SERE: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape
EPISODE 32
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS | GOOGLE | STITCHER | SPOTIFY
These show notes are a very brief overview of the Podcast episode. So if you want to hear all the details, be sure to listen on your favorite player or watch on youtube.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
THE VIEWS PRESENTED DO NOT REPRESENT ANY OFFICIAL MILITARY ENTITIES. THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. FOR ALL WATER CONFIDENCE EVENTS, DO NOT PERFORM ANY WITHOUT A MEDICAL KIT AND A BUDDY WHO IS CERTIFIED CPR/FIRST AID. ANY ATTEMPT AT PERFORMING THESE DRILLS FOR ANY EXERCISE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. ONES READY LLC DOES NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGES OR LIABILITIES, PERCEIVED OR REAL AS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS WEBSITE. BE SMART.
WELCOME TO THE TEAM ROOM! THIS WEEK AARON, PEACHES AND SERE BRO JUSTIN ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT SERE. LISTEN UP, YOUR SURVIVAL MAY DEPEND ON IT…
INTRO
Nikki Silva 00:04
You're listening to the ones ready podcast, a team of Air Force Special Operators forged in combat with over 70 years of combined operational experience as well as a decade of selection instructor experience. If you're tired of settling and you want to do something you truly believe in, you're in the right place. Now, here's your host PJ Team Leader, Jujitsu lover, meme enthusiast, and dad joke aficionado, Aaron love.
Aaron 00:27
What's up you cool cats and kittens. I hope everybody's having a great day out there in podcast/quarantine/riots across America world. We're all having a good time here getting some content down for you as we respect our local some countries, or counties stay at home order. So here we go. Man, I just want to start off by saying thank you to everybody out there like following on Instagram, engaging on YouTube checking the videos out asking questions, getting answers. We try to do really well about getting back to you guys and more importantly, listening to your requests and stuff that you want to hear content that you want to see it today is just another one of those examples. We went out there and we found a SERE guy that has some unique experiences not only in his own career field, but working with aspect war currently as an instructor. So, I just want to say hey, Justin, welcome. Thanks for coming on, man. We appreciate your time.
Justin 01:16
Thanks for having me.
Aaron 01:17
Yeah, it's been great man. So, we've gotten a lot of requests of Hey, what exactly do these guys and gals do and how can I get there? And of course, how can I prepare for it so we reached out and got the SME. So, we'll go in all of that. All of that in a second but continue to follow us on Facebook and Instagram go over and check out onesready.com and if you need coffee, if you need some energy, if you needed a pack to carry all of it, you know where to go for that stuff. Our friends tell them we sent you again we don't get anything from it. But they give something to you because they want to support the podcast so head on over there. Alright, so Justin, we'll jump right into its man like hit us with an overview of your career and what you've done, you know, up to now.
JUSTIN’S BACKGROUND
Justin 01:53
All right, well, name is Justin for everybody. Again, if you couldn't hear Aaron the first time I'm from a small town in Michigan and I wanted to do something outside as a career field as a job and he was going to join the military tomorrow and do something outside and he said, SERE I think you get GI Joe Boy Scouts get wood out of a tree, or wood out of a tree and water out of it, too. Hey, man, that's what he said. You know, he's like, and you get $10,000 I was like, Oh, sweet. Sounds like a lot of money to me. So yeah, I joined in 2007 went up to or went down to San Antonio did my thing there made it somehow magically got up to Fairchild. Kept making it kept making it and then stuck it through and graduated as a SERE guy you do three years there as an instructor teaching SV-80 at the survival school from there I clicked the button went to Korea for a year. You got to work with some of the some of the best in the world in my opinion when it comes to flyers some of the F-16 guys out there. They're my fight my pilots and man it was a good time. From there I kind of cut my teeth there and got lucky as a young Senior Airman and in PCS'd over to Germany for four years again with F-16. So, work with Vipers and their mission there. Got some deployment experience under my belt got some reintegration experience under my belt with that and then I got lucky enough to see an ad running or the start of an ad kind of popping up talk to a Chief and said you know, hey, Kirtland PJU I want to go there and others two SERE bubbas there and I got lucky enough to get that slot I got a couple favors called in and hey man we're worse for where not at all I think it was it was a great experience you know, I met you Aaron we had some bad times. I was on the receiving end of some classic Aaron love asked. But also, on some classic Aaron love bro time and now man I'm still in it and I'm about to PCS this summer. But to change unit’s backup to back up the Fairchild back to the mothership, if you will.
