WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.799 Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Team House. I'm Jack Murphy, 2 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.160 and today we have an episode that I have wanted 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.880 to do almost since this podcast started. It is a 4 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.919 very unlikely and relatively unknown story about the US Coast Guard, 5 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:18.960 and many of you would probably be surprised to hear 6 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.199 that in the nineteen nineties the Coast Guard was down 7 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.559 in Central America and South America conducting operations that you 8 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:30.960 would normally associate with special forces going down there and 9 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:36.200 training local units and accompanying them out into the jungles 10 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:40.960 and destroying drug labs. Giuseppe Weller, our guest today, was 11 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:44.679 one of those individuals assigned to what was called the DAT, 12 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:49.640 the Drug Interdiction Assist Team. They worked hand in glove 13 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:53.799 with the DEA and other agencies. The program went on, 14 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:57.560 you know, through the late eighties into I guess the 15 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.000 mid to late nineteen nineties. But we'll get into the 16 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:02.640 whole history of it. But I mean, I think it's 17 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.280 a fascinating story and I think more people need to 18 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:07.439 know about it. So I appreciate you coming on the 19 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:08.000 show today. 20 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.200 Thank you glad to be here. 21 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.079 So if you could tell us a little bit about 22 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:17.040 your own kind of upbringing and how that sort of 23 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:18.799 took you towards eventually the Coast Guard. 24 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.519 So I was originally born in Italy. 25 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.239 My father was a US Army staff sergeant, so met 26 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.040 my mother there. I have two other brothers, So I 27 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:32.519 spent fourteen years between Germany and Italy on an American basis. 28 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.239 And then, you know, it's a little staff story. My father, 29 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:38.640 you know, Vietnam veteran, got in trouble in the army, 30 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.719 so they separated, my mom separated, and the only thing 31 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:44.120 that the Army did was send us back to the 32 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:46.239 United States. So I was never back in Italy. I 33 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.400 was pretty much, you know, a soccer player back at 34 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:51.040 those days. So when I came to the United States, 35 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.560 we bounced around from Maryland to d c. And Virginia, 36 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:56.920 and I was going through high schools and the only 37 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:58.959 way back to Italy was to try to get into 38 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.120 like the military to go back. 39 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.319 And that's what I was trying to do, is to 40 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:03.920 go back home. 41 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:05.840 And you know, I was seventeen then, and then my 42 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:09.680 you know, my mother was like, no, no, Army, you 43 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.080 have got to stay in you know, something else. And 44 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.319 I remember going down to the recruiter for the Air Force. 45 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:16.039 My brother was in the Air Force, my other one. 46 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.879 So I didn't like to recruiting side of it, you know. 47 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:20.360 I wanted him to give me something like I was 48 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.240 going to be on shore patrol doing some kind of 49 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.080 police work. He wouldn't guarantee. And so when I went 50 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:28.159 back home that day, my mom was like, hey, the 51 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:30.280 Coast Guard called. And so that's what got me to 52 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:31.879 the Coast Guard. So I went to go see the 53 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:35.360 recruiter down in Alexandria, Virginia, and I spent a few 54 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.479 days down there, and then I realized, you know what 55 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:39.560 they did, not just Coast Guard. You know, there was 56 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:41.919 a bunch of drug war pictures that the recruiter had 57 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.840 on his you know, on his on his on his 58 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.520 board and stuff. So that's what started everything. And then 59 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:52.360 you know, I just I enlisted. I forget what they 60 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:53.919 called it, but I enlisted before I came out of 61 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.360 high school. So in January. I enlisted in January, my 62 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.199 senior year. I was only seventeen. And then once I 63 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.479 left high school, I went to Cape manew Jersey to 64 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.759 my recruiting there and I got my first station down 65 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:08.439 in Key West from nineteen eighty six to nineteen ninety, 66 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.719 I was on a service effects ship, which was a hydrofoil. Basically, 67 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.879 there was three of them down there at the Petro 68 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.000 Sheerwater and the Seahawk. So once I got down there, 69 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.240 that's where my law enforcement piece started to come together, 70 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.039 and you know, I started to experience how law enforcement 71 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.719 worked in the maritime side of things. And you know, 72 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.240 I was E two, became an E three there and 73 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.680 then I struck my boast inmate, you know rating, and 74 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:35.800 I was asked to stay one more year from the 75 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:37.840 billet officer if I could help out because they have 76 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.080 nobody to come in at an E four. And I 77 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.759 did that, and that's how things started to turn around. 