing is I had to serve a 30 day stint for the second DUI, so I ended up. The first month of school was the first month I had to do in jail.
Speaker 2:Oh, sure, I did, I had a bad.
Speaker 3:I had met a school a long time already, so kind of had a bad pace, bad start. Um school just didn't work that well. Uh, it was rough man, it was really rough, and he only got worse after that, to be honest. So it only got worse after that man. So it's been a long road man, like I said, getting out was really tough, especially not a lot of guys deal with the same kind of stuff. Man, it's kind of hard to keep yourself up and yeah, the other shit dude.
Speaker 2:But yeah it's really hard for people to find that purpose.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, like that drive, like what, you know that what's next and it's even you know it's funny. You talked about professional athletes earlier. Um, I often think about that. You know, I was watching just randomly today I was watching that special forces show on uh on Hulu I don't know what channel it's on, but Mike piazza's on it and it's like all these celebrities doing like this SF challenge that's like from these four.
Speaker 2:I think it's kind of time rated SF dude.
Speaker 1:I wasn't really paying much attention to it, but like Mike piazza started talking and he was like basically flat out Like, once I took the uniform off I didn't know, like the, obviously the baseball uniform Um, he didn't know what the fuck he was going to do with the rest of his life. You know, like I'd hear, I spent my whole life in your situation, training, uh, training. You know, wanting to be in the military, going to the military, training to be at that highest level and then just being like man, like it's really just not either what is it's not for me or it's not what was cracked out to be, or just you know it's not for everyone. You know, in that situation too, uh, not, like, it's like a, I don't know, sometimes it can wear on you pretty quick, like nine years in the military can can really feel like 30.
Speaker 2:That's a long time, dude.
Speaker 3:It is man. It is a long time when you put in perspective, especially when you're there, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and like well, you're like.
Speaker 3:a lot of people will say like you know, you do nine years, that's not a big deal. Then imagine that you still have nine plus more years left. Yeah, Long time, dude, Like it's a long time you've committed something. And then you're at 10 years and they're like. Hey man, well, you almost got it. You're halfway through. Yeah, that 10 years seems like the longest 10 years it's ever going to be. You know that's a long time.
Speaker 1:You picked up so much fucking weight uh like emotionally you know so much emotional baggage to the army in those first 10 years, you're like I don't know them. Next 10 look like they're 40. I gotta be honest man.
Speaker 3:You got to see a lot of unless, unless you're in a non-combat job and you're just skating through those 20, I'm not saying skating, but like, yeah, 20 years and you didn't have a lot of pushback, a ton of stress.
Speaker 3:It was a good career for you. That's one thing, man. But a lot of guys combat guys, especially. You had 10 years, brother, I can, I do. I don't know if I can do 10 more years and if you can, the thing is the guys that do do 10 more years, bro. You look at those guys eyes. After 20 man, they're done.
Speaker 2:I see, I see those eyes. I work dude. I see those eyes at work, especially when I travel up to, when I travel up to Fayetteville, where four Braggs at and I got all these, you know all these operators that are that have served over over 15, and they're, you know they're, they're being met, med, boarded out and like dude they're, they're young cats, man they're, they're younger than I am and when I got out and you just, you just see in there you can just see in their eyes they're like I'm, I'm 25, but in my in here, I'm like 65.
Speaker 2:And like, and I read, like the, the list of what they're being seen for all the claims, you know, and they deserve all of it, but, like I'm, I'm reading it to the dot and it's just like this, this, this, this. You know pretty much every joint accessible they're being seen for. You know what I'm saying. These guys jump out of airplanes or whatever. It's like. How old are you? 25, like five. Your paperwork looks like you're 65, bro.
Speaker 1:That's funny. I was just talking to Mackenzie about that yesterday. He was like man, they were going through my paperwork cause he just got out after well, he's going through getting out right now, oh yeah, after his full 20 and he was like bro. They started like looking at my body and all my records, like you have the body of like a 65 year old man. Here's your 20 years. It's like you know. Here's your shiny gold watch. Get the fuck out, you know, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:We are emotional damage.
Speaker 1:I will, I will like um. Well, you know I'll get started on it.
Speaker 2:So, like you know today's, you know today's episode is pretty much, you know, we, we try to highlight something at least once a week, like like a topic, and you know this week's topic is, you know, stay mission focused. And like you know what, what, what you have to do, you know and and hopefully you know our, our goal here at BCP a veteran chat project is to is, if we can, if we can have one veteran or one transition soldier, airman, marine, whatever, then the goal is complete, right, but like, staying mission, staying mission, staying mission focused, like, um, you know where you're at now and then where, where, where, where you, where you were, when you got out, like is, did you expect yourself, was this the goal? Well, like I said, man, like when I, when I got out, things were pretty bad at the point and they only got worse. Man, uh, they only got worse.
Speaker 3:After that, and like you know, I I don't really know situation wise, how I, how I stuck with a lot of the shit, A lot of cats. I don't know if we'd handle it the same way, Um, but I mean, I don't know, man, it's just, it's just a soldier and outright just kind of being you know, just kind of knowing the like if.
Speaker 3:I decided to quit, or if I decided to give up, who to leave behind? Who did you have? You know, my son. If I just quit now, then what then what happens to him? You know what I'm saying. If I just, I, just, I, just, I, just, I, just, I, just, I, just, I just flow, bit right out, then what then what happens to him.
Speaker 3:You know I'm saying if I decided to leave this, who want family thing? What are people gonna think? That if I just just fucking give up on life, man, you know, and that's a lot of cats it's really easy to do them and you get out things. You're in a bad place, man, if you don't have a lot of support obviously moved around for many years, you know, and your family's not close to you anymore as much, and you know, you get into a bad spucket. Now, man, it can be really rough for a lot of cats. I've seen a ton of. That's kind of why I the gym is what I'm, why I'm going for me, cause I'm tired of seeing cats that feel so lost when they get out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, how's it? How's that been on the soul, dude? Just knowing that you have that space like that, that that beacon for, for for people to come to it's a it's been what's all for me.
Speaker 3:I'm like I said, man, the past five years stuff got out of been Fucking crazy man. I'm pretty broke. I was hoping a lot of trouble, you know, but luckily it's. I'm good now. Everything's okay, man. Things are building up. I finally got no point now where it's I'm seeing the light on the other side of telling you know, yeah, just the despair of being out, what am I gonna do? What's gonna happen? Like I said, man, it's been five years, man, and I I'm still not balling. You know I don't have a ton of money in this thing, you know I'm saying, but that's not really was about the biggest thing for me, you know, is is like I said give them, give them guys of some hope. You guys got to come talk to man, come here, work out, come bullshit with me. No, I'm using, you know, come, come, get that deployment kind of feel. You know, kind of get the lift in. So that's, that's the most satisfying part, man. It's the money has nothing to do with it.
Speaker 2:You know, that's, I mean that's. I feel like that's the best In my opinion, but like that's the best way to get shit out off your chest. Just pick something heavy and put it down and repeat.
Speaker 3:You know I'm saying we all like, we all deploy man. We, we all live together. It's where we all find each other. We all go to the gym get. We all grab you, take it the fuck up. We're going out there. We go eat. Come on, boy, there's some food we're gonna work out. Come back to sleep afterwards.
Speaker 3:Yeah it's kind of how we all got together, man. It's how we all kind of found ourselves and kind of found a community, you know, within you know to be able to kind of do stuff to stay positive on when you're not having the best.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So it's definitely been. It's been nice man and have this.
Speaker 2:You know, ability to be able to give that to guys is it's good on the outside, on the outside looking at, I will say, from my own perspective, it doesn't surprise me where you're at today as far as like your success, like because, like I've always, I've always looked at you Someone like you know there's a goal, I'm gonna go get it. You know, I think my, my, my earliest memory of like, meeting you is like we I don't know why I think we're just doing platoon PT down on our act that that first tour and then we, you didn't have fucking shoes on for some reason.
Speaker 3:I forgot about that.
Speaker 2:We were gonna suicide Prince and you smoke the entire platoon.
Speaker 3:I was like why do you have shoes? Though I was, I do PT.
Speaker 2:I've fried totally forgot why you didn't have shoes on. I can't.
Speaker 2:I don't know if we were in smoke that day, or it was just random PT, but I just, I just remember you know, like outright shit just because like here's, here's crow, just you know being everybody, I mean everyone's gonna be at me on a sprint period, but it just he's beating everybody in without shoes. I was like okay, okay. And then like, and then I remember I mean I was tell you know, the other day I was telling my wife that you were gonna be on, I'll just get you know, given her, given her, you know like I was trying to, I was trying to jog her memory of you if she met you before. But I was like I you know, other than the Iraq store. I remember him coming back from selection and he was just like skin and bones and and then within a week he just like blew back up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I came back bigger after selection somehow. Yeah, what is? Yeah, I do why I really didn't start like I only grow man like until we came back to my rack I didn't really start putting on sides you know like yeah so yeah, I.
Speaker 1:Remember we were in the second deployment. Someone was like this one like Facebook. It started getting heavier. People were like really using Facebook and like was that like 2010? Yeah, I was like yo y'all seen crow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, those are so mean, like I'm like I'm a lot smaller than I used to be, me, and those I've kind of I've really kind of honed in what I'm doing with my fitness and how the best way to be about it with and stuff and yeah, back today was all about size. Yeah, they just put most weight to be jacked, all this crazy shit. I'm way beyond that these days, man.
Speaker 3:Like I've realized that, especially to get older, yeah and it dude, you don't need that much mass on you, bro. You know, man, the joints don't like it, the heart doesn't like it. A lot of reasons why, especially an older man, that you just don't need. I mean, carrying muscle mass is extremely important for a lot of reasons. Yeah, but you don't need to have that much, it's Not always that beneficial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I forgot. Who was I forgot. If it was not I forgot, I I'm pretty, I'm 99.9% sure it was you who said like something along the lines of like, make yourself harder to kill, or something like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like all it's about baby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been using that like ever since I, ever since I found out you were coming on. I don't know I was. I remembered you, I remembered seeing that on one of your posts and, like you know so, one of our, one of our mutual friends, calling out that we met on the podcast, like he, he got into a situation where he was like you know, uh, someone got gunned down in Seattle or something, and, like you know he, he was carrying a sidearm or whatever and he helped. You know, he pretty much helped deescalate the situation in general. And then I just all I do how all I do is like it's like that's, that's what happens when you make yourself harder to kill you know when you do be that person, man, like it doesn't, you know, take a lot to be you.
Speaker 3:We already have, especially us as soldiers. We already have that ability. A lot of guys just want to give up when they get out. Man you don't have. You're still a fucking killer, bro. You're always a killer and you can always be that person. The situation can be the one that can change the dynamic how it goes. You know, oh yeah, if you know you you're just doing three days a week in the gym and just making sure you're training every once in a while doing your stuff you can be that person that can you literally change the outcome of the situation.
Speaker 2:You know is that something that you proactively like, decided to keep doing? Because that's that's one thing I notice for sure, like other than your lift and stuff. Like you're very, very proactive on, like, on, you know, on, you know, pretty much staying, staying, you know, I don't know. Yeah, being ready.
Speaker 3:Yeah, essentially that's it, man, you know like, it's just like. So there's a lot of you know the the tactical stuff and a lot of uh, been around the army, do a lot of fun stuff and you really start picking up what's important, what's not. And, uh, I just, if you have the ability to be a protector, you know, be that shepherd, um, and it's not about talking shit and being some alpha guy, whatever that's, that's cheesy man. Yeah, just being just knowing that you have the ability to protect you and yours. Yeah, you're staying fit, you know you're. You're promoting the same thing to your family and your friends. Make sure they're on the right page.
Speaker 3:You know, like, not preaching but hey man you know big, hey man, you lift today or whatever it is, you know that kind of small stuff. Hey man, you want to go shooting, you want to go train today, you know whatever it is, staying, staying sharp, you know, is, I think, is extremely important, man. That's what separates guys like you know, like us, from you know, just the average dude who doesn't, can't defend himself or his family you know, damn especially.
Speaker 1:I mean it's a mindset too, because I mean I sit and talk to my wife when I'm out, you know, and I'm just like you know if someone did this or like did that, and like they could sweep this whole restaurant or you know stuff like that, and she's just like how do you know that? Like how you know, like I'm just like, well, it's just as simple, as like. She's never even looked at anything, like it's being aware man like that's.
Speaker 3:That's the difference between being a soldier and having that kind of stuff you know and like and that's what I want. I don't. I hate seeing soldiers lose that like you know that stuff.
Speaker 3:You were trained with you in the combat, bro. You deployed, you know that stuff. But a lot of guys get out and they just they lose the edge, lose the sharpness, man, it starts to kind of go down. They just, oh man, you know, hurt my knee and I'm just gonna get in the way and let it go like I. It makes me sad, bro. I don't like seeing that stuff because I work for warriors, bro, we're warriors. You guys went through all the same stuff I did. We all went through it. You don't have to lose it when you're out, you know. Yeah, I'm not saying you got to go be some kind of tactical monster and just in the shooting range every single other day, whatever it is, you know.
Speaker 3:I do all that, man, but just you know, right, just train with your family, train with your buddies, you know, going out and doing some workouts every once in a while, getting at the range, that kind of small stuff.
Speaker 2:It's important, man, and, like I said, someday it will pay off when you're, uh, you know, during that rough stint, when you got out, you know was, was that what you're? Was that what you leaned on? Just training to help your mindset?