Peaches 04:07
Where it all began, right?
Justin 04:09
Dude, the full circle. I'm hoping that I can make it so that there aren't as many people that come out of there that like me. Here's a road of what not to do when it comes to maturity and in understanding what we're actually supposed to do, and we're out alone and unafraid by ourselves. That was a that was a steep learning curve for me.
Peaches 04:33
Since you're going back full circle, as you think about when you went through SERE orientation or SERE selection. What was that like for you?
Aaron 04:45
Yeah, and can you help us out on the terms too, I thought it was called the orientation course but I couldn't remember if they had changed the nomenclature, that course stuff, whatever it is just far away.
SERE SPECIALIST SELECTION
Justin 04:54
So, to my knowledge, it's SSS. SERE Specialists Selection, but it might be the orientation course as well maybe there's a couple names floating out there around it from what I remember that was a couple weeks long and it was it wasn't easy it wasn't hard you know kind of we all look back on things that we've done that are hard in my in my opinion we're like oh yeah, it was easy but going back as 145 pound kid you know 18 years old out of high school I had no idea what the hell I was getting into. And you know, they say strap this you know, heavy ruck on you know, go out in the woods don't eat any food, make shelters. And man what an experience what a way to cut your teeth as a young guy right out of basic to start learning from In my opinion, when I was when I was brand new just seemed like the best because I didn't know any better and I've been proven true that I get to work with some of the best individuals and as I told Aaron, I was like, Hey man, you can you can find a way more cool SERE guy than I but here I am unfortunately the scraping the bottom of the pond.
Peaches 06:01
Well, everybody that comes through the pipeline, whether it's CCT, PJ, SR, SERE, all have certain portions they struggle with. What was your portion that you struggled with during SSS?
Justin 06:15
Definitely the no food, no sleep. So, sleep deprivation. We've paired that with task saturation. And then no food, just not really getting to starvation over for you know, four days of eating minimal food. But you know, first time ever going really actually hungry. You really realize what kind of first world problems you are when you're when you're like, I haven't eaten for hours, I'm sure yeah,
Aaron 06:37
You're complaining because the peanut butter sandwich in your left cargo pocket got a little squished when you jumped like, exactly. If you're not jumping with a pocket taco, you're doing it wrong.
Peaches 06:45
So, okay, so you came in at 18 How much did you prepare for the for the SSS and then the entire pipeline? Or did you not really know that you were going in to be SERE?
Justin 07:08
So, I knew I knew probably seven months beforehand and in 2007 or if you guys remember the dinosaur ages back then, but there was no real internet source. I saw the there was a there was one video out there like these guys or something out of a storybook. And I saw people wearing backpacks walking around. And so, I was I was a, you know, semi-decent athlete and I decided I was just going to find a rucksack and start rucking so I've put bags of concrete in it and didn't know any better. I mean, I walked my one-mile town probably as many times as possible and looks like. So, I did a lot of rucking man and that was really it because I thought I knew I was good. Push-ups I knew I was good I thought I was good pull-ups but turns out I was terrible pull-ups failed my first INDOC or we call it selection should have failed the first one just because I was you know, new didn't really know what that I was doing and yeah man just kept going through it got lucky.
Peaches 08:16
So, you didn't physically prepare for anything you just kind of went in because you are an athletic dude in high school and then Bob's your uncle, you're going through SERE?
Justin 08:28
The only thing I did is ruck. I did. I did practice rucking as much as possible. I probably put in a good 40 miles a week. And now looking back, I'm like, that's not very much compared to what we did in training.
