WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:17.440 Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is 2 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:22.280 retired US Navy Seal Lieutenant Mark Green. He's also the author of the recently 3 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:28.239 released book Unsealed, a Navy Seal's Guide to Mastering Transitions and Mark, thank 4 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:30.320 you so much for being with us. Hey, thanks for having me. 5 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.359 Well, let's begin at the beginning of your story. Where were you born 6 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:38.039 and raised? I was born in Anchorage, Alaska back in nineteen seventy one. 7 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.880 I was an Air Force of Brat, so I spent two years there. 8 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.159 Then we went to the Okinawa and I we were bouncing back and forth 9 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:50.960 between Ohio and the Far East So Philippines and then mainland Japan. So you 10 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.960 grew up all over the place. Yeah, yeah, tell me a little 11 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:58.439 bit about your dad service twenty years in the Air Force Vietnam Air Guy. 12 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:04.879 I provided a really great childhood that I didn't appreciate until I got older and 13 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:11.280 understood how cool traveling around the world was and seeing different cultures. Now from 14 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.159 the book, it didn't seem like you were initially planning on a military career. 15 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.719 You were a very good athlete, and we're playing quarterback in college until 16 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:23.079 you were injured, explained what happened there, what type of injury was it, 17 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.879 and what did that do to your mindset about what would be coming next. 18 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.480 So I played quarterback at Miami, Ohio and Kent State. I did 19 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:37.200 really well at Miami. The coaching staff was fantastic. Transferred to Kent State 20 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:41.239 and the coaching staff was not the same level. I was still progressing, 21 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:46.079 but not in the same way I was at Miami and we were doing spring 22 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:51.359 ball. I was third string, which is pretty normal for freshmen. Took 23 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.680 a really bad hit on my shoulder, completely tore up my shoulder, and 24 00:01:55.799 --> 00:02:00.400 I went from plans of being Randall Cunningham and to just smart in the mediocre 25 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:05.640 student, and I was your throwing shoulder. I assume, yeah, yeah, 26 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:10.319 And you know, the doc said it would heal on itself in about 27 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:14.240 four years, three or four years, but he said they could do a 28 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.919 surgery and they pretty much cut me open from my arm pit up to the 29 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:21.159 top of my shoulder and do a repair. You know, I didn't want 30 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.719 to have that scar because in the back of my mind, I was like, 31 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:28.080 I'm young, I'll bounce back. But yeah, at that point, 32 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.439 my football career was over. That wasn't long after that that a friend had 33 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:37.199 planted the idea in your mind of pursuing becoming a Navy seal, both of 34 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.560 you, but it was a few years before you actually acted on it. 35 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:44.080 What was what was your thinking and why did it take you that many years 36 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.879 to do it? I felt since I started college, I felt like it's 37 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:52.159 something I needed to finish. So I transferred back to Miami because you know, 38 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.560 that's closer to home and where my friends were. And I was just 39 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:59.000 going through the motions. You know. I wasn't there because I wanted to 40 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.280 be a student or get a degree. I wanted to play football, and 41 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:07.680 but tried to finish what I started. And that loss of my football career, 42 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:12.479 even though it was challenging in so many hours, was really part of 43 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.439 my identity. And I really just I wouldn't say I spiraled, but I 44 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:21.759 definitely lost focus because that was the focus. And then yeah, eventually flunked 45 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.719 out of college. Well, you say the book also that you're working at 46 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.919 a Blockbuster, and there was just eventually a moment where you said, I'm 47 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:30.840 not doing this another day, I'm getting out of here. And it was 48 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:34.800 not long after that that you enlisted, right, yeah. So I don't 49 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.759 know if you remember that old movie Clerk's So you know there was a guy 50 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:44.560 who could get just a very vague amount of information about a movie and rattle 51 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:50.199 off the movie. So this gentleman walks up and he said, yeah, 52 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:54.240 man, I needed this book about this girl. She turned into an alien 53 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:59.919 and just starts eating dudes. And I was like, and with the most 54 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.919 confidence, he did a double tap on his nose and was like, yeah, 55 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:12.319 Specky's and I said, sir, Oceanian species and he's like yeah. 56 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:15.360 So right after that, I was like, you know what, I've had 57 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.000 it of So I joined the Navy the next day. I was in a 58 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.399 delayed entry, so but it was I was like, when can you get 59 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:26.360 me the first thing out of here up to Great Lakes? And that was 60 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:31.160 in June, and I left for Great Lakes mid July. How about what 61 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:35.120 you thought about what military life would be like. It seems like your your 62 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.240 basic training was a little bit of a culture shock. Well, like, 63 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:43.240 my grandfather was career Army and I grew up in the military, so it 64 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.839 was always an option. But you know, boot camp is boot camp, 65 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.279 you know, you're isolated by a design and you're not sleeping, and you 66 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:54.879 know, you don't have the kind of the creature comforts, and so it 67 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:58.800 was a little bit of a culture shock, but it was the culture shock 68 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.120 lasted for a couple of days, as opposed to some guys throughout that entire 69 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.360 eight weeks just never figured it out. Mine was like, oh man, 70 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:11.600 this is different. And so once I settled in and figured out it was 71 