Clint Emerson - Escape the Wolf: A Navy SEAL Operative’s Guide to Situational Awareness

Full transcript: Clint Emerson on London Real

2:48 This is London Real. I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Clint Emerson, the former Navy SEAL, crisis management expert and best-selling author.

3:07 You spent over two decades conducting special operations with SEAL Team Six, considered the most highly trained elite force in the US military, as well as with the National Security Agency, before retiring from active service in 2015. Your expertise in counter-terrorist operations and as a surveillance expert earned you numerous awards for your leadership, including the Bronze Star Medal for heroic service to your country. As the best-selling author of the book series 100 Deadly Skills, you offer everyday civilians life-saving strategies, teaching how to survive and thrive in any circumstances.

3:39 Your latest book, Escape The Wolf, details your total awareness system, designed to help travelers identify and negotiate any potential high-risk situation. For 20 years you operated by two strict codes: “If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying,” and “It’s only illegal if you get caught.” Clint, welcome to London Real. Hey, thanks for having me, Brian. It’s good to be here.

4:01 Great to have you. I love those two codes, and maybe we can get into that shortly. I want to just jump in and ask you two questions. Is the world more dangerous, or are we just more unaware? You know, compared to, like, when you and I grew up, to, like, say, today, is it one of those things, or is it the other, or both?

4:22 I would say first, it’s just the media is more dangerous. But yeah, you know, when you have such rapid communication and the ease of information flow, you know, the internet made all borders basically gray or non-existent. So now you’ve got information flowing all over the place, and it does make you start to wonder, is it really that bad out there, or is it just the internet doing what it does best, and that is inflame anything it can possibly inflame, to just create emotional reactions, clicks, views, you name it, right?

5:00 So it’s hard to get an accurate pulse. But if you’re looking here in the States and metropolitan areas, yes, crime has gone up, violence has gone up. And it’s no surprise. You know, any of the guys that work for me on the pandemic side will tell you the virus is an indirect issue, even just saying “virus,” right? The real issue is the accordion effect, later, as it relates to the economy, and everything else that falls in line, to include supply chain issues and everything else we keep hearing about.

5:38 So I’d say right now, statistically, yeah, things are probably not great, and there’s always room for improvement. Because I moved to New York City in 1993, and I remember Giuliani had just come in and he was just cleaning house, and there was a cop on every corner, and, you know, he was going after the minor crimes, which he thought had a knock-on effect to the major crimes, and it became, like, you know, the safest it had ever been, to where it was like people didn’t even recognize it anymore. And now it seems like it’s going back the other way.

6:08 I hear horror stories of LA. I mean, I’m from San Diego, but I hear stories in LA that I don’t know if they’re accurate, of people, like, walking into part to House parties with guns and taking everybody’s stuff, and going into Apple Stores and cleaning house, and I mean, crime is back on the rise. Is it back to the levels of, like, the ’70s and some of those major cities? You know, it seems like it’s definitely higher than I’ve ever known it to be, and, you know, it’s hard to, like, connect it, right?

6:39 So at least, you know, decades ago you could connect it to, okay, the economy is at a certain place, or it’s the heat of the summer, right? Violence, violent crime is always higher in the summers. But lately it’s like, well, what are we connecting it to? What’s the foundation for it? Because, you know, you have plenty of jobs out there, you have all of these reported positivities going on, and it’s hard to connect why the violence has gone up, other than, you know, I think people definitely are more in tune, or more stressed out, or, you know, politics.

7:19 I mean, we all know that. Here, like, you know, geopolitically things are really sort of, sort of, in a, in a turmoil and have been for a couple of years, right? So I think that’s really a big piece of what’s been going on. Yeah, let me ask you a specific question, because I’m here in London. You know, this is the home of the former Queen, now the King.

7:40 This is where we drink tea, and you know, we dress like I do. And yet, I think two weeks ago, right near here in the City of London, where I used to work, actually, as a banker. three guys were stabbed the other day in broad daylight as these kids tried to take a mobile phone from some banker walking down the street. And the latest thing is these kids jump on these electric bikes. So again, there’s, like, no traces.

8:05 They rent them, they go fast, they can go down alleys and get away from police. They wear ski masks, and they grab these phones, and if people are either unaware or maybe stupid enough to fight back, you know, you’ll get stabbed. Stabbing is a big thing here, because we don’t have guns, I guess. And I mean, like I said, this happened you know, in broad daylight in kind of the Wall Street area, with, you know, businessmen in suits getting stabbed for their phones, and everyone’s thinking, what the hell’s going on?

8:37 I’m wondering, like, for anybody in London that’s listening or other major cities, you know, what would be the first thing you’d say to people to try to avoid or be aware of these situations? And you know, is it happening, like I said, because people maybe aren’t aware, and could it be prevented with a little more awareness? Which is what you talk about. Yeah, for sure. I think keeping your head on a swivel is key, and especially when you’re walking down a street, because not only do you have the kids that might want to do what’s called apple picking, right?

9:05 Apple, Apple products are without a doubt targeted, and have been for as long as the iPhone’s been out, right? Apple picking in major cities all over the world, because it’s really an expensive phone. And you know, not anymore, but before, you could just do a master reset on the thing and then take it to, you know, your cell phone, local mobile phone service provider, and they basically, you know, put their SIM card in, and now you’ve got a phone that’s yours.

9:38 You didn’t have to spend a thousand bucks on that thing. But now they’re going to electronic, you know, SIM cards. There will not be. There are no more SIM cards anymore with the newer phones. So it’s, I don’t know that the bad guys know that, right?

9:52 It’s not, you can go just switch it into your name and use it anymore. So I think that’ll help once everyone knows and has a little bit of that knowledge and awareness, that you can’t just steal somebody’s phone and then go make it yours anymore. It’s going to be a whole lot more difficult. But yeah, as far as awareness, I mean, walking down the street, you know, I always stay off your phone, right? Have that thing put away, because it’s the people driving on their phones that you’re going to be looking out for as a pedestrian, to run you over.

10:22 Especially if you’re walking over bridges and any other channelized areas, you really got to have your wits about you, because that’s a funnel in itself, and that’s where bad guys like to attack. And that’s the book. It concentrates solely on getting off the X, and the best way to get off the X is identifying them ahead of time and then going around them, right? So, you know, those areas where there’s high crime, or usually, you know, the point from when you leave your residence and go to your vehicle, or when you leave work and go to your vehicle.

10:55 I mean, these are all, like, your typical Xs that are on the ground. When I say X, that is the point in which bad guys feel they have the advantage. It’s the point in which they’re going to decide to attack you because they feel like they have the element of surprise, stealth, right, and speed, and because they have those three things on their side, they’ll be more successful. So if you start looking around and going, “Hey, where’s the X, where’s the best place in my pattern of life for someone to attack me?”

11:31 Once you identify it, now you know the places where you have to be more aware, right? Because I tell people all the time, if you’re trying to look at everything, you will see nothing, right? So you have to kind of sensitize your mind and calibrate it so that it’s looking for the signs and symptoms of the very threats that exist where you live, right? That way, now I’m limiting it to just these maybe these few things, those signs and symptoms of certain threats, and you’re going to be a lot more successful in your observation skills when you do that.

12:07 What about headphones? Keep them off? Yeah, yeah. You know, I, well, look, I love to run with music. I think everybody does, you can do adjustments now called hear-through, right?

12:22 So you can hear your music, and you can hear the ambient outside environment. And I actually did a test with my daughter, or, you know, she had a man, and I ran up behind her to see if she could hear my feet coming, and she could. So, you know, the technology is now caught up to those, those safety tips, right? Because before it’s like, no, don’t have anything in your ears, or at a minimum have one out, right, left, or right? Here, make sure it’s your good ear, that’s actually you know listening for what’s coming up behind you.

12:57 But now the technology’s gotten smarter, and you know, you can legitimately listen to music and hear what’s going on around you, but I would still factor the side of, don’t put anything in your ears. Let’s face it, you know, any time you’re putting anything, an obstruction, in your ear, regardless of hear-through technology, you know, you’re still putting yourself, you’re still making yourself vulnerable, right? So don’t put it in your ears. Don’t be on your phone.

13:20 Yeah, the problem is that most people are doing both of those things, and they’re so situational and aware. I mean, you talked about drivers. I mean, they’ve done tests, and drivers looking at texting is like worse than drunk driving. Like it’s you’re so impaired of your awareness, right? Yeah, I think people underestimate, you know, it’s distracted driving.

13:40 Distract, I mean, it is way worse than being intoxicated, because you’re, you’re literally your mind, your eyes, all of your senses are focused into one spot in the cockpit of your vehicle. So at least when you’re, like, you know, substance impaired, your senses are still trying to work and still trying to see what’s going on out in front of you, right? But when you’re looking at your phone, your hand, your thumb trying to type, you know, all the audibles you’re listening for, I mean, all your senses are taken away, and all it takes is that split second.

14:21 Obviously, if a good day goes bad real quick. Yeah, I’ve caught myself, sometimes, just catching myself at how just unaware I am, and just thinking, wow, if somebody just wanted to jack me, it would not be hard. And, yeah, I have to constantly check myself. I want to ask you in a couple situations. You know, I went down to Rio de Janeiro, I think, probably in the mid-2000s, and everyone told me, like, watch yourself down there.

14:45 And you know, I I was, I was pretty good most of the time, and I used the same techniques I kind of use in London as well. When I see, like, a group of young kids, what I do is I usually make eye contact with them or at least in their general direction, and I just try to show that I’m doing boom boom boom boom boom, and I just let them know that I’m aware they’re there, if I have to, or I’m just kind of aware of what’s going on. I’m swiveling, and I’m just trying to let everyone know that I’m looking, and I found that, even though I’m not the biggest of guys, I feel like they say to themselves, you know what, I’m just going to wait for the old lady.

