Command Chief Jeff Guilmain
EPISODE 36
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ONCE AGAIN, THE TEAM ROOM’S OPEN DOOR POLICY REVEALS AN AMAZING GUEST WITH THE ONESREADY CREW. CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT GUILMAIN DROPS KNOWLEDGE BOMBS THAT EVERY CANDIDATE NEEDS TO HEAR. LISTEN UP AND GET SMART.
INTRO
Nikki Silva 00:03
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 are in the right place. Now, here's your host PJ team leader, former INDOC Instructor Supervisor, entrepreneur and physician assistant student, Brian Silva.
Brian 00:27
How's it going, everybody? Welcome back to another One's Ready podcast, Brian Silva here and today we have another awesome guest. We got a lot of questions from you guys on Instagram and a lot of engagement and you guys really excited to hear from him. But first, I want to thank you guys for listening. And for following us along on this adventure. I know it's been a little bit over a half a year now that we've been doing this thing and hopefully, we've inspired a couple lessons, you know, helped you out at least a little bit. If not, you got a cool shirt. You know, something from the shop, maybe a sticker. So, we appreciate you guys listening and as always, you know, we're there to answer You're all of your Instagram questions, all your emails, anything we can do to help you guys out and explain more of what we do in Air Force Special Warfare. So, thanks again for listening. So today, like I said, we have the Chief of the 24 Special Operations Wing. He's a Senior Enlisted Leader. He's Command Chief Jeff Guilmain. And he has 29 years and six months of service. So, tons of experience to impart on you guys and shed some knowledge about kind of what they do. And his lessons learned on leadership things that we can apply towards, not only assessment selection, but anywhere that you are working in your life. So, we are glad to have him on Chief. So, if you don't mind, just going through introducing yourself and just tell us, you know, as much or as little as you'd like about, you know, your 30 years. I know, we could probably talk for a while about it, but if you can just introduce yourself.
BACKGROUND
Chief Guilmain 01:57
Yeah, thanks, Brian. Yeah, and You know, first off, I'm a little disappointed that he asked me to come on and do this. And you haven't given me one of those t shirts you just talked about. So, we'll talk about that at the end. Thanks to you, guys. Thanks to your audience, even more. So, for tuning in for listening. You know, I know these guys are putting together a great show for you guys. And I'm hoping I'm hoping what I'm able to do tonight with you is going to be helpful as well as you guys get set up regardless of whether you're looking at an AFSPECWAR career or just being successful at life. I think you know, whenever you have someone who's willing to invest in you, in the way that that we are trying to do tonight, I think it's always helpful. So yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. So, a little bit about myself. I grew up in New England, went to high school graduated in 1990. Think about that, let that sink in for a moment. And then joined the Marine Corps actually out of high school enlisted never had any, any intent to go to college. I was the kid that when I was about 13 or 14, I was already finding the you know, the Navy SEAL, the Ranger, the Marine Recon the Combat Control posters in my walls were already plastered with them. So, I had a very defined vision for what I wanted to do. And I've had the fortunate reality to have been able to play that out for an actual career. So really to live out a dream in my childhood dream of what I wanted to do, and I've gotten to do it in peacetime and I've gotten to do it in wartime, which was pretty phenomenal and certainly the experience of a lifetime and something I'll never regret. So yeah, I spent I spent about four years in the Marine Corps, I was a first I was first actually a, an infantry machine gunner was what I was initially trained to do. And really learned a lot I was a young kid, but I soon decided that that wasn't all there was for me there was something more I wanted to be doing and as I explored other options and went on the deployment where I was working kind of side by side in a different capacity with Force Recon teams that were deployed on the same ship with me. And I decided right out there in Rota, Spain when we were redeploying they ran an INDOC out there and decided you know, I got down in the well deck of the ship for about four months prior to that INDOC and got on the climber and, and jumped rope and I gotten some pretty wicked shape in that and I crushed the INDOC out there and they pulled me in so real fortunate to have that opportunity. got free fall and scuba qualified when I was in the Marine Corps was a was part of a direct-action team. I was an explosive breacher mechanical breacher for me for my platoon and got a lot of incredible experiences. Soon decided that you know, the way that you know that kind of a nautical tradition and the way those guys deploy on ship, at least at the time, the way they did was certainly not something that I was interested in doing for a career. So, I looked at some outside stuff you know, I looked at Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, I looked at the Department of Energy and, and some other government organizations that do some pretty cool stuff here in the, in the continental United States as well. And I stumbled upon really, you know, Combat Control teams. And I had one friend who had already done it and I ended up driving from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina over to Pope Air Force Base where the Combat Control School was and I said, Hey, you know, I'm interested in what you guys do, and decided on the spot to run through a PAST test. I did okay, on the past test, you know, talk to some really, some really smart guys that were, were, you know, prepping me essentially for the decision. I had to make them and it didn't take me long. I got there. And that's really you know, the that's what got me where I am today. So 25 years later I've been a Combat Controller the entire time in the Air Force worked in special operations that entire time except for one four year tour as a as a training instructor where I was one of the, you know, line instructors at the Combat Control School up until Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. So, you know, that brings me through all of my tactical team training time and then through some command assignments at the Squadron/Group. And now the Wing level where I'm the Senior Enlisted Leader for the 24 Special Operations Wing which is about you know, give or take about 1900 airman strong So, and that brings us pretty much to present day. Nice.
Brian 06:44
And on that vein, I just want to just ask one quick question about that because a lot of guys are coming from like a different career field or they're older and they're trying to like get into the special the Air Force Special Warfare kind of thing since you trained for both you know, Recon and then cc Was it a lot of different training and what age were you when you came into the Air Force?
Chief Guilmain 07:06
Yeah, so I only did I, you know, I was 17 my parents had to sign for me to get into the Marine Corps. So, I came in really young and I was in the Marine Corps until I turned 21 and cross trained into or didn't cross train but separated from the Marine Corps and then went through the whole initial accession process into the Air Force all over again. And so, I was about 21 or 22 when I when I started the Air Force pipeline, and you know, there's a lot of similarities in the, in the type of human DNA that we're trying to hire. It all comes from, you know, the same small group of Americans that have that DNA so you know, the training was very similar it was it was it was a test mentally a test physically. And then there's obviously the piece you know, you got it you got to learn the job and in show aptitude to be able to, to be good at it as well. So, a lot of similarities between to from a training perspective,
Peaches 08:03
Well, Chief you're in charge of you said 1900 airman at the 24 Special Operations Wing, which, you know is comprised of Combat Controllers, PJ's, Special Reconnaissance, TACPs, vehicle maintenance, you know riggers are AFE, Intel, all kind of personnel. And so how does this job differ as the senior enlisted leader to your jobs when you are running a squadron like what is that difference between the Squadron level and the Wing level that you've experienced?