Speaker 3:that's it, man, and that's literally why, that's why it lead me into opening the gym and it reminded me of what, what is important, what? How much fitness does help out? Except, do I have clinical depression, man? We have PTSD, you know, we've all the stuff. Fitness is what doesn't man? Fitness is the only thing that will pull you out of that that slump and get you back into thinking like, hey, man, you know what I? I can do something. I'm not, I'm not done, yet I still got something in me. Yeah, you can keep me motivated and show that same stuff to other friends, people around you know yeah, not the cocktail that the VA gives you.
Speaker 2:That shit doesn't help you brother I it helps some people, but I mean, I can't you know what you?
Speaker 3:know, like I think there's, I think there's ways to to use that stuff I'm not saying medications, the devil yeah, at some point you know, obviously there is good ways to work into it and utilize it when it needs to be used. But what?
Speaker 1:I do. I'm up all met to this point, I'm off everything.
Speaker 3:I've been off everything for a couple years now. Do like fitness and just staying focused on what the real goal is has really been the biggest thing to keep me out of those depression spouts and all that stuff man is, it's always fitness, man, fitness is always out of it hell yeah, dude any uh fuck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could definitely say. I mean, there's science behind it.
Speaker 3:Obviously the work yeah, I mean it's not. It's not like I'm just a myth or make it up. I don't work out to be no, it's a, you know. That's why the army, it's a thing, man, it's science in the morning.
Speaker 1:You know like they do that at 6, 30 or whatever in the morning, because that's what you know. It releases those endorphins. It's like a cup of coffee every morning and it keeps you sharp.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you what man do. I don't like to have to do a man beginning up and doing pt. You're doing cardio, I'll say it. Like even half an hour stand, 20 about minutes at 6, 30 in the morning, six o'clock bro, it sets my day up for a whole different level. Just that little bit of card to get that heart rate up, man, get a little sweat going, it'll really set the mood for for a better day.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, you know, obviously we don't. We don't want to do that shit, so I don't. I'll be honest, I don't like working out. I don't really like to work out. I do it because I know I need to man, it's something we have to do. I know, I know that I don't work out, that someone's be pushing me on a wheelchair when I'm 50 and I don't want, I don't want to put that burden on somebody else. You know, yeah, that's you being. You have the ability to be a strong, healthy male or female, whatever it is. Continue with that ability and be an asset to somebody, not a liability, you know oh for sure, yeah, I can agree with that.
Speaker 2:As far as like the, I hate working out.
Speaker 3:It sucks, dude.
Speaker 2:But as soon as you start, it feels fucking great, right you?
Speaker 3:do it, it's good. But like the whole idea of like, oh I gotta get up, I gotta go in, yeah, it's not really fun. No really, you can say you like to do it, but I don't think it would really really likes to get you up at 5 am to do cardio yeah it's like I said, man, in the end, that five minutes of all this sucks turns into a whole day of this is an awesome day because I gotta work out, you know yeah, that's my hardest thing.
Speaker 1:I think it's like I I'm all all on board, like I want to get up and like I know that's my only time I can really get up and work out, especially being a stay at home. Dad is like dude, I could get up and crush it in my basement for an hour, but I don't, and it's always that fucking just that trading that five minutes of comfort for it's, it means it's just what?
Speaker 1:it's the opposite of what you said and that's just like yep, there it is, like it's fucking. It's always been right there it is I'm gonna wake up early tomorrow.
Speaker 3:She's like that's why it's so tough, because it is right there. Literally it's just a one decision of put the damn pants on, getting in the car and driving to the gym, you know, but like probably not even walk. You just gotta get over that. What you're in the gym, it's whatever.
Speaker 1:What you're there, you're there, you know, but there, and that's that one percent in the morning.
Speaker 3:You've gotta find that thing in your head, build yourself up to find whatever it is you, you grab the use. That's why you get up and that's why you go do it.
Speaker 1:You know, just gotta find that another thing, too, could be like leave your shit, uh, pre-laid out, like in the army, like like they taught you, like lay out your fucking form for the gym in the morning, dude lay out at night, get up, get right into that shit. I don't know if I could ever do that when, I got shit to do in the morning, I still fucking lay out my my clothes for the next day.
Speaker 2:I was, I was. I was never good about that.
Speaker 3:I'd be like pre-selection bro, like packing my shit at 3 30 in the morning trying to fix stuff in there.
Speaker 1:I was always like that on the plane tomorrow.
Speaker 3:Let me start putting stuff together like yeah, every time yeah, I've always been that I was.
Speaker 2:I'm a last minute. I mean today like I I mean I usually don't travel for work anymore but like I volunteered to go just because we were short-handed and I was. But you know, I left, I left the house. You know I woke up at four o'clock this morning and I'm like rummaging through my closet trying to find like scrubs you know, because I don't worry anymore.
Speaker 2:I'm like what the fuck are this? You know my wife's like did you not get ready the night before? I was like who do you forget who you're talking to? I don't fucking do that. So you're an army man. It's like not, and not even in the army. I did that. I did, yeah, yeah it's like you're talking to me.
Speaker 3:I was with the army, so let's get that straight damn dude.
Speaker 1:I thought I wasn't the only one. I thought I was like it's the one thing I did that I was like what is like? I said I like to get all the work done, so I was asleep no, I mean, if I was smarter I would do that.
Speaker 3:But lazy.
Speaker 1:I guess that's what you really call it, lazy, or just like I don't know.
Speaker 2:I like to maximize my, my recovery date, that's what it means that's what it means. That's all it means.
Speaker 1:I can't maximize the rest. Oh, you want some headphones dude, how?
Speaker 2:so you know, on the wider side of things, like you know, you know in the past five years, what's it? You know what's it like being one, a dad, two veteran and three at the same time being a business owner it's good, man, dude, I'm, I'm, I'm the half I'll be, honest with you.
Speaker 3:I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life at this point, right now after all the shit effort's all gone. Like literally, things are like so I'm not. I'm not rich by any means. I don't have a ton of money or anything, but even with that, all being said, I'm literally the happiest point ever been in my entire life hell yeah, having a son, I mean having you know a business that's I wouldn't call it fully successful yet, but it's we're going somewhere.
Speaker 3:You know I'm saying, and uh, in the fact that having the, the veteran background is I I'm pretty grateful, man, the fact I gotta serve that time and hang out with you guys and and do that stuff. You know, obviously it was years ago, you know it's kind of behind me but, um, I'll never take that stuff back. Man, there's, there's nothing more. You know that, hold my heart from the time he's in the military you said something either.
Speaker 2:Like you know, you know putting that stuff behind you. We talk about that a lot on the show. Like you know being um, you know being proud of who, being proud of the uniform you put on but, at the same time, like not letting it identify you. What do you feel about that? So?
Speaker 3:we can give this a moment. I'm very I'm really kind of pro that I don't like. I'm not a very flashy kind of guy. For the most part I don't really. You're not going to go around telling people that you know that's the. You're not going to hear that from the first thing I say to you when I meet you like oh yeah, you're not gonna.
Speaker 3:You're gonna dig it out of me probably at some point, or you'll just kind of listen to me talk and figure it out yourself you know, but yeah um no I don't know, I I'm when it comes that kind of stuff, man, I, I think I'm more humble when it comes to the point of I don't, I don't just voice that stuff. I'm proud of what I did, man, I'm proud of the boys and the stuff we got into, and uh, that's, that's all I need, man, I don't, I don't need to express it and tell people, man, I, you know it's. I just want people to know this is a better known business, you know it's. You know that I support veterans. That's what we're here for.
Speaker 3:And stuff you know, oh, yeah, yeah yeah, it doesn't need to be my identity. You know, that's not. I'm not just the veteran.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm saying yeah, and I think that, like you know kind of ties into like you know, this week's, you know this week's topic of like staying mission focused like I don't think you know in. In my opinion, I don't, I don't think you can successfully navigate your life after the military if you just keep holding on to that identity because you know that DD 214 is that's the end date. You know I'm saying and like you know, I for one had that problem. You know that fucking brovitt, like I served, like I did, that you know I'll be the first one to say I fucking did that for the first, probably two, three years after I got out and just like just having that, like having like you're not verbally yet, yeah, not verbally saying it, but just having that mentality of like, yeah, fuck, um, like what the fuck are you doing with your life?
Speaker 2:you know, and it and it took, it took a lot, for you know, it took a lot to to humble myself and just be like, yeah, let's get over it.
Speaker 3:Chapters close so and that's. I see that a lot with guys. For me it was honestly, when I got out, man I was, I was pretty under the weather with myself. I didn't want to talk about the military. I want nothing to do with the dude I was. I lost everything, bro. The military pretty much ate me up and spit me out. You know I'm saying yeah. So I didn't really have that essentially coming out, just because I was kind of almost embarrassed a little bit, you know, about my situation and and the stuff that had happened. You know I didn't really want to go around talk about what you know, the whole aftermath of whatnot.
Speaker 3:But I do see a lot of guys that it's their biggest hindrance, man is. They'll hang up on the fact that what they did in the military was all this stuff and uh, or the injury, whatever it is. They just carry that stuff on for a year, two, three, five years and all of a sudden you're just still the same guy that you were in the military. We all, we all know we weren't the best dudes, especially coming out. We had a lot of maturing to do, a lot of growing up to do, obviously, you know, coming out of the military. So if you're sticking yourself in your personality who you were when you got out, it's probably not going to progress very well, you know yeah, a lot of guys, same thing, a lot of guys are just 40 years old but out for 15 years, man there's still on this same old shit and not really progressing as a person.
Speaker 3:You know we're emotionally, or you know, maturing and yeah, erb's on the windshields.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying yeah, man, I'd be proud I think you should, of course, yeah but, but man, there's this extent where you can like, I think you gotta not you?
Speaker 3:yeah, take a little bit now you're a vet, I got down, I got a buddy back in my hometown, like he'll send me photos every time.
Speaker 2:He'll send me photos of just. He's like, hey, what do you think about this? And he'll I don't know, I don't know where they're at and I don't know how they're coming out of my hometown, but it's like there's a shit ton of them of just people driving around guys, and it's always a guy driving around the truck with like all the awards on the back windshield and he'll just send you the text. He's like, hey, what do you think about this?
Speaker 3:I'm just like thank you for your service, bro, come on hey, hey, hey, you forgot to thank me for my service no, I think, I think you should probably what you do, but at the same time I think a lot of guys really that's their whole personality, yeah, and it's not a very, it's not a very full for one, it makes else look like shit. Yeah, other guys that want to be just just vets, who are just living our life, man, I'll be, I'm kind of a hippie at this point. I don't really like to. I'm not kind of lean away from the military side me. I'm kind of like you know, kind of going the other way on the hippie shit. Um, so when guys that go around with the whole alphamint attitude and kind of bumping their chest and shit and want to reference back they were veterans at one point and well, I did this and like dude, that's, you're kind of crushing for the guys I just want to coast through.
Speaker 1:Man, just, you know, have a respectful end to the military, fly under the radar and and yeah, be, uh, be a fucking used to society. I think that's my biggest purpose anymore is uh, is being, uh, being of service is definitely something that I'm really trying to be, and it's funny that you said that about the gym, because that's literally what we're trying to build with this. Uh, just a place, bro, like a place that people can come hang out, listen to us talk, listen to us be here well, that's what I'm down with.
Speaker 3:You guys I want to be more involved with. I think you guys are the awesome stuff, man. This is, this is where it's at. Like I said there's, what else could we be doing besides helping out other people right, like we? We've got we need it out of stuff. Man, we did our time. Yeah, I feel like if, especially as a better man, like I think, you get the most satisfaction out of doing things like this and it helps other people, man, like that's that's what we do, it's what makes it easy, I just think it's it's a good route to go, man, when you have the ability to do it yeah, dude, there's something about giving back to those to, to to your fellow brothers and sisters.
Speaker 2:That just feels, I don't know, it feels uh, it sounds cheesy to say, but it feels better than a paycheck most of the time, just that, that feeling of giving back to those who served, and it's just like you know. Yeah, I just have the time, I don't care that I am a vet, it just feels good to do that, you know. That's why you know doing what, working where I work, and just seeing all these vets come through and like you know what's, I think what's most the most unfortunate that I see on a day-to-day basis is is like the big, the big difference between, like vietnam, more vietnam air vets and our generation of vets, or even newer generation of veterans. It's like there's such a there's, there's such a massive difference. You know those, you know the bro vett got created with our generation of veterans.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying yeah, and it's like damn it. I wish you know, I I wish there was a. Uh, I'm sure there was, but I wish there was more of a community, like, like, like we have built, like you have built, we have other people have built back in the day, for those vietnam air vets too yeah, that is unfortunate, those guys.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I didn't have uh nearly as much support, as you know. That is that we can find yeah.
Speaker 1:No, they just came home and got spit on and then most of them were addicted to heroin. Not most, a lot of them were addicted to heroin.
Speaker 3:Uh, I mean, that's just a shitty fucking time to be, yeah it's, it is unfortunate man and like so, yeah, hopefully, hopefully, like so what we're doing, man, we can kind of build up, you know, and try to try to make a more wholesome community. I guess you could say a little more supportive and wholesome stuff for the guys that are still trying to, you know yeah, speak means like it's like.
