Jocko Podcast - 245: Knowing What Leads to Victory. Critical Importance of The Fighting Spirit Combat Lessons Vol. 3 with Dave Berke

Episode Date: September 2, 2020

0:00:00 - Opening 0:02:32 - Combat Lessons Vol. 3. 2:03:32 - How to stay on THE PATH. 2:22:36 - Closing Gratitude.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content...

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Jocko podcast number 245 with Echo Charles and me, Jocko Willink. Good evening, Echo. Good evening. Also joining tonight is Dave Burke. Good evening, Dave. Good evening. Did you make it to the status of honorary co-host yet? Yes, no?
Starting point is 00:00:23 Well, I was thinking we're getting there. People want to know why they call me a good deal, Dave. This is the fact that we've been talking about that. This is why. Check. Back again tonight with some more combat lessons. From the document called Combat Lessons, document written in the throes of World War II.
Starting point is 00:00:46 And what they were doing was interviewing frontline leaders and frontline troops. In fact, the subtitle is rank and filing combat. What they're doing and how they're doing it. We've covered two of these so far. And this is the third one. And, you know, sometimes I think to myself, well, you know, I mean, we kind of get the idea, right? And I'll start thumbing. So I started thumbing through this one.
Starting point is 00:01:08 I said, you know, do we really need to cover another one of these? So I start thumbing through it and you just start reading these things. And I can't put it down and I'm still learning. And so I figure if I'm learning, we can all learn. Why trying to hold it back from the people? No reason. We can get right into it. So here it is. Combat Lessons, Volume 3.
Starting point is 00:01:34 And we've done two of these so far, actually. I forget what number of podcasts they are, but we've covered two of these volumes. This is the third volume. And this is what all the volumes start off with, this quote, The Paramount Combat Lesson learned from every operation is the vital importance of leadership, which is really an interesting thing that we say every single time we talk to people. our equipment are supplying above our all men and above all our men are splendid aggressive and determined leadership is the priceless factor which inspires a command and upon which all success
Starting point is 00:02:12 in battle depends it is responsible for success or failure and that is july third nineteen 44 starts off just jumping right into leadership leadership and command need for leadership comments received from all active theaters continue to emphasize the need for competent and aggressive leaders this is especially true as regards junior officers and non-commissioned officers lieutenant general Courtney h Hodges who observed operations in north Africa and Italy stated and before I even get to that why is it so awesome that they're just pointing out over and over and over again in each one of these volumes that leadership is the most important thing on the battlefield and yet we work with companies that have no leadership training for their people until a shalom front shows up and then I guess they do but it's it's bizarre that it's a bizarre that it is so hard. What makes it what what what day what makes it so hard to see that leadership is the most
Starting point is 00:03:33 important thing? What do you think makes it so hard to see? I stumped good deal. Yeah. Well no I there's a couple things that first is I don't think people realize how impactful leadership is they almost convinced themselves that hey are what we can do is you know if we bring in people with these skills or our software suite and they they get so wrapped up in all these other components. They lose sight of the fact that this thing. this intangible thing that you can't really track with the spreadsheet. They lose sight of how important it is. And I think the other part that we're seeing a lot now is people lose sight of how often
Starting point is 00:04:10 you have to keep addressing leadership. And so they think it's sometimes like, hey, no, I understand what a good leadership is like. And they think they are applying it, but they don't realize that, hey, I've got to keep addressing this over and over and over again. And they lose sight of not just how important it is, but also how important it is, how hard it is to sustain it. And when we come work with companies, the more we work with them and the longer work with them, the more they want to keep doing and they realize, man, I had no idea how long this journey was going to be.
Starting point is 00:04:40 But the ones that figured out, dude, they, they elevate so quickly. They get so good, so fast when they make it a priority. Yeah. The first thing that you said, you are de facto not detached. When you're inside of a company, you're firefighting day to day, you're trying to figure out what the next quarter is going to be. And you're trying to figure out what's going on with the sales team. So you're just in it. And so you start to lose track of the fact that this is all about leadership.
Starting point is 00:05:11 Yeah. So that happens. And that's why when we come in with a company, we can immediately see because we are detached. That is part of it. The other cool thing analogy here is when you start doing jiu-jitsu, you, You know, you get through that point where you realize how much you don't know and you realize, oh, wow, I got a lot to learn. And a leader, you know, you can read the book and be like, you can read extreme ownership. Be like, oh, yeah, I got this.
Starting point is 00:05:41 But that's like the first two, three moves that you learned in jihitsu and you think you're good to go, but you don't realize you need to drill. You need to practice. You need to see. There's so much more to learn. So those are the things I think that, yeah, can inhibit people. from recognizing what we say all the time, what every freaking book that I read says, leadership's the most important thing.
Starting point is 00:06:08 So getting into what General Hodges had to say, few division commanders are satisfied with the qualities of a major percentage of their platoon commanders. Ouch. Too many of them are lacking in aggressive leadership, self-reliance, and ability to meet emergencies. Inefficiency of officers in this,
Starting point is 00:06:28 group in carrying out orders strictly and in making accurate reports as to locations, dispositions, and information gained was especially stressed by one division commander. So that's a horrible outlook. And if you feel that way, what are you supposed to do about it? That's why you need to implement training for your subordinate leaders. And that's exactly what this next recommendation is. Course for NCOs, that's non-commissioned officers. Lack of leadership on the part of non-commissioned officers was also frequently reported.
Starting point is 00:07:01 In one division in reserve, a special course was designed to develop more aggressive leadership in non-commissioned officers and to make the squad a real fighting team trained to use the firepower of its weapons to the maximum. This leadership course consisted principally in what is termed battle drill. While most comments on leadership deal mainly with leadership during actual contact with the enemy, the true leader recognizing the responsible. of his position must exercise leadership at all times. He must be unsparing in his efforts to take care of his units by providing for the comfort of his personnel and at the same time ensuring proper maintenance and safeguarding of their equipment. Exercise leadership at all times. And isn't it interesting leadership strategy and tactics? What's the most important thing? You have to take care of your people. What is this? Unsparing.
Starting point is 00:08:05 your efforts even as you read even as I read that the first time I read it I read unsparing in his efforts and you think it's gonna say to provide the discipline mandatory for combat operations but no unsparing in his efforts to take care of his units by providing the comfort and there's the dichotomy at the same time ensuring proper maintenance and safeguarding their equipment and what it should say there is their training right it's talking about safeguarding their maintenance equipment that's cool but you got to make sure that they're well-trained ready to rock and roll when the time comes irresponsibility in this connection comment of colonel maurice e barker
Starting point is 00:08:47 fifth army italy is interesting younger officers seem to lack a sense of responsibility for the men under their care and for the equipment entrusted to them they seem to feel that there is an inexhaustible supply of equipment and that all they have to do is throw stuff away when they no longer lead it, need it. Of course, the non-commissioned officer follow their, the non-commissioned officers follow their lead. This lack of responsibility is tremendously important and something drastic must be done about it. Hey, Colonel Maurice E. Barker, you know who should do something about it? You should. Because if your junior officers are lacking the sense of responsibility, guess what? Whose fault is that? Yes, yours. That's one part. The other thing that I underlined here
Starting point is 00:09:33 is, of course, the non-commissioned officers follow their lead. And that's a subconscious thing that happens. You get somebody in charge and you get somebody that's in whatever they're doing where they're underperforming or they're treating things as if they don't matter or they're throwing equipment away, whatever they're doing, the junior people are going to follow them. That's the way it works. along this same line, Lieutenant Colonel E.W. Gibson, G243rd Division, New Georgia commented. The chief fault of the inexperienced officer is that he does not realize his responsibilities with respect to looking out for his men, finding them food and water, checking their bivouac and seeing to their clothing.
Starting point is 00:10:22 if he will evidence his concern for their welfare he can forget about morale they'll fight if he will evidence his concern for their welfare he can forget about morale they'll fight who would have thought that if you actually take care of your people they'll fight Did it say, hey, if you bark orders at your people, they'll fight? No, it didn't say that. Did it say, hey, if you impose hardcore discipline on them, they'll fight? No, it didn't say that either. What you have to do is just show evidence of your concern for their welfare.
Starting point is 00:11:15 And then they'll fight. Widespread effect. Junior officers and non-commissioned officers seldom realize the widespread effect on major operations of their failure to do their particular jobs properly. Being an excellent fighter is not enough unless the junior leader performs his other command functions in an efficient manner the resulting failure of his personnel or equipment can imperil the whole action of a major unit. Once again, if my people don't recognize that, whose fault is it? And this one in particular isn't cast in the blame, but it should say make sure you tell your junior officers and non-commission officers what the widespread effect of their failure would be. The following common is from the Division Commander 36 Division, Italy. At Salerno, carelessness was noted in the landing of communications equipment.
Starting point is 00:12:12 Most communications failures are believed to be the result of careless handling of the equipment by personnel. Without communications, even the best trained troops are very often, cannot be employed where desired. So, yeah, didn't waterproof your radio correctly, and everything falls apart. Through your radio into the bottom of the landing craft and it got banged around and the tubes broke, total failure. Why? Because no one emphasized the fact that, hey, your job as the radio man is the most important job of anyone out there.
Starting point is 00:12:44 And if we can't make communications, it doesn't matter what else happens. If we can't make communications, we're going to fall apart. Next section, practice and more practice. Commanding General, third infantry division, Italy. The development of leadership is largely a matter of practice. Practice in leading. Make these lieutenants actually lead. exercise their voice and issue commands.
Starting point is 00:13:13 Require high standards of physical condition. Always got to throw that in there. Make these lieutenants actually lead. Having James Webb on when he went through the basic school and then got done with the basic school and then had 12 days of leave. And then he landed in Vietnam and they drove him out through the A.O. And then pointed at a ridgeline and said, There's your platoon up there.
Starting point is 00:13:47 Okay, who am I replacing? Well, you're not replacing anyone. The lieutenant that was there is no longer there because he was dead or wounded. So there's a sergeant that's been running the platoon. Go take over. Walk up the hill, he takes over. That night, he's calling for fire, total mayhem. And he was, I was like, were you ready for that?
Starting point is 00:14:07 And he said, yes. That's squared away. Were you ready for that action? coming out of OCS or coming out of the basic school? Dude, I'm listening to you talk about this. And the first thing I'm thinking is it sounds like somebody read this and took some action because I was the beneficiary of by the time I got in the Marine Corps, the NCOs, the middle level enlisted Marines that on paper were subordinate to me, but really were way more
Starting point is 00:14:39 experienced than me. They didn't let me fail. And so I can tell you right now, second Lieutenant Burke, when he had his first group of Marines, was an idiot. But I was lucky because rather than my subordinate enlisted Marines kind of following whatever stupidity I might be,
Starting point is 00:14:55 they were putting, hey, sir, actually, hey, sir, a better way to do it might be this or something and the thing, but I got really good leadership up the chain. So that lesson, that lesson somehow is taken hold from this 1944 to now because Marines are taught from the get-go. The smartest thing you can do is a young lieutenant. is listen to your staff NCOs,
Starting point is 00:15:13 listen to your gunnies, your staff sergeants, those Marines who, on paperwork for you, you're gonna learn a lot from them. And thank God, my junior, and listen, didn't listen to me at all. They understood that they needed to lead up the chain. And for me to look at you and I say, yeah, I'll be ready, no way, I was ready.
Starting point is 00:15:32 When I walked out of TBS and I walked into whatever that first thing that I did, had I not had that leadership up the chain, I would have struggled much more than I did, much more than I did, much more, than I did. The other thing I take away from this is you need practice, practice and leading, right? And there was, there's situations in business, right? Because we work mostly with businesses now. What you have is an opportunity to train leaders all the time, day in, day out. There's always
Starting point is 00:16:06 situations where decisions need to get made, where there's low-level decisions that need to get made, where there's medium-level decisions that need to get made, where there's high-level decisions where maybe you still need to make the decision, but at least you can allow them to attempt to make that decision and maybe get corrected or maybe get a pat on the back for, hey, good way to think through that issue. So this does happen, and if you think about the fact
Starting point is 00:16:30 that every opportunity you get, you say, you know what? Hey, junior personnel, why don't you run this project? Why don't you organize that logistical movement that needs to take place. Why don't you run that meeting? Every time you get that opportunity, take it. Because that is what you were doing. You are letting your subordinate leaders practice leading, and they need it.
Starting point is 00:16:51 And you let them do it in an environment where, look, I'm going to let them run an in-house meeting with just our company. So that way, if they screw it up, no one sees it. It's okay. We can debrief it later. I'm not going to let them go out and brief the client on what we're going to do and have them drop the ball on that. But after I see them perform well, three or four or five in-house meetings,
Starting point is 00:17:10 and they've got control and they're confident and they're doing a good job. Cool. Hey, why don't you brief this part of this thing to the client? Okay. Yeah. And then we go from there. So as a leader, every opportunity that you get, give your subordinates all the way down to the front lines, the opportunity to practice leading by actually leading. Let them lead some stuff.
Starting point is 00:17:33 Yeah. And most decisions that we make in business and anyone like, most decisions aren't catastrophic. Okay. Most of the decisions, even if we get them wrong, they aren't going to destroy our company or have these catastrophic effects. And that's not to say it. It's a free pass. You still need to have these guardrails in place. You don't want your people to be able to drive the truck off the road.
Starting point is 00:17:53 But the truth of the matter is that giving your people opportunities to lead isn't that hard. Because even the things that you push down to their level and help them, when they get it wrong, which they will, most of those will not undermine your company. Now, be smart. Just like you said, I'm not just going to cut loose my brand new guy. I take this high, our number one client, our biggest moneymaker, just go figure it out, call me when you're done. But the decisions that we make, there are so many opportunities to let other people even get along a little bit and get involved, have a small part of it and watch that grow. And just have confidence that the decisions, most of the decisions we make aren't going to lead to catastrophe. Yeah. Yeah, I did that piece on EF online. I don't know, it was maybe a month or two ago. It was that. It was like, listen, very few decisions that you make are final.