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.879 there was a routine everything and was really structured, which I grew up with. 72 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:19.600 So that initial shock was like whoa. And then once I settled in, 73 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:24.600 you know, it was just long days but short weeks. I think 74 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:28.319 it was week three, two or three. They introduced us, you know, 75 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:30.600 they said, here are a bunch of different cool jobs in the Navy. 76 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.319 And then they showed me the video that my friend Jeff had shown me 77 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:38.519 back in ninety one, and I was excited all over again. So like, 78 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:42.040 yeah, you guys can take the test in two days. So I 79 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.759 say, okay, sweet, I got it. And so I did the 80 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.560 pushups, sit ups, the swim all that stuff. But when I came 81 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.240 to the pull ups, it was just ugly. You know. It was 82 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.639 big six' two two hundred and something pounds strong kid. I'd never done 83 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:03.639 pull up and so I think I got two, maybe three, but I 84 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:09.160 think they gave me three. But I needed that, like, hey, 85 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:11.800 you're not ready for what you're getting ready to do. If you can't do 86 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.600 the eight pull ups, then you're in the wrong business. So what I 87 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:19.279 did was at the end of each night, lights would go out and then 88 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:25.240 I would There was a pole over the bathroom and we just do pull ups 89 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.600 all night. My back was shaking. I think I had three or four 90 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.879 weeks to take the to retest, and then if you didn't retest, then 91 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.079 you know you're gonna I was gonna be a mine man for my career. 92 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.680 So I was like, you know what, this is good. So I 93 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.959 got up to ten pull ups. But this isn't a vacuum right, no, 94 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.120 you know, no, no to the swim and all the other stuff. 95 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:50.920 So I was like, now I can get ten, and if I 96 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.319 really push it, I hope I can get eight. It was still a 97 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:57.000 hope, but you know, once I had reached ten, I was like, 98 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.240 okay, I should I should get it. So did swim that was 99 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:03.160 fine, did the push ups all out? I was like ooh, a 100 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:08.240 little tired. Did the sit ups, and then the dreaded pull ups came 101 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.519 and one, two, three, four, you know, just strong, 102 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:15.040 and then five was a little bit more of a struggle. Six was getting 103 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:19.480 ugly. Seven was definitely ugly, and then eight, like the bar was 104 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:24.279 at my chin. I think I could have gotten it, but I wasn't 105 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:29.480 quite sure, and divine intervention, somebody called the instructor's name and he turned 106 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:31.480 away just for an instant, and that instant was like, Okay, you 107 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:35.079 can either you know, try to get it and may not get it, 108 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.079 or you can, you know, pull your chin up over the bar and 109 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:46.199 pull yourself up. So I made that executive decision and used my chin to 110 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:49.199 pull myself up, and it was I got up to eight right, and 111 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:55.439 the instructor looked back and we locked eyes and he could tell. He's like, 112 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.120 I know you cheated on that one. I was like, I don't 113 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.920 know what you're talking about. So eight counted and I tried to get nine, 114 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.680 but I couldn't get nine, and I hopped down and he's like, 115 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.079 you know, don't get cocky. You still have that run to do. 116 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:11.839 And I was a talented runner, so I was just like, yeah, 117 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:18.120 whatever. But after the after the run, he pulled me over to the 118 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.240 side like, look, I know what you did. He's like, wouldn't 119 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.560 get the buds, work on those, work on your pull ups. I 120 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.839 was like, oh yeah, and went down to Ingleside, Texas for my 121 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:35.679 trade school. And once I'd gotten over that mental barrier of the eight pull 122 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.240 ups, once I got down to Ingleside and had to retake the test, 123 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.159 it was no problem. When did you actually go to buds? January second, 124 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:48.960 nineteen ninety seven when I checked in So joined the Navy in July, 125 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.600 and five or six months later I was at the toughest training center in the 126 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:56.840 world. So you had seen the video. I'm sure you would talk to 127 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.919 people about what it was like. But I've also I heard from enough people 128 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.200 that it's never exactly what you expect, no matter how much you try to 129 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:07.879 prep for it. So how did the reality compare to the expectation for you? 130 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.240 Well, the interesting thing there was no real expectation. I saw that 131 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:15.039 video. There were no seals in Ohio, so I didn't get to talk 132 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.519 to anybody, and the first seal I saw in person was Instructor Brown at 133 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:26.039 Great Lakes and so I didn't know. But I didn't know. I just 134 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:30.679 knew that hell Week was in there somewhere, and it was five days and 135 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.279 no sleep. You know, it's the toughest training in the world. And 136 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.120 when I got there, I thought that it would be this humong as space, 137 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:41.879 right, But it doesn't take a lot of space to create the toughest 138 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:46.279 conditions, and I wasn't ready for it. Nobody, nobody really is. 139 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.000 You can get to a point, but nobody pushes themselves to all out effort 140 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:56.960 for twelve hours a day. Just don't do it. I got there a 141 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:03.679 month early, and I really just worked on getting stronger till the first day. 142 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.120 The first p two had I just it was just I'd never been so 143 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.320 sore in my life. And that was on a Friday, and I got 144 