78 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:47.039 In my last year. My commanding officer was Bickham was 79 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:49.800 his last name. He was a law enforcement detachment team 80 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.400 captain for the lead that's down in Miami, and he 81 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.319 had asked me, you know, if I wanted to stay 82 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:57.479 in law enforcement, he could get me to a unit 83 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.319 that was very special in the Coast Guard and it 84 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:02.439 was unheard of. The only problem was you needed to 85 00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:04.080 be an E five and above and I was only 86 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.439 an E four. So the billet officers basically gave me 87 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:10.599 a guarantee that if I did one year for him 88 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.039 in Key West, he would send me there without their 89 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:14.960 knowledge and that would be my orders. 90 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.360 So that's how it all worked out. 91 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:22.439 So in nineteen ninety, I basically flew into Portsmouth, Virginia. 92 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:23.839 That's where they were stationed at. 93 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:29.199 They had they had an office building away from the 94 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.240 District five headquarters in Portsmouth, so it was on top 95 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:35.279 of a bank, so they were segregated there. We still 96 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:39.040 wore uniforms, but I showed up there basically, and that's 97 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:40.399 how it all started. So when I walked in the 98 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:44.839 office as an E four, my commanding officer, Imhoff, which 99 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:46.519 his name was like looking at me, kind of strange, 100 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.399 and my orders were in place, and that's how it started. 101 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:51.040 So they ad he had to take me in and 102 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:52.279 we started going from there. 103 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:57.240 So before we get into the sort of like Coastguard 104 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.079 special ops, if you will, could you tell our audience 105 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.240 a little bit about the more like historic normal role 106 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:07.800 of the Coast Guard and what their job is, what 107 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:10.600 your job was, so that they can kind of understand 108 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:13.399 how different and unique this specific program was. 109 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:16.360 Yeah, so basically the Coast Guard, you know, you go 110 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.680 out there search and rescue with the primary missions. You know, 111 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:21.560 you have small stations all over the United States and 112 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.000 abroad you have some like in Italy, all streets you 113 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.800 have those times, and you have they do a lot 114 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:29.920 of navigation buoy tending, so all the navlites and in 115 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:32.639 the lakes and Michigan around you know, the borders of 116 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:34.480 the United States. They patrol a small side of the 117 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.279 United States. They have small boats to you know, ships 118 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:40.160 are about three hundred and seventy five feet long. 119 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:42.079 You can be on a cutter for a while. 120 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.800 But you know, they have all kinds of ratings, mechanics 121 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.000 and bosn's mates and you know, all kinds of different 122 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:49.360 job aspects of it. But your primary missions is search 123 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:52.839 and rescue. And plus they have a bonics they have 124 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:57.399 you know, they have people who have diving techniques and 125 00:05:57.399 --> 00:05:59.399 all these little pieces. And your basic job is search 126 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:02.720 and rescue and buoy tending or navigation. And that's kind 127 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.199 of like the two little primary areas you're into and 128 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.360 that's what you do pretty much for your career. And 129 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:09.120 you kind of pick and choose your routes what you 130 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:11.480 want to do, what you're rating is, and you kind 131 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:14.079 of grow yourself through you know, through rank all the 132 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:14.639 way through. 133 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.839 So you know, I always wanted to stay in the 134 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:18.839 law enforcement mission. 135 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.040 You know, you always tasked to do some law enforcement 136 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:23.360 and some some search and rescue and some other things 137 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:24.120 that are required. 138 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.279 But you basically a search and rescue kind of guy. 139 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:31.079 Did the Coast Guard or do they have a sort 140 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.160 of mission of like border security so to speak, that 141 00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:37.680 they are kind of like protecting America, you know, are 142 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.920 our East and West coast and have like that sort 143 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.439 of interdiction mission also. 144 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:45.639 Yeah, so we do a lot of maritime interdiction. 