Speaker 1:Oh sorry, no go ahead, dude my thing is like finding people that have found their friends, uh, and then asking them basically like how you know, like what uh hazy likes to ask this one too. It's like, um, like what was that one moment for you after you got out that was like this is what I'm gonna do, like or did you know that? Like basically how like I'm just gonna open this jam and I'm just gonna be there, and or did like, how long? Or I mean, let me stop, because he was talking no, you're good when was that moment for you, like, when was that?
Speaker 1:oh shit, this is, this is my purpose now.
Speaker 3:This is what I'm gonna do, so obviously, man, I got out and uh, I things were kind of rocky-ish and they only got worse, so I actually lost the ability to even do security stuff pretty much, so that and that was my that was my background.
Speaker 3:So I got out and I was like, well, fuck it, I don't give a shit, I've, I've got range, your qualified s7, all this stuff, I can do whatever. In literally two months out of the army I was, I was down in Puerto Rico making 30 grand every I saw that shit you know I'm saying like I was crushing it so I had. I didn't care, I was kicking out the army so I was doing whatever. Well, that was that within that first year I lost that ability, oh shit.
Speaker 3:So I also pretty much almost everything I learned in the military was it was no avoid, couldn't use it anymore, could can't carry gun, couldn't do anything. So that all went to shit. So now I'm just, I'm stuck, bro, no, license, can't carry, I got a kid I have. No, I can't go to school. I'm just completely in the shitty. I'm falling apart at this point. And then it took me back to where I'm at. What do I? What?
Speaker 1:do I have?
Speaker 3:what is the one thing that no one can ever ever take from me my fitness, my body right, this is one thing that I can always build, I can always work on, I can always improve. No one can ever take this for me. So I got back into my head, started doing the right thing, started falling back into fitness, went to a personal trainer school, knocked it out and got out and was like this is so. It took about two years. Two years from me kind of figure out my thing, kind of get past the rockiness of what I wanted to do, to realize what I needed to do was, um, it took a little while, it took a couple years to realize what I need to do, man, but once I knew what I wanted, it all kind of set in and really it was just that, was it?
Speaker 1:yeah, it's crazy how things kind of align themselves once you file, I'm like, once you feel something's your purpose, uh, and then you start going after that. It's funny how things kind of align themselves to help you, uh, as long as you can see the signs. Really, uh, like when we started this podcast, we're like dude, this is gonna be stupid, no one's gonna listen, you know. And it's like, you know, we had so many guests come on to share their stories and uh, it's just I know, buddy, I know well, that's yeah, I mean, that's dude like no one.
Speaker 3:I had no support opening this gym and this is during covid. Also, there was all the gyms being we're just getting shut down, all gyms are getting closed. They don't even let anybody do this stuff. All the local, all the little gyms were gone, dying. Um, you gotta make a leap, bro, just like you got me. Same thing. You gotta like yeah, you have to know what you know is right deep down inside and what you know is gonna work, and whether you think anybody else, you fuck everybody else, right, you just gotta do yeah so I got the two elipsed, like you guys did.
Speaker 3:Man, and just, you know when, when, when your heart is into something and you know that's what you want to do, it usually works out for you, you know yeah, you just gotta be dedicated though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, did you? Did you have like a aha moment, like after you set your your? After you set your like kind of purpose? Some you know your purpose kind of set itself in place and you know you were like, yes, the gym, like was there an aha moment where you're like, yes, I'm doing the right thing?
Speaker 3:yeah I, I always knew that was yeah I've been wanting to do my for a long time. It just didn't really come into. It was. It was kind of hard to imagine that. It's kind of hard that I'm gonna do my own gym. Everyone talks with their own business, you know I'm saying so. Yeah, it was always kind of a thing in the air for a long time until that point, about two years after the army, it was like just do it man, just do it, go for it, see what happens. I don't think it was a hot moment knowing if, like that, I knew it was the right thing. Man, I just there's no one out here doing this. There's no one out here directly helping out of vets. Everyone's always adding these like oh, they attack programs, whatever it is for, for money reasons. There's no, actually there's no owners in this damn town who's sitting their gym and promote people to come in and talk to them.
Speaker 2:Well, you walk me on the gym. You're gonna meet the owner.
Speaker 3:You're gonna meet some guy at the desk who's gonna talk to you. Yeah, if you're paperwork in your league or nothing, like the guy again, yeah me. You're gonna come in here. You're gonna talk to you personally and make sure you make sure you're comfortable where you're at, make sure your program is good, you're happy with what you're doing. Anytime you walk in this door You're working out, you come talk to me, you know so that's no policy man.
Speaker 3:I want you a question. It's a programming. Come ask me question about your diet. You had a bad day.
Speaker 2:Come fucking talk to me, and that's NCO right there.
Speaker 3:So that's, that's what I'm doing here that no one else is fucking doing. I'm at the personalized Experience. You come in here and actually know the owners, know the other people. Man, we have events, barbecues and stuff, like it's not just a $10, jimmy, walk into and just do your thing and walk out. You know you can feel comfortable here. No, you have any questions or anything? Man, come talk.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah. It's back hell yeah, dude. Well, yeah, I was gonna ask something about the gym too. So, oh yeah, you're talking about pro. Like, do you do you program everyone's work? Like you program for everybody that walks through the door?
Speaker 3:No, so so for for members of what I kind of do was like if you're a member here, obviously if you're so I do coaching Right programs. Obviously I can't do it for free, you know. But if you're a member here and you come in here and you have your, you have programming, you're working on something you got offline. Whatever you're doing, come talk to me about it, cuz you have a. Well, how's my spot form looking?
Speaker 3:I got yeah hey man, this is program. Look like some guy gave me this. Look very good, I'll go over it. Make sure it's good, check it for you, help you out. You know saying yeah, I got there, walk through with some stuff, like whatever you're doing, I'll make sure you're on the right path, especially for what you're trying to do. You know, yeah, but yeah, but also I do if you want to. So I also do stuff for like a Swat military guys never special operations, courses and stuff. So I have programming for that. Also, if you're a big prep school, I have that kind of stuff also. That's badass, it's kind of my, that's kind of my. So I'm a tactical strength conditioning facilitator. That's my.
Speaker 2:I've seen a couple of the. I think you posted a couple of, or your members have posted like a couple of their transition, or Is it transitions or results Like yeah, transfer, yeah, that's the word I was looking for. Um, have you have you with that prep and for like the Q course and stuff? Have you had any like feedback on?
Speaker 3:that I haven't had any. I haven't had any kids directly going to the queue. Yet I've got a few guys like police, like police department kind of stuff. A lot of guys just use the program just to get so really programs kind of written. It really is for overall, like just to be ready. It's I call the radio. It's honestly kind of gives you everything man. It gives you build your strength, build your mobility, endurance is good. You know, working in the car, yeah, it's all all incorporated in there. So for my main program, you from there you can kind of take that and we can accelerate that and add to something more Special operations oriented or, like I said, the program really works good for just just being overall and basic square fitness.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:So yeah, yeah, I've had any guys who have to go to the queue with the by programming yet. But it's see, I mean it's working pretty well, for the guys are doing what they're doing with it, you know so hell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm the others mean those, those, both those posts I've seen look fucking amazing. I mean, yeah, I guess it's the purpose we give up. I've been working on for about.
Speaker 3:Two, three years now, man it's. It's literally everything I've done in my entire military career is all rolled up into Roll up in this program. So pretty proud of it.
Speaker 2:I got a question here from I don't know if you remember Alder from heavy company. Were you there when he was there, because I think he came after that first first deployment we were with together. But he's he's asked like fire, fire, do you do firefight training?
Speaker 3:Absolutely man. Yeah, so anything a EMT, first responder, special operations course kind of stuff I can definitely so most of my program I try to write for people here in the gym but, like I said, I can definitely work with somebody outside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude. So with the you know, you know, I want, I want to be able to like talk about, you know your gym as much as possible, because I think it's. I think it's all you know what we're doing. What we're doing here is all you know, is all digital or virtual, having like a virtual space to meet together but like what the stuff you're doing is is. I think is is amazing because it's, it's a physical place you can actually go visit, talk to somebody, and I think you know we're, you know, other than fitness, I think my, you know, I believe Talking is a great is is one of the greatest forms of therapy other than other than just sweating, you know. So I think that's cool as shit. So, you know, with the gym in mind, what's, you know, what's where you're at now, where do you see the gym in the next like five years? I?
Speaker 3:Don't know.
Speaker 2:Are you to look that far ahead?
Speaker 3:So you know, honestly I don't look that far ahead. I Kind of know where things are gonna end up at. I don't think I'm gonna do more than one location. I'd like to expand this place. Obviously I've got a really good deal going on here with the, with the property and stuff. So probably expand. I'd like to do something outside, have an outside Training area. You know also courses, you know some turf out there, that kind of stuff. So it'd be kind of fun. Obviously, some cold baths and son is that kind of stuff. More recovery, yeah, stuff, you know you do that. That's the main goal. So yeah, it's kind of expanding into more of a Real athletic performance facility. You know nice Also. Then also, the more events get teams together, start doing it, you know, doing Offset course races, that kind of stuff. You know I really want to build, build the community up and kind of go over that Also. That's another big part.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. How's been that? I mean I'm sure, I mean I'm. How is the speaking of the community? How's been? How has the community been as far as like being receptive to you, know, to you, be in there.
Speaker 3:So that it seems to be, it seems to be the big seller here. Man, is it like I said, that I'm, that I'm here, that I'm actually you can talk to me, that I'm not just some, some dude that says behind the desk. I'm saying I'm actually an athlete, I'm a veteran, I can actually give you proper advice plus talk to you about whatever's going on today. You know, I'm saying we've done a lot, I know how to handle that kind of stuff. So it's I think it's the big selling point here, man, people really like the fact that walking here, they knew who I am. They feel comfortable to come talk to me, no bullshit. So I think it works out really well for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, you should put everything about putting like a, like a range or attach a range to your gym. That would be sick.
Speaker 3:So that's something we're really thinking about. Obviously, I wouldn't be able to do it probably here oh okay, I mean I'm in town right now, obviously but that's definitely something that we'd like to expand and possibly work on. Like Trilling has had explained, this, I'm doing even like a leadership type courses.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah like we can. Course, you sign up, you come down that for a two-day stand you learn how to do some movement, a little bit of shooting, a little bit of stress shooting. I'm saying that kind of stuff to kind of build you up, kind of making more confident what you're doing. You know the couple more able about what's going on. So, yeah, that's something we're definitely kind of looking into. Your next that's to be a full tactical kind of range facility.
Speaker 1:That'd be awesome, that'd be great, that would be. Just get the full spectrum of training you.
Speaker 3:Well, actually I don't know if you guys want to talk to you. Remember Joe McCoy?
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:We're actually working on something pretty big right now, so maybe a maybe here in the future you might hear some more from us. That was going on, but if it goes down the way, should you guys definitely hear more about it. But something like that to a way bigger step maybe happening for too long.
Speaker 2:So congrats to that dude, by the way.
Speaker 1:He's having a kid killing it right, yeah, yeah, right yeah.
Speaker 2:Or another kid's my bad but yeah. Yeah, that's fucking sick dude.
Speaker 3:I can't we're.
Speaker 2:Just so people know where, where, where is apex animal house located?
Speaker 3:So apex animal house located on the east side of Colorado Springs, colorado, so yeah, just kind of. Actually it's right by Pearson Air Force base about 15 minutes north of Fort Carson. Oh shit, so like the veteran, communities.
Speaker 2:I assume it's big day. This would actually be so.
Speaker 3:Colorado Springs has the biggest veteran community in the country. Really oh yeah, there's like I'm pretty sure they over 80,000 plus vets, because they all come back because it's well, yeah, no, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:They don't leave everyone. Yeah, I mean y'all, bend all the armor stations and shit.
Speaker 3:We've been all the army duty stations. It ain't for this idea.
Speaker 1:You know you're not gonna leave. You know, or in Fort Compared to Fort, civil or whatever it is and shit. No, all that's like help with active shooter awareness. I mean that would be like a good program, as that we said. Did you say that to like just even just civilians? You're just to have that knowledge of, like, what to look for in a situation.
Speaker 3:Right, and that's yeah, even simple, just simple, something a lot of people have. I mean not to be mean, but like they have no fucking idea, it's not their fault.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not to be mean, but it's not their fault. They just never had to look at that Never you know, and a lot of guys think, they killing them on the highway.
Speaker 3:You know a lot of dudes think they, they, they used to play ball in school or they got a few fights in high school, you know, and they really think they're about some shit. But like, until you know you're really in a situation, realize that you're probably not really about that shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You these confidence building courses, like leadership courses, man, just kind of give guys more, more actual reference of what's really happening, not just well, I bet you I kicked that up, I pulled my gun and fucking yeah, okay, buddy, be that guy, but you know, probably help you out a lot more you know, what'd you say come?
Speaker 1:Chad, you listen to podcast at all and normally.
Speaker 3:No, I've been. I kind of started to me I'm all ladies gonna put me on some mine pump. Yeah, listen those guys. That's about it, though, man, but it makes her listen to you guys.
Speaker 1:We do, all right, but I was actually so I just thought of this as we were talking about that. So there's a dude, so you know, john Berndtall, the dude that plays a punisher. He's got a podcast called real ones and on his show a while back he had a dude. So there's that shooting in Colorado Springs.