MIXED BAG
Chief Guilmain 08:43
Yeah, there's, there's a, there's some similarities that I'll talk about. And then there are some, some fairly large differences as well. So when you talk similarities, you know, I think every assignment that you have with you know, when you start out as a as just a you know, a team member, you know, on a Special Tactics team, there's duties and responsibilities associated with that position. And then as you advance in rank, you know, and you, you promote, you get more responsibility. And that works its way up progressively as you go through the Airman tier, the NCO tier and the SNCO tier. And then once you become a chief, and so every one of those tiers prepares you for the next right. So you start you know, you learn how to manage four people, and then you learn how to manage 18 people and then you learn how to manage, you know, a few more and you so you progressively get better at both the leadership aspect of, you know, how do you how do you have you can command and control tactically, you know, the people that are under your charge, but then also how do you care and feed for him right, like, how do you how do you take care of them in the in the garrison environment, when you're at home, you're on a training trip, you know, what's the what's the leadership traits necessary, from your perspective, to make sure that you're taking care of families, you're taking care of members, you're making sure that you You're, developing them professionally, you're developing them personally, you're making them ready for the challenges of combat deployments. And so to get better at doing those things, you got to start small and then so, you know, none of those things change all the way up through a Chief assignment at the squadron, you're doing all of those same functions but as you as you get a little bit you know, further on in, in your career and you lead at the squadron and higher level, you start to have to bring some of your focus up and out rather than down and then right so you can't only be focused on you know, care and feeding taking care of, you know, the troops under your charge making sure the missions happening by you know, making sure they have the, you know, the right organization training and equipment, but you have to start looking up and out as well. And so, you know, as you progressively move beyond the squadron and beyond the group and like where I am now and beyond, you know the amount of that energy that has to be placed up and out looking at strategy looking, you know, making sure that the vision for Specialty Tactics in my case for the 24 SOW is nested within the vision of Air Force Special Operations Command, which is nested in the SOCOM or Special Operations Command, vision and, and developing strategy and making sure that I'm synchronized with my boss, Colonel Allen. And that, you know, the way we're leading out our efforts are in line with and supporting other, you know, initiatives. And so, probably the biggest difference, but it doesn't change the fact that you still got to, you know, from a leadership perspective, you still have to be, you still have to lead from the front, you still have to make sure that you are, you know, connected to the mission, you are competent at your job and none of those things change regardless of whether you're an airman on a team or whether you're the Command Chief in a wing, you still have to all have the same philosophies apply. They just change in nature as you as you move up and you gain experience. So those are probably the major similarities and differences. You know, probably more similarity. Then differences overall.
Peaches 12:01
Yeah, you brought up a good point though like about the care and feeding for people, everybody underneath your charge your care has different needs, whether it's the CCT, PJs or TACPs you know, the operators, or is it the support personnel, everybody with them has their own needs. And you know, as a Senior Enlisted Leader, you've got to be cognizant and be able to empathize with those folks.
Chief Guilmain 12:29
Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And there are challenges associated with that. So, you know, when we look at the way we're structured as a, you know, again, from my experience as a as a Special Tactics leader, you know, we bring operations folks together and support folks together into the same Squadron, and we kind of seamlessly mesh them together in what we call a special tactics Squadron. You know, other like when you talk about airframes in the air for C-130s and other you know, aircraft and you know, they have operations squadrons, and then they have separate support squadrons so the way they care and feed and support and professionally developed them are really separate entities. We do all of that. You know, so as a leader in a Special Tactics when you do all of that for multiple AFSCs, I think, I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but I think it's about 32 different Air Force specialty codes in a Special Tactics Squadron right now, and you don't have to be an expert on every single one of them. But you have to know enough that you can professionally develop them independent of all the other AFSCs so you know, a Combat Controller, Special Reconnaissance guy, a TACP and a PJ. All are similar enough that if you're if you've grown up in the special tactics, career field or if you if you're an AFSPECWAR leader, you can generally understand where they're walking because you've walked in there yourself but you know, if you're going to lead all the others, which there are many more in the squadron, those support AFSCs that are critical to the mission. You have to do your homework and you have to understand you have to you have to learn who they are, where they came from, what other assignments they've had, what other MAJCOMs they've served in. And then what are the defining pieces of their career that's going to make them promotable to the next rank, because it's not the same as the operator AFSCs. It's a whole lot of work. And again, you have to start small. So, you know, when you're an airman on the team, making relationships with those guys and your support staff and make and learning what they do early and then as you grow, not, you know, not kind of putting up a wall and focusing on just ops and what we do, but learning about the holistic running’s of Squadron gives you a huge advantage when you become an Operations Superintendent or a squadron level leader or beyond. So and, you know, I just had I had the fortune of, you know, making a lot of friends in Combat Mission Support over the years and I didn't do it by you know, on purpose because I thought it was going to make me better at being a leader in ST. I think I just took the time to get to know people and that's just part of, you know, what I would encourage you everyone to do you know, like, if you're not meeting new people and learning about them and be curious, then then you know, you're probably going to miss the boat on a lot of opportunity to learn about people and to learn from people. So, you know, don't just good fortune on my part.
Brian 15:14
Yeah, absolutely Chief, for you guys out there listening. It's the same thing. You know, when you're on team, those guys that you are on the gunner with and running with rocking with every single day taping your gear up with, that's when all the bonding and everything happens, you know, getting to know the person that's next to you. And that way you put a little bit of stake in what they're doing. You guys form a team. And then it's the same thing when you go down range. You know, you're constantly trying to bond to the people around you because you never know what you're going to be doing. So, I think that was a great point for those that are going to go through selection also.
Aaron 15:44
Yeah, absolutely. And Chief, you very briefly described, you know, leadership at the highest levels, you know, 10, 12, 15 levels up of leadership. So, I want to take you all the way back like to when you were a follower, so you have to be a good follower before you're a good leader. What would you say you focused on to be a good follower on the teams from the very beginning that sets you up to be the leader that you are of 1900 airman and 17 or 18 AFSC? Now,
LEADERSHIP/FOLLOWERSHIP
Chief Guilmain 16:09
Use your ears more than your mouth, you know, that's the core of it, right? Like if you if you're not willing to take critical feedback, if, if you're defensive in nature about being told that you're not perfect, then you're not going to go far. Because, you know, I'll tell you like 30 years of service now working for an O-6 formerly working for General Tutor when he was the Wing Commander, you know, I, I have to be wronged every single day, right? Like when we go into strategy meetings, or when we're looking at, you know, a vision, trying to develop a vision for what, what we look like with an F sock in 10 years or 15 years in 20 years, you know, and we're spit balling trying to figure things out based on the national security strategy and other predictive documents about what things look like in the future. You know, if you can't sit in that meeting and have someone look at you and say, no man, that's, that's not going to happen or you're wrong, you're just wrong. Like, that's not the right way to look at this, then then then you're not going to be effective, right? So, I think using your ears, more than your mouth, being able to follow, being able to listen. I think, you know, at the core of it, it's about just disciplined execution, right? At some level, you just have to be able to follow orders, right? Like disciplined professionalism. If you know, trust that your leaders know what they're doing trust that they're going to develop you and, and just listen and follow, right? And it really comes down to that and do everything to the best of your ability. If you're always putting your team before yourself, you're never going to go wrong. If you ever find yourself, you know, we have you know, when you're talking about it, you know, there's you know, whether we're in tactical operations or whether you're in the rear, there's kind of an order that you take care of things right like so you take care of teams. First, if you're doing cleanup after a mission, right, you take care of team gear, you take care of personal gear, and then you take care of yourself. And if you use that as kind of a mantra for the way you go through life and the way you engage in every situation professionally, you look at, hey, how can I make the team better? First, how can I take care of the team's mission first? Okay, once I've done that, now, let me take care of the year that's helping make me successful. Okay, now that that's all done, okay, what do I need to do for myself? And if you can't, if you go through life, and you train with that, always in your head, and you're always looking for an opportunity to advance the position of your team, what can I do to make things better for the team? You're always going to be on the right side of the decision. So, I think you know, when I rewind and I look at maybe the some of the things that I did, right? I think I was probably a decent follower. I came you know; I came in with eyes wide open, knowing that I knew nothing. And if you if you're willing to do that, if you're willing to just admit that hey, like, I don't know what I'm doing right now. I'm brand new, and I Going to listen and absorb like a sponge, then that then you're going to be successful later on. But you got to be able to admit you're wrong, you got to be able to start by admitting that, hey, I just don't know everything and some people, you know, and unfortunately, you know, some of the AFSCs that we train and a lot of the people that we attract into these jobs have a bit of arrogance that comes along with the package. And sometimes that arrogance gets in people's way so I should be making...