15:21 I’m gonna wait for the more clueless tourists, because I rarely had a problem. I mean, I did have a couple kids run up on me on the beach asking me for change, and I quickly realized they didn’t want change, and my instinct was to run, and that was a great idea, and it worked out really well, but like in, I use this technique in London and used to in New York, and it seems to work pretty good, uh, so far. Am I doing some things right, or am I doing something’s wrong?

15:48 I think if it’s been working, then it’s right. If you haven’t found yourself in a bad situation, then keep doing what you’re doing, right? I mean, the reality is confidence goes a long ways, you know, and like you already mentioned, you know, bad guys that either plan and conduct these criminal acts for a living, or the more opportunistic predators that just see a weak person and go, oh, I bet they got five bucks, or whatever, right? Regardless of which kind of bad guy, confidence goes a long ways against those folks.

16:21 I think you, the only consideration is culture, right? Is staring someone in the eyes going to, you know, increase the odds, right? Because in some cultures you stare someone in the eyes and that’s, they’re going to get aggressive. If you avoid eye contact, then you know, so it’s, I think, for the scenario where you’ve got a gang of kids and you’re looking at them, letting them know, hey, I see you, and you’re walking with confidence and keeping your wits about you.

16:53 I think that goes a long way no matter which country you’re in. Yeah, it is a fine line for sure, and what I try to do usually is I try to just go “Bam, bam, bam,” because I want the other ones to see I looked at the other ones, and I want them to be, I was like, “Bam, bam, bam,” and then I keep it going, and I just think that they’re just going to be like, “Well, he look at me? Did he look at them?” And then it’s just maybe not worth it. But I know what you mean.

17:15 You might be in the one situation where you get the “What are you looking at?” Yeah, and then yeah, it looks like a challenge. Yeah, and then when you got three kids, you never know what the hierarchy is, what the background is, and one of them might not want to look bad, and then you might, you know, stumble into something. You talked about awareness there, and in the book you talk about the total awareness system, and you have various different awarenesses.

17:39 You got the situational awareness, the personal awareness you just mentioned, the cultural awareness, which is really important, third party awareness, and then you kind of go into some other, you know, interesting things in there. Can you break down at least some of those and explain what people need to know about that, and how you kind of qualify those? Yeah, so the background on total awareness, which is broken into those four pieces that you just, you know, listed.

18:08 Um, I was traveling abroad working alone on a regular basis, and in between deployments I come back and I’d go to the NSA or CIA and all these agencies and say we’re, you know, I feel like I should have an education like on being the gray person, the person who can blend in, the person when you’re at the airport, the one you don’t see walk by when you’re sitting there waiting. You know, we all do people watching, and I started noticing, like, wait a minute, I’m paying attention to certain people, usually based on my own interests or ego or whatever, right? And we, we notice those things.

18:47 Hey, I’ve got a Panerai watch, just like that guy, or, you know, or hey, those are those, those high heel shoes with the red bottoms on it, that cost a lot of money. Or, you know, you pick up on the things that are, it’s all wrapped and stacked up here in our heads. In the meantime, you’ve got a hundred people that just walked by behind those folks you didn’t even notice, and why? Right, and so I was noticing this, so I had assumed, okay, somebody in all the interagencies had to put a course together, or some kind of education, to teach you how to blend in and be like that hundred people that just walked by that I never noticed, and I went knocking on a bunch of doors, and at that time there was nothing, and so then I started compiling my notes.

19:34 My notes became a three-ring binder, and then the three-ring binder became Escape the Wolf, the book. And so through my travels I was like, you know, there’s all this concentration on the situational awareness, situational awareness, but there’s actually more to it. And so that’s what I call total awareness, where you start with personal awareness, and this is projection and demeanor management, right? Like, you, how you’re dressed, right, there, how you project yourself, and your Instagram videos, and how you show up to do this interview.

20:09 You have a style, you have a thing that’s yours, and it sets you apart from everybody else, right? And that’s because on personal awareness and projection demeanor, it’s our ego that dresses us in the morning, because we do want to stand out. We want to be separate from everybody else. It’s normal, especially here in America, right? So, what you have to do when you’re doing that, though, is go, all right, you have to ask yourself, do I look like a target when I dress like this in the area in which I live or where I work or where I’m traveling?

20:43 Right, so that goes back to anything expensive. Check yourself. Nope, any tattoos that are exposed that could be offensive, like my big American flag, right? You cover them up. Is there any big logos, name brands, bright colors, right?

21:05 So it’s, you gotta, like, just ask yourself those questions before you walk out. It’s probably the most important thing to be aware of, and that is yourself, right? Because it’s those third parties, right? So third-party awareness is one of the pieces of total awareness that are going to observe it. That could be criminals, it’d be law enforcement, for an Intel services, or what I like to always use, because nature of the workbook I was doing, it’s the grandma on the window that sits there at 3 p.m. every day with her cafe and chocolate, and likes to watch everybody on the streets, and she knows everyone walking by on those streets.

21:45 She knows what’s normal and what isn’t, and she’s going to be the one to call her grandchild and say, hey, there’s a stranger walking through our neighborhood right now, and he happens to be al-Qaeda, right? The grandson, so for me third-party awareness was the most important aspect, and so how can I control it? How do I control people I don’t even know. It starts with personal awareness, then cultural awareness, right? I can control what I wear now I can control how much education I get about the area I’m going to, the do’s and don’ts, the social protocols and norms, the mannerisms, all of that, right?

22:24 So now I’m doing what they’re doing, and I’m showing respect, and I’m building allies, right? because I can tell you right now, you show respect in that culture and you get a business card or two. those business cards will get you out of trouble faster than the State Department every single time, because the State Department ain’t going to move on your behalf anytime soon, right? So you’re building alliances, and you’re building that respect and mutual respect with the people you encounter each day just through cultural awareness, and that’s why it’s important we’re not the Ugly Americans anymore.

23:01 And then finally you have situational awareness, which really is, you know, I try to keep it as simple as possible. It’s is paying attention to your environment, environment, but knowing that, okay, there’s a three-meter bubble we live in, and I like to compare it to a boat. If I’m standing in a boat and the boat’s in the middle of a swamp, right, and you’ve got alligators in your boat, you’ve got alligators just outside the boat, and you’ve got the alligators that are inbound, so how you observe and how you deal with things is basically, like, what can touch me, and what’s in arm’s reach, first, then just outside arm’s reach, and then beyond that, right?

23:43 If you scan your environment and look at things that way, you’re taking a little bit more control, right? And so by doing personal awareness, cultural awareness, and keeping your head on a swivel, now you’re taking control of that third-party piece, which, if you don’t observe the other three, then you’re just kind of put, taking chances, when you walk out the door. I like the alligator, so you first make sure there’s none in your boat. That’s the three-meter piece.

24:13 Oh, that’s the one meter pizza, and then it’s like, if they’re outside the boat, still something to be worried about, and then again, if they’re inbound, you, it’s still something to think about. Like, you’re in a danger, you potentially dangerous neighborhood where anything could happen, but at least it’s not immediate. Exactly. Yeah, and, uh, and then the other variable here is, right, we can have our seat belt on, a full tank of gas, paying attention, following all the traffic safety laws, and still get T-boned in the intersection by an idiot, right?

24:48 So the element of surprise is the piece that, you know, you definitely always trying to counter and look for and observe when you’re, you know, trying to be more aware. You know, it’s really interesting. Clint, you said you know like you’re taking me, for example. And yeah, I mean, I’m, you know, I’m dressed to get attention, and like you said, a lot of people are. I mean, you mentioned my Instagram.

25:10 You know, I was just in Dubai, and I was hanging out with a bunch of crypto influencers, and one of them is from Sweden. He’s a big, big influencer, you know, worth, you know, over 100 million, probably, and he’s like, I don’t go back anymore because of the crime, and I was like, what do you mean, the crime? And he’s like, people came and took my stuff, in three different occasions, and he found out it was probably because he posted where he was going on Instagram.

25:33 So yeah, right, and a couple guys had said that, and so again, it’s almost like a digital piece of that personal awareness, where you’re almost even letting people know beforehand that you’re getting there, and it literally, there were there were dudes in Stockholm that were waiting for them. They saw his post, so they watched a hashtag. They knew he was going to be there. He drives a Bugatti. They’re thinking, you know, what, this is going to be a good score, and it happened like repeated times, to where he was like, all right, this is now a digital personal awareness as well.

26:05 Have you heard of that before? No, you nailed it, and I mentioned in the book like every piece of total awareness applies to the cyber world, right? So personal awareness, situational, wearing all of it, right? A third party, right? We, you’ve got trolls watching, waiting to just make a dumb comment, you know, and then you’ve got criminals watching and waiting, because you’re posting things real time.

26:29 You know, in the book I also discussed, you know, give yourself, don’t never post real time. In fact, give yourself a 72 window or beyond. Put that 72 delay, 72-hour delay, uh, in your social media calendar, right? So that you’re always three days ahead of where you were the day you’re posting, right? So it’s not rocket science.

26:55 It’s pretty easy. It’s just people, like, get excited, and they want to share what they’re doing, right now, or they’re at a convention, and everybody else is sharing that they’re at the convention. But it’s probably just best to wait, right, and then turn off all your location settings and, you know, all the stuff you hear about. Yeah, I was, I ran to be mayor of London in 21, and, um, I was trying not to, you know, post any pictures where I lived, and then we ended up getting some death threats, and it’s just like you’re like, man, I mean, you know, you really have to be smart and careful, and again, even if, even if it wasn’t a legit threat, it can do just as much damage, right, to the family and the psychology and the team, whether it is or it isn’t.

27:38 So it’s, uh, yeah, again, another just a good example of being aware of that, maybe third-party awareness, but now digitally as well. You know, yeah, no doubt. I mean, I think it’s probably more important because we’re, we’re so leashed to technology, right? I mean, it’s, it’s a constant, you know, necessary evil. Now, you know, there was a time, right, as technology started to merge and be like, ah, I’m not using that crap, but I mean, now you have, you know, especially social media, right?