Starting point is 00:18:39 decisions. In fact, almost none of them. And furthermore, just about every interaction you have is up for further negotiation. So if Dave and I are arguing about something and Dave wants to do A and I want to do B, we can walk away and it's not like that is what's going to happen in most cases. Most of the time, there's going to be further negotiation. And if I maybe subordinate my ego and say, all right, Dave, let's go with your plan. I can go back and reinsert some of the things that I thought might be a little bit smoother if we did it the way I was thinking and once we start to see that it's good so we move forward with a little bit more negotiation and and you're right those are the opportunities where you let people lead you know what prevents us from doing that
Starting point is 00:19:22 is when I want to be in charge man man it feels good to be the man right feels good to be the man what's crazy about that is that you is when you're my boss you're the guy in charge when you take something that you're responsible for and you give it to me, you don't look weak, you actually look even stronger than you are. Like, that fear of that, hey, I want to be in charge,
Starting point is 00:19:49 I look like I'm in charge, when you give people on your team that work for you the chance to lead, and if you actually put yourself in a position to follow them, you look so much stronger than when you refuse to ever do that. You want to know something
Starting point is 00:20:01 that I haven't quite figured out yet? I know it exists. I know it happens. I know it's a thing, but it has to do with detachment. It has to do with perspective. It has to do with ego. It's these three things. So you have perspective, you have detachment, and you have ego.
Starting point is 00:20:23 So here's what happens. Dave, let's say I do something, let's just, the scenario that you just gave, right? If I'm the boss and you work for me and I walk in and say, hey, Dave, you know what? We got this project? why don't you go ahead and take ownership of this thing and run with it now when we look at that we know we know that from the outside that that that increases your respect for me right but how often do we see someone that goes Dave here's what we're doing and here's how we're doing it because in you know in the back of my mind I'm thinking well Dave doesn't want to think that I don't
Starting point is 00:21:04 know what I'm doing Dave needs to know that I have the plan and he needs to know that actually I'm boss. So even though when you when you're not in it, you know that it's a bad move, but you do it. Or sorry, when you're not in it, yeah, when you're not in it, you know what the right thing or the wrong thing to do is. We just make that mistake all the time. I see it. I play this game with clients. Like who would you hire? Who would you fire? When, when if Echo's in charge of us and Echo walks in and you and I were in charge of a project, or we were working together on a project and Echo says hey you guys missed the deadline and I go well it's because Dave didn't finish his part of the project because he is late and then he you know Dave walks in
Starting point is 00:21:46 the office and in Echo says what happened and Dave says well you know what I actually need to perform a couple things I could have done a better job here I should have supported Jocko a little bit more so that we could have completed the project okay okay which guy are you going to give the next project to you're going to give a guy who took ownership all day long everybody knows that everybody knows that. And here's the thing that I haven't quite figured out. Everybody knows that. And then when they're in it, they say, oh, it's Dave's fault.
Starting point is 00:22:12 It's just the way, it's so horrible. It's like a lesson that you try and teach to people over and over and over again. The lesson is detach, take your ego out of it and understand it from the boss's perspective or from the subordinate's perspective. See it from the other person's perspective. And you'll see it so obvious that you're. making a bad call. It's so obvious that you're making a bad call, but when you're in it, you do it. So detach, take your ego out of the picture and see the other person's perspective, which by the way, when you tell someone a story or you show someone example, that's exactly
Starting point is 00:22:54 what's happening. They're detached, their ego is out of it because it's not them, and they they see the better perspective because they're not in it. There's a little, there's a little triangle of justice. A little triangle of, of how to proceed and assess what you're doing. It's detachment, its perspective,
Starting point is 00:23:21 and it's ego. If you can remember those three little things, that little triangle of decision making, it's going to, it's going to put you in the right place way more often than if you lose either one any of those three you put your ego in there it doesn't matter it overrules them you don't see the perspective of now you don't know what's happening you're not detached you're in it you lose all right every infantry lieutenant should be thoroughly trained in firing all the infantry weapons
Starting point is 00:23:50 he cannot know too much about them he may have to fire directed fire of several weapons he and he never knows when good good next thing theory is not enough A thorough and practical knowledge of his job is the basis for efficient leadership. This knowledge must be gained in a practical way by exercising leadership under all conditions. Too much of our leadership training has been theoretical in nature. There has been too much dependence on listening to lectures. Opportunity must be given to the junior officer to put the theoretical knowledge to practice by actually leading. Criticisms of errors.
Starting point is 00:24:31 made must be so couched that they do not destroy the initiative and spirit of the individual. Just when you think like you know, you, yeah, well, yeah, I really come up with this thing about how to debrief people and how to do it in a nice way so that they actually receive it. Hey, this is 19, what I say, 44, 43. These guys are already figured all this out. Theoretical. This is what's nice about role playing. This is what's nice about the FTX program.
Starting point is 00:24:59 And this is what's nice about living in a business. where you can actually put people in leadership positions where they can practice the theory that we're talking about. Because you can explain to someone how to do a jump shot basketball. You can explain that to them for two weeks. They'll have a concept in their mind, but they got to go get on the foul line. Leadership on the beach.
Starting point is 00:25:23 Fifth amphibious core Tarawa. Squad and platoon leaders must expect that the mixing of units and an apparent state of confusion are normal in an operation of this nature. When troops have gained the beach and coordinated battalion and company attacks are broken up by the enemy pillbox defenses, leaders, whether lieutenants, corporals, or privates
Starting point is 00:25:46 must take the initiative and push on with the men in the vicinity, whether of their own units or not. This assault was very successful because men moved on in spite of heavy losses. So I was talking about something with Darrell Cooper on the unraveling podcast. We have something called an error box when you're doing a dive underwater.
Starting point is 00:26:15 And the error box is when you're diving underwater, you're being impacted by the currents and the tide and your own physical productivity as you dive. So if I put you on a blindfold and put you underwater in a pool, right, and said dive in a straight line, you were blindfolded, you would not dive in a straight line. You'd be a little bit off. then if I gave you a compass, you could maintain a little bit better, but you'd still be off a little bit. It wouldn't be perfect. And then you put tide and current, and now you're going to be off.
Starting point is 00:26:49 I assume it's very similar to flying a plane. Like a plane may drift a little bit to the left, right? Totally. Okay. So it's the same thing. Yep. So what you have to do when you're diving is you dive so that you can, you want to,
Starting point is 00:27:03 what you're looking for is a reset, a reset point where you know exactly where you are. So example, if you're going to dive in a bay or in a harbor, you would aim, the first thing you would do is aim at a big quay wall. That's 500 yards long. You're not going to miss that quay wall. Even if you had to dive 500 yards to get to that quay wall, it's a massive target. But when you get to that target, you might have drifted 20 or 30 yards to left or 20 or 30 yards to right or even 40 or 50 or 60 yards to left or right, depending on the tide, depending on the current. So when you actually hit that quay wall, you have no idea where you are.
Starting point is 00:27:37 What you've done is you've landed inside the error box. So then what you do is you take a right hand turn when you hit that quay wall. Once you take that right hand turn, you go to the end of the quay wall until you get to the corner. Now guess what? You know exactly where you are. And then you're next, you can swim your next leg. But you've tightened up that error box. So what we need to do when we're planning is we need to figure out if we can reset that error
Starting point is 00:28:09 box at any point. How can we do it? And if we can't do it, then we need to pay attention to that. So what we were talking about actually was Syria. And you go into Syria and you think, hey, we're going to do this little thing in Syria and it will have this impact and we'll be good to go. And what you're saying is I'm going to hit with one, I'm going to hit right where I'm aiming for. Well, what are the chances of that? They're not really good. So what do you do? Oh, you need to figure it out. You need to figure out if it's the error boxes, hey, we might go 10 to the left, the right. Now we know. And by the way, if we don't get a reset there, our next leg is going to have an even bigger error box. So when you look at something in a strategic way like Syria, what your
Starting point is 00:28:51 assumption has to be. You have to go through that whole thing as if your error box never got reset and you missed every single time. And by the end of it, then you have to look at the total cost of what it would take to solve that ultimate situation and that's what you have to be willing to commit and we don't do that What we say is well, we'll go in and do this and it'll have this impact and then from that perfect spot that we know We'll do something else and it will be perfect again and so the same thing happens in business What people unfortunately have a tendency to do is they plan with a positive attitude. And we don't want to plan with a positive attitude.
Starting point is 00:29:39 We don't want to say, well, you know, Dave, if we make drinks, we're going to, if we put, if we put, uh, drinks in a can, our assumption is they'll all, every can's going to be perfect. There'll be no error. Well, there's going to be error. And then once we, once they get to the stores, while they're getting shipped to the stores, nothing is going to happen to any of them. There's going to be no damaged goods.
Starting point is 00:30:02 And then once they're in the store, none of them are going to get stolen. And then once they're bought at the store, none of them are going to get returned, right? So if you have that attitude, it's a mistake. So you have to plan with a negative attitude at least to be able to cover whatever contingencies you have at the end of the day,
Starting point is 00:30:23 which is, you know what? People will buy it, right? That's the last thing you say. Once the cans are in the store, people are definitely going to buy it because I like the way this tastes. Well, actually, that's not necessarily true. Your taste buds are different than everyone else is in the world.
Starting point is 00:30:37 So you can't assume that, oh, this is just going to fly off the shelf. No. What are you willing to invest if your error is calculated and exponentially increased every phase of your operation? Think about that to keep yourself out of trouble. Orientation. This is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome. The need for explanation, the American soldier always, performs better if he knows the wise and wherefores of the problem confronting him. So wherefores, this is a word we're going to bring back into usage. Because what wherefores means, it's for the cause or reason or for which reason you're doing something. That's what wherefore means.
Starting point is 00:31:33 So you need to know the wise and the wherefores. You need to know the reason that you're doing something. His willing and intelligent cooperation can be gained. if commanders will take the time and effort to explain the situation, the mission, the plan devised to accomplishment, the effect success will have on the general situation. In short, everything concerning the operation that the time and available information will permit. Wow.
Starting point is 00:32:00 It's crazy. This is why you don't want me as a co-host. All I want to do is sit here and just listen to you, read this thing. I don't want to say anything because I'm listening to that. He's like, God, that is so good. Yeah. It's so good. And yet, how often do we run into a company and the front lines and you go to talk to them and they don't understand why they're doing something?
Starting point is 00:32:21 It's so straightforward. I was thinking early. You asked that question right at the beginning. Sometimes when we start working with companies, one of the reasons why they reach out to us is even in these, they'll have these initial calls. They just reach out. They want to have just a call about what does Eschlon Front do? And one of the things they'll say is like, listen, we don't really know how to do leadership. We don't really know what to do.
Starting point is 00:32:44 So that's why they reach out to us. That's why the book, that's why extreme ownership is so good. And that's why listening to this stuff is so good, because this stuff isn't complicated. It's not complex. And we create these things in our mind that it's so difficult and it's so new on. Leadership is so simple.
Starting point is 00:33:05 Now, the application is hard. It is hard. Totally. But the reason the book is so good and the reason book is so good and the reason I will why I listen to this like how much more straightforward does that be explain your people why they're doing what they're doing and they'll do better and then we see those missteps at every single level and our job is to find out hey why aren't you explaining it's your people sometimes it's like you said hey my their ego gets in the way they want they don't
Starting point is 00:33:30 look weak and we pull them back and give them that detachment their perspective we go hey do you think as a leader if you just spend a little bit of time telling your people why they're doing what they're doing well that make you look worse or better as a leader They get the answer right every single time. But it's because we're coming in from the outside, helping them see it in a way that they wouldn't see it before. But none of the answers are complex. And as I'm sitting here,
Starting point is 00:33:52 I don't want to co-hosts this. I just want to listen to this book, be read out loud because there's that simplicity to it. But he's talking about the World War II battlefield. And my brain, it's like that fits everywhere. That's every company we've ever worked with. It's every problem I've ever had. It's all the same thing.
Starting point is 00:34:07 Yeah. And for anyone that's worried about, well, what if you don't have time? Yeah. There's going to be times where we don't have time. And guess what? If you've done this time and time again and now you're making a call, people go, got it. He's going to fill me in later.
Starting point is 00:34:18 But he's telling me this for a reason and I'm going to move forward. Yeah. Back to the book, such explanations will do much to forestall rumors, anxiety, and mass hysteria. All factors which contribute to incidents of war neurosis cases, which is, you know, people shell shock or, or I guess, I guess it's not. PTSD if it's during the conflict, right? But guys breaking down. If people know why they're doing, what they're doing, they will have much less of a chance of breaking down.
Starting point is 00:34:52 And we actually talked about this. You know, Leif talked about the fact that one thing that we could have done better is explain the bigger picture of what was happening. And the reason this became so obvious is because the guys in task unit bruiser that were involved in the planning and that were involved in picking targets that were involved to figure out where we're going to position overwatches that were going to battalion level briefs and these were all different guys throughout the chain of command whether it was the point man whether it was the the lead sniper whether it was the platoon commander the platoon chief
Starting point is 00:35:26 but the they all understood the why and the where force the guys that we were saying hey get your gear on and going on another mission those were the guys that had that that that had a rougher time of it psychologically. So that's on us, that's on me. And, and, you know, as Laif explains in the book, when we got back and we put together the brief that I was briefing to the Naval Special Warfare community at large about what we had done,
Starting point is 00:35:58 and Laif for the first time put together, wow, we went and helped the 1-1-A-D, went back the city. Even he hadn't really assembled that in his head. So I'm sitting there, and he said that. He's like, man, we really had a big impact. And I'm like, ashamed. Because if he didn't really see that, how in God's name could one of his front line guys see it?
Starting point is 00:36:21 Now, look, part of this is because that trust that Leif did have and Seth's same thing. Like, hey, we're going to go get after it. You know what those guys say? Roger, point me in the direction of bad guys and we will go and get after it. but not everyone's feeling that way, especially two months, three months, four months, five months into a deployment. Whose fault is that?
Starting point is 00:36:43 100% on me. 100% on me. So there you go. It's plain as day. Explain to your people the wise and where force. It also makes them more resilient when things go wrong. So when you know, You talk about losing somebody.
Starting point is 00:37:07 You talk about just the devastating effect of losing someone on your team. Those are the type of events that you can fully understand why people want to just tap out. They just don't want to keep going through this. And we were going to memorials. I think we had a stretch that our beginning. It was 60 KIA in 30 days. Something really bad. The more connected you are, the more you understand those things, the easier it is for you to look at that.
