Ladies and gentlemen this episode has had a ton of controversy surrounding it for the past couple weeks I'm talking about Dallas Alexander the Canadian jtf2 sniper who was on the team that took the world record for the farthest ever sniper kill of all time it happened in mosul Iraq previously this content was considered classified by the Canadian government I Believe that this was considered classified because it is an embarrassing segment on why Dallas left the jtf2 command when he was kicked out for not complying with the covid vaccine mandate and not complying with mask mandates
we took the original video down to please all parties in case there was something classified in the previous episode we did not want to compromise any jtf2 unit or any of its operators or any Allied operators across the globe so we took it Down to make sure that there was no classified information we worked very closely with the unit turns out they couldn't really tell us what was classified which leads me to believe they were silencing their operator with that being said I want to give a personal message to anybody body whose goals or aspirations
is to become a jtf2 operator I've worked side by side with the jtf unit on multiple occasions they are phenomenal at what they do it Is a unit that is the best of the best please do not let the censorship that's going on over there or the weak leadership detour you from your goal I'm going to tell you one thing weak leadership is always eventually replaced with strong leadership this is happening all across the globe right now people are censoring their operators they are kicking their guys out of the military for the covid vaccine and
mask mandates and this is Going to turn around I promise you this is a huge win for freedom of speech I want to give Eddie Gallagher and Andrea Gallagher and Tim parator a huge thank you for having my back with this because this episode would not be going out if it weren't for them so I really appreciate that I appreciate all of you in the audience in fact we have a freedom of speech limited edition t-shirt for sale on the website go down there support us support Freedom of speech I love you all enjoy the
episode cheers and I'll see you soon [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Dallas Alexander welcome to the show man thanks so much for having we've been uh going back and forth what for a couple months now on on Instagram yeah and uh Yeah it's pleasure to connect yeah likewise um happy to be here man I'm humbled to be here but I'm happy to be here oh man I'm I been I am really excited about this interview so for everybody watching former jtf2 sniper Canadian sniper tier one unit and you have the world record for the
the longest farthest sniper kill of all time which we'll get into but um so with when I have an operator on it's kind of the same format every time we we talk about How you grew up what got you interested in the military your entire military career and then and then we get into you know some struggles and and what you're doing now all right but um everybody starts off with a gift if you watch the show you know that got any guesses I guess that it's going to be something that's sugary and looks like
a bear yeah there we go Gumm bear there go those are hard to come by all right those are hard to come by all right I mean I put a Little something extra there oh what is this so after after our conversation at dinner it's a great book did you read that already already yeah yeah it's a big after the first psychedelic experience yeah well it's uh I don't I have a uh just like Kindle version so they just get a hard copy I thought it would be perfect great book yeah after talking about how
you got out of the military and all the people that are indoctrinated now and post psychedelic Experience I think that's a book that a lot of PE a I think everybody could get something out of that book and Don Miguel Ruiz wrote it and I've been trying to get him on this show for a while yeah that would be a great interview man but yeah man so I I can't wait to dive into that portion but before we do flip the scrip on you I brought you some also oh [ __ ] one I brought
you a box of my favorite hot sauces oh damn thank you if you're a hot Sauce guy but this [ __ ] is good to go I'm definitely a hot sauce guy and then another a bottle of uh it's a gold bar Rick house bourbon so I see you got a good bar stacked up here get you want oh thank you sir hell yeah that's going to look great up there on the boat yeah it's a nice nice be a nice addition and uh I'll dive into this tonight Ginger goat yeah man it's it's this
Canadian uh yeah Canadian company right on man Ginger goat I'll check this out yeah but all right let's dive in let's do it so where'd you grow up uh I grew up in Canada I grew up in uh Alberta it's kind of one of the western provinces and I grew up on a little mate settlement so it's like a indigenous Community really small man like I think Max population while I was there was just over 400 people something like that so oh wow yeah tiny wow yeah tight family yeah yeah very uh grew up with
a Brother and a sister and my both my parents we moved out there and I want to say I think just before before I was in grade one so it's where my dad grew up my dad is mate uh he grew up there and we moved out there I must what I don't know what grade one is I was probably four or five years old um yeah and grew up there until I moved out at like 18 so oldest youngest uh middle child middle child yeah what' you like doing when you were a Kid man
I spent so much time outside it was like we lived just kind of on the outskirts of the little Hamlet Village kind of Center um on like 80 acres that backed on to [ __ ] gajillion acres so I was outside all the time uh [ __ ] in the forest playing and when I wasn't doing that I was playing hockey it's Canadian Canadian thing to do uh I was like all of my time it was those two things it was either outside in the woods or at the lake or whatever or Playing hockey you
big hockey player still I don't play as much now um I was actually just chatting with my boys about because I have two young boys to play hockey um I was like I got to get back into it I haven't [ __ ] played in Forever they're going to like surpass me right away but yeah it's part of it's a goal of 2023 to start playing more hockey again because I love the sport yeah how About your dad you guys close yeah yeah man he's uh he's great like my dad is my hero man it's
it's crazy um how it works like I now have kids of my own and I do a lot of um like reflection on how my parents were and how they kind of raised us and try to replicate as much as I can um yeah yeah we're close and uh he's just a [ __ ] great guy how old are your kids so I got two boys one's 15 one's 14 and a daughter that's just turned two years old oh man yeah yeah I Got a a 16-month-old and uh oh yeah you that's the only kid
I have but um man I notice I get like these little flashbacks of when I was a kid I'll I'll do something yeah and then it'll register my brain and I'll be like it's almost like a deja vu do you have that happen all the time yeah yeah that's that's a normal thing yeah I I have that all the time it seems yeah well anyway so so what got you Interested in the military um I was uh I finished playing Junior Hockey and I didn't really know what I wanted to do I I I was
torn between continuing to play hockey I had some opportunity to play like uh like Semi-Pro kind of can make a living grind out a living out of it um and during one of the offseasons I was working in the oil field in Alberta and I was working with a guy um Who had done like a four-year kind of military thing he was a comm's guy just did like one one kind of service contract or whatever four years um but we just worked kind of out in the oil field every day and he was telling me
about uh this unit in Canada jtf2 I didn't really believe him at first like I didn't know much about the military uh when I was playing hockey it's just our our military especially um So he was telling me about it and I was like he's like counterterrorism unit they do all this cool [ __ ] and I was like all right so I like got on to the I think I dial up internet at the time and there was like just a couple little things out there wasn't much about it but they had like this
old like Blurry recruiting video um and there was a couple little I think someone had written a book and but there wasn't much out there but it was enough to show like [ __ ] he was telling me the truth um then as soon as that as soon as I realized that we had that I was like hooked that's what I want to [ __ ] do how old were you at the time uh I think it was like 23 23 yeah it was after Junior Hockey so when I was oil field yeah 22 22
or 23 something like that around what year uh this would have been about early 200 no summer summer 2005 I think okay so the war is already going on yeah yeah So like you know 9/11 and all this stuff has already happened we had guys deployed and I was seeing a little bit more of it come like through whatever news and stuff that like you know Canada got deployed and I was like okay but I I just I wasn't I I didn't wasn't track in the military very much I was really in on hocky and
it's about the only thing I ever [ __ ] thought of you weren't into music as a kid uh I I've always loved music uh I would always sing along in The car as much as possible uh and I I grew up like one of my best friends growing up his family was extremely musical I spent a ton of time with them and it would just be like at the lake uh jamming on the acoustic guitar and playing everyone could play and sing and we good and I I really love that part of music so
that's it was later that I got a guitar but that's what that's I was like oh I want to learn a couple chts I could like play a campfire song every Now and again when everybody's jamming um I was probably oh maybe 18 or something like that when I got my first acoustic learned a couple chords but I never like it would sit in the corner of my room for 6 months at a time time and I wouldn't play it or I'd forget things be like oh what was that song I used in that weekend
and yeah I wasn't I it's not what I thought I would be doing that's for sure so this is a Relatively this is this is a totally new chapter you may have dabbled in it a little bit but now yeah there's there's some dabbling I actually sang a few times with uh so the my buddy that s's has a guitar shop in Edmonton now uh he was playing guitar in high school and like of his family members a couple other friends and we had a band and like we'd sing like some alternative songs at like
a school dance or something I was like this could be cool but yeah I was Never really I was just I just wanted to play hockey so there was not really a thought of anything else until I found out that we had a [ __ ] counterterrorism unit in Canada so so you found out about jtf2 you're working in the oil fields how does how do they do it in Canada how' you get recruited so I uh I I did a little bit of reading and I was like I just assess that I think infantry
would be the best because you have to do Two years in the regular Force military before you can try out like before you can go on selection um so I was like infantry looks like the best bet for me so I just went into the recruiting center and I was like I want to join the Infantry and like okay I was like I want to go to jtf2 and they're like all right slow down kid like everybody wants that so uh yeah I went in and uh you have choices you have like three choices based
on like they give You like this um this little test to write or whatever and they'll be like okay because your test score you have all these different choices and they try and depending on who the recruiting person is they're going to try and guide you a certain way or what the numbers are short of but I was like I just want to go to the Infantry it's like ah it's kind of full right now so all right we call me when there's a spot like it must have been a bluff cuz I got to
call like Literally a week later or something and they're like okay you can start basic training it's the end of 2005 so like uh I think it was around Halloween or something like that yeah went to basic training how was that um I've been training really hard uh just because of what I saw um so there was more on the internet about uh you know some of your American groups here and then all of like my favorite Movies that I watched a thousand times black Haw down Tears of the Sun and [ __ ] um
I was training really hard so I thought basic training like it wasn't too crazy I I was a little disappointed it was a joke for you yeah like the the fitness standards I was like what the f [ __ ] and I was like okay maybe it it's going to get harder I'm sure careful what you wish for uh but yeah the basic training I found the hardest part was like Getting used to just like people shouting at you for no reason and like just you know that stuff where just like okay I'll bite my
tongue yes Sergeant no sorry okay push-ups okay yeah yeah my boots are [ __ ] my bed didn't make it properly whatever like getting used to that stuff um but yeah like like physically I thought it was I was I was way more prepared than I needed to be probably what uh what is so do they give you any guarantee that you're going to Get a shot to try out or is it just hey you know best of luck to you yeah it's it's it's really that there um you just you have to do two
years before you can even begin the process okay so you might get your two years in and be like I want to go try out and you don't pass the psych evaluation or you don't pass you know whatever the physical standard test is at the time or your chain of command doesn't support it you just be like so you just joined in the blind you're like Oh yeah yeah I had no idea I was like I had a goal and that was it I was like let's go get it with no road map yeah yeah
that's right so you got into the Infantry yeah so it was basic training and then at the time there was a soldier qualification course and an infantry kind of separate uh Soldier qualifying was like anything Army trade and then Infantry was like infantry specific um and those brought me into 2006 is when I got to Battalion the 3 Ppli in Emington yeah what' you think of it over there man I thought it was great like I I was very focused on where I wanted to go um so I didn't let a lot of like the
Army bother me uh there's a lot of just like there's some nonsense like sweep the floor sit on the stairs okay it's 4:00 now you can go like I'm sitting here for a [ __ ] hour just a bunch of that stuff but I enjoyed like the guys Um I was super happy that I went to to ppcl three PPC specifically it was like the light infantry battalion um you know with like the Airborne attitude and all this stuff and I I enjoyed my time there and when I got there I was just like through
basic training and through uh like infantry and all this stuff I started seeing like recky platoon so like you guys call him Recon I think we call it wcky but there'd be like a wcky platoon of guys And then there's like snipers within that and I was like oh [ __ ] that that is looks pretty cool and I got to our Battalion and like the wcky platoon with the sniper uh debt was like across the hall and I was like oh man those guys look like they're doing cool [ __ ] um they're allowed
to un blouse their boots and wear [ __ ] black toes and stuff thought it was way cooler so I I when I got to Battalion I was like you know telling my chain command like I got two Years I was like I'd really love to become a sniper and again they're like yeah yeah pump your brakes and uh but I ended up I I had like some good support from the the warrant and our platoon and I ended up going on our wrecky course and halfway through that I was like look when this is
done I know it's a prerequisite but I want to be loaded on the sniper course this summer he's like yeah yeah we'll see you know it was a Big like attrition rate on on the wrecky course that we that they ran but I ended up making it through and you have to place in a top I think it was third or something to be able to go on the sniper course and luckily I did that and I I got loaded on the sniper course that year so it's like a bunch of things happened really fast
and it was a bunch of other like it was very lucky timing was right like the the uh the platoon I went to they had like I Think they just got back from Afghanistan and there was like a bunch of guys that left and there was just like failed a lot of new new guys so they kind of didn't have all the guys with the time in that they would like like yeah they generally want to send like a Corporal onto um wcky and on the sniper um I was just like a brand new nohook
private so I got lucky to get into these these places but see so you showed up to the Infantry and then went Right into the rcky program and then right into the sniper program yeah it was uh so I got there in the the summer of 2006 um in that the fall of 2006 so we went there and like the day I dropped my bags coming from course uh they're like okay repack this and get on this bus cuz you're going to be we were just like an enemy Force for a group that was working
up to go overseas um got back and then I did like a couple Other like a machine gunner course machine gunner course uh and then I went and did the basic par course um which everybody wanted to do too just like everyone wants to be airborne worst course in my life by the way um and then the wcky so that was in the fall of 2006 and Wy course started they did like a selection for recky course and then it started uh in January of 2007 so it was like it was fast damn and then
the sniper course was right After that did you deploy with them no I got got uh I got fibbed fibb to in the Army way so I the one thing I wanted to do is I wanted to have a deployment before I went to jtf2 um and I was told I was a spare for a tour going over to Afghanistan and I was like okay great like people seem to get injured or something happens all the time so there's a good chance I'm going to get to go and then uh my my warrant said your
course loaded on r But if the spare position becomes available uh we're going we'll take you off course and you can go I was like naive I was like Absolut best case scenario perfect if I go I get to go if I don't I get to finish my wcky course uh somebody got injured on the the team that was going to go to Afghanistan so the spare became available while I was on course the warrants switched positions and the next warrant up was like no no you're already On a course stay on your course we
got this guy that can be a spare and go overseas oh man so I was like I was pretty [ __ ] Ratt us like we we had an agreement like he's like yeah but we're not going to pull you off a like I don't care look this course is great if I'm sitting around here but it's not I didn't come to the military to go on courses so I didn't win that one so a buddy of mine went over it he had a good tour I Was like [ __ ] and then it was
I I can't remember at what point I was talking to the recruiter at at gtf2 and he's like don't worry when you get here you're going to get lots of Tours and like it was it was a misconception that it was almost a prerequisite to like have some tour experience to go there so cuz we had like the Battalion I I was in is in western Canada uh jtf2 is in Eastern Canada so and there wasn't a lot of information coming out the little Recruiting runs they did they like we didn't really know much about
it it was like very secret yeah there still isn't much about it yeah and I've been looking around there's only one guy running around that I've seen that's talking about it yeah so it it was we didn't know what to expect and then rumors are always just like oh no they won't take you if you don't have deployments oh they won't take you if this they need this selection as this and that and it Was just like this [ __ ] crazy Rumor Mill in our Balian that's like oh man what did I get myself
into so you said you talked to a recruiter so are they coming around the units recruiting guys or they have like a hotline or you get in touch with them they kind of have both um the when I when I made it cleared like to my chain of command at 3vp that um that's what I wanted to do that's why I joined and everything I got really good support uh for it uh and There was a group of us that all trained together to do selection um but they they have guys come around uh like
a recruiting team of you know assaulters that have have gone onto the recruiting side or whatever um and they'll show like a couple little clips of whatever like these [ __ ] cool gu [ __ ] blowing up stuff or like some MCT things or whatever um show a little bit of a kit and then like go to the next Battalion and do that but there's also kind of Like a hotline so you can reach out to a person and be like and it's kind of all during that process of doing like your your psych
tests and physical and all this stuff but the recruiter was there to kind of answer questions and one of them was just like you you don't have to have a tour to come on selection so that made me happy but I was still a little pissed off it like yeah I missed that first Roto you you missed uh you missed some Good action huh it's it sounded like it yeah it was uh I think it was we were calling it an omelet team so they were like there to it was kind of like the advise
and assist and accompany but I think it was a mix of Afghan Army and police I could be getting that wrong but uh it just the guy who took my spot was a friend of mine come back us like [ __ ] yeah sounded like a good one I've been there so you're saying that the the recruiting standards or Requirements are kind of nobody really knows what they are so now that you're I mean now that you're talking to the recruiter what who what are the requirements uh so there's a a psychological evaluation you have
to go do uh a couple I think I want to say it was two appointments um and it's just a psych going through all of their psych stuff determining if you would be a good fit or not um and Then there's a physical test you have to do and the standard I do not remember um but it was like run pull-ups push-ups whatever it was certain times and certain numbers um and that all kind of goes in your file and it is sent off to the hill and that's uh or like so dwire Hill is
our our unit call it the hill um and they get all these files from all across the different branches of the military and pick the people that are going to come on selection that year um Okay and then they run a few serials of that so this sounds this sounds very similar to Delta that you they're they're recruiting from all Canadian military units yeah or branches yeah like I I could have [ __ ] been a musician for two years and then tried out like any any branch okay so they yeah so this is very
similar to Delta yeah interesting and I think the the thought behind it is we're going to teach you everything you need to know Yeah and like you don't need to be really good with a pistol cuz we're going to show you the proper way to do it anyway and if you shoot a lot you have bad habits coming here like so I there wasn't a big concern of where he came from the most successful um recruits percentage wise are from the Infantry um by like a pretty big percentage I think but still you can be
a Navy whatever cook okay and still are There other levels of Special Operations units within the Canadian Armed Forces or yeah so we have uh jtf2 um is kind of the counterterrorism hostage rescue mandate tier one uh seore is like uh almost like the Delta Ranger relationship a little bit okay um they're the Special Operations regiment and then we have like um like a Hilo group and like a a cbrn chemical weapon all of that kind of stuff okay those dudes that go like They're Mach do you guys work with them yeah yeah we work
with them all the time like overseas and domestic and like it's do you see a lot of carryover from uh the I'm sorry I don't the the the J like the ranger relationship that you were just talking about with that other unit do you see a lot of draw coming from that unit into jtf2 uh yeah yeah um I think even more now I I don't know if it was set up this way But there's a lot of guys now that go there first and then come to gtf2 okay yeah so you do the you
do the psych test you do the physical test what how's the do they give you like a hey you're in immediately or is it a long wait no you got to that's a funny one actually so you do you'll know if you pass the test because you know what the times are you know what the numbers are there's like a physical like a PSP staff they're like okay that's your push-up number good Here's your runtime here's your pull-ups here's your whatever um so you know if you passed physical test I don't recall knowing if I
pass the psych or if they're just like you know like psyches these notes they're going in um but you you wait for a message from dwire Hill to say like yeah you're picked up on selection so I was training with a group of guys to get ready for it um and we were like we were given her like like two or three workouts a day and like our Chain command was giving us time to do it and it was got really good support in that sense but they were all I was already in uh wcky
platoon and sniper and they were in a different uh Squadron or company uh so I we were I was going out for a run morning PT and I think it was all three of them were like oh we got our message we're picked up to go on selection I was like where the [ __ ] did you find that out and I'm like oh Sergeant major just told us so I'm like now I'm like well I didn't hear [ __ ] anything what the hell so I went and found my sergeant major I was like
he's like what do you want do you have anything to tell me he's like oh yeah you're going on selection I was like [ __ ] like thank you you then I went and did my run or whatever but it was just I don't even know it was maybe 10 minutes in between but I was like am I going What's Happening Here Yeah was funny bastard you've probably heard me talk about my psychedelic Journey last year and all the benefits that came from doing it I haven't drank any alcohol or had any caffeine in almost
a year my anxiety is gone and my anger is gone a whole list of benefits came from that and that led me on this journey to researching the benefits of mushrooms and fungi in general and in my research I found this company called mbat mbat is A coffee alternative with four adaptogenic mushrooms and herbs with a fraction of caffeine as a cup of coffee I have energy without anxiety Jitters or the crash of coffee what I really like about mudwater is that they took the time to find the perfect ingredients to make a product to
help you feel better every day I genuinely believe that this is a good product mud water is Whole 30 approved 100% USDA organic non-GMO gluten-free vegan and kosher certified Mwater also donates monthly to the Berkeley Center for Science of psychedelics as mudwater believes the country is in a mental health epidemic and so do I go to mudwater docomond to support the show use code sha for 15% off that's mudwater dcom sha use code sha for 15% off but yeah so they they send the message back to the the different units and you just get word
like show up at this time and that's it's all you know and there's Like again you see like I I was training in Battalion with like [ __ ] some of the fittest people I've ever met in my whole life and you'd see they'd go on selection come back like 3 days later like what the [ __ ] happened didn't make it and they're like like can't talk about it but no I didn't make like and then the next guy what the [ __ ] happened and then so you're going it's it's intimidating yeah you
see like work I'm I'm working out with these guys I know they're machines and they're just like couple days later coming back I'm like couple days what happened in a couple days like so yeah going in it was just such a mystery and just the rumors that fly around so is is is the hill at the same is is it at the same base that you're on or did you have to travel you know is it at another location in yeah so I was in Edmonton which is in Alberta we traveled To dwire Hill which
is uh near Ottawa and that's where all the selection was run all around that area okay so you get there you get you show up around how many people are trying out uh there's a couple cereals but the cereal I was on I think was 30 just over 30 people maybe 30 people yeah how many of these are are they running a year uh it varies every year depending on recruiting numbers and all this stuff I think the year I did it so my selection Was in 2008 uh I want to say there was four
Cals or something like that okay three three or four Cals a year yeah the year I was on it so I know it varies I think they try to get as many yeah good candidates as possible but um again recruiting numbers go like this so I bet they're like the right now oh yeah yeah same here but so you get in about 30 guys would what do they have how are you received are they welcoming are Standoffish are they yelling at you it's it's psychological like right off the bat so you I flew into Ottawa