28:10 It was just, it was just individuals on there, and then Fortune 500 started opening up accounts, and then you’re like, holy crap, now if you don’t have an account, you’re the weirdo, right? So yeah, yeah, I must say I was surprised that there would be kind of, you know, criminals that would follow one of these crypto guys and make, when he was coming to town, to go specifically to jack him. I was like, wow, but, you know, probably makes sense now that I now that I think about it.

28:38 Um, you use an acronym, threat, in your book as well, and I was wondering if you could tell us what it talks about, because I guess you’re trying to look at some of the different risk assessments, like health and environmental and raid and terror threats, but yeah, I mean, why do you use that acronym, and how is it helpful? So, you know, while I went, you know, once again translating you know, a military career and how do you, can you give civilians kind of sort of the same skills? The threat acronym is a way of creating your own threat intelligence report before you go do anything, especially, you know, traveling abroad or here in the states.

29:16 You’re just going from Dallas to New York. It’s a good idea to do it, right? One it’s sensitizing you to anything you could potentially face when you get there, getting you educated, you know, and, and also when you, when you actually take it, take 10 minutes, that’s all it takes, right? You take, right, threat, t-h-r-e-a-t, vertically on a piece of paper, and then you’re gonna go Google technical threats New York, right? And technical threats is, you know, all your cyber stuff, audio, video, training, you’re gonna, and if you hit, you know, news, do a quick run, like, what’s some of the tech threats that have been going on, or tech crimes, and then you can hit scholarly, the academia side, right, and get a real fact-filled reports, if there are any, on that particular threat, particular city, right?

30:10 So t-h-r-e-a-t, so technical threats, health threats, are, as, rage, robbery, ransom, which are your most violent crimes, and then you have environmental threats. So that’s all your natural disaster, like here in Dallas, we’re about to have, you know, tornadoes all day and then, a agencies working against you. So that was a big concern for me, and should be for anybody who has any kind of intellectual property on their devices or they travel for a big company.

30:38 And then of course, uh, the last T, the threat that’s never gone away, terrorism, right? We don’t hear much about it right now, but it always goes full circle, so you want to always make sure you’re staying in the loop on it. But once again, you’re just creating a nice little threat report for yourself. You spend 10 minutes Googling each of those threats for the place you’re going, and you’ll be better for it, right? It’ll, it’ll lead to more questions, which will lead to more answers.

31:06 Now you’re a whole lot more prepared, and like I was talking about the beginning, you can’t look at everything, right? You’ll just end up blind. So by doing that threat report, you’re sensitizing. Okay, now I know what to look for. Now I know what to do.

31:25 You’re reading news, you’re reading scholar reports that kind of give you the answers ahead of time, and you know, then you’ll have a much more confident, safer trip, and that’s really the goal, is give yourself that confidence, so that you’re not, you know, over-sensitized by being in a new environment, right? We all, we all end up that way, you go to a new country, you’re not paying attention to anything, you’re just trying to figure out what the hell is going on and taking in all the new noises, new languages, new everything, right? So trying to decrease that a little bit by getting educated before you go.

31:58 It’s funny, I think I did a, you know, a poor man’s version of threat when I, I remember I was here in London, and it was like ’05, and I decided to take a trip, a trip to Beirut. I thought that would be kind of cool, and, um, I remember asking my travel agent, I’m like, is it safe to go to Beirut? And I guess that was the last T terrorist, and he came right back at me and he said, “Is it safe? Is it safe to be in London?” It’s like, and he had a good point.

32:21 I mean, we just had you know, a couple years after that we had bombings in the subway, then we had guys driving down vehicles down London Bridge, stabbing people, fake explosive vests. You know, it’s funny, because a lot of people used to think terrorism was abroad, and then you got these lone-wolf attacks. You know, Oklahoma City bombings, and I mean, you have to assess it even domestically, that last T, right? Yeah, yeah, I try to, uh, shed a little bit of reality on folks, right?

32:52 Number one, general statement: what used to be the wrong place, the wrong time, is now any place, any time. So the stereotype of the Middle East or down in South America, with crime and kidnappings, and this and that, are there case studies. Were there times when it was really bad? Yes. But these days, I mean, anything goes, anywhere you’re at, and you have to keep that in mind.

33:15 And as it relates to, like, the terror piece, I mean, yeah, I mean, how do we define terror anymore, right? Mass shootings, is terrorism, right? And they’re happening every day here in the United States. Yeah, you know, if anyone ever goes and looks up, like, immunizations required for certain countries, you know, you think, oh, countries in Africa, third world, right? I’m probably going to need every shot under the sun to go there, and that’s true, because it’s definitely, there’s viruses there that don’t exist here.

33:46 But when you compare all of, if you look at the list of diseases, oh, in other countries, and then compare it to the list of diseases in the United States or in first-world countries, I think people would be shocked that, like, the first-world countries have a far bigger list. And so we end up kind of thinking, oh, no, go over there, you’re going to get sick, and this is going to happen, that’s going to happen. But the reality is, here in our own homes, we’re surrounded by plenty of freaking diseases that we don’t even care about.

34:18 We walk out the doors today. So yeah, the stereotype stuff is, I think, just that. And you know, anything can happen anywhere these days. Yeah, you mentioned, yeah, you did a test with your daughter where you kind of you know, snuck up behind her, and to see if the headphones worked or not. And, um, I had Tim Kennedy on the show like a year ago, you know, Green Beret and MMA fighter, and he’s got his company, Sheepdog Response.

34:45 I’m sure you guys know of each other. And, um, he kidnapped his daughter, I think, like a year ago, him and three of his buddies, like, grabbed her and threw her in his van, and it was to kind of teach her a lesson about her own situational awareness. He got a little flak for it, but, you know, that’s Tim. I mean, Tim would do this anyways, but I think, like, a year later, he was just like, look, she got some valuable lessons that actually might save her life one day.

35:09 Um, how do you feel about doing something like that to someone, or a loved one, to just really teach them about awareness? No, I think it’s great, um, because, well, for me, I would personally say, let’s do some training first, and then let’s test it, right, under stress. I think that’s, there’s, there’s no better way to learn, right? I mean, you go through a little bit of training and then make sure you take that training and apply it to a stressful, contained scenario, and then put all of that training to work, and ensure that you know what you’re doing, right?

35:45 And make sure that you absorbed all of the education that you need in order to survive. So yeah, does my daughter, she knows how to get out of duct tape, zip ties? You know, she carries, you know, different tools that, you know, can protect her. She is probably better on a handgun than, you know, most men I know. So yeah, I think, you know, educating your family and getting skills, obviously, that’s my number one job since I’ve been out.

36:16 It’s like a skills provider, and so I feel like everyone should be educating themselves and educating their family through and through. I mean, there’s plenty out there to learn, and it’s fun, right? If you make it a family endeavor, it’s a great way to hang out rather than just binging on some television show. Yeah, I was watching some of your videos, and you got some great ones online, so people should just check them out. But there was one where you were talking about some basics, and I wanted to ask you, if you had to tell someone to do study, maybe three basic things that you teach, what would they be?

36:51 And I saw you talking about, you know, concealing razor blades on yourself, the handcuff keys, and then, like, learning how to get out of a trunk, and, you know, some other things. What do you think are just, like, if somebody wanted to spend an hour this weekend, and it might be the only hour they ever spend on this stuff, what do you think are just some really good return-on-investment type stuff to do with this type of personal security? Yeah, I think, you know, restraint defeat is definitely up on the list, right?

37:20 I mean, being able to escape a bad situation is of utmost importance, especially if restraints are involved. So duct tape obviously is the number one restraint in the world, because it’s cheap, it’s readily available. You know, second to that is zip ties. Third is handcuffs. The handcuffs of the Smith and Wesson Peerless, which are the most common ones around the globe.

37:44 So I think, you know, being familiar with the different kinds of restraints out there, and then practice getting out of them, is a great hour spent. I mean, it wouldn’t take much longer, right? I mean, getting out of duct tape is the same, the same techniques as you’re going to get out of zip ties, and then handcuffs is basically shimming them. And, uh, you know, if you’ve got a, you know, a soft drink can or a beer can, you can literally use your kitchen scissors and cut shims, and now you’ve got a shim that’ll basically go in between the ratchet teeth and the ratchet mechanism itself, right?

38:23 And it disconnects the two from one another and allows the handcuffs to come free. That’s if they’re not double locked, right? Cops are always going to double lock their handcuffs. Criminals don’t take the time to do it. So, um, but yeah, I think, I mean, that’s a great one.

38:37 It’s sexy. It’s fun. Everybody can do it, kind of thing. Um, you know, outside of that, you know, really, you know, working on your awareness skills, you can play what we call keep in mind, or Kim’s games, or you can, you know, go out in your front yard and place really, really tiny objects that are barely visible and then have a family member come out and try and see all of them, see how many they can identify in 30 seconds, right? You get to take a snapshot with your eyes and your mind, and then immediately head down and write all the things you saw.

39:14 And doing those observation games and skills are great, because then when you go to a restaurant or you go to an airport or you’re at a big sporting event or something, now you’re all of a sudden pulling out the details in a crowd. So there’s a cool, there’s a lot of cool stuff that, you know, we talk about in the book that you can certainly apply and spend an hour on, and it’ll be a great hour, right? That’ll serve you well, you know, outside your home.

39:40 I got two boys, and they’re five and six years old. What do you, what, what would you do with those age groups, you know, to start introducing some of these ideas? Well, at that age, it’s always good to turn things into games, right? So I think, you know, your home is your safe site, that’s your safe place, and kids want to feel safe there, but I also think it’s important to go, hey, you know, you hear a noise at night, what are we gonna do, how are we going to react, how are you going to rally up together and then make your way to Dad, and then do it, right?

40:20 Have fun with it. You know, different ways of communicating, right, whether it’s, you know, flashlights, you know, letting you know where you are, you know, it’s just a couple of, you know, flashes of the light. You don’t want to leave a flashlight completely on, especially if, you know, there’s an integer situation, it gives up your location, and all that stuff, but I think, foreign, better than anyone else, your location. Um, right, so keep it black and move around the house, you know, and do it, see if you can do it as quietly as possible, and they also talk about exit strategies, right?