Starting point is 00:37:31 It's no less, it's still soul-crush. But you can still power through that if you understand. But if you don't understand it, you are disconnected, those type of critical events, those catastrophic events, dudes will tap out all over the place. And so it also allows you to endure the hardest things are going to happen. And the more connected you are, the more you can understand why you need to keep moving forward
Starting point is 00:37:53 when those things happen. Yeah, 100%. And on top of that, what I initially thought you were going to say was, by the way, this is the founding, foundation of decentralized command because what they're talking about they're not talking about decentralized. They're just talking about willing and intelligent cooperation, which I guess is, you know, you can interpret that as decentralized command, but if you want somebody to be able to
Starting point is 00:38:16 make decisions and lead out on the battlefield, they need to know the wise and wherefores of what's happening. This is the foundation of decentralized command. On top of that, what you said is absolutely true. And by the way, it doesn't only apply to combat. It applies to a business where, guess what, We got to lay off 28 people. And no one feels good about that. And if they don't understand that it's how we're going to keep the company afloat and how we're going to move forward and this is exactly what the numbers look like and this is why we need to make this decision, if it's just, hey, I'm a business, you know, we're a business
Starting point is 00:38:51 and we got to get rid of some people right now. It's like, no. Why? Next, method of dissemination. If possible, this orientation should be conducted by the leaders in immediate contact with the soldier. By the individual, he instinctively looks to for guidance during the stress and strain of combat. It should reach the private soldier through his squad leader, the squad leader by means of
Starting point is 00:39:18 the section or platoon leader, the platoon leader from the company commander and so on. However, each higher echelon of command must be certain that the information is carefully and accurately disseminated by those next lower in the chain of command. This method of orientation also tends to enhance the prestige and influence of each echelon of leaders with those junior to them. So you want to utilize the chain of command to put this information out that elevates them. Now, there's a dichotomy to this and outed the EF Battlefield that we did out at Gettysburg. We had some clients out there talking about leadership principles and one of the leadership principles that I taught. talked about was the horse's mouth because there are certain things well in task unit
Starting point is 00:40:12 bruiser there are certain things that I had to tell the team there was no there was no I didn't want there to be any of the of the misinterpretation of any kind I am going to tell there there's been a change in the ROE there's been a change in our overall mission set that's not getting interpreted through the chain of command and I'm going to hope that the that the fire team leader conveys the same message. Nope, it's going to come from me. You know, so out there at EF Battlefield, you know, there was a CEO that was saying, hey, I feel like the message isn't always getting to the front lines.
Starting point is 00:40:49 And when it comes to important things, that can be a problem. I'm like, yes, absolutely. If it's something that is super important, there's been a legal change or a regulatory change in what's happening in the way we do business. I would be having a video teleconference and saying, hey, hey, everyone, good to talk to you. I know, I haven't talked to you in a few weeks, but here's what's going on. We got this major change. I wanted you all to hear it from me.
Starting point is 00:41:12 I already briefed your leaders on it, but I wanted to make sure you didn't have any questions. So when it is a significant change, sometimes it's got to come from the horse's mouth. By the way, if you get to do that in an optimum way, what you do is you pre-brief your leaders, you give them the opportunity to brief their troops, and then you say, hey, everyone would get together just to reemphasize what you heard boom a little bit of both next one tell the story colonel earl maxwell surgeon new georgia a soldier needs to know what is going on what is expected of him what he may expect to encounter he must have a definite objective or goal without these he's an automaton with no personal interest in the efforts of his unit and his
Starting point is 00:42:03 entirely unprepared when the unexpected or unexplainable happens without the proper orientation he is more prone to absorb wild rumors loose talk misinformation all resulting in constant mental stress and strain evidenced by apprehension fear anxiety incoherence and confusion there you go there you go you don't look we worry about hey people aren't going to do what I want them to do because I didn't tell them. But what about the fact that now they're scared? Now they don't know what's happening. Now there's increased stress because they think they might get fired tomorrow. They think they're laying off half the fort. All those things. Put those things to rest. Next section. The after the
Starting point is 00:42:53 fight conference. Every effort must be made to emphasize the important part each individual plays in the successful combat of his unit. A method used by one infantry regiment to accomplish this and at the same time provide information which would furnish background orientation is described in the following comment. They eat it up. This little section is called Major Kermit Hansen, 34th Infantry Division Italy. While I was S2 of an infantry regiment, that's the intelligence guy, I found that it aided the efficiency of the regiment to have material assembled as the fight was going on. When a battalion was pulled out for arrest, all the men and officers were assembled in a group. First, I would use the collected material to give them the whole picture from the viewpoint of the army, core, and division.
Starting point is 00:43:44 And then I would get down to more detail on just what the battalion had done, what German units they had fought, and how many casualties they had caused the enemy. such a conference keeps the men abreast of the situation, increases their morale, and keeps up their fighting spirit. The men eat it up. During this after the fight conference, I would emphasize how much of our information regarding the enemy was obtained from prisoner of war interrogation and pressing upon them how disastrous talking could be if they were captured. So this is taking a debrief, a post-operational debrief, and taking it to the next. next level sliding in a little psychological warfare on the troops. If you're down at the bottom of the org chart, you're a frontline guy and not just the military.
Starting point is 00:44:35 You don't have to be a private or a rifleman. It's the same thing in business. You've got your frontline sales folks that are out there. If you as a leader and look, if you're the CEO or your key leader, you've got the big picture. If your folks on your team at the very front can picture in their minds how that one little action they take goes all the way up. and he's described the viewpoint of the army. Like we're invading Europe.
Starting point is 00:44:59 This is a big viewpoint. And he's trying to get that connection all the way down to that one little action you take. When he says they eat it up, the first thing that popped to my mind is they feel like they have ownership. What they do matters. And if you think what you do matters and you can actually understand how what you do matters, you as a CEO, you can kind of, you can leave. You don't need to be here anymore. You can pack it up and let your people go do their thing.
Starting point is 00:45:28 And a lot of times we're like, I don't have time to explain. You have to make the time to explain it because if your people make that connection, it makes your life so much easier because they feel like they own this. That is such a powerful thing. Yeah, you invest $1 in effort in explaining to people what's happening and it pays dividends tenfold. Yeah. There's a section here called Battlefield Gallantry, which by,
Starting point is 00:45:57 its very title must be read. Here's the subtitle. He didn't know when he was beaten. Seventh Army, Sicily. During one of the more fluid situations in the Sicilian fighting, and I love that, because you just know how completely crazy it was,
Starting point is 00:46:17 but this is even one of the more fluid situations. The wire line running from a battalion command post to the rear suddenly went out. Sergeant Joseph Gorleski, with three men, started back to church, check and repair the break. After they had traveled about one half mile, they were ambushed by a patrol of 30 Germans. So that's four, four against 30, who had managed to infiltrate our position.
Starting point is 00:46:43 Sergeant Goreski and two men were wounded while the third man was killed. So they're down to three. The German patrol leader called in perfect English, give up, you crazy Americans. Although severely wounded and outnumbered 10 to 1, Sergeant Goreski ordered his men to open rapid fire. After emptying his rifle, the sergeant rushed the enemy with hand grenades. The German patrol, surprised by the unexpected stubborn resistance, was defeated and driven off with the loss of a number of its men. There you go. Battlefield gallantry.
Starting point is 00:47:33 Aggressive action. Cover and move. getting after it sergeant goalesky just just getting some next little section protected by valor the Germans have a nasty habit at times of opening fire at extreme ranges and making you advance under it while this long-range fire is not particularly dangerous dangerous it is very disconcerting the platoon of which private Shelby R. Horde was a member had been advancing under this long-range fire until, despite several casualties,
Starting point is 00:48:15 they had secured a position within 300 yards of the gun, which had been harassing them. From here on, there was no cover. This did not deter private horde, who, suddenly springing to his feet, raised some 250 yards until he was within hand grenade throwing range. With four grenades, he silenced the gun and, rushing in, killed four of the remaining enemy and wounded three others with his carbine. He then turned the machine gun on other enemy elements in the vicinity. The success of his apparently suicidal rush
Starting point is 00:48:49 demonstrates the fact that valor can sometimes provide protective armor. The enemy simply did not realize that any man would try such a thing and were not ready to put their fire on him. By the way, he's got a wing too. Because he got, it was 300 yards away. He closed 250 yards and then he made grenade shots. at 50 yards credit general Douglas MacArthur it should be constantly emphasized that there must be no thought of surrender as long as it is possible to do damage to the enemy the men at baton and
Starting point is 00:49:29 karegador fulfilled this condition however in some cases we have not done so the japanese soldiers always do unless all our individuals also do it we will suffer serious setbacks before Japan is conquered. And the word individuals is italicized. And obviously it's italicized for a reason. It's like, hey, at an individual level, you cannot surrender. If you can still do damage to the enemy, you cannot surrender. Next thing.
Starting point is 00:50:13 Reorganization after the attack. Don't waste time. I mean, you could just say don't waste time. Lieutenant Colonel Murphy. infantry, Italy. When an objective is captured, immediately push reconnaissance elements of the supporting weapons unit forward behind the riflemen.
Starting point is 00:50:30 Get rifle groups out for security as soon as the position is captured. Have the weapons platoons immediately take position to beat off a counter-attack. Displace promptly at least one half of the heavy weapons company forward to capture the objective or to the captured objective. Get your artillery observer up front and hurry.
Starting point is 00:50:46 We were taught all these things and they are still perfectly sound. So what he's saying? And my point for this is you get that advantageous moment and the gravitational pull will be to take a breath to relax. Don't do that. Continues on here. Delay brings trouble. Where an outfit gets into trouble is it is usually because they haven't pushed these points hard enough when they waste time just a little instead of getting set and moving stuff forward at once.
Starting point is 00:51:23 you probably will have only a little time to dig in before the counterattack hits. But if you get set without delay, you will be all right whether you plan to keep going or hold what you've captured. In football, there's a strategy called the no huddle. No huddle offense. That's literally exactly what that is. You know, with football, you run a play, you know, they blow the whistle. Take a little time. Everybody, yeah, the offense goes back to the huddle, the formulates their next play.
Starting point is 00:51:52 they come to the line. Same thing, defensive huddle, all this stuff, right? Then they come to the line, they make the call. Boom, they run another play.
Starting point is 00:52:00 You go no huddle offense, right when the, you know, the guy gets tackled or whatever. You're back on the line. Quarterback calls the play from the line in code real fast, too.
Starting point is 00:52:12 Usually, isn't that more fun? No. It's freaking tiring. Super tiring. So you got to kind of, you got to be ready for it. You got to train for it,
Starting point is 00:52:21 for sure. But what it does is the defense They're used to that rhythm You know that sprint, rest, huddle Get set, you know, all that stuff You if you run a no huddle offense And they're not ready for it You get one, two plays ahead of them
Starting point is 00:52:34 But you'll just march down the field If you can take it So why doesn't that just happen all the time? Because it's tiring I know, but why doesn't someone train up a squad Where they're like, okay, this is what we're doing? Well, so when I played in high school The, you know, Kauai is a small island
Starting point is 00:52:51 So the white male was the other team we were playing. And they were, I forget if we beat them last time or it was close. I don't know. I forget what happened the last time, but we were going to play them again. And the word on the street was they were just going to beat us, like bad. They're going to beat us bad. And I always was thinking like, why? Why would they even say that, you know?
Starting point is 00:53:10 Even if they beat us, we're like competitive. So it wasn't making sense. It seemed like they had something brewing. Sure enough, they come out with the no huddle. unexpected. I was like, and they just marched down the field. How many times did they do it? I don't remember, but until they scored. And they started, and it was all like quarterback keep.
Starting point is 00:53:30 You know what that means? No. Instead of, like, giving it to the running back or throwing it, the quarterback gets the ball from the center and just runs it. Oh. But these are all formulated plays where he just, he's running on the outside. He's running on the left side, right side, middle, like, and they were just coming. And I remember, I was on.
Starting point is 00:53:45 Like I was kind of a beast, huh? Yeah. Aaron Chun was his name. Did he make it? Did he make it to the NFL? or anything? No, not that I know of, but he made it, the offense made it to the, the Inzo, I'll tell you that. And I remember just how like, tactical victory.
Starting point is 00:53:59 Yeah, I remember thinking, man, I remember thinking, you guys go huddle. Like, I can't, like, get my, get my act together here to tackle nobody because you're just so on your toes the whole time. Here's the other thing. Okay, so, so there's that. And I still, you haven't really answered my question, which is if you're a coach where you just say, hey, we're actually going to condition. ourselves in a different way, in a non-traditional way, and we're going to be ready just to, we're never going to huddle. Yeah, the thing is, that's a huge undertaking.
Starting point is 00:54:30 The thing is we do. That's a common conditioning method. It's like, no-huddle offense for like, I don't know, 10 minutes, 20 minutes or whatever. Like, that's part of football conditioning practice and stuff. Because when you go no huddle, you better buckle up. There's no substitutions. I wonder if you would just get guys that were different, like they'd all of a sudden they'd be smaller and skinnier and have more.
Starting point is 00:54:50 have less power and then you'd end up with a team that even though they could run the no huddle offense on defense they would just get they would get run through methodically yeah wait what do you mean meaning if everyone else on the other team is just jacking steel and doing cleans with 315 and they're going up against a bunch of guys that are weighing in at 170 because they're doing this no huddle offense all the time you see what I can see it you'd end up with different physiques. Yes, for sure. And some teams, they'll, they'll kind of have that more in their strategy, you know? And you know, some teams they pass the ball more or they run the ball more or some, you know, some, no huddle that's like part of their strategy. Some people do quarterback keeps a lot.
Starting point is 00:55:38 As opposed to quarterback sneak, which is different. Yeah. Anyway, no, well, I would say the explanation for that is it can be risky. Because if you're going no huddle, no huddle, and then the defense is like oh we're ready for the no huddle then it's like man you get shut down and it's like all right it's different now i understand yeah now you're left like the other thing i sometimes wonder about football is you know you see like a trick play on youtube yeah how come everything's just not a sure yeah you know what i mean because they're risky just like jiu jitzu like you do those trick moves in jiu jitsu you get like a group of people who figured out that trick bro they're they're not gonna it's not gonna work we'll say that it becomes not a trick play now
Starting point is 00:56:17 It's no longer a trick play when people know. So, yeah, and there are teams who, and that's actually kind of how the no huddle is, too. It's kind of, it's, I wouldn't call it in the realm of trick plays, but it's kind of one of those things that's, it's unorthodox. So the unorthodoxness of it is part of the advantage, you know? So it's like there's another play called the reverse, right? It's like a, we'll call it a common trick play. Yep. I know that's a.