Aaron 19:24
I'm right here I can hear you.
Chief Guilmain 19:28
I was I was actually talking to you and thinking about you.
Aaron 19:33
I the irony that I would be so vain that I thought that was exactly to me that's a very meta insult. I really like it. It's good.
Chief Guilmain 19:42
No, that's, that's really it. I mean, you know, it's so simple, but it's, it's simply difficult. I guess you know what I mean to be that guy that just be the sponge, do what you're told, do it well always be on time on target with the right uniform on and start there. And if you can start doing that, well then probably We're going to be successful as you advance.
Aaron 20:03
Did you have any problems transferring when it was time to be, you know, Hey, no more follower, it's time for me to be that leader and kind of take charge. I think, you know, you're a natural leader, obviously we have a history of we know each other well enough where I don't think I'm out of line saying I think you're probably a natural leader and you feel comfortable in those positions. Did you ever have, you know, leadership issues or failures as you made that transition from follower to leader?
Chief Guilmain 20:25
I don't think so. I mean, it would probably be more appropriate for you to ask those around me at the time. You know, I think there's always a there's a growth period and every in every major change, so you know, I'm sure there was a growth period for me as well. I feel very comfortable with people. I see people as you know, as I do my own kind of SWOT analysis, you know, my strengths, weaknesses, you know, I am a people person by nature, like I enjoy talking to people being with people learning from people. And so, you know, engaging with people is pretty natural for me. And the core of Leadership is engaging with people, right? Like, you know, you can talk about the differences between leadership and management and problem solving and critical thinking and all those other aspects of it. But the core of leadership is being able to talk to people earn the respect earned the earned the credibility, and then have them follow you to accomplish a task. That's the core of leadership. So it has to start with the engagement with people so I think I'm not going to say came easy to me, but I think that it, it was more natural for me just from that perspective, but there was still I'm sure a very steep learning curve when it came to the additional responsibilities that come with leadership right like so when you go from being just the guy that shows up 20 minutes prior to the jump to get a jump brief. When you go from that to being the guy that now has to spend the day prior. prepping the ranges and making sure that the risk management documents are tight and making sure that the ORM got the warning order got signed. And now I have to prepare the brief, give the brief and make sure the aircrews are rolled in on the plan like so, you know, those are those are all other aspects of leadership as well. And there is a learning curve to make to get good at all of those processes that go along with it. But the core of leadership is simple. It's just about people.
Aaron 22:09
That's outstanding. And oh, by the way, you then accept responsibility for that entire training event too. So, there's always that added pressure, but I'm sure that you felt as you did it because I sure did. What's keeping hit us really quick, what's on your reading list? What books would you recommend to somebody that's out there that you'd like?
READING LIST
Chief Guilmain 22:26
Wow, well, I've got a long reading list here. Let me do this really quick. Like since I got this sitting right next to me, so I read but I've also found that I don't have as much time for reading so when I'm, I do a lot of training on a stand up paddleboard and I listen to audio books while I paddle so let me give you like, I've got this thing sitting right here in front of me. So, on Audible, The Next Hundred years. It's phenomenal. absolutely phenomenal. it'll change the way you look at, you know, geopolitical stuff that you're seeing in the news right now. That's a really good one Atomic Habits is another one. I'll tell you like if there was one book that I would give a young man or woman to read right now, that will potentially change the way you look at your every day, it would be Atomic Habits. It really talks about like, you know, the little things that you do every day, the sum total of all the little things you do and the systems that you build into your life to enable the successful accomplishments of these little things. So that you at the end of every day, you have accomplished your tasks, and you've moved yourself forward toward your goals. So, it's not just a goal book. There's a lot of gold books out there that talk about you know, how to set goals and how to build strategies and stones and milestones and all that but this is this talks more about the systems of your life that you build into your everyday that enable you to meet your goals, and it is absolutely I mean, to me, it was mind blowing. It's not rocket science, like it's not stuff that's going to blow your mind. But when you when you hear the way it's talked about, and the way you can apply it every day. I wish I would have read it 20 years ago. So, I would say That's on there. Of course, every human that should read Victor Frankel's Man's Search for Meaning. That is, I've read that book now, three times, and every time like I find, you know, I'll, I'll be a sobbing mess and in a dark room in the house, sometimes just reading about, you know, thinking about, you know, I need to, I need to be happier with what I have more often because my life is incredible. It's absolutely incredible. And I am wealthy in so many ways. And when you read about, you know, things like that, and how he specifically reacted to the situation he was placed in and as a Jew in a camp during World War II, I'll tell you, it'll change your life. If you haven't ready, you need to Callsign Chaos. You got to read Callsign Chaos. I mean, greatest Secretary defense,
Aaron 24:46
The Saint General Mattis?
Chief Guilmain 24:49
Absolutely. You have to you have to read Callsign Chaos. He breaks things down coffee breaks down complicated concepts of leadership. And how to, you know, maneuver forces on the battle like and you'd think you went to school and learned it yourself because he breaks it down so clearly and the man is, I got to meet him a couple times. He's certainly an idol of mine I think that he's a phenomenal guy and then anything from Simon Sinek. Simon Sinek is phenomenal I’ve you know Leaders Eat Last is probably his most popular work. I've read it a couple times. Start with Why is also a good one Infinite Game. I leave I read a lot of historic fiction, you know, strategy. You know, just some things like, what else, Legacy. Talking about the New Zealand All Blacks? It's a great book, The alternative team around? Then any anything by Malcolm Gladwell as well. You know, the first book I read by Malcolm Gladwell was tipping point. And tipping point I read for a specific reason. We had some organizational change. That was That we had to do a squadron that I was, you know, my first chief assignment, no matter of fact, and we had some stuff that was brewing that wasn't necessarily real positive and, and I was looking for a way how do you how do you create that tipping point in order to affect permanent lasting organizational change. And, and that book became my go to, like I had it highlighted and, you know, dog eared corners on pages. And, you know, as we tried to build out this, this plan for how we were going to, you know, essentially turn a giant ship, you know, as quickly as possible. That was kind of my go to Talking with Strangers is another one of his books that I'll tell you right now, in the, in the American climate that we're in right now. I would recommend that everyone read that book and just understand at a deeper level the differences between people, you know, regionally based on ethnicity, and just, you know, the country versus the cities and how, you know, we may be talking and saying the same words to each other, but we're not hearing the same thing from each other, as we say, and it's just an amazing like he's up. He's brilliant. And I love his work as well. Blink is another one by Gladwell that thinks phenomenal.