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.360 to recover on the weekend, and then I just got to the business of 145 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.720 getting ready for Buds. But I buged my instructors, how do I do 146 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:20.600 better pushups? And how do I do better this? And how do I 147 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:24.399 do better that? And finally, cream just shut up and you're doing fine, 148 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:30.600 Just please be quiet. But they like that though, because you need 149 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:33.320 to be the best and you're determined to be the best. So well, 150 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:35.440 it might be slightly annoying at times. They could tell that you had to 151 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.960 drive people to do whatever it took, right, yeah, yeah, and 152 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.519 so you endeared yourself to them, even if they wouldn't necessarily admit it. 153 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.879 So in the actual buzz training, whether it's hellwic or anything else, what 154 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.000 was the hardest part? Was it physical, was it mental? Anything specific? 155 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.440 It was the cold water. I mean, you're constantly in cold water 156 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.519 and you're always miserable, and there's no escape. You're either in the Pacific 157 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:01.279 getting surf tortured, or you're at the pool and it's cold at the pool 158 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.000 San Diego on January. I didn't do any research, so I didn't know 159 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:09.480 that San Diego actually had a winter got out of thirty nine degrees at night. 160 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:13.080 So you're just always cold and miserable, and they're sand everywhere. So 161 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:18.440 that was the hardest part. You know, as strong as you are physically 162 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.519 and mentally, as soon as you hit that water, it is you know, 163 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:26.399 it's the great equalizer that's retired to US Navy seal Mark Green. He's 164 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:33.320 also the author of Unsealed, a Navy Seal's Guide to mastering transitions still to 165 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:37.360 come. In this edition, Lieutenant Green gives us a detailed look at sniper 166 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.440 school and the calculations that go into long range shooting. And we'll hear about 167 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.720 the unexpected challenges he overcame and becoming an officer. But up next Green will 168 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:52.240 take us through buds training and how he was nearly killed shortly after becoming a 169 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.879 seal. That's all straight ahead. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles 170 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:03.200 sixty Seconds of Service. This sixty seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile. 171 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.720 T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military families and are proud 172 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:11.759 supporters of the National Defense Network. Visit tmobile dot com slash military to learn 173 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.799 more about how they support our military community. Make sure you don't forget our 174 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:20.720 guys on the East Side. This short request between Erie County Legislator April Baskin 175 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:24.840 and Bob James of Buffalo Blues for Vets led to a year long study on 176 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.879 how veterans in East Buffalo have a different set of needs. That info is 177 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.759 driving new projects funded by the music charity, where James is a director. 178 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.799 That charity has raised over two hundred and sixty thousand dollars for thirty one nonprofits 179 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:43.320 serving veterans and military families by engaging over two hundred and fifty musicians to donate 180 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.879 their time and talent playing over eighty music fundraisers. Today's sixty seconds of Service 181 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.399 is brought to you by Prevagen. Prevagen is the number one pharmacist recommended memory 182 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:58.039 support brand. You can find Prevagen and the Vitamin Aisle in stores everywhere. 183 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.399 This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. This is part one of a 184 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:07.600 two podcast interview with retired US Navy Seal Lieutenant Mark Green. He is also 185 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:13.399 the author of Unsealed, a US Navy Seal's guide to Mastering Transitions Still to 186 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.399 come. In this addition, Green will tell us about the riggers of sniper 187 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.440 school and the rocky path to becoming an officer. But first, Green shares 188 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:26.519 his reflections on BUDS training and what proved to be the biggest challenges. Did 189 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.960 his many years of football and being coached hard help prepare him for all the 190 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:35.200 training? Not as well as you might think. Well, the yelling part 191 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:39.360 didn't get to me at all because it was just white noise. You know, 192 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.039 you could filter that out, but what I each day was a little 193 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:48.240 bit easier than I thought. But one day's good, but one hundred and 194 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.559 seventy nine more days, you know, it was harder cumulatively than I thought. 195 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:58.000 Once you do Hell week, you're just so wiped out physically and mentally 196 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.600 because it takes so much effort to get through. But you have to get 197 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:05.240 faster and better and stronger each phase. So that's when the mental part kicks 198 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:09.080 in because your body's like no more, but mentally you're like, yeah, 199 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.480 you got some left, and you want to get through this training and achieve 200 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:18.600 this goal. So I think that's where the mental part takes over. I 201 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:22.399 got lucky, and once I got there, I figured out that I got 202 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.519 hungry every four hours, and right when my son would start growling, they 203 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:30.720 would send us off to eat. So I was like, wait a second, 204 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:35.759 they feed us every four hours. So then it wasn't hey, I'm 205 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:37.639 having a hard time getting thro a twelve hour day. It was just a 206 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:43.440 four hour block. So then I broke up buds in the manageable chunks for 207 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:46.399 me. So then once I got that part done, that was the mental 208 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.399 part of it, and then the physical part I was surviving and my body 209 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.559 was holding up for the physical So then at the end of the day, 210 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:56.480 I was just working out in San Diego with my buddies on the beach, 211 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.559 so I was like, Okay, well this isn't so bad. And so 212 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.919 amate what they're trying to do is kind of break you down and build you 213 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:07.960 up and too working as a team while you as an individual are being evaluated. 