145 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.720 It could be human trafficking, you know, immigrants coming over. 146 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:50.680 If you do that. You know, we're small and I 147 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:53.319 think if I remember when I was in the academy, 148 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.120 they're a boot camp. I think we're a thirty six 149 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.839 thousand total at the time in the eighties, and I 150 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.040 think the New York Police Department was like thirty eight thousand. Yeah, 151 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:05.519 so a lot smaller. So we kind of try to 152 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:07.360 do those tasks. And you know, we have a lot 153 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:09.879 of mileage the mileage around the United States to cover, 154 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:13.680 but we also have you know places abroad that we 155 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.120 go also in other places, so we're very like small 156 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.319 when it comes to it, kind. 157 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:21.879 Of like, you know, not in maritime, it's not so elite. 158 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:24.800 Nowadays it is because it has changed, But in those days, 159 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.600 your primary admission was always search and rescue, and then 160 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:31.040 law enforcement, you know, assisting in the immigration work that 161 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:33.560 was just alwa secondary, but search and rescue was always 162 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:34.319 the first primary. 163 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.399 And so when you walked through the door as an 164 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:43.199 e for to this highly specialized unit, kind of secretive 165 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.240 unit in the Coast Guard, what was your conception of 166 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:46.800 what they did. 167 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.959 I had no idea, zero I had when I got 168 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:57.399 the orders to go. I remember my commanding officers basically saying, hey, 169 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.759 you're going to have fun, and I had no idea 170 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:01.600 where going to get into. I didn't know what I 171 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.000 was doing. I wasn't like, you know, one of those 172 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:05.800 in the Coast Guard. Basically, you know, you're not into 173 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.319 this elite mode where you're always training every day, you're 174 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.800 in the gymnasium, you're doing this, you're doing that, you're 175 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:14.560 on the range left and right. We did small these qualifications, 176 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:16.959 We did some small things, but nothing to that scale. 177 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.639 So I had no idea what I was walking into 178 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:21.839 except I go to this unit and you're going to 179 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:22.959 figure it out then. 180 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.800 And what did you learn when you got your in brief. 181 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.560 I was, first of all, I wasn't in good shape. 182 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:33.960 That was my biggest thing. I was like, Wow, I 183 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:35.600 got to get in shape, because once I got there, 184 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.480 I started to learn about who was there. It had 185 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:41.240 been in place since nineteen eighty eight, basically when they 186 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:44.279 put the first guys in place. And then when I 187 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:47.039 got into there, my basic instruction was, Hey, you got 188 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:49.679 to get ready for Ranger School. This is what we're doing. 189 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:52.519 Here's what we helped the DEA. We're going to go 190 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:55.320 to South America. This is what we do down there, 191 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.759 your assists, all the boating mechanics that we had to 192 00:08:58.799 --> 00:08:59.320 figure out. 193 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.519 The instructions is also to the host countries. 194 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.320 So but the basic thing was to you need to 195 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.639 qualify yourself through Ranger School and other programs that we 196 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:09.799 have to make yourself that we can get down there 197 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.360 together the safe And then I recognize real quick, like 198 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.879 this is real and you know a little nervous about 199 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:15.679 going to Ranger School. 200 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:19.480 Obviously I want to ask you about that for sure, 201 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.440 But also I guess maybe we should take a second 202 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:27.480 to explain to folks why was the Coast Guard doing 203 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:31.399 this in the first place, because, as most of us understand, yeah, 204 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.000 you have the DEA, they have the counter drug mission, 205 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:37.279 makes sense, you have special forces that goes down there 206 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.759 and they'll train the local military. Okay, got it. The 207 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.399 Coast Guard, you know, the search and rescue mission, the 208 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:48.000 sort of interdiction on our coastlines. That's one thing. But 209 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:50.720 now we're talking about you guys. I mean, primarily you 210 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:54.399 were in a it sounds like the landlocked country of Bolivia. 211 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.360 So I mean it's very interesting, like how did the 212 00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:59.480 Coast Guard end up down there doing this? 213 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.519 So for my knowledge that I knew from before, basically 214 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.120 what happened was they used to have the US military 215 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.240 down there, so doing kind of like some kind of 216 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:14.200 narcotics enforcement down Then they figured out that, hey, listen, 217 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.000 we can't really do that in host countries like an 218 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:16.559 after war. 219 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:19.200 You can't be down there doing some of those missions. 