the night before they tell you where to stay in the hotel they tell you what time to meet a bus you just get on a bus like here's your number you'll now be referred to as this number goes it down and it's not like not really a dick they just like very matter number nine get on the bus and you just like [ __ ] me like What's going to happen and it's kind of like that throughout it's a 7-Day selection um and you just don't know don't know what's going to happen uh there's guys
that have done it a couple times uh so they have a different clue or like there's some people that knew because friends or whatever told them but like coming from out west we didn't have a clue none of us knew anything that was going to happen damn so yeah it was you had no ties inside The unit or anything no no I totally in the blind in the blind yeah just like hoping we prepared well enough so what what was it like what were they looking for first test it's it's like Fitness is a big
part but it almost doesn't matter I realized this after like the guys that were super fit that came back like if you can do 200 push-ups you're going to be asked to do 202 like it the fitness is important because it's [ __ ] hard But it's more about mental resilience I think than actual physical fitness like you pass the fitness standard to get there now no matter how fit you are you're going to you're going to be pushed um and that that definitely happened uh and then it's just like it's like an all day
24/7 psychological [ __ ] mind [ __ ] okay just like in there's all kinds of different tasks just like see how you think uh to see how you work in a team See how you work Under Pressure obviously um to test the things you're scared of um how did they do that how do they test what you're scared of oh man there would just without maybe getting into exact specifics it would be like they will test to see if you're claustrophobic test to see if you're scared of water or drowning test to see if
you're afraid of heights T to see your reaction in these situations Um and when they find it when they find your fear are you going to hang out in that fear for a little while once oh yeah you'll explo like you were explo if you are showing something you're afraid of it is exploited for sure yeah okay yeah what was yours um the ones they tested I I didn't really have any of them at that point I mean I have a healthy respect for Heights uh but I mean like I'm I love the mountains and
I'm a climber and stuff but some of the most scared I've been have been on like Trad climbs because I I have a respect for Heights I wouldn't say I'm scared of it uh but that would probably be the one where was like the that's the test that they do I was like [ __ ] godamn like I just have to do it I I just don't want to give away precisely what it precisely What it was but that was the one where I was like okay okay I'm like [ __ ] it I'm here
like but that would have been the one I'm not really I'm not claustrophobic um we trained a lot in the water getting ready for it so I was pretty comfortable in the water um yeah so if you don't I totally understand not wanting to give anything up and I don't want you to do that I'm not prying so if you don't want to Answer just you know you can tell me it's fine everybody's going to understand but I'm just I'm trying to get you know the gist of what the selection's like so it sounds first
it sounded like it was kind of a gentleman's course where it was just very matter of fact no so after that then they start yelling and they're oh yeah it you go back and forth there's a bunch of different personalities doing different things for Different reasons so like it psychological some guys don't care about like welcome you're number 10 leave some people [ __ ] right in your face to see if you're afraid of someone yelling at you to see if like how you handle it and it was like just it was they it was
a very good it was a roller coaster like and then You' have time like on your own where you'd have a task and then it was with a team and like you didn't know if when they tell you to go to sleep if You're actually going to sleep or something's going to happen or like it was just it's s days um and it's like there's not very much downtime and there's just they try to really assess how you're going to be if [ __ ] is hard and you're tired and you have a team relying
on you or you have to do something on your your own like is it 24 hours a day is it is it just one task to the next task next 24 hours a day even even like your task of okay go go to Sleep you're like okay like yeah it's it's 24 hours a day and mine was run uh in like late fall I think it was November in Canada so it was like cold outside and it was a mix of like rain and snow and [ __ ] crazy and I remember part of that
actually helped me because I like hurt my knee on it so one of my strength going in strengths going in uh was running um I was a pretty good runner and there's a lot of Running that has to happen uh but I hurt my knee and I was like now the first few days or whatever at the front of the runs stuff feeling pretty good about it to like red limping at the back of everything and like a staff and a [ __ ] ambulance right behind me like just [ __ ] quit number 10
just like running in the dark just quit why are you doing this look at everyone's up there do you think they Want to work with somebody that's this [ __ ] slow like oh my god do you think they want to work with me yeah like man this was my strength and I'm just trying to run but we ended up doing some stuff like going through this like crazy Ice Cold River and there's a bunch of cold kind of exposure stuff and ended up helping my knee a lot so it's was like that night and
then the next day I was like oh it's feeling a little bit better and I started it was like I thought I Was on my way way out and then I had this this little comeback but that that part is great that's where I was happy that we were doing it in the cold in Canada how many guys made it through uh out of all the cereals uh I want to say we had so it goes 7 Days selection and then it goes um to the assaulter course if if oh [ __ ] if you
pass selection uh and are deemed you know what they're looking for you go on an Assaulter course that's like 10 months so from all the Cals I think we started the assaulter course at [ __ ] around 30 something like that let me rewind a little bit so they had I'm just trying to understand everything so you're saying they have four the year you tried out they had maybe approximately four selections yeah throughout the year yeah do they do they compress all these selections yeah most of them are like back to back it was Like
all I think in the fall and it was like serial 1 2 3 4 so there is one time of year where you have a shot to try out for jtf2 and if you're if you're not in that one month window you got wait then you got to wait yeah okay so four classes a 30 that's about what 75% Cut Rate yeah and you you would see it like [ __ ] hour one when it started people were like [ __ ] this I'm out of here like uh we laughed about it later like the
because to get there is such a pain in The ass process to begin it like you got to do two years in the military and I mean not everybody joins just to do that but like then the psych test and the [ __ ] physical test and the training and like flying across the country go and then like the first [ __ ] hour people are like nope I'm done get me out of here uh like okay um but yeah it it's yeah 75% roughly are are chop there and then uh man I wish I
remember the numbers Exactly I've had a lot of concussions between then and now it's all good uh but yeah I think I think our course started at around 30 when it was when it was time to start the assaulter course so you get through selection is there any kind of uh I mean is there what's does the attitude change once you make it through selection and you're getting ready to go to ass Salter's course or you still yeah no no the attitude Chang es drastically it Becomes more now like a gentleman's course okay now they're
clear that like this is still SEL like this is now part two of selection it's going to be a 10-month course where you're learning [ __ ] everything but there was a big attitude change it was it was more like um a lot of people just they wanted to show you how to become a good assaulter um and that was pretty constant throughout there was some like in I Instructor your candidate like making that known uh but for the most part it was good like gentleman after that gentleman's course after that when you're going through
the course do you see are you do you have access to the operators that are over at the unit already uh not really some guys had friends that were there and stuff and you get to have a chat with them or whatever but we had just like the Cadre of staff that we're running each package That would be our our access to the you know current assaulters in the unit okay yeah what kind of skills are how's it broken down uh so selection's done um in the fall and then so soac starts that's our special
operations ass Salter course starts in Jan when I did it started in January so we go and we actually uh we came down south and did like a shooting package where they're just like we're going to teach you how to shoot these guns now it was done at uh like Blackwater it was Blackwater at the time whatever oh no [ __ ] you guys are coming down here yeah cuz it was it's cold as [ __ ] in January like shooting pistol and loading mags uh and it was just I can't remember I want to
see it was like a month or month and a half of just shooting like straight from the basics like this the pistol this is how you hold it this is how you use use it um and just every day shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot was it um Internal instructors uh jtf2 guys teaching yeah okay yeah we had like a training Cadre that was and they would get guys so training and they would bring guys from like some of the squadrons in to to also teach um so yeah it was all like we were learning to
be assaulters from assaulters Rifle and Pistol yeah yeah yeah Rifle and Pistol what happens after that so once you're done there uh and Then we lost a few guys in that stuff um just like people you know couldn't pick it up or safeties are always a big one CU it's all looking forward to being in CQB so like if you can't pick up on weapon safety after some chances then it's like because you know you getting into some tight situations later um but after that we went to shooting was done and then it was uh
CQB basic CQB so for the audience It's not military CQB is Close Quarters battle yeah that's that's entering houses entering buildings with a team and flowing through with weapons that's right yeah a lot of Hostage rescue yeah capture kill type stuff that's right how was that for you having never done that man it I found it to be a lot of fun but this at this part in the course it was not so friendly cuz we have a training facility that's like a whole collection of Different rooms um but there's a cat there's no ceiling
and there's a catwalk where the instructors are are watching what you're doing and then just like [ __ ] tearing you apart yeah yeah it's a it's a high stress part of the course for sure you're trying to learn take all the things you learn in the shooting package and now put it into like a very Dynamic situation where once once once you're going and flowing like guys are running and you're making shots And like you're like your dude's right there and you're shooting right there like and what's beyond the T there's just so many
things to process that it was like it was high I I enjoyed it um but I almost didn't make it through either I uh there was like it came down to like a final day in a final room um I loved being aggressive as [ __ ] CQB and sometimes it got me a little more attention uh it's but yeah it was like down to Like if I got another safety I think it was going to be like that's it for me um but I still did this day after having done the course gone through
when did all the CQB in squadrons and all the other things I still disagree completely with like the safety that put me kind of on the bubble um I think it was a bad call but do you think maybe they put that on you just to add to the pressure knowing that you only have one left um I don't think so uh cuz if they did I Think they may would have done it to more people like there was a couple of us for sure that were like we just got to be careful on this
run just be careful uh I don't think was done specific it was just I did it to myself uh Roger that how long was that portion oh man uh I want to say it was just a couple months maybe so shooting was a month yeah maybe maybe two months and again these are all very this is a long time ago these are all is so we're Roughly what 3 to four months into selection what do we have left uh so after after you've showing that you can you can be safe and and you're you're picking
up on that stuff it was still we're mixing in stuff too at this time that was like fighting uh medical training so it' be like CQB in the morning let's say maybe a period of like TC medical training uh and like fight class CQB in the evening and then like another fight class in the evening what Kind of fight class are you guys doing uh like a mixed martial arts so there kind of you're getting the basic of striking boxing kicking um and then grappling uh like some BJJ stuff and then growing to incorporate like
weapons and team and like more like in a CQB like in a room environment like you're coming in someone's hospital but not necessarily armed like not compliant how do you take care of that guy you know what I mean like so Incorporating now you have a long gun and you have your gear and like that kind of stuff so built on first on the like the basics of just how to throw a punch how to kick all these different things some grappling and then add it in you know the guns you're going to have or
using a knife that you might have if you're in a hairy situation one what point do they start uh how do I say at what point do they start cross training so what point do they expect you to Start busting out Jitsu in a kill house or or striking in a kill house uh the next por so was like basic CQB and learning the fundamentals of fighting and then an advanced CQB was like bigger targets uh off Camp things we've never seen getting all like the it was more hostage rescue Centric at this point uh
different types of infills fast roping repelling or like high-speed vehicle approach or you know sneaky um and then in those scenarios You would have guys that were in the building and this we switch from live fire to sim simunition um but there would be every [ __ ] scenario you can think of they would put into these buildings and houses um and we would go you know everything from like uh explosive entry to just like mechanical breaching and just the whole thing came together in that and that's where you're you're presented with situations where you're
like like I assess that like I Would probably be well time because I'm on course I'd probably be in trouble if I shoot this person so I'm going to fight him um and that's where it all kind of came together okay so basically what they're doing is it sounds like if correct me if I'm wrong it sounds like CQB is the big the motherload here and then they're adding in fighting medical air operations you guys doing any diving uh no not on our not on our basic assault navigation yeah yeah definitely That's the nav like
navigation and all that stuff is we have a green phase that's uh after Advanced CQB so after the kind of tackle like the the hostage rescue kind of domestic stuff like you know you're wearing black and you're you're doing domestic Canadian hostage rescue are kind of the scenarios and then it goes to oh [ __ ] so you guys do domestic stuff so that's so mandate yeah it's sort of like we're a mix because we have a domestic hostage rescue mandate Well kind of globally but like we will be what the government reaches for if
something happens that like our police can't handle so almost like your uh what your your FBI I think have HRT your HRT yeah have like that domestic hostage rescue mandate here um we have that no [ __ ] as well yeah I can't wait to dive into how this unit is broken down I didn't I had no idea you guys were uh both domestic and foreign yeah that's cool yeah So and is there anything else you want to cover when it comes to the training you know the selection um no man how so when when
you finish yeah how's that the selection or the the assaulter course cuz I guess it's all kind of one big selection you're 7 day if you get to be on assaulter course you do it um and the green phase ends with navigation reconnaissance uh all the stuff you Would do in the woods um really long Ruck halls and and then like you have like an escape and Invasion portion um and then you get inevitably captured and uh go through like a resistance to interrogation and kind of training I think it's very similar to like a
lot of the stuff that the guys down here do yeah um yeah so that part you just hang out in the woods for [ __ ] a long time in the rain how uh what was the most Challenging portion for you um I would say the CQB basic CQB learning to just like move and shoot and think really fast that was that was the most challenging the green stuff I enjoyed I was already a sniper from from 3vp um and quite frankly the wcky course in 3bp CLI was damn near the hardest thing I've ever
done um so I was I was already pretty comfortable in the woods and I grew up In the woods and stuff anyway so the green phase that was physically tiring was not the hardest part for me it was it was learning to like shoot move and communicate yeah yeah how did it feel when you made it oh man I felt [ __ ] on top of the world it was you know years years in the making to like finish that course and say like welcome to jtf2 kind of thing yeah um yeah it it was
like that dream came true but like as I was going through it Now I had new goals it's becoming more of a reality stuff yeah so I'm like okay made it good but [ __ ] I got a lot to get to work on kind of thing so yeah so you started it sounds like you know four classes roughly 30 in each class 120 people what did what did you walk out of there with after the 10 months oh man I should know this the guys on my course are going to kill me for not
remembering the number but I I want to say it's like 16 to 18 of us finished 16 18 think of Our course picture and counted out but uh yeah that could be off a couple either direction but that's like 90% if if my Oh Yeah from like the start yeah they it was it was known that like from the beginning of the process to becoming an assaulter it's like upwards of 90% like attrition that's incredible man yeah so you get done how do they present it to you what is the last exercise where you uh
so the last thing what did we do The last thing was the resistance to interrogation and after that oh man how did it end we we got brought back to the hill and it was like yeah it was like in our one of like our mess facility kind of thing we just like get brought in and there like now you're looking at the community of all of the assaulters uh oh that weren't deployed but like all of the assaulters are there and you're just like you get uh like a coin and they Like tell you
what Squadron you're going to and you're like [ __ ] welcome kind of thing it it was cool it's a it's just like yeah it seemed so long in the making at that point and like so many [ __ ] points are just like seemingly sheer luck is why I'm sitting there you know uh but just yeah super grateful to be it was a it was a cool day nice yeah well let's take a break and then we'll uh when we come back we'll get into how you Were were received in the unit sure get
into some hazing stories maybe okay I want to give a big thank you out right now to all the vigilance Elite patrons out there that are watching the show right now just want to say thank you guys you are our top supporters and you're what makes this show actually happen if you're not on vigilance lead patreon I want to tell you a little bit about what's going on in there so we do a little bit of everything there's Plenty of behind the scenes content from the actual sha Ryan Show on top of that basically what
I do is I take a lot of the questions that I get from you guys or the patrons and then I turn them into videos so we get right now there's a lot of concern about self-defense Home Defense crimes on the rise all throughout the country actually all throughout the world and so we talk about everything from how to prep your home how to clear your home How to get familiar with a firearm both Rifle and Pistol for beginners and advanced we talk about mindset we talk about Defensive Driving we have an end of the
month live chat that I'm on at the end of every month where we can talk about whatever topics you guys have it's actually done on Zoom you might enjoy it check it out and if zoom's not your thing or you don't like live chats like I said there's a library of well over a 100 videos on where to start with Prepping all the firearm stuff pretty much anything you can think of it's on there so anyways go to www.patreon.com vigilance Elite or just go in the link in the description it'll take you right there and
if you don't want to and you just want to continue to watch the show that's fine too I appreciate it either way love you all let's get back to the show thank [Music] you so you're one of the most prolific drug smugglers in the world smuggled cocaine marijuana worked for Pablo Escobar the medine cartel the oo Brothers think you have it done became one of the government's most valuable informants in the war against cocaine but last night in Louisiana Barry Seal's enemies caught up with him and killed them the plane took off and the wheels
came up with a thud went on a Little bit further got about 5,000 ft and they was just a little click CLI and mam said what was that Dad I said he just turned his autopilot on Fell reaches over and he says you fly these things huh and anyhow he got under me and he's shooting those tracers and he must have been just under the airplane because they looked like they were coming up like in an arc right under the windshield just red streaks up of course Some of them was alive you [Music] know but
they hung a dead man in the cell with me and he was frozen and he was wrapped in U wrapped in newspaper strips of it like a Mumy from his feet all way to his head and uh they put him on a meat hook to a boat on the side of the wall and hung him there said you next son of a bit you next it's not going to land anywhere but Arkansas that's right because you said It's paid off all the way to the top the old saying if you can't stand the heat don't
work in the kitchen I can take the pressure a lot of people di in this business I'm telling you I'm one of the only people I know still alive [Music] all right Dallas we're back from the break you've made it through selection and you're showing up to your new home unit at jtf2 yeah what's it like Um man it was amazing I like I was saying I it was something i' wanted to do for so long finally like okay now it was almost like now I can really get to work um the Squadron I went
to the like the level at which they shot and did CQB and like the skill level of everyone was [ __ ] crazy I it was like okay the course sort of prepared you but now the learning really begins kind of thing um and I got to a good debt uh and the deck Commander at the time Was was great like he's like so like you're talking about hazing for me there wasn't really much he was like look you made it through all of this for a particular reason you know if you see something that
you don't understand ask if you see something that you might think is [ __ ] up ask bring it up it's like cuz everyone is here to think outside of the box so like you're going to have different life experiences different opinion opion see things Differently and we want to get the value from that sort of thing so it was it was especially CB was like stepping in to do it with Squad and they're so [ __ ] fast um I was like okay I got to get to work like speed up the shooting speed
up the moving um but I was just like immersed just hours go early extend my workout and stay late just work on kit and work on draws and shoot and shoot and shoot um Isn't it nice showing up to a unit that wants Everybody's perspective as they are out of the box thinkers yeah I think I really appreciated that part of it I know some of the guys that went to some other places that had a couple of little hazing things uh but it was all it was it seemed like it was in in good
fun and then it was like like we're just [ __ ] around like you're in yeah let's get to work um so yeah I was I was super grateful for for how it was like how it was received and how Professional it was can you talk a little bit about how jtf2 is broken down how many yeah so it's uh we have like assault squadrons um and it's kind of changed a little bit over time and it continues to change sometimes like in the military fashion it goes this way and they like go back to
what they were doing before but uh the have assault squadrons um and within those you have like you know all of the assaulters uh you have the breaching capabilities um And then there's some Specialties like climbing within some of the debts or diving within some of the debts um and then snipers was in a different Squadron that was almost like in support of all the squadrons um and then there would be like like a Garrison Squadron doing [ __ ] around camp and helping out and whatever what Squadron did you go to so I went
to a two Squadron two yeah how many are there uh three three ass squadrons yeah Do they have different reputations yeah they all kind of have a little bit different feel um like almost like a different culture each yeah a little bit like nothing crazy but it would be like you know three Squadron kind of had the dive capability in divers and they were kind of like Jokers a little bit two Squadron I went to was like a little bit harder like it was Like uh I don't know just had a reputation of being a
little more serious a little harder and then one was kind of a mix of both kind of jokers kind of like more like Cowboys I guess so it was it was interesting interesting to to see how it was and and they're like pretty accurate all all the guys were great but it's just it was pretty accurate I think the the feeling that we had for each one being a little bit of a different culture is that where you Wanted to go I didn't care care no I didn't care where no preference wanted to get to
a squadron and and start learning as much as I could so you get there and then you you had mentioned that you guys also do domestic so how if there's three squadrons I'm guessing there's what a train up in overseas and a domestic te yeah it's sort of like that and we try and keep us cycle but even the consistency of that was like it was just Changing all the time based on Manning issues or optempo with other overseas tasks and then you're like because we always have to have someone on call like immediate response
in Canada so that it takes a big chunk of Manpower um and that's just like if you were needed and that was like we started with pagers but it would be like beep beep you got to [ __ ] you have to be at Camp within I think it was an hour and a half or 2 hours Um and you have to have your [ __ ] ready to go like if you get there and you need to have that on a [ __ ] bus or truck or whatever to get on a plane like
there's no time to now organize everything you know so it's like bag one bag two all these like just different tasks all the gear ready to go so that part of it in the cycle would be like you need to maintain that and then still have guys overseas doing whatever tasks we have and then people doing their Post- deployment leave uh resting or or actually more courses like it was you're just kind of trying to mix those three things which was like rest recovery and training domestic being on call but there's still a lot of
you're able to train yeah in in that one as well and then deployed wherever we're we're doing stuff what what are the so what is it in Cy what six month Cycles 8 month we tried a bunch of Different kinds of Cycles throughout like my time there um I think what they tried to have the most of was like man I can't even remember I want to say it was like nine months or something so the deployments at one point were being cut in half and team's rotating out so you're doing more of like a
4month deployment instead of a a six or nine month um but we've tried a variety of a bunch of different things uh okay So there's no like there's no set not when you see it drawn on a [ __ ] whiteboard I'm like oh okay so I'm kind of going to know what I'm getting up to and then it's never the case it's it's no it was like for the first 10 11 years I was there I was gone 6 to8 months every single year whether it's deployment or training gone a month back a week