Speaker 1:Remember one of the one of the I think it was yeah, that one, he's the guy that stopped the shooting, did an interview with with John Berndtall and it's like dude, if you want to go to a fucking emotional when, with all I guess you could say, of like the mindset, because he was SF, he was a lieutenant, I mean, he was a army officer, sf officer, and he wasn't anymore. So he was like I think five, seven, ten years past the army, you know, but stayed there, lives there. But like his whole, that whole story, that whole podcast, is fucking insane. Just to think like he was even saying it too. He's like man. I was thought I had my shit together. He's like I'm sitting here fighting with this dude for what I felt like it was three, four hours. They said it was nothing but like two minutes.
Speaker 1:Oh shit you know, and it's just, but I mean it just kept going on. That was a pretty nasty situation.
Speaker 3:That was bad dude.
Speaker 1:Do the.
Speaker 3:I've lived here. I think there's been the five mass shootings here, maybe no shit dude the spring it's been so we had. So there was that club queue. There was a plan child or Plamp here in hood, downtown Colorado, shooting. There was like in 2012.
Speaker 1:There was the one on bad, and then there was Well, yeah, yeah, that was in.
Speaker 3:Colorado alone there's been a tumble. It's the Springs alone. It's my four or five since I've been here. Like pretty crazy. Like there was the. The Plamp area was literally two blocks from my house, dude, but we were hanging out drinking beers on a Saturday. All sudden you see your cops going by and stuff. You look out there, they block off all the roads. It was a block up man. That guy was going after doing work, just fucking sure. Yeah, the spring is well. The spring days have a lot of like. It's hard to explain, man. There's a lot of weird people here. Yeah, people, a lot of what it's not like Christian extremists and stuff, and you have, like God, there's just a lot of. There's a lot of variables, man, for things to go kind of wrong around here.
Speaker 2:Dakota.
Speaker 1:Anyone that's curious for that show, specifically that episode, in the comment section if you want a good listen, especially you. I think you probably get a lot out of it Just to to be inside of that mindset again and hear it from someone else, even in that situation. But it definitely is an eye opener to me, even though I don't really go to clubs and shit, no more. I don't, I don't do all that, but I mean I remember back in the day me and Chad used to go to the club. All time it was like right, we got our basic. It was like, oh, let's go to this club and it was what was that one?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, the thing is it might not be the club around here, brother, but you walk in the grocery store man. Yeah, that's true too.
Speaker 1:The ball. Boulder at the King's super's straight up into the grocery store and just started shooting people Like I got.
Speaker 2:I have a personal question for you, for me, but for both of you. Really, you both can answer this because because, like I, like I, you know, I have a family of six to include myself, right, and like you know, we're talking about just being tactically aware if that stuff doesn't turn off. But I've always, like I Always wanted to have a weapon in the house, but I just, I'm just scared, I don't know, I'm just scared to have one in case, like I don't know, like is there a? I don't know. I don't trust myself to have one, what is it that sounds, that sounds, I know that sounds stupid, but I just like I Mean nobody knows you, except you right.
Speaker 1:I mean you know you're not, cuz I hear here's, here with the weapon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, here's a perfect, here's a perfect example. Like today. There was, like you know, we were driving and like, and it was like it was a silly little comment in my head, right, but we were driving and some asshole cut my wife off in my head. I'm like, I'm so like this. These are. This is a situation where I'm glad I don't have a fucking gun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but you see that. But you're not really gonna fucking pull your gun out and yeah, window with your kids in the car you know, yeah and I realize the implications of even just pulling your gun out.
Speaker 2:I know, yeah, and I know right, and I you know, and I know and I know, and I know, and I know I wouldn't risk my family over Over that stuff, but it's like it scares me that if the fact that I I even have those comments in my head like, like bro, you have those comments in your head, that means you're mentally not ready to have a gun.
Speaker 1:I know you're running through options in your head. You're just like yeah, I don't. That's not a good idea. And then you just keep moving. I agree, I think we all have.
Speaker 3:That's not. That's not we should be your biggest issue. Like, we all have fucking crazy ass thoughts, yeah, but the idea of being a, you know, real, a tactically sound person, a real, a real protector, those thoughts right is being able to like, have that, we all have crazy shit, man, but listen, it's all depends on do you act on it. You're gonna really do that or not. Or has a scenario running through your head, like Kyle said, just something you're going through Different things that could happen.
Speaker 2:You're not actually at the place, yeah, you know, because I think that's the one thing I think I Wish I had when it comes to like my house like I wish had a former. I wish I had something to protect the family here at home.
Speaker 1:But like your shotgun and some like every now and then I'm.
Speaker 2:Every now and then I'm like I don't think you're ready, dude.
Speaker 1:You're gonna shotgun at any sporting goods store for 300 bucks a decent shotgun and some beanbags, bro, no one's gonna die. Pump someone else.
Speaker 3:So then if you, if you're not feeling like then maybe, then maybe you and the family Along, if your kids are ready, some courses, you know, even if the local range do some some some pistol courses, you know, kind of get confident, feel more. You know, and I'm sure that a lot of the feeling also comes from not easy. You haven't handled the gun in a long time, you haven't really been around the stuff. You don't have one in the house, obviously you're not really. Yeah, spending much time which kind of makes it easier to be separated from feeling comfortable with having one. Yeah, so taking a course with the kids and the wife, you know, make sure everyone's comfortable in the house, I'm doing that kind of stuff really gonna help build confidence, that kind of stuff I Mean. But you guys start somewhere. Male, obviously you're, you're a, you're an ex warrior, still warrior. You can't. I feel that it's, it's for protection, everyone. It's clutch to have something like that, you know yeah.
Speaker 3:You just got like. You gotta find your the right, the right route to get into it. You know I'm saying yeah. You're always gonna have those thoughts, man, they're being a fucking killer. You're gonna have some crazy.
Speaker 1:You know, like we were trained to respond with death. I wanted to ask, cuz I don't have anyone here?
Speaker 2:Yeah, cuz I don't have anyone here to like pose that question to you, because you know, you know, no one. You know, obviously, have four kids and a wife, and I don't hang out with other veterans here because, yeah, I just don't but like, yeah, I just wanted to get y'all's opinion on that because. But I will say, though, like you know, I haven't you know what you're seeing, just being being away from you know, handling weapons for so long. Do once you pick, like Was it two years ago?
Speaker 2:Two years ago we drove to, or I can't remember if it was two or last year, but we we drove to Texas to visit my, my in-laws and my father-in-law at the time. Like he took me to the gun, like the gun range that they're a member of, and he's like what do you want to shoot? Of course me. You know, the first time I handled a weapon was in the army. So I just I picked what I knew, you know I was like the 9 mil and the fucking import. But I picked it up, dude, he was like nothing and that that was like and that was, I think that was a like a little self-reassurance, like okay, so I still got it.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I'm ready for it, but I still have it around. Weapons now is like I take I stay huge on like, even if I'm not a hundred percent, like you know what, like I'm gonna sound like an idiot just for being like amen, this, this is how you work this right, like okay, yeah, all right, cool. And I don't be afraid to answer because I mean I'm sure you're about to agree with that like dude, hey, cuz it's better, it's.
Speaker 3:I would prefer you ask me question for you pick up that gun and drop the fucking mag of the ground. So I would way rather you ask a question about a firearm than just grabbing it. That's, that's waste of, that's a problem. Like, say, if you, you asking questions tells me that you're, you're aware, you're thinking about it, your cognizant with the situation, if you are Uncomfortably to go grab a fucking weapon and start operating when you don't know how to operate it, that's yeah, that's the problem, right, yeah, don't.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just do, just don't even so the fact you think about it, you're cautious, you ask about it is way more gives me more confidence in you. Then if I see you over there Just trying to Like oh, oh, where's the man? Yeah, now you're done to me, you're done. I've seen that shit like okay, you know what?
Speaker 1:Today here's your squirt gun bitch, but also I mean.
Speaker 3:Sometimes being around a weapon a little more and getting more comfortable might make you feel more confident, more comfortable by just spending time around guys are shooting, going out the range a little bit more, practicing putting yourself around it, because when you, when you separate yourself from military and separate yourself from all arms and all guns, all this stuff, yeah, make this barrier of kind of like you become more defensive. Now you're more questioning. Things are gone. Maybe I don't. It's been a while, man, can I handle this. Get back into them and get the confidence back and you'll feel a lot more. You won't feel a strength by yourself when you were more secure with a firearm that makes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 2:No, that makes perfect sense. Because I mean I've never thought about it that way. Because I mean because the way you Described it is exactly where I'm at. I'm just questioning myself, I don't mean yeah, right, you got it.
Speaker 3:I mean, you're you know what it is, you've been there, you're not, are you? You're you mentally unstable, like? I mean, like honestly, are you?
Speaker 2:know I mean no yeah.
Speaker 3:Are you going like counseling? I'm actively free like that. Are you trying to hurt anybody? If the answer is no to that, then get back in the saddle man. Hmm, find you something to play with? Go guys, they go that boys. You don't have to buy one immediately to go out the boys. You, some shooting man, go to the range, take a class, take a concealed carry hanging, hang on class. You know that stuff will really build the confidence up, make you feel a lot more, you know, built up in yourself and doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a dude to one of the vets that we saw like what, the last year he offered me a free course because after they have to raise the same like here's my card, come by, I get you. I'll get you license for free. I was like fuck yeah. I Just like I don't know, fucking ready yet.
Speaker 3:Dude and carry, you're not, you're not gonna be ready until you go after me, until you get back in that saddle Dude and start getting back into that tactical kind of mindset. Yeah, you're just gonna keep. It's gonna be the same thing and Forever. You know, you gotta, you gotta step up there. You know, fuck me, I'm ready to get back into the same dude I'm. I can do this. Get back out of your little training. You don't have to buy a gun, you don't have to have a gun on you all the time if you're not there, but at least getting out there training, feel more confident and you know being Be a little more ready to one of them, wooden ones that they used in.
Speaker 3:Shined up, so you put some walnut on there.
Speaker 1:It's really nice to them. You should write them a thank you card. Hope we lost KZ.
Speaker 3:He's frozen.
Speaker 1:We were just that damn funny. Oh man, it's crazy. I walked upstairs to my wife and just walked in. She was watching the show on her phone, just like I didn't realize that you were actually doing the show with Griffin Also, that's supposed to do. I Wonder if he's gonna cancel out one of the rubber band guns. Clip claps Every time. Kz, jesus, that's South Carolina Internet, but yeah are you?
Speaker 3:are you still? You still train car. What are you doing? So shoot a little bit.
Speaker 1:Not really. I haven't shot in a while. It's just kind of expensive and then mean, honestly it's funny, I was gonna bring it up but since we have the downtime to talk about it, when you said you know Hadn't talked about, like, are you dangerous or you know unstable, like that. Like me personally right now Most of my guns aren't even in my house because I had an incident. Not two years ago I was about right when we moved here where me and my wife got an incident. I started screaming some wild shit and Basically came home and just crashed out, fell asleep and then in that time she came and took all my guns to her brothers or to her sister's house and I've just since I've never tried to get him back. I know I could. I do got. She bought me a gun, say, for my birthday this year and I got one. I do still have a pistol in there, but I was like I've since then.
Speaker 1:I'm just like here's you forgot this one? Like, if you're that worried about it, like you can have this one too. Yeah, you know what I mean. I was like, and only recently have I just been like like I kind of want them back. Like I I built an AR after that one that I Got from Joe and then I pulled it apart and then built a new one for myself because I wanted to, because it was a lot of fun. It's actually a really fun process building they are.
Speaker 1:It's not therapeutic man, it is, I still have all the parts to to be like all, like the, the vice grips and all the other, like all the little tools for For doing an AR. I was gonna suggest that for KZ as well. Like you, build yourself if you get. If you want to get into an AR, build yourself on man.
Speaker 3:Dude, that's actually a really good idea, man plus, and you're not, it's not even a gun at that point. You know I'm saying at that point. It's Legos in a tool. You're putting something together, you have fun with it, be more comfortable with it, kind of be attached to that weapon, and you'll have a lot more more feeling, I think, to want to actually utilize that thing, get out and train with it.
Speaker 1:When you Put it together, like I will say it, I haven't even seen mine in two years. But I'm like right now, I'm like you know what? I wonder if my brother in law is up like yo, can I get my shit? Well, you know, and that's late to ask for that, I guess, cuz we were saying like you're, you're, I had mine were gone for a while too, and I didn't.
Speaker 3:I was ready back for him for a Little bit. But there's a point where you get to your idea. You know what. I'm ready to get back to work. I'm ready to fucking kind of get back in the saddle kind of train, a little bit kind of Like you don't got to be out shooting every single weekend man, but just Knowing that you have the ability and that you're so competent and you're, you know you can grab that thing and still go to work with it, it's a good feeling to have man. Yeah, you know, yeah, you're so self-sufficient.
Speaker 1:Definitely want to get a little bit more into it. I know we have a shooting range right down the road too and I can get in the membership, and I mean it's North Dakota, they're shooting club. There's gun clubs, oh yeah, I can get into it.
Speaker 1:I mean like say it's just at this point I think if I build, I would. I want to build another AR, but I want to build a 22 just for the, the shooting, like he actually just said, keeping that muscle memory alive. Just Shoot and plank, plank, you know, and do them, do the running movements, do the fun shit, cuz I mean dude 76 or 556 expensive it is man and I don't.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't shoot nearly as much as I used to. I mean now it's more just to keep, just to keep tight. You know I'm saying get out there once a month. You know I mean once every two months. Whatever it is you will. You know We'll run a gun and get the car rate up a little bit.
Speaker 1:I need to get a new pistol because I well I like the one I got. Now it's the spring field, is the hell cat.
