December 21, 2024 • 43 mins
Grant Monaghan went from elite SAS sniper to creating Maritime Warriors, a free program that’s saving veterans’ lives. Hear how he’s using the water to rebuild resilience and hope.
Grant Monaghan’s story is one of courage, resilience, and reinvention. A Navy clearance diver turned SAS sniper, Grant has lived a life that few can imagine. From jumping out of planes at 26,000 feet with oxygen tanks to diving out of submarines, his military career included missions in East Timor, Afghanistan, and beyond. But his most impactful mission started after he left the service.
In this episode of Pure Grit, Grant shares his journey from elite soldier to founder of Maritime Warriors, a free program dedicated to improving veterans’ mental health through time spent on the water. He opens up about the struggles of transitioning to civilian life, the camaraderie and healing veterans find in the ocean, and how his program turns challenges into triumphs.
Grant’s passion for helping others comes alive as he talks about the transformative power of water and the hope Maritime Warriors brings to veterans and their families. With programs ranging from snorkeling and sailing to fishing and boat driving, his work proves that even the toughest battles can lead to incredible new beginnings.
Whether you’re a veteran, know someone who’s served, or simply love an inspiring story, this episode is a must-listen. Support is available through Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) or 1800VETERAN. Reach out to Grant at Maritime Warriors for a life-changing experience.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Pure Grit with Paula McGrath. If you search
the word grit, you'd see that it means to have courage,
show strength of character, passion, and perseverance. Throughout the series,
paul chat to guests from all walks of life who
have shown pure grit to get to where they are now. Paula, Paula, Yeah, look,
(00:27):
he looks fine. I've done the intro, so ready for
you to talk now?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, you do your talking things.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome to another episode of Pure Grit. Now, today's guest
is someone that truly has grit, courage, and certainly has resilience,
and I think it might be a bit crazy deep
down on the inside somewhere return veteran. He's a son, father,
and a husband. He's served our country in the Navy
as a clearance diver, but then he was also selected
(00:56):
into the very elite sas as a sniper and he's saved.
We're going to find out all about him. But he
has served in places even like Afshanistan. He's jumped out
of planes with oxygen on. I would need to know
more about that. He's also dived out of submarine like
how many and dive out of a submarine. I thought
you're like so deep down your body would crush. We'll
find out about that now. He helps veterans and their
(01:18):
mental health with a great business and he's back on
the water called Maritime Warriors. Please welcome to Pure Grit.
Grant Monahan, Welcome a Paula A brilliant How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
They're really good?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Thank you for taking the time to come on my podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
That's all right. I don't mind checking in with you.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
You've been away at your often away, aren't you, and
then you come home?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, yeah, go away on different activities.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yep, or different activities. So let's let's learn a bit
about you. So where'd you grow up?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh, oh, Sydney and Gold.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Ghost I am okay. And then what what happened with you? Like,
what made you decide that you wanted to go to
the Navy?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think I was getting up a bit too much
mischiff as a teenager in cadets to try to give me, Yeah,
a little bit of this.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
One idea, good idea, give me off the.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Streets, you could say. So, so that gave me a
taste on the Gold Coast. That was the Navy cadets there,
so John.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
How old were you there?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I would have been fourteen, probably fifteen cadets, yeah, yeah, yeah,
and especially for a young for a young lad, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
What age? What age can you go to cadets from?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I think it's like, I think fourteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Okay, I've just got that in mind for my son
that that sounds kind of good.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah. They have some great programs they really do for adolescents. Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So then you obviously joined the Navy, was it?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yes? Yeah, I did. Actually, in fact, I want to
join the Army, and then Dad was a builder and
he took me out of it. Were basically forbidden me
to join because I had some couple of uncles in
the forces went to Vietnam, and he said, you're not
going to go out there and do that. That's ridiculous.
Do something with your life. And then I was pretty adamant.
(03:14):
Went after I joined the Joint Cadets, and I thought, well,
what a better way to see the world and get
a tick in the box and get an experience, And
that's what I did. I think the first recruiter I
saw was a Navy guy and he quite impressed me.