Aaron 08:42
That's awesome. But somehow you somehow you muddle through, and you're playing work. So, it's not it's not a terrible plan. If we're on this side talk about it. Right. Exactly.
Justin 08:49
Exactly, man. So, let some squeak through.
Aaron 08:52
For sure. So, when you were in the pipeline, and I think we've all had this feeling before like guys are in the pipeline, and the guys get together the guys and gals get together in the day room. They're like, this is what it's going to be because these guys told me I was going to do this and this is what we're going to do after we get out of the pipeline. When you got to your first duty station, how did like the real-world SERE Specialist job and like what you thought you were going to be doing? Were those two things close together? Or did you find out that there was more or less or how did you feel about that? Like even your very first time at spoken?
FIRST DUTY STATION
Justin 09:22
Yeah, so you learn now everybody I think knows hopefully they know that you're going to be an instructor then wasn't really set that I knew. Spoiler alert, you're going to be teaching people. So, some of the guys got self, you know, self-eliminated just because they were not about speaking in front of people. But knowing that I was going to teach the survival course I didn't know until I went through the I believe as I went through my observation trip of SV-80. So, as a sere guy, you get done with SSS you get up there you go through SV-80 parachuting. Then I went through and did SV-80 and had a great instructor. He's like, you realize this is going to be your job for, you know, an extended period of time. It's like, oh, okay, cool man, like, be out in the woods and it's, you know, the weather is crappy and you're, you know, keeping 10 people alive. It's Yeah, it's an experience. But yeah, and
Peaches 10:27
I think that's pretty cool that we that we put, I mean, what E-3s upon graduation? We put E-3s and E-4s out there with a bunch of bunches of all different ranks, all different experiences out in the wilderness like that. That's pretty cool.
Aaron 10:45
Well, and I do want to put it out there too. Like it brings up a good point, right. So, we talked about putting those E-3s and E-4s when we talk about like just strictly AFSPECWAR, but the SERE career field does the exact same thing trains at a speed that you have to really be able to keep up with it. Then puts you in those positions of authority and leadership way early.
Justin 11:04
You learn right off the bat you know how to take care of people more so than you're taking care of yourself. You know, it was at least when I was there, you're not allowed to eat in front of your students you're not allowed so it's like hey, let me go find a giant tree that you know scarf down a breakfast burrito or pocket taco.
Aaron 11:22
That's always been one thing like every single SERE guy is a little bit different. Every single SERE guy and gal they go about problems a little bit different and have some different opportunities to see different stuff and we're going to ask you about that later. But, you know, to a person the instructional level that you guys expect is a lot like a whole lot like I always like the value. I think it took me working down at the schoolhouse with you obviously where we met to kind of really, you know, value what a master instructor is and the AETC are in the instruction realm, but it's no joke. Like you really have to be really good at your craft and SERE specialists were always really good at their craft. At least, you know from my optic.
Justin 11:57
Dang what a rare compliment from Aaron love. No, dude it's been it's been it's been a quite a ride you know? And you have to know not necessarily going in but once you're once you're in it enough you have to realize that you're there for the warfighter. You're not you're not there to be the cool guy, you're not there to say, Hey, you know, send me You're here to you're here to prepare. And, man that's really what I where I take it. And that's where I feel most at home is that I'm there to prepare the warfighter for their worst. You know, and I've heard you say it many times and plenty of Js have been around as you show up on the day when it's worst. You know, and we hope it never happens. We hope we don't ever get called but it's a damn good insurance policy. If it is, you know?
Peaches 12:45
Yeah. And one of the things that you guys have got to make sure that pilots and aircrew members are prepared for is deployment situations. So, can you go into, you know, I'm sure you have deployed but have you deployed and in what kind of capacity where you used while you were there?