Starting point is 00:56:42 Go to the other side of the field, right? No, it's. Oh. Damn, I'm showing my ignorance here. Yes, sir, but it's okay. You're good at a lot of things. Football ain't one of them. Or a reverse is like, let's say, okay, so you get 11 guys, essentially, right?
Starting point is 00:56:58 You got the quarterback behind the center and they say, set down, whatever, right? If it's a running play, I'm going to get, if it's, you can run it up the middle, right? That's usually for short yardage situations. We'll need three yards for this first down and touch on whatever power through. Exactly right. Jump. I might even jump three years. Maybe, maybe.
Starting point is 00:57:13 Maybe. That's more of a one yard, half yard situation, but whatever, right? Then there's like an outside run, which is you can either give it to the running back and he'll run on the outside. But anyway, whatever side you're running and right side, left side, whatever, there's no like, there's no like, oh, we always run to the right side. We always run. There tends not to be that much of that going on. But when you run, when a play is going to the right side will say, you can see it. All 11 guys start, look, if I'm on the front line.
Starting point is 00:57:42 They go back to the other side now, right? Yes. But this is how they do it, though. So I was right I guess That's an ambiguous statement Go to the other side So I don't know
Starting point is 00:57:53 Maybe so what's about to happen So they either pretend I mean there's plenty ways to do it But they basically show that this play Is running to the right And then they Let's say the running back is running to the right With the ball
Starting point is 00:58:04 If I'm on the O line On the front line guys You're gonna step right Because you gotta get in front of the defense This way because they're running behind me So when you look at the offense As a defender as a group, they flow to a certain side.
Starting point is 00:58:18 You know that's where they're going. Pass play, they're just going to sort of stay in place because the quarterback is dropping back and you've got to pass the receivers go, right? So you can see all this stuff on the defense. So boom, the whole offense is flowing this one side. Your natural tendency is to roll that side. Fast, hard. And then what happens?
Starting point is 00:58:35 The one receiver or maybe the tight end or something like this, he steps the only guy, one step back and goes all the way around the quarterback or the running back. Sometimes they give it to the running back, the running back gives it to him going the other side. It goes to the other side. It goes the other side. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:58:49 You're correct. Yes. So that, okay, so that's an unorthodox play overall. That's not a typical play. But it's not like when you see it, you know, okay, they ran the reverse. It's a play. Yes. But it's unorthodox.
Starting point is 00:59:04 But you get, there are teams that run a lot of those types of plays, but once the defense knows, oh, they run these kinds of plays, it's like it doesn't work as good as all. It's like when leg locks. Yes. People started getting, I remember we trained with people that thought that leg locks were just totally the, they were the solution to jiu-jitsu. But we did you, we did leg locks. Yeah. We did even more leg locks than some guys that thought that leg locks were the solution to jih Tzu. So all of a sudden they'd try the leg locks.
Starting point is 00:59:33 The leg locks weren't working. Yes. We were doing leg locks more than the leglock people. Yeah. So then they had to try and do regular jihitsu. And then they didn't. Right. Then you get it.
Starting point is 00:59:45 Well, okay. So good example. So the leg locks, right? So remember, and let's go old school, right? UFC, I think one or maybe two, I forget, but it was Ken Shamrock, Ken Shamrock, who is crazy. Ken Shamrock knew some leg locks or whatever, right? He sat back for one. Right.
Starting point is 00:59:58 So this is, that's an example of what happens if someone knows your trick play, unorthodox play, but it's unorthodox for a reason. Just like how you said, if it's like so effective, why don't you just do it all the time? Well, because it probably has more risks. If everyone's on a reverse, right, in football, if everyone, one's blocking to the right and we send one guy back to the left you rely on them getting tricked that everything's going to the right if they see the reverse all the time they say oh yeah i see you right but get ready for the reverse that lone guy running around is going to get creamed you know that
Starting point is 01:00:28 that situation with ken shamrock and hoist that shows you how really a little bit beyond the graces at that time were even more highly developed than you thought they were yeah because Because when you watch that sequence, Hoyce immediately, he had him neck and sat back a perfect leg lock defense. Now he's on top. And now he's on top. Exactly right. Yeah, it was the perfect leglock defense at a time where basically no one was doing leg locks
Starting point is 01:00:57 in jujitsu. So it's pretty awesome and it's pretty impressive that even at that time he had the defense for the leglock now. I don't know. Maybe they saw enough of it or they knew that it was a possibility. Because Ken Chamrock was, what was he, champion of pancreas and shoot-o? Yeah, shoot-fighting. Yeah, shoot-fighting where they were doing leg locks.
Starting point is 01:01:18 So they might have watched enough to go, oh, you know what? If he starts going for this, you've got to grab his neck, you've got to go on top. Yeah. No, they did leg locks. Yeah, well, that's true, too. Okay, so there's a video. This is an old-school video where it was Hoyler and Hicksen doing it essentially a demonstration. It might have been in pride or something like that.
Starting point is 01:01:34 It looked like, maybe a half-time situation. Okay. So it looked like. It's old school. But that's not more old school than UFC 2 You see what I'm saying? Yeah, it might have been So by the time they're teaching at pride
Starting point is 01:01:46 Yeah, everyone's kind of doing leg locks by then But you know how like they do such hardcore fundamental like stuff? Yes. This is really the feel you got and part of the demonstration was a leg lock submission It was like the basic straight Straight ankle locket. Yeah, exactly right. So you know how like when they do those demonstrations
Starting point is 01:02:05 You know Horian Hicks in the Hoyler when they do those demonstration it's all just the basic the fundamental Gracie jujitsu stuff yeah and that was in there it's not like they were like okay let's dazzle them with some new age stuff it wasn't there's none of that hey here's a here's a straight ankle this is Gracie Jiu Jitsu yeah exactly right and it was part of it yeah so you figure yeah of course they did that stuff yeah with the Gitu by the way yeah and that's what I'm saying yeah what I'm saying is it's impressive because if you're thinking like well you know back then they even do footlocks at all yeah it's like no and actually know who did a lot You know who did a number of footlocks to finish people?
Starting point is 01:02:44 Hoyler. Really? Yeah. Hoyler would be snagging footlocks off of people. Exactly right. I mean, now the whole footlock game is the whole, you know, it's advanced. But again, going back to Hoyt's Gracie, Ken Shamrock, that's the example where it's like, oh, if Legary Footlocks back then were such a cheat move, like such an easy, like shortcuty kind of move that you surprise people with.
Starting point is 01:03:06 Like, why don't you just do them all the time? And then Ken Shamrock's sort of camp was kind of like, well, yeah, we do. That's part of how we win. You just get one guy to figure out the little trick and you're exposed a lot of the time. That's why it's a trick move. Otherwise, it'd just be fundamental moves. So a trick move that you use all the time is not a trick at all. It's just another move.
Starting point is 01:03:25 It's just another move. And here's the thing. And it will not be another move if it has a high part or a high risk involved in it. That's usually what trick moves are. Which is what Ken Shamrock got caught with, a high risk move that actually hoist was able to. to capitalize. Yeah, he's on top and Ken Chalmers on the bottom. Same thing with the reverse.
Starting point is 01:03:41 Same thing as a Hail Mary. Actually, that's not a trick move. But same thing like, what do you call it, the one where you sweep it to the running back and then he throws the ball back to the quarterback. You ever seen those moves? It's like, that's a trick move. You see guys kill with that. But right, running backs can't throw the ball.
Starting point is 01:03:58 That's such a high risk move. Oh, don't let the quarterback make a catch and get creamed by one of the DBs. Now your quarterback's out because, you know, he doesn't take as much punishment as the rest of the guys in the team. So there's all this risk. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. When Dean got Kakareko in the absolute finals.
Starting point is 01:04:14 Yes, sir. With the what we called the Kakareko heel hook, which is now called 50-50. But you could see that Kakke Rico, there was confusion. And I mean, obviously he's an incredible world champion himself. But there was not, you could see like he was not aware of what was happening. And Dean was obviously fully aware. who's happening. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:39 But now we've seen plenty of people, oh, you want to go to 50-50 with me? Okay, cool. And there's defenses and have a whole nine yards. So it's now not a hugely advantageous trick move because it's just a normal move now. Right. And then that's a good example of one of these things that, you know, when you create a whole system around like footlocks, for example, that you start to eliminate all the risk factors that come with it. That's what a system does. You know, eliminates lingering problems, whatever becomes like an act.
Starting point is 01:05:06 actual effective system. If you can't eliminate the risk, it's, brother, it's not a system. You're just over here throwing risks out, really. Hopefully you won't, you know, and that's what I think some of the old footlock guys or people, they'll be like, oh, I'll just jump for footlocks. Oh, yeah, for them, you know? And it's not based on like a system, systematic footlock game, like how it is, like Dean had so early on, you know? That's why I think he was, uh, he was as effective, you know? Definitely. Very effective, we'll say. Yes, sir. All right, let's go back to where we were at. So we were talking about not delaying when you get in certain situations.
Starting point is 01:05:43 And it was talking about, you know, hey, once you do an attack, you get in a position, then you need to immediately set yourself up and get your defense ready. Immediately. Don't wait. And then there's a jump in forward to a section here where they talk about, how do you do that? Like, what's the methodology for making that happen?
Starting point is 01:06:03 Well, here you go. Reorganization aided by private. Planning Lieutenant Colonel Ahern in Italy. From the battalion commander's point of view, the most vital feature of reorganization is prior planning. By that, I mean deciding well in advance whether all machine guns are going to displace forward immediately or only half of them, deciding what areas the 81 millimeter mortars are going to cover, what areas the 60 millimeter motors are going to cover, various companies cover. All this planning is vital so that the prompt issuing of orders for reorganization can be affected immediately following the capture of the objective.
Starting point is 01:06:36 Think about where you can use that in your entire world, business, life, everything that's going on. Hey, when this happens, we're going to do this immediately afterwards. That is the deal. There's a comment here. This is from the editor. All comment on attack tactics against the Germans emphasize the importance of prompt and thorough reorganization of the attack unit when it reaches its objective. It is necessary that this be accomplished in order to oppose effectively the habitual German counterattack and it goes on reorganization of an attack unit must begin at the elementary squad level
Starting point is 01:07:16 and work to the top have squad leaders organize their squads section leaders supervising the work of all squad leaders their platoon commander assisted by the platoon sergeant supervise the work with section leaders and so on chain and command the company commander must be planning the defense of the position checking the dispositions of his weapons and coordinating the fires of his mortars with his artillery support so what does that say it's decentralized command so pre-planning What you're gonna do when you win is a really important thing and then once you win Immediately execute the plan. Yeah This happens with companies that
Starting point is 01:07:55 They close a deal right they close a deal hey I closed a deal with you know whatever with bill If they're smart they have a follow-up plan it's a emails coming two days later. Hey Bill just phone up Want to make sure you got the support that you needed. And by the way, I also want to let you know we've got some other features that we are adding to our product in two weeks. When it comes out, I want to let you know that that's happening. And also, I know that you've got some affiliate businesses that you also work with. I would like to reach out to them and see if we can help. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:08:26 Like you have a plan. Yeah. A winning plan. Yeah. That's a, there's a, and there's a slight difference between, because as long as that plan isn't contingent on. Like the fact that you went because just a little while ago, we're talking about, you know, the idea that, okay, my whole comprehensive plan, every move, like one, the next move is dependent on you executing the first move. Right. Meanwhile, there's a lot of wiggle room in that first move.
Starting point is 01:08:54 There's levels of success, you know? Check. So you literally can't go to the second plan if you don't achieve this certain thing, which is a, that's a variable over there. However, just to shut you down. No, no, I'm saying. No, I'm saying there's a difference there. I'm saying don't get confused in that. Let me tell you what the difference is.
Starting point is 01:09:11 This is important because you brought up a totally valid point. Tactical echo gets a W. All day. Gets a W, but it's about to get a little bit revoked. Here's the deal. So you're right. We don't know exactly how it's going to turn out, right?
Starting point is 01:09:26 We don't know what that win actually looks like. But here's the deal. The section that I just read, what did it say? It said, let your section leaders lead, let your squad leaders lead. So what you say is listen folks, once we secure this objective, we are going to immediately develop a defensive posture. That means this. You spell out what your intention is and then your subordinate leaders through decentralized command, step up and fulfill your intent immediately based on the particulars and the variables of the outcome
Starting point is 01:10:04 of the victory. Yeah. One mission per patrol. A patrol should have a single and sole mission. There appears to be a general tendency upon the part of staff officers and immediate commanders to add a second mission just because the patrol is going to be in the vicinity of some point in which they are interested. I believe this is that this point of a single mission is highly important. So you're telling your people, hey, this is what I want you to go do. And you say, and by the way, do this. And by the way, do this. Doesn't help. What do you got, Dave? Leglocks? No. Football. back sneak.
Starting point is 01:10:43 Whatever, these lessons are everywhere. You're just, you're making that point about, hey, we just closed the deal with Bill. We're not done. And that was kind of a,
Starting point is 01:10:52 kind of a micro example of like Jock closes deal with Bill, but I'm going to reach out to Bill on Monday and we're going to keep looking. I was thinking into the context of this idea of, hey, when we accomplish the mission or we have a win or whatever that success ends,
Starting point is 01:11:06 that's true at that very small tactical level, that email to Bill. It's also true at the strategic level, at the highest level of, we work with companies, and one of the things we do with the senior executive level is we help them build these big strategic plans, the five-year plan. But the five-year plan doesn't just map out five years,
Starting point is 01:11:25 and then at the end of those five years we are done. That five-year plan, the five-year cycle never ends. And so when we achieve these big victories in business, nothing really ends. It just leads us to the next thing so we can get bigger and bring more people in. That's true in sports. it's this idea that the win that we're looking for isn't the end of any of this.