Speaker 3:That's a good carry gun.
Speaker 1:I got big hands.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's not it.
Speaker 1:That's not a that's not a fighting gun, you know that's a good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a good concealed gun, good gun to carry around and stuff. But if you're talking about doing some shooting, shooting you might want some little yellow forage barrel. So I'm heavier five and I'm just like.
Speaker 1:I'm like man, I'm all over the place with this thing, but inside, like 25 feet, you're going down.
Speaker 3:That's what's meant. That's what's built for you awesome carry.
Speaker 1:You think sexy, though I got the FD E1.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, yeah, those are. Those are nice little carry guns. They're really nice. Oh big spring field guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that thing. I got his butters had that. That 45 Xd I think are the new one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, well, the little ones, the older one from the Xd XDS.
Speaker 1:Oh, not the older ones with the super heavy top. You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3:He has a big, get the full size. Yeah, okay, that's Xd, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know them old, them old spring fields were like super, like I feel like that slide was like so yeah.
Speaker 3:Those, yeah, the old Xd's weren't Quite as good. The hillcats are good. Now the XDS were good little guns. I'm not a huge XD guy, but I mean they still run. They were right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got a little fucking. What's my shotgun it's? It's about a Mosberg, like a little $300 Mosberg.
Speaker 2:So you need to mean yeah, I do as a first shotgun.
Speaker 3:I browsed this was a Mosberg Maverick game.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure I bought one down and um what was the Academy?
Speaker 3:Academy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I still got that pistol that we bought. You still got? That damn yeah, dude, I haven't shot it in years because it never really like dude, it always jammed always.
Speaker 3:Yeah, those things, yeah, 42, huh.
Speaker 1:Is the 40 caliber. Got 40 cows anyway. No, I got a nine. Oh, did you know it was a Smith and Weston sv9?.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's been sv9 here, sve9, sv9. Yeah, I mean it's a slick looking little pistol, but I thought it was cool, we bought them. Yeah, I mean, I see I Junk, I tried to sell it and someone was like no, yeah, I mean that's, we weren't very I didn't know a whole lot about what I was buying back then. You know, it seemed cool so is it a piece of shit?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know I.
Speaker 3:Mean yeah, I mean it was back in the day was like the very they just come. So it seemed kind of heist because they just came out With them. It's a polymer gun, you know metal slide kind of glock, similar. It's way cheaper. Yeah, I think we got ours like 300 something under 300 bucks. Yeah, it was a pretty good deal the time, you know. So it seemed cool, but you know, after once become more functional the weapon and understand how they work, you realize it wasn't the best piece. Junk, yeah, I had that show you right now.
Speaker 1:I mean yeah dude, it fucking jammed almost every every one or two magazines At least yeah feeds like a motherfucker.
Speaker 3:It's like it was like the next level above, like yeah. Just a smidge higher point you know, I don't even know what I do. That guy. They might treat it or something for some probably.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I need to get on that boat.
Speaker 1:I think, yeah, yeah, I think I'm for a home defense, the shotgun is gonna be your best bet. Because I, honestly, people don't understand. Like, if you Are from a home defense, like well, you're gonna kill the fucking neighbor, yeah, and AR is not a good gun for home defense.
Speaker 3:Now I think if you're tactically proficient, you know whatever. But if you're, you know, if you're not super confident with your, with your shooting abilities, a Fucking rifle is not what you should have in the house.
Speaker 1:See, like in my house I have three different spots right now where I know like if I'm here, I know where my shotgun is and I know where my shot is, you know, and it's like shotgun. You could just kind of poke your head around that corner and I'll be honest, man, I mean over the years, man, I'm more of a shocking guy.
Speaker 3:Either way, man, even for tactical situations and stuff like a good shotgun man is a is a very, very effective weapon.
Speaker 1:And it'd be honestly, it's the most, it's the most first weapon there is.
Speaker 3:I mean you're you talking? I mean whether you're, if you're out camping in the woods, if you're out, if you're going hunting, if you're home defense, whatever it is. That shotgun can pick up a ton of different roles, man, yeah so if you, honestly, if I was to, have one gun, one gun left, it would be a good 12 gauge Joggun.
Speaker 1:Semi-automatic or a pump pump yeah, I like the pump dude yeah so I mean semi-autos are fun.
Speaker 3:I mean, if you got the money to spend on semi-auto for tactical stuff, it's great and all. But the thing is that there's a Now, mind you. Now especially for talking about, like, tackle home defense. The problem there's reasons like a lot of like, even like SWAT, and these guys don't use semi-automatic shotguns Is, if you put a not a very intelligent shooter in a room with nine rounds of double-ought buck and he pumps through those things that send me out a shotgun, dude, the collateral damage is it's catastrophic, man, but you just don't like say you see, I think you got a pump gun. You get one off, dude, the work's probably already done right. I mean, a close range in a room, 12 gauge, you put one round through, you're probably gonna do the job right.
Speaker 1:Honestly, in some situations just just racking, one's gonna fucking stop.
Speaker 3:Now, if you got a, guy who's a little sketching the trigger with a semi-automatic pump or a semi-automatic gun. You just pump four rounds of double-ought buck. That's literally like 120 rap pellets and just flown through every direction.
Speaker 1:Where you just shot. I'm saying a Terry Cruz and the expendables. When he comes down that hallway with that dude I guess real man like yeah thank you.
Speaker 3:Five rounds of a lot buckets at 932 out, 32 cow repels per Dude, like you just spent a hunt. You just spent a hundred little projectiles. There's someone's getting it dude, someone besides who you shot at you probably get into. If you don't realize how power I mean, like Obviously a shotgun is a better option for the house. You don't realize how powerful a fucking shotgun is to though man. Like, even if you use double-ought buck, especially the Magnum round, it's gonna go through those walls, it's gonna punch through those walls and the ones behind it also and keep now. It'll probably travel less farther than a rifle will, but you still got to be careful with.
Speaker 1:Your just gonna do more damage In that shorter amount of time. Yeah For sure. Yeah, that's crazy, dude, that's just thinking about. Like that's just one thing, that people, that's another thing. You know, keeping that that mind mission ready. Like we just went and talked on that, like we didn't, we weren't even really thinking. We were talking about being mission ready. But like dude, I know that if you come into my house at any point where I can get you, right. And that's I mean that's.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's not. My life is mad. I just don't even think about what I'm doing. But the things are always. I always are laying things in tactically, to make sure that you know that it's laid in for later on Situations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but we had two entries to my closet, that one goes out to, like, the garage and one goes out to my bedroom. So it's like my little slip and hide, little spot.
Speaker 3:And what's and what's wrong with being tactically ready, like people are so like coming weird about like, oh, you're a prepper.
Speaker 1:No, why is it what's? Why is it weird to be ready for situation? Why am I the asshole?
Speaker 3:because I'm ready for situation. Right, you're gonna be the one coming to me when things are hit. Shit is the fan.
Speaker 1:You know I'm saying, but what's the difference in having a fire escape plan right in this day and age with active shooters? Why is it wrong? You know, I'm ready for some to walk into your house? You fucking people walk into people's houses every night.
Speaker 3:I don't see the shit ice ass.
Speaker 1:North Dakota dude. The town over for me is super fucking nice. The other night they posted on their Facebook and this is three like dudes walking around creeping their neighborhood at 4 am. Well, fuckers, walk around a hoodies at 4 am. They ain't coming for cookies. Mufflers, living horse, you need to get a shotgun. We're North Dakota.
Speaker 3:They probably got one and that's things you see now. You see everything the internet. Obviously everyone has cameras. Internet, bro, here in the spring's gonna be all the like. Last year Was a big deal kids and hoodies with a ours bro.
Speaker 3:What a clip for checking doors on cars, dude. Like stealing, change the shit with rock out of rifles, bro. Like push me finding garage doors are walking people's houses like it's a thing, dude. So I feel like if you're I'm not sending, I'd be a fucking tactician, yeah, but even if you know, but even everyone should be a little ready, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I think you should have a little bit of preparedness Persituation, because you don't want to be that guy man that gets walked into. It's for people walk in your house, you're eating, deal with your family and you have no idea what to, what to do, where to go, how things should operate, you know. So I don't think being ready is a very easy thing to do but in the end can really benefit you, you know, in the long run.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't have to go full equalizer and like booby trap your house. You know, but you can't really know. Know the spots.
Speaker 2:I've been like Griffin, no touch that yeah, I mean talking about that, like I. Yeah, I've been like hyper alert these past like week. You know we had a yeah, we had like we had some which is named Michael rock on oh yeah, weeks ago and he was, he was, he was a, he was a green break for a while and when he got out, now he, now he works for a. I forgot the company.
Speaker 1:Basically he's a federal agent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he worked on home. They security is said and he, like he hugs pedophiles for really, yeah, that's what he does. You know okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, he had that talk and I shit you not like, like was, it was last weekend, no, last week, last week, and he and I don't, I don't know. My mind is like is this shit related or not, do we? We randomly found like a brown, brown like envelope like hung on our door and like there was nothing on it, right, and it just had like all twos, like the phone number to contact was all twos. So I was like who the fuck? I don't have camera, I don't have a camera out my front door. So I was like who's like? Who the fuck's? You know? My wife's like what is this? I'm there was nothing in it. And then, like, our neighbor was like yeah, it was some, I thought it was a door-dash because it was. You know, some, some, some young girl like walked up and like hung it on your door and took a video of your house and Then, and then like and so my wife was asking the neighborhood like hey, who, who else has his envelope on their?
Speaker 1:door.
Speaker 2:No one else had it but this one lady we live right next to Shaw Air Force Base and it's happening on Shaw Air Force Base of just like same woman like randomly just videoing houses and clipping that clip in this little little note, you know that dude, and because, like I have four kids and you know, for some reason all the kids in the neighborhood like to come To my house, so I've been, I've just been like that's what, that's what I've been thinking about just home defense a lot lately, just because if I'm like I don't know what's like, what the fuck is going on, if it looks like breaking like a forced entries are like Somehow like cranked up the past few years, like people just pushing into people's houses or a delivery driver walking up with a bullshit DHL shirt on and you open the door up.
Speaker 3:Dude, each walks on in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's an order. You know we're uniform.
Speaker 3:Okay, it's UK is crazy right now, uk is like having this, like they're falling apart, bro, with these like home invasion kind of things. It's scary, dude, you imagine. I mean it's like I can't even imagine the gust that you'd have to have To walk into someone's house in the middle of fucking daytime, like, and so what makes you, what tells you, though, is that they're not. These people aren't afraid. They know that if they know that you don't, that the average person have shit, aren't gonna do shit if they walk into your house. Exactly any intelligent person would just walk into a house. You thought you were in a shot, right, yeah, so these kids are out here just doing this. Obviously, they're getting away with it enough times and no one's stopping them, no one's defending themselves enough to where it's become this prevalent thing. We're Pushing in someone's house and steal their shit is just that easy.
Speaker 2:And on the flip side, that same argument to like some of these people are probably like they don't care if they get shot. You know, I'm saying, like that's how unafraid they are, like I'm gonna and do whatever, I don't give a fuck if you shoot me or not, that's. But yeah, that's like my brain start connecting dots that should be connected. I'm like, is this because I fucking talked to Michael rock?
Speaker 1:Guarantee you one thing, I guarantee you, he's fucking watching over our internet shit. From now on, you know what I mean. Like he's making sure that no one's getting after our kids. That's our boy. Now you know what I mean. Or yeah, like she said, they're all doped up, or you never fucking know anymore, dude, it's just don't know me, I'm. You don't know like, you're just like like you said, not afraid, they're not scared, no more.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not sure how to equate that or what. You know, I don't know. There's these kids who saw the whole different level now, man, but it's also.
Speaker 1:I mean, like did you hear there was I think it was like last month or two months ago Like a couple kids got killed just like being walking, like one dude went to pick up his brother but like went to the wrong house and then like the guy shot him, I mean, and it was just like, oh well, you know, I was scared I mean you, while you were scared, because he was a black kid in your driveway. Let's be honest for one and two. I mean like this, that that also kind of in that situation, maybe it was a race thing and he saw an opportunity, but like when does where, how does someone that doesn't have the training that we have learned to draw that line to where they're like, to where they understand, like, oh shit, this kid's just here by accident. You know what I mean, like what I Think that's scary vicious, it is suspicious.
Speaker 1:Just don't fucking go outside, don't answer the door. Well, I don't think your house, that's a different story. I think that's a scary variable man.
Speaker 3:So obviously you, hopefully everyone that has a firearm should be Pretty confident or trained or whatever. But the thing is that not everyone will and even if they pass a background check and got the gun Maybe they had a number 20 years. He's old, some old dude who just Some. You can't stop that man. There's some, someone who's gonna lose, who's not in the right of shit, they're not gonna make the right decision and act on emotion or act on, you know, just at the second kind of thing and do that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't think there's any. There's nothing you can do to stop some crazy old guy who thought someone was breaking into his house with you know who, fucking knows man, that old guy was crazy already, like.
Speaker 1:I mean, I just mean like, like, like. If, if someone were listening that what that doesn't really have our mindset to like, maybe they would be in a situation where they would have to make that choice. Like well, so then it comes down.
Speaker 3:I mean and this is the unfortunate part, man, this is. It kind of comes down to just common sense, dude, like you got to hope to know that you shouldn't. If you just see someone out in your driveway, you probably shouldn't just open fire out of your window into it right, yeah, they're not.