gone two months like it was 6 to8 months I was I was looking at it through out and it was Like every year was was that amount gone interesting yeah so you get in there you're integrating with the team sounds like you went right into CQB with them yeah I I think that's the biggest uh cuz like part of the green phase is like you're doing like Mobility stuff with heavy machine guns you're doing all like that kind of stuff so you're that's at the tail end of course that's pretty fresh like you know you're
right off it and it's not a thing we do Ton well depending on the task but like once you got into the Squadron the big thing to catch guys up on was CB and like shooting CB shooting CB and like the standard at which the guys in the squadrons were when he got there like to bring the course guys up to that yeah yeah I got to be honest I I deployed with you guys in whatever this is 18 years ago but uh but uh yeah we deployed or or co-loaded collocated with you guys in
in uh Kandahar Afghanistan and they They've got a kill house out there have you been there yeah no I've never been there and I remember the first run we did integrated with you guys I don't take any offense to this I wasn't my expectations weren't too high for Canada boy was I [ __ ] wrong I think what that comes from is the hostage rescue mandate so like it's different if you're doing a combat clearance because you can be a little more deliberate because you don't want to [ __ ] get shot yeah Hostage rescue
the priority goes to the hostage so like you come into a building someone knows you're there you got to [ __ ] move fast was the thought process behind how fast uh we trained I think um yeah so I just remember like just running and I'm not a small guy like just [ __ ] running to keep up sometimes like and then shoot keep going like it it was the processing of it all was like oh my God I was super impressed and I can only imagine how much is it Has evolved in in the
past 18 years yeah yeah or evolved to the P you know who knows who the military is so different nowadays the last two years but um but anyways that's [ __ ] but um yeah man so how did how did you integrate in with the team I mean were they I mean you know were they how long did it take before you were equivalent is where I'm trying to go where they had like 100% accepted you Hey we're ready to go we're ready to deploy it no it was it was still passed on that like
you you're you're still almost like a probation period like like you're you're still being assessed all the time it's like don't take offense to it cuz so am I like everyone is in a way like you have to keep a level of fitness and and shooting and CB and like all this this stuff has to be has to be dialed in um so it was known like look you can't You're not just here now you can [ __ ] relax and the the the pace is is crazy like even when I was at home the
like I just felt like I was playing ketchup all the time so like when did I become an aquil I don't know I [ __ ] didn't and now I'm out like I I just there's always someone that's so good that I'm like I got to get faster I got to get better then I move to snipers and I'm like [ __ ] these guys I got to Get I got to get stronger faster and then fighting like [ __ ] these guys can fight like I got to get stronger and bigger and like it
was it was everywhere the competitiveness of that environment like it's just Relentless every [ __ ] day is a competition of some kind and it's you're creating it yourself really like we do shooting competitions but like if I have a [ __ ] day on the Range it's just like that whole evening sucks I'm like no I guess stay late I'm going To go back what like why was I pulling these shots this where why was it slow or why and it's just [ __ ] it's is you're comparing yourself all the time everyone around
it's a it's such a crazy environment for that let me rephrase the question then you showed up you you start doing CQB when when are when is the unit or two Squadron giving you the omnis dominis saying hey we're deploying you're you're ready for this Um I don't know if there was like a Line in the Sand or like a time frame learn it was it was just slowly like man I don't know the time it was like you I never felt like I was done progressing compared to the peers but I I did feel
like a legitimate part of the team like not not that long after like where my opinion was valued or something I saw was um like good point like it didn't take that long the integration was pretty was pretty professional and It was pretty fast I think um it wasn't like you know although the year after our course they skipped there was like a year skipped of so soac for some reason so we're like the new guys for like two years there's still a little bit of new guy [ __ ] you're like different transport jobs
and checking oil on trucks and [ __ ] that will'll be like that's a new guy task uh but I I was like acceptance and where I felt like I was part of the team like it happened pretty fast oh okay Yeah is the probationary period I don't even know what the timeline is I just remember people saying like selection is never over it's kind of the attitude like just know that you have to keep a high standard here earn your keep every day yeah you're not here to relax gotta yeah how long before your
first first deployment uh so s so my Selter course was all of 2009 basically it's like January to Like uh October I want to say SE maybe it wasn't 10 months yet oh we did some continuation training so I was in the squadron at the end of 2009 um and I deployed to Afghanistan in the second half of 2010 so I had a year about a year with the Squadron uh we had a couple like we were doing a lot of MCT training at the time what is MCT training uh like M oh sorry yeah
Maritime counterterror and stuff so Like boats and choppers and Ladder climbing and ships uh cuz we were poised for the Winter Olympics that happened in Canada so we were all in the area in case anything happen so we were getting familiar with like the trains and the systems in in Vancouver and the different venues that were there and if anything happened on the water you know so there's a lot of time put into that uh that task or whatever um yeah and then this I think The second half of 2010 is when I went to
Afghanistan for the first time how was that man I had a great time it was it was so it was so crazy to see how different the world is you know what I mean like in two places like from Canada to Afghanistan that's about as different as it can get and and just to witness that in real life was like it's just so much like you take in so much It's like there's so much uh exciting adventurous uh feelings that come with it and then there's like you know disgust and [ __ ] sadness almost
and like just your mind is blown at some of the evil you can see um so the the task I went on actually I was again I was a spare to go on uh a deployment that was more daaz and doing hits on targets I was a spare and then I got asked they're like hey there's this other task at Afghanistan the same time you can be on that team for sure or you can go to that spot and you can wait to try and deploy like with with your debt to go down I was
like wow what's the chances so I started like chatting with guys who were doing workup TR like you know how's everybody feeling anyone thinking that it might not happen so I took the sure thing the sure deployment I'd been waiting now at this point seemed forever to get over there so uh I just went like In this mixed team of dudes and we went to Kabul and I think that one got extended a couple times and ended up being around eight 8 months or something so when you deploy is is all of two going to
Cobble or no the break so no like I was just pulled out and it wasn't even our Squad it was a team of like man I think I think there was five of us five or six of us but they were like from all over the place like this Squadron that Squadron a Sniper uh two snipers actually but not in Sniper rolls like this was all like Low Low Pro kind of gry roll stuff okay um so I didn't really have any experience in that so we did a workup training with some of the guys
that did have experience went did like a motorcycle course driving course another driving course cuz we did do one on our assaulter training um but it was like to get like I'd never really even ridden a motorbike before so we're like went to This dirt bike place and they just taught us how to [ __ ] ride properly um driving and a bunch of surveillance stuff and then like the The Source handling operations type of things and then deployed to go to go do that task yeah anything spectacular happened that you want to talk about
on that deployment um no well yeah like actually sorry yes there's a couple things that were Um just crazy so like I was saying before like the the environment is there's embassies there's like a green zone there's cafes and restaurants all mixed in with like you know there's there's VB attacks happening there's shootings like around the city and you're just like a big part of that job is you know networking meeting people so you could have a heads up on these things if you're going to do a job in a certain area uh but we
met it was the First time I'd ever met him he actually used to be an assaulter at jtf 2 and he had a business there so he had like a restaurant and like housing kind of like a hotel for embassy overflow and it's like known it wasn't in the green zone it was known as like a pretty secure like it was like double wall he had good security and stuff but we were can't remember if was around I don't remember the date of it but we we had like barbecues at our like little House that
we were living in in the city and one day we were going to go get stuff for the barbecue we go to this grocery store and I can't remember why but we just went to another grocery store that we didn't normally go to and uh we come back and we just like hear [ __ ] all hell break loose cuz it's only a few blocks away and uh then we get a call from this guy who had the facility and he's like he's like calls one of the boys and he's like [ __ ] you
Got to come get me uh I'm in trouble uh help kind of thing and he like hangs up the phone we like well what the [ __ ] you like what did he say and he's I don't know man like I I don't know if he's in at his house or like where he is we call back and he's like h no the the so the grocery store we skipped to go to the other one got attacked like that that same time frame and he was in there and I guess two guys came in shot
the place up uh like threw these frags and I can't Remember if one guy if it was just grenades or if if one of them blew themselves up but he was he was hit he got shot and I think he got some shrapnel and he was like trying to get out of there and so he called again and he's like don't let them take me you guys got to come find me he told us he was at this grocery store so we were like [ __ ] like we got to go right now and now
there a couple questions came up about like mandate blah blah blah blah Blah and they're like no [ __ ] that like I grabbed like my medkit uh we hopped in the truck and it was like it was really close to our place we just spread out to try and find I was running down the street I went into the grocery store first and it was just [ __ ] chaos like it was still Smoky there was [ __ ] bodies and blood and [ __ ] everywhere and like that's something like the smell of
that for the first time all of it hitting your nostrils and you're just Like this is [ __ ] Madness but like you're also like is there still people in here like I'm I'm looking and now there's like the the local ambulances are starting to come so they're like trying to just just you're trying to figure out what's going on we're trying to find our [ __ ] friend so like I I don't see him in here and we started like just split up in in pairs and like running down the streets um and eventually
he got there was another Canadian there that just like somehow found him in the area he got loaded up and like taken to a an a like a local hospital and stitched up and flew out I think to Germany or something and got taken care of but like the chaos of it all was I was like wow it just like so fast it happens we're about to have a barbecue about to crack a beer and then it's like medkit pistol let's [ __ ] run long G in the truck lock it up and let's [
__ ] find our our guy um and it Was it was crazy cuz we had rehearsed in workups one two man CQB in case something happened that was sort of like this but like now thinking about it I'm like I I never expected to see that scenario of it you know I mean and like what's the best way to search blocks and blocks for someone when your team is five six assaulters like there's a bunch of things that I like I don't know if I was fully prepared for that but we didn't think about this
one yeah damn Yeah so that that that day was was pretty intense um did he survive that he did yeah yeah man he's a [ __ ] tough dude he just kept at her and I think he's he's just he I hear about him every now and again and he's just like somewhere else doing something crazy yeah burn on man yeah it's glad he glad he made it out that one so you come back from that deployment yeah so that would have been 200 11 yeah we went 2010 over over Christmas and came back oh
[ __ ] I don't even remember sometime early in 2011 I think see you're back home from your first trip which went completely different than what you were expecting it sounds like yeah and you're back in with your with your primary unit yeah with the boys right y so what's coming uh down the pipe now did they deploy while you were yeah so one of the troops I think I don't think the whole Squadron Deployed again it's a little hazy but they might have done a switch one troop and then the next troop but they
were deployed at the same time that I was in Kabul they were down in like near Kandahar uh just doing like the hits and stuff like that um from what I heard it wasn't too I didn't miss too too much so I was like okay there's a lot of dry holes and like you know stuff that wasn't necessarily lining up uh like some of the previous uh guys had Gotten uh so I was like okay I wasn't too too sad about uh about missing that uh I was happy with the experience I got doing the
other task what is the next task so I went back uh I was in two Squadron 2011 uh some some getting back into whatever next cycle we were probably we call it IR when you're just like you're in immedate response you have to be ready to rock there's a big workup Training that goes with that bunch of domestic getting back into like H uh hostage rescue CQB and like all that stuff so there's big workups um but then before I deployed again I did my sniper course for jtf2 how did that come about did is
that something you put in for yeah I wanted it I was already a rag Force sniper and I knew I wanted to go there I just wanted to get some time in the Squadron first um and I got assaulter experience And a lot of breaching experience and then I I was asking I was asking a lot to like can I go can I go to to snipers uh yeah and they they supported it all so I I did that course and then moved over hold on how was that course oh I was [ __ ]
great uh what I had to compare to was the the CF like our rag Force sniper course which at the time I thought it was also great but then it was next level like at the hill with that sniper course it was just Everything from the the weapons and ammo like the kit the the support for it like the [ __ ] gun techs were ninjas man like all of all of the support for it was so good like if you're shooting and there's an issue with kit there's like someone right there to fix it
replace it get it going like and the they just the Precision that is taught and that was very much a gentleman's course also they're like the snipers want you to be a good sniper here's how you do it Um so it wasn't like a high attrition rate I don't know if any I think we had like one guy fail um but the I thought the course was great and I I've always loved the stocking portion of sniper training um it's the mo it's like hunting like you are in the [ __ ] Zone it's like
a flow State activity so that I always loved so like it was more challenging stocks now and it was um it's Just it encompasses kind of all green skills is a sniper stalk like so to see the level at which you were expected to do it I was like I was impressed how close are you getting to Target so you have a you have a box kind of thing that you have to be in so we have two guys who are snipers looking for you stu stalking they're like we'd be sitting in a chair beside
each other with binos and they know that you're starting somewhere down there like the whole course and You're stalking towards them and you have to be inside of 300 M I think it was so you start off a k or two away so there's a little bit of navigation it's more picking the ground um to move in efficiently and then there's Walkers out in the field where you're stalking field or forest or bush line or whatever generally you don't get a bush line for too long for it's a field uh and the the people watching
the snipers watching and Looking for movement looking for any sign of people creeping up on them are in radio coms with the Walkers and if they see anything there's like a they'll have an air horn and like these guys are getting slick so they're like on the binders it's like a step on so like they don't even have to and you have to freeze and if if you don't there's a bunch of Integrity things that come down the line but and then they'll be like yeah Walker whoever move to your Right blah blah blah he's
controlling where this guy's going he's like you're there's a sniper at your feet or you're they'll like control their arms like you're touching a sniper um so you have that going while you're moving you have to get into a final firing position set it all up when you're comfortable that you're camouflaged that you think they can't see you you tell one of the Walkers around like there's a shooter ready to uh it was Like an identification first so you had to judge The Distance by using your scope to measure how far they were and then
you had to identify just so that they know that you have a clear window to see through you have to identify a letter that they'll hold up so like you're looking the Walker's like okay he's going to hold the letter you're like you say the letter yep good ID now all of our stocks ended up being live fired So in this particular part of it you would shoot a blank round and now the Walkers it starts at like 10 m 5 m like 2 MERS or something so he's like yeah I got a sniper within
10 meters of me so the guy's like okay he's somewhere here and he's like okay don't see him if he doesn't see you and that's what you're hoping for moves to 5 MERS still doesn't see you you fire round and this one's just a blank round so it's to see like what type of Vitation in front of you have you thought about that have you thought about that it can move or fall down if you shoot around um and then you have to do a Reload so there's movement in there that you have to control
uh and then the guy moves I think it's like 2 MERS and I could be getting all of this a little bit wrong but it's it's roughly this and then he's like okay no tell him to send a second shot boom it's a blank round and then they look if if they don't see Anything then then you're good you're like okay then you wait when everyone is done precisely where the guys are sitting will'll put up like a a steel Target it's the same size and then you have to now you have to make that
shot okay so the pass comes if you can make that live fire shot after just for the audience you know you're talking about stalking through an open field I I just want you to talk about how the pace of which you're moving to Not be compromised yeah so so pace is based on how well you pick the ground like if there is for instance a hill somewhere in there it's in your best interest to get behind it have the guys looking for you like have the hill between you to and you can you can upright
walk you can run if you want to make up time when there's no Hill or there's no trees to use and this stuff it's really using ground to just try and maximize Efficiency cuz like to low crawl really on your belly it's [ __ ] tiring to drag a gun with you it's super tiring um so picking ground is the biggest thing like that that's what makes you able to move at a pace that is like in your best interest and it doesn't have to be crazy like you know you can crawl behind a slope
that's not that big without having to be right on your belly and like just like inching across an open field so Things like even vehicle tracks and stuff you can just it's picking up on those things and and trying to see also what's ahead of you cuz the worst thing is to [ __ ] crawl somewhere and then you have nowhere to go and you have to like backtrack and Clover Leaf around somewhere because in in the terms of a stock it's all timed and don't ask me how long because I don't [ __ ]
remember but it's all timed so you have to complete this task In a certain amount of time so like if you waste an hour crawling up and now you're calling you're like you're taking risks you shouldn't take with fast movement like you just you're not setting yourself up for successful final firing position yeah what what type of shots are you guys taking uh like how do you mean I mean so is there a portion where you're not stalking and you're just going for Accuracy and distance yeah and and a lot of that is based on
uh the hostage rescue stuff so like it's uh mainly the HR shots were up to 300 M and it would be like based on MOA and I think it was one like a minute of angle so you know roughly at 100 it's super tight 200's a little bit bigger 300's probably like that and like those are the shots you you you have to make all the time that that shooting standard is very high with what platform uh we Trained with uh 308 for most of it and I think the the thought process behind that cuz
there's bigger calibers that you [ __ ] battle the wind Way by like a 338 is what we used after but to train with a 308 like you have to be on your wind calls more uh they're less forgiving rounds um just in terms of wind really is the biggest thing like you have it's you're working that art a lot more than with a 338 so that's What we that's what the course uh we trained on so farthest farthest distance you you guys were working with at school oh during the course well we came down
to Texas to train with uh I don't if you know the accuracy first guys I don't okay so we came down to train with them and in Texas on course we were shooting like we had our 338 and 50s out by then like a couple kilometers 20 like we're shooting 25 2600 M okay yeah damn his program like it was like nothing I'd Ever seen that part of the course it it was like [ __ ] blew my mind like I at first I was like I don't know if I'm going to understand this and
uh but as you go through it just what he was teaching for long range shooting man I it's a pretty [ __ ] big reason why we got that long shot in the end and like a huge reason damn yeah that's some serious credit like well I can get into it now or I can talk about it before that deployment that I went on but like We'll talk about it before okay cuz it's yeah man is it was next level from the sniping experience that I had had before it was it was crazy damn yeah
what so you guys are using 308 338 50 cal yeah what else uh that was it so we had 308 once we're in Sniper troop like once you're done your course and you go to sniper troop uh we we weren't really using the 308 uh bolt gun anymore uh so we had a 308 gas gun 338 bolt gun and a 50 okay did you guys ever get into the Uh creedmore what is six is it 6.5 yeah there's been guys uh I know guys like have uh played with it trial there's kind of some it
was in the realm I've never shot it um there's like guys that are really into ammo [ __ ] are always tracking what's coming next um I was more like what do we have to use and that's what I'm going to try and get good okay that's how I am too yeah I but no we never I never never got into that or shot it at all right on I was just Curious all right so we get done with we get done with the sniper course you're back at jtf2 in the is it sniper Squadron
so yeah I went over to snipers right after my course basically yeah this is so I left two Squadron went to a different Squadron that had the the sniper troop I'm just is this much smaller Squadron uh it's just it was uh it was kind of like support you know so like the Tactical part of that Squadron was like snipers and we would do like Reconnaissance and sniping um and then there was oh man I don't even remember the other troops it was just like it was a completely different makeup it wasn't like an assault
squadron at all okay yeah are you farmed out yeah to the to the other squadrons though so like for an IR you know cycle where you're on you know immediate response you have a certain amount of snipers attached to that um an overseas task depending on the task a certain amount of snipers you Deployed with that Squadron the entire time or you kind of as needed they fly you over um no it was it was almost always you would go and and do the full deployment okay with in my experience I I did like the
full deployment with the Squadron yeah who did you deploy with first H my first Iraq tour was in 2015 um and this was like Iraq had kind of just kicked off for us there was one Roto before us which which was Roto 0o just to make it all confusing second Roto was Roto one which is the one I was on um and we they they only sent two snipers so I deployed with uh like my TL which just so happened to be my current brother-in-law um and it was just a Twan sniper team we actually
mostly worked with our uh like our our brother unit the seore I was telling you guys about mhm um for most of that tour I'm trying to Think uh well it was a mix actually sory so we we were with some two Squadron guys and um and working with the seaa guys and we were just there was kind of a front line it was crazy was different it was the Kurds were trying to hold Isis back and it come to like just old there's like a front line and then there's some no man's land and
then there was Ice on the other side so where were you guys over like or bill this was like we were out Of or Bill but more towards like towards mosul so it was my first tour it was like mosul was like the city I could see like way in the background um on all the different tasks we did there so that was mainly just trying to help the Kurds whichever way we could there's a little bit of training stuff we didn't do too much of that that was more with sees was up to uh
but it was just going navigating all The like the restrictions and rules and stuff like that and just trying to be as effective as you could uh against [ __ ] Isis that wanted to push keep pushing back all the way through Kurdistan so were you guys getting pretty kinetic or yeah it was well when we got there there had just been like the first Canadian casualty of that war and so when I first got on the ground there was like a bunch of restrictions like no move here and There and like we just had
to figure out ways around that um to to get to work so like eventually you know it's all it was kind of always a back and forth like we want to go do this we want to go do that it's like well you can do this you can't do that this is approved you can't go there like just all of that um but I was with like I said the the TL I was with like we would just [ __ ] every night brainstorm like how do we Get out there now how do we get
out there how do we do this um and then yeah it ended up being a pretty good aggressive good aggressive tour and um a lot of it was like long so it be like sniper stuff cuz you're you're on a line and they're like they're not standing 300 meters out there CU anyone that did that would have been dead already so it was like sniper and air strikes that combination was Okay what we were doing and it was describe like describe a typical day on the line how many guys are you with yeah so it
would be normally um myself and my sniper partner who was the TL and like our our Twan team kind of ran the Ops that we would go on and we would bring some guys from seore sometimes we'd have a jtac with us uh so that's the guy that like controls all the aircraft and and drops um normally an interpreter or [ __ ] every Time an interpreter uh and the the crew numbers varied sometimes it would be four of us out for the night sometimes it' be like eight or 10 um and then sometimes we
would go out with like the uh the other Squadron guys that were there so we're all just like trying to get on this line and trying to to bring the fight to Isis um so the numbers varied but it would go are you with any Kurds yeah yeah yeah the whole time it's all uh yeah the whole line is Just like it's it's crazy to see this line at night cuz you can just see like it's just like bunkers and a light that just goes across the Horizon and like all these positions are manned all