Starting point is 01:11:46 The win that we're looking for is what allows us to start to do more and bigger and other things of what that long range strategy is, which actually in the businesses we're working with, there's no end for them. They're going to get bigger. They're going to get more dominant. They're going to be more successful. They're going to branch out in other areas. And I'm a big fan of Echo's sports analogies. but the win, even if you're thinking,
Starting point is 01:12:11 like the team that wins the Super Bowl. You know what they want to do as soon as they win the Super Bowl? They want to celebrate that. Now that's cool. You know what they want to win the next Super Bowl. Because if not, they become the story of,
Starting point is 01:12:19 oh yeah, you guys won the Super Bowl and you didn't even make the playoffs next year. This idea of when you win, you have to plan to have something to do right after that, which is you're going to want to rest. You're going to want to take a knee, and that's the worst thing we can do because that win is fleeting.
Starting point is 01:12:35 And you don't email Bill, you're going to lose Bill. Because someone's going to get in there. And you don't get Bill's contact. You're going to lose those contacts too. And that win is going to be meaningless in the long run unless you recognize the win the win. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:12:47 Actually, that makes sense too, right? Where it's like, and you mentioned you super quick, barely mention this. Sure, you want to party right after, right, after you win the Super Bowl. So, you know, the classic story, right? Like you have certain champions, right? Whatever. They win the Super Bowl. They win the heavyweight title.
Starting point is 01:13:04 Whatever. Next day they're training already. See what I'm saying? That's like the real. champion meanwhile you get like the one-time champion right who may be like I don't know whatever he's the one-time champion he goes he wins and what's he doing partying cruising I need to take a couple weeks off vacation I'm gonna go spend my bonus money whatever in you know I'm quiet whatever for a little bit meanwhile
Starting point is 01:13:29 like you see what I'm saying it's like it makes sense so the guy who you can strategize like yeah I won but you know like the real champion's gonna get back to work immediately. It's kind of that, you know? It's 100% that. That's why these principles from combat apply to everything in life. Yep. We're not just outspending our bonus money in Kauai.
Starting point is 01:13:51 Not necessarily, no. Poor map reading. Patrolling to provide security was generally good, but patrolling to maintain contact and determine enemy positions and movement was often slighted. Many patrol leaders lacked the ability to read a map and locate themselves. This resulted in incorrect. information being brought back, failure to reach the objective, and an inability to call for
Starting point is 01:14:12 fire support. Some patrols didn't know the situation and what to expect and what specific information was desired. They were not properly briefed prior to starting. So once again, if we have a team who doesn't know where they are, they're useless. What does that mean? If you have a team that doesn't understand what they're making, how much they're making, how much they're producing, what their raw materials, what the level of their raw materials are, what level of say, all those things. If people don't know where they are, they're worthless.
Starting point is 01:14:51 Infantry notes. I get to read books that have sections that are called infantry notes. I'm a happy human. Interunit liaison, Major General Lucas, Italy. Experience has shown that enemy offensive action is usually along the boundaries between units. Boom. Ramadi.
Starting point is 01:15:13 This fact emphasizes the need for close liaison and constant contact between adjacent units from squads on up. Maximum benefit from coordinated action will be realized if commanders will ensure that the following conditions are met. Exchange of active liaison personnel between adjacent units. Close contact between frontline organizations and a mutual agreement to ensure maximum combined protection along the boundary, prompt report to adjacent units of any unusual enemy activity, early advice of plans for attack, counterattack, or withdraw, together with a
Starting point is 01:15:48 request for assistance desired from adjacent units. Commander should know at all times what units will be directly affected by their action and realize that it is their responsibility to keep those concerned informed. So look, we work, we interact with all kinds of different groups, all kinds of different departments, all kinds of different divisions, all kinds of different companies. We work with companies all the time that all rely on other companies to get their job. It's B-to-B, right? It's business to business. How do we, where does the weakness usually fall? Where does failure, I shouldn't say usually where does failure often fall? It's in those seams between those two businesses. So what do you do? Here's some suggestions. Exchange active liaison
Starting point is 01:16:30 personnel, right? Actually trade some people. Hey, take this person, I'll take that person, Let them run that project. Let them work through this project. Close contact between organizations. Mutual agreement. To work through those problems that you're going to have. Prompt reporting. Hey, hey, Echo, if your T-shirt business can't supply my silk screen business, can you please tell me?
Starting point is 01:16:55 Right? That's what we want. I think you have that backwards. But yeah, I understand. What did I say? If your silk screen business. If your T-shirt business can't supply my silk screen business. business.
Starting point is 01:17:06 Why do you think I had that backwards? Because usually the silkscreen provides service for the t-shirt business. I guess so. Well, actually, it's a two-way street. You're right. You're right. So either way. Lack of perspective, my part, my bad.
Starting point is 01:17:18 Either way, what we need to make sure is that we're talking to each other. Maybe I'm running out of ink. Yeah. And now I'm not going to be able to print your shirts. Maybe my sales are going down. I can't supply you with that business. I don't depend on that anymore. You see what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:17:29 There we go. Yeah. Early advice of plans for attack, counter attack, withdraw, right? So if I'm going to be. printing a ton of shirts. I tell Echo, hey man, I got a big order from another company. I'm letting you know if you're
Starting point is 01:17:41 going to need something. Here's the wait time. Oh, okay, let's plan through that. Okay, great. Commander should know at all times what units will be directly affected by their action and realize, that's my response. This is what I just said. It's my responsibility for telling you, hey, I've got a bunch of other stuff we've got to print. If you need something, you better tell me ASAP. A sapsually.
Starting point is 01:18:02 Use your rifle. It's another good. Heading. Colonel Harry B. Sherman, commanding officer, infantry, Italy. We have a hard time getting riflemen to use their rifles. They depend too much on artillery and supporting weapons. In most cases, it would be better if they fired even if there is no visible target. A group of infantry, a group of riflemen may be stopped by a German machine gun, which they can't locate.
Starting point is 01:18:29 But if they open fire in the general direction of the machine gun, the Germans will usually pull out. I believe that we have placed too much emphasis on fire orders and fire control by unit leaders. Men must be taught to open fire at once in the general direction of any target that is holding them up without waiting for any squad leader or any other individual
Starting point is 01:18:46 to tell them to open fire. What is that? Is it decentralized command? And it's also going on the offense. And it's also cover and move. They're kind of like in the UFC when a guy gets hit real hard and he just starts swinging.
Starting point is 01:19:02 Kind of like that. When he gets hit, so if you punched me really hard But my reaction is just to start swinging. A little bit. Kind of, right? Yeah, a little bit. Yep, yeah.
Starting point is 01:19:13 Actually, I would say accurate. It's like I'm in jiu-jitsu when sometimes Dean gets a good position on me. And I use the spaz defense. It's kind of like that. Like he starts, I was just going to spazz out and start moving like crazy. Yeah, just to like mess him up. Yeah, just throwing bullets down there. So it's like, oh, yeah, you're not picking your shots.
Starting point is 01:19:33 I'll tell you that. Definitely not picking your shots. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah, there's a connection there, too, to what you were just talking about a little while ago, too, which was, hey, doing something is usually better than doing nothing. And if your plan is, hey, let's, you know, we're in a difficult situation.
Starting point is 01:19:49 Let's assess a little bit. Let's reach out to, you know, our supporting organizations while we're just sitting here doing nothing. As opposed to, hey, we've got resources right here that we can expand right now. Now, I can't win the war with these resources, but I need to use these resources right now. Hey, this team, get online, start employing moving forward.
Starting point is 01:20:06 Jocko Radio back, see what kind of fire support we have, coordinate with the other agencies inside your organization. But this tendency of, I'm going to sit back and see what's happening or doing nothing. What they're saying is, hey, you are given those resources, those tools that you have, so you can use them. And, yeah, that artillery always looks better. The airplanes look like a really cool. You imagine when we were in Armadi, if every time we went on an assault,
Starting point is 01:20:32 the criteria is we wanted to wait for aircraft first. Yeah. You're going to sit there all day long. And I knew that firsthand as a amazingly, a liaison. My job as an Anglico Marine Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company was to try to bring that air support. But actually the best thing I did was support them to say, hey, listen, we can't get air for all these times
Starting point is 01:20:55 that I'm not going to provide you what you need. Let's come up with another way to do this. And when they show up, that'll be a great force multiplier. It'll be awesome. We're not going to sit around waiting for that thing. We've got all these other assets that we can use and we need to use them. Yeah, because it's a real low risk, right?
Starting point is 01:21:10 Yeah, if I start pushing forward right now, which seems like it'll be a lot easier for just me call some artillery over there, but guess what? You don't have it right now. So what seems like less risk is actually more risk because action beats in action. So when I'm sitting here waiting for artillery
Starting point is 01:21:29 or waiting for aircraft to come overhead, guess with the enemy? Who I just knew that they were somewhere over there, they're moving, they're maneuvering. and now I'm getting beat. So what seemed like less risk is actually more risk. Notes on training. How I would train a company now.
Starting point is 01:21:49 Captain Robert Z. Gates, infantry, Italy. If I had to train a rifle company again, I would stress the following. Basic discipline, which means smart saluting, alertness of bearing, cleanliness and neatness of person, clothing and equipment, shoes shined, haircut, et cetera. Get perfection in this early, as is the basics of much later training. Combat firing on a course,
Starting point is 01:22:20 which included a lot of surprise targets, proper distribution of small arms fire over a suspected target area, use of the rifle sling, sniper training, BAR training, so the BAR's borderline heavy machine gun for them to be given to every man in the squad
Starting point is 01:22:38 until he has a thorough knowledge of the weapon. It is one of our more effective weapons, but must be in the hands of a trained man to really be valuable. A B-A-R man in one of our companies got 20 Germans for sure in an hour during one of their counterattacks. This was one half the casualties, his platoon inflicted credit. Scouting and patrolling need plenty of emphasis. So terrain appreciation.
Starting point is 01:23:08 To teach the men advantages. and disadvantages of terrain features. Teach them to visualize how the ground on which you are located looks from the enemy's viewpoint. What he can see and what he can't see, where you can take positions unobserved. So I was saying the other day that I think terrain in combat is the difference, and I'm not 100% sure on this, is the difference between a white belt and a purple belt. When you know terrain, when you understand how you can use, use that berm or how you can use that ravine or how you can use that high ground.
Starting point is 01:23:44 When you start to understand that, that's when you can just start to tap people out by maneuvering. And I'm not 100% sure that we're the reason I'm not 100% sure about it is is because it's this massive thing. It's like a, it's like understanding the theory of grappling itself. So if you, if you took fighting, like, okay, what's a fight? It's two people swinging punches at each other and trying to kick each other. If that's what we think fighting is, once you know terrain, now it's like we understand that there's a whole other dimension.
Starting point is 01:24:21 It's called grappling. So maybe the purple pell thing doesn't really work. But as far as just comprehensive understanding of how to fight, when you understand terrain, all of a sudden you understand there is a third dimension in the game. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I think I just talked myself through it. I think I figured it out.
Starting point is 01:24:43 That's the big thing to try and teach the young seal leaders. It's like, okay, the minute you move over here, the enemy can't shoot at you anymore. Yeah. You move four meters. If you can get your platoon to move four meters as a whole to the east, you are free and clear from those guys. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:25:03 And that means you can now run or you can move quickly. Yeah. Yeah, even like the high ground. right, we always hear that. And I probably don't understand the amount that there is to understand about it. But it's like in fighting, there are positions you can be in where you can hit them and they literally can't hit you. Like there's positions like that. But then if you don't know about them, you'd ask somebody, okay, what's that position?
Starting point is 01:25:27 And they don't know that like grappling or nothing like that. It's really hard to figure it out. It's almost impossible, really. Basically, the high ground is being on top. Yeah. Let's say you're mounted though. Like Brendan one's punching you really if you're mounted and you know how to fight of course like yeah if you're just a kid mounted You're in the high ground. Yeah, yeah and that's a dominant high ground. Yeah, if you're in their guard. You're still in the high ground
Starting point is 01:25:52 But you're not like in maybe the best most dominant high ground. Yeah, the thing that's interesting that you got to remember about high ground is the way It your angle if you're hiding in a foxhole If I'm in a foxhole and you're in an elevated position above me, what good is my foxhole? I'm in a foxhole and you're in an elevated position above me? What good is my foxhole? Yeah. If I'm in it, if that's even if I'm in a pretty deep foxhole, if I'm above you, I can be in a shallow foxhole and I'm totally protected. Yeah. Kind of in a way. I mean, it depends on where you are, I guess.
Starting point is 01:26:23 But like you don't even have to be in a foxhole really. You just got to back up a little bit. That's how good high ground is. Yeah. Whereas if you're on the low ground, a foxhole doesn't even really do you any good. No foxhole. Not to mention you got gravity on your side. Yes.
Starting point is 01:26:37 You know, which is a powerful thing. thing. So terrain appreciation. So if you're a if you're happened to be a military individuals and you're new to the game, start thinking about terrain. Next camouflage and camouflage discipline, particularly the discipline. Pound into the men the necessity of not making trails, not moving around when the enemy can observe your position and similar matters until each man always thinks about it. Dude, we just keep, I mean, it's, I told you man, the best thing about being here is I just get. to listen to this stuff. You know, we were just talking about terrain, and I was thinking, if you're in a competition, whatever it is, I don't care if it's jujitsu, the military, private sector, if you understand
Starting point is 01:27:25 terrain and your opponent doesn't, you have this massive, massive disparity. It makes things so much easier. If you understand how to use the terrain and you're fighting against someone who doesn't, you can be undermanned, you can be under-resourced, under-equipped. And it's the same thing in the private sector. You don't have to be the biggest company. If you understand how the environment around you is working and your product or your interaction with the market does,
Starting point is 01:27:51 and your opponents don't, you can be the smallest company out there and you're going to end up dominating because you understand the terrain. And then you were just talking about the connection to camouflage. And as you're saying that, we were just talking, don't give away your position. And I just love how listening to these things
Starting point is 01:28:08 that we talk about, the connections between all the other lessons that you keep talking about over and over again and I'm just sitting here over like Chalko just said that when the last time we're here and don't give away your position and camouflage allows you to not do that and he's made the comments like this and especially the camouflage which at that point he was making the the other thing well when I talk to people about the importance of terrain and then you translate that into leadership what you realize is that human beings are the terrain. The people that you're dealing with,
Starting point is 01:28:49 they are at various elevations. They have various micro-terrain. Their personality is terrain that can be high and low. And that's why we literally say take the high ground morally, right? So if Echo does something, if he's working for me or we're working together, and he does something, he does something that he shouldn't have done, I need to maintain the moral high ground. The minute that I say, hey, I know you took some money from that client, give me 10% of it or else I'm going to report you. What does that do? I can never, I just gave up the high ground and I can never get it back.