214 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.440 So what's it like to have that switch flip in your mind about why 215 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.360 you're there and what they're trying to actually accomplish there? Looking back on it, 216 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:22.120 you know you have to They have high levels of intensity, right, 217 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:26.639 and then there's a lull for amount of time you don't know how long it's 218 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:28.960 going to be, and then they ramp it back up. But then you're 219 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.639 also having to think through problems. And what that selection course does is it 220 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:39.879 really prepares you for what a deployment or what combat's going to be going to 221 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:46.120 be like. And they simulate that really really well, and it's really to 222 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:50.639 bring out the attribute you need to survive the course for one, but then 223 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:56.600 that mentality to go on to be a seal. So it's very necessary, 224 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:03.159 it's very calculated and once do you make it through that grinder. You have 225 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:10.360 twenty in my case, eighteen guys who are physically and mentally ready and have 226 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.600 earned the right to do that job. Shortly after you got your tried m 227 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:18.039 hm, you were out on an exercise with the USS Kitty Hawk. Oh 228 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.600 yeah, and so you know what's coming here. And the amazing thing this 229 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:23.840 has happened once to you. The fact that it happened twice to you on 230 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:27.840 another mission off the USS German Town is crazy. You fell off the boat 231 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.200 twice and you almost got chopped up by the propeller twice. So explain, 232 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:36.399 explain what's going on here? Which would first order? Second would let's go 233 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:41.320 Kitty Hawk first. Okay, so we're doing a VBSS a visit board Search 234 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.039 and seizure, which means you fast up onto the deck of the ship, 235 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.600 and then some people take one part of the ship and another group takes the 236 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:52.360 other part of the ship and we do what's called a crawl, walk, 237 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:56.240 run, you know. And we met the pilots and they came out and 238 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:00.559 one guy came out and said, all right, man, I'm the best 239 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.720 pilot in the squadron. We're gonna we're going to do a great mission. 240 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.559 I was like, man, this guy's good. So during the day it 241 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:11.359 was Lake Placid out there, and he did a great run. We dropped 242 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.319 everybody off. But then at night, you know we did we ramp everything 243 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.920 up full full speed, and the sea state was really bad and we were 244 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:23.920 right on the limit where the waves were either too high to do it safely, 245 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.319 but you know, we want to accomplish the missions. So everyone's like, 246 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:32.759 yeah, we're right at the limit, but we're going. So first 247 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:37.759 helicopter comes down, drops off eight guys and takes off, and then my 248 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.039 pilot I was looking at him and he was just white knuckle on that yoke 249 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:47.279 and rightfully so, I mean, the ship is bound going this way and 250 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:53.359 he's trying to keep us on station. So six guys go down and the 251 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:57.440 air crewman says, okay, sir, we have two more. The pilot 252 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:02.359 thought, he said no more, so he starts taking So Todd hits the 253 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.000 deck and then all of a sudden, I'm going down the rope as fast 254 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.640 as I can, and all of a sudden, the Hito's taken off from 255 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.759 the strong Texan, from the ship we're going to hit, and I'm like, 256 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:15.680 why are we leaving the ship. I haven't hit the ground yet, 257 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:21.160 So then I realized what's happening, and so I tried to do my stop. 258 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:25.599 I stopped right before I hit the water, and I'm trying to climb 259 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:29.440 back up the rope toor I can hook in with my feet and just you 260 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:33.799 know, hang on. And I looked up at the at the helicopter and 261 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.799 for some reason, augusta wind caught it or something. But there was this 262 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:41.559 long, this width in the line, and I saw it coming. I'm 263 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:45.359 like, oh, it was bad and snapped me right off. I think 264 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:49.319 I think I felt like one hundred feet. And then I hit the water 265 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.400 and the ship's going one way and the current has pushed me the other way. 266 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.839 And I put on my stroke light and I hear this disgusting sound, 267 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:06.119 so it is shorted out. In the meantime the waters, I'm sucking down 268 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.680 a bunch of salt water. So I had to turn around and then I 269 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:14.039 just started floating out to sea. And it took him a little while to 270 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:18.000 and realized that I was gone. So I'm like, man, this is 271 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:19.880 bad. I don't know where I am. I don't know where Catleena is, 272 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:22.640 so I could swim to Catalina. If it was thirty miles, you 273 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.640 know, I'd swim the thirty miles or where San Clemente Island was. So 274 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:30.680 I didn't know if I started swimming. I had no idea worked a way 275 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.440 I was going. And the worst sound I've ever heard in my entire life 276 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:38.559 was the helicopter does a figure eight trying to look for you. And I 277 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:42.319 was on the outside of the figure eight. And the worst sound I've ever 278 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:48.039 heard was the here the helicopter coming towards me and then veer off and go 279 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:52.000 back. And I was like, they can't see me. And it's two 280 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.400 in the morning, and I'm like, all right, I don't guess I'm 