the time so that like Isis can not get through um so we would normally go out a few days at a time so that we could go to one go to another kind of support from wherever we were getting information that [ __ ] was was happening um and sometimes it would be very Inflated I remember the first one we went out is like my first real thing really I was doing as a sniper so I was like I'd been a sniper for a long time considering my CF time uh and I was like I
am [ __ ] ready like we went out and I didn't sleep at all for like 2 days cuz I was like I'm not missing a goddamn thing when we got there the CDs were like oh every night you know there's machine gun fire from there every night there's a sniper over there I was like Okay I'm like [ __ ] here like I was set up ready to go and my my team lead he's like yeah okay well wake me up of something crazy's happen cuz he he's had a lot of experience already he's
done so much [ __ ] and I'm like just ready to go so I'm like dipping like just coffee a dip and like I'm not sleep I'll sleep when we pull off and we go back to camp and it was like not a [ __ ] thing happened for like two days I'm like through the tur I'm like what's Going on here they said every single day you're getting shot at from this place and like so there was balancing like who was overblowing whatever was happening to them or or exaggerating and then trying to figure
out where you can have the best kind of effect and then just trying to get your place trying to get your spot there um we did that one nothing happened but but it was it was normally a few days on The line go back and and assess see if anything new came if there's a better place to be or there was you know someone was taking fire or just whatever the best way we could kind of support um did you get to do what you wanted to do as a sniper in that deployment yeah I
mean it's a weird thing but you always wish for it to be closer for some reason I don't know why we're like that but it's like you know Shoot someone like so the the closest the the best I mean best the best place we got was a position that was like 1,700 met to a the town that Isis was in and it was like this little Valley looking down and like there was always always something going on there and so that's where we were like sniper fire but and still sometimes you're like it's so blurry
don't your 1700 meters getting shot machine gun through a window and You shoot and it's like the firing stops you're like I don't [ __ ] know is this guy dead did he ran out the back like there's no way to know yeah the most effective thing I think that we did with the combination of what we had was wrangling guys and pinning them down places and then dropping a bomb what do you mean wrangling well so like if a Fighter's headed one way you shoot at him if it's not a if it's not a
first round hit which a you Know 2 km first round hit is like it happens we'll get to that after but like it's probably going to be in vidity and the spotter shooter team will walk on that you know normally now if a round lands they'll squirt into something we just pin someone in and drop a ball that's what on that tour we found most successful okay and it was [ __ ] successful how many bombs do you guys think you dropped that point like [ __ ] I have no idea Uh I don't know
it got slick though like there's a bunch of things like you're obviously always watching for you know call it collateral damage but it's people people that are not in the fight yeah cuz it most of these areas close to the line it was only Isis left but not exclusively like sometimes now whether it was their family or like they use Shields and stuff all the time so like in in sniping human Shields oh yeah did you see that yeah yeah yeah let's go Into that that was the next Roo but sure uh so this would
be moving forward to the next Roto that I did there which would be in uh 2016 and into 17 uh and this was the tour that we we we made that really long engagement um well let's go back hold on let's go back I want to take a break before we get there okay so this deployment you're you're doing all sniper stuff but did I mean Did you really get the satisfaction that that you were hoping for me did you get your first confirmed kill and witness the kill is what I'm asking cuz that's what
every sniper wants no and I don't even I don't know if I ever really even well no no never mind we did so sniping no it was always like guess like it worked I don't know what happened on the other side of that okay wall window Whatever um the the biggest numbers were from air strikes for sure we get it dialed in pin some group of people or whatever there and just [ __ ] end them that way I don't find that is satisfying oh no I totally agree I know what you're getting at for
sure um I've done a lot of engagements where what you're talking about where it's where it's well I mean it you know There's no more gunfire mhm but so you didn't get the full-blown confirmation yet no not yet all right so you come home yeah come home from that one was that one wasn't that long I think we were there for four four or five months four months yeah okay this is when they were trying to do shorter and just get guys through one because there was a bit of a break that period that I
did my sniper course between like what was going on in Afghanistan and then we weren't doing much in Afghanistan for a while and then when Iraq happened there was like everyone wanted to go so I think part of the shorter rotations were we don't know how long it's going to go let's keep guys fresh but also let's get guys going because that's important yeah yeah what's the what's the retention at the at JT have to is it good it used to be it's not anymore Co [ __ ] it up yeah I think Co We'll
get into that well let's take a break before we get into the uh all right to the world record Ro to six you need to ask yourself if you want to be a [ __ ] commando today I had to go through 8 months of training with the CIA and the reason why we had to to cross train with him is because we for deployed later on into these countries where we had to work underneath the chief of station you know it was it was Really funny because you and I after talking last night we
were in the same country on the same project on the same hunting down the same person yeah yeah there was this fight promoter named Santo he was a Japanese guy and he took underneath obviously he wanted to make money out of me and he said would you want to fight you know at Japanese Dojo at matches he was talking about the underground Matches and the the technology was used against the enemy and how we would find fix and locate and kill him he got killed uh was that 2006 y I tried down a tiger get
this are you [ __ ] me yeah a tiger I tracked down a wild tiger all right Dallas we're back from the break you're getting ready to go back over but before we just had an interesting conversation on the break that I had to cut you off you so jtf2 Has not had any casualties uh no no casualties um in that no Kia no K yeah killed in action yeah that's that's unheard of oh yeah it's wild and and like I was just saying like the the sentiment is like we are some lucky [ __
] like there's been guys shot up there's been real close calls like on the first point we were just talking about like there was a Couple times where I'm like oh [ __ ] uh nor that was Mort fire but like yeah real goddamn close I mean ship when I worked with you guys the the day I think it was the day we left uh you guys spun up to go out and a Hilo got shot down outside of candahar and um I know I know for a fact some dudes got shot up cuz I
I saw them afterwards but damn that's in in only one only one Kia through Canadian special operation Um yeah I believe so if there's something I'm forgetting please forgive me but like I'm I'm fairly sure and that was the one I was just telling you about the it would have been Roto zero in Iraq and it a seesar guy um and uh that that was it man wow and like yeah again just I knock on wood cuz you know it's a [ __ ] it's a crazy it's a crazy thing you're out there doing um
it's been a long War but yeah and we Are let's get into it blessed yes you are let's get into the next deployment okay so next deployment was uh Roto number would have been Roto six uh for this one I I went with fourman sniper team uh I was a 2ic TL and and two number one and two um most of the deployment was we were trying every step of the way to get into mosul so we had from the first rooto I was there we're on a defensive line way back from from mosul um
and this one we Were we were trying to get in there so the Iraqis um and some pushes done previously had pushed Isis back into mosul um and mainly uh West mosul so there's a river goes right in the middle um and most of Isis was pushed back there other than like there was also some other tasks with are in the cities going going to to look for people um but the whole time most of that Roto we go and do a few hits around the cities and Those were mainly like no one wanted to
scrap it's like you're in someone's house [ __ ] panels in the middle of the night they're like yeah okay I'll come with you uh so none of that was very Dynamic was fun uh but it wasn't anything really uh really crazy engagements yeah um uh and then so so most of that Roo was that but all of us really trying to press to get into Mosul and uh like RTL was just like he had his as soon as we got there he had his eyes set on the Sova Hotel which is like I think
it was a ninstory hotel right on the River West looking into East mosul where uh where Isis was like that's that's what they were now holding so the fight was kind of across the river are we getting into this already that's this is yeah this is this is this okay so what yeah so actually I'll talk a little bit About I'll talk a little bit about uh the workup like I mentioned it a bit we went came back down to Texas again to train with accuracy first um and we were starting to shoot like upwards
of 3 kmet um we're kind like the group of guys in that Sho [ __ ] phenomenal just always pushing pushing pushing and we were there and we got this piece of Kit and It's company man I hope we get it right it's taccom HQ I think and they make a prism so previously long shots were like you dial on a sniper scope and then you're holding in the reticle so you'll be with the shooter spotter team the shooter is not even looking at can't even be looking at the Target it's a different reference point
and then you're getting Corrections off of that because in order to have the Round go that far like your your gun is now required to point up in the air essentially so you can imagine if you're looking through a scope you're looking high up on a building higher up on an antenna holding on a [ __ ] cloud like something like that and just trying to get a correction so what this prism did is it allowed us to have that angle but also still see what you're aiming at okay so we got like the first
couple versions of it that were just like this Piece of metal just like here's how you put it on and we were playing with those does Texas it goes in front of the scope um and they're like they have a company and it's like they're they're getting them out there now this was like the very I think some of the very first ones it just attacked pches on the rail in front of your scope and it's like whatever prism does whichever way it's angled I don't know so that when you're pointed up your the shooters
field of View still has the Target in it so what does it look like a like a UNS or something yeah sort of like a un oh God yeah these were like very rough first prototype kind of things that we brought with us um and it was just trying to piece together stuff so that we could reach out a little further and a little further is is this something you keep on your rifle fixed all the time or very specific it would be very specific Because you can't shoot someone at 100 meters with that on
you won't be able to see them I've I've never I don't have any experience with this sound fascinating so it's like this prism thing comes and we're like what the [ __ ] and so we're doing workup training and I told it's funny our sergeant major was there and some other guys and I was like I promise you on this Roto we're going to break the world record so that work training workup training in Texas now it Sounds extremely cocky I get it and then my start Maj like what it's like I [ __ ]
I'm telling you from the last time we were there I know where we're going it's like I promise we will break the world record on this deployment did you know what the record was yeah it was like uh 24 something like I can't there was a Brit guy I think that had like 2400 M or something you do you don't know him no I don't know him I would love to get the two of you in here for Episode together but uh but no [ __ ] so you knew the damn you knew the world
record yeah it was like 2400 but we were we were punching past that very consistently with this prism now and I was like holy [ __ ] so that was before we deploy the first and it was I think it was yes just over 6month tour and most of it was just trying to get into that fight in mosul um we end ended up getting into that Hotel as an op and it was kind of a weird so the Iraqis were on like floor three or 4 and we ended up moving into an op on
the top floor like floor nine I think it was um and it was just [ __ ] weeks and weeks and weeks of just watching just looking and watching and learning the ground um we were waiting for an Iraqi push from the north to start clearing through the City uh or the east east part of mosul and we were going to support that like perpendicular so we have high ground we're perpendicular to the fight the ground is sloping up and away so it's like an absolutely perfect scenario for longrange typing like you can see Splash
you can't spot Swirl at that at that range cuz the [ __ ] culmination points so high but it's just like this setup we're like like holy [ __ ] but we were in there for I think Total we were in there like 50 some days and it would be not all we go like a week two weeks go back to her bill regroup like are they going to push oh they might we'll go back and it was I think 52 days is it was around that time that that we were you guys were going
back to the same op y That's ballsy yeah that's real well for the first uh for the first long while all we were doing like we had a we had a loophole and we had another Squadron that was With us and we would just be on the glass and then on the thermal night at night and just be gathering information on the town and then calling air strikes like we weren't there was nothing coming from that building from us go and they were used to getting shot at from the fourth floor the Iraq is just
like whatever so it it wasn't like uh it wasn't just you and a few guys it out there there wasn't a lot of heat like it it Felt pretty safe man to be honest like we got up to the top floor cleaned it up set it up covered Our Roots in and out of where we were watching and it wasn't like the building would take the odd round or mortar but it like I think it was more like let's just keep everyone on the [ __ ] West Side on their toes and send something cuz
there was aqis like five floors blows um yeah so it was just like kind of not mundane but just like op routine and I it's like [ __ ] flipflops every day just looking at the spotting scope listening to podcast but what it gave us was a super clear picture of everything in the city like everything was laed we we knew the distance to [ __ ] every building and like the corresponding dope like or the the elevation holds and stuff to use so it was like between that and how much we trained with communication
between the sniper shooter team like that's a that's The deadliest combination of sniper skills I think like everyone can learn to shoot a bolt action gun it's really not that complicated if you have good ammo and a good weapon system but like the communication and how fast and Slick it got is what I think made like cuz we we supported that Iraqi push for like almost a week and it was like very effective but it was because of we knew everything just like the corner of that building we have a name for it you knew
Where it was on it elevation here's a wind call send it be like as soon as land the round lands if it's not a hit here's your correction send it and like that support wow it was it was just so it was so [ __ ] cool to see the culmination of that sniper troop what we learned in Texas how much the guys cared and how much they pushed how much they wanted it to like all come together and it was like it was it was pretty slick at some Ranges that were man I bet
we broke the record between the four of us the previous one [ __ ] five times that week are you serious yeah like 2400 so the longest shot uh like the long the 3540 the battle kind of came a little bit towards us each day up to maybe 2100 meters so like that week all the engagements were from 3,540 M to like 2 Grand so there was like a bunch of different Shots but we're like well [ __ ] we don't we're not going to say now we got second place and third plays and fourth
place and fifth place cuz we're like that was a long shot we just were stunned but I'll get into kind of how that was but it was so because the tour was kind of slow and there was one thing that happened that like it almost [ __ ] it it like changed my [ __ ] drive it like kicked me into overdrive So there was this Isis fighter that got uh captured and they were doing a debrief I can't remember if it was an intelligence debrief or a reporter or something was talking to him this
goes back to like the human trafficking thing we were talking about downstairs earlier and he was bragging about having raped like upwards of 200 young girls because there's a human trafficking sex trait on The battlefield like the battlefield of Iraq I [ __ ] man I remember it being like just so [ __ ] disturbing but also like next level rocket fuel for what I wanted to do like it was like to me that's the it's the worst [ __ ] evil there is like if you're going to fight for a cause and you're going
to kill you're going to fight another War you're going to fight you know guys are killing each other in a battle that that happens it's part of [ __ ] history and everything is but like that specific getting that information I every time we [ __ ] killed someone I was like that number 200 plus was in my head I'm like that's 200 plus less that's going to happen tomorrow starting today yeah and it was like a [ __ ] drive I was so hungry to and this is like kind of my own internal purpose
I don't know if I we talked a little bit about it and I don't know the drivers of you know why Everyone's doing it but for me I was like we need to stack these [ __ ] bodies while we have the chance they're right there and like I don't want any of them getting out yeah yeah it was crazy it was it's just such an intense driving Factor like I don't even know how to explain it well you just did yeah like I I wanted to be watching all the time like Just let no
one no one out alive mhm uh [ __ ] such a [ __ ] up thing how do how did you get access to the interrogation uh again it came through um intelligence I think it was actually through Americans um that that told us that okay so you didn't actually see him say no no no I I I wasn't like sitting in on the interrogation or Deb I it might have even been a reporter that was talking to Him but we just we got the information like through the through the chain of okay of information
um but it just [ __ ] [ __ ] enraged me it was a profound piece of information absolutely changed the way you operate yeah yeah were you already in that op when that intelligence came in uh yeah we were going we had been in there man I don't remember exactly it probably in and out for 20 or so days um and then this came And I was like I don't even know how I didn't think it was happening or you know what I mean it just that was not something I considered that was that
was part of it them raping women yeah like the just that there is a a human trafficking element on the battlefield like happening while we're there and I don't know why I wouldn't assume that like all of the things that I've seen I think I watched every [ __ ] Isis video there is and every Like I'm like okay this is evil the beheadings beheadings everything burning kids alive drowning them cages yeah I want to know exactly what we're dealing with and I just I don't know why I never I just never thought I never
considered it until that came out and I was like [ __ ] makes sense but it's like it's the next level makes sense the raping of women is that's that's what it that's what flipped it for it flipped it Because I knew that the way they said it it was also like young girls it's not like there's prostitutes being passed around which is human trafficking anyway which would [ __ ] enrage me but it's next level when it's like kids kids man it's [ __ ] kids yeah uh so it was like next level hunger
and just everything and it goes it's like it was almost back to the first road I'm like I I don't want to take any time off the scope and like we would just do such long shifts of watching just to not miss any of it cuz I'm like 200 200 plus like if that's an average even if it's even if it's exaggerated like you know [ __ ] up a lot of people's lives yeah whatever it was it might not have been to maybe he was bragging exaggerating but still and that's just one one that's
one guy Fighter that's one guy so do you think that that piece of information affected the other operators that you were with as well as much as it did you and refocused the entire Mission I was thinking about that before coming to talk to you actually and I realized that I don't know if we really all talked about it in that much depth like we got the information and I'm sure some guys are like you know let's [ __ ] up it's Isis let's go get him I just don't know if if it's sat the
same with everybody I haven't really just disgusted so might actually be something that I do at one point but for me anyway it was like was very it was like kicking it into overdrive what changed I mean what actually changed the next day when you found that out that was different than before was it more time on the glass were you less lenient with who you're going to kill no it was it Was more time watching cuz it's easy to get lulled into like okay it's my shift on the glass like [ __ ] it
I haven't seen anything but someone farming for 2 days yeah um but then it was just yeah just like really really studying the ground just took so much responsibility like if I'm watching and I see or something's there and I'm missing it then that that could be more do you know what I mean I I don't think people understand How mundane and how boring holy [ __ ] sniper operations actually are and I'm not a Schoolhouse sniper I've done a lot of sniper missions and it's exhausting and it's boring and you're out there for a
long time for about 30 seconds of excitement yeah exactly but um do you want to go [Music] into why that job is so me mentally exhausting you even though you're just laying there yeah so it's crazy because It is all mental like other than stiffness from just sitting or laying there um we had a loophole or like an observation hole really cut through a wall back in the hotel so we could like our our to get into where we were observing from we actually had two places cuz we were there like I was saying with
some of the guys from the Squadron and we would split up arcs sniper team and Squadron guys and we' be just like watching reporting just seeing What was happening um so lots of times it was just like sitting there just staring through a scope now it's it's tiring for a whole bunch of different reasons one it can be very boring like the excitement of a new OP wears off when nothing happens for days quite quickly um and then there there's eye strain with just looking through Optics all the time like you're you're looking through a
spotting scope cuz the distance we Were like for hours and hours and hours and then you're like switching eyes and this one's all [ __ ] blurry you're like trying to you just it's so it's tiring on your eyes and and tiring mentally just trying and stay focused for that long you know days and days and you're rotating and you go back like have a coffee and [ __ ] a bite e or whatever and switch back and you're back on the scope um and like I said it wasn't supposed to go the 50 some
days That we were there every time we went it was like oh this is the time like the rackis are ready to push and then it just wouldn't happened for some reason I be like okay and it' be 4 days of just watching people come out and farm go back in um there was some uh drop like air strikes that kept it a little bit interesting from time to time what were some of the things you guys were seeing so I mean just to paint This into a perspective like if if anybody's deer hunted it's
that boring but you have to be more attentive cuz you're not just waiting for a deer to come out there's all already hundreds of deer out yeah and you're waiting for this specific one so you have to be on you have to be on top of your game at all times or you're going to miss the one you're going to miss your you know and so it's not like you're just waiting for some movement You have to really there's tons of movement too so you have to decipher it's a city on the other side so
like we would see people come from this house go farm go back drive around then you would see like like uh an armed person you're like oh that could be a fighter and then just the daytoday life cuz Isis was running around all over the place like they had their flags up in certain buildings um they they were moving around but it's just like it's mixed in A [ __ ] City M so trying to decipher that and then really again the responsibility is on if you're [ __ ] calling a bomb on something like
that's a lot of responsibility because there's you from every angle that you can see and time and movement who's coming in and out like you're having to give an assessment that there's no there's no civilians in there like there's you know Because you have to be as sure as you can be that it's just Isis in there what are some what are some activities that you guys would witness that would that would render cleared hot uh well it would be places that we we just see Fighters going in and out of uh constantly but then
you would have to see no civilian movement and I can't remember what it was but it was like a certain time period And there's a bunch of categories Of targets which I also don't remember but there was like a bunch of criteria and then there was your own like I want to be [ __ ] sure do you know what I mean um so you're I guess what I'm asking that how would you differentiate I mean if you're looking at you you're looking at we're talk you're saying a minimum of 2,000 M yeah you know
and so what is it that these guys had that identified them as an Isis fighter rather than a farmer oh they They open carried so anybody with a weapon oh yeah well it was also it's hard to explain show you some pictures but like it was so different and it was interesting to see the people who live there there and when there would be movement uh like so when the Iraqi started pushing or days before like when things were building you would see them come into a part of town and just be [ __ ]
villainous like they're taed up like they have they fighting gear and Stuff trucks with guns or whatever but like they would just it was so obvious to see the demeanor of them coming in taking over houses uh uh uh like building up defense positions and stuff like that like you be like I know that this family comes out of this house every day goes to the field there's a woman a man you know they have some kids and then it's like that house you witness it being like taken boarded up like [ __ ] scram
We're using this now like and just it was like cartoon character villains like you just see it come and you're like it was so easy to distinguish that other than you they were carrying guns and [ __ ] but like I think even without that cuz sometimes there would be people I'm like that guy is a fighter for sure just how he was acting or or you could tell now I'm not going to take that risk with a shot until he's armed but like You can you can tell we've been watching this Village so it
was like the edge of the river was all farming basically and it push back to like the town would start and it was almost like a a village and and mosul was in and the like the city center was kind of off and down to our our left as we were looking at it so it was like farming into Village into the city we're looking at these people every day all day and we're like you kind of know even who's Coming in and out and around um but like when the Isis guys would roll in