So so I didn't know any better okay.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So you joined the navy, and then to you what
did you do with the navy? There's all different.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, well, well the navy has a choice, so you
get to join become an electrician.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Right, okay, so you got a trade as well.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I had to get a trade, you know, that's what
the folks said, get a trade. Did that. But as
soon as I've got my trade, then funny off. I
was down a place called Whaler, come up out of
the engine room.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I know, wala.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Forty five degrees I think it was down in the
engine room, non air conditioned engine space and overalls and
steel cap boots, and I saw this rubber dingy go
pass or a zodiac, and I said, did the old chief?
Who are those guys? And they'll go and pass in
basically speedos and straw hats and the sixteens over the
shoulders there they're clearance divers. And I said, man, I
(04:22):
come from the gold Coase and that's me. Get these
overalls off off from the back. And as soon as
I finished my trade then and then I had do
you know, psych tests and physical valuations and medicals. And
as soon as I was good to go, then then
I did selection for clearance divers, and then I become
a Navy diver.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Wow, And so what when you're in as a Navy
diver clearance diver is that? What do you do?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Like?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I suppose the it's the real sharp end of the
end of the Navy. So so classic as the old
beach landing. So an amphibious force of the army is
going to come to a beach landing and the clearance
divers will come and clear the beach door. The come
up and do a gradient survey and clear it of
all minds or put devices on there. So at h
(05:13):
hower they all blow up and clear the beach for
the subsequent landing. You're the bomb disposal team as well.
For the Navy.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
That's a bit scary.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, it's a good it's a good after you know,
sort of a job for for veterans. I've been flying
around different parts of the world post defense blowing up bombs.
Are doing as a contractor. So it gives you a
few tickets. So I've got a commercial diver. I'm a
commercial diver by trade, and I work on a movie
industry and then on movies and then because of that
(05:47):
qualification and then bomb disposal as well depth.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
What depth can you dive to? Because I know that
you have dived out a submarine, so all I think
is that is so deep?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, well, well there's no use only reason why divers
release out of submarines or sub swimmer releases. What it's
called is purely just to get from A to B.
It's just a delivery vehicle, a big taxi, very expensive taxi,
and it's very It just gets you on location of
where your task or job's going to be. So you're
(06:22):
only shallow, so you can come out up about twenty
meters and then and then.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You come you can come out of the submarine.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, and then you then you come up quite shallow,
even shallow than that, because you're on oxygen and on
dive sets that don't breathe off, don't don't give off
any any bubbles load circuit, so no bubbles, no troubles.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So if you have no bubbles, no detection, so you
come correct.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah. Yeah, so you can sneak right in something that
technology has been around since World War two. Amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, that's good to know that because tot we just
think that's going to be bubbles, Like you know when
you go off for a dive, you see you know
you're blowing. Yeah, yeah, you couldn't because you'd be detected.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes, yeah, that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Ah interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Really, you can't dive out too deep for the sort
of things that that I was involved in, which is training.
I've never dived out operationally. You have to say that,
I'm not telling.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Any anything you never did.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So it's but if someone has to
jump out and have a surveyor pipeline or or a
comms cable or something, then you could go out deeper
with a different dive set, and that that certainly happens.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
So what took you from the ocean to deciding Okay,
well I'm a Navy clearance diving out. I think I
might try something else.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, Paul, when I it was a diver, the I
was the only rank in my dive team of leading
seamen at the time there was eleven of us and
that that never served with the s A. And then
from there it was just a rite of passage. But
at the time, strategically Australian military was reforming and reshaping
(08:10):
special operations and then so I was a last or
let's say, the first cab off the rank that still
wanted to do selection and prove from my peers that that,
you know, I could take the next step. But but
the only thing is I had to transfer service and
become army.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Previously divers used to then go up onto what they
call on team or used to do cande terrorism duties
with the sa S because yours if you if you're
on a let's just for instance, you might be on
a on a ferry or or a passenger ship that
gets taken by by terrorists, which which has definitely happened
(08:51):
in the old nineteen eighties. You know a lot of
our infrastructure importance to us in our gas and oil
infrastructure from terrorist organized station does something with an oil rig,
then you have to dive on an oil rig and
and do a hostage rescue or deal with the with
the terrorists on board. So that's why navy was part
(09:12):
of the sas a lot like they are right today
in the link cafe. If the commandos who's now got
this responsibility, if they went and did any any sort
of task like that, or ship along a long way
and got to come in with helicopters and boats, then
a third of that whole assault force are actually navy divers.