281 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:59.319 swimming. So I popped my life vest. But it's rated for somebody who's 282 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:03.039 one hundred and forty pounds and I was two twenty with all my gear, 283 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.880 so I was pushing close to two sixty and I started to sink, I 284 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.640 said, I started to panic a little bit. I was like, wait 285 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:12.920 a second, You're in the middle of a great white breeding ground right now, 286 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.759 and I'm splashing around, and I'm like, I'm getting ready to be 287 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:19.279 food. So figure this thing out. So I calmed down, and then 288 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:23.240 I get ready to put my fins on. I had a spare light, 289 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:26.759 so I pulled out my spare light and I turned it on and I just 290 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.119 looked towards where I think the ship is. But again, I start to 291 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:34.279 suck down a bunch of water. So I turned back around again, and 292 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.519 one of our guys had an experimental night vision scope on his rifle and he 293 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:45.519 puts the night vision scope on the hel goes back up, and about thirty 294 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:49.119 or forty five minutes later, I hear his helicopter coming and I can tell 295 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.480 it's coming right at me. So I turned my you know, I turned 296 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.759 towards the sound, and had John not had that night vision guggle, I 297 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.799 would have hyped out because I was out. I was getting hypothermic already. 298 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.319 Helicopter comes in and the pie over the search and rescue guy. They have 299 00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:10.519 a script like I'm here to save you. Calm down. So he comes 300 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:11.559 down, does a script and I was like, hey, man, I 301 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.519 get it. Will you just get me under the water. He's like, 302 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:21.519 oh yeah, man. So he voiced me up. And that was my 303 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:26.079 first near death experience. That's retired US Navy seal Mark Green. He's also 304 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:32.640 the author of Unsealed and Navy Seal's Guide to Mastering Transitions. Still to come. 305 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:36.640 In this edition, we'll hear all about the challenges of sniper school and 306 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:41.279 the hurdles Lieutenant Green had to clear to become an officer. But up next 307 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.480 you hear about the other time the Green fell overboard and was almost killed. 308 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:52.960 I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm 309 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.279 Greg Corumbus. This is the first installment of a two part interview with retired 310 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:02.000 US Navy Seal Mark Green. We now pay up green story by skipping ahead 311 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:07.160 for just a moment to another instance of him being knocked overboard and nearly killed. 312 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.599 That was an amphib So we had a bunch of marines on. So 313 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:15.119 they have these boats that they put in the well deck, and so when 314 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:18.359 it's time to launch, they flood the well deck and you know, the 315 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:22.440 boats can launch. So we had been on you know, we'd been steaming 316 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.319 down south for about a week and we finally needed to just start prepping for 317 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:32.319 the missions we're doing. And you know, one of the new guys was 318 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:37.279 looking at everybody on the fantail. There were some girls up there, and 319 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:41.119 he's just like, hey, they'd being a cool guy. So he's missing 320 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.680 the back of the ship and we all yell his name and he's veering off. 321 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:49.200 So he looks and said, oh okay, and he corrects. And 322 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:55.640 I was on the sponsor and we were like five feet from the from the 323 00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:00.680 ship and I fell over the side right in the chop, in the chop 324 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.960 and the prop wash. So I went from the surface to thirty feet like 325 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:07.720 instantly, almost, and all of a sudden, I'm looking down there. 326 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:12.000 I'm just like, you've got to be kidding me. So I try to 327 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.960 swim up and it's like a huge hand, like the hand of Aside and 328 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:21.559 was just holding me down. So I sit back and it was like I 329 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:25.160 was sitting in a chair. It's almost i've ever been. And I leaned 330 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.759 back and I'm just like and I looked down at my life vest and I'm 331 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:32.480 like, I can't pop this thing because I could rock it to the surface. 332 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.039 So I just sit back and just sit in my chair and I'm like, 333 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:40.000 all right, I'm gonna try one more time. So I tried to 334 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.880 get up again, and the same hand was there and I sat back in 335 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:48.680 my chair and I was like, Okay, I'm gonna try this one more 336 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.640 time. And then I tried it one more time and I started to make 337 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:56.160 a little headway. So thirty feet later, I pop up to the surface, 338 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.400 I rate right, and the ship's back a quarter mile way. Ipleton 339 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:07.240 thought it was dead, and so they they see this head pop up and 340 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:10.839 they, you know, they haul but to come pick me up. And 341 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.960 my friend Ryan looks at me, puts his hand out and it's like, 342 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.359 hey man, you might need to rethink this whole water thing now in between 343 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:22.160 these two. Uh you also went to sniper school. Yeah, so how 344 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:27.279 did that happen? And how easily or difficult that did becoming excellent at that 345 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:32.039 come to you? So it was it was probably it's a ten week stress 346 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:36.559 course and it was awful. It was just miserable. So we're back from 347 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:41.000 our first deployment and nobody's at the command and there's no expectation of us, 348 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:47.039 and I want to check on my gear and I'm walking out the compound and 349 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.480 I hear some guys say, hey you, what are you doing? And 350 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:52.039 I look over I was like, hey, I just step back from the 351 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:52.720 point and get ready to go home. He's