it was just like just so [ __ ] villains it was it was crazy interesting yeah when when is the it may have been this it may have been the world record Shot but when is the first time that you got immediate feedback from somebody that you killed um you saw you saw them hit that was that one well no no but I Was a spotter on this shot so there's something about this shot that like it's interesting because the news got it wrong anything that's out there got it completely wrong cing is very much
a team sport we had uh Shooters set up so sorry I'll back up a bit once the push actually happened of the Iraqis um pushing from the north south to try and get uh Isis kind of out the south end of The city but really it ended up being very concentrated in like the city center when that started it was like you're just watching a battle there's like Humvees they're [ __ ] sending V bids there's like any everything they have there Choppers [ __ ] soldiers on the street so we're perpendicular watching this fight
happen in front of us um so when that started we came like from behind the the the little opening and we Set up like on these big tables like still sucked in a little bit to the window but like we were in a fight we weren't so concerned being 3 and 1 12 km away that they're going to be like taking fire from Iraqis and like oh maybe someone's over there um it's just very it appeared to be very confusing for them so we the first day they started pushing it was still a little bit
out of range for us um we sent some rounds at V bids that Were like cuz we would hear over like uh what's it called like Icom chatter that they're doing it um we were seeing I can't remember if it was live or like the same day like videos they were posting about it and you'd see it drive down and these [ __ ] V like a vehicle born IID explosions were insane like none of the air strikes compared to these things going off oh [ __ ] shake the whole Shake everything we're 3 km
4 km away It's just like everything boom crazy huge explosion so we there was a couple rounds fired at these guys like cuz we knew that like we could see them they're trying to get to where the Iraqis are as close as possible and set these things off so we're like maybe this API round will get it early or whatever it was super that was like 4K way that was like getting up the hill so it was probably just around 4 km uh it was getting really hard to see Where those like damn the corrections
would be given I think it was the second day so the fighting was an interesting like um time frame it would be super early morning till like lunchtime and then it would just like die right down just after lunch maybe so it that day started the routine of like our sniper team both teams would be up on the guns on the glass super early like 4:00 in the morning at 1:00 We'd almost go back to like op routine like switching through watching it took a couple days to figure that out but it was just I
found it strange that I'm like just stopping like after lunchtime like and everyone like there's a little bit some movement here and there but I'm like it was it was weird it it jives I interviewed another guy who was there around that time frame he actually painted these painted these uh oh okay he was a sealed jtech and he said the Exact same thing the morning it was and then yeah boom nothing yeah and so we would get like we would either be ready to go or come wake us up they're moving and sniper we
just get on the guns and start going um so vit's far out the fight sort of started angling towards us and one of the guys so there's two teams and we rotated so my buddy was on the gun I was spotting our TL um was Spotting on the gun hit a guy with a Ricochet at like I probably around 35 3600 and we're like holy [ __ ] like we we're we're trying to guide the fight with sniper fire we're thinking we can hit these guys like these guns are accurate we're on everything we know
all the [ __ ] ranges and all the dope like this is like the Pinnacle of all the things we've been ready for but the first time like you see someone get hit At 35 whatever it was I don't know the exact range of that one for like [ __ ] crazy Rick shade like hit the guy in the leg they had these motorbikes that went around the [ __ ] Battlefield picking up their injured and like bringing them back somewhere like wow and it just kind of started creeping forward um and so for the
like the the the longest confirmed shot I was oh man I want to say it was like Midm morning second the second or second day of the push maybe um there was uh a building some Fighters retreated to um so the Iraqis were pushing we could see them could see Isis firing a couple sniper rounds they they ran into this this building we see no civilian movement there at all like I don't even think ever in that whole thing so there's like three or four guys in there we called a an air strike and It
was like a dud it's like I can't remember what you call it but like like [ __ ] all happened we're like hell but then this fighter out of the Second Story starts lowering his like his assault vest and his AK and I I saw it and I was like okay corner of I can't even remember what we were calling it um I'm like guys there simultaneously telling the same thing to like the guy's coming out there he is here's your dope wi call send it and It's like a 10 just under 10c flight time
10 seconds yeah it's like 9 9 point something flight time you guys have this calculated out you know how long it's going to take to get there yeah oh yeah yes yes y well you have to yeah I'm not a sniper I don't know okay sorry yeah like time of flight is is super important because it gives you a lead if someone's moving it gives you like is it even like if a Guy's running you're like it's useless to shoot at him if 10 seconds later he's [ __ ] fast 80 M down the road
um I've never shot at anything that it took 10 seconds for my bullet to get there [ __ ] me forgive me I'm a little out of the loop on this yeah so 10 seconds and the rounds are like so it's crazy because the news reports like the shooter from jtf2 broke the RO blah blah blah but it was essentially a sniper team Simo um we don't know whose round it was are you [ __ ] me we don't know who round it was there's one that hits the guy and I'll show you the video
after and one that lands uh probably like a h quarter of a mil to the left so like just for people don't understand just like if all things are equal trigger pull the wind your your hold everything is equal The guns are exactly as dialed in just ammo variants at that range will [ __ ] put around yeah a meter that way 2 meters that like just literally the the the the feet per second that it burns at coming out like so one hit One landed right beside every like [ __ ] hit like God
damn it uh and what did he do what did the guy do he fall down oh yeah he's [ __ ] dead as [ __ ] like it's in the leg no no no this one went right through like he was Bending over to pick up his gun and like went through his side kind of his back and he just fell rolled down a hill and he stayed there for weeks um you guys give him a name uh no but we uh we got ripped out just a fast forward ahead that's all I knew he
was there for weeks eventually that push ended and the next team went over to uh West mosul uh and then like I got a message they're like your buddy's still laying on [ __ ] in the Dirt um yeah so it was a it was a Simo sniper shot 10 seconds 10c flight time um and hold on what was that 10 seconds like well because we had been engaging so there's a lot of questions like was it a first round hit and I'm like well technically sort of but we had already been engaging to like
some really close shots like [ __ ] and it would we were just trying to support in a way that if someone is in like an advantageous shooting position against an Iraqi like He's going to get the [ __ ] out of there if there's a sniper around coming and obviously we want to hit him but like the range is is tough we we' been engaging you're able to influence the battlefield from where you're at by taking shots because they know they're getting shot at whether it's whether it's going to kill them or not it's
effective fire so it's going to influence their position you're saying ex so that was kind Of no I had made a promise that we were going to break the record anyway so I was really hoping for it but that's that's what we were doing so if had question like was it a first round hit a 354 he's be like that's impossible yes no maybe and like it it was for whoever [ __ ] got it but it was one of the two guys so it was we just really like and it it's such a team
sport that people don't understand I think a lot of and like I was saying the most effective [ __ ] teams I've ever seen is because of communication being slick like you're not questioning oh but what do you oh do you think we should like it's like shooter Spotter and you have the words that are back and forth like here's your target here's your dope here's a win call the guy's like I'm ready to fire stand by and you don't even say I'm ready to fire it's like stand by that means I'm ready to watch
right now send it and Then [ __ ] 10 seconds later in this particular case um so so that happens we're like godamn the craziest part well a crazy part is and I'll show you the video again after the four guys now are scor like they're they're running across this field to get they don't know where the fire is coming coming from it's [ __ ] forever away and there was like a corner at the alley oh I called it the alley and there was like one guy stacked two Guys stacked and there was four
of them headed there so I'm like like done with the celebrating I'm like new Target go to the alley here's your dope here's your win call [ __ ] send it when you're ready got on there's four guys stacked on the corner the round hits and I see a splash like I in the scope and on the video you'll see what I mean I was like did we just get a triple kill like what the [ __ ] all four guys Dropped and there's this huge 50 Splash behind them I was like like literally they're
stacked really close on this alley Corner the round hits all four of them hit the ground I was like what the [ __ ] they all got up all four of them days run across the alleway I like cuz we lazed that after and it was just barely closer it would have been Like 29 plus like 2950 something like that range wise and it was like real close to being a double kill I like I wouldn't even know what to call like what the [ __ ] just happened happened uh but that was that was
crazy yeah so that was kind of how it was in the fight just moved closer to us um and we were switching on and off on the gun cuz like I don't know how much you shot the 50 not if ever but like that [ __ ] kicks Um it's it's a huge factor and I think why so many guys have like tvi issues now um but we would go like that the supporting that push for a week was like we're firing a lot of rounds we' like the end of the day just be in
like the room like looking at each other like brain dead like I can't I don't know what I'm going to say uh like all of us were like you feeling this too oh yeah um but in that scenario like that's not going to stop you from shooting the next Day when it's time to go so yeah we just rotated through shooting spotting shooting spotting um and it was like 2 Days Later that I had a real good finally and I spotted for Scotty a few that were like [ __ ] epic shots like there was
a sniper team actually that was trying to stalk one of the Squadron guys pointed he's like hey watch this truck trailer out here this would have probably been around 23 I think it was like 2300 met Something like that and underneath I could just see silhouetted uh what looked like a sniper team slowly moving look like shooter spot like you can see the silouette and then I saw the the silhouette like from truck trailer there was kind of grasp behind them I saw them put the rifle down I was like God damn and I like
[ __ ] trying to get sniped right now so I got Scotty on send it it missed uh it was wind call about a mill to the Right I think quick correction and they [ __ ] went I through the face of the [ __ ] shooter I think like from what I could see you just it's a 50 round you just see this body up and the guy the spotter I'm assuming was I could see it's silhouette he's pulling on the rifle to try and get it but he must have had it slung or
something or fell over top and then he's like [ __ ] this and he just ran like Alli one Alli two Alli three and I was like I was trying to get Him to lead the next it didn't work out but there was ended up being chatter about like no more sniper movement in the daytime like from Isis uh yeah so that one would have been even up there with some of the longer shots and that was a two round hit wow well that's because now the shooter and spotter could communicate off the same Target
like this this prism what we trained before all the work [ __ ] history of the troop had done to like Get us push into these ranges and it was like it was it was pretty slick yeah no kidding yeah so what so you had immediate immediate targets right after right after the record was brok it was still going like it that I can't remember what time it happened it was mid morning uh and the fight kept going till 1 in the afternoon and died down and the Iraqis pushed a little bit more so it
Was kind of getting them a little bit closer to us but now kind of instead directly in front of us a little bit off to our our left um and it just like the next morning again up super early now the the targets were probably between two 2,000 and 2500 me and this is where I got some like good feeling okay now no one went to see if the body was still there and stuff like that but there was some engagements that one particular at this like it was Some kind of Rally Point or something
for them CU there was a lot of Fighters we were seeing go into this building come out into this building so we're watching it we're like just again it's like getting the crateria so that if we're going to drop on it it's not uh MH there's no collateral damage or at least like to our our best estimate that we can possibly give um but there was uh one guy like standing they going they kept coming in and out in and out and There's we were I was on the gun we're shooting and they're like but
they they don't know where it's coming from because it is still a long ways away and like the Iraqis are fighting them but we're like now way off to their flank we was standing in the kitchen window put around like to me I was on this on the the gun on the scope I was like hit it just looked like it went right like through his soul man I don't know but it was then everyone there was I think we Counted there was like 10 guys that ran like into that same doorway and rallied kind
of in this in this kitchen we just kept hammering them until the bomb came and we dropped it and there was I I think there was 10 guys that we counted in there at that time oh and I was like that's [ __ ] 2,000 young girls that are not going to be raped anymore by these [ __ ] good for you or like that's how my mind was working at the time I'm Like it's crazy and you asked about the other like human Shields we saw that um as as the fight progressed there was
a a a big Alleyway that there was a lot of movement in and they would sometimes be like no gun or or carry it under a blanket or and just like if you're not sure we wouldn't shoot obviously but then once it it started heating up in the fight you would see I'm like okay door cracks and like a woman's coming Out like what the [ __ ] and a guy like boom push run across the alleyway like you [ __ ] cowards yeah do you guys see a lot of that oh yeah when it
was like when like I was saying when you notice it's like these villains moving into town man and you would see people getting bullied human Shields like did you see human shield uh did you see human Shields get shot uh no no no what would they do you know if they push the woman out as that Woman I mean where' she go oh it would you would just see her like Scurry back in or try to run down the alley like cuz they're taking over their houses for a brief period of a fight sometimes um
and if if they could advance take over house build up a small fighting position and try and try and use it uh but yeah it would just like whatever was Within Reach cuz they know we're not going to [ __ ] shoot there's A a person an unarmed civilian in front of them yeah it's just yeah it's [ __ ] at what point did you realize holy [ __ ] you know we just we just set the record well we realized it there um what we didn't know is the Squadron that we were with they
were filming like that day as they were watching like zooming in with this camera that was like that's crazy [ __ ] Optical and digital Zoom so like at the end we're like he's like oh man I got all this [ __ ] on [ __ ] tape and so the TL was like okay give us the cards and like we're in the room we're like holy [ __ ] man did that just happen today like this was in the evening and and watch it again and again like this is crazy but like like there's
no way to know whose round it was damn so this like I just I found it funny like the way the like the news put it Out um we're like well we're not going to talk about it now but now that I'm retired I'm like it's a it's a crazy thing but I was I was happy almost because it's like it's Shar in a team yeah sense you know what I mean no I think it's that's awesome it's it's pretty cool uh it's just yeah a lot of people don't realize you know it's it's I
mean we realize it but a lot of you know uh civilians who've Never been in that type of environment or done that kind of work you know people don't realize how much of a team oh yeah well and the whole op was running to be able to do the whole op was running as a huge team with it wasn't just snipers like the Squadron guys JX like uh the interpreters we had working with us like it was it's a big [ __ ] team that in that particular time like made it such a successful op
yeah or support Operation I guess is what it turned into when did you guys find out that it was on the news that was so that was stupid they put it out early we uh had handed over so we were still occup Ying that op when it was out in the news that's insane to me to me is [ __ ] insane also uh like it was it same day no no no it was it was a little bit it was a little bit after so the the that day the Information kind of got back
and then uh kind of went up to chain of command um and I think it's a bit of an old scho cool thing but we had like the co come out and kind of confirm the kill which is interesting I'm like I think that what it used to be confirmed or unconfirmed kind of thing it was but I was like this is also kind of weird but so that came out got pushed up to chain of command and then they're like We're going to release the story we were doing a Handover with the next crew
coming still using this op cuz like there's a lot of space left arcs wise to observe to support the the fight that was happening but it went out in the news and like I mean it's it's pretty obvious from that Battlefield that like if you see that in the news where was this coming from it's probably that [ __ ] big building right there um so they Started taking fire and mortars that were not normally happening and had to pull out of that that op quite quickly um I just think it was like it's [
__ ] irresponsible I'll bet you guys were pissed that yeah it put puts you and your team at risk very high risk well and it's and two just think how many more guys you could have killed that's right you know how many more kids luckily saved from getting raped luckily That team was uh an aggressive team and it was uh so my first TL my brother-in-law was the TL on that team and they just moved a little bit South out of building and they [ __ ] they did some very good work also so were
you with them no no no this was after the Handover so we did a Handover of like what we were up to showed them the op we had other op positions we had wrecked and then we we left that was the end of our tour um and They continued the fight into like uh the city center of uh West mosul wow yeah let's take a break and when we come back I'd like to talk talk about your your first kill when you were the guy on the trigger on the gun sounds good what's going on
[Music] patreon join me on vigilance Elite patreon for a live video teleconference all right Dallas had a nice break there yeah let's Pick up we talked about how frustrated you were after that first deployment we talked about the world record we didn't talk about the first time that you got a kill behind the rifle as a sniper yeah so that again everything before I'm like maybe maybe not but like you know it's not ha use the words satisfying but it's satisfying like I'm not it's like did I hit did it work I don't [ __
] know It's immediate feedback that's the thing so never received it's like hitting a piece of Steel you hear the ding yeah so the the ding of it um that literally didn't happen till almost the end of that that Roto um where I had and there was in the fight I was just talking about but it was like a bunch of times again the guy's not shooting anymore from this window did he run away did I hit him is his body in there who knows um and There's a lot of that it's [ __ ]
frustrating um so yeah the the the first time I would say and even this one so I'm going to tell you but I'm still not satisfied to like the fullest capacity um because the shot went into a building now spotter says hit I recall seeing a [ __ ] good hit but even then I'm like what happened on the other side of that wall his body laying there is he gone so it Was satisfying um there were all there was a certain level of satisfaction everywhere and because of the driving factor I was saying like
I don't care if I just called an air strike or we did it as a team like every person was every fighter now was like a new level of satisfaction mhm but there is a different level of satisfaction that comes with having train so much having prepared so much and everybody that I Know including myself snipers specifically want to get a clear sniper shot dead he's there now next Target CQB long gun you want to have a hit that's like I came in the room shoot he's down there maybe Badger check good pistol you want
it and I'm like part of me is a little sad cuz like I had a great time in my career but like the satisfaction that I anticipated from these situations Never it was never to the fullest level oh God now this shot I was like I'm pretty [ __ ] certain that on the other side of that room or that other side of that that kitchen window he didn't get out of there well I know he didn't get out cuz we dropped the bomb on it after anyway but that was the most satisfying sniper shot
really that I took oh for sure cuz it was it was the most clear everything else there was a level of Uncertainty um with hits and some of them were like thermal hit but it's [ __ ] far away too and you're like I don't know like it's not the same when it's notal it's not the same at all it's more like a video game uh so yeah I I've almost like deed and dodged the full level of satisfaction and I don't know if it would have even made a huge difference cuz then I would
have wanted an M4 kill In a CQB scenario and then after that or a few of those I would have wanted a [ __ ] pistol kill and it's seems it probably seems crazy to some people hearing that but it's like practicing and practicing and practicing a sport like hockey on never playing a game scoring a goal or something you know like it's it's the same and you put in so much time and effort and passion and [ __ ] time away from family and all of these things to focus on something like This and
then it only sounds bad today because of this new narrative P everybody that [ __ ] kill a bad guy that goes to a special operations unit wants to [ __ ] put bad people in the dirt end of story you know and it's now with with this with these new stipulations that are put on society yeah it's it's bad guys are people too you know no they're not no and it's I'm proud of all of it and I'm Proud of have like I'm I'm not not proud of having wanted that either it kept a
drive and a hunger MH all the time like you're not satisfied I'm not done I'm not satisfied I'm not done um yeah so even my most satisfying sniper shot is like I never got to go like see the guy or whatever you know um well let's talk about it though let's talk about the experience so this was uh the fight was pushing A little bit South towards downtown mosul like Old City Center um and there was a a house and it was like a we called it pink house it was like a pink color but
they were using it we saw a lot of guys going in and out as like some kind of Rally Point or something it'd be like four or five hanging out outside they would go out somewhere come out get on a motorbike and rip off and like uh and there was the the the P CU we're trying to mostly support the front The the closest threats to the IIs that were trying to clear the town so we like okay there is movement here like Mark Mark that and and continue this but when it was starting to
get in that range uh I was on the gun and there's a a dude and I just remember how he looked like again it's like this villainous character he had like a black uh tack vest on gun and he was coming in and out in and out and uh we sent around or two I think was on other gun and three or Four guys went in um and there was already we had counted four to five and there thought that there was a round 10 in there but I could see them like in the a
Big Frame Window like almost off a back kind of patio thing through what it looked almost like a kitchen window and he was like looking cuz again it's a confusing space I would imagine to be in where the [ __ ] are these rounds coming from mhm M uh and I I got one that went right through the window and I Was sitting right through his chest there's a 50 cal so then when it broke he dropped uh and then we just kept sending rounds through that window until the bomb dropped and we collapsed the
whole thing so what happened inside this kitchen I don't [ __ ] know but it felt pretty good at the time to like get that I mean it sounds like a 50 cal round went through his chest I well yeah and hearing like hit like thank [ __ ] damn Like uh yeah it's just it's a crazy game or it's a crazy thing to try to explain like how unless it's close unless you're shooting [ __ ] 5 6 700 met or an in a lot of times you're like effective sniper fire got some type
of job done like the machine gun's not shooting anymore or you you know like I was saying before like wrangling people to a certain place to use something bigger more effective Uh yeah I mean did that even though it was you know that far distance did that affect you at all like seeing it happen not wondering uh like in in which way do you mean I mean did it do it did it affect you mentally did it bother you that you no [ __ ] no I was happy it affected me in a positive way
okay I think and and even looking back at we can kind of get into it a Little bit after or whatever but like struggles of this type of career um no every single person that I think I killed or did or made the actual com like call to drop the bomb on top of their head I was happy about it yeah I leave happy proud about that so on that that that was your second rotation to Iraq correct yeah yeah wrapping that deployment up before we do wrap it up is there anything that we're missing
that you want to bring Up um I think something that and I touched on it or I talked about it but changing the way I saw stuff was like this human trafficking aspect to war to like conflict like actual happening conflicts um I had heard I think it was through an interpreter telling me or something that the Iraqis are doing the same thing that they would bring like these young girls around and now ages I don't Know but two different positions that Iraqis were taking so that like the guys down there could have their relief
and then get back to fighting yeah human trafficking ring so this is this is [ __ ] people that are in the same building in some cases and it's just like attempting to wrap your head around that now cuz you're like what the [ __ ] am I doing Like I cuz you're you're supporting this against an evil right but if the same thing is happening so I I really I started there was a rumor that like this was going to happen while we were there it was like a Thursday or something they were like
going to have a party and I did hear like the volume of whatever was happening down there like they they got wild in the same building in the same Building so like the the hotel inside was empty like the floors went around and you could see down all the way to the lobby um but they were like five floors down so we could hear and I was like no I I I stopped then this the fight wasn't going on at this point like the actual push but like I didn't take my op shift looking forward