220 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.840 So at the time that the Coast Guard was with 221 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:26.440 the Department of Transportation, so it wasn't the Department of Defense. 222 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.360 So that was one of the pieces to get DOT in. 223 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.240 And then also they realized the DA was like, we 224 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.279 have a ton of rivers down here and we don't 225 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:38.240 have riverine expertise, so they needed a. 226 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.000 Bunch of guys to show off basically that had like small. 227 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:44.919 Boat knowledge of how to run boats, repair boats, navigate 228 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:47.519 and help out with you know, taking a team from 229 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.639 one point to another point in those riverine waters. And 230 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.000 there was no mapping system down there, so you're kind 231 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.480 of in the middle of the Jungles and the Amazon basically, and. 232 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:56.639 That's how it all pulled out. 233 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:58.559 So once they got the dot in there, which is 234 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.080 the US Coast Guard, then then it was easier to 235 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.799 facilitate the mission to help out, and DA had requested that. 236 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.440 So once it all way through headquarters and they figured 237 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.879 things out, and our admiral at the time was Admiral Yost, 238 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.120 he put things together to assist and I don't remember 239 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:15.840 what the unit looked like when it first started, but 240 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:17.639 I think he grew to about twenty to twenty two 241 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.799 total staff between some officers and the enlisted. So and 242 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.320 then they put us together to where we came together, 243 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:30.080 and they had enough different expertises, you know, from mechanics 244 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.960 to bosn's mates, to gunners mates, to people like that 245 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.759 that can navigate certain things. And then some officers in 246 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:37.840 place to you know, take the team down as you know, 247 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:40.399 commanding officer, they put it all together and they figured 248 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.000 things out, who would deploy went and where after you 249 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:44.840 passed these courses basically. 250 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.720 And the commandant you mentioned, the commandant of the Coast Guard, Yost, 251 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.559 he had a special ops background and so he was 252 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.039 very like like when he got a sense that this 253 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.039 could be a Coast Guard mission, he was all about 254 00:11:57.080 --> 00:11:57.679 it wasn't it? 255 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.720 Yeah, one hundred percent. You couldn't have a better support 256 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.440 system than that comment on sitting in there running that show. 257 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:05.720 And you know, just to realize how. 258 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:08.960 Far up the chaining went, all the way up to 259 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.559 Washington like where we were at in this unit. 260 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:12.960 It was very special. 261 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:18.600 And so the the DEA is already down there. The 262 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.519 early operation was blast Furnace and then the next one 263 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.159 was snow cap and so they're down there doing their 264 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:30.759 thing with the host nation partners and that that interfaces 265 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:33.240 with the Coast Guard. Well, let's talk a little bit 266 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.759 about the training pipeline that you went through. You're a 267 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.480 young Coast e four all of a sudden going through 268 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:44.279 all this tactical training, you know, qualifying on. 269 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:46.399 M sixteen at that time, we also had the old 270 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:50.320 colts and switching things out to uh we went into 271 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.559 the baretta and the glock. So when we went to 272 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.399 Ranger School, everything was brand new. My my biggest thing 273 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:58.399 was I was in shape. I didn't know, you know, 274 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:00.360 and I was the youngest, so I believe I was 275 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.519 even twenty one, twenty two, So when I walked into 276 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:06.399 the unit, I was the youngest one there. Obviously, you know, 277 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.279 it was pretty big to me because I recognized real quick, like, hey, 278 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.679 you have a lot of mature people down here that 279 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:14.080 know what they're doing. And the risk was different. You know, 280 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:15.919 as a young person you don't have the risks so 281 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.039 high in your head. So you get older, you know 282 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:21.279 the risk is there, you see it more often. So 283 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:23.559 the Ranger School was the biggest thing that that was 284 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:25.759 the biggest hurdles. I knew I needed to go through 285 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:28.039 that and pass that because they had two different things. 