Justin 13:04
Yeah, um, I got lucky in my opinion. Moreover, in my opinion, I'm smart like, like rock strong like tractor. I think that's the way to write it. But I got lucky someone gave a good word and I deployed with in support of ISAF-SOF in Afghanistan. And so, I focused solely on that was back in I think 2014 I focus solely on the coalition ground fighter. And man, that was quite the experience. I got to do a lot of unique things that most students don't get the experience of. I wasn't in the JOC nearly as much as I was told I was going to be or the Joint Operations Center wasn't sitting in from my computer the whole time. I was there to prepare and set things up and watch on alert but man when my job was to go out and do personal recovery site visits and prepare those guys for Hey, what's, what's your most dangerous point of where something could go wrong. And let's backtrack from there and make a plan if something does go wrong.
Peaches 14:08
It sounds like you had a very unique deployment experience for you. So, taking a step back, what would it be? Or what can people coming into the pipeline? kind of expect? Could you go through that gamut of what deployments would look like for SERE Specialists?
Justin 14:24
Yeah, no, absolutely. We so the main point of the point for us is to set, prepare, and run the upper level when it comes to PR or personnel recovery. So, you're, you're running the report, locate support, we're not doing the recover. And then on the backside of that once we get the individual background in the reintegration, so as a young 5-level, you'll more than likely, you'll see a lot of a lot of things you'll experience how the battle rhythm works sitting around, you know you're with Intel, the command staff the PR command there and understanding how the battlespace works and it's more of a transitional period. In my opinion most students first six first deployment experience is just getting used to what it is that we do deployed because in my opinion, it's completely different. It's a completely different mission and you're relearning everything. So, sitting alert and being prepared for if something does go wrong, some dudes end up watching beacons and see if they squeak or not. And I hear dudes that just don't like that. But there's always an opportunity from everything. I've heard everybody if you're the right dude, you're going to make the opportunity whether it's through a again, like the personal recovery site, visit into country or into you know, into somebody else's battlespace to where you're saying, Hey, this is who I am, this is what I can do for you and making yourself relevant. So, it's really all about.
Peaches 15:49
Okay, so what kind of stuff do you guys do to prepare for a deployment? You know, Special Warfare wise, and I can speak to CCT, PJ, and SR. You know, we go through shooting training, medical training, and then our specific job training. What kind of pre deployment training do you guys do?
Justin 16:08
It's a lot like conventional deployments. It's not it's not a Special Warfare style spin up. So, you're getting your general you know, your Seaborn training your selfie buddy care, you are going to qualify with your Rifle and Pistol. But when it comes to specialized shooting, you know, that's not that's not my job. Worst case. If I'm out there shooting, it's probably a really bad day. Lucky for the people that I'm around, I feel like I'm pretty good at what I'm doing. Being a weapons instructor here and teaching tactics as well. I know I know enough to not get myself in too much trouble and that'd be the, you know, perceived weakest link, which is good. But again, it's our job is to prepare the warfighter. So, you're really getting in there and you're doing Country Studies. And you're starting to understand the lay of the land and it got god help the sear guy who goes out there and says, I'm not going to, I'm going to teach him desert survival in a deployed environment or how to get water, it's like, Man, it's not what you're here for. You're missing the mark on that one.
Aaron 17:09
Yeah. Well, that's, that's quite a natural transition. It's almost like we planned it. But that that brings us to now and you're working in one of one of the best jobs that I ever had. It's awesome being an instructor down in the Pararescue Apprentice Course. And that's pretty nonstandard for a SERE guy. So, go over kind of like what you've seen since you since you've been there. And for people that don't know like, you know, being an instructor for weapons being an instructor for tactics. It's not just "SERE stuff". It's not just a couple of lessons here and there. It's, you know, you're involved with the team from start to finish as one of their primary instructors and you've been a proctor of teams like that's a pretty big deal. Can you tell us about what you've seen from students or what you've learned as a SERE specialist working under that AFSPECWAR umbrella?
Justin 17:54
For any bubbas out there that are going to be bubbas or trying to be bubbas don't go in wearing board shorts and a tank top with a beard and say when are we going to jump bros?
Peaches 18:04
That works out for everybody what are you talking about?