that night and I looked out the back of the building all night To see I was like if there's a sign that any of that is happening that I see someone coming in any if I see a [ __ ] sniff of it and I told this to my buddy and I stayed like I showed you that video flipflops most of the time in this [ __ ] op when I was on the gun or not but this one I was like I stayed in all my kit I was like if I if I see
this I'm going down there and I'm killing everybody on that Floor and it was like he was like man I was like will you come down like will you have my I'm going down it's like well I'll [ __ ] come with you and it was such a crazy like intern battle cuz you can imagine the [ __ ] storm like can you [ __ ] imagine what would happen if if I had seen that and gone down dealt with it like I I can't even [ __ ] imagine like a whole like politically strategically
all of these Different things I don't even know what would happen to me I don't you know what the least important thing would have been in that scenario all of that in in the eyes of the government those kids oh yeah 100% would have been the least important that's right peace and that scenario would have been the kids that were [ __ ] raped and to me that's the society we live in now the least important thing to me would have been whatever the [ __ ] backlash was yeah So it was crazy I it
was such an emotional night man I was just like I was ready to go and I was watching out the back and I I never saw anything kept like over the balcony out the back over the balcony out the back I just I there's this zero [ __ ] chance I would have been able to be somewhere zero chance or that was happening and not give it my full maximum amount of aggression to [ __ ] try and do something about it yeah it Never happened so I I don't even know if it sits at
a rumor um but like it just again it was another thing that blew my [ __ ] mind like that I never even considered this part of a [ __ ] battle space yeah you know what I mean like you think about it with war war torn countries you know and refugee camps and all these things there's it's people are very susceptible to being you know kidnapped into that that market but I just never thought About it yeah being part of an ongoing [ __ ] like War [ __ ] I mean it's Rel it's
it's unfortunately it's very common you know over there with even with just like you're saying even with the good guys you know supposed good guys but I mean even in I I think that's just the Middle East you know yeah Afghans rape little boys te boys you Know happens all the time it's it's an accepted part of their culture yeah it's really a tough pill to swad but yeah well and I had a personal cuz I heard the same stories from Afghanistan and guys and I was like I have my own personal line in the
say if I see that I'm [ __ ] shooting somebody I don't care what part of your culture it is I'm going to [ __ ] shoot you if I have the capability to do so there's no way I'm going to go home that would be Something that would weigh heavily on me uh after yeah like I didn't do something in that scenario that's so yeah that was I I went over there the that Line in the Sand for sure but [ __ ] man I didn't I didn't expect to hear it be the way
it was almost you know yeah yeah man I got a I got an introduce you to my buddy Matt Murphy he's running that operation light shine that I was telling you about you know earlier and they're they're Making some big big waves in the in combating sex trafficking I would love to in any way support that all over yeah he's right here in Nashville so I I'd be happy to connect you yeah that would be awesome but um damn well let's wrap that deployment up then okay and get into see yeah all of that the
big and this was literally like this is the [ __ ] best time of my career this like the Pinnacle of my Career was that deployment and that week specifically um and uh was it was only like a week long I think and and then the fight had kind of pushed past and it slowed down I think it was because it was getting towards where was really really congested old old city mosul um but we did a Handover anyway like I was saying uh the next team came in uh and we we [ __ ]
off came back home Um and we were I was in Communications a little bit cuz like I was saying was my brother-in-law was the next sniper TL that went in and they were they're really getting after it is it was like the range too I think got closer from some of the Ops they were describing to like where where old city was um so I was happy to hear that it was still going but yeah that was it was 6 months I think we were there and like 5 [ __ ] seven of the months
we're like not crazy Exciting just really trying to to get up to and it was it was our our team leader that our sniper team leader that was like so dialed in on wanting to get to that hotel to this hotel uh that he like he stayed [ __ ] focused and we just tried to support as much as we could in any way to do it and he got us there man that's incredible yeah so that was the end of that tour um it was 20 2016 into 2017 Um and just in between I
did some other training and did like our dive course and our climbing stuff uh and I didn't go back till 2018 okay what's your home life home life there was there was a transition so I was married um when I got to the unit oh God I should know this date for sure uh 2008 we got married and this was like my my ex who I had been with from getting into the army uh like knowing about I want to Go to jtf2 it's pretty young I think 20 21 or something when we were like
starting to to settle in together um so 2008 we got married I would have been roughly 24 something like that uh going to the unit and man I was [ __ ] full on like it's crazy to so you go into a place like this and I know that it's kind of around the community like everything takes second Seat I maybe not for 100% of the people but for me being a young man and like the entire want the entire like drive to go to the unit like after reflection it's like it was such a
like an ego filled and it's like a young man wanting to know actually I heard one of your guests say this and he was saying like am I enough do you know what I mean like we're men in this planet like am I enough like am I good enough for whatever this life is MHM and you're like I got to [ __ ] prove it somehow so I think that's what really hooked me when I first heard about jtf2 I was like holy [ __ ] that's a way to prove to myself to everybody else
that I'm enough that I'm like I'm strong enough I'm man enough and it was when I got that laser beam Focus Man every course every deployment every task I was like send me I want to go send me work early like work and it was just like it strains so much on a relationship it it's such a formative time I mean for women too I assume but for a man to be like this is what I this is the man I'm becoming and your your your focus is on something like killing people the focus isn't
on like do I have Good communication with my wife am I my we're just like growing into these different people in times when we're growing into the people we're going to be and it was like every long trip every deployment it was just like we were growing in different directions uh we had two boys as I was saying one's 15 and one's 14 now um and it was like we were there to co-parent and then I'll be like and now I got now I'm going and some of the longer ones like Afghanistan I think it
was 8 and 1 half 8 months or 8 and a half like whatever it was it was long and this was like before [ __ ] FaceTime so like my kids are young I'm calling on a [ __ ] phone sa phone or whatever like once a week you're just like you're growing into different people mhm and it was it's self like it was selfish like the the the task not the task but my own Mission to get to jtf2 I want to be the [ __ ] best assaulter that there ever was and everyone
has that same you know it's like that the crazy competitiveness of the thing you're like I can't do that if I'm rushing home to like get the kids out of daycare or like I can't do that if I'm there to make dinner every night I got to be on the Range all these things and it was just such a focus of [ __ ] young man ego And selfishness almost you know like like if I was a 40y old like I'm turned a 40 in April if that was now me being an assaulter I like
no man there's some balance here like I'm going to keep sharp yes I want to go kill but like the most important thing in the whole [ __ ] universe is your your family and your friends like I I 100% my whole that's just there's nothing more important So it took like I mean the whole path of my life to realize that but it's it's crazy how it goes when you're young dude and that you want it so badly that you're like everything else comes second sort of thing yeah and now now that I'm out
I'm like I'm trying so hard to just let well my boys and now we have a young daughter so I'm with her every day kind of thing But just let them show them that like like I'm here I'm not I'm not going on deployments my focus is like this is important what you're doing is important you didn't come to that realization until recently after you after your separation yeah well it was oh [ __ ] it was even down the road from that like we separated and I was still like go go go and I
I always um I I really tried to at least out of any relationship keep it good with my Boys cuz it it was very important to me and I didn't actually even want to have any more kids for the longest time but they moved back to Alberta the small town um where like the area we grew up small town cuz I was gone all the time and she's like well the [ __ ] am I going to stay here for mhm where her family was support was um and I would deploy train deploy train and
fly back and like every I was looking back at the calendar like every Month I I I went flew out till Berta back every month that I wasn't gone or deployed because I was like that that was important like I don't want to now that you know all the other relationships in my life are taking his back seat I don't want my boys to feel like they're taking a back seat now might be conversations as they age that we'll we'll have to have and feelings that they may have had while I was deployed or gone
um but I intentionally Try to just make sure that they know how [ __ ] important they are to me um yeah they they moved that's great advice for anybody you know well it's and it's really good advice for guys that are still in yeah like just [ __ ] it's not even advice it's just it's yeah it's a a the way you experienced it and it's going to help a lot of people that are in right now yeah like there's a balance and [ __ ] there's a balance in everything there's you can be
too Aggressive you can be too compassionate like there's a balance and in life it's just I think like figure out what the [ __ ] your own personal priority are and then find a way to balance all the other ones responsibilities and other things but yeah so they move back um um and she's like the my boys are [ __ ] incredible man like someday when we're down here you'll have to meet them uh just like great athletes amazing head on their shoulders like as as co-parents I'm super happy that like she's their mother and
such an amazing job as I was gone all over the place you know um and a lot of the character comes from you know both of our opinions on parenting but like the day-to-day load that was that was not me and there's like I don't know it's easy to justify importance do you know what I mean like when you're serving and you're like okay I'm leaving my family for 6 Months eight months another month another week you're like well this is very important like this purpose whatever it is and most of it after assessing honestly
it's just [ __ ] ego but there is also so shift came when I joined it was like can I prove that I'm enough can I like to everyone now I'm here I want to prove that I'm the best in this debt I want to prove that I'm the best in this squad I want like that was the driving Factor All the time it was that and like a sense of adventure and then it started changing to like like I was saying when I was hearing some of these things and seeing the result of like
what our job is it was now and and again I don't if I just attached to this so that I could justify continuing to to leave but it was like a bigger purpose now like this was [ __ ] helping people killing people was helping other People um and especially after hearing about like the trafficking stuff I'm like in a big way I'm like just [ __ ] get me back on the ground with a gun and [ __ ] air support if I can get it and let us kill as many people as we
can because [ __ ] it's just heartbreaking and like I have a young daughter now and I cannot imagine like yeah if that happened oh Jesus Christ like I don't know like just to think About it is like and families went through this hundreds and thousands of them and like so it's like I said before there there are 366 million videos of children being raped in circulation just in the us alone that's more than one video per person that lives in this country [ __ ] man that's what that's what we're up against and when
you say we're up against you [ __ ] right like it's and Society for [ __ ] sakes is trying to almost it seems like it's trying to be normalized yeah accepted like from my other like I live in another country but looking down on a court case of something like I don't know if you want to go into this or head out but like Epstein and there's like there are [ __ ] clients to these convicted criminals mhm And they're not they're they're not releasing the list what the [ __ ] yeah what the
[ __ ] how the [ __ ] I live in like a world where that's it's like it [ __ ] blows my mind it blows my mind it blows my mind too man it's like if I wanted to start a business where I brought people to a location so that someone could come murder them don't worry I'll facilitate all of that I get charged for facilitating but none of the murderers get [ __ ] convicted yeah Everyone's just like ah you're good we got the what the [ __ ] that [ __ ] pulls
my mind that whole topic man is it's like we got to do something to change it so yeah I would love to connect with your pal that's doing it and just in any way like I don't even know how I try to you know post awareness about it and donate to these organizations but like I I know there's people doing good Fights for it so if I can find a way to get in involved with that I would well I I will definitely be happy to connect you I'm interviewing him uh here pretty soon so
but yeah with you being around Nashville more and more it's going to be real easy to to link you in but I know what you're saying you know it's it's they're normalizing they're trying to normalize pedophilia yeah you know and they're you're seeing it with I mean you know about the Balenciaga thing right y You know I mean they're not even hiding this [ __ ] that's what's [ __ ] they don't have to because half the population doesn't care that little kids are being raped by Rich Elite politicians yeah and everybody else it's not
just Rich Elite politicians it's it's oh well it's it's everybody it's it's so many influential people yeah it's [ __ ] wild like yeah [ __ ] man something's yeah people people have Really Gotten Good at just looking the other way and pretending nothing happened and that's a damn shame yeah but but let's get back to yeah let's get back to your transition you know and and also I'm really interested in what the culture of the team is like at it at jtf2 too so I've been around a lot of American special op units um
you know and and the it's been a long time since I've been around but the culture was boozing bar Fights womanizing very competitive just I we're going to do a whole segment on that but I mean is it how is it over there is it yeah man oh [ __ ] it's boozing was like it would be like GO train go do something you're not good at it until you can do it hung over whatever [ __ ] City we're in burn it down and you're doing like [ __ ] par operations like uh [
__ ] tactical driving like shooting CQB um now guys are super proficient so we could do it um but it was definitely part of the culture or is I guess um I find it interesting because it's such an AC like it's a very accepted just like and I I I I think I I'm starting to understand where it comes from like you're having a group of guys Competitive aggressive like [ __ ] Primal like you're every single day you are trying to get better at killing someone that's like in terms of intensity right there at
the top of of anything you could be trying to do every day so like other things are like it doesn't seem like that big of a deal you're killing people so I sort of see where that culture comes from but I think there's a bunch of like they're just like Uh there's so much common sense that gets left out of so many decisions and the [ __ ] military and soft so like an example and I I'll come back to that one but like when so marijuana is legal in Canada not legal if you're in
our unit like drug tested and all this stuff even CBD so like this this thing that helps with like inflammation and sleep and all these things like guys have problems with no but like booze accepted yeah you can [ __ ] burn it down 4:00 a.m. be at C be at [ __ ] nine you take CBD to go to sleep you're going to get in trouble and get fired it's like it's ingrained man and I don't know how if this [ __ ] comes from like way way way back in the day like but
it's it's in every organization I've ever seen yeah including rag Force Army like just it's everywhere the messes the beer the [ __ ] fights the women the like I think it's dialing it back a little bit more now but even just like Drunk driving it'll be like somewhere here oh I just got to get back to the shacks and just like it's [ __ ] such a crazy like toxic World almost like it's interesting you know because this it I think I read or maybe you told me that jtf2 was was that founded in
1992 yeah I was like no man 92 or 93 it was like a take over from RCMP we had some of the like SAS I think help stand up the original format of what we're Doing uh it was mainly domestic at that point the reason I'm I'm just I'm bringing it up is a young unit it hasn't been around you know that long and so the culture is relatively new but the culture carries over from yeah it's it's it's the same what I'm noticing is it's the same no matter what country no matter what branch
of the military no matter what Special Operations units all operate very similar it's a very similar um type of person that gets in Yeah it's a very you know type of people that want in and and in the culture in all of them are are that I've seen is very similar and so the culture when I show up to the teams was it was it was it was work hard play harder you know if you're not boozing with us we don't trust you and you know there was a lot of that it was like he
doesn't drink with the team we don't [ __ ] trust him yeah and um but this but the seal teams have been Around you know for a long time yeah and and before I came along in 2001 there was a period where there I mean there wasn't anything going on you know and and sucks for those guys that were in at that time didn't get to do anything but boozing was very prevalent then then 9/11 happened all the wars started happening you know loss trauma D D D D D oh yeah and bury it man
you know and it's it's it's still part of the culture but it's now A coping mechanism not just Not just a party mechanism you know and so it's it's interesting to watch it evolve but well I like so I guess when I'm where I'm going with that long- winded uh explanation of uh the culture is was it the party mechanism or was it the coping mechanism it was the part for most of my life and unless I just wasn't assessing it properly like there's been some intense days where I'm like a whiskey [ __ ]
calm my nerves for Sure I don't think I used it as much as a coping mechanism until um the later part of my career so like literally the last it's funny after that much time and it's just I had a loss in my personal life that was [ __ ] next level um and it [ __ ] floored me and it was at a time that I was starting to see The unit go in a direction I didn't want to go and it was at a time where I was I was noticing that I had
like injuries that were um a lot of exposure to concussion blasts heart openings fight concussions 50 cal like all of that stuff was starting to take a toll and I noticed it in my personality more um and what did you notice about your personality so like I've generally been like a pretty happy chill dude and I was Getting angry a lot now I was in Sniper TR which is the angriest [ __ ] you've ever met so I was maybe the least angry a lot of times but for my my like Baseline it wasn't normal
for me to to be like that and I I I was always trying to learn uh read books and like I introduced meditation like years ago and morning journaling and like things that are supposed to help um but I kept getting injured Concussion like it would bring on these crazy symptoms of like crazy anger memory loss like nausea like just I would feel so [ __ ] up and it would pass a little bit I go back into whatever fight room jumping shooting breaches and it just would come back again and come back again and
while I was seeing this simultaneously I was seeing the unit going a dire I we spoke about a little bit with like How the whole [ __ ] society is going in a direction that I I wasn't there to do that I wasn't there to stay on this ship that's going off in a [ __ ] totally different bearing than I want to be so I was I was like getting angry a lot um and then in 2019 uh like my brother passed away so he was only well he's my age now so he's 39
and if [ __ ] floor me I was like every tool that I have learned to use to Deal with [ __ ] I didn't didn't work I didn't know how to do it properly and so I just like a [ __ ] drank and it that's really when and like I said I'm sure there was times before that that I was like using it to cope with something at some point but it was never like uber prevalent or like it wasn't super obvious to me even thinking back on it but when my brother died
I was like I don't [ __ ] know I was not like I was I was ready not Ready but I was more expecting to lose friends like we talked about our you was very lucky or have something happen to myself all of that I I felt like I was mentally prepared for I was not [ __ ] prepared for like my brother to die at 39 years old and how did he die uh he had cancer damn so he had cancer Tred to bunch of everything to [ __ ] fight it man H put
in a good scrap but he uh passed away And yeah 2019 in May and I like I wasn't equipped man I I thought I thought like I [ __ ] the books I had read the things I was doing I thought I was good to keep it on level but I was mixing that with like continuing brain injuries and I was like I can't [ __ ] deal with this so I was drinking lots of whiskey and I this is really when I started playing Music um like so he had a like a recording studio
in his basement where we grew up on the m settlement and like I cuz I could strum a couple chords or whatever she like oh you got to come record song I was like yeah I will you know one day just [ __ ] in the job and in Life or whatever and I never got to record with Him uh and so I don't know when he when he passed I I just [ __ ] drank and played my guitar so much and got everything out like writing songs man I'd write songs and I wouldn't
even be able to finish them I wouldn't be able to sing them I like without just breaking down and crying but it it was like it was releasing something mhm and again and again just I it was it was a while That I [ __ ] I didn't even know how like I I didn't know the tools to use like yeah so it I like it was just [ __ ] whiskey was my tool man whiskey and and and writing I knew that writing and singing something about music like it's it's another like a flow
state for me activity where like you are you immersed most of the time or not like just like you can Be where you're not thinking Future Past future like if if you're really in it and I would Teeter back forth and I would find those moments and I was like oh [ __ ] it feels there's a bit of relief and then I would think about what had happened the expectations I had of Our Lives being long and US [ __ ] hunting and fishing together for the rest of our lives and him you know
being there when my boys get married or just like all of all of That was [ __ ] gone so it was it was playing [ __ ] songs listening to songs and drinking whiskey did you ever get into prescription drugs uh no no no I didn't maybe it's good that I didn't even know what they were capable of yeah uh cuz I probably would have uh I've never been really in a drug user other than alcohol was for sure a drug actually let me take that back than alcohol nicotine and caffeine let's say If
that's a drug but like um no I I didn't get into that [ __ ] thankfully cuz I hear the come off of that recovery is [ __ ] crazy yeah um yeah man so that that's like how were your kids handling you when you were in this well my boys lived in Alberta so they didn't see it all the time they saw some of it like it was you able to clean it up when they were around yeah like sort of sometimes man I Remember a time like it was fresh and they were visiting
and I was like sitting in the basement drinking whiskey and writing songs and I just like I couldn't stop crying and I remember like my son came down he's like oh my God are you okay and like like yeah I'm just like you know still processing all of this he gave me a hug and he like went and got Sarah but it was it was just like most of the the Time it was like by myself with it which it just I don't know I felt like it needed to be whether that's the right way
to like grieve or recover or not um that's it was it would be late at night and I would just like drink and play guitar drink and play guitar um and and Sarah tried to like that's my fiance you know like I know you're not doing Well but I I don't know it's like I didn't want the help kind of thing you know I'm like this is Sarah your Sarah your ex no no Sarah's my fiance she's your fiance that we have a daughter with and like I know but she's like what the [ __
] do I do like what's you know what's sop for this and I it was like I I was keeping it together enough to like operate in a day not operate but like you know I was going to work and I was like You know parenting and like there at dinners and stuff but like it was just it was very much A coping mechanism for me like I was drinking that [ __ ] like water yeah um when did you start coming out of that was that this is cuz right now when this discussion time
period is you're still in yeah correct yeah this is 2019 we had a discussion about psychedelics at dinner that I cut off cuz I wanted to have it here yeah did That happen so this happened after okay so well let's before we go into that okay let's let's finish up with uh retirement but back to the culture back to the culture we talked about the competitiveness yeah you know and how it's it's earn your keep every day you're at the unit yeah you're proving yourself to everybody that you're working with constantly you want to be
the best shooter the fastest runner fastest swimmer the best breacher you Know and I actually think you're just attempting to prove it to yourself yeah like the competitiveness is there because every guy is trying to prove to themselves that they're like you know I look at my peers I'm like you're a [ __ ] great Soldier like I was never like rarely like pick up your game yeah I was doing that to myself all the time and I think everyone did that now there's there's competitions so it it it is an external thing but I
think most of It was just like every I don't know how the [ __ ] they pick all of us but like it's the type of people that are like I need to be the best at all of this stuff so where I'm going with this is I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for saying this but [ __ ] it I don't care when you leave the unit you know yeah here whether it's Seal Team whether it's Dev group whether it's Delta whether it's the SF teams you know I'm not going to
say that the Brotherhood is completely gone but it it becomes even more competitive outside of the space because you don't have I think it becomes more competitive because not everybody has the same end goal you know as we used to have yeah and so it becomes a very toxic culture once you're out once you're out do you have that um the details of how I left her unit Not about that just about so this is what I'm going to say it kind of it Whitted out people in my life that may have brought that on
okay so I don't see that now the people I surround myself with now are the exact [ __ ] if I was starting my own unit to go do something they would be all the first picks oh God and I've had great support from like the dudes really good like um there's some people that kind of like fell off and I just use it as a Good like Civ to see who's who's around the scenarios of of kind of when I left so I I think that weeded out any exposure to a real toxic competitive