like, nope, Pecker, 352 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.240 shit, we have one seat left in sniper school and you need to fill 353 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:00.640 it. So so that's how I got sniper school. I mean, some 354 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:06.200 people wait their entire career, or you know, they're an opportuny, or 355 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:10.079 do a cycle for four years just to get this course. And here I 356 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:15.079 was literally just walking across the grinder mine my own business and pushed into I 357 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:22.200 haven't been to the breacher school, but the sniper school was just miserable and 358 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:26.640 I wasn't even a great shooter. So I did what I always do. 359 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.160 I panicked at first. I was like, man, I'm not ready for 360 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:33.359 this, but I sat through the classes and all of a sudden, Mark's 361 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:38.160 who was bugging my buds instructors. It was ten times worse for my sniper 362 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:42.039 instructors, and they're just like, Green, please shut up and get on 363 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:45.559 the line to shoot. But I was really I you know, I was 364 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:48.000 really obsessed. Once I was there and given the opportunity, I wasn't gonna 365 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:53.440 let it slip. So I really just studied the art of sniping and I 366 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:57.599 did all kinds of drills just to see what's called the trace which is the 367 00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:02.759 hardest thing to do, is to watch the bullet vapor as it's going through 368 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:06.519 the air hit your target. And once you see that, it really changes 369 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.000 things. But you know, you have tests every day, you have to 370 00:26:08.279 --> 00:26:12.240 get eighty percent on all your tests, and you just it teaches you to 371 00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:18.559 see the world in a completely different way, like you're looking for any of 372 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.119 the smallest anomalies in nature. If you're in a meadow and all of a 373 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:26.839 sudden you see one thing that's man made and straight, but okay, that 374 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:32.079 doesn't fit. And then your life is built in one hundred yard increments because 375 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:34.079 you know you're like, Okay, that target's two hundred and fifty yards a 376 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:38.039 way, Win's coming from right to left at twelve to fifteen. Here's what 377 00:26:38.119 --> 00:26:41.240 my hole's going to be. Then you know, how do I hide and 378 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.880 get into a good sniper hide, and how do I make my shot? 379 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:47.680 What's my cold board look like today? And you know you're going through all 380 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:51.160 these calculations, and it's constant. Everybody's a great shooter, and I just 381 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.480 felt like I was just playing catch up. But I got my eighty two 382 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:57.519 percent and it's a shooting portion. And then went onto the to the stalking 383 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:02.240 portion, and I didn't make the stalking portion the first time, so I 384 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:07.640 had to recycle, and a year later I graduated the stalker portion and got 385 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:12.559 my sniper certificate. But it was it's a brutal course, but it's necessary 386 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:18.920 because you're on your own with your sniper pair and you go behind enemy lines 387 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.920 and either take a shot, but you observe the enemy in his own backyard, 388 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:27.519 and it just takes a completely different skill set. Talk about the sniper 389 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:32.720 pair or spotter a as some would say, and the dynamic. You'll explain 390 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:36.319 this really well in the book. And the spotter is actually the one who's 391 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:42.079 usually considered the better shot. So how does that teamwork play out, identifying 392 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:45.640 the target, confirming the target, figuring out all the different dynamics like wind 393 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:48.880 and everything. How how does that work? And how quickly do you have 394 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:55.000 to get all those facts in order? So if we're if it's a typical 395 00:27:55.119 --> 00:28:00.960 sniper of you and your spotter're usually working for the entire year. Greg was 396 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.799 my spotter and he just he was a great shooter, but he could just 397 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:10.200 understand the wind in the atmospheric second nature, and I had to work really 398 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:12.599 hard at it, and I mean the differences are marginal, but when you're 399 00:28:12.599 --> 00:28:18.079 taking shots out to five or eight one thousand yards, you know that margin 400 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:22.920 gets bigger. So initially it starts off with a lot of communication, right, 401 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.400 and then over the course of your workup you know it's now it's just 402 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:30.480 a grunt or two because you're all on the same page. And he's like, 403 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:34.880 hey, you've got to target at eleven o'clock, and then I range 404 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:38.559 it, and then he confirms the range. I confirm my dope with him, 405 00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:44.640 which is data previous engagement. So you just have what at two hundred 406 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:48.119 yards what you have to doll your scope into. So but your spot is 407 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:53.640 constantly looking at the wind, the wind conditions indicators, which should be either 408 00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:00.119 the grass blowing or leaves in the trees. But if you're in a city 409 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.680 and you can't see any of that stuff, you have to look at the 410 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:07.319 mirage coming off of the street. You see the mirage and it's what's called 411 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:12.000 a boil. That means there's no wind and the mirage is coming straight up 412 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:18.039 like this. But if the wind is blowing, it actually pushes the mirage 413 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.039 over and then we can calculate the wind by how far the the mirage is 414 00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:26.440 getting pushed over, and then you have to do It's called call your shot. 415 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:32.559 So I always shoot a right handed but I'm a left handed shooter, 416 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:36.279 so whenever I would shoot, it would I would push it a little bit 417 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.640 down into the right. So when I would take a shot, it's like, 418 00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:44.279 hey, that was four o'clock. So Greg would look at four o'clock 419 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:48.319 and he's like, yep, that's a good hit. But he's constantly looking, 420 00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.799 so he's got to be so good to the point where he can watch 