41:16 Yeah, whether it’s a fire, a bad guy, whatever it is, you know, hey, how do you, how am I getting out of my bedroom, how am I getting out of the living room, how am I getting out of the kitchen? So I think that’s, uh, you know, for that age group, whether boys or girls, like doing that kind of stuff and making it fun. You know, once again, it’s going to give you peace of mind too. Okay, now my kids know what to do, right? You know, I still worry to this day sending my daughter off to college, like, did I really prepare her the best I could?

41:47 Is there something I forgot that could potentially happen to her, and I’ll be hating myself later that, oh my God, I can’t even believe I didn’t talk about that with her, right? Yeah, so give yourself a peace of mind, parents, and have fun with your kids and do these exit strategies, and you know, fun games, if you will, that will allow them to, uh, you know, you know, Escape The Wolf. Yeah, I’m gonna do that definitely with some basics, as far as, like, yeah, fire escapes, what happens if this happens, and then you know, people knocking on the door.

42:19 I’m gonna be running through that. I think this weekend you’ve got something called, uh, or there’s something called an OODA loop, which I think stands for observation, orientation, decision, action. And then I read some story about you that I thought was really interesting, and I don’t know if it involves one of these loops, but I think you have been dropped into some unnamed country and you got some basics from the embassy, like a water, cash, uh, mobile phone, and a handgun, and you’re in a car, and you find yourself in a situation with a lot of people angry, surrounding your car, and you had to make some very important decisions, not obvious decisions, in order to get out of there alive.

42:56 As one of you, just talk about that, and the decisions you make, because it’s almost like a crazy puzzle, because you could have easily made some wrong decisions that would have felt right, that probably would have gotten you killed. Yeah, no, it was, it was probably one of the more, you know, as a SEAL, you’re doing a lot of risky, crazy stuff, but you’re trained for it. You rehearse it. You’re doing it all the time. You’re very confident with those skills, and then you go do it.

43:26 Um, this was everything was 100 out of my control. And, um, it was the Arab Spring, so there wasn’t a major city in the Middle East that didn’t have riots and social unrest going on. Obviously it made national news, like, every day, for a month or months, you know. Um, and I was working in one of those countries, and just like you said, you know, you land, you go check in with the embassy. Um, they give you whatever you need, some creds and, you know, money and, uh, phone and your gun, and that’s just kind of get you started, so you’ve got local cash and whatever else.

44:06 Um, getting a vehicle, and, you know, a lot of, like, appreciation, right? We’re so appreciative for gas stations being on every corner, and we don’t have to go buy a SIM card, you know, you know, every whatever, 100 minutes or whatever you buy, or having to recharge it, or this or that. I mean, so much, so many things you don’t do here in the US that just kind of come, they’re just part of it, right? But not, not so much in other countries. So anyway, I get my, my literally Ziploc bag of toys, get my car, turn it on, of course, you know, it’s almost on empty, right?

44:45 And then now I’m heading away from the embassy. You know, it’s a bunch of, like, I’m stair-stepping, right? It’s left, right, left, right, left, right through different areas, and I take a right, and sure enough, you know, there’s, you know, probably a thousand angry people. A thousand. Um, oh yeah, I mean, it was a lot, and they were, they were coming from some direction and going somewhere, right?

45:11 So this was a mobile protest of some sort. Um, and so, before you know, I’m just surrounded, and I’m thinking, ah, you know, I’ll just keep inching forward, inch and forward, and eventually I’ll get to the other side of this thing. And, uh, but once they realize, like, you know, hey, you look like a Westerner, and at the time, for some reason they didn’t, really, they were all upset and emotionally charged, and, well, they just didn’t like me for that moment.

45:42 So, you know, once I was identified, now you’ve got everything concentrating on your vehicle, and they’re banging on the windows, they’re yelling and screaming in Arabic, and, you know, before you know it, now my passenger side tires are coming off the ground, driver’s side tires are coming off the ground, passenger side, driver side. So I mean, this car is rocking. It’s an SUV, and it’s rocking off its tires back and forth, and I’m like, holy s***, like, how am I going to deal with this?

46:11 You know, you pull, I’m thinking, okay, I got a pistol with two magazines, right? So that’s 30 plus bullets, but that’s about it, right? And uh, I could go through my two magazines, and still there would be hundreds thousand plus people that would be even more upset. Then I’m thinking, Walking Dead, I can just floor it and run over some folks? Well, no, that’ll kill some people, then you’ll be high-axled, where your tires are just spinning in the air, and you’re not going to get anywhere, and once again, they’ll rip you apart.

46:45 Um, you know, so there was, but I had a lot of cash. I got cash. I’m looking in the crowd, and I got lucky, there was a guy with an AK-47, it’s like a soldier or, you know, law enforcement or something that was part of this, but he was looking at me with, um, sympathetic eyes, right? And so I tell people all the time, look for the sympathetic eyes, because you never know that could be the very person that saves your ass. And another sympathetic guy, I went ahead and gave the international sign of peace, right, rubbing my fingers together, money, money, money, and his eyes got bigger, and he’s like, yeah, and I said, okay, come in, come on, come over here, and so I’m waving them into my vehicle.

47:28 You’re inviting a guy with an AK-47 into your vehicle. This is like some one of these crazy mind-game puzzles, where it’s like, what do you do, and you’re choosing the option most people would never, ever, ever consider, but because of your awareness, you knew that was probably me. Maybe your only way out is to invite a guy with an AK-47 in your car? Yeah, no, it was, it was a risk, but just the look on his face told me everything I needed to know, and so when he got to the passenger door, he put his back to it, he pointed that rifle, people backed away, that was long enough for him to open the door, get in, close it, lock doors, and then I told him, all right, he pointed it at the windshield.

48:12 And I was like, you need, if you need to fire, feel free, it ain’t gonna apostrophe if I pull the trigger, man. I was saying, if you think you need to do this, and he’s like, all right, no, no, you know, we’re, we’re speaking, we’re speaking to each other with either neither one of us are actually speaking each other’s language, but we’re speaking to each other loud and clear in that moment. Right, so he points that gun at the windshield, people start moving, um, and then that gave me enough of a gap to get the speed going.

48:40 Speed, then nobody wants to, you know, they’ll jump on your hood when you’re sitting still, but they don’t want anything to do with you once you get rolling, right? So, and the crazy part was, you know, once again, I took a, I took a left, I took a ride, took a left, boom, I was like, oh, there’s a gas station. And then he was like, okay, you know, masalama, and I was like, gave him his cash, and when he opened the door, I could hear the birds, I could hear the pumps on the gas station, I could hear people talking, and there was zero chaos.

49:12 It was just, just, you know, it’s one of those moments, and you’re like, you know, danger is always like two blocks away. You’re just never gonna know about it. It’s always just two blocks away, but you’ll never see it, hear it, unless you go and experience it, right? So um, but yeah, it worked out, and a lot of lessons learned, right? Make sure you always have a full tank of gas before you get out and do anything.

49:39 Make sure you’ve got plenty of minutes on your cell phone, that was the thing I forgot. Like, I was gonna call for help, but the phone, they didn’t give me SIM cards, it hadn’t been plugged in, it wasn’t charged, right? So make sure you always have a full battery. Make sure you have a way of recharging it with you. Make sure, if you do live in a country that, you know, you have to recharge your minutes and pay as you go, make sure you’re doing that, right?

50:00 Stay on top of, especially, communication, you’re going to want a lifeline. You’re going to want to be able to call for help, so you’re going to want the gas to get yourself out of trouble. And definitely, you know, we have a saying in the SEAL Teams, um, that some of the old guys, Vietnam-era guys, you say, like, when you talk about E&E kits, that’s your escape and evasion kit, right? These little kits you can hide on your body, that, you know, has shims in it, and handcuff keys, and all these things, a little itty-bitty compass, maybe even a very small miniaturized map of the area you’re in, and it just allows you to kind of, gives you enough tools to just escape and evade, and hopefully move on, uh, to safety.

50:44 Um, but one of the guys used to talk, all I need is a lot of cash in my pistol, because what I can’t buy with one, I can buy with the other, right? So if you need to get anything, a gun and cash usually is a pretty good minimum, e kicks, right, and make no mistake, like a crowd like that will rip your limb from limb, right? I mean, and sometimes the more numbers can be dangerous, because then they, like, have a mob mentality, right? Like, they act as one without consequences, right?

51:16 Oh yeah, I mean, you know, we hear the term, like, you know, panic is contagious, right? One person starts to freak out, everybody will. It’s different. I mean, all you need, everything is contagious, right? So violence is contagious.

51:32 You know, happiness is contagious, calmness is contagious, right? If you have a calm voice, yeah, leading a pack, then everybody will stay calm, but if you’ve got somebody angry, everyone’s gonna get angry, and, uh, that crowd was certainly angry. I mean, they were burning that city to the ground while I was there. So I remember there was that 60 Minutes female anchor lead that was at the Arab Spring, I think, in Cairo, and she was there with a camera crew, and she got abducted, and like, raped, you know, in a whole crowd, and, like, barely got back, and was like, it was bad, and she talked about it later, but, like, you know, broken bones, beat up, you know, gang raped, all that stuff that happened, you know, made up, broad daylight, but in front of hundreds of people, because it’s just this mob mentality clicked, and it was just like, wow.

52:26 Yeah, scary to probably just see that kind of thing happen in a place where, yeah, that was Lara Logan. Yeah, it was Lara Logan. Yeah, yeah, and she, so on the cultural land, I mean, she, she didn’t know it, but what she did, is in that crap, in that, because men and women, even in the protests, were separated, right? Yeah, and so, and there was, like, a small fence line, and even in the middle of being punched and raped, she was constantly just moving towards the women, moving, and then once she fell over that fence line, those women grabbed her, pulled her, and surrounded her, and then protected her, for, you know, until she got help, um, whether she knew it or not, but she was certainly kind of that cultural awareness piece, right?