uh thing after there's also we don't have a lot of people out of soft doing things do you know what I mean so there's a lot of things that I'm doing now just chatting about it or trying to share experiences That are it's kind of brand new in Canada okay sort of uh especially with the amount of just things I have to show and like you know I got great experiences and pictures and video to kind of to go along with it so I don't feel there's a lot of toxic um man that's great to
hear stuff around yeah come to Canada yeah that's great to hear here it's everybody everybody from these Communities they love you and they're behind you until you're doing better than they are and then they Cut You Down really and yeah we talk about this in quite a few of the episodes It's I would say the only ones I don't hear that from are the Marine Corps do you talk to any of the SAS guys about this I haven't talked to any of the SAS guys you're the first Foreigner I've had on here so Congratulations okay
but um but yeah it's it's it gets very competitive out after service and um guys don't like it when when when their counterparts get exposure you might be interested to talk to you A buddy of mine is I don't know if you know the company through dark uh they were SPS guys uh and we did some some sniper training stuff together and just kind of remain Pals so they're they have a great successful company happening right now In the UK it would be interesting to I don't know what there it seems like a great Network
yeah but it also kind of seems that way down here from like an outside be nwor it's like the internal it's the stuff that you don't see on the outside you know you don't see the the ultra competitiveness and how toxic it can become well I I man I [ __ ] I recognize that now as like a a toxic way of living every single day or at least unsustainable I think that competition Is healthy I think there's a lot of places where it's healthy but 247 like it's just uh it's so taxing yeah so
[ __ ] taxing now that I'm like out for whatever it is since April so 9 months or whatever I'm like holy [ __ ] I can just calm down yeah there's a lot of ways you can't like the vigilance like the hyper Awareness stuff like I don't know if There's a way to just ever turn off paying attention this talks you have when you go like see a psych or whatever and they're just like yeah but what about just being normal like yeah man you can't just [ __ ] go outside and not look
around and not see that someone's been with you for three turns already and then like you know it's it's it's probably taking up too much energy but like the cliche [ __ ] Rao saying like you don't just turn it off You know do you want to turn it off well and that's the thing that's the discussion I have is that there's a lot of times I'm like no I'm still a protector of my family yeah I'm still like in society I would play that role if something ever presented itself so like in a sea
of people not paying attention [ __ ] man someone's got to pay attention yeah no I'm with you and it's it like I said it's probably a little more energy than you need to use but I I Don't know if I would yeah I don't know if I would like if there was an off switch if I would turn it off completely anyway especially the way the world's going right now yeah no kidding right well hey let's take a let's take a break real quick all right hey guys let me tell you about this subscription
service that I've been working real hard on called vigilance Elite patreon basically on patreon we have it broken up into three different Tiers we got tier one tier 2 and tier three let's dive in our tier one patrons get all the behind thes scenes footage of the Shawn Ryan show that could include behind thes scenes photos that could be side conversations that we have in between breaks that could be specific questions that our patrons give us for the guest on the Sha Ryan Show and a ton of bonus content that doesn't really fit into any
specific category for our tier 2 patrons they get Access to our tactical training Library which consists of well over a 100 videos we've broken those videos up into separate categories and those categories are rifle fundamentals pistol fundamentals drills tactics driving gear and weapon setups and everybody's favorite mindset also on tier 2 you will get a live update from me on the 1st and the 15th of every month where we talk about the upcoming guests on the Shawn Ryan Show plus all the benefits of tier one our top tier which is tier three gets full access
to all the other tiers plus they get full access to me where we do video teleconferencing VTC once a month we discuss anything from tactics to current events to who's coming on the show I take suggestions and it's very interactive no matter what tier you choose the support is greatly appreciated and it is the only thing That makes this show drive on so thank you for all the support see you on patreon I got a scholar of the Quran but a born again Christian that's going to help to deprogram these children because there's so much
programmed under the Quran believing that every every person they kill that's a Believer or non-believer they believe they're getting more rewards for when they get to heaven I had everything I wanted it didn't mean nothing to me anymore all I could remember was children Starving Children hungry they stopped us on the road they said s you got to come quickly got to come quickly you know so we're running through the jungle me and a few guys and we have our guns and we you know ammo bags on and everything that and here was a big
tree and these Rebels nailed children to the Tree there was a time that con was coming in South Sudan Juba so I went there with one of my sniper rifles I was going to greet him on the road and they said we just figured out who you are there's no way you're going to be able to do this Crusade con called the radio station and said if you do this Crusade he's coming here to kill you I done the Crusade with a grenade and each pocket a pistol on my back I was one of them
that he said he Was going to kill that he has it all right Dallas let's get into why you left jtf2 all right uh so the last couple years last last few years I kind of alluded to it before a little bit like I didn't like the direction that we were starting to head what let's talk about what year this is uh this was probably around when did the [ __ ] Co thing Start 2020 right 20 the very beginning of 20 yeah so it was like tail and beginning of 2019 maybe tail end 2018
so it was like just starting and there had been a couple step throughout my time there where I saw saw changing in in a way so right about the time all this woke stuff started hitting the news that's right so in the news it infiltrated [ __ ] briefing time it infiltrated like different training that they wanted everyone in the Canadian Forces to go through what kind of training oh like sensitivity training to everything you can imagine like uh from like just every cat ategory of wokeness it seemed like there was a sensitivity course that
came along with it now so instead of learning how to kill people exct you're learning how to not hurt anybody's feeling this is the trade-off that I'm like why the [ __ ] are we doing this so one within this gate of [ __ ] dwire Hill Training Center there's no like we don't have big issues in in all of these places now do I think people need to be nice to other people yes yes do I think it needs to take away from my [ __ ] range time cuz you have some agenda no
and that was starting to happen and it was like a little bit more and a little bit more I just saw it going in a direction that I didn't Like uh when like this Co thing happened uh they mandated so already we're headed in a direction that I I'm not super fond of and then the co happened you know everything grinds to this unnecessary Heth in my opinion and we're waiting to see what happens like okay there's a there's a vaccine coming out okay so I'm just reading about it I'm seeing what they're saying in
the news reading other things Um I'm just staying very open-minded I'm like okay what do I feel like this is something that I am concerned about am I scared like is there a [ __ ] black plague sweeping planet Earth and like at what level and it's almost like the protector of the family kicks in right you're like what level do I need to be concerned as as things were coming even like what the news is reporting I'm like okay I see I understand that they're Trying to scare everyone I don't see anything that I
need to be concerned of we're looking at demographics we're looking yet fatality rat all these things like I I'm not concerned about this to me like you're getting numbers like anyway I'm just like no I mean it it came out you know it's not they were [ __ ] numbers there's no if ANS or but about it they were reporting people that died in car accidents and motor cycle Accidents people that were shot that's right you know people that were dying from other illnesses that may have had covid yeah you could have died from [
__ ] cancer but if you had Co yeah you died from Co yeah if you were in a car accident and [ __ ] died and had Co it wasn't the car accident that killed you it was Co that killed you you know so it's the numbers were fudged and that was I mean from the way I see it that was to just like get everybody in line Like be scared be scared do your part I was like yeah I don't I don't think so from what I'm seeing right now I'm not concerned about it
so I was like I look at it like the flu shot every year there's flu shot I'm not concerned about the flu so I don't get it uh the government the unit had a different opinion because obviously it's the government organization so they mandated that you you had to have it I was Like I just was like no in this particular case no and I would have done the same thing honestly if they're like the flu shots now mandatory like okay well I'm not taking it I don't I don't require it I don't see risk
and and this is like as I've evolved or hopefully evolved but like learning about health and all these different things I'm like okay there's there's places for different medications it should be up to the Individual to make that assessment your own [ __ ] Health especially [ __ ] injecting something in your body like it's the AL ultimate like like overstep on someone's Freedom like you must inject this mhm I'm like okay I'm like this doesn't seem like it's for me I I had to go to the appointment anyway um but at this point we're
not ordered to take it the tricky wording coercion and all the stuff I saw was Like other than a couple cases of people that I know that were directly ordered to do it I even think those were mistakes that people recognize later like [ __ ] I don't think that was within my um like I didn't have the right to do that now that's say everything passed what's going to happen who knows but I saw a lot of [ __ ] coercion and I declined getting my first shots on a Friday afternoon and by Monday
I was being Threatened to be kicked out of the unit kicked out of my troop by my sergeant major I'd never seen a reaction I was telling you this yesterday like I've never seen a reaction like that to almost anything like in my opinion I could have [ __ ] drunk drove my truck through the front gate and it would not be that reaction it' be like hey man like [ __ ] something's obviously going on let's figure it out it's just something like there was there's pretty Pretty allright support prior to this and it
was like a [ __ ] snap the fingers like overnight it just changed so drastically with this narrative that like after being at the end for almost 14 years and just declining and all he said is I want to have more time to see something cuz there was information coming out about like Johnson and Johnson not being great don't get that one asan there's some problems like there's blood clots and there's all These these things I'm like I just told him like I just want more time I was like I couldn't believe the reaction like
so [ __ ] fast I like okay it's like this is a weird one so what was everybody else doing at the unit uh it depends on the person there a lot of people were torn but a lot of people were worse a lot of people were told like you're not going to advance your career you're going to be Kicked out so the end result was you're going to be kicked out of the military a 5f relief release I think it's called if you don't comply like the most drastic [ __ ] I've ever seen
so like not only like you you're not on a list of Deployable right now because maybe I don't know some other country has a problem with it or whatever it's like you're [ __ ] kicked out like it was insane Uh and that that led to so this would have been probably man I want to say like o October end of the year 2020 by time like everything happened and the be 2020 2021 no 2020 and they were like this was in place and now they have a bunch of people throughout the calf that are
like yeah we're not doing this okay begin the release process you look at what are your options um and there was like exemptions There were some exemptions that they wrote about very rarely were those accepted so I wrote in to get exemptions for a whole bunch of different things that I believed and I talked so actually I talked to like an indigenous Elder from around where I was from and like I mean we didn't really get into it I'm not really a religious dude in terms of the Dogma in any particular book but I'm a
spiritual guy For sure and just I have beliefs in things that are bigger than us MH I don't think it's all just an accident of whatever um but the advice I got from like a a person that I deem spiritual religious whatever it is was like don't do it yet like this is the same government that [ __ ] took our indigenous people and threw them into like these schooling projects to like teach the Indian out of them like that Was not that long ago yeah there's a scar left on the indigenous people that's like
well no we're just going trust everything you say we've done that before uh and it was it was a sentiment of like what like what is natural what you feel what we believe in our belief system and I Tred to put this into a like here's another reason another reason that I think in this particular time like I want to be examed from this And like the Cadre of the [ __ ] army or whatever was like no that's not a legitimate religious [ __ ] thing like [ __ ] you you [ __ ]
so simultaneous all this I'm like starting to get in administrative trouble which has never happened before in my career because I'm not playing The Mask charade either we'd have a conversation in a room me and you or whoever was in my Team or debt no mask required it's [ __ ] stupid we can all assess this now it's been going on for you know at this point like almost a year next room I don't need mask we can all agree as [ __ ] stupid oh someone is coming to the meeting you got to put
on a mask I like no no and this just kept happening and people would get upset and I'm like too [ __ ] bad like this is all a charade right now I see you in conversations With certain people until it's time to Virtue signal to a bigger group or whatever like it's all a charade and I'm not playing this game and so it' be like I'd get in trouble so oh can you just [ __ ] please put a mask on I'm like no like they're like the next one's going to be up the
level of [ __ ] administrative problems like at what point are you going to see that I don't give a [ __ ] anymore like I was Now chasing up medical issues that I had all the MTV stuff I was telling you about and I was getting a medical release process started because I was going to I was going to be kicked out um now how many how many guys are are you leading the charge here are other guys following in your footsteps I was out front for sure um different people took different approaches MH
I know a lot of people that are no longer in that were I'll just like I'll put it that way I didn't really get permission for anyone to talk about their own situations but like uh yeah I was putting my foot down and most people whether they caved or not really appreciated now there's obviously a collection of people that didn't um so I was now chasing up a medical release um in hindsight I'm like what a [ __ ] blessing cuz like I needed to stop Exposing my brain to impacts this was just the Catalyst
I was like yeah I'm crossing that line uh but I I everything was bringing on these concussion symptoms so looking back on it I'm like but it just I couldn't believe how it [ __ ] changed overnight and then uh the final Like Straw was I was going to a meeting to hear about why my exemptions were declined why some person who didn't even [ __ ] come talk to me Or talk to the person that I spoke with declared like religious exemption no medical exemption no like even I brought up all of these concerns
mtis all these different things that were showing up in young men who are not at risk of [ __ ] dying from Co I just like no no no no all these things are no so I was going to this meeting for them to tell me why everything was declined the meeting just happened to be at like a meeting room and I didn't put A mask on uh and then can we have the conversation that you had with the gentleman before you entered that room yes I was talking uh and my like chain of command
knew and I don't they didn't like my immediate chain of command I mean uh and he was like escorting me in my sergeant major and he was like Hey man they're going to ask you to put a mask on I Know and he's like like can you do it like [ __ ] no so he went into to kind of give the room a heads up um and this was like the ultimate like like because I could have just [ __ ] put it on and I wore bell clavas all over the [ __ ]
place but like the principle behind this nonsense I was seeing this like this charade like it was just such a joke I'm like yeah I'm not doing it so the RSM comes out like I Need you to put a mask on Dallas like I'm not doing it I don't even want to [ __ ] mask and uh that it escalated a little bit um instead of using my first name call me a rank I I I told him when he stature got a little bit up and I was just like don't get [ __ ]
Pokey chess with me and I use it well I won't use his name here but and then he's like get out So he goes down open the door to this building I was like you coming outside with me he's like just looked away went inside and that was the last time I ever had access to [ __ ] even get on Camp wow that's how it ended that's how it ended so I got in my truck my my sergeant major came out and he's like [ __ ] I was like look man I know the
position I just put you In but I don't give a [ __ ] anymore and I drove home and like my past never worked again so all the the clear out process and everything had to be done through people on Camp uh I got a little charge on the way out uh for that I can't even remember what it was called that behavior towards the RSM and that was like the see you later that's crazy that's insane it's [ __ ] Insanity I but like I was saying I think Yesterday I mentioned this just like
I I liked what you said at dinner you you had mentioned that you asked the sergeant major he said well is everybody in that room masked yeah so I asked he said is everybody in the room going to be wearing a mask he said absolutely I said then that means you're all safe if they work and if they don't and you're not safe then why are you telling me to put one on um and that's when he got started Using my rank instead of my name well what else are you going to say to that
well it just shows it's here you go sergeant major this is [ __ ] what common sense looks like yeah it's just it was it where did yours go that's a thing where the [ __ ] did it go um yeah so that was like the last day uh I was at thewire Hill Training Center all the release um do you feel that that destroyed a big part of Jtf2 no at least not for me so one I think it was already going in the direction that I did like that it wasn't for me it
was not the unit was no longer or is at least rapidly turning into a place that the people they selected were not going to fit in there anymore mhm um and I just I recognize that for me my own personal thing so the the unit is still full of [ __ ] super hard charging professional [ __ ] the like the the the best Workforce friend Brothers I've ever worked with there is a a portion that needs a realignment um is that portion growing I think maybe because the other portion shrinking yeah it it it
uh would appear to be growing um but like when I when I when I go chat with boys like I I don't feel like the numbers are growing where people are like yeah you know what We need to be forced to do more [ __ ] and we need to like really soak up all this woke business like no one's saying that mhm unless the most important thing to you in the world is your career so like it's still there's just still [ __ ] great warriors there yeah so I I leave and like the
unit I never expected whenever I got out no matter how it was I didn't expect that like This unit's going to come to a halt like oh my God Dallas is leaving the unit cuz you're just a [ __ ] dude in a big organization like the train just keeps going but there's I didn't expect it to end like that but I have just really good friends and brothers out of it all that like no matter the [ __ ] I've had my back in a lot of ways they did they did lose a lot
of stuff though by by losing in you I mean what I'm just what percentage of The unit do you think left because of the jab mandates and the and the the woke agenda and because this is happening across the world you know and when I get guys in who are fresh out I mean it's horrible they've demoralized all of the units and and yeah and the attrition rate it it's a joke the attrition rate is a joke joke now they can't keep anybody in they can't recruit anybody that's right because they miscalculated who joins the
Military especially who serves in a who who wants to serve in a in a soft environment at that at that capacity at that level well I don't know if the people really making the calls for this to happen want units like that well that's what I'm we can get into that in a minute okay but um but I guess what I'm saying is you know I'm this is just an estimation it's not based off any factual information other than just who I know left yeah um the SEAL Teams Because of the jab and I'm going
to say it's damn close to 50% you know between the woke agenda and the jab band dates I mean these are the these are the only people in the [ __ ] country that stand up for what they believe in everybody else has just got their head down and they're just trying to get through the day these are the only [ __ ] people that step up to the plate yeah you know and they just left and when they left let's say it is 50% you know I mean dude You took the you took the
you were on the team that has the world record for the longest sniper kill in in in world history but and the TL is also I can't remember what step he's at now but he was being kicked out for for the same reason there you go so they here you have an All-Star sniper team at the top level and you're not going to be able to pass that knowledge on yeah to the next guys yeah like the [ __ ] detrimental that is the Corporate knowledge is it's it's [ __ ] mind-blowing and even like
I I don't know the numbers of guys that got out but I know a large number of people that don't want to be there and that's just two people yeah that's just two people yeah you know this they're not going to get your mindset they're not going to get your you know the the the hard skills they're not going to get the soft skills none of it yeah they're not going to get it you know And and there aren't any other Wars happening right now you know and so that experience is it's going to get
real thin it's going to get real hard to come by Y and um so yeah I would say they they they lost a tremendous amount of experience a knowledge by doing that it is crazy uh yeah it just there's so many things that seem so backwards to me now going back to the you know do they you don't think they want people like that when I saw the defund the Police movement happen in the US yeah that was the I immediately I I was like they are going to get rid of the Old Guard and
replace that with the new mindset that's going to do whatever whoever these [ __ ] people are that are pushing this agenda yeah they want to re they want to they want to replace the the old guard with the new guard that's going to do whatever they have to say yeah and then we saw a carryover from the defund the police Movement then the new Administration took over now we're seeing it mil not even just Special Operations and it's military wide they're restructuring yeah every every everything yeah yeah well and it's like historically almost and
I'm not much of a military historian but like you you have groups of guys in soft I'll say guys cuz we've never had a female insulter But like selected to think outside the box to use common sense to assess certain things to hold their [ __ ] ground to not get bullied and then it was like this big surprise at the end like oh you must be going through something you've changed it's like [ __ ] I didn't change this is who you selected you selected someone to not be bullied into [ __ ] I
didn't want to do and now you're just you're seeing It like that's that's what's happening like just standing my ground like it's is like the ultimate [ __ ] selection test and like so I just yeah rode on out the gate and uh turn to country music is there is there is there anything you regret about I mean you stood up for what you believe in is there any do you have any regrets [Music] Um to the guys that are still in that unit you know when the next mandate comes down the pipe yeah I
no man I don't and I I stood my ground I'm trying to think if there's anywhere where I was like ah maybe I just do something I don't think so I stood my ground everywhere and I know I was a pain in the ass to people cuz I'm like I'm not doing that and now it's the next level I'm not doing like I'm not even signing That administrative [ __ ] wrist slap that you're giving me shred it keep it I don't care like it it it was just so absurd I couldn't wrap my head
around it yeah so I did I stood my ground in places and I'm so happy now that I'm out that I did um and like I said it was looking back like all the concussions mtbi stuff and everything piling up I think it's a good thing overall anyway um but I in that sense no no Regrets at all and I I was telling people my opinion why I was doing it you know you know and I don't care if guys wanted it go [ __ ] take it take two take three five boosters it's St
like I don't I don't particularly care what drugs you assess personally that you want to use use everything fizer makes use none of what you make like I I truly [ __ ] believe in Freedom um so it was never like hey man don't do this don't do this I'm like Here's some things that I'm reading here's some things that I'm seeing think about it your you're not an antivaxer you just want choice I just want choice anyone can take whatever they want but it definitely got me looking into more ingredients of things and it
started with me and my family a while back what's in our food what's in our cleaning products what's in our water what's in and I'm like I'm not going to do all of this and then like what's in That thing ah there's some and a bunch of other things we don't really know about sure give it um so it's it's just I'm not anti- medication I'm not anti vaccine if those are the things you want to do I am anti you telling me what I have to put in my [ __ ] body to fit
into society we have to go to a restaurant like those are our mandates in in Canada like you show VX Bast you can't come eat here no [ __ ] yeah that's Real yeah it's it's now it's done uh it's mostly done um but the Mandate from the government is like you can't get on a plane a train or a bus you can't go eat at restaurants every restaurant was required or they could be shut down to ask you for proof of [ __ ] Co vaccination wow yeah I've heard there they were doing that
in some states here we don't do that [ __ ] here in Tennessee Yeah I got to come to Tennessee more you might like it you'd F in great yeah so it's just for me it's always been just like it's the the freedom a question I'm like so many guys gave so [ __ ] much to try and have that fight for freedom and like you know friends that have died and you're like for [ __ ] for it just to be like not even taken really so much as just like handed right over most
people are just like [ __ ] take it Take my freedom I'll take this so that I can go eat at a restaurant if that's what you say I need to do like oh my God where do you think this all came from where's it stemming from um I see like okay these are conspiracies but at what point they just they come out of the realm of it's seems like Nothing ever gets out of the realm of conspiracy if it's not in the news to some people regardless of what it is like there's now a