Peaches 27:11
You must be on the paddleboard constantly.
Aaron 27:16
Man, I'm glad to do one and a half speed or what? Yeah.
Chief Guilmain 27:22
Don't forget, don't forget about Alone at Dawn, I got an advanced copy, when that book was still in publishing and read it and got to, you know, had the honor of being able to give Dan a little bit of critique on it before it got published. And just a phenomenal work about John Chapman and his heroism on Takur Ghar that earned him the Medal of Honor.
Brian 27:44
And will definitely get all the lists on the YouTube links and everything if you can send us like an email just with some of the stuff and we'll get it from the transcript and everything but we'll throw it up on the on the drive and make sure that you guys are able to access these lists. So, you can go back and reference it over and over again or we can just come back and listen to podcasts over and over. And we're totally cool with that too. But kind of switching gears here a little bit, you guys out there listening might not know, because you know, Chief Guilmain is so grounded and he's talking to you like a normal person. But, you know, being the Special Operations Wing Chief is you know, at the very top, and not only is he grounded in like talking all the people managing that, but he's focusing on the vision for, you know, the rest of the squadron, like he said a little bit earlier, is up and out and what's going to be happening and trying to plan that stuff. It's not an easy feat trying to figure out, like steer the ship and tell everyone this is where we're going to be going and then get their buy in on that. So for those guys that are listening right now, if you don't mind Chief Guilmain, just talking about, you know, where you kind of see the future of Special Tactics, Special Warfare going I know, there's a lot of pieces to this, but just overall because they're going to be the ones that are going to be driving the ship, you know, in in a couple of years. So, if you don't mind going to that.
CHANGES IN SPECIAL TACTICS
Chief Guilmain 28:58
Yeah, no, I don't I'll tell you like, it's not just all of you out there that are that are kind of waiting for this. There's, there's a lot of things out there that are that are in movement right now, when we talk about, you know, the National Security Strategy for the next 10-20 years, you know, what's the world going to look like in 2030-2040? And what does specifically again, from my experience, what is Special Tactics? Or what is AFSPECWAR need to be able to do in in 20 years to be successful? You know, we built we built the Special Tactics Squadrons, Group, and Wing that we needed to fight the war that we've been fighting for the last 18 years. And we have been overwhelmingly successful at doing that. But we've grown the force in a very specific direction for a very specific purpose in order to win at what's been asked of us and that was essentially a counter violent extremist organization fight. Right like what you know what you've been watching play out for years now in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I don't think any of that is going to go away immediately overnight. But what we're being asked to do is start looking at other threats to national security in the next 10-30 years. And then what do we do? What do we have to do as individuals so when we talk AFSCs, you know, Combat Controllers, Special Reconnaissance, Pararescuemen, TACPs, all the Combat Mission Support AFSCs or specialty codes that make up a squadron? You know, what does that what should that look like in the future for us to be successful? And what are the missions that we see ourselves doing on behalf of the nation holistically in order to win in order to be successful, and as we you know, as we try to, you know, kind of look in that crystal ball a little bit and figure out what that looks like. We have some pretty specific directions that we're kind of walking down that that we think are going to be asked of us in the future by the nation in order to compete with the emergence of powers that are that are, you know, we haven't paid a lot of attention to over the last 18 years because we've been so focused on the violent extremist organizations and winning that fight. But you know, countering the emergence of other great powers in the world that don't necessarily have our best interest in mind. Is, is definitely something that we will be involved in. You know, I think that, you know, there was and I don't know if your audience is familiar, but that there was, you know, the, the Battlefield Airman Vision 2030 that was published not too long ago, and we're just talking in our last two years, maybe it maybe was three years. And it was close. You know, I think there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff in there. That was obviously pre what we have now as a as a national security strategy, and I think it's going to be shaped a little bit, you know the need for ground operators in the Air Force highly trained, highly, technically proficient to be able to do things that others cannot or will not get, is not going to change. The tactics, techniques and procedures, the mission tasks that we go after the things that we're going to be expected to be able to do are probably going to change a little bit. And, and how we do those things is probably going to change a little bit and who would do them for is probably going to change a little bit. But what's not going to change is the DNA, the character, the competence of the operators that we hire, that will remain regardless of how the mission changes, whether you know, we change how we get to the battlefield or whether we change what we do on the battlefield. But the people that we hire the DNA, the raw attribute material that we hire for is not going to change much at all. So I think that that's, you know, as I as I look into the crystal ball and I look forward into the future, I think we will pivot a little bit geographically around the world, you know, there's some emergence of power that will probably drive us to change a little bit of the weight of effort when we when we see the way the Combatant Commanders are a rating, their forces around the globe will probably move, you know, the chessboard will change a little bit, you know, we have force numbers in Afghanistan that are X right now, and they will probably go down to X and then we'll, you know, those forces will be needed elsewhere, and we'll pivot and shift as needed. So, I know that and you're probably seeing I'm dancing around a lot of the details and I'm doing that for a good reason.
Aaron 33:46
One of our favorite things to do chief is to put our guests especially high-ranking ones in really awkward positions. So, we're just wait until the lightning round boy do, we have some hot button issues for you. I hope you're not on Twitter because you're about to get canceled.
Chief Guilmain 33:58
This is fine, you know, I don't Am I talking about at all? And we can definitely, I mean, I think your, your audience, you know, as long as they understand if nothing else that, you know, the nation needs us to do really hard work, and we're going to continue to do really hard work for the nation. So, you know, there'll be some changes, right? But we still need to hire the greatest talents that America has to offer. And, and we're going to continue to pursue them, we're going to continue to, to make sure that we're putting ourselves in a position to recruit that talent, you know, through our focus of recruiting with the 330th Recruiting Squadron and then field developers and others out in the field that are going to be engaging with you guys to make sure that you're ready before you even start the training pipeline. So, you know that that's probably about the best answer I can give you.
Aaron 34:45
Yeah, those developers we love that program. We've been trying to, you know, get somebody on and talk about the development program for a long time. That's one hole that we've had. So, I don't know if you have any pull, but we'd love to get one of those t three developers on here.
Brian 35:03
And one more just along that type of vein, it's not about any of the mission sets or anything like that. But there are a lot of just kind of rumors, I guess about everything going into one type of beret and under one series and that whole thing, again, we kind of stated that, you know, it's not about the color of the uniform, or any of that kind of stuff is about the person and that DNA is not going to change. But is there any truth to the one beret type of stuff?