53:18 She was just trying to get, you know, to where she knew she’d be safe, not even knowing that, right? I mean, it was, uh, that’s a, that’s a crazy, horrible story. It’s a horrible story, but also cultural awareness. I mean, look, you know, I guess the media’s job is to push it, but also, you know, being culturally aware, it’s enough to know that, you know, maybe her being there also was more dangerous than she had thought, as well, you know, and probably dangerous for an American reporter to be there as a male, and then now the female, and then, boom, boom, you know, I guess in hindsight, so um, yeah, that’s heavy stuff.

53:54 Um, I wanted to ask you real quick, Clint, there was a something that happened really recently in Korea, I think last weekend, where, you know, 150 people are trampled to death in this narrow alleyway in Seoul, and I remember I read about it, and there were literally people, it was a Halloween thing, I think, there were other people having drinks, you know, 10 meters away that had no idea it was happening, so you got people being trampled to death, like you said, over here, 10 meters over here, and people, you know, doing shots of tequila in this place not even aware it’s happening over here. And I wonder if you, if you looked into that situation and had any thoughts, again, this is about it happening right in your own backyard, in a street that people probably walk down 100 times, times, and yet, all of a sudden, now it’s a death zone.

54:39 Did you have any postmortem thoughts on that? Yeah, and in fact, in one of my 100 Deadly Skills books I cover, like, how to survive a stampede. I mean, it’s, um, you know, it happens in a lot of different environments, a lot of concerts, right? It’s usually um, it’s, it’s basically death by suffocation is how it is usually, uh, you know. Yeah, in your, uh, you’re crushed to death.

55:05 I mean, it’s just horrible way to go. So, you know, some skills is, if you find yourself, right, you’ve got to find the borders. Anytime you have these, the, this, this, this body of people moving in a certain direction, you don’t want to try and go against the grain. You want to get to the borders of it and then exit as quickly as possible. And those channelized areas, it’s really important, one, stay on your feet, almost in a fighting stance, like shuffling, right, and then hands up, almost like if you’re, if you’re boxing, and your elbows extend down just below your rib cage, your hands are up protecting your face.

55:47 Um, and what you’re actually doing is, one, yeah, you’re kind of creating a gap in the, in your own little, in your personal space, but if you do unfortunately fall, you’re putting your hands and everything in place to keep your lungs open, so that you can actually keep breathing no matter how many people are running across your back. Um, and then you can get your hands up and protect your head too, at the same time. Um, but, you know, concerts are usually the place where a lot of this happens, you know, where the um, the front, the front rows, there’s fencing, there’s barricades, right?

56:23 And so um, you also want to look out for all of those hard and invisible thresholds, like if there’s a police line, right? You want to stay away from that, obviously, but barricades and walls, you want to stay away from those, because you’re just going to get pressed up against it, obviously, fence lines, all of those permanent features become, um, crush-zone sites, and then to include the ground. So it’s a three-dimensional world. You’ve got the people, you’ve got the ground, and then you’ve got all the walls and obstacles around you, um, and it’s volatile, and then when one person falls and starts screaming, another star finishes this frenzy, you know, people are just trying to get out of that area as quickly as possible, but unfortunately, when it’s channelized like that, now everyone’s running over the same exact spot, you know, and those people that are on the ground, unfortunately, you know, the ones that did survive, they’re lucky, right?

57:23 And it’s crazy, it can happen, like, right in your own backyard, like, that didn’t happen in, you know, in some football stadium, and, you know, in Ethiopia, that was like 50 years old, that happened in a, you know, major first-world country, you know, in some alleyway off of Seoul that you, no, no, would have ever expected to happen, and 150 people died. It wasn’t small. The same thing happened, I think, in, in um, in Israel a while back as well, with, like, near the Western Wall that was like the trampoline there as well.

57:55 It’s, and it’s a famous thing that happened in the UK, maybe 10, 20 years ago, it was called Hillsborough, where all these people got crushed in the football stadium. So it’s it can happen quickly, probably, because humans, it’s dynamic, it’s out of control, there’s panic, maybe there’s, out there’s alcohol involved, and then bad situations. Yeah, well, you nailed it. I mean, that, like I said, that fear and that panic piece, you know, it just gets contagious, and then people start freaking out, and they really just get a hundred percent concerned about their own life and not worry about anyone’s life around them, and that’s dangerous, right, because they get destructive that way, right?

58:33 Yes, um, the, the, I mentioned earlier that OODA, the observation, orientation, decision, action, um, what should people know about that? How can they use it? I guess you were doing a little bit of that when you were in that SUV, you know, in that, in that conflict area, but how can people use this in their life? Yeah, the OODA loop is just a great decision-making tool, especially under stress. It was, uh, it was created by, you know, a fighter pilot, and so he’s, he’s making decisions at Mach speed, right?

59:04 And so then you apply it to situational awareness, and it’s, it’s, it’s awesome, because the whole point of the OODA loop, for, in the, in the, in the, in the dogfighting world, right? When you got, you know, a fighter jet going up against a fighter jet, dogfighting, the OODA loop is you trying to get inside your adversary’s mind, right? And then you’re making your decisions based on that, right? So you’re observing where they’re at and where you’re at, and how you’re in relation to one another, then you’re orientating, then you’re going to basically correct and orientate yourself to the better advantage, right?

59:48 And then you’re gonna come up with whatever decisions you need to make, and then act on them, right? And that’s the four pieces. So it’s all about observation, though. Starts there. Um, then orientating yourself so that you have the advantage, then coming up with the, any of the decisions or options that you may have, and then acting on one of them, and as you practice this, you know, you’ll get faster and faster at it, and you literally will be able to out-think your adversary, even if they’re making the first move.

1:00:22 And then just to be conscious that you’re doing it, so when you get into a panic scenario where you might skip one of those steps, just remind yourself again, okay, observe, orient, decision, action, and then go back again, okay, now observe again, and force yourself to go through that process when your brain wants to short-circuit it. Yeah, and I, I do it when I’m sitting at a red light, right? Go ahead. How often do you actually look left at the people to your left, people to your right?

1:00:51 Nobody does it, right? Yeah, but just observe, like, okay, what’s going on right here? Okay, there’s no way you’re not really orientating yourself physically, you’re orienting yourself mentally, like, all right, if, let’s say, you know, the car behind me is on their phone, they’re approaching that red light, but they’re not slowing down, like we all do that, right? And you have to slam on the brakes, the first thing you do is look in your rear-view mirror and wait for someone to impact, right?

1:01:18 So sitting in a red light, that’s a great place too, because you’re like, all right, now, if someone’s coming up, where’s my out, right? I’m looking for all my options, and I’m making decisions, then if I have to act on it, now I’m just acting, so I’m already way ahead of that person who’s not paying attention, that’s screaming, screaming up from behind me. Yeah, I’m in a flashback here to, I had a really scary situation, like, about maybe, about 15 years ago, I was, um, I was learning to fly helicopters, and I was in an R22 here, in, um, outside of London, and it’s, it’s like a two-seater training helicopter, and I was going to do a solo flight, and it was like a solo journey, so I had a kneeboard and a map, and there was, like, no GPS’s then, and I had to go from point A to point B and come back, and so my instructor just said, good luck, I’ll see you in 46 minutes when you should be back.

1:02:10 And I got up there, and if people don’t know much about flying in the London area, there’s no landmarks, there’s no rivers, there’s no mountains, and I got lost. I just got lost, and it’s scary as hell to be lost when you’re in a vehicle with limited fuel, and you’re alone, and you’ve maybe got, I think I had six hours of solo before, not much time, maybe less, and, uh, I was like, what the hell do I do? And then you start going through this decision, so I’m like, I’m going, I’m going.

1:02:42 I was supposed to hit an aerodrome, and I was going to turn around, and I’m going, and I had my timing on my kneeboard, and it’s like, it’s not there. I’m like, all right, let’s give it three more minutes. It’s still not there, and I’m like, give it two more minutes. It’s still not there. I’m like, okay, now I’m going further off course, and then now I start to doubt everything, and I’m freaking out, and then I’m like, okay, don’t do something stupid now, like, don’t do something that’s just gonna make you crash while you’re worried about getting lost, because now you can be lost and now be dead.

1:03:10 So it’s like, I then, I come, and then I’m thinking, okay, I guess you could land it on the side of the freeway, which is illegal. Then I’m still lost. I don’t, I don’t think I had mobile phone back then, so it was like, I don’t know. I was just going through all those things, and I actually started singing to myself. I don’t know if this is a technique that you teach, but I was singing, um, I think I, I was singing the Beach Boys, “I wish they all could be California girls,” for some reason, calming myself down, and then finally I just went a little further, went a little further than I think, and I found a highway that I thought I was about right, and then I made some turns back, and I finally landed about 15-20 minutes late.

1:03:47 And I walked in and just, you know, put the keys down, and then the instructor said, okay, what happened, because something happened. So I don’t know, what did I learn from that? Yeah, well, that, that would definitely be, pay attention to timing and compass bearing, right? Because then you can just do the reciprocal and make your way home. But yeah, you know, I had the same thing.

1:04:07 I learned how to do my I got my private pilot’s license back in the ’90s when I was at SEAL Team Three, and I’m flying in San Diego, you’ve got mountains and you’ve got oceans, you always know where you’re at, okay? Right, yeah, and then, uh, then I went through the Special Operations medical school, which was in San Antonio, so on the weekend I was like, ah, go get a couple, you know, an hour flight in whatever, something simple, touch and goes, just to keep my keep my quals up, right? Yeah.

1:04:36 So I rent the plane, and I get up and I go, and same thing, man. It’s nothing but just flat green earth, and I get, I’m flying, not even thinking about the fact that I’m like, I don’t have, I have no clue where I’m at right now, and it’s, uh, it’s nerve-wracking, you know, at least in a helicopter, you can just come down and just one spot me. I’m like, oh my God, I’m gonna have to land this thing in a field or something, if, if I can’t figure out my way home.