Speaker 3:they're not like that, yeah like I don't care how threatened you if it's middle of the day. You see there, there's something wrong with that. I there's there's no boy Matt and like some sense should be kind of set into there. But obviously it wasn't at that point. If you're shooting into the neighborhood from a window, dude in the daytime, I don't yeah, I don't really know how to get around that or stop that guy being. That's just being fucking crazy. That's not even that's not safe by our safety. That's just you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I watched the video not so long. A guy in Florida some is pool cleaner, pool cleaner came in a little bit later than usual, was like nine o'clock, getting kind of dusk pool cleaner was cleaning the backyard. Rather than step out or call the police, guys open the owner of the house, open fire through the window at the kid. It was All right. Those those kind of things like that is simply would have been like hey, who are you? Or call the police. He just grabbed your gun and fucking, he dumped all 30 rounds, mind you look, I'm glad I'm not, and see the van entire magazine through this, through his window, at this, at this kid.
Speaker 1:So that game well, that you hire somebody to clean your pool right.
Speaker 3:So like in that, like there's that kind of stuff, man, there's really no, those are just bad, bad people that shouldn't have guns. Yeah, those are guys probably should know. Firearms you know, but how could you ever tell who that person's gonna be right Backgrounds, not gonna tell you some dudes fucking sketching doesn't predict the future, the future, so I.
Speaker 3:Mean. The best you can do is be the responsible gun owner, promote that to other people, you know, just doing the right thing. And then, just like I said, man, there is gonna be fucking variables. Man, there's gonna be people out there that aren't gonna do the right thing and that's just what it is, you know oh yeah, dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely got a lot. Personally, I got a lot to think about. It's definitely want to do that. That discussion my wife and I need to have again.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, the best way to go about it. It's just you know, bring her in with it to the hell. Yeah, you know how would you feel about this, would you? Would you be interested, you know, and maybe do some shooting to, if you're comfortable, to maybe at some point bring the kids in with 22? There's something you know at down the road, if you guys are comfortable, you know whatever it is.
Speaker 2:But well, here's it. Here's a question I'll ask you just because I know you mean because you're more, you're more Over an expert than I when it comes to just you know this stuff, like you know mom, like the, the I don't want to say obstacle, that's a bad word but like the hurdle that my wife has to like overcome really is just because, like her fear, her fear of guns, right, like what's what, what is, in your opinion, like the best way to like to have that conversation?
Speaker 1:educate.
Speaker 3:Educator go and conceal carry course, like literally so explaining to her the you know the importance of real, real life situations, you know. And then defending the family, obviously. But the best way to work for me to be uncomfortable, you know, is like, hey, would you like to go take an instructions course with a professional? You know they can show you all the stuff with this gun. I mean, that's, that's all I got my wife into, that's all I Wimmy. It's easy to kind of work them into it because they don't know what it is. Man, it's a gun. All I know is it killed somebody, it hurts people. But if you can take them, sit them down in a classroom with a professional that can explain this gun and everything about it, make them feel comfortable, how to use it. It really changes up how women look at firearms once they understand the firearm.
Speaker 3:Initially it's just scary, bro. All you see is the news and all this crazy shit, and all you know is that you use them to kill people in war. And some guy on TV did some some bad thing and somebody you know the other day. You just got to show them that this can be what protects you and us and our family, and let me show you how to use it correctly. That's what really really helps them. Connect the dots, you know, with Comfortability.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let them learn they don't know. They don't know man.
Speaker 3:They don't know what the gun is or what. All he knows is scary stories. Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of that is a fear of what I've picked up on to my wife it's always like she wants to, but it's definitely like she's like I just.
Speaker 1:And then like I could tell her, like oh, I could teach you, but like that's probably not the best way.
Speaker 3:Well, right, and that's one of those things that we're like, you know, as the husband you're gonna get frustrated, you get frustrated and they get scared if you being frustrated. So the best, the best thing I found when it comes like, say, is literally just finding a good instructor, going to a good course and let that teacher sit in the classroom and just you sit back and let him do the work. Man right, just enjoy helping with it. Yeah, that works before with her, you know.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, let him fucking do his thing, dude, and you'll watch them come out with a whole new different kind of confidence.
Speaker 1:And then they'll be like, hey, babe, you want to go shooting. And you're like I'm telling you, I've never seen it.
Speaker 3:I've never seen it go the other way anytime. I've never had this talking out hey man, just take her to a range or take her to a professional, let them do it. It changes it up every single time.
Speaker 3:It's just because it's scary, bro, it's a gun dude, it's kind of scary. If you've never, ever touched this thing, all you know is the bad stories. Yeah, it's not something you want to fuck with, just especially when you have, you know, maybe your husband's like here, take this gun, and he's like, oh no, don't touch it like that. And she's getting on. Yeah, so it makes a lot easier. Yeah, when you have some guy in a classroom man to do it for yourself, first and foremost, his guns always loaded wait it's all right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like it's loaded.
Speaker 1:So what does that mean?
Speaker 3:like he's freaking out. You're like no, no, just don't touch, don't grab that part.
Speaker 1:You're like yeah, we're five minutes into this shit. I'm already looking for a professional. So, yeah, it makes it a lot easier when it's one of those those doing it Plus yeah if she shoots a shotgun and you're the one that showed her how to do it and she falls over, dude, that's on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or she fucking hits the butt, she can her face or something. Yeah, you're the asshole. It's your fault. Yeah you're, you're fucked for a long time. You're probably not getting any more new guns for a while, either you, you may have lost that ability, yeah.
Speaker 1:More sex, yeah, I yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a conversation. I definitely have that conversation, just because me, like I said it, just with this things I've been having around here, it just it might be nothing. You know, it's probably 85, it's probably just nothing, but it is weird though.
Speaker 1:Do you know why they're putting those things on like what's going around? Like are they putting the same shit on people's door?
Speaker 2:Yeah, same thing and like and people are tying it to like because with like Sex or child trafficking in the local area and that's like. That's what's scary in the shit, I mean so.
Speaker 3:Another big thing. I was going to bring this up also and this is another reason why they have fire, because this is a huge sex. So, like I'll talk to Joe jump Koi, not too long ago and somebody had Taking his license plate and bent the corner on it, right Bent. So it was weird as fuck. No one else car got touched, took top left corner and bent it. Well, couldn't figure it out, couldn't know what this was all about. Ended up he ended up talking to One of the guys that does some trafficking kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:What are the specialist buddies and uh, that's no shit, it's a direct sign. That's actually what they do and you'll see if you see I hear in Colorado is a big thing. But yeah, we'll bend that plate to let you know that there is a woman in that car that doesn't have a guy around.
Speaker 3:No his old lady was driving that car at the time, I think, and that's what. So we picked it up, pull that thing back and that's all you got to do to signify that car as, uh, somebody that can be picked up. So there's a lot, that's. It's a huge, bro. It's huge. There's a lot of these little things, people, people will see it happen, like, oh, whatever, but it's. There's a lot more behind this shit. Man, especially the day in age you, this trafficking thing is. It's been kind of here, push down for some reason. It's fucking way bigger than it ever has been.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know why it's been pushed down either. Dude, like I mean I'm not gonna lie, like I mean I just you know I've, you know I hear about it and I read about and you know it's, it's something I'm aware of. But you know, definitely after talking with Michael rock two weeks ago, like my, like I'm hyper vigilant on that. So I'm just bro. I would ask and it just like, and now I feel like I'm seeing it everywhere, you know.
Speaker 1:What's one of those things like once you start seeing that you can't unsee it? Yeah you took that pill already and well like I think it's always there, like we somehow as a society.
Speaker 3:We've kind of like somehow to all the crime and shit that people get into. We push that to the side.
Speaker 1:Like oh yeah, we're focusing at like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't. We're focusing on the bullshit when, like the most to me, I feel like the most detrimental fucking thing right now is protecting women and children for being fucking abducted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how's that not like yeah?
Speaker 3:how is that? And especially now when you know that, you know that it's somehow. It's in Hollywood, the media, there's something going on, but it keeps getting. Oh no, would you kind of push that? We know what ebstein did. It's literally on the list, you can see what he did and somehow, somehow, that's not the biggest fucking thing out there right now, right.
Speaker 3:We're worried about gun control, when we're worried about a fucking bunch of dumb fucks that go down in Bullshit, can we're giving trillions over to a country we're not involved with but yet, like, literally, there's like hundreds, that hundreds of thousands of children taken from the states every year. Dude, hundreds of thousands. We had that. There's no task force, there's no like save the kids fucking posts on, you know, on TV for commercials. It's somehow that gets overlooked, which I it makes no sense to me at all. Yeah, absolutely no sense. How? That's not. The biggest, most imperative thing we're dealing with right now Is our children being stolen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, that's why I asked you like why?
Speaker 1:how like to like put his old like Him. He put like his whole life and all of his money into Like fighting, like going against sex trafficking and child trafficking and shit I forgot what is it is but he's got like a he's getting huge fucking Organization that does it.
Speaker 3:Do I say what, man, if I, if extra money comes my way, that would be something. That would be something that would definitely be a part of and jump into man. Oh yeah, it's like those, there's that motorcycle clubs that do that shit.
Speaker 1:Dude, I just show up like well, you need help, call us, we'll be there. Like we're like, like like child's angels or something like that the guardian angels or whatever. Fuck people up. Dude, like a you know what dude I see now I'm thinking about that would text a text mic after we get off and just asking if that's a thing, dude.
Speaker 3:Do all the Anything I do now involved into that sub.
Speaker 1:Do that there's one thing that stand for it.
Speaker 3:It's this trafficking, should you know. It's the crazy thing to me that Somehow it just like getting slides underneath the fucking road, I don't know.
Speaker 1:yeah, if I could suit up for one more mission, it would be to go and fucking fight bro I'm telling you that probably be one. I would, I would, you had no question. Like give me. Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3:So there is like I mean, we've been kind of working on it for a while, we're trying. There is people that invest in stuff like that and and it's definitely something me and Joe have talked about and kind of thought about for a while Do you if I mean with the contracting background we have, especially with Joe's a stuff like there is people who invest? If we could, even if it was like non-profit obviously, kind of stuff do I would fucking. I would, for free, kid up bro and travel fucking else to go fucking smoke some asshole in the face. Yes, yes, well, that without without a question.
Speaker 1:Do happily, and it would make me Like I wouldn't. I wouldn't question, you know, if I'm doing the right thing. Wouldn't question if, why I'm in this country doing this shit, because I know I'm fighting right.
Speaker 3:It's one thing you get behind without, without even have to question yourself on man, you just do it because, like the army, like you never knew.
Speaker 1:You never knew what the fuck we were doing it for, we never knew why we were there. You know what? I mean like it's more fucking Iraq for oil or whatever, but like we're taking Generals to oil fields that are ran by the Chinese that we're not even allowed into, we're in Iraq for the motherfucking wild tigers. All right, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:I was there the first time they're like hey, you guys want a tiger, and I'm like in my head I'm like you mean like one of them, tiger Woods, gatorades, because they're like no, he's like fuck no man. I think he's like here's your wild tiger.
Speaker 3:Hey, who got who's one to get the over, who got too sick on those things and stingers and had to go fucking. You got sick of shit, was it grisa? Yeah, he drinkin a case in a day and I was taking stingers ended up like fucking.
Speaker 2:We need you to drive. Why I don't think?
Speaker 3:that guy's okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got a ride with him.
Speaker 1:What were some really, really, really bad habits deployed?
Speaker 3:No, do we just ate shit during month or this, or the cigarettes were the Malibu's.
Speaker 1:I still bought the new ports. No, they were like you were like Royals were they, the Royals manicus, dude, manicus loved them. Royals, bro. They're like four bucks a carton, like a two cents a cigarette I'm like bro, you can get new ports for 25 bucks a carton. Why are you buying that shit?
Speaker 2:He's like looking, that wasn't even a smoker, and smoking those things like this tastes like shit.
Speaker 3:This tastes like the Tigris yeah, it does.
Speaker 1:Do I don't think I should be drinking this Second deployment? We were like y'all see that body not water.
Speaker 3:It tastes just like that our second deployment.
Speaker 1:We were right next to the Tigris, so they were like Don't eat anything that came out of the ground.
Speaker 3:Fuck that water, bro. We see your bodies like shit. Do you like, terry? You remember that?
Speaker 1:shit dude, he was like milky white for like four days and he couldn't even walk your shit in a pukin. So much Like would you have was a fucking like I don't know Who'd fuck. Cucumbers and I mean you can have like the the meat. You just don't question what meat it is, just eat. It's good, you know.
Speaker 1:I have some ass food over there, but I never ate the veggie snow produce. I see they were pumping that shit, dude. They had this water pumping fucking 30 feet high, dude, like, even at 30 feet high, you know some waters like clear. This shit was chocolate milk at the top, dude, oh, like, just like, oh, big damn bridge, dude. That was the bridge that we go across again in the box, bro. It's called big damn bridge.
Speaker 1:It was the dam and it was big and it was a bridge called the damn bridge. There's actually in uh, there's an episode of what's that show With the marines.
Speaker 3:Oh project or generation kill generation kill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the one. I think that the fourth, that fifth episode where they're fighting to get into, uh, I'll put in the airbase. The airbase is where we stayed. Oh years later, which is pretty funny. Well, this is pretty cool because, like that bridge that they're fighting on is big damn bridge.
Speaker 2:To be lame goat dog, but definitely not beef, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:You see any fucking cows around here, cows around here is donkey y'all eating donkey dick.