Chief Guilmain 35:28
It's certainly been talked about. So, you know, we made some huge wins. So, you know, the BA or Battlefield Airman vision 2030 that we just talked about just a little bit that that's going to morph over time, that was born out of a force improvement process that that was put into motion by headquarters Air Force in order to look at AFSPECWAR holistically and figure out how can we do business better. And as that analysis was done, you know, the Special Warfare Training Wing that now is working on our behalf and Air Education Training Command to make sure that we're you know, merging pipelines making the pipelines better bringing all of these AFSCs together to train efficiently through the pipeline instead of separate in a completely disaggregated nature. So, you know, that that was born out of that we also have an increased advocacy in the Pentagon now for Air Force Special Warfare organizations. So, you know, there's a lot that came out of that force improvement process one of those things also that came out of there was the 1Z, Air Force Specialty Code and you know, for a lot of you guys that are listening probably it doesn't mean a whole lot. But you know, from my perspective, having had a specific Air Force Specialty, my entire career that was very different from the Pararescueman stood right next to me, and, you know, you know, when on mission was, you know, either right in front of me or right behind me, was always strange to me that you know, they were a 1T coded AFSC and I was a 1C coded AFSC. And I never really understood why that was. And that is now corrected. And so now we have what we call the 1Z or Air Force Specialty where all of these combat AFSCs is the do largely similar work, you know, differences here and there clearly, are now in the same AFSC, or Air Force Specialty Code bucket, which again, you know, the nuances of that, to me are phenomenal you guys, you know, you won't appreciate the magnitude of that that difference now, but someday, you likely will. It just means increased advocacy. It really streamlines the way we hire it streamlines the way we train; it streamlines the way we manage the force. So, a lot of real goodness came out of that. So, you know, there have been, there's been talk about, you know, since Hey, we're all 1Zs now, why don't we wear the same hat? And, you know, I think we talked about that a lot when we were, you know, about a year and a half ago when it was all but imminent that we were going to be moving all of the rescue forces from the Air Force, or at least that The Guardian Angel forces in the Air Force, we're going to be coming into AFSOC at least. So, we thought, you know, that's when we actually sat around a conference room in the, in the 24 SOW. And I had a bunch of PJ leaders from Air Combat Command, and I had a bunch of Controller leaders from AFSOC and we talked about it and didn't come to any conclusions. I think, you know, there was some agree to disagree on whether it's worth doing or whether it's the right thing to do, or what does it do to our heritage, you know, what does it do to, you know, you know, the historical ties to the rescue community, which are deep for Pararescue very deep. And then the same thing on the on the Combat Control side. So, I would say that, you know, it's not inconceivable to me that at some point in the future, that conversation can happen again. But, I mean, we're not having that conversation right now. I think we’re; we're doing a lot of really hard work to make sure that we're, we're managing the force the way it should be managed. Right now. We're growing into the new missions and structures that may emerge out of this vision that we're looking at moving forward. But right now, you know, those conversations about, you know, the beret, or what we should or shouldn't be wearing are not happening currently.
Peaches 39:15
Now, that's good. And I think that that's, I mean, you know, called call me non-empathetic or whatever you call it, but I mean, it's, it's a brand I think that we have bigger issues that we need to discuss and solve than a singular beret. But that's, that's just me. Yeah.
Aaron 39:34
Yeah. We've always been early adopters here, Chief. So yeah, you're in good company here. We asked because it's on everybody's mind, and we got a couple questions on it. But I think we all we all feel the same way here.
Chief Guilmain 39:47
There's some you know, from a cultural perspective, as we grow together, clearly the pipelines are being you know, pushed together closer and closer year after year. You know, it's hard to you know, stranger things have happened in 10-20 years then merging career fields closer than they are right now. But uh, but like I said, I think that's some time away if we're going to talk about it again.
Peaches 40:09
Well I want to bring it back a little bit to people since we know that that's what makes Special Tactics, Air Force, DoD, and private sector run so what are some of the key traits that you look for in your not only a man let's first let's look at maybe your enlisted force, what are some of those traits you look for in there? And then I'd like to also know what you look for in your officers.
ATTRIBUTES
Chief Guilmain 40:38
We hire for you know, there, there is a very specific attribute model that we use when we're hiring AFSPECWAR Airman, you know, that that go into the pipeline. And we use a very similar attribute model for Special Tactics Officers and CROs, as well. They're not they're not really different. It all starts with you know, and we talked a little bit about that. DNA earlier, it starts with, I think character. So, if I was going to, you know, put my finger on one thing, you got to hire someone with character, you're always going to know what you get, right? It doesn't mean they're competent. It doesn't mean that they're going to be good at their job. But it means, you know, if you hire someone with good character, they're always going to try, right, they're always going to have driven, they're always going to be hard working, they're always going to be someone you can count on. That's character. competence, is something that's separate but equally as port as important, right? Because you can have a guy with a guy with great character, but if he can't solve a problem you need him to solve and then it's not worth a lot. So, I think, you know, you talk about character and competence. Physical fitness clearly is, is one of the one of the things that's super important for us to, to hire for not only because, you know, a lot of the things that we do are wicked hard, and you're not going to be able to do it if you're not in a high level of physical fitness, but it also makes you a more powerful confident individual and you know, studies show that on the civilian side, we show that and, you know, through our processes as well, people that are super fit, they handle stress better, they're better, and they're better in situations that others might fold. They have more grit determination. So, so those things are all important to me. On the leadership part, you know, there's one, you know, piece and you don't often hear, you know, kind of steely eyed killers that lead and SOF organizations talk a lot about this, but you really have to care. Right? And I say that from the perspective that, you know, if you boil everything else away, you have to care about the people that you're leading. You have to care about doing things right. You have to care about being good at your job, you have to care about the mission and what your overall you know, if we're going to, if we're going to make decisions to essentially put our lives on the line for something, you have to really care or you're not going to be invested. Right. So, you know, a byproduct of caring is passion. Passion is fuel. And that's what fuels us right like people that you know run on passion are always going to be more effective than others. So I think you know that that's kind of those are the big ones you know, there's lots of other things too right like we talk the intangible ones the ones you can't really put your finger on like the dude that's he's going through the pipeline and he's just gritty right like he It does not matter what you do to that can I remember these guys when I was an instructor You know, it doesn't matter how much mud you put them in it doesn't matter how cold they get, doesn't matter how many miles they've run or how heavy the ruck has gotten. Like they just keep going you know and you know they're hurting but they don't show it and you know, they want to stop but they don't and that's grit and grit you know, I guess you know, the synonym would be determination but I think grits just a better word and that's, you know, if I if I had to boil down the character model of the guys that we need, we need smart, gritty guys. You got to be smart. You got to be to solve problems, but you got to be gritty. At the same time. I've climbed mountains in Afghanistan over the years at night with NVGs on and heavy rucksacks and I'll tell you like that is not for the faint at heart. And you do things like that in combat conditions like that's, you know, that grit comes in handy. So, I would not hire someone who I did not think had that kind of, you know, gritty, determined ability to just muscle through power through any obstacle. So, those are kind of that's the way I look at, you know, how we hire the people and what makes people successful in these kinds of jobs.
Peaches 44:34
I feel right now, a good quick little story time, because I don't know if you remember this or not, but
Aaron 44:39
I can't wait. I have personally been excited about this for about three days.