(09:33):
But people don't really, Yeah, people don't know that. Yeah.
So when you see the commandos exercising, flying around, jumping
out of all sliding down ropes on a building, then
a few of those would be able seamen or a
third of those guys would be navy divers. Wow. Yeah,
because you have to dive in to secure the ship
(09:54):
or the let's say the landing area then for the
everyone else to come in and rope on. So you'll
do the dive and the sneaky bit getting on the
back of a let's say ship or a platform or
if it's a hotel or whatever it is, or the
opera house, then you can come up a bit more
of a sneaky, cleandestine way without being spotted.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Ah. So when you decided you're going to go for
change to army and go for SAS selection, which is well,
like we all know from watching SAS Australia or whatever
that we go, Wow, it's pretty hardcore to be selected.
I mean that's television. That's what the average Australian goes.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh pretty good though?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Is it good? Is it shows how tough it is?
Does it show.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
That they take a lot of little things, little things, okay,
and dramatize it a little, you know, a fair bit.
But you're doing that twenty four hours, you know, straight
for three weeks trying to get in the sas and
it's it takes you out of you. So I went
on about eighty six kilos. I was fighting fit at
the time, and I came back and I lost ten
(11:04):
kilos in a space for three weeks. Who just from
just from the the amoun of activities. And if if
basically if you get to the end and you haven't
injured yourself, then you've got a fair chance of actually
getting corrected.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
So what do you are you really screamed at?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you know, not at all, not at all. That's
about the only thing that's a little bit Hollywood, A little.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Bit TV, yeah, a little bit TV.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because it's all up here. If you
don't have it up there, if you need someone yelling
at you to motivate you to go do something, then
you're probably not the right sort of person. You know.
We operate in very small teams and you have.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
To do so selection is three weeks. It takes three
weeks to go.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Through to select the individual to even start your training. Wow,
So you don't learn anything on there. It's purely just
a just a character test, a fitness character tests make
sure that.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
You are some of the things that you had to do.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Oh just well, there's a lot of short term there's
a short term memory test. They'll give you an AK
forty seven that you may have never touched before. You know,
strip it, strip it down. Well. Actually, the first thing
you do is your baseline fitness assessments, so straight away
they'll make sure that you've trained and you're prepared to
(12:24):
and you've done the correct preparation. If you haven't, well
then you just haven't showed enough self discipline to get in.
So then once you do that, then then there's different
phases of team building phases and then there's individual phases.
And probably the biggest killer for some people is that
they can work together as a team. And then they'll
pull you for that team environment and then give you
a compass and a map and then push you out
(12:47):
with a whole bunch of checkpoints to go to and
you've got about three days to do it, and you're
not allowed to talk to anyone. If you walked it
walked past someone. You can't you can't say anything, can't
even have a word to them, can't show them anything,
because it's a complete individual phase to really see that
you've got it long. So if you if you can't,
(13:08):
if you can't do that, then then you're not there.
But then at the same time, there's other activities there.