Starting point is 01:29:38 I can never get it back. Everything is going to be a struggle from here on out. So the way that you view things, and if you start to view the elevations that you're seeing, the way people behave, the way people interact, where the ravines are, where the cover is,
Starting point is 01:29:54 who is cover and who is concealment, meaning, like, if I know that Dave will back me up in the deepest sense of the word, but echo, he'll, he'll, he'll, like,
Starting point is 01:30:06 stick up for me a little bit, but then he's going to, he's going to, bow down to whatever temptations are there. That means Dave's going to give me cover. Echo's going to give me a little concealment, but then he's gone. Like those interactions, when you're dealing with people, you're dealing with terrain. You're dealing with variations in the surfaces of where you're working.
Starting point is 01:30:32 Organization of squad leaders, squad chain of leadership to the point where if there's only two men left in the squad, they will know automatically who, which one is the leader. Keep the squad organized this way regardless of casualties and consequent replacements. Some other information, very, very tactical. In selecting non-commissioned officers, I am convinced. In selecting non-commissioned officers, I am convinced that steadiness is the first asset. How do we talk about steadiness? We talk about the ability to detach, knock it emotional.
Starting point is 01:31:09 That's the first asset. resourcefulness is the second. So how am I going to get these problems solved? What can I use with what I have to get these freaking problems solved? That's number two. Intellect, third. I've known some really smart people that were really ineffective. Flanking out machine guns.
Starting point is 01:31:39 The battle indoctrination courses have given some troops the idea that if they attack machine guns by crawling toward the machine guns on their bellies without a chance of hitting back. This is not so. They must go around and flank them out. In this connection, in training and in maneuvers, we should teach this flanking out by having our men to go over the toughest and hardest hills available as we had to do in Sicily and Italy. It's just over and over again.
Starting point is 01:32:05 Physical conditioning, too, is all important. Here in the so-called rest period, all infantry, men take a four-mile march in 40 minutes each day, precision and snap in all basic drill, including calisthenics, should be stressed. Precision and snap. That's something that I'm not good at. What, snapping? Precision and snap in my movements. I see some guys like doing exercises, whatever.
Starting point is 01:32:35 Name an exercise. I don't, and I see they have a lot of snap. I need to focus on that more. More precision and snap. Oh, here's a little headline for you. The hard way is safer. Colonel Harry B. Sherman, commanding officer, 7th Infantry, Italy. Stress night cross-country movements and night attacks.
Starting point is 01:32:58 Don't allow the units or individuals to use any road, path, trail, or any other easy route of advance. In every case, they in every case have them move by only the most difficult and inaccessible terrain in the vicinity. Roads, pass, trails, and even just open ground that offers easygoing are almost invariably mind or boost. be trapped. Make the men regard the most difficult ground as the natural route of advance and it will save many casualties. The easy path leads downhill, my friends. This is kind of epic. Motors, by the way, I'm skipping through a bunch of this stuff because they go through each individual like department of combat, right? But I read them all because there's always things that you can learn. So this one is, this is like the motor pool.
Starting point is 01:33:53 Motors need maintenance. Brigadier General Vincent Meyer, commanding 18th Field Artillery Brigade, Italy. It was my experience that as soon as we moved out of the staging area and got within range of the enemy's guns, motor maintenance, for some strange reason, came to a summary end. It was partly due to the vile weather and to the slimy mud. First echelon maintenance was so utterly wanting that drivers were not even checking the water level in the radiators. The motor mechanics were honestly trying to do proper second echelon maintenance, but they were exposed to the weather with no overhead cover from the rain and were slipping and sliding around in the mud that was inches deep. It finally got them down. They just couldn't cope with it. So I read you all that, and I read you all that for a very specific reason.
Starting point is 01:34:40 So you got this. People aren't doing maintenance. The drivers that are supposed to probably do some kind of a cursory check of a vehicle. They're not even checking if the freaking radias are filled. Now we've got vehicles are overheating. And then the secondary maintenance, these guys are out there in the way. So what is this guy's solution to the problem? Corrective measures.
Starting point is 01:35:00 When I realized the gravity of the situation, I placed an energetic leader in charge. That's what he did. That's what he did. Placed an energetic leader in charge. He, meaning this energetic leader, immediately scouted around and got a place with overhead cover and hard standing using available buildings and got a couple of caves. We required that the drivers clean off mud and drain old oil across the street from the shop. This helped to keep the shop in clean order.
Starting point is 01:35:32 As to the first echelon maintenance of my motor, as to the first line maintenance, my motor officer had to bear down in no uncertain terms, but in two or three days, the drivers were back to doing the things they had been trained to do for so many months prior to entry into combat. In addition, I required every officer. So already we got multiple good things, right? You got a problem. Look, I don't even, I'm not going to solve the problem. I put a good leader in there. The good leader starts to figure things out. Oh, we're freaking walking around the go.
Starting point is 01:35:59 Going to get overhead cover. Going to get some caves. And then this guy starts holding the line. Hey, you need to freaking do your maintenance checks. Took them two or three days to tighten them back up. Why is that? You hold the line. What are you holding the line on?
Starting point is 01:36:15 If you allow slack, they're going to take it. Bro, you think I want to do vehicle maintenance? Echo Charles? I don't think so. No, I don't want to do vehicle maintenance. You know what I want to do is give my vehicle to you and let you worry about all that crap. That's what I want to do. I'm lazy.
Starting point is 01:36:30 So I just give it to you. And if you accept it, guess what? I'm never doing maintenance again. If you say, hey, bro, sorry, Jocko. You got to do your share. What if I don't? I'm not taking your vehicle. Two or three days later, I'm not even asking.
Starting point is 01:36:45 I'm just doing my job. Okay, so that's awesome. And then it gets this. In addition, I required every officer prior to, Prior to starting on a trip with a motor vehicle to check at least one item on the car in which he was traveling for example tires battery water So then he put another little level of checks in there Freaking legit by the way all the problems that you have are leadership problems Kind of goes for your kids to write that thing that that or that concept right there like your kids right if they're like hey get I don't know
Starting point is 01:37:19 Throw away my rubbish oh like your kids aren't doing their vehicle maintenance? Yeah. When they can, but if you do them for, not vehicle maintenance, obviously, but they're metaphoric vehicle maintenance. So they're not cleaning their room. They're not making their bed.
Starting point is 01:37:35 Here's my son just turned four, by the way. So that's about the time, you know, give or take where they brush their own teeth. But like you expect a three and a half, four year old kid to brush their teeth good. Maybe, maybe not. In the beginning, when it's like two, when they start getting teeth, you brush the teeth for them, right?
Starting point is 01:37:55 But if you're like, hey, you're trying to save time on bedtime scenarios and all this stuff, you'd be like, just come here, I'll brush your teeth and you brush them good or whatever because you're an adult. You know how to brush teeth, right? But as a kid, they're going to be like turning three, turning four, and if you keep brushing their teeth for them, they're just going to keep doing it, just like if you keep giving me your truck to change the oil or whatever you're trying to do to me or whatever, same kind of thing. But if you're like, hey, and actually, you kind of taught me this about the tying the shoes thing, you know? I don't care if you're trying to save time. Learn how to tie your shoes.
Starting point is 01:38:24 So if you're like, hey, I'm not brushing your teeth. You're brushing your own teeth. You do it once, do it twice. After all, they'll be like, I'm brushing my own teeth. I don't want to. I would way rather just sit there as a kid and quite frankly, as an adult and just show my teeth, have someone else to brush them. Way more, right? But man, it's just not like that.
Starting point is 01:38:42 Here's what you do. Age three, you show your child the faces of meth transitions where people are methamphetamines. and they get arrested over several years, and their teeth ended up all yellow and falling out. Yeah. And you say, hey, do you want to see faces of people
Starting point is 01:38:56 that don't brush their teeth? Yeah. Yes. And of course, that's true. I don't know if I'd ever do that, you know, two,
Starting point is 01:39:04 two, three, four, maybe I would, I don't know, but I feel like that comes before. That's the why, by the way. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:39:10 This is why you brush your teeth. Yes. Or that's why you get your, your teeth have to be brushed. So now we're in phase two already, where it's like, just like how you, you're going to give me
Starting point is 01:39:19 your truck to change the oil, you know the oil has to be changed. We already know that part. You see what I'm saying? It's just a matter whether I'm going to do it or if someone can do that thing for me. What if it's like, no, no slack, you do your own thing. Since you don't want to brush your own teeth, I highly doubt that you're going to be changing. I'm saying, look, I don't want my teeth brush. How about that?
Starting point is 01:39:38 I don't want them not to be brushed. But if someone else could, okay, maybe not brush your teeth. Let's not say that. How about to, uh, whatever, do your dishes. Yeah, do the dishes. That's a big one. What if someone's like, oh, someone always does your dishes, you know? You just sort of like, when my wife is mad that my kids didn't do the dishes,
Starting point is 01:39:57 and she'll tell me like, oh, the kids didn't do the dishes as she's cleaning the dishes. Yeah. You know how many times I've cleaned the dishes because my children didn't clean them? Zero. Zero times. Yeah. Zero times. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:40:11 That's not a good way to train your kids. If they didn't do the dishes, well, that's not actually a thing. It shouldn't be a thing. They do the dishes. Yeah, that makes sense. That's the worst way to train somebody. So my daughter's, on the family group text. Sure.
Starting point is 01:40:27 The other day, my oldest daughter posted something that's, or sent to the group text, which was a screenshot of a post that someone had made. And it said, like, my dad talk, no, like, dad talks about value of hard work, hasn't done dishes in seven years, you know. And that was the big hit on Jocko. Or they do. Oh, this far as I've shot. Wait, so look, if you're not doing your own dishes, they're doing your dishes.
Starting point is 01:40:53 You're on the other side of that scenario. They're not holding the line on your discipline. They have their jobs. Okay, okay. We're talking about a bigger system now. Yeah, this is the system. I have, I have responsibilities in the house. You do?
Starting point is 01:41:10 Yes. They're called, it's called paying mortgages, right? It's called providing the roof. Yeah. That's what I do. I understand. They have their responsibilities, things like doing the dishes. So it was a pretty good shot.
Starting point is 01:41:26 I got a kick out of it. My daughter giving me a hassle. Or you could get super technical and be like, hey, I don't regard doing dishes as the benchmark for hard work. No, I mean, fortunately, they weren't trying to have a legitimate argument with me. Yeah, yeah, I did. Because they were not, they know not that's not a winning solution. All right.
Starting point is 01:41:48 Essentials of gentlemen. Jungle warfare, jungle SOPs. SOP attack procedures, combat patrol. Once again, if I've gotten to a point in my life where I'm reading a document that says SOP attack procedures, combat patrol, I'm pretty happy about the world. One, have a covered route of withdrawal picked out in advance in case enemy pressure becomes too great. This is another little hint towards the value of pre-planning.
Starting point is 01:42:16 If you're going to have to leave, tell everyone where you're going to leave by. Two, keep one squad back as a reserve and to provide a force to cover the forward elements of the patrol if they are forced to withdraw. Why am I talking about this? What God's name does this have to do with anything that we're doing here in a leadership situation? Well, let me tell you, when you're in a business and I'm in businesses, you have a certain amount of capital.
Starting point is 01:42:47 Those are your resources. every military modern every modern military book actually no it's not even just modern if you go back and you listen to this podcast everything that we've ever talked about says you need to have a reserve
Starting point is 01:43:06 why is that because you're going to come up against variables that you didn't expect so these people when we when we sit here and talk about variables and I'm acting as if hey there's a real cool concept about the variables and the things that could go wrong okay it's been talked about for thousands of years. And in order to cover down on those variables that you cannot anticipate, you need to have some level of reserve. So when you are running a business
Starting point is 01:43:31 and you have to place resources in different things, you can buy this much produce, you can buy this much, you know, gear, you can buy this much, you spend money. Let's just let's just say money. That's a simple one. We have this much money. Is it smart to use all of two, employ all of our money at the same time. No, it is not. You must keep a reserve back because when Echo's project goes sideways, so if I say, oh, I'm going to give half my money to Echo and half my money to Dave, half of our, half of the money that we have, half the Echo and half the Dave, oh, because we want to get the project
Starting point is 01:44:09 done quickly. And then all of a sudden, Echo hits a hiccup. What can I do now? Nothing. I have nothing else to give. So what I should do is give a third of my resources to echo, a third to Dave. We start to move forward. You hit a hiccup echo.
Starting point is 01:44:26 No problem. We got your back. Little reserve capital ready to employ. Men should be designated to watch for snipers. Now, why is that important? How does that relate to anything? What company are we talking to right now that needs to have a person designated to watch for snipers?
Starting point is 01:44:47 Let me explain. When you are doing anything and you give people important jobs as collateral duties, you can anticipate that those collateral duties will not be done with maximum effectiveness. What's collateral duties? Meaning, hey, echo, I want you to navigate. I want you to cut the brush that's out in front of us. I want you to look for booby traps and I want you to look for snipers. Here's the third thing.
Starting point is 01:45:20 Just look, sorry, your fourth job is to look for snipers. How much time are you spending looking for snipers? The answer is very little, if any. So what I need to do is say, hecko, you got these three jobs, cool. But one thing I really don't want to have happened is get hit by a sniper. So Dave, he's going to be in the middle of the patrol. He's not cutting brush. He's not looking for booby traps.
Starting point is 01:45:43 What he's going to do is he's going to move forward a little bit. He's going to stop. And while the patrol moves, he's going to be looking for. snipers. That's his job. And what's the philosophy there? Is it because of course, watch for a sniper is important, but you don't want to compromise any of your jobs because you're spread thin or is it because a certain job kind of almost in a way requires less attention from time to time? Here's another example. We started getting EOD, explosive ordinance disposal individuals tasked to our platoons in the SEAL teams. As this was happening, and we
Starting point is 01:46:18 started getting these guys that this was in the beginning of the war, a lot of the EOD guys that were coming on board, like they weren't, they hadn't been through any combat skills training. They didn't really know what they were doing. And of course, I didn't really know any of these guys at the time. So I'm just thinking, why would we take a regular Navy EOD guy that's used to being on an aircraft carrier in case there's an emergency with a bomb that's strapped to an F-18 that needs to get disarmed? Why would we take that guy and try and make him basically into a seal?