421 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:55.440 the round flying through the air. And if I happen to miss, which 422 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.480 never happened, he would correct me right on the spot, say come up 423 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:03.480 a minute, over a minute and take your next shot. So it all 424 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.799 happens really fast, and I'm paying attention to the target. He's paying attention 425 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:14.160 to ninety percent of everything else. And he is this constant communication. He's 426 00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:17.880 just letting me go with what the wind's doing and where my targets are. 427 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.799 But by the end of it, you're on target and you're so dialed into 428 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.240 each other. He would just nudge my leg on a certain direction and I 429 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.559 knew that was three o'clock on my right leg, and then he would do 430 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:33.839 it on my left leg. So it's just it's not so much communication was 431 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.839 through body language, Like if he saw something, he would tense up and 432 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:37.400 I would feel and I was like, what you got and he's like, 433 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:41.559 over at three o'clock or nine o'clock, I got something. I'd look over 434 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:45.839 And there was just so many non verbals. But when you're in bad Gat 435 00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.000 country you can't talk a lot, and you were saying the book you could 436 00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:53.839 actually target things up to a mile away, so depending on the weapon system 437 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:57.480 we had, so we were practicing for taking a shot at a mile away, 438 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:02.519 so that changes every thing you know you have. You have the basics, 439 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.680 but then you're like at the wind at two hundreds, doing come in 440 00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.519 this one direction? But are four hundred this is a different direction, And 441 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:11.839 on target it's something else. And it depends on where you're taking your shot. 442 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.680 If you're taking your shot in the desert, that's completely different on your 443 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:21.480 because because the gunpowder is hotter, so the round's gonna fly higher higher, 444 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:25.519 So that changes, you know everything. But then we have to take shots 445 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:29.920 in Alaska, so we have to have our data for each atmosphere condition, 446 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:33.799 sea level, two thousand feet up in the mountains. You know, all 447 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:37.640 that stuff has to be taken into account. So and then when you're shooting 448 00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:40.480 out to a mile, you know you have to factor in the curvature of 449 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:45.880 the earth sometimes you know the Corelis effect, and you know that changes things 450 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:48.559 too. I was told there would be no math, but apparently there is. 451 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.000 There's a lot of app But you shoot so much you don't you don't 452 00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:59.480 like do the math anymore. You're like, Okay, this round at this 453 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:01.960 distance, with this elevation, this is what this round's going to do. 454 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:06.400 And so out to a mile, it's like, hey, I have target 455 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:08.839 it out to a mile, so you know, load up your mile data 456 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.240 and you know hold. So the shot that we took at a mile, 457 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:16.960 we had to hold a football field to the right of the target, so 458 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:22.160 over the course of a mile, it would push the round one hundred yards. 459 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:27.960 Incredible, incredible. All right, let's move to nine to eleven. 460 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:30.519 Where were you on that day and how did that immediately change your life? 461 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:35.440 We were deployed to Okinawa. I think it was a movie night. So 462 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:42.279 it happened in the evening for us because we were in Okinawa and somebody's like, 463 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:45.519 everybody, get in here. So we thought we were watching a movie 464 00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:52.440 of the towers on fire or the wind tower on fire, and we didn't 465 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:54.799 really understand what was going on. And then a few minutes later we see 466 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:59.000 the other plane hit. I was like, oh, all right, and 467 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:04.599 then the phone starts ring and everybody has to accounter for and then it's just 468 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:09.920 chaos, you know, because we went from Vietnam era tactics and planning and 469 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:17.880 operations to we're not quite sure what we're doing. So everything changed, and 470 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:22.480 everything became hey, this is this is not a joke anymore. This is 471 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.519 all this trainings you've been doing for the last year and a half to deploy, 472 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:32.240 but now it's happening. And so yeah, it was just everything was 473 00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:37.319 real at that point. Between nine to eleven and your first deployment to Iraq, 474 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:43.640 you pursued Officer Candidate School two thousand and three. How did that opportunity 475 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:46.079 arise? And as you describe in the book, it was kind of a 476 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:50.839 miserable experience. So what were the biggest challenges for you there? Ohcs are 477 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:53.079 just getting my package done. A couple of different things there. Let's talk 478 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:57.599 about the package first, because one of the interesting things that you talk about 479 00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:00.880 in your book is preconceived. No he might have about people didn't turn out 480 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:04.240 that way. There was one guy who was a former skinhead that you were 481 00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:07.480 warned about, and ultimately he had kind of reformed himself and he was fine. 482 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:09.760 Yet on your path to become an officer, there are a couple of 483 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:15.920 black officers who were very reluctant to move you along. So this talk about 484 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.239 that a little bit. Yeah, that was the strangest thing because a master 485 00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:22.559 chief said, hey, this is this is different. You know, we're 486 00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:25.760 going to become an officer. Everything you do is and listen, throw that 487 00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:30.519 away because it is completely different. So I had a ton of support from 488 00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:36.360 my commandee officer and my EXO and officers who had worked with me. And 489 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:42.519 I go through the selection process of you know, interviews with the officers, 490 00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:45.800 which is equally brutal. You know, they're like, hey, we have 491 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:51.000 to confirm that you're going to be a good officer. So I do that 492 00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:54.400 process and then I take it over to the administrative chief. I thought thought 493 00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:58.360 he was a buddy of mine. We're working through, you know, polishing 494 00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:00.480 up my package, and then he gives his check off and I take it 495 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:04.760 to the officer's going to do the final sign off. He's like, why 496 00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:07.400 is this have two nines on it? I was like, sir, I 497 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:08.719 have no idea what you're talking about. It's like, I gave you all 498 00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:14.039 tens and now that I'm looking at it, my grade has been changed. 