You have to work as a team, and you'll do
a like a stores carry, which is ridiculous. He'll be
maybe ten ten guys in your group, and you'll physically
say every time you have to. Then there'll be be
a funny scenario and you have to have a real
(13:28):
sense of humor. And they will say, oh, chief chief
Zubdus in the next village, he's got a stores truck
that went to his village and all these things are
falling off the back, and we have to help him
as our friend. And even you think we find along
this track we have to pick up and carry to
his village. We don't know where the village is. They
won't tell you. And you see something. It might be,
(13:49):
you know, ten jerry cans of water. Then it might
be a piece of a pipe, or it might be
half a trailer. And then before you know it. You've
got like two truck low of gear that you pick
up and you take move one hundred meters, then go
back and pick up another one.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And move to this really physically.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Twenty four hours. You well, in my one, we did
it for twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Wow, you don't sleep nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Nothing, well, And that's what it's And they will see
the team and then they'll allocate different people to be
the team lead for a few hours. And they'll see
and you have to come up with a rest plan
or no rest plan, depends on what you think. And
you'll have to motivate people or calm people down if
someone else is yelling at someone for not carrying it
(14:37):
as much. And they'll really and the directing staff who
you'll be working with in another three weeks time that
they will be quietly assessing people and just sitting off
in the in the weeds, having a look and seeing
how the whole dynamic.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Of the groups is going.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yep, and then just to see someone's a team player,
see if someone's in it for themselves. And there's a class.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So you got selected, You've got through all of that
grueling section process. You got selected, and then what happens
do they then decide who becomes what like in the SAS.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Or no train the same well more or less. But
there's an insurtion skill. So remember how I'm talking about
the divers divers, Well, the divers will come up, but
in SAS it's water operations. So there's three different sort
of insurtion methods. The way you get into a task
or the way someone might get in and then do
a reconnaissance and then the rest of the squadron will
(15:34):
come in. So it might be free fallers, so you'll
sky dive on oxygen. You might jump forty kilometers away,
twenty kilometers away, whatever, and then bury your parachutes and
then walk in and then slowly assess a target. It
might be let's say an airport, a remote airport, and
then you'll do up a plan or give enough information
(15:55):
and send it back to the commanders can put up
a plan and then the infantry you might roll in
or the rest of the squadron might come in and
assault or or do a hostage rescue or whatever. And
then the other discipline is the is the army guys
in the SAS that dive qualified. They might dive in
or they might take callippers like kayaks. They might come
(16:17):
out of a submarine and just swim near to the shore.
And again you'll be the first, you'll be the reception
party for everyone else, or you'll just go on and
do just a small task. And then another one would
be the vehicle mounted guys are experts in motorcycles and
the full drives and the quad bikes, and they'll come
(16:37):
in and just jump in and go, you know, vehicle
mount and it just purely stay with the vehicles and
do reconnaissance that you know that and see be the
eyes and the ears for the rest of the squadron
or the rest of the army.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So when you were in the army, you became a sniper.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
So well that's just a sub trade, okay. Once you're there,
you go off and specialize in a whole bunch of
different things. So funny enough, if everyone's automatically assumed I
would have gone water operations, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Of course, of your background.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah that's right. But myself and a colleague of mine
another maybe his name's Clay, and we both opted to
go free for all. And we thought, well, sports parachutingow
jumping on weekends for a bit of fun and we thought,
how good is this? And you know, let's go across
the regiment. We'll try something different and we'll go free fall.
(17:32):
And then I did that for three years and then
I missed the water and I went.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Back to the So when you say free fall, like,
I mean, I've done a you know, you know, like
a parachute jump. Yeah, I know if free full for
I don't know what it was from fourteen thousand feet
or whatever. You're going from a lot high. You know,
you're going with oxygen. So you're going from a lot
higher and free falling so much longer because you're free
(18:00):
falling with oxygen.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Yes, yes, that's the only reason why you have an
oxygen because you're height anything from twenty thousand to twenty
six thousand four. Wow, it's about it's a little bit
more than twice of what you do at a sports sports.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So you do, I mean I can't. I've only done
it once, but I'll never forget it. Like, I just
absolutely loved it. Yeah, the free falling bit is what
I love the most. I didn't really I was when
the parachute open, I was like other rides over in
a way, like yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. So
you falling from that height with oxygen, it must be like, oh.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
It's like the first time you do it, Paula. It's
just the same as the sports you do, your sports jumping,
you learn how to fly. Yeah, before you know what,
they'll strap your pack on because there's no use. You
can't just jump in. You need your pack. So everyone
learns to do what I call a basic tandem. So
you might have seventy kilos of gear, your own gear
that you had to strap your rifle down in here
(19:00):
in your ribs when you when you land, and you've
got to learn on how to how to hang your
pack down so you're not going to break your legs.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
When your land.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Stuff and then you'll do all that at ten thousand
and then and then you'll start to go up and
up and up, and then introduce oxygen. And when they
do that, then you're on another helmet and oxygen masks
and oxygen cylinders. So they just keep on adding more
stuff on. So you might be jumping with over scary.