Peaches 44:48
So, you know, you and I have known each other for 20 years now. met you in 2001 at Combat Control School, and the first time I met you You're in the gym with, I'll leave their full names out of it. But Aaron, and Wes and you looked at me and another student, Ryan, who we just happened to be really good at pull-ups. And you guys are rapping out, you've got the weight belt with a chain with 100-pound plate. And you guys are just repping out pull-ups. And it was like, please, you guys think you can do this? I mean, to put in perspective. You guys are repping out six. Seven sets or reps of this and I put it on and I got to I got one good one and the second one was and here I am thinking that I'm some you know stud because I'm in Combat Control School you know we've done the pipeline I'm in phenomenal shape and then I've got guys that are instructors that are just made me feel this small.
Chief Guilmain 46:26
That was never my intention. We were trying to build you up Jared we did not want
Aaron 46:35
And look what happened peaches that example that day led you to be the Chief you are now so I'm glad that we could all go up. Do you want to say thanks, sir?
Chief Guilmain 46:43
You're welcome.
Peaches 46:45
I'm not the grit guy.
Aaron 46:48
I do like that. And you know, we just had Mr. Mr. Trey Free on so that podcast is going to drop it'll drop before this one comes out. But he described it great. He said, you know, I can't tell you what it is. But you'll know it when you see it and you want to be in, in your area and on your team so I think that was a great way of, of you describe and it's so Chief we were we were joking. Before we got on how many questions, we got on Instagram we literally got a ton. Some of them were really good. Some of them were really bad, we're just going to answer our ask you the good ones. So, first of all, whoever runs the AF Spec Ops Command Instagram is rope a dope and you hear a little bit they want to know what are your plans after the two for sale? Like if you had enough after 30 years? Are you going to stay engaged with the community? What are your plans? What's next for you?
Chief Guilmain 47:33
Well, I've got a I've got a few things that I'm that I'm looking at. I don't want to talk about, you know, some specific companies that I'm currently talking to I suppose courting is probably the right word. I am you know; I'll be separating so you know, 30 years is how your tenure for Chief unless you get a waiver past 30 years. So, I'm definitely I have an approved retirement I am on my way out. I would like to you know, maintain connection to the community. I don't know exactly what capacity that will be in yet. I'm hoping in a mentoring role, I think my passions in mentoring and teaching. So, I am looking at, you know, a certain company that I actually had a phone call today where we talked a little bit about opportunities for me to run training for them. So, you know, I'm engaged with the right people to have those conversations. I've loved you know; I tell people all the time. This has been a 30-year career where I've never felt like I go to work every day. It's, you know, it's what I do, right? This is what I wake up for every day I go to work and I solve problems for people. And I make problems for other people. And that's an That's an incredible, that's an incredible career to have. You know, as I look back and 30 years, clearly, we've had some regrettable incidents and tragic things happen over the years, you know, with both, you know, many of my personal friends that we've buried in Arlington and other places, but you know, they all died doing exactly what they wanted to be doing. And, and I look at it the same way I have enjoyed every single day even when the worst of things was happening even under the strain of combat or the strain of, you know, 50 hour workweeks and grinding it out on the computer now, which is you know, I fight with a pen and a keyboard versus a rifle and a pistol. But, uh, but yeah, I want to stay engaged with the community that I'm still passionate about what you guys are going to continue to do, and how this thing shapes up into the future and the problems that you're asked to solve in the future and the enemies that you go up against in the future, which is, you know, history tells us anything, it tells us that you know, that this conflict won't read the last conflict. So, yeah, I'm passionate about that. So, I have nothing definitive right now, but I do know, I'll be doing a bit of a, I'll be interning for a period of time and then I'll take some leave. And then I'll start the next life, whatever that is. I'm not squarely determined yet.
Aaron 50:12
That was a great answer. What another one from the Instagram page? What is your biggest challenge mentally? Like? Where is it that you just find we all have that that voice that now exists in the back of the head and we can hear it speaking that negative self-talk? What's your biggest challenge mentally? You know, during your work today?
Chief Guilmain 50:34
There's a lot of problems out there to solve, right. And you know, there's only so much time in the day, there's only so much time in the week. And I think sometimes it's really easy to, to get a little, I would say, defeated, it's not that's too strong of a word. But feeling like your energy is not producing what it should be producing. And it's easy to let that kind of to get in your own way, after a while, let that get in your head because things, you know, things move at the speed of bureaucracy. And a lot of times when you're trying to move big rocks, those big rocks don't move really fast. So, I would say, you know, that, that would that would be a frustration for sure. And, and if you let it fester, it can certainly be more than that. I would say that's probably the biggest one, you know, because, you know, in my world right now, we're trying to move some very big rocks and, you know, moving those coordinating the right, you know, directorates with the right expertise to bring together the teams to help solve the problems and then to produce the documents and get them approved and run them up the chain and, you know, all of those things just take staff time and energy and leaders having a meeting and then a subsequent meeting and then a follow up meeting and then an IPR and, and so, you know, when you're trying to move many things all at the same time and do them all well, you know, it just it's a challenging process for sure. So, I would say that's probably your like day to day, you know, just the speed at which we can really affect real positive changes is a challenge. Got it?
Aaron 52:08
Got it. Yeah, that's again I can't imagine like some of the programs and some of the changes you're having to make it the amount of follow through like I can understand at least to some level How frustrating that really must have been. How about when you came in? Did you ever think that you'd be at your position now did you ever had any idea that you would be the 24 SOW Command Chief?
Chief Guilmain 52:29
No, I didn't even know what a promotion was. I came in you know, literally, I was that eyes wide open kid that like you're telling me you're going to your going to give me a paycheck. You're going to teach me how to shoot machine guns. You're going to give me a chow hall to eat every day and a rack to sleep in. I can you know; I had an 87 Jeep CJ7 that I can park in the parking lot go downtown when I need to. Man, like I was like a pig and shit. So no, I'd never you know, and I never really got away from that, like, I lived that way real Spartan for a long time, you know, until you get married and you start, you know, setting up some roots and building, you know, a, you know, a little depth into your life with your family. But, uh, but I really, no, I didn't, I didn't I didn't I never strive for promotion. You know, you'll, you'll hear about and you guys have experienced the people that go their entire career working toward the next promotion and man like that's a hollow career, man, I'll tell you like, I've never wanted to be promoted. I've never tried to be promoted. I've never done certain things to try because I've thought it's what should be on my performance report to get promoted. I've never I've never joined certain clubs because someone told me Hey, if you join this club, and you have that on your performance report that'll help you. I've never done any of these things I focused on, you know, caring for people, understanding my job being competent troop leading, always being there when people asked for help, always being the guy that raised his hand. When, what Hey, when there's a deployment coming up, and so and so can't go or, or their wife's having a baby, and we just we need to fill this last second deployment billet, man, put your hand in the air and go do it because it's the right thing to do. And as you just do those things, and you make the right call, Time after time, you know, you people appreciate, you know, the fact that you are, you're someone that can be counted on and you're competent and, and your, the quality of your work is always where it should be and, and promotions naturally happen as a byproduct. So no, I never wanted to I never focused on it. Do promotions came some took longer than others, and but they all happened. And you know, I didn't actually ask for to be a Command Chief in the Air Force either. This was something that I had a few leaders, you know, asked me if I would and I reconsidered an earlier retirement that I was going to do and I said you know, I think maybe this is worth sticking around a little bit longer for I did and I don't regret it because the of having worked at the group level with a large organization and then the wing level with an even larger organization, and learning how that functions and learning how to be an even better leader and having to open up a whole new toolbox of leadership skills to work at this level versus working at the Group, Squadron and then team level. So, it's been phenomenal for me. And so No, never wanted to get promoted. That would be my advice to anyone that don't seek promotion, seek opportunities to excel.