Speaker 2:There's that one place that we stopped, or someone stopped. Lord burger, dude Lord burger.
Speaker 1:Lord, burger was the shit. There was a burger place right outside the base, dude. Yeah, it's like used to bring us burgers. They were fire. I don't care what they were, I think they were like what is this?
Speaker 2:like? I don't know, I'm not asking any questions.
Speaker 1:They would come back off mission with, because I was in hq at the end. So they would come back off mission with fucking.
Speaker 3:Lord, lord burgers.
Speaker 1:Lord.
Speaker 3:These are the Lord's burgers.
Speaker 1:No, but he was like the burger Lord, not like Lord's burgers, but it was like I am Lord. Burger Like Lord, like Burger King. They just don't understand the.
Speaker 3:I remember like our first mission in that market. I remember watching some dude just fucking empty a goat Just right there in the street. I remember just being so blown away by that. I was like all right man, what's going on? What's he gonna do with that nice goat? Why is it like that? You just In the gutter, bro. We're like. I'm like looking, I'm like hey, you guys, you guys are okay. No, you guys put this. It's like All right, man, man.
Speaker 1:First time I saw that we had walked in those likes to the guy had like, uh, like the big gate and like the big outdoor patio and he had like all his meat was laid out. The goat was still sprawled out, but like the meat was laid out across his dusty ass floor and I'm just like you all eat that. Like do you hungry? I'm gonna pass it's 150 degrees outside that meat is on the floor.
Speaker 3:If you don't die, it's literally a buck 20 out. And that fucking meat is sprawled out and that goddamn fucking dirt.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna tell you something about the food temperature danger zone, sir. Yeah, right.
Speaker 3:I think over 50 is a problem, it's a hundred anything over 41 and under 140 is a huge deal.
Speaker 1:So we're bacteria multiplies exponentially every 20 minutes after the first hour. It becomes a certain point where you just can't cook it enough, yeah that meat I'm not sure if it could be yeah oh shit, man, there's poor animals there.
Speaker 3:dude, who's there? Who watched that? Who watched the goat jump off that roof? Oh fuck, who's there for that?
Speaker 2:I remember hearing about that, but I don't we're on OP.
Speaker 1:I was saying I was like I was dogs, fucking dogs. That's all we got.
Speaker 3:This is in like I remember seeing an animal commit suicide my entire life, until I watched that goat just Decide. And like me and Joe, like we're watching it, just it was all just gone. Dude off the third story, just we're like it's committed suicide, we just watching. Happen, got tired getting buttfucked. Dude, he's looking over it. Yeah, dude, you fucking tired of this shit.
Speaker 1:She prayed to lord burger to make him a fucking. Yeah, it didn't happen. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit shit.
Speaker 3:Aim for the bushes, he says.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right open your best bet.
Speaker 1:Did I forget all about OP dude? Oh dude, op was wild bro. I remember fucking lieutenant alawaz would just get off the tank and disappear and like come back. What he was like I was taking a shit and some guys house and he just came back with like orange sodas and shit. I Bro, you just walk in these fucking people's houses and you know, give it a gabba, do whoop it or them, and he just They'd be like all right. He probably just tell him like hey, man, fuck the Americans, I'm here to fuck him over.
Speaker 3:We got torpedo.
Speaker 1:Boom-boom rockets like wait, you mean the energy drinks or the boom-boom Either one.
Speaker 2:I don't care, just don't do it till we're out here. Dude, I remember. I remember wiping to ruin. Don't pee for everybody else, cuz uh who. You remember that?
Speaker 3:it was. What was his fucking name? The Little black dude. Little black, you six.
Speaker 1:Sir, major jump yes.
Speaker 2:Harvey Did. I was so pissed butters was on the tank to roll back out like for what it's like. They got got playing a PlayStation. Like what did the?
Speaker 1:anger fucking start major you'll ever meet in your life. Caught them paying fucking PlayStation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's like no other sergeant major you wouldn't want to find Ketop playing in a fucking hatch. Santa, be a little ass, leandre dude Fucking four foot nine like fucking terrifying dude, because remember, we got there.
Speaker 1:We're like we thought we were in two, three, because we didn't know that like they sent us over to heavy company, we didn't know that they were attached to three, three, so all the shit. Like we thought this was other, our star major, so our major horse Lee. We heard all this cool shit about sir major horse Lee and I remember I think it was like me, you and Wells, maybe Wells and McGillivray, maybe one day walking around and we're just like I think that's our major Lanjay right there and someone was like who and it was like that one and it's like we've seen just some poor private just getting his soul sucked out of him for having his like fucking. Like his little velcro was undone or something on his on his leg pocket. I Like, yeah, that's a fucking leader right there.
Speaker 1:Fucking war, don't we're in a war zone? These motherfuckers are worried about your velcro loops. You know, like that was like in our second deployment, dude, they would, our sorry major would stand in front of the de facto and check our uniforms before we went in if we were dirty he would turn us around talk about at about 6 pm, 1800.
Speaker 1:We just got off mission. We got no time to drop the fucking shit off. We weren't really dropping people off to get to go plates like we did that first deployment. You know, come back with 16 to go plates and just meet us at the motor pool like no, we were trying to go eat and they're fucking kick people out of the more out of the fact, where's your? Where's your PT belt? Why is your uniform dirty, like my father? We just got home.
Speaker 3:We were 13 hours, were you guys back in Merez for your?
Speaker 1:second deployment, no, we went to. It's called Bob Delta. We're in a different, we were in central. Thank you, oh, oh, I'll coot. Yeah, I'll coot. And then now, yeah, dude, we did some travel in that deployment. We were all across that. Motherfucker bro. We drove to complete across the country to shoot a gunnery. Those gay. Yeah commander's tank, though I was six golf for that shit. That was pretty tight that was the biggest waste of the year ever biggest waste of government money ever.
Speaker 1:I'm actually pretty sure Reggie Allen got in trouble. I heard that he got in trouble for like embezzling government funds because like his, his, he was Forte shoes, with the wall knocked down and he had like a fucking his own bathroom and all that's fucked up this. She was right at the end of our bays. I remember that and I said, or not, yeah, all the star majors had like the dopest fucking shoes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what you? When I went to first ID like I met one up like as soon as I met my first he was like he's like you. He said where'd you come from is like the ACR first time. He's like yeah, he's like yeah, my best friend used to be a sir is a sir major over there. I was like who? He's like a sir major of the Andre. I was like, oh yeah, that's your friend. You and I are gonna have a great time.
Speaker 3:I'm really gonna get along with you.
Speaker 2:I brought you should ask him about the private who put a bottle of piss in laundry.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm gonna say I was like I don't know if you've ever met, can't private Casey Mountain, but uh, a Boy had fun back in the day, first time we've talked about that piss bottle on this podcast. No way time out, it wasn't just one piss bottle, was it not? I appreciate, wasn't it? Where'd you fill up the protein jugs, I mean?
Speaker 1:he was. But yeah, you snuck into the laundry bag.
Speaker 2:You dude, it was what it was one bottle, I suck it.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, it was with one of those yeah, pocket when we're empty, like cleaning the drive, I was cleaning the drivers hole out and then I just forgot when I took my pants off stuff through the laundry bag Next day, like coming back off mission is like a first time you to see you Like, oh fuck, okay, cool. And it was the day I was supposed to get promoted automatically. Oh, yeah, three. It's like yeah, you're not getting, I'm supposed to get automatically promoted to e3 and they'd knock me all the way down to you on. I was like, okay, this is cool, okay.
Speaker 1:I guess I forgot about that yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they really did kind of like fucking read me for that.
Speaker 1:It wasn't really that they those that company was threatened to like leave.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was the yeah, it was the locals who got pissed off bad the most. They're like a fucking American pieces. Yeah, they got really fended by you like you like insulted them by leaving people on there.
Speaker 1:I.
Speaker 2:Can't be the worst thing you guys have seen. In a bag of laundry. That was the irrational private. Like. Just argue was like that can't be the word like these guys eat shitty food, like and they're worried about a bottle of piss. It was closed super tight and I forgot.
Speaker 3:And there's just like there was some sick fucks dude. I'm pretty sure they found some way worse stuff in that, longer than just a sealed bottle of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was fucking funny. It's like one of the things you hear like wait, what happened?
Speaker 2:I tried to erase that memory. Like I went to first ID. I tried. I was like like I'm not, I'm never telling that story again. And no shit. Six months later Hill came to fucking. The same company Told the story to fucking everybody. Fuck man.
Speaker 1:Like damn, I guess we're telling everybody about your. Nevermind, Everybody told us about your.
Speaker 3:Was. Was McCoy your NC, was McCoy your NCO, then that's.
Speaker 2:It was either him or Brown. It was one of the two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so brown like brown brown.
Speaker 2:Yep right, that's a hard to man.
Speaker 1:You what Brown just retired, tired not too long? Oh no shit, and I was actually enjoy his seven kids.
Speaker 2:He's got a pull out right Jesus. Brab bro, those are interesting cabinet yeah yeah, like, how many, how many deployments you've been on? It's like, oh, look up four kids, so four. Yeah, he's a good dude though. Yeah, he was used for you man.
Speaker 3:He took care of every will.
Speaker 2:Do it. I think safe to say we had some pretty good. Ncos and heavy company, at least for the most part.
Speaker 3:I think yeah, for the most part. Yeah, there's a few.
Speaker 2:How did, how did, uh, like what you know and like you know, the army changed drastically for me when I went to first ID, just seeing like a separate unit and just how you know, like what shitty NCOs looked like like Well, remember I, you didn't mention it before like I was like was? Is it like, how is that world in that special operating community for you Compared to, I guess you know, quote unquote regular army?
Speaker 3:So be honest, man, the reason that that, the key that I ended up leaving, is because I didn't. Especially in the instructors in the Q course are really salty man and I, honestly, I don't like the mentality a lot of those guys. A lot of these guys, especially the young ones or or ones that had gotten, had done their time and got pushed back in a structured position. They're kind of dickheads man. A lot of me really salty about stuff, really kind of angry about shit that had nothing to do with you. You know, like I had a lot of I bumped heads with a lot of the guy, a lot of the GBS. I bumped heads, a lot of them, which is inevitably why I ended up leaving, just because I actually had me, me and a certain cadre got really got into it for a while and they just ended up bad for me in the end.
Speaker 3:I don't know me like I. Honestly I the 30s yard was an amazing unit. I took it for granted. When I left I really realized how Well put together you know, overall was, plus the leadership man, plus the Joe's, everything was really good. The Q course is a whole different animal. It was nothing like I mean, it was a whole. I mean, you didn't have really leadership.
Speaker 3:I guess you everyone was a leader. You're a student, you know you only got put. You got put into roles during. You know if you're doing training and stuff, you know obviously someone's a leader, some's a leader, yada, yada. But um, I don't know, miss, I really didn't really like a lot of mentality, some of the the actual GBS in there, and then I ended up getting over to 4 I be and it was just trash dude. Oh dude, I've never, I've never been to a more Demoralizing fucking place in that unit. I mean just nobody cares everyone, just get everyone stuck there for years. Do like no one gets to leave. Everyone's angry and salty, like they tried doing the combine. So they kind of tried doing what we did in 30 cr by combining. They started doing like the Combined arms battalion stuff. Yeah, that shit don't work, dude. You can't take a light infantry unit and then an armor unit and try to put them together underneath an infantry Commander and then try to run it as an organized armor unit. You know, sam, oh, yeah, we did Complete trash dude.
Speaker 2:They did that at first idea where I was. Yeah, I was horrible. Yeah, it's, it's not good the whole. Leave that shit for leave that shit for you.
Speaker 3:It's not good the whole leave that shit for. Leave that shit for the cab, like leave that 30 cr, leave for the cab, trying the whole combined arm saying it's just it was terrible, Really bad morale man.
Speaker 1:But I mean yeah, son of a man.
Speaker 3:Let's back to where we're at. They're leaders. 30 cr were amazing leaders. Um, you can find some really amazing dudes in the special operation community, obviously, but it's not all of them, to be honest, a lot of those guys are the egos get their heads. A lot of times they get really kind of pumped up on a lot of stuff. You can find some really the most amazing dudes you can find or that community, but some of the shitties that you can find are also in that community.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm saying yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 3:We especially. Well, it's a especially with like so big thing with in the gbs also is that you have these kids that go through the x-ray program. It's privates, and then they go through the course and they come out as fucking e6's holy. So it's, you know it's, it's cool for the student and for you, you know is going through the course, but what happens is you skip the entire part of the military. That I think is actually pretty important to a lot of people, like the whole structure part, like when you just become a private, you have from private to a badass. It doesn't leave a lot for you to like your egos fucked, yes, all screwed. You know I'm saying like the private or the process of being a private. I think it's very important for you as a soldier, yes, so go to that shit, have an, eat this shit, go through it learning how to take it and drive on, yada, yada.
Speaker 3:When you had these guys that come from college, you know 18 other studs or athletes, yada, yada. They go right to the course, right from private right to e6. Go to school. These guys don't think they can be touched, and there are a lot of them are fucking real cocksuckers. They're just, they're not good dudes like the other Tactically athletic, you know, or yeah, they're tactically sound, they can. They can shoot and do some stuff like as humans. They're terrible. Yeah, because they never got checked. They never got checked growing up. A lot of guys slide through the cracks in the q-course too. You see awesome guys in q-course get shut down. You see these pieces of shit go all the way through man. What's all about?