499 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.119 And I was like, huh, it's like, well, somebody changed it, 500 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.639 because I know I gave you all tens. And he's like, if 501 00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:22.960 if we hadn't reviewed that, you would have sent your package up and they 502 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:27.599 said no, because you didn't. You didn't get all tens. So I 503 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:29.599 go to the chief. I was like, hey, Cheef, what what's 504 00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:32.159 happening. He's like, oh, you know, it must have been a 505 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:37.360 typo, and I just looked at him. I'm like, you've been in 506 00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:40.320 this job for twenty years. You knew exactly what you were doing. And 507 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:45.000 they called about on and you know, eye contact stopped and he just kind 508 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:50.840 of looked at his shoes and I was like, I cannot believe that you 509 00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:55.440 made a conscious effort to torpedo my career. And had Rosie not checked it, 510 00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.400 then you know, I would have still bedn't listen. I was still 511 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:06.000 going to seal, which been great, but just to be for that effort 512 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:10.599 to just say, hey, your community believes you're gonna be a good officer. 513 00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:16.039 I, as a as a Navy chief was like, yeah, I'm 514 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:20.280 gonna do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. Is it because 515 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:23.119 they thought you would have a hard time as a black officer? Did you 516 00:36:23.159 --> 00:36:27.880 have any idea why they would do that? I mean, that's really complex 517 00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:32.480 to go to, really complex issues, but it was he just didn't want 518 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:40.119 me to succeed, and he had the ability and the desire and the means 519 00:36:40.159 --> 00:36:45.199 to make sure that happened, and he made an effort. He made a 520 00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:50.360 conscious decision to like, I'm gonna sneak this in so he doesn't become an 521 00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:53.239 authomat. And then the other one, you repeatedly asked him to send it 522 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:57.840 in and he never did, and because you got the inclination that he wouldn't, 523 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:02.000 you did it himself. Yeah. Yeah, So this guy, same 524 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:05.599 thing I was. I was talking to him and lett him know that my 525 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:07.559 package was due, and I was like, hey, sir, are you 526 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:09.920 going to I need to mail this off by X amount of on this date? 527 00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:13.599 And I keep checking and check and say, oh, Mark, I'll 528 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:15.320 get to it. And I was like, something's not right. So he 529 00:37:15.480 --> 00:37:20.599 was gone on leave and he because he wouldn't give me my package. So 530 00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:22.880 he was on leave. I was like, hey, the other admin who 531 00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:24.960 was there, I was like, hey, can I get a copy of 532 00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:28.679 my package? Just need to change a couple of things. So I made 533 00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:30.920 a complete copy of the package. You got the address and mailed it, 534 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:37.760 mailed the copy and left the original in his desk. And after the deadline, 535 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:39.159 I was like, hey, sir, you know did you get my 536 00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:44.360 my OCS package out? And he looked like, oh, man, I 537 00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:46.159 missed the deadline. You just gonna have to wait till next year. You'll 538 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.280 get it though, And I was like, you know what, I thought 539 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:52.719 you were going to do that. So I made a copy and I sent 540 00:37:52.760 --> 00:37:57.440 it in on time. He was so angry with me because he was just 541 00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:00.159 like, yeah, you'll get it next time, because I would have had 542 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:02.559 to go through the entire process all over again. One of the things that 543 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.679 officers say is like, you have to take care of your own career. 544 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:09.159 And I was just like, you know what, my dream and goal of 545 00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:13.400 becoming an officer is not going to be stut by this guy, and so 546 00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:16.559 I just did it myself. And I was surprising him that when he was 547 00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:22.800 a black officer also and same thing. He was like, not on my 548 00:38:22.920 --> 00:38:24.920 watch, you're not going to be an officer. That's retired US Navy Seal 549 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:30.039 Mark Green. Don't miss part two of our conversation with Lieutenant Green. In 550 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:35.119 our next edition, you'll hear about his priorities as an officer, his deployments 551 00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:38.360 to war zones and the work he did there, and his work now helping 552 00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:45.159 military veterans transition from service to the private sector and thrive while doing so. 553 00:38:45.039 --> 00:39:00.280 That's next time. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. Hi. 554 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:05.840 This is Greg Corumbus, and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation 555 00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:12.239 of the American Veterans Center. For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot 556 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:16.119 org. You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter 557 00:39:16.239 --> 00:39:22.440 We're at AVC update. Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full 558 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:28.400 oral histories and special features, and of course, please subscribe to the Veterans 559 00:39:28.440 --> 00:39:32.840 Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please 560 00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:36.320 join us next time for Veterans Chronicles.