1:05:05 But obviously your senses come to you and go, oh, wait a minute, turn on the radio, call the tower. “Tower, this is Victor 554 Charlie, Roger. Victor Roger, can you micromanage me back to the airport because I have no idea where I’m at right now? Roger that, go ahead and turn bearing two four zero.” Yeah, so yeah, I know, I know how it feels, buddy.

1:05:29 Yeah, no, it’s a weird thing. I mean, it’s funny, because we’ve all been lost before, but to be lost in flight is assistant it feels different. Um, you mentioned the Navy SEALs, like, when people ask you what was that like, what do you end up usually telling people? Like, it’s probably not what they think it is, but then maybe it’s things that they would have never imagined that it is. So what do you usually tell people, or, upon reflection, that you’ve been out of it now for a little while, what, what was it for you?

1:05:59 What did it mean for you being in that experience? You know, it’s most of the questions now, I find bigger than those are, they’re big questions, right? When you’ve done 20 plus years, and just like any career, there’s so many different emotions, and, um, so many different experiences that it’s become harder, actually, for me to really interpret it all, um, because I think in fragments almost now. Like, oh, there’s that time at that, and there’s this time, and there was that time, and there was these guys, and these other guys that you, that you, you know, that you get to know, and that you’re your brothers, and the guys that you knew when you first got there, you don’t know by the end, right, or they’re dead.

1:06:46 So it’s like there’s a lot of trade-off going on all the time, and, and it, and it’s special operations, moves at the speed of light to begin with, right? So and when you’re not on the train, man, it’s gone. But um, I mean, obviously, an awesome experience, you know, being able to kind of serve the greater good, um, and, and then also, like, really understanding, you know, what patriotism really is, right? So those are probably the things I reflect on now.

1:07:24 It’s like, man, it was always, you don’t realize how what a great feeling it is to be part of something that’s doing the greater good, right? I mean, it’s not about a paycheck. It’s not about anything other than going and doing great things with great guys for, uh, you know, 20 years straight, and then, and then when you really sack and go, you know, it was a higher level of patriotism. I still feel like I’ve got a higher level of patriotism than most, because I appreciate, are more than probably the average person.

1:08:05 I mean, if they don’t go experience it and and, and kind of get, get outside of themselves, um, and serve something other than themselves. You know, it’s a saying, another thing I always say is, you know, very few serve, most serve themselves, right? And that, that’s globally, and Eric, most people are just looking out for themselves their entire life. Um, and I feel like it is serving the greater good is what gives you the higher level of patriotism, and, uh, so I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but, you know, just like any other career, it’s got its highs and lows, and, you know, one day you’re working with the greatest guy on the planet, the next day you’re working with an idiot.

1:08:47 I mean, it’s just, it’s just like everything else, you know. Do you think you can truly know what patriotism is if you haven’t done that kind of a deep service like that for the country, where you’re really sacrificing your life? You know, is it hard to know that you can’t just visit the Liberty Bell, can you, to really understand patriotism? Would you say that, or not? Uh, I, no, I don’t, I don’t think you need to.

1:09:15 It necessarily applies to, like, serving the military, but serving in overseas, I mean, you’ve got, what, on the religious side, you have people that do churches, that do missions, and that, you know, they’re going over and kind of seeing reality, if you will, and then coming back, and they certainly know, okay, it’s good to be here, right? Um, and then there’s, there’s different capacities of service, and I feel like, yeah, that’s truly, I think that’s important. I think, you know, I, I’ve kind of always admired the Israelis, that they make everyone serve.

1:09:48 You know, I kind of wonder, like, wow, we should all be doing that, right? Even if it’s just two years, right? They just have a two-year minimum, but, you know, it’s, um, I think, uh, I think we here in this country would be better off, better for it, if, if something like that was, but you can’t obviously inject something like that now. Yeah, you kind of have to start that way. Yeah.

1:10:13 I, I spent some, a little bit of time in Israel over there, and I must say, I, I believe that conscription, just, I think, one thing it kind of does is get everybody on the same page. Now, of course, it’s kind of a unique situation, because they are surrounded by enemies, and they’re small, and they’re new, and so they kind of have to. So maybe it’s because of that too, but since everyone does that service, and I think every day they’re reminded how important it is, you know, everybody is kind of on the same page, and I’m sure they, they have ideological differences and disagreements, but when everyone has kind of done time, you know, it definitely, yeah, I think there’s a, there’s a just maybe a different awareness level of yeah, and I think the camaraderie, yeah, um, you know, like you said, I think it’s most of the secondary effect stuff, yes, primarily they have to, because, you know, they don’t have a choice.

1:11:05 Um, and they don’t have the population, they don’t have the numbers, right? That’s why everybody has to serve. Um, but the secondary, the residual, the camaraderie, knowing that, you know, you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with people on the subway that have all done their time, is pretty, to me, that’s like, wow, that’s kind of cool. You know, yeah, it’s kind of like for us, you know, if you know another SEAL, you know what we’ve all been through. We’ve all been through hell week.

1:11:29 We’ve all graduated Buds. We all went through, you know, the advanced SEAL training stuff. We’ve all been through different Seer courses, and when you know that you’re with someone who’s been through all that same, you know, some of it’s just hell. There is a certain level of confidence that you have in one another, right, because of it, you know, and I think that’s huge, for a population of Israel to be able to do that with one another. I think that’s pretty cool.

1:11:58 Yeah, you mentioned it, like when you went through Buds, and I know you don’t like to talk about Buds as much, because you think it’s probably all been said and over-said, and I, I get your point, and I’ve had a few SEALs on here, and I’ve had people that also just have gone through SEAL training, like, you know, Goggins and Bilzerian and stuff. But, like, people like Jocko are like, Buds is such a tiny little part of being a SEAL that it’s not even worth me talking about, because it’s a thing compared to the training that happens when you become a SEAL. But, like, I read that you, you were in there, and for you, you know, you’re like, I’m getting through this, because I think you, meticia when you were a kid, and you were like, I’m getting through this no matter what, and when you saw guys fail, it gave you strength, and you were like, I’m doing this regardless, even though I know they put you through some really challenging pieces.

1:12:45 Um, was that just the way you were wired? Do you think that’s just your personality? Well, you could just push through when you know 80 of your class rings the bell and goes out. Yeah, I think it’s, um, for me it was very much connected to passion, right? I mean, when you, when something is, when you’re exposed to something as a child, it’s, it’s far more sticky, right?

1:13:12 Um, than, like, if I was exposed to it today, you know, I don’t know that you’d be able to get that same passion and energy behind, behind an idea or behind a goal. But when you’re a kid and you meet that guy, it looks like, you know, he looks like Dick Marcinko himself at a bar in the dirt, you know, in the Frankfurt airport, and he starts telling you stories that are kind of sort of like, you know, the ninjas that I actually wanted to be, you know, because ’80s was all about ninjas. Oh yeah.

1:13:46 Um, yeah, he, as soon as he started singing, well, yeah, this is what I do, and I’m like, whoa, yeah, okay, that, that’s what I want to do, right? Um, and so yeah, that, I think passion is, for me, was was the fuel, and then of course when you see people quitting around you, admit, for me, and I was like, good, I don’t get the f*** out of here, because who wants that person anywhere near you when it’s time to actually you know, go get work done overseas. You just don’t want it anywhere near you, and plus, we’re all competing against each other at the end of the day, right?

1:14:22 So the less people you gotta compete against, the better, right? That Buds is all about teamwork, but that only applies to the people that are, like, standing around you at that moment in time, but as soon as one of them says, I think I’m gonna quit, then it’s like, get the f*** out of here, you’re not on the team anymore, see ya. So, you know, it’s, uh, for me that helped, right? It just, like, seeing those people run, you know, you know, because you’re all locked together, and I remember one the surf zone, and the surf that night was freaking pounding, right?

1:15:01 And so you’re laying in it, it’s just crushing you, and so you’re all linked together like a chain, but eventually your arms, it’s Mother Nature, right? You’re not going to be able to withstand that, so you, you know, it eventually, this long chain breaks into several little chains, and now everyone’s kind of, you know, connected but floating in these little islands in the surf zone, you know, trying not to drown, and um, and who I was chained, the group of people, the group of guys that I was chained together with, in the center, that, that guy that I was connected to was like, I’m quitting, and I don’t know what it was when he said that, and I kind of cornered my eye, could see him getting up and then running towards, you know, there’s usually, this is at night, there’s usually a, the instructors have, you know, two four-wheel-drive-type trucks out there on the beach with their headlights on, and you just see that silhouette of him running towards those vehicles to quit, and that was really, that was the sixth week of Buds for me.

1:15:59 At the time, they’ve changed where hell week happens, a bunch of times, so I don’t know where it falls anymore, but that was the moment, and I was like, seeing that was like, yeah, yeah, get the f*** out of here, you know, like, all of a sudden I wasn’t cold anymore. You know, I was like, yep, that is not gonna be me. But it was like a little bit of happiness for some reason, and I think there’s, there’s, there’s a lot of other guys like me, when, uh, and how they think with that, because you just, the other day, you don’t want that, and and to extend a little bit further, believe it or not, we had guys get through Buds, get through all the advanced training, show up to a SEAL Team, end up in my platoon, and it’s time to go, you know, push into Iraq, and SEAL Team Three were the first, right?

1:16:52 And so we’re on our way, and two of the new guys basically quit, right? They’ve got tridents, they’ve earned their trident, and we hit Guam for a day or so to, like, refuel or do whatever we need to do, and then um, but while we were there, you could see it in their eyes, you know, and I was in a leadership position at that time, so I confront him on it, and, you know, the, the first one was to deflect, and then turn it around on me, right? Like, no, I’m not going to quit.

1:17:23 What are you going to quit? Why are you asking her does that mean you’re, you’re, you’re having doubts? And I was like, oh, here we go. Yeah. These guys are done, and before we landed, or we landed in Kuwait, and before we started rehearsing and things got real, yeah, these two guys, two different times, but, you know, both of them have much longer stories to tell, but yeah, they initially were like, nope, I’ve got, I’ve got a wife, I’ve got kids, I didn’t sign up for this, and I’m like, what, yeah, I wanna, I wanna live, I want to go to college, and I’m like, okay, get the f*** out of here.