Speaker 1:personality too, like they don't want someone like, like you, like a hard personality. You know you're not like a soft, like a like. When I say a hard personality, it's like someone's like. I'm gonna bump heads because I have a belief system that that allows me to do so. It allows me to question thing A lot of times. You see, like those dudes like you, let my fucker can, can run, swim, jump, never says no and just Okanoke. And then you know, and then yeah, he's done like they just snuck through. Like you said, like that's what the minimum.
Speaker 2:That's what the army was all about when I left it. I mean Ptp like pt test, that's all he cared about all about.
Speaker 3:Well, now it's just, it's just paperwork ship, like there's no, there's no real assessment on who the fucking soldier is as like as an actual, like A hands-on leader. A pt is important, also needs to be physically fit, but fitness, a hands-on leader, under stress, under pressure kind of leader you don't get any of that anymore. These guys have no kind of actual, like Stress testing or like anything to really make them. It's all on paper. Yeah, you know, you did something, you made it look good, I'm paper, you roll this shit up, but like any of you actually lead soldiers that I didn't. I didn't see much.
Speaker 1:I said it before. That's what they do.
Speaker 2:I said it but before, and like with the, with the three of us, just because, like we you know, we you know, I think there was probably like a three or four month gap between when I got there and you all got there, but still, like we, we got there. Like I think there's a lot of times where I wish like soldiers of mine like were introduced to the army the way I was interested the army, just because, like I loved it, basic training I went to for hood. Within a month I was downrange and I had no choice but to learn the job.
Speaker 1:I remember they were like uh well, this is the last class going out, so who wants to go? And I just remember, like I put my hand up and I look over at croats like, oh yeah, your hand's already up too. And uh, melendez, yeah, I saw, sorry.
Speaker 3:Ranger Batmell and.
Speaker 1:I saw a Sergeant. Major Pantoa posted a picture with him like two weeks ago.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they said they missed somewhere.
Speaker 1:They were in third ACR. Well, he was a Sergeant. Pantoa wasn't killer troop, he was. I actually saw him in Fort Hood after you left. He was uh, I saw when I got, when I came back and I saw him Um and while we were deployed a couple times too, completely different seeing him. I'm not the drill sergeant yet Not the terrifying drill sergeant man. He was so cool Dude.
Speaker 2:He was so cool with seeing him outside of that, that dude hates me dude, yeah, well, yeah.
Speaker 1:You didn't smell your balls? Dude, that doesn't even age me Do you know, about that shit.
Speaker 3:I remember there was. There was something between you guys, right, you made me smell his balls.
Speaker 2:I guarantee you doesn't remember me like, but like remembers your smell. But like. It was like one of the inserts, like during like oh, sit, was like smoking and the smell seeped into the bay and so he thought one of us was smoking. So we all told the line and I mean he had the genius idea of like smelling everyone's hand and we had just ran from the defect back and like my first instinct, when I sweat and I'm dirty it's like I'm scratching my nuts and like he like and like I don't know, because he was brown and he and we were both the same height. We just didn't see. We never saw eye to eye, which is what it's cool. Whatever he was, like we, he wasn't there to be my best friend, I got that, but he just like. He snatched a shit out of my hand, dude, he just went.
Speaker 1:Would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?
Speaker 2:He just went, did he went? Oh, he's like what is that smell like scratching my nostrils are? He's like what the fucking you tell me? I was like I was at the position of attention.
Speaker 3:I don't think there was a better Jill sorn. You could have done that too, too, to make that that awesome of a scenario like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for the rest of the cycle. He called me fucking private smelly fingers and I think I mean I'm Gary. He was a little embarrassed because every time I looked at him he's like don't fucking look at me smelly fingers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean you. You literally left your scent in his nose. Your balls were in his, like he tasted your nuts.
Speaker 1:He probably wanted to beat your fucking ass, dude, I.
Speaker 3:If you really think about it, I would be fucking pissed too, dude, if you want to go like, hey, really, and you got a width of some other dudes from under, like just a full-on blast.
Speaker 1:Bro, I'm gonna be aggressive with yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, deep one like I'm gonna be pissed dude.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna be every day, you know, and, of course, you know you know, I'm sorry dude, I'm sorry we're going out, but at the same time I guess your fault.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I'm not much as smelly ass.
Speaker 1:Nasty fucking privates.
Speaker 3:Yeah, why would you smell some Fingers? Like, even if it wasn't your butt, who knows where it would have been? You know what I'm saying? Like yeah, those fingers are fucking who knows dude. Like so that was, yeah, he kind of sent them some up for that one either way.
Speaker 2:And of course, like you know, for the rest of the cycle, everyone's you know, because everyone knew at that point in the you know in the cycle, like yeah, he's golden glove box or bad ass, like he's gonna, he's gonna come in here and just like piece you up by your sleeve. I, but I didn't, I didn't sleep for shit from that moment. Like from that moment till graduation, and like when he shook my hand on graduate it was the quickest, there's a congrats.
Speaker 3:I was like really Put a glove on real fast he's like. Fucking perfect dude oh man, we should get him on the show. Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:I'll fuck.
Speaker 3:I'll be a wall for that.
Speaker 2:That'd be like the.
Speaker 1:World platoon sergeant on the show. Yeah, you get that motherfucker on here. If I'm, I can't. I don't know Toxic leadership. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth.
Speaker 3:Oh, for sure.
Speaker 1:But yeah, dude, that's crazy. I love, I love these, these little stories too. That's shit, no matter how many times I hear that story dude, it's still my favorite because I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have seen him.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know if I told that story when, like when, when, like when Turner saw him at, like we were Some like regimental, like for me formation he was, and he was like yeah, you're like, oh, come here. Oh, come on, don't bring him over here. And I don't know if I told you the story yet, but I was like, I was like I don't want to fucking talk that dude. He fucking came over like he, you and him are all like this and I'm like which is funny dude.
Speaker 1:One night for calling this between a bunch of fat chicks. Remember you always to come up and be like who run this house? Like I don't know, dude. I just had that shit one night, dude, and I was like who, who sucks? Who sucks that dick fat chicks or something dude. He's like who fuck? Said that my whole platoon was just like Fuck that dude.
Speaker 1:I went down and was getting smoked on your floor for like a whole day. I remember he was on cq. I finally just went up to him and was like uh, drill sergeant, I'm done. He was like what I'm done, doing this shit? Uh, I'm doing, I'm done, I'm not doing it, no more. And he was like uh, going to each one of your bays and uh, and tell him that bad boys run this house. So I was like fuck it, dude, none of them. My fuckers came down here Like let's go run that shit, one in each room. Like yo, bad boys run this house. Good night, bad boys run this house, good night. Now I got into my thing and then they're all like where you fucking sell out and I was like, fuck, all of you. Like this supposed to be a platoon thing. I'm like dude, their platoon was in our fucking shit challenging us. I'm the only one out of a hundred people to say anything.
Speaker 1:And it's like y'all are plisys, dude and I started coming down to hang out down there when I had free time. I'm just like we're chad, we're croat.
Speaker 3:Before you croat and mac, fuck these dudes, oh mac.
Speaker 2:Dude.
Speaker 1:There's always that one. You know you start talking, you're having a good time and you're like oh, I didn't like, fuck dude, like that one's. That one's not there anymore. That's a very harsh reality. You know how quick a fun conversation can go to like oh shit.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, Were you thinking about someone? I was thinking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Oh, jimmy lockcock dude. Oh, fucking jimbo. Oh yeah, dude. Yeah, yes, that dude would fucking. Uh, that dude would get any tattoo that you wanted him to, as long as you paid for it. Like no shit, dude had so many dudes names tattooed on him. I remember he had like book and bug on like his channel ribs or something he's like he's like book and book. They were like yo, they went in on it and then I had. He had his boys chases the initials on his nipples.
Speaker 3:You. James mcgillivray was a fucking wildcat man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was crazy, as I didn't even realize it when I was like he lived in where I was living in Thornton. He was from Thornton.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't, yeah, it's like, yeah, he fucking. Yeah, he's from up here man.
Speaker 1:That's why I was like when he passed, I was like I want to go to his thing, but I'm like I didn't know. I was like I hit you up, like you want to go. Nah, it's tough. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was a tough one. I wasn't trying to go alone, but yeah, that was pretty hard man. It still is.
Speaker 3:You know, because I he'd, I talked to him a few days prior and I didn't. I don't know, man, you know, you don't see, I should come with some times.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's I mean, dude, that's like that's why we started this shit. You know that's that's probably why you started that. Just don't want to have that space in your gym, you know. Just you know, let everyone know like you're not alone, like we're all here. We've all been through it. We don't want to lose any fucking buddy else.
Speaker 3:No. And you know, I think yeah, and you know, that's like the biggest thing we get out of this. You that's, that's huge, me man, because honestly I don't even. I mean, I mean acumenally, we've probably lost, fucking not a cutting-in, counting dudes, you know together. Oh yeah, I mean even here, man, just and the fuck the thing is, I'm in combat, you know Right, more dudes themselves in the combat, you know so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was wild.
Speaker 1:Thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So we gotta keep. Keep them boys more out of man. Keep the boys fucking know they got somewhere to go, someone to talk to.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, the beacon shining light, shining bright for sure. The bat signal up. Well, fuck, dude, we didn't had fucking a two hour show. That's our one of our longest show. Well, since Barton, since Barton's first show.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, yeah, dude, that's uh, I'd say that's close to a wrap. Man, I would just say, uh, we normally like to ask people that we have on, like, if you got like that one thing, like that one piece of advice for the, the transitioning soldier looking to find purpose, or just looking to kind of just Uh, just fucking like, get out of trouble or get out of that funk that they might find themselves in, like what is that from you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, so like, so this is coming from someone who's been in a lot of trouble. Uh, I've been on the the darker, darkest side of you know, giving out man, and you know how she can be and I know, I know where it can go, uh, on many levels. So the best thing, man, like I said, you are important to somebody like you have to continue on, man, you can't quit, you know you're. You've already you did the whole thing. You're worried. You went to the military, you did your time, man, you got out.
Speaker 3:You don't quit afterwards, man, you gotta keep going, keep that head up. There's people that depend on you. If there's other soldiers, they'll have to look to you. You know products of the guy like we're talking about here, um, be be a be positive. You know source for somebody. Somebody can probably pick up on. You know, can use that help that you could be that person for. So, um, can't stop, always keep going, keep driving. Um, you have a purpose, you know, and, uh, that purpose will be utilized at some point. You gotta find that time Hell yeah.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, if you're in the.
Speaker 2:Colorado.
Speaker 1:Springs area. Fucking, go see if he's on that real, if he's, if he's for real or not. Man, he's, he's there. Look, he's sitting in the office right now. So, uh, yeah, go go check him out. Apex animal house that's our brother. Uh, so let him know that you heard him here. He'll take care of you. He'll take care of you either way. Uh, yeah, um, so dude, I fucking really appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 1:Um, I know you probably didn't know what, what to expect until you got on because you probably haven't heard much of the show yet, but Uh, it seems like you know, it seems like just we always seem to have the right people, come on at the right times, you know, just to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's more people out here shining that light. Uh, and in our way is this podcast, your way is your gym? Um, I mean fuck. We want more people to come on and tell us their way. How do you Come on? How do you fucking you know, how do you Find ways to serve the veterans or the community in general? Um, so, yeah, uh, look forward to talk more about that. Uh Turned out to be another amazing episode. Yeah, I was just actually gonna say that. Thank you guys so much for uh listening. Uh, our two constant Commenters here. Uh, yeah, man, this is a fucking great show. I appreciate it. Case you got anything? No, uh, anyone want to?
Speaker 2:uh, if anyone wants to reach out, veteranchappprojectgmailcom, we're on all the social media sites Facebook, instagram, tiktok because we're cool Like the rest of the cool kids. But, yeah, reach out to us. Veteranchappprojectgmailcom. As always, remember you're not alone. If you want me to prove it to you, hit the link or send us an email. I will send you invites. Come on, have fun. I'll prove it to you. You're not alone. All of our, we all have scars and I guarantee we all navigate them somewhat the same way. So so, yeah, hit us up. You're not alone. Love you all and um, and don't forget. Oh yeah, thanks for putting that up. You know it's. Yeah, you were. I hate that, you know.
Speaker 2:I don't, I don't like pushing that stuff out there, um, like links and like like I don't like navigating people to other other people who are just gonna get you to like I don't like handing off problems to other people. But, like you know, you know what one, one organization I do I do like is stopveteranssuicideorg. You know that's, that's a great organization. They'll hook you up with that. At least like 3000 like, like they have 3000, like you know, organizations within that organization to help you guys out if you're, if you're, if you're on that path Um, you know, I've been on that path.
Speaker 2:That's that. Stuff helps. Talking is great therapy. Yeah, um, stopveteranssuicideorg is a great outlet to to talk to somebody. So, yeah, you're not alone. That's all I got, don't forget also.
Speaker 1:Uh, as I said last week, uh, if you're ever in a non emergency situation and you just want someone to talk, to chat whatever, uh, this is my phone number 7019641718. Uh, it's a business number, so I'm not always on it. So, like I said, if it's not, if it is an emergency, I do. Uh, would suggest you calling the emergency line. But if you're just looking for someone to kind of Be in chat with or whatever in taxi, I'm always around so You're not alone. We love you guys. Have a good Week. Uh, we'll see y'all Thursday night. Hell yeah.