ton of you can go back and watch hours of video where they're like here's what the vaccine is here's what it's going to do here's what it's going to do you just see that narrative change as like it's undeniable everyone's triple vaccin still getting covid oh but uh it's going to it's you're not going to die or you're going To die less like there's no [ __ ] way to measure that yeah I had Co twice and I'm like I didn't die it was uncomfortable but like if I had three shots of whatever was that
going to be less than I had yeah how the [ __ ] do you measure that it's see it's a good way to trick people though cuz it's a it's a metric that you can't measure you can only have someone say you're not doing your part cuz you might die in an ICU and take up a bed for blah blah blah Blah blah I did my part and my co didn't kill me you're like what the [ __ ] it's GL for as [ __ ] to have the narrative change from dead stop this is
going to stop you from getting or spreading covid those videos are out there your president said that a bunch of people said that and then oh well no it was never really intended to stop the spread it was to uh reduce critical symptoms you like yeah and people are like yeah it's it's insane the [ __ ] it's insane Like this people conspiracy theorists were saying it six months ago like hey this is is not they've never produced any studies that are showing that it's stopping any kind of spread cat's out of the bag now
I know a ton of people who got the jab who got Co absolutely like the cat is out of the [ __ ] bag yeah you know and people I just saw I don't even watch the news anym anymore but my wife had it on this morning as I was walking out and I I saw the another Booster coming out oh yeah 50% of the country is going to bend over and take that booster they're probably waiting in line right now all excited to take it it produ so there's like the way I see it
is a spectrum on one side there's a lot of money out play and people do crazy [ __ ] for money companies make a [ __ ] shitload of money when policy did dictates profit the first [ __ ] people purchased are the policy makers so that there's like That's just like the common sense I feel like we can all agree on there was a lot of people that made a lot of money off this let's just say that's like the lower end of it all to the other side we're seeing things that really fit
in line with a globalization that wants to happen and this is a good Catalyst for it they say it they I mean like the people who want it right in their own book The Great reset they put it out everyone can go read it it's not a Conspiracy the guy's name is on it he wrote the [ __ ] book this is what we want this is now led into a whole bunch of different ways that they can Implement things like you have to show proof to get into this restaurant maybe a handier way would
be if there was an international digital ID where we knew what everything was doing and if you don't agree you can't get on a flight from this country to that country like a digital ID for everyone To travel everywhere that's being worked on that's already there this is not conspiracy the government of Canada has a known digital known traveler digital ID program sponsored World economic Forum Air Canada certain airports this is on the [ __ ] Government website wow so there's not a conspiracy at all you can log in and go check it out known
traveler digitally IG system a year ago to say this was a a Huge conspiracy come on they don't they don't want that like essential ESS Central a digitally backed Central currency or whatever the acronym is for that that's another thing so like on the everyone should believe and be able to see that like there's just a lot of money out play a ton of people made [ __ ] billions of dollars and on the other side there's a lot more things pointing now that the next step that they said they want to make is where
It's going so I think that's what it was about somewhere in that Spectrum um what's next was [ __ ] who knows it's crazy have you seen the interview this like the CNN reporter that was like chatting that was caught like on a like a a camera was recording or phone was recording they're like yeah we're told to push all the co narrative blah blah blah blah blah all through this like okay well what happens now like It's all over like oh the next big push is climate change like we have to all of the
momentum is going to be put on that you're going to see it on every single screen you're going to see it on everything and the video got out people are still like no D like the [ __ ] works for I haven't seen that yeah it's I just saw it again yesterday it's pretty obvious somewhere oh that's the thing if you I mean lots of people see it but lots of People don't and even with a recording like that baby are still like no what no it's your [ __ ] truck that's doing it okay
it's insane it is insane oh it's a rabbit hole go down that one in a long time we yeah well we could spend hours on that topic but yeah but let's move into psilocybin and psychedelics okay let's get let's get on something a little more positive yes so you get out you're dealing with some of The trauma at some point you decide yeah so getting out uh I was noticing like I was saying a lot of concussion symptoms uh a lot of that kind of manifested itself as anger and a typically not an angry person
uh my brother dying uh I was having a hard time processing just all of that and like and immediately after it was like that's when I was like I was drinking a lot of Whiskey um and then as time passes I'm like it was still kind of definitely a struggle but I was like tapering kind of my daily behavior um and I started hearing about uh the effects of like a big dose of psilocybin there's podcasters that I listened to were talking about it uh there's studies I was seeing being done for things like uh
PTSD trauma depression anxiety all these things Alcoholism um or just Addiction in general and I was like [ __ ] it what do I got to lose a bunch of people who's opinions in health I respect um opinions on on mindset and growth like just a bunch of things I'm like bunch of Googling can you [ __ ] die from taking too much mushrooms can consensus is no uh you can be in different realms for sure but apparently no now there's some odd Outlier cases like I was saying I think there's like mental issues of
of some sort like do your research before I take this advice uh but I was like okay it's it's not something that people overdose from I'm not going to be like because what happened is I read about it got the CO's notes that I thought I needed set and setting I was in a meditative State and I was like set some intentions and [ __ ] threw down I Think it was four four to five grams the first time I like sent my wife out my my uh fiance and baby out of the house I
was like okay like I don't know I'm not gonna have my phone on but I'll message you and like I think it's like six or eight hours this stuff is going to take time to process so I sitting in my living room and it like started to kick in and it was the craziest not craziest it was like I was saying it was like one of the Most profound days of my whole life when it was all said and done it was such a release of so many things like for from an outside perspective I'm
glad Sarah wasn't still there CU it would have looked like I was having a terrible terrible trip like I was on the ground and like I got nauseous and I was like crawling to the bathroom I thought I was going to puge I'm like I wasn't sure and there was a bunch of things and advice I had gotten was just like you Just got to let go like when this comes just [ __ ] let go and I I was struggling so hard my ego to narrate what was happening and like just like and it's
almost like you're getting to a panic State and with that I was so nauseous I was like oh yeah just like you got to let go you got to let go and things are [ __ ] crazy the visuals are crazy looking in the mirror and my skin is crazy and it's like it's reptilian shapes and stuff like it was wild and I Was like just you're letting go let go let go and I did and I like laid down and just like the angle my back was to the window but everything went dark and
silent and I was like I remember uh just like throughout the whole thing having like this beat like in my body it was like a PO like a for me like my indigenous background it just like I heard like a powow drum the whole time and I felt so [ __ ] like Connected to Earth sort of thing like this probably won't make a lot of sense to people who have not done psychedelics but I just I [ __ ] cried so hard and it was like a release of I don't even know it was
like a [ __ ] River coming out of me and it was like it was kind of laid on my side away from the window and everything was dark but it was just like flowing and then it went like deep deep into this hole and was like the [ __ ] scaredest I'd ever Been I was like I'm in hell [ __ ] it's like quiet and I was like I'm dead or something I like even just my own thoughts were so [ __ ] loud um and then I I like just saw like my
brother in in that place and he was kind of like like why are you having such a hard time with this and it was almost like I'm over here so now I know but like just like I didn't go anywhere and it's like what the [ __ ] and it was Like he was he just threw whatever means I don't even remember if it was like saying these words but just like i' I've gone nowhere like I'm I'm always as close as like to as thin as your eyelids kind of thing is what I came
out of it with and I was like what the [ __ ] and this warm feeling came over me and like and I was no longer like afraid that I was dead I guess um and then at the same time like this it's crazy this Octopus like thing like gave me almost like a hug I just felt like so warm and it was like it was my little daughter like that essence or whatever and I laid back down like I I turned over and I looked at the ceiling and it was like this [ __
] path to Heaven man like my living room S I look at a million times since then now and I'm like what the [ __ ] where did this come from but like I was Seeing like a lineage like all it was like a path all of the men in my family to like great great great great great wherever and it was like all of that was a part of me i' never felt that before do you have that much do you know about your family lineage a little bit as far as it went do
you think no no no no there was like mystery people in that thing but like it was just a part of me it was an Intuitive feeling yeah like the wisdom of this everything that is me is like from all of these different these men and then almost just after it was like the same thing but for all the mothers in my my line like it was like the the love and warmth from that side it was almost like all the way up to like Mother Earth sort of thing you know it was weird man
and it was like it happened a couple of other times and we can talk about the stories later But it was like as much as so many of the struggles here feel like you're alone do you know what I mean like a lot of it and we're terrible for this in our community of just like well that fucker's not going to understand I'm talking to this guy he doesn't get it like and I'm not even like I didn't have a crazy career career I've had some close calls a couple times I they don't and I've
been snapped back To those in a couple of loud scenarios but like some of the guys you had sit in this chair I'm like I was saying this yesterday like to just be humbl to be telling the story but like I have not had that level of career so I can't imagine some guys just thinking they're in it alone you know what I mean like people don't [ __ ] get it and I I always I had that but it was this was showing me like You're like it was such a [ __ ] warm
embrace of like all of this this lineage of mothers really that like you're you never shit's really hard you're just like you're not alone here you come from this you come from all of this and none of these people went anywhere physical state obviously has gone somewhere it's in the [ __ ] ground or a pile of Ashes but like the being is like this is all you all the way up to the [ __ ] beginning of time Like it's so crazy to even talk about it at this level to try and and I
see it so clearly like I don't I didn't forget anything of this entire trip as I as I recall um and it was like six hours of these like little lessons things I didn't know I needed to like pull on or think what do you think the most important thing you took out of it was 100% it was it was my my my brother like it was that I just I had a feeling now that was night and day from beginning to End of like this this loss this um this expectation that I had like
oh you're going to be here forever to [ __ ] do all these things together hunt and fish and see Caleb and mad get married and Gigi at some point and like just like you're going to be here [ __ ] play music and all these things it was like he was like okay got it you had a bunch of expectations it's all your ego I'm still here I didn't go Anywhere and that that was that was the biggest thing for sure that was like I don't know how many I probably had a drink to
numerous every single [ __ ] day since he died until that point almost there was a couple times I'm like okay I was trying to sort through it but this was like boom when I came out I was like holy [ __ ] it it was night and day I was like I don't even have a desire to to drink To to cover up the things I don't know how to process kind of thing um now I still drink the relationship with alcohol um I it has changed a lot um and I I look at
it now like the way I had a lot of time in my life um just like it can enhance some fun I [ __ ] I love the taste of a good bourbon or a glass of red wine and beer like I I Really do enjoy alcohol uh but like the the lesson it's like and I told this to my niece like if life is good if if you think like you're doing like you're not in a dark place particularly have a glass of wine like in indigenous communities there's a big problem with alcohol um
and it's a slippery slope man and i' kind of like teetered gone too far this way try to come back take some Time off um but it's it's why you're doing it do you know what I mean like it's it's hugely important cuz it's not like corn juice grape juice or [ __ ] barley juice that's not the issue is not with some liquid substance in my opinion it's what it's covering up or what it's what it's being used as a crutch to process I guess why are you using it to Cope with what are
you using it to cope with what you're getting at that's what yeah like like there's an underlying thing if you feel like [ __ ] like for me it was very clear with my brother dying I'm like I don't know how to [ __ ] deal with this mhm I don't the tools that I thought I had are not working so that one it was like temporary numbing agent essentially so you want you've done two more Pyon trips since yeah what's what's Sparked those you just didn't feel like you were uh did you need more
I I think the way I look at it for myself after discovering it um I want to use it probably every year um and I'm going to look into more guided things and stuff like that I did the first few by myself I have a big ego I think I I don't think I would let go as much if Someone else was in the room for the first couple um and I didn't know what was going to happen either like I didn't want someone supervising me and then I get violent like I'm holding a dead
person when I wake up or something I'm like I don't know what this is going to do now I don't think I have any knowing what comes out of me when I've done three times but like I have no want to be violent in it so that was kind of a okay Like the whole thing I could not imagine like being a [ __ ] fight when I'm on like that amount of siloc uh so yeah the second one was just like continuing continuing work like there's still H there's just it it always offers something
new I think from my experience um the last one I did was just at the end of this last year October November something like that it was wild I did 7 G of penis envy strain And for this one I went to like our little cottage beach house just by myself again I lit like a couple candles made of fire set and setting meditation and this one was a [ __ ] insane mental battle like but by the end of fighting with myself for say I couldn't imagine fighting but it was like an internal let's
go into it I'm I'm I'm really curious so I I took them they came on [ __ ] fast and I was like oh [ __ ] ah [ __ ] I I did too much I Wasn't ready to do it again like maybe I'm jumping the gun and it had been now nine months or almost a year since the last time H and I didn't know how again I got nauseous at this time I actually threw up and I was just in such a [ __ ] internal battle like no matter if I like
I find that if I close my eyes you really go deep inside if you open your eyes and look at stuff it it comes out but no like no matter where there's just No escape and it was like 4 hours of this and then I it was so I almost wish I would have recorded on a GoPro or something the sounds I was making man was like a [ __ ] animal I I remember it and I'm like I don't know what I was growling like there was all these crazy things I still had that
like like that drum beat that comes every time I I take it um but and I was just like fighting fighting and growling and I just felt Like such a [ __ ] animal I was like there's like and then it was it was kept saying like you have to go through this fight like your life how you go about it how you process things whatever the next step is like you just left unit you going into the unknown like you need to know that you have this fight and I was like f and then
it it kind of like calmed and something came over me that was Like the best way I can describe is like you've graduated damn and I was like you are strong enough for [ __ ] anything this world throws at you and I was like holy [ __ ] I'm getting tingly T but I was like Jesus Christ I I didn't know I the whole time I'm like you're just like it was this you're in it you're all by yourself nobody's coming this fight you have to be strong enough for when it was all said
and done I was Like holy [ __ ] I'm like I am strong enough for it um so that kind of tapered off it was crazy night that tested it it was tapering off into the evening and I was like this is not the right way to process by the way I'll say that right now what is about to go down um but I I'd made an obligation early in the day for something that evening and I pushed the start time a little bit cuz something happened so I was like I was not in a
great place to be in public but I was like [ __ ] I already said I was going to do this I'll go do it and like I wasn't like still like tripping but I was like I was now super tired emotionally drained I was like okay what a lesson and I went and did it was like to go to a hockey practice and like help uh my nephew get ready so I come in like family's there and stuff Sarah's like I was it I like just like tired just trying to drink some water and
like Still processing everything uh like drained and then we go to hockey and we hadn't heard from her dad for a day and a bit which is super unusual like he called us like three times a day everyone just like and like he and he wasn't feeling good prior I'm like oh no [ __ ] I'm like did anyone go no and I was like okay I'll go check on him after this Practice so we went to his house and I'm like I told Sarah to wait in the truck she's like oh my God why
I'm just like just give me a second I go in to his apartment and he was dead on the ground and I was like [ __ ] godamn it like it's I've seen a lot of dead bodies so that part wasn't like a crazy shock to me but I'm like I have to go outside and I have to tell my fiance that her dad is dead and I got to Call my friend and brother and team leader from multiple like just her brother that his dad is dead and he's going to like like I'm like
[ __ ] so I kind of had a little moment and you know it's just like like the processing was a lot easier because of the first cocy trip I went on so I'm like just kind of had a man it was a pleasure like I'm sorry that this is how it is but like I know that you're Around but it was still like I had to go outside and I went around to her side of the door and she [ __ ] lost it and she's like no no no don't like like you can
imagine like the reaction is just yeah it was terrible so I called her brother and came down we just started dealing with it and like went late into the night kind of thing um and it was just it was such a like a terrible Evening but it's I find it so strange that I got that lesson right before that like I don't it's it's was just the events of it you don't think that's a coincidence do you uh no yeah I I don't think it's coincidence at all um how it all happened um but it's
[ __ ] interesting that's for sure yeah that's for damn sure yeah has your wife tried s s since then uh no so she has plans to yeah she wants to She's looking for the right place she doesn't want to do it all alone which I I from what I read the best way to do it is like have someone experienced kind of walk you through the process um and that's probably what I'll do going forward I might I might try and uh the next time and I am in no hurry to do it again
right now but when I do I try something like icub and have it guided um and see what I get out of you know a person that knows kind of where To guide these things um but yeah she she wants to at some point what about your brother-in-law um I think that he will also at some point or he might have like so he's he's a bit of a he'll he knows he knows that it's [ __ ] good he sees that he's a health nut into all the same things like really um so I'm
not 100% sure he hasn't done it in a place and just not said anything about it U he's also kind of reserved a Little bit uh he's a man you might if you weren't going to have a second Canadian on here you might want to have a chat with him if you guys got conspiracies you'll be here for a long time uh yeah so I I I'm a huge fan of it um there's some things again that you need to be cautious about but like my mother had and is having like just as you can
imagine her her son dying super hard time I know that she's interested in in doing it as well uh It's a couple clinics I think that are it's like it's coming into a place where it might be available soon for some of this this big trauma stuff so I'm hoping that [ __ ] everybody does it man I know they got you're familiar with maps right uh yeah so I know they're doing a big study um with MDMA and and I think they're using prisoners okay um and um I can't really say anything but There's
a there's another group that I used to be with and they're experien they're they're doing studies on them with MDMA and supposedly having amazing results and I've heard of some that were combos as well like cybin and MDMA or uh well wasn't yours it was iig gain and 5 Meo o DM but that wasn't a combo I did I did Iain on a I think I did Ian on a Wednesday and I did 5 Meo on a Friday that's pretty [ __ ] close it's closey CL it it wasn't I think what you're talking about
though with the combo is is both of them areem at the same time and uh so I haven't done that I did a very light siloc cybin Journey since um nothing like your experience I I did two grams and had one of the most amazing conversations with my wife that I've ever had yeah before it's so it's it's a magical mushroom yeah it is it is I think a lot of people will Get a lot out of it especially our politicians yeah man I I hope that and I've had some friends do it uh after
hearing my story and there's a couple guys and it's just like I've never heard it not help somebody yet now I'm not saying it's impossible or I'm not saying that that is not possible whatever it is but like it's helped every person that has taken it with like with a intention or not really like Even some people get slapped in the face with like here's an intention you should have had you know um but yeah I I think it's I think it's huge man I think for guys who've gone through crazy careers in this stuff
with just what you see and what you do and the time away and the [ __ ] just how you grow into a person in that environment again this will just this Will bring you it'll shine some light on some things that you might not have otherwise seen what do you got coming up so now you're now you're big in the country music scene well I'm I'm putting my foot in the door yeah so I'm here to chat with you and then I'm going to write songs in Nashville for the week um I've got a
bunch of different appointments lined up with like these professional like [ __ ] real deal Songwriters so I'm super excited to learn from them and see what we can come up with uh we're writing for an album to do a to do an album to be uh kind of recorded between here and Canada yeah and I just want to [ __ ] meet people and play Tunes music has always been such a big part of my life and a very therapeutic part for a lot of it also do you have any particular ambition with this
or you Just really like if you would have asked 20-year-old Dallas if this was the path I was taking instead of going to jtf2 it would have been the same reason am I enough is it like you know I got to prove some things now I just want to write good songs cuz I love good songs music has helped me so [ __ ] much that I know that uh a song with truth it can do crazy things like it can really help People and just some of the songs I've written now employing them to
like veteran communities and stuff like I've had big strong [ __ ] dudes like crying they're like man like you can't write a song like that if you didn't have a career in this like it [ __ ] hits home and like that is crazy to have and music does that so I I want to write good songs I want to write fun songs too man songs are great for heartache and heartbreak and hard times processing but They're also like you have good music on when times are good and it's that much better so the
real intention is to just [ __ ] write good songs and play them for whoever wants to listen do you think do you still have some of those songs that you wrote about your brother you know several years ago yeah I actually played one live for the first time uh when did we play November and it was the first time I'd ever been able to play it in front of Anyone and not like start crying um but yeah I I played that one live and there was a it was the room was silent I couldn't
believe it and then there's handful of people that were brought to tears and I'm like it's it's such a it's such an ageold way of connecting with someone you know yeah that's why I like the country music that I love is they're telling the [ __ ] truth like the the struggle the good time the Heartache whatever it is they're telling the truth in the song so yeah I have some of those songs I don't know where they're going to go I don't know you you write songs and some sometimes I'm like you just get
it out and then don't touch it again sometimes you come back to it and play it because it connects you to something or a certain moment um I don't know I just want to keep learning how to do It um so that I can keep doing it well man I kind of want to wrap this up but um thank you for for coming in here and sharing your story and I I wish you the best of luck thanks so much for having me and I have a whole list of people that I'm dying to connect
you with and I'm going to do it as soon as we flip these cameras off but one last question yeah if you had two or three people to recommend for this show who would it Be oh man do they have to be Canadian they can be whoever you want okay so I think at some point if he's ready my brother-in-law would be a great chat he's got a lot of War experience he is very uh [ __ ] respected uh and you guys will have a [ __ ] interesting dinner conversation also uh he would
be good uh I think that to get a perspective maybe from the UK guys would be cool stazz and the through dark guys I can give you his contact um I don't know if I know they'll be around for SHOT show but whenever it is I think be cool to hear what how the cultures are the same or different you know um from from over there and if it's something in a non-tactical space at some point I got to say my my sister's doing really cool things in Canada she's really helping indigenous Community um she
was like a pro boxer she's dabbled in everything from acting to modeling and fitness and She's you know like me had a hard time processing my brother our brother passing uh but she's a [ __ ] fighter Scrapper so um maybe that would happen at some point yeah most of it [ __ ] my family and my friends man right on yeah well hey man seriously I wish you the best of luck and thanks so much hell yeah cheers hey everybody I'm Shawn Ryan click here to subscribe to the Sha Ryan Show YouTube channel for
the hottest and most Compelling interviews that you will not see anywhere else I've also made a playlist of all the previous SRS episodes so they're easy to find you can find that right here