Starting point is 01:46:48 when it seems like it'd be a lot easier to me to take a seal send them to an EOD school you learn the skills and then if something happens you can you can handle it my commanding officer at the time said hey jocco here's the deal if it's a collateral dude he didn't use these exact words but he said the exact same thing which is hey if the enemy is going to be using booby traps which they are and IEDs we want to have somebody that that's the focus of their life and I as soon as he said that I was like oh good point I Thank you. I will gladly train an EOD individual so that they are focused on keeping us alive. So if you have priority, it's a form of prioritize and execute. Meaning I can't take something that's important. If I deem something is important, I need to assign it to a person as their primary responsibility. Post outposts to cover platoon as it, as it organizes the position. Place loaded automatic weapons nearby in case enemy attacks during it.
Starting point is 01:47:49 So cover your flanks. Select a difficult position to attack, preferably on high ground. I just have to say when it says high ground. Cover trails and other likely avenues of enemy approach with well dug in automatic weapons pits. Dig three man in placement so that they are mutually supporting and cover the area completely around the platoon. If the platoon has sufficient communication equipment, a sound power telephone net connecting the platoon command post with each squad should be provided. Be able to talk to each other. Boobie trap the area completely around the perimeter.
Starting point is 01:48:23 Clear light brush and fire lanes outside the perimeter for 20 to 40 yards. These are real tactical things. Arrange artillery and supporting fires. Play sharp pointed sticks 10 to 25 feet and he goes through that. Use grenades freely when the enemy is seen or heard. Hold weapons fire until a definite target is observed. Premature firing of weapons will disclose positions. Dave, you talked earlier about not.
Starting point is 01:48:48 wanting to disclose our positions when you start shooting at night that's definitely going to happen must of the jungle soldier first marine corps if he is to survive it must be second nature for every jungle soldier to keep his mouth shut on the trail recognize common jungle sounds keep his eyes off the ground when on the trail and maintain a constant watch toward the head of the column and to a selected flank get off the trail at home Holtz, conceal himself and observe the flanks, dig in at protracted Holtz. Know the Nambu, which is a light machine gun of the Japanese, by its sound, because it is the framework of the Jap jungle organization, and it is an guide to flanks and strong points.
Starting point is 01:49:35 That's so good. You got to know what the Japanese machine gun sounds like, because if you know, if you see where that Japanese machine gun is, it's on their flanks, or it's in their strong points. black his face and hands and remove any shine from equipment conserve his own ammunition and pick up a band in bandolier when he sees one, memorize and invariably use the unit selected code words
Starting point is 01:49:58 for leaders, various maneuvers, ammunition, cormand, etc. Be able to select a night position so that the jungle works to his advantage and to the disadvantage of the infiltrating Japs. Appreciate the fact that Japs do not have cats' eyes, that they are afraid of the dark and that at
Starting point is 01:50:14 night a moving Jap is an easy victim for a silent Marine who believes. leaves in his bayonet. Care for his equipment religiously. Weapons deteriorate with unbelievable rapidity in the jungle and must be cleaned at every opportunity. Good. What's good about that is, and the main reason why I thought it was important to say that,
Starting point is 01:50:41 is because if you're in charge, that section right there shows you how important it is to convey to all the troops a baseline of actions that is going to help you win. Because it's real easy to sit back and think, well, obviously, you should know what this machine gun feels sounds like. And obviously you should blacken your face. And like all those things seem super obvious. But why are they written here? Because people failed to do them. So as a leader, what can you look at inside your team where there might be some obvious
Starting point is 01:51:29 things. And by the way, you know, these things have, I've been talking a lot lately about values and, and the fact that if you have the proper values, this is sort of the ultimate form of decentralized command because people can operate just based on the values. So these are almost, these are like these minor things that almost become values, right? To use your code words every single time to conserve your ammunition every single those are those are almost like values that you have dig in at protracted holts think if you did if you were a jungle fighter and you did all these things all the time that's the way you operate your survivability is going to be infinitely larger than someone that doesn't do these things so what is going on at your business inside your teams
Starting point is 01:52:18 where this stuff isn't happening every single time what do you need to tell people what needs to happen You know, these are the things you need to think about as leader. They're not as obvious as you think. They're also the things that your people need to know because those are the things that they need to do so you can win. Your people, the ones that aren't camouflaging their faces or recognizing the sounds of those machine guns, not only do they not know what they're supposed to be doing because more than likely nobody's ever explained it or taught it to them, they also to understand
Starting point is 01:52:55 why it's important, what the significance of it. And if we do this as a team, we are going to win. And if we don't, we're going to lose. There's a reason our enemies put out snipers. And it's the same thing in businesses. You are, you are, if you're running a business right now, listen to this podcast and you own a company or lead a team, you're at war.
Starting point is 01:53:15 The people you're competing with don't want to share space with you, have an equitable share of the market. They want to run you into the ground. And they're going to harass you. They're going to probe you. They're going to watch you. They're going to try to take you out. They're going to set up snipers and machines,
Starting point is 01:53:29 and you have to know what you need to do to win. And if your people on the front lines don't know this, you're going to lose. And the reason they're not doing it isn't because there's something wrong with them or they're not, it's because you haven't shown them why they need to do that for you guys to win. And that's why these lessons get repeated over and over and over again. And that's why it's so fun to listen to the stuff.
Starting point is 01:53:53 patrolling jungle craft lieutenant b mayor infantry boganville i think back now on how i used to cuss when scouting and patrolling came up on the schedule he's talking about training i had the idea that with all the lectures and field work we had it would all come as second nature when we got to combat but let me tell you something i have many veterans of guadal canal in my platoon who have lots of combat experience in patrolling and they still have plenty to learn. Let me give you an example of a four-day patrol we had in Jap territory. In those four days, we moved about a thousand yards a day. Starting at seven in the morning, an hour stop for lunch and ending at five, figure out for yourself how far we averaged per hour. It's pretty tough to move like a cat through the jungle hour after hour. One man causing a little
Starting point is 01:54:49 too much noise can cause the annihilation of a patrol. I sincerely mean it, because it has happened. Teamwork. Men must not try to fight the Japs individually. A soldier fighting on his own is a most uneconomical investment and unless he is lucky he will accomplish very little. It is a rare occasion when a Japanese machine gun is not covered by other weapons including a sniper or two. No one man can move in on such a combination. Fighting must be done by mutually supporting groups and in order to make this system effective, training must be continuous and every effort must be made to keep the composition of the groups unchanged. Essential standards.
Starting point is 01:55:40 The successful and efficient intelligence and reconnaissance platoon should have the following standards. Select personnel mentally and physically better than average. Each member should be the equal of the average squad leader. Rigorous physical hardening. Lots of hill and mountain climbing. Experience in the jungle. training they should stay out for eight or ten days at a time use native guides and learn how to read signs from them have them show the men the edible fruits and vegetables strict water discipline
Starting point is 01:56:14 both as to the amount consumed and its purification ability to move rapidly and silently use arm and hand signals to indicate the situation and the desired action no talking or whispering constant maintenance of visual contact front and rear left and right physical Hardening. Here's some basic principles. Travel light, no papers, include a high percentage of automatic weapons and concentrate a large proportion of them well forward.
Starting point is 01:56:45 The point should be heavily armed. I used to hear the Vietnam guys talking about they would move the machine gunners close to the point because you're expecting a contact front. That was the kind of became the SOP often. Well, not all the time, but we used it all the time in Ramadi. JP almost always had Mikey up there. Why?
Starting point is 01:57:06 JP's on point needs that cover fire. Approach streams gingerly. The Japs like streams best for their ambushes. Make sure that the point has grenades in his hand when he starts across it. Damn. That's freaking fired up. Don't pause for any reason until both banks have been well-scouted in both directions. Select successive reorganization.
Starting point is 01:57:32 Points as the patrol progresses down the trail to provide for swift reorganization maneuver swiftly on first contact Jap ambushes a Jap ambush weapons are not normally cited to cover wide fields of fire and usually bear mainly on the trail Likewise the japs react poorly to an attacker who makes and acts on his decisions quickly and yes, I Obviously I'm using the term Jap here. I know it's an offensive term, but this is the literature of this time period. And they're not talking about the Japanese people. They're talking about the imperial Japanese army and military who they were fighting to
Starting point is 01:58:23 death. Infantry. Control is hard to maintain in squads, platoons, and companies when operating in the woods. Connecting groups are soon lost from sight and sound as necessary that particular attention be directed by all commanders from the squad leader on up the, the, to maintain control of their forces and contact with adjacent units. Every individual must know the location of his immediate superior and his CP at all time.
Starting point is 01:58:51 And this is the last thing from this particular volume. Fighting spirit. It was notable that until such time as the infantry got fighting mad, there was a carefree attitude among the troops. In training, this mad spirit can be developed to assert. degree the use of cover in advancing by creeping and crawling must be stressed it is necessary to emphasize the importance of the live soldier as compared as compared to the dead hero emphasize the importance of the live soldier as compared to the
Starting point is 01:59:33 dead hero and that's sort of a dichotomy between that and fighting mad and staying focused and they call that fighting spirit so there you go lessons being learned over and over again. You would think that, you would think that the things that we talk about, the things that we teach, the things that we teach to the military, the things that we teach to the business world,
Starting point is 02:00:10 the things that we teach to law enforcement, you would think that the things that we teach, which we're literally reading from a book that's what, whatever, 70 years old, you would think that people would, would just be like, hey, bro, what are you trying to teach us? We are, this is, you're teaching the most obvious things ever. We don't need you.
Starting point is 02:00:30 You'd think that we wouldn't have a business, but we do. Oddly enough, there's something, there's a, there's a force that draws people in the wrong direction. And, and, or should I say there's forces. There's forces that draw you in the wrong direction. The forces of ego, the forces of lack of, perspective. There's another force in addition to those forces that I talked about earlier. What ego perspective and what?
Starting point is 02:01:07 Emotion. Ego perspective and detachment. The other one, the other fourth thing that draws people down is complacency and just weakness. Totally. Just taking the easy path. Those are the four. Those are the four things that mess us up. There's a fourth leg to the stool.
Starting point is 02:01:34 Complacency. Emotion. Emotion slash detachment. These are the things that draw people down, ego. You and I have been talking about ego a bunch lately. It just so happens that that's been the topic of our most recent series of conversations, whether it's Eiff online or just you and me or ego just happen to be on the the forefront when I was as you're talking at the word complacency was just ringing in my head
Starting point is 02:02:10 and I was thinking as you said it not that it's it's a separate thing but your ego will get out of control when you're complacent absolutely and and if your ego is out of control you'll get complacent totally and then if you just think you're just going to detach from emotion and just you get complacent about your ability to do that, you will get sucked in. And if you want to actually see it from other people's points of view and go, how will it look if I say this? If you get complacent and understand it, it was just the way you put that word under all three of those things of that triangle,
Starting point is 02:02:52 it's the complacency that is why you don't apply those three things. And we can draw it however you want it. Just the way you're saying it in my mind was when I don't keep my easy, When my ego mechanism isn't working, it's because I'm being complacent with, oh, I'm humble. I'm a humble guy. Dave's humble. I know how to keep my ego in check. And the minute I tell myself, I can do that, my ego gets out of control.
Starting point is 02:03:17 Yeah, complacency is an underlying symptom and cause of these three things that keep us in business, bro. They keep us in business right on. All right, Echo Charles. Yes. We kind of closed out. Talking about fighting spirit. Fighting spirit, yeah. Any suggestions on how we can keep our fighting spirit up?
Starting point is 02:03:43 Keep the fighting spirit up. Yes. The path. That's what I'm going to talk about. Okay, so on our path. We all have individual paths, by the way. Some overlapping elements, of course. Fitness, mental and physical.
Starting point is 02:03:59 if you're not at the very least maintaining, but hopefully we're working to move to progress mentally, physically. Physically, that's a big one. Once you get married, you know, you got your career in order. Let's face it, that complacency on the physical home front. By the way, if you don't have physical health, you're in a real bad way in every way. Yeah, but mentally, spiritually, emotionally.
Starting point is 02:04:32 It's all going downhill. So we want to maintain as much physical health as we can. Is that kind of where we're going with us? That is true. But I think that the kind of the perception is that that hill that you're talking about go downhill, that's a big hill. It's like it's like long. And then when you're like younger, potentially you're at the top of that hill.
Starting point is 02:04:51 But the hill is so long, you can let these things slide for so long that on the way down, you kind of know, yeah, sure, I'm letting my health kind of slide, but it's not like code red. It doesn't feel like code red for like a long time. Rome wasn't built in the day and it wasn't destroyed in a day either. There you go. And you go day by day, but then one point you look up and the infrastructure is hurt. No, the infrastructure might not be recoverable. That's what I'm saying.
Starting point is 02:05:17 That's the problem. And that is kind of one of those points that I think doesn't, for some reason, doesn't dawn upon us real obviously, you know? No, that's because it creeps in. A little bit at a time. But you kind of would think, right, like on paper or whatever, that like you could get to the point. You could at least predict. Okay, look, I'm going downhill. I get it.
Starting point is 02:05:40 This happens in every single day, by the way. I get it. But when I get to XYZ point, I know that that's not recoverable or I'm in super hot water or whatever. So let's, when it gets to here, let's really tighten it up. Really, but we don't really do that. Well, we hope we do. Yeah, we hope we do. Let's not get it.
Starting point is 02:06:03 Let's not let it get to the point. It's not doing it. Something that allows us to let it slide more is you got some kind, like you're feeling a little dinged up. Yeah. Right? Maybe those joints are feeling like a dinged up. That's one of the things. And well, and actually that, that reminds me of what I was thinking, like, sure, yes.