Brian 55:30
Yeah, I think that is really important. Like you're talking about we like you said, know a lot of people that, you know, it doesn't happen as much in this crucial but in the rest of your forces like this, that's the bar that they meet. And once they get to, you know, Chief or whatever, and they're just done and they don't want to do anything, and they're not looking at, you know, the people like you're talking about, they're looking at, you know, what's on my shoulder, I guess now what's on my chest, you know, with OCPs but they're just looking after that one stripe and I think it's really important. Just going back to what you said, just focusing on the team, the entire time. And like you said, you're always doing the right thing if you're focusing on a team and not yourself.
Chief Guilmain 56:05
Yeah, you can't lead with your stripes, right? Like if you try to lead with your stripes, you will fail every single time the stripes are a byproduct of the leadership that you're providing already.
Brian 56:18
So, going along that kind of vein a little bit. You know, we're all younger kids at one point, you know, we didn't have much as far as information on the internet or training advice or any of that kind of stuff. So, kind of looking back at you, your former self before you joined the military. What one piece of advice did you wish you would have known what would you tell yourself about your career that was going to be in the military?
Chief Guilmain 56:51
Stay the course. There's, there are a lot of roadblocks that could try to get in your way. And this applies to life in general, not just a career in Air Force Special Warfare, but you know, you got to be willing to fight for it. Right. Like there's, there's a, there's an administrative process that are a challenge to navigate. The pipeline itself is incredibly difficult. It takes a couple years to get through, and you got to show that determination to stay motivated as you do it. And there could be things in your personal life that act as barriers, as well, you know, either through relationships or other things. There could be health concerns, there could be all kinds of things that go on. And I would say, you just got to be willing to persevere, you know, you got to you got to be willing to not take no for an answer. That would be one thing. Prepare, I guess, would be another one that comes to mind. This isn't the kind of thing that you want to jump into half assed. You want to you want to be prepared for what you're about to do. You want to learn it and the fact that you're watching this podcast right now tells me that you're interested in learning a little bit. And that's half the battle. But having the personal motivation to take what you're learning here, and then apply it to your life to make yourself ready for what you're asking to do, or what you what you think you want to do, or maybe it's really what you want to do. That's a whole different thing. So, I think that you know, preparation is key to success, right? Like, you know, we don't we don't hope is not a course of action that that is generally successful. So, if you're if you're aging, you're going to get Yeah, if you're hoping you're going to get through the pipeline, are you think you can read your way through the pipeline? You know, those? Those are likely unsuccessful. So, I think proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. You remember the five Ps?
Peaches 58:50
Well, Chief, I'm going to hit you with one more Instagram question before we wrap everything up. But this is a question that we actually get quite often and We tried to explain it. But probably, since you're used to answering these kinds of questions, you'll probably be able to answer it better than we can. But with Manning so low, why are there so few retraining slots available?
Chief Guilmain 59:16
Yeah, I can probably venture, you know, a guess. So retraining is managed by headquarters Air Force. I'm guessing by the fact that you're asking me this question right now that that you are hearing from the field that, that they're generally unsatisfied with the number of retraining quotas so...
Peaches 59:35
Yeah, we get a lot of messages from active duty Air Force guys that are that are frustrated because they I'm ready, I can pass the PAST test my packages there. It's submitted. And we're just waiting to hear how many slots drop and you know, there's a lot each base probably has four or five people that are training to come into any of the AFSPECWAR career fields.
Chief Guilmain 60:01
Yeah, there's so you know, there's when it comes to like, you know, we have career field managers up at the Pentagon and they're Their job is to balance the force, and to make sure that we're growing at the appropriate rate to fill vacancies. So, as people retire as people separate from the Air Force, we got to grow at the same rate in order to maintain or we need to grow faster if we're trying to grow the force. And so that's their job really to help manage that process. And then we have at the MAJCOM level, we have functional managers that do that for smaller organizations, but they all kind of work in support of that effort to make sure that we maintain balance in the force, one of the components of that balances rank structure. So when you look at, you know, bringing in and I'll try to make this understandable, you know, if I'm going to hire a Technical Sergeant who's been in for 10 or 11 years, and I'm going to send them through the pipeline, and he shows up at a team, the expectation that he is a competent leader when he shows up at that team, but he is a brand new AFSPECWAR Airman, right. So that is a challenge. And if we do that too much that injects chaos and turbulence into the organizations, so part of the management that our, you know, our CFM, or career field managers are trying to manage is Okay, so what's the right mix based on vacancies at different rank tiers within the organizations? How many can we afford to inject before that turbulence is unsustainable. So that's part of the calculus that goes into it. And there's likely more than that, that has to do with end strength numbers for the Air Force as we try to Congress dictates how big the Air Force can be and how big career fields aren't how many vacancies we have and all that stuff. And so there's, you know, I'm sure a, what used to be a room size calculator are somewhere in the Pentagon that that helps them do that, but I think that from a get Does that answer the question to those in your audience that are asking, it's, we got to be careful, we got to be careful. If you're going to retrain someone who has already been in the Air Force and has established themselves, you know, and at a rank component or tier like an E-5, or an E-6, a SSgt or a TSgt and we're going to take them in, we need to be careful how many times we do that, and, and how many of those new leaders that we inject at any one time into the system. Because you know, there's a big difference between a Staff Sergeant who's grown up as an AFSPECWAR Airman, and a staff sergeant that was any other career field and is brand new in the same formation that what I can, what I can ask them to do is completely different one versus the other. So, we just got to be careful with that. And some people are super successful, right? I've known guys that have come over as a Master Sergeant or made Master Sergeant in the pipeline, and have embedded into teams and been highly successful. And then there's others that we've done that with at the Staff or Tech Sergeant level, that it hasn't gone well at all.
Brian 63:16
All right, so the last thing and I just like to close out with this kind of topic, and obviously you can hit home all the things that you think are extremely important to these, but we have a lot of a wide variety. Like we explained in the beginning, we were talking about this, you know, 18 to 35 year olds, and even up that are coming in and they're trying to get, you know, they're jumping career fields, or they're coming from maybe a stable career or at a college, you know, a variety of different things. So, what is one thing that you'd like to just hit home and like, tell them do this every single day? Or no matter what you're going into, you know, what got you through selection, that kind of thing. What would you tell them?