Justin 18:08
And it ended up working out for me in the in the far future from when I said it. I came in with some calls I was I was you know freefall jumper I had my you know sport rig qualification and you know I was really excited I got some maybe potentially some misinformation from another PJ out and in USAFE. We said oh you're going to the schoolhouse it's going to be a jump club. So, I was like hell yeah. Am I kind of people and I like jumping out of airplanes man What can I say? And so, I showed up and kind of shot my shot. I am I think Aaron knows I am who I am always. That's been an it's been a huge benefit to me. In my opinion. Once I grew up a little bit and was, I don't want to say humbled but my wife will say humbled because she knows me better than I and I'm too stubborn. humbled but I was, I was humbled in and understanding kind of the environment understand who I was working with and the level of professionals. And it's been man, it's been quite the experience. I started out with work and under land warfare and doing, you know, teaching the nav lesson, obviously, or, you know, I say less than but it's 10 days, land nav, then weapons tactics and doing a little bit of parachuting, you know, enough to do they would let me and then kind of got myself into a little bit more became a Section Chief, got my first team, which was quite the experience to lead these young men who in honor in my opinion of leading young men who I'm not even associated with beret-wise, but I think we have some pretty close ties as is with our career fields. And it's, it's just been, it's been an experience, you know, it's been great. I think that being here and being an instructor is awesome because you get to see direct There's one of our guys says, Now that I'm going to echo, you see the exact product of your work when you're done with it, you know, when they when those men walk across the stage and don those berets, man, it's a you get a little tightness in the throat.
Aaron 20:13
Yeah, some of my best times where we're sitting there that exact same, that exact same dinner that exact same script, every single time, I think I remember really vividly every single one I went to so I totally got it with, especially with your background, because I mean, you were a master instructor long before you got, you know, to the schoolhouse. And you had a history career as being an instructor to say in one way, like, what are you seeing from the students now? So, you know, differences between the pipelines and stuff? I know there's a bunch of similarities, but what are some of the common traits that you see in students that are successful, especially, you know, using your sere experience, you know, to start and then the PJU example as well?
SUCCESSFUL TRAITS
Justin 20:53
Yeah, so I mean, as you guys know, looking for work dudes that are ready and willing and really just want to get after it. Having that motivation every day, and you see guys who start to slack a little bit and you know, you got cattle prod every once in a while, or let them figure it out on their own. And the guys that are most successful, in my opinion are the guys who can take criticism, like the best, you know, and I think that's through and through with every operator I've ever worked with and met is taking criticism openly, and understanding that as long as it's come from the right source, it's probably valid and it's a good thing to kind of take and internalize and take out your own way. So, working hard and taking critiques.
Aaron 21:36
Yeah, getting that get that feedback is a really important one anytime I would make a correction on a student in the words but would come out but I'd be like, Oh, man, this is not going well.
Justin 21:47
Get that crap out of here.
Peaches 21:50
So, you got a very specific job where you're at and almost a cherry assignment, if you will. Those are my words, not yours. But yeah. When for a SERE Specialists, What can your average SERE Specialist in a normal SERE position? What can they expect day to day?
Justin 22:08
Yeah, so I've worked those two. So, working at an OSS or an Operational Support Squadron where you're supporting the flyer, so our job is to your first three years right now you're supporting the schoolhouse. So you're teaching SV-80 and then from there, you see a I would say 50% of the dudes that are that finish out their three years, a lot of them like to stay and they'll branch out to resistance training, they'll branch out to water survival, parachuting, or they'll go to our apprentice course and teach there. So, a lot of dudes stay at Fairchild and then the other 50% like me, I click the first button that came my way because it was it was time for little fella to grow wings and fly. So, when you're at an Operational Support Squadron, your day to day is SERE refresher training. And basically, you're almost alone and unafraid. You're there as a 5-level you've got a 7-level as well. There's only two of you generally, depending on the aircrew size, and you're out there getting your guys prepared for their deployed mission. So, every single flying unit that has deployable aircraft, you've got SERE guys there. So, they're preparing them and it could be anything from KC-135 to helicopters to F-16 to even some of the some of the AFSOC bases on Hurby you've got people on an RQS's in ACC you've got some survivors there as well.