Starting point is 02:06:24 we like if you work hard work out hard tree by things beating joints think of beating but even like daily doing like the same thing every day sitting down every day like all that kind of stuff it jams up your joints as well did you know that if you sleep with your knees together on your side it kind of like puts weird pressure like on your hips and your knees I did not know that yeah that's what I found out anyway all right whatever all right joints jacob fuel there you go we need supplementation
Starting point is 02:06:54 we're in the game, we are working out. If you're not working out, it's like, man, Brad, you got to start working out. You have to. Definitely. Unless your job is... Even then. Even if you have the most physical job you can think of,
Starting point is 02:07:10 we know what you have to do, proactively do mobility, stretch. You know what I'm saying? Pro soccer player. Well, then again, no, if you're pro athlete, you are working out. That's your whole jam. So, yeah, okay, you are correct.
Starting point is 02:07:20 I agree with that 100%. Okay, so work out. If you're not working out, working out now and you will need varying levels of supplementation let's start from the bottom the foundational supplementation joints keep that keep those in the game you're not getting younger I know you heard it before seems obvious but we don't act like it sometimes I'm saying you get older I like I you have whole conversation just with yourself because I know I know the thought that's why you know someone's like hey I'm not
Starting point is 02:07:48 getting any younger it's like yeah Brad that literally applies to every single human being at any age you could be just born, you're still not getting any younger. You know what I'm saying? I don't know though, bro. Also, you are getting, some people are getting young. But like, don't you think, hey, I'm better in these following
Starting point is 02:08:04 nine aspects right now than I was last year? That's true. I think I'm getting younger. No, see, you lost me at the last part. You might be getting better. For sure. More mobile, more physical, whatever. But nonetheless, what I'm saying is sometimes these cliches are super
Starting point is 02:08:20 self-explanatory, like obvious to everyone or whatever. So then I say, Then I got to explain what I mean by, you see what I'm saying? Because they apply. See what I'm saying? All right. Anyway, take joint warfare and super cruel oil. Keep your joints in the game because weak joints is worse than weak strength.
Starting point is 02:08:36 You understand that? Yep. Because you don't even have the capability to get strength. I said I understood it. That means you didn't need to extend on it before. I'm looking at Dave. I'm looking at Dave. He didn't say anything.
Starting point is 02:08:47 So I figured I was compelled to explain it a little bit more. The tape will show that I nodded my head, which is every bit the same as saying, I understand. Just your guys' words right now tells me that you don't fully understand. I'm trying to give to you guys. So you got Joint War for Acre Coal Oil, Discipline Go, vitamin D3, Cold War. We got the RTD. You can drink.
Starting point is 02:09:09 Okay, where are you at? Dave Burke. Good deal. What's your flavor assessment at the current time of the cans of Discipline Go? Sauer Alpha Sniper. That's your number one. Number one. Okay.
Starting point is 02:09:21 Just came out. Echo Charles, where are you at? I'm going to be honest I like the Jocco Palmer taste the best but you know how you like you go in like routines I'm on the sour apple Sniper I think maybe subconsciously
Starting point is 02:09:36 I'm still in the novel phase you know like oh new flavor you see what I'm saying but I think taste wise Jocco Palmer edge like by a little bit When is your signature flavor coming out Good deal Dave Burke It's next man so we have slapped the table
Starting point is 02:09:53 We are official on the flavor. Did you get the flavor that you liked? We did. We did. And now it's production time. It is time. The cans are ordered. Oh, the flavor is official.
Starting point is 02:10:04 Be Little and I had to talk last week. And I think we're next. So I actually, no, I saw the can design. Did you post the can design? I think I reposted it from him. Every time, like, this is like Pete's dream. Every time Pete gets to design a cool can, he like just, that's his, that's, he's so,
Starting point is 02:10:23 happy. He was super fired up on this. Exactly, dude. He's and probably because you were fired up. I was fired up. Because, you know, he sends me stuff and I'm like, looks cool. Dude, I was, I was super excited. When he sent me that stuff, I was so stoked. He knew I was stoked. He knew I was so cool. And he's like,
Starting point is 02:10:39 bro, yeah. Totally. Why is Jocko such a freaking jerk? I know, Beth. Yeah, I'm feeling Pete totally unknown. Because you know, when you're fired up, you get, you know, you artistically, you're like, oh man, this one really came together. You know, there's layers in there. You show it to like, like your primary audience and they just are like cool bro why don't we even come to you sometimes
Starting point is 02:10:58 hey warning order you know what a warning order is means like hey we got an operation that's going to be coming up pretty soon in the southeast a store called wawa wahwa yeah yeah i hear good things they're going to be having discipline go there little warning order that when it comes go get some we're on a little mission milk protein that tastes good or dessert that has protein
Starting point is 02:11:30 I'm not sure which way you want to describe it either way is good with me jocco white tea yeah good good good product and this stuff is also available at the vitamin shop or at origin
Starting point is 02:11:46 main dot com which is where you can also get Jitsu products such as a ghee such as a rash card and by the way just don't not just a guy kind of get the guy you can kind of get the guy that you want the most comfortable ghee ever made rift yeah is there a more comfortable glee than rift it's not even in the same ballpark yeah it was funny because my son he's for like I mentioned before so he'll like just be ran like we're not training at any place or nothing like that but he'll randomly be like hey it's time to train yeah or at the very least put on put on my ghee i just want to
Starting point is 02:12:25 put on the key right now so he'll put yeah he'll put it on and i'll be like remember pete because remember he met pete at the vitamin shop all that and i was like he's the one that made this gie so he'll be like cool and he'll be running around doing his thing whatever and then he'll say hey can you tell pete thanks for making this gie for me your kid is nice straight up oh yeah caro's very polite yes sir all right so we got geese we got boots American made boots American made jeans Blue jeans right
Starting point is 02:12:53 you would think you would just think oh blue jeans that's an American thing right blue jeans come from America you know what you're right and you're wrong Blue jeans came from America
Starting point is 02:13:04 they originated in America but they're not made there anymore unless you get origin genes and then they're made in America 100% from the thread in the cotton Yeah, it's true.
Starting point is 02:13:20 And they're sewn, the whole nine yards. So if you want to support America and you want to support this podcast and you want to support America, then check out origin, mane.com. And I'll quote echo here. If you see something and you like something, get something. It's true. Also, Jocko Store is called Jocko Store. So we're on the path.
Starting point is 02:13:42 Like I said, like we always say. So if you want to represent while on the path, we got some shirts, some hats, some hoodies, some shorts, board shorts, some other various items on there. Jocco store.com, like I said. So, you know, discipline equals freedom. Good. Get out all these things representative of this crazy hard from time to time path that we're on. Including the shirt that I'm wearing right now.
Starting point is 02:14:10 Yes. Hardcore recondos all day. You know I don't introduce new shirts into my lineup very often. Yes, it's a it's a it's a weave move for sure so here I am Rourkechloricondo No slack Warrior Kid Soap don't forget that you can get that at the Jocco store as well Some some of that soap is for children some of it for adults some of it's called killer soap some of it's called warrior kids soap
Starting point is 02:14:37 But regardless of what kind of soap you get it will all allow you and your family to Subscribe to this podcast Yep Which is just crazy if you haven't yet so the value of subscribe being to a podcast. Whatever. I'm just saying because it's one of those things, you know,
Starting point is 02:15:02 an ongoing kind of question mark. Like, oh, you're like, yeah, you know, how valuable is saying subscribe to the podcast.
Starting point is 02:15:10 Okay. This is what's for. This is new. If you're new to the podcast. Also, well, you can subscribe to another podcast, which is called
Starting point is 02:15:16 the Jocco unraveling podcast. You can subscribe to that one. It's myself and Daryl Cooper. We originally called it the thread. See, that's valuable right there. Yeah, but that's valuable right there to be like, okay, you're listening to Jocka podcast. You'd probably, you know, unless you're like brand new, the first one you ever listened to or whatever and think for some reason this is like a one off, an individual episode. Then you say subscribe to this podcast.
Starting point is 02:15:40 But we're listening to Jocko podcast, but there is in fact, like you said, unraveling podcast, whole different podcasts. Subscribe to that one too. Available for subscribing. Also grounded podcasts, which we are going to record another one with J.P. But we didn't. Sorry. We ran out of time. And Warrior Kid Podcast, I know I owe you those.
Starting point is 02:15:59 I apologize. I need to work harder. We have a YouTube channel where Echo Charles makes videos. If they're short, really compact videos, then they'll have all kinds of excitement in them. If they're a long video, then there'll be no excitement in them. It'll just be people talking, which in Echo Charles's opinion is the way to do it. It's valuable. Everyone else doesn't think that, but it's Echo Charles's YouTube channel.
Starting point is 02:16:22 That's where he's at. I got a text from Brandon today. And he said, hey. Pickworth? Yeah. And he said something along the lines of, you know, trooper since day one. If we don't have explosions, if that's not part of the program, something's wrong. There's another vote.
Starting point is 02:16:44 All right. Good tip. Just do it one time. See if anybody, you know, gets mad, whatever. So YouTube channel, subscribe to it. psychological warfare an album a jocco album with jocco traps
Starting point is 02:16:59 helping you through moments of weakness straight up when they come about you just boom you listen to that boom no weakness no moment and also we got psychological we got flipside canvas sorry flipside canvass dot com Dakota Meyer making cool things for you to hang on your
Starting point is 02:17:14 wall also got some books we got a book called the code Dave Burke what do you got about the code still using the code every day. I still get more direct messages on social media about that than anything else. Because it was this idea of like, hey, you were just having this conversation.
Starting point is 02:17:36 You have to look at the, you want to not be complacent. You want to keep, you have to do it every single day, every single day. I thought what you're going to say is we also talked about, you got to know where you are. this book, the code, the evaluation of protocols, actually allows you to assess where you are. How can you move if you don't know where you are? The answer is you can't.
Starting point is 02:17:58 The code, the evaluation of protocols, written by Jocka Willink, Dave Burke, and Sarah Armstrong. You know what's funny about that, the code? Like,
Starting point is 02:18:06 elements from this book are now in my everyday life. Like my whole, you don't remember how it feels like back in the day, but let's just face it, kind of the current, you know how you, like, label your experience
Starting point is 02:18:18 from one to, 10, right? Give it a score 1 to 10. Now it's one to five. Oh, it changed your whole. Yeah, five is like the unattainable perfection. You know, four is like your general perfection, you know. Yeah, you've got to be careful with that one though. The fours? Yeah, because if your if your wife is like, hey, how do I look tonight in this dress? And you're like, oh, you're a five. What you mean is unattainable perfection. Yes. What you get is slapped. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. When you get real used to this evaluation system, but I'll get slapped. I got to stay true to the code.
Starting point is 02:18:51 Got it 100%. You know, your kids are doing somersaults or whatever. They're getting a one, two, three, or four. Maybe sometimes five if it's perfect. But I'm just saying the whole rating system gets shifted down to this one now. Cool. And the same standard as well, like five. Like you'll even text like, hey, just threw up a four.
Starting point is 02:19:08 Okay, Dave, if I text you, hey, I just threw up a four, right? You know exactly what I'm talking about. Impressive. So what I'm saying? I'm just saying this code is life now. Also have leadership strategy and tactics field manual way the warrior kid one two and three Mikey and the dragons discipline equal freedom field manual and extreme ownership and the dichotomy leadership we have a leadership consultancy called echelon front where we work with
Starting point is 02:19:31 companies Dave what are you spearheading right now I think I'm we are working with like 20 different companies on long range programs right now I think everyone from a different sector a different place in the market and you said something minute ago, it's the same exact thing with every single company, but everything is different because they're all different and not one single thing about it is boring. My wife would tell you that I repeat myself a thousand times a day. I have not once gotten tired of it. And companies that working with us, the coolest thing about it is despite all the stuff
Starting point is 02:20:12 going on in the world right now, they are getting better. And it is so awesome to be a part of that. Watch that happen. So if you want that, go to Eschlamfront.com. You can check out our consultancy. We also have an online training platform to make you a better leader, not just through static training, which is there. You can get some fundamentals reinforced, but you can also just sit there and ask me a question.
Starting point is 02:20:36 You can come to a live interaction. I will be sitting there on my computer. You'll be on your computer. And you can ask me, hey, Jocko, here's the situation that I'm going through. I will answer it. You can talk to Dave, you can talk to Laif, you can talk to JP, you can talk to anyone on the Escalonfront team. So go to EFonline.com if you want to hang out and talk.
Starting point is 02:21:00 We also have The Muster, which is a leadership conference. Two out of three have been canceled this year. The next one is Dallas, Texas, December 3rd and 4th. Probably going to be social distancing, so we have less seats. And people from Orlando and Phoenix are coming to Dallas. So it's going to sell out even quicker than normal. Extremeownership.com if you want to come to that. We have EF Overwatch.
Starting point is 02:21:24 You heard on the last podcast 244. Mike Sorrelli, George Randall. This is Eschalon Fronts taking people from the military that have leadership experience and placing them into your civilian organization to help you bring your team into the winning. category. And you know what? If you're already winning, it will help you win harder. And America's mighty warriors.org, that is Mama Lee, that is Mark Lee's mom. If you want to
Starting point is 02:22:03 support military personnel, if you want to support the families of military personnel, including Gold Star families around the world, you go to America's mighty warriors.org. You can donate or you can get involved. Mama Lee, bless her heart. That is her mission. And she is driving it. And if you need more, if you can't live without some more of my thought-threatening theories,
Starting point is 02:22:35 or you'd like to hear some of echoes, obtuse opinions, or maybe you'd just like to hear one more of Dave's enthusiastic allegories, then you can find us on the interwebs. On Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Dave is at David R. Burke, B-E-R-K-E. Echo is at Equit-T-R-T-R-K-E. And I am at Jocka-Willink. And to all the troops that take these combat lessons
Starting point is 02:23:01 and apply them to your present duty to protect our right to self-determination in the world. Thank you for your service. And to the police and law enforcement and firefighters and paramedics and EMTs and dispatchers and correctional officers and border. and Secret Service and all the other first responders out there thank you for doing what you do every day to keep us safe when we needed the most and to everyone else out there you know you hear
Starting point is 02:23:33 these stories and you hear these theories and you hear these principles and there's no rocket science to them there's no mystery it's the same thing it's discipline it's action it's communication It's follow through. It's planning. You know what to do. You know what leads to victory in combat, and therefore you know what leads to victory in business, and you know what leads to victory in life.
Starting point is 02:24:02 Don't hesitate. Don't wait. Now is the time to implement to go out there and get after it. And until next time, this is Dave and Echo and Jocko. Out.

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