ADVICE
Chief Guilmain 63:55
Yeah, positive, positive mental attitude, mindset. It's everything. Ever. You know, if you talk about building you know, building a solid structure on a foundation, the foundation you know, you got to know who you are You got to have a positive mindset. And you have to have you know that everything else is a byproduct of that how you engage with other people as a byproduct of that how you engage in your work, the quality of work, the length of time that you're willing to spend getting something done is all a byproduct of your mental attitude. You know, and if you are a positive person by nature, this can be easy because you just generally look at life from a positive lens. If that's not you, then that might be a blind spot that might be an area that you need to work because we've all been around and I think it was Aaron who brought up or not one of you talked about Trey Free to talk about you know, there's that thing you don't you don't know exactly what it is. But you know what, when you see it and a lot of times what that is just the dude you want to be around right like the guy on the team, that he might not be the best shooters might not be the best guy on the radio. He might not be the best Medic, but, man, I would never go anywhere without them. Right? And you want, you know, you should strive to be that guy and some of that from my experience of the people that are just eternally positive, right, it doesn't matter, you could be in a shit sandwich somewhere in the world and man, if they're beside you, you know that you guys are going to be, you know, everyone's going to have the right mindset and that individual whenever one else's is potentially not, you know, not maintaining their positivity. Man, he'll carry the team, right. So, I think that's something that I've always, you know, I can think of a dozen people just off the top of my head that fit that description. They were just the guy that they weren't necessarily the best Combat Controller the best PJ, but man, they were just awesome to have around and you'd never do anything without them. You know, the other thing that I would, I would say is know who you are early in life, like so if you're, if you're young right now and you're listening to this, you're 17-18 years resolve you're trying to decide what to do with your life you need to know who you are as a human before you start to stack on capability like you know you want to be a Combat Controller or you want to be this or that or do something else from a career perspective know who you are as a man or woman know what you believe and do not yield to pressures around you that will tell you that there's a better there's a better you right so I would say that you know if you if you start off that way man you put on that armor and you defend what you believe you're going to be highly successful and maybe you'll be highly successful in ways that you don't even you don't even you don't see yet. So that's some advice that I wish I would have gotten earlier on really be introspective when you're young. Look at look at when you here's another little tidbit I don't want to go too long. But know Someone once told me that if you please Your life from your funeral backwards. And you and you. first think about the things that you would want people to be saying. So, what people would you want to be at your funeral? What would you want them to be saying in your eulogy? Right? What would you want people to what stories would you want people to tell about you? And if you plan your life backwards from the way you envision that event, you are going to meet all of your life goals. If you know, and some of it comes to, you know, it takes a little introspective and you know, or introspection, and, you know, I wish I would have done this when I was younger. And now that I'm more mature, it's easier to do this. But you know, I know as an 18-19-year-old that's asking a lot but you know, really look at your life and what you want people to think about you and the decisions you make day to day. bring you closer to the vision of yourself or do they bring you further away from that vision of yourself. And, and if they bring you further away, you should probably relook at what you're doing day to day and change your habits change your lifestyle.
Brian 68:13
I think that is super important because a lot of guys we talked to, like you said, they're young, they're like, I have time I have time to, you know, grow into myself, I have time to do whatever, you know, I don't really need to start doing anything until I'm like 25-30, that kind of thing. And those people once you if you can get a score earlier or whatever, and do just like the Chief said, and figure out the person that you are earlier in life, and the earlier that you do that, you know, the more you can stack on stuff because it's childlike. You know, you have a four cylinder engine we start out with and then you start building your frame before you start adding on patches and nice things because really what matters is the engine and what's going to drive you further not the fancy things that are going to be on the outside like the badges and all that stuff. So, I think that is super important. So, you guys out there listening, make sure that you are doing that. So, I'm just going to kind of recap some of the things that we talked about really quick. And again, we appreciate you Chief coming on the show. And talking to these people. You know, the audience, like you said, is soaking up all knowledge I can get. And right there, the last 10 minutes was just awesome. I think we're going to do like a full 10-minute soundbite of all the things you just said, because there's a ton of wisdom in there. But the other stuff, you know, like, I were talking about the beginning, Chief with over his 30 years of, you know, being in the Marine Corps to Recon, going through multiple selections and kind of building himself into the person that he eventually became but not intending on getting that position. Because he's focusing on rank or focusing on any of the other, you know, other things that would be like those little badges and like Oh, nice to have, but he focused in on the team and I think that is Super important and it starts from day one. When you step in the door in the Air Force, those people are always going to remember you for the rest of your life like, like Chief Peaches are soon to be Chief Peaches and Chief Guilmain we're talking about they met each other in the gym when peach was a student. And the chief was the instructor. And they both recall the exact event that happened. So you know, your reputation starts, the minute you step in the door, and you show your face you say who your Sergeant for the first time, whatever you do, all these guys are going to remember you because we see each other in the Air Force and I run into and I'm sure Aaron, Peaches, same thing, different people that we've trained with throughout the Air Force, or they hit us up on email asking us questions. So, it's a continuous thing and people are going to expect that same reputation and you want to be that guy that people can trust and lean on just like the Chief was talking about. As you go through your career, if you're that guy that consistently has a good answer, or at least a good outlook that they will find the answer to every single question or problem that comes up for the team, then you're cool calm, that they're going to keep on coming to you for answers, which, you know, obviously, Chief domain has a ton of answers because he ended up getting a ton of those questions and then rising to the level of the SOW Chief. So just consistently strive to be that guy. And you will go further in your career than you would have planned. But it's all about a team. So, I, again, I appreciate you coming on Chief. And if you ever want to come on again, or anything that you want to recover, oh, and again, I'll we will make sure to put that list if you can get the reading list for those guys to read up on. Because reading is super important. If you don't if you're not reading, listening to podcasts, any of this stuff to prepare yourself and you're just listening to Britney Spears or whatever you're doing during your workouts.
Chief Guilmain 71:57
I'm just saying sure Brian, don't forget about the T-shirt
Brian 72:03
Will get the Chief a T-shirt
Aaron 72:05
He will have to make a special "hope is not a COA" One's Ready limited release t-shirt.
Brian 72:18
Yeah, I like that. That's a good one. All right. So, any last parting words Chief?
Chief Guilmain 72:25
No, thanks, Brian, Aaron, Jared, this is certainly an honor for me to be able to, you know, invest in some people, even if it's just for a quick hour, you know, if people listen to this and they get some benefit from it. That is certainly my hope. But thanks for teeing it up. The work that you guys are doing is certainly benefiting a whole lot of people too. And ultimately benefiting what we're all passionate about, which is you know, AFSPECWAR and defending the nation. So, thanks for the work that you guys are doing both in your full-time jobs and for this as well.
Brian 73:01
All right. So, you guys, thank you again for listening to another episode of One’s Ready you guys have any recommendations for anybody that you want us to bring on? Go ahead and hit us up. And if you ever have any questions, we're always here for you to try and explain. We'll do our best if we can't find the answer or if we don't have the answer. We'll find the answer for you, of course, and make sure that you guys are going out there and each breath and getting in the gym. We'll see you guys next time.
TLDR: LIFE IN THE SOF COMMUNITY IS GREAT. PREPARATION, PROBLEM SOLVING, AND GOOD LEADERSHIP/FOLLOWERSHIP ARE THE KEYS TO THE CASTLE. FINALLY WE AREN’T WORTHY HAVING TREY ON!
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