Peaches 23:33
Alright, so it's an it's a litany of different you know, training events, stuff like that. It's not just, hey, we're going to like kill a rabbit and show you how to cook it. It's right. No kidding survivalist but...
Justin 23:49
Well, yeah, hold on. I've killed thousands of rabbits smaller. I've murdered about seven okay. Yeah, let's just cut that right there for PETA if they if they care they can contact me as they want
Aaron 24:06
That's just going to be your video intro for whatever psychologist you have to go talk to now.
Peaches 24:17
Take me off track. But you, you know, build shelters, learn how to survive, learn to, you know, trap animals, kill animals learn how to do water survival, learning how to egress aircraft and then you guys also do some of the evasion but resistance.
Justin 24:59
So, you your highest level of training up at Fairchild. So that's the initial just like anybody. Whenever you get that initial training, it's generally the higher level until you get into specialties. But what will you do at an OSS, you specialize on your aircrew and what they need? So, if your guys are, you know, for example, my F-16 drivers are going to be out there alone and unafraid. So, I'm not going to teach you how to make a five-poll parachute shelter. Because that's going to take you forever and be completely irrelevant. What I'm going to teach you is one How to Get the hell out of there, to how to fight your way to a bigger weapon, if you need it. If you're on the ground in a bad spot, and how to signal get yourself recovered. That's really what we're focusing on. Not that not in any particular order. And again, these are these are my words, not the career fields just shaking their head right now and I'm on a podcast.
Peaches 25:50
Hey, don't worry, we all we all feel that and receive that daily basis all the time, apparently, I don't know what I'm talking about in regards to Combat Control.
Justin 26:01
Yeah, as the PJs say we're all mad here. Right?
Peaches 26:07
Is your current assignment or Fairchild or I would guess maybe even Germany your favorite assignment?
BEST ASSIGNMENT
Justin 26:23
So no, it's been a Germany, you know, the travel the experience working with the F-16 drivers that I worked with my opportunities to get reintegration experience and get into that getting deployment experience. And I mean, you're in Europe. What's wrong with that? I met my wife there. So, I can't say I can't say that was a I can't say that was second by any means.
Aaron 26:46
Oh, yeah. Because if she hears you saying that, that wasn't the penultimate experience of your life, you're in for it. Like she's going to die. I'm like, right.
Justin 26:53
We all know that. You know, that's kind of important to say it. I got to at least get it out there. I know. She's going to listen to it.
Aaron 26:59
You know? You know your assignment was where you met me and that was the best thing that ever happened to your dumbass.
Justin 27:06
But man here in an Albuquerque I was man I was jazzed when I got this experience when I got the notification that I was coming here and it's been man it's been it's been a little up and down for me personally just because I had did have some growing pains in the very beginning of understanding the caliber of dudes I was going to be working with and I came from an office of two, to where we all we, you know, we all the him and I like the exact same thing. We did the same thing and I had a lot of freedom of movement. And not that I don't here, but it's been man have I have I had some amazing experiences here. Without a doubt. You know, I get to go to the tunnel, get to instruct in the tunnel, I get the jump I face off. I get to go to JJ Ricoza shooting courses and amazing and it's just, it's been an experience, you know, to get me to a different level that I would never be to achieve anywhere else so in my experience this has been amazing so can close like 1b right? That's only because I'm still here.
Aaron 28:12
I dig it but like all those other great career fields out there SERE your overall has that ability like you could really be of really diverse dude you can see a whole lot of different things from being an Arctic survival instructor to work at an OSS being an instructor at you know teaching landnav at Pararescue Schoolhouse or being in Germany being like the parachute, you know, PPPM the program manager and getting the jump your face off or there's a million things that you guys test parachute is you know, out in Cali and there's a million things that you guys can do but So focusing on you as an instructor we were laughing about having "isms" before we come on what really as far as pipelines students go, what really grinds your gears like what are your "isms" for those people where you're just like, ah, makes me want to murder you right away.