(19:30):
I suppose there's there's that nervous nervousness that everything secured
and right, you can get into a good hard arch
and everything's strapped down and you can reach you know,
you can you can reach all your emergencies, and you
can reach your you know, your pull handle. And and
then it's nervous that no one else has a male
(19:51):
function because I was involved with one malfunction that scared
the hell out of me, not not with me, but
a collage with someone else is rolling under me. And
and then I saw a pilot shoot and he's he's
just come up, and I was, I was a terminal
velocity and he was only like about ten meters away
from me. And if I for thought, well, if I
couldn't slide back out of his way, I would have
(20:14):
come down and just cleaned him up and we would
have both been fatalities. And so there's there's all these things.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, wow, when it goes that's just like I don't know.
What I did is just you know, like what everyone
else does. A tandem jump. I mean a lot of
people wouldn't even jump out of a plane. A lot
of people said, why would you jump out of a
you know plane? But it's I don't know. I reckon.
I was, I reckon. I've been on a high ever since.
(20:42):
Like I loved it. So much. You know, yeah's hear
about everyone else is rolling therew. I didn't have to
jump like you had to jump yourself. I got pushed out.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well, then you go to the next level and they
turned the lights off time onto him unmarked drop zone.
You know. So what you're looking at is the ambient
lighter for Roberson and that's where your indication when you've
got a flare or coming to Claire and.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
So how long would you free fall for? How many minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
About two minutes?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Two minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, And if you've done that tandem, it's like, oh,
hang on, this feels really really weird. And you keep
on looking at your autie and you're tapping, you're tapping it,
and you're tapping it and tapping it, and they think,
oh it's working. Yeah, where everyone else is in free
fall because it just takes for ages when you've been
doing ten thousand and then you suddenly you double it
to twenty twenty. Yeah, yes, it's like, man, this is
(21:40):
just like ages.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
It is taking a long time to have to pull much.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Thinking there's something that's right, and you think there's something
wrong here.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, wow, what a rush that that would be such
a rush. So you did that, Like where, like, where
did you serve? I know, oh that she'd been to. Okay,
you went to Afghanistan?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Was that?
Speaker 3 (22:05):
That was with the army and sas.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah. My first operation was eat Steamoor in nineteen okays
a long time ago now.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, Yeah, I went to More and Thenmore.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Then we went up to Solomon Islands. They were having
a bit of a civil civil unrest up there or
civil war back in two thousand and one. So we
went up there and helped the un out of that,
bringing the warring factions together. Wow, so they could peacefully,
(22:37):
so they can negotiate their way to some sort of
peaceful settlement so the country could move on. It's a
beautiful country. And I've since done some work up there
doing bomb disposal work, which is great, fantastic people on
both sides.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
So when did you go to Afghanistan?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
That was in two thousand and one? That was okay,
that was the end of about another six month after
that one.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
How was that, Well, that would be volatile. It's always
been volatile.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
You're always every job you get excited, and there's been
so many times that you get called into the theater
out of the briefing room, and you think, right, jobs on, guys,
keep your phones on you there's something bubbling away and
you always see something in the news. When you see
something in the news and you know that Australia has
an interest in that, or allies or if it's big,
then then you think, yeah, we could get involved in here.
(23:29):
In probably September eleven, when I saw those you know,
the buildings fly in, the planes flying, I remember that
didn't realize then to the extent of how much our
involvement was going to be. But between that will my
squadron was on the Cana Terrace responsibilities and at that
(23:52):
time a Norwegian and cargo ship called the MV Tampa
picked up a whole bunch of about over four hundred
and sixty four sixty six I think refugees from a
boat that's sunk or a couple of boats that's sunk.
And then and then the international law of the law
of the seas, whatever it is, the cargo ship just
(24:14):
had to drop them off to the near report, which
was going to be Jakarta, I think it was. And
every time they did that, then then they had a
one demographic on the ship that would storm the bridge.
And then tell them to turn around and head to Australia,
and I think, well, to Australia is like miles that
way we're going to you know, we're just out outside
Indonesian waters and exports Indonesia and they didn't want so,
(24:39):
so then it becomes a ship under dures. So so
a ship's been essentially been taken hostage or or they'd
have the freedom of movement. And then when they're heading
to Australia, that's when that's when there's only one organization
that can take on a job, and that's the SAS.