1:17:59 I mean, we didn’t, I didn’t waste two seconds, right? It was just like, get the f*** out of here. Nobody wants you. Give me every bit of issued cool gear, all of your cool camouflage, all of that, and go put on dungarees, and dungarees is, like, you know, the denim pants, and the light, the light-colored blue shirt, and the in the Dixie cup, you know, that you got. Now you’re, you’re gonna wear sailor clothing for the rest of the time you’re here until we send your sorry ass back to the States.

1:18:32 But, uh, that blew my mind, blew my mind that that mentality can still make it through something like Buds. Wow, right? And that’s the mentality that gets teams killed, right? One of those gets teams killed. Oh yeah, that’s the guy that, when you get ambushed and wants the threats eliminated, you look around, they’re still hiding behind the Humvee.

1:18:55 They never came out. They never fired a shot. They never put themselves in a position where they could potentially get injured, hurt, or killed, right? You cannot afford to have that kind of person on your team. No, that is unacceptable for a SEAL, right?

1:19:11 To have that. Yeah, that’s, that’s the worst kind. I mean, okay, you know, you can be slow at running, suck at push-ups, heck, you can even be a bad shot, right? But as long as you’re there and you’re next to me, that’s, that’s a winning formula every time, right? But if you’re, you’re the one cowarding behind the vehicle while we’re getting our asses shot at, no, get the f*** out of here.

1:19:38 Yeah. I um, yeah, I had Jocko over here, uh, for a second time. I, I decided just to turn it up a notch. We ran out to the HMS Belfast, it’s docked in London, and we walked around this, you know, naval warship, and we had this moving conversation where we just talked and walked and talked, and he was talking about Buds, and he’s just like, Jocko’s like, just don’t quit, just don’t quit, and he said, yeah, unless you want to quit, then quit, and then get away, get out of here, because we don’t want you here.

1:20:05 It was just that simple. That’s the way he just described it, you know, and kind of how you just described it, you know. Yeah. Mine probably has a little more emotion behind it. Do you miss, you know, the intensity, uh, you know, the fear, the unknown parts of those missions, or, but, or is that also a young man’s game, to where maybe towards the end you realize that you didn’t want to do that as much, or it was time to let other people do that?

1:20:39 Uh, that’s a yes-no question, depending on the time of day, every day, right? Okay, so, yes, I miss it, and then there’s times when I’m, you know, when you’re around my daughter, for example, then no, I don’t miss it, right? Because I missed the first 10 years of her life. Um, but, you know, now she’s off to college, and yeah, I mean, there’s not, I don’t think there’s a guy that’s going to tell you they don’t miss that. I mean, it is, that is the, that is the, going to war, or getting to go do real-world operations, is is the Super Bowl of special operations, right?

1:21:19 I mean, like, you’re, you’re, that’s it. You’re top of your game. Now you get to test it, yeah, and see if you come out alive. There is nothing better than that that I’ve ever experienced in my own, in my own life. I mean, that is a high that you just can’t get anywhere else, you know, and it’s, uh, and yes, and it’s missed on a regular basis.

1:21:42 You know, I find myself, you know, some guys, they come back and they get lured into addictions, because they miss it so much, right? We don’t know how to transition out of that, because they miss it so much, and they wanted, they wish they were still doing it. Yeah, you know, for me it’s speed. You know, I got fast cars, fast bikes, and I have no issues going, you know, pushing them until the RPMs are in the red, and that gives me a little jolt of, like, okay, I’m alive again, kind of feeling.

1:22:11 But, um, yes, it is missed, and no, it is not a young man’s game. If you look at the East Coast tier one organization that I was at, you know, the average age there is pushing, you know, 35 to 40s, right? And that’s, that’s tier one badass motherf***er, 100-pound gorilla, you know, those are the guys that are going to go, and, you know, they bring, they bring in the hammer, right? And they’re dropping it, and, uh, it’s a, there’s plenty of room. I, I know, I know some Master Chiefs that still put themselves in position so they can get after it, you know what I mean?

1:22:49 Right, so, right, you know, once you’re in it, you’re in it. It’s like, yeah, you and PT, yeah, the young guys, they’re gonna crush you on the runs and maybe the swims and this and that, but when it’s time to go do stuff that relies 100 on experience, well, then the experience guys are going to win every time, right? And that’s experience, when you say the mission experience, managing your emotions, experience leading a team in a tricky situation and making sure the team delivers.

1:23:15 It’s all that experience, and that’s when those slightly older guys probably really come into their own. Yeah, it’s funny, it ends up being that that calm voice overcomes that, it, that’s everything right there. Right, yeah, it’s that person, and go, hey, hey, it’s all good, let’s stick to the plan, or, hey, you know, stick to the, you know, whatever the whatever the phase line is, whatever it is, you’re doing that calm voice over a radio. I mean, that’s, you hear, you know, a hundred combat deployments, you know, or 100 at least combat missions in that voice in those very few words, right?

1:23:58 And that, that itself gives everyone else confidence on the team. Yeah, is that line in a Full Metal Jacket where, I think, the guy says, uh, you know, we’re, we’re Jolly Green Giants, and then, like, these are the greatest days of our lives? And you know, these guys, I just had a flash to that. I mean, you know, and I can just imagine, moving, man, uh, it’s a great movie, but I can imagine that those are like the grunts in the field, and now you guys have best gear, the best training, the craziest, coolest missions in the world, and you know, you’re there on the tip of the spear, and that must be, yeah, incredibly, incredibly interesting and exciting.

1:24:38 Yeah, it is, it’s exciting. It’s, it’s a lot of, yeah, it’s a lot of emotions all combined together. I miss really cool. Yeah, um, you talk about being self-reliant a lot, and that’s something that you, you try to stress, and just wondering, you know, your thoughts on that, and if people are listening, what it, what it might mean for them. Um, yeah, strangely enough, my parents divorced when I was seven, and, um, I got this feeling that I was never going to have anybody looking after me, and so I kind of became very self-reliant, as in didn’t ever believe or trust that anyone was going to help me.

1:25:12 Of course, that brings up some other relationship issues, and later in life, but you know, it was always something that I was always like, it’s got, it’s, you have to figure this out, and it, it’s something now that I look back on, and I’m, I’m happy it happened to me. But what do you mean when you think of that phrase, self-reliant? Well, I think you, you hit the deeper side of it. You know, I I, too, came from a broken family, and, you know, you end up having to do everything yourself at a young age, and that’s all, you know, that becomes your norm, and then that’s what you do.

1:25:44 You know, now I do it with business and do it with everything else, and that’s not good, because you can’t do everything. Something’s going to fall off the plate. You’re going to end up, you know, increasing the number of failures you have in a day, a week, a year. Um, but, um, it really is really important, I feel, you know, just knowing how you know, whether it’s being your own protector, being your own first responder. I think those are great places to start, and that’s why the 100 Deadly Skills book series did so well, um, because no one had really come out and just given you, like, here’s the illustration, I like the how-to, here’s the narrative, need to want to repeat, each other, put it together, and boom, it’s that easy.

1:26:28 Like, now you can be self-reliant. It’s just, it’s, it, it allows you true freedom when you don’t have to rely on anyone else or anything else, right? It, it almost acts like this. It puts you in your own bubble, you know, especially when the outside world, you know, and as crazy as it can be, if you’re self-reliant, none of it affects you, right? And there’s obviously varying levels and degrees of self-reliance.

1:27:01 You’ve got homesteaders, right? People who buy a house, get off the grid, start growing their own food, hunting their own meat, right? And they are like a hundred percent self-reliant, and they don’t, they don’t care what’s going on. They’re not watching Fox News, they’re not doing it. They don’t even know that there’s a toilet paper shortage, right?

1:27:25 Yeah, they just, they’re in their own bubble, doing their own thing, and nothing can affect them. That, to me, is really, really cool, but you don’t have to start there. That’s really extreme too. You know, um, so start with the simple stuff. You know, hey, if I got shot in a leg, how would I stop that bleeding if no one else is around, or if 9-1-1 can’t come to help me?

1:27:48 If there is an intruder in my house, yep, I called 9-1-1, but they’re seven minutes out, and we both know a lot can happen in 15 seconds, right? So just knowing and having a plan, and then the skills that go along with it. I mean, man, that goes a long ways, once again, being confident, and um, that peace of mind for you and your family, and knowing that everybody knows what they’re going to do, if, if uh, if a good day goes bad. It’s that simple. Yeah, I mean, and at the end of the day, you are on your own.

1:28:21 By the end of the day, there are many situations in life where nobody’s going to help you. Um, even situations where they might be around you, they’re not going to help you, let alone when they’re not, so you’re gonna have to get used to that. Um, my daughter, my stepdaughter, she’s 18, she’s going off to college now, and I, I can, I can hear my self-reliant talk coming into her, and I’m just like, look, you’re going out in the real world now, where nobody cares.

1:28:46 You know, you don’t do this, no one cares. You don’t go to exam, no one cares afterwards. You’re gonna have to get a job. If you don’t, nobody cares. You have to make your money, nobody cares if you don’t.

1:28:55 I’m just, maybe I’m going too hard, but I’m just like, this is the real world, where there’s not mommy, there’s not a teacher, there’s not an excuse that’s going to matter. Um, and I’m trying to kind of project this, probably on her, my boys, maybe I’m overdoing it. Um, but I guess I’m just trying to prepare them. Yeah, I know. I think you’re doing it right.

1:29:15 I think you’ve got to just lay it out there, because the reciprocal to each one, you know, like, for example, you said, you know, you might or not, nobody cares, but the people that want you to pay your, pay your bills, they care. The ones that are coming to collect their money, they care. You know, it’s like, there’s, there’s that reciprocal that also is part of the part of the equation, that also, I think you’ve got to lay it down, and it’s, you know, especially when you’re young, it’s like, I got to pay my car insurance and my cell phone bill, now, like, that’s, I remember when that, you know, I was like, that’s huge, like, I gotta, that means I had to make a couple hundred dollars a month, right?