Justin 28:54
Oh, man. So, we've all been support, and we've all been supported. Right? I think I think I'm right in saying that and man do to treat everyone that is not them are going to be what they're going to be different is just onset that's a huge isn't to me is you know, it's we talked about the whole airman concept and trying to develop these guys is not just operators but good men. And when I see them disrespect or not show up in meetings just grinds my gears not sure something that we set up, like, Hey, man, they took a special favor to set you up for CBRNE, something like that, and you just decided at 8:30 was too early for you to show. To me, it's like, Hey, you got a little too big for your britches, man. Don't forget where you came from, remember your beginnings and stay humble. And I've had obviously a few lessons in that. But that's pretty much it. You know, it goes to support you know, support the support, as you know as you can and I guess now being a support guy again. Because it you know, in Germany, I wasn't really as Support guy per se, you know, I've made a lot of people work, you know, to help my mission. Man, it's just it's there, they can go wrong. And I've seen it go right. Too many times to know that that it doesn't need to happen the wrong way.
Aaron 30:14
Yeah, no, I totally agree. I gotcha. That brings us to our last our customary last question, right? So we always put, especially all of our SMEs, we put them online if you had one piece of advice that you're going to give to people that are going to SERE your assessment selection or from what you know about AFSPECWAR, you know, anything out there. That's a tough career field. If you had one piece of advice to be successful, what would that one piece of advice be?
ADVICE
Justin 30:37
Persevere. There's always going to be a point in time where it feels like quitting is the easy way to comfort the option. And I'm sure pretty sure it's the cliché answer I would say but honestly the first thing because my head since I'm on the spot is where I thought you know, being 145 pounds that my 110-pound rock was going to snap my femurs telling my instructor that. I carry that bitch for 12 days. I know that for real and you know a climbing up a snowy mountain in Washington saying, hey man, this is my legs are breaking I feel them breaking because I know you're tired you're hungry, you're cold and you know all the bullshit you're told to do extra stuff doesn't matter persevere it's worth it in the end it's there's, there's always a there's always that light at the end of the tunnel that you see and feel. But then it's just another step. You know, it's always going to get harder every day.
Aaron 31:31
absolutely. It's never going to get easier.
Justin 31:33
There are easy days there's hard days you just you just got to the point where hard doesn't look, you know what you used to perceive as hard isn't as hard as it used to be.
Aaron 31:41
That's right. Almost like being a Michigan fan. You get used to the losing. It's just what the entire time. That seems like a good place to wrap it up. Justin, thanks for coming on man we picked you for a reason I loved working with you. I know you're doing big things down there and I knew you were the right guy to come on and talk SERE stuff is there. If there are people out there that want to talk to you about maybe going SERE are you open to putting your Instagram out? If not, you can tell them to go through us and we can contact you.
Justin 32:15
Yeah, you can you can. You can throw out the Instagram. It's a lot of family stuff. I'm a family man. I try to smile though, but it's El Gordo. It's well @elgord007 because I graduated no seven. I thought it was cool. But yeah, if they want if they've got to see your questions, man, they want to see some of the stuff on granted a lot of its family stuff, but I'm open.
Aaron 32:51
Can't say enough again. Thanks for coming out. We really appreciate everybody else go follow the podcast get on get on Apple podcast. leave us a review leave us a five-star rating. And then as always, just like the reason Justin's here today, if you got something you want to hear, we'll get it. Get it on here and make it happen. So, train hard, everybody earn each breath appreciate yes and have a good one. I see as lead expert thanks
TLDR: SERE is an amazing path to do a lot of wild things with some great people. Be motivated, persevere, SURVIVE.
LEAVE A REVIEW
It’s our collective goal at Ones Ready to help Special Warfare candidates get through Selection and become better Operators than we ever were. By leaving us a review, it helps our podcast get in front of more candidates just like you.
So thanks in advance for leaving a review, we truly appreciate it.