286 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.080 So if you arrived at the unit at a certain time, 287 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.679 Ranger School was the piece you were going to. If 288 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.320 you arrived late into the unit and Ranger School was 289 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.639 already I think they did one a year, I believe 290 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.720 you had to go to Marine Recon School, so I 291 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:46.600 had a couple of guys go to Marine Rencon and 292 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:48.000 which one did you want? At the time, it was 293 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:49.759 easy to go to Ranger School because we went in 294 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.120 more of a pack of a group. And then if 295 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.679 you went to Marine Recon, you only went as you know, 296 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.039 whoever it was. You could have been going by yourself, 297 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.120 and that training is you were just by yourself. You 298 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.519 went there. You didn't have a team next to you, 299 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.720 so you had to deal with the actual Marine Corps. 300 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.440 Was different because you were dealing with the Marine Corps guys. 301 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.080 There was no other coasts. But in Ranger School it 302 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:11.279 was it was a pack, right, We had coasts in there, 303 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.039 and we had DA agents mixed in together to work 304 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:14.960 together at. 305 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:19.720 Ranger School, and it was like a familiarization with patrolling, 306 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:21.559 if I understood correctly. 307 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.759 Yeah, So we did all of the phase except for 308 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.840 jump school, and I believe it's the desert phase they 309 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:29.960 called it, so, but everything else was in place. We 310 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:32.720 did all of the other pieces that were necessary to 311 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.679 put things together. A lot easier for us to do 312 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.120 a lot of the military side of things. And Dad, 313 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.039 it will struggle us the way the military did some 314 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.559 of the work because DA's structure differently lawnenforcement right outside, 315 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.759 it's a little bit more technical on things, and the 316 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:50.360 military has been pretty pretty much a little bit more 317 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:53.120 like you know, just going and and take just take 318 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:55.720 over everything. But the law enforcement side of it had 319 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:57.279 a little bit of a problem to it because there 320 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.039 was a lot of rules that they weren't allowed to 321 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:01.399 engage in sure as the military would. 322 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:06.840 Yeah, no, absolutely, but the point is to give you 323 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.240 the patrolling skills, but also so that you can teach 324 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:09.879 it right. 325 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.759 Yeah, correct. Everything that we did, the biggest piece was 326 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.080 to take everything that we were trained for, take it 327 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.600 down there to the host nation and train with in 328 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.120 Bolivia they were called the Uma Park and the naval 329 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.519 side of it to make sure that they received the 330 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:26.480 same training. Wead that to help them navigate whatever piece 331 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.480 that they needed to do within their system, whether it 332 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.360 was on boats or patrolling or just operations and mapping 333 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.919 and putting you know, clandestine operations together. We were supposed 334 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:37.960 to teach everything. 335 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.120 And after other than ranger school did was there anything 336 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.919 else they put you through before you were deployable. 337 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:47.919 Yeah. So my background obviously I was Puerto Rican Italian. 338 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.600 I didn't I didn't speak a look of Spanish. So 339 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:56.039 after that training school, we were deployed. My partner that 340 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.440 went to recon school, we came back. They put us 341 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.799 in three month to Guatemala. We went down to Guatemala 342 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.360 for three months. They put us with a post family 343 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.759 and we went one on one with an instructor or 344 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.759 a teacher at a school for three months. And in 345 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.600 those three months you learn you obviously lived with them, 346 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.159 so it was a lot, you know, just being immersed 347 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.360 so deep you learned the language really quick. And then 348 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.639 on that one for me, I came out I qualified 349 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.480 as a as a translator for this Department of State 350 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:29.480 because you could actually get a test down there also, 351 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.960 and that's what I did. Wow, So we got that 352 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.399 piece done. Yeah, because it was big. I think the 353 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:39.320 DEA guys went to another school. It wasn't as intense 354 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.919 as ours, but our bigacy was to make sure. 355 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.840 We spoke the language before we went down there. 356 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.240 Hey, guys, I want to think Prize Picks are sponsoring 357 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.360 this episode. It's the number one daily fantasy sports app 358 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:54.279 in America. It's a scorching sports summer and you can 359 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:57.559 make all your picks on Prize Picks. 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