1:29:54 I mean, it’s a, that’s a lot of money when you’re young, but yeah, we all end up doing it. Let me, like, I just finished with a couple questions about, like, maybe the current state of the world, because when I, when I grew up, we’re not, we’re not a dissimilar age. Um, when I grew up, you know, it was the hero that got celebrated. You know, that’s what we celebrated, whereas these days it feels like so often, maybe, that the victim gets celebrated, which means the self-reliance goes out the window, because you always know that if something goes wrong, you throw your hands up and say, well, look what happened to me, and people will come over and say, oh, that’s so terrible, we should go get them, or fix you.

1:30:31 And do you, do you feel like the world’s going that way, to where self-reliance isn’t being as emphasized anymore, and sometimes the opposite’s being rewarded? Is that something to be concerned about? Yeah, I see we’re going. I think, I mean, personally, I look at it as, like, there’s just a lack of consequence these days, right? Um, and if there is consequence, it’s really extreme, you know, like the whole cancel culture and some of these things that are just so, like, so far out there that you know, I, I try and just steer away and stay away from all of it as much as possible.

1:31:11 On the self-reliance side, I’ve noticed there’s a balance, right? Because if you say, like, homestead, or you say, like, prepper, those things turn people off immediately, and for some reason I don’t know why, but it just does, you know. Um, but self-reliance in itself, as long as you stay with that kind of wording, I think people are fine, especially after this, you know, two, three years, right? Global shutdown, people have realized really just how important it is.

1:31:43 Um, and I think more and more, at least here in the States, you know, they’re, they’re embracing it more and more. Um, and I only know that, you know, through the metrics of book sales or the stuff I put out, you know, what does well and what doesn’t, right? You know, and, uh, if it does great, then you’re assuming, okay, people are catching on to this, or if it doesn’t, then, well, they don’t like that, you know. So, but yeah, I feel like the victimization stuff is really strange, you know, like, I think we kind of put ourselves in a bad place by paying everybody more than what they were making, right, for an extended period of time, that certainly hasn’t helped our economy.

1:32:29 Um, you know, I think the US finally realizing, wait a minute, we need to start exporting more than we import, with the supply chain issues right now. We’re all of a sudden like, oh, manufacturing in the United States good idea. It’s amazing what it takes for us to learn our lessons, though, right? I mean, it’s strange times, and you know, it’s, but also at the same time, like, wow, we’re all living a pretty interesting life. We’re all facing these crazy obstacles that, you know, not all generations get to toy around with and figure out how to survive.

1:33:05 So it’s, you know, try to be optimistic and look at what kind of fun you can have. Me and my daughter are the ones watching, you know, The Walking Dead, going, man, if that happened, we’d be, we’d be great. We would be like, just awesome. You finish the book with this acronym, CALM, and maybe we can, we can wrap up there, because, uh, it’s probably a good way to, to kind of remind people of something to think about at the end. But what does CALM stand for, as far as an acronym, and how do people use that?

1:33:39 Yeah, so, um, little backstory: Escape The Wolf, the book, became my company, my crisis management company, and, uh, de-escalation has, you know, without a doubt, become really important, with the number of, you know, active shooters and violence and you know, whether it’s bullying, intimidation in the workspace, all of that, these kind of categorized together, and then, you know, how do you deal with it? Well, you can run away from the problem. Obviously, increasing distance increases survivability, but if you can’t, and you’re kind of face to face with it, then de-escalating is your next best, you know, thing, and try to de-escalate the situation.

1:34:21 So CALM is C-A-L-M, which C is an utmost important: remain calm, you know, do whatever it takes, even if you have to fake it, right? Because, like we discussed before, panic is contagious. You know, we don’t want to do that, especially if you’re facing someone. Yeah, it’s real easy to mirror them. Like, if they’re yelling and screaming at you, it’s real easy to start yelling and screaming back.

1:34:49 If they’re standing and they’re all bowed up, it’s real easy to stand up and start bowing up to them, and you just don’t want to do that. You want to remain calm, take the higher road, and uh, you know, just keep it all level. You do not want to escalate. A is, basically, you won’t show appreciation: hey, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Um, you’re almost kind of like verbally embracing them, right, to kind of throw them off a little bit.

1:35:20 L is listening and learning. And, hey, you know, all ears. People don’t realize how powerful just being silent is. Not everything requires a response. Silence is an incredible weapon when you’re trying to de-escalate, because a lot of times people who are emotionally charged just want to be heard.

1:35:42 And so if you’re keeping your mouth shut, and, you know, like I said, if you’re just faking listening, do it, or actually listen to them, right? And then when you’re listening to people in those moments, the empathy will be written all over your face, and whatever you’re communicating through facial gestures could very well save your life. Um, and then of course, M is manage your own, like, personal awareness in your space. Manage your distance between this person, right?

1:36:18 Make sure you’re always looking around at your outs. Make sure you’re noticing, yeah, I can grab that stapler off the desk and hit him in the face if he starts to attack me, right? You’re managing the entire bubble, that entire situation. I’m giving you the cliff notes version, by the waves, but, um, yeah, C-A-L-M, um, it’s a cycle. It’s not just a one-time deal.

1:36:39 You know, you’re always saying, okay, calm down, okay, show some form of appreciation, ask them if they want to sit down and talk about it, okay, make sure you’re listening, you know, use the silence as a weapon, okay, now managing my environment, maybe walk, I’ll take a step to the left, get myself closer to the door, back to calm again, right? You kind of, it’s a nice loop. It’s super easy. Um, and hopefully, you know, if, if used correctly, it’ll de-escalate the situation, but, like, the element of surprise when you’re dealing with someone who’s emotionally charged, you could do everything, and that person just still has violence, you know, in their mind.

1:37:21 They know I am going to be violent, and because of that, that’s why managing and making your way to the door and always looking for your outs and looking for the improvised weapons is so important. Um, and you always have to respect it, right? So yeah, that’s CALM in a nutshell, buddy. This is really, really powerful stuff. It’s going to be a total awareness weekend in my house, and, um, we’re gonna be doing this stuff.

1:37:46 Um, and I’ve always wanted to go through the basics. You know, I’m always like telling my wife, we’re doing fire drills this weekend, she’s always like, why? Because we need to. So we’re doing that, and my daughter’s gonna get some more basics before she goes off to school in America, in the dangerous country of America. So, um, uh, Clint, what’s the best way for people to get the book, and then are you active on social, or website, what’s best for people to follow you?

1:38:10 Yeah, ClintEmerson.com is kind of the center of the ecosystem, so, and, Instagram is probably my most active platform, but you can find me everywhere just by Googling Clint Emerson, and professionally, you do a lot of consultants for, um, individuals, corporations. What’s the kind of things that you do? Yeah, Escape The Wolf provides crisis management, which really boils down to policy, uh, workforce education and training, and then we also provide them with tools.

1:38:41 We do this for small to large Fortune 500 non-profits, places of worship, and private schools, so we’ve, we’ve worked in almost every vertical, you know, and it’s, uh, and the goal is just to, once again, give the company um, the policies and the best practices so they can then provide it down to their employees, and in their workforce, and keep everybody safe. And then 100 Deadly Skills, the book series, really is just a consumer-level, um, you know, same deal, right? It’s giving you skills that, you know, allow you to manage and succeed through crisis, uh, but that’s at a consumer level.

1:39:23 So I’m trying to, uh, get everybody more self-reliant and a lot safer and more secure, uh, through every possible vehicle there is. Yeah, um, just any final thoughts you have, you know, um, just to kind of wrap all this up, and again, assuming that you know, so people are watching and listening to this that have never, ever considered some of these things, you know, that it, you know, you talk about that there’s sheep and there’s wolves, and they’re sheep dogs. I mean, like you said, most of the war world is sheep.

1:39:52 People now fly anywhere and probably aren’t very situationally aware. Yeah, just final thoughts for anybody who’s just getting this for the first time, who’s curious about these ideas? Yeah, I think, um, you know, I think you just kind of nailed it in the last couple of, uh, pieces of this conversation. Number one, the basics you mentioned, you’re going to teach your family the basics, right? Um, we have a saying: it is mastering the basics is what makes SEALs so advanced.

1:40:23 Tactically, strategically, we focus on the basics. Master the basics, and you will become advanced. A lot of people want the shortcut to like some cool guy way of doing things, but there isn’t. It’s concentrate on the basics, right? Second, keep it simple, right?

1:40:42 Don’t complicate it. I always say keep it simple, because crisis will complicate the rest. But you have to take a moment, figure out, okay, what are all the simple things I can do to prevent it, be more preemptive, more proactive, and thought, and you know, the big thing, get off your cell phones, right? Just get off of them. You know, give yourself bases where you’re going to then operate.

1:41:05 So home is a base, work is a base, everything in the middle is just transit, right? So you don’t need to be working and walking at the same time. It just won’t work out, right? Um, and then, uh, yeah, that, I mean, I can’t, I can’t stress enough, you know, keep it simple, because crisis will complicate the rest. Yeah, amen to that.

1:41:27 Book is Escape The Wolf, and of course, they can get your previous one, which is 100 Deadly Skills, and that’s the series as well. Um, Clint, thank you for your service, and thank you for putting all this stuff down, and uh, yeah, just been great talking to you, and, uh, wishing you all the best. Yeah, thank you for having me. It’s been an awesome conversation. I appreciate your time.

1:41:47 Great. Next time, let’s do it in person, in London, or in Texas, or who knows, maybe, uh, yeah, who knows, maybe in the Middle East. We’ll do it. Yeah, I’m game. You let me know.

1:42:00 All right, fantastic. Thanks so much, Clint. Appreciate it, and, uh, thanks for watching. We’ll see you next time on London Real. Take care, bye.