So that we went up there just about the same time.
(25:02):
We're in the same period that Afghanistan or one squadron,
another squadron headed over to Afghanistan. Time we finished the
canidterrorism responsibilities, we rotated and then will then then we
headed off to Afghanistan and took over from those lads.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
And how was that? Like, there's so much there's been
so much controversy in the media about hypers and says
in Afghanistan. You don't know what to really. You know,
you've been there and you've lived.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It, that that's right and well, and a lot of
that stuff you've seen it on the media. That's that
was past my era, so that.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Was after you. Yeah, you don't know, okay, but I.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Can comment on some of my friends that i've seen
hit burnout. The government continues to just push and push
and push the rotations, the guys that just do not
get any rest. And and they're in it, and they're
in it, and they're in it. And when I say
in it that people are physically trying to kill you,
(26:06):
it's a dirty, dirty game. And then be killed or
be killed or kill or be killed, okay. And when
you're going in in a target and it goes loud
and there's rounds starting to fly, you're fighting for your life.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah. And then if you be trained to do too,
that's right. A lot so many people comment, but they
don't know, you know, like we don't know, we haven't
been there. So yeah, so many people judge and go, oh,
you know, that's terrible. But you're saying you're in the
fight of your life.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yes, yeah, yeah, that's.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Right, and you couldn't trust anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
No, no, But it's still interesting. You're working with some
fantastic people. You're working with the other peers in other countries.
Right from I think there was fifteen different countries over there,
from the Europeans, the Americans, the Kiwis, all our normal
people that we operate with, but some of the all
(27:06):
the other So many different countries and same with the East,
the amount of different nationalities that went into East them
or and that's amazing. You do get to meet some
amazing locals and you try to pick up a little
bit of the culture. At the same time, there's just
a lot of innocence that are just pulled into it.
A lot of a lot of agriculture because that's what
(27:28):
they do. They literally live off the land they well
country of they do farm because that's how the majority
of the people people live. And an income over there.
When I say an income, that all they do is
farm their own land, eat their own food, grow the
chickens and the beef, and tryp and that's that's what
(27:49):
it is. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Wow, So, yeah, you had a good experience there as well.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
As I hadn't. I did have a good experience because
when I see things on the new so I can say, yeah,
I know exactly what they're talking about over there. So
it's all my experiences have been good experiences or memorable
experiences is what I probably what better way?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Yeah, memorable. So then what you know when you said
about the Tampa, I remember that being in the news.
What else you did when you talked about the ship? Yeah,
but there was one you were saying, there was something
that you did with that. Start was at Christmas Island.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh well that was Christmas Island. That was just off
Christmas Island. That was so we boarded the ship just
just outside the twelve nautical mile range, which was sovereign territory.
So I think I've got that right. And then so
that was and that started off the offshore detention, that's right. Right.
(28:57):
Then we were on the board and when we went
into Ristmas Island, we just went into a gym gym
nazing there, and then we acquired our boats hadn't even arrived,
and we've got the Johnny Howard on the old telephone
was you know, through through the chain of command, just
came down and said go go go, We're going now.
And I think, well, ship, we're not set up yet.
(29:17):
So we're on barges and borrowed police boats and and
whatever we can get out to the out and hit
the ship before they hit that twelve nautical mile mark.
I did that because I was ex Navy. My team
went straight to the bridge to if we had to
steer on and steer it around. It wasn't the case,
you know, they were all all the refugees were all compliant.
(29:39):
So so there's there's probably the deepest bit of deepest story.
Everyone was quite happy that they were heading towards Australia,
and the crew were crew were good. They were all
compliant with us, and we thought we didn't know what
to expect, you know, we thought there was We thought
the ship was under due rests, as I said, like
(30:01):
a like a hostage style situation, maybe knives out or
different sort of weapons and improvised weapons, bullied bullying tactics.
And then when we went up there, we went up
guns drawn and stormed the bridge and cleared every and
I think there's not much everyone's compliant. That all the
refugees are sitting on the on the decks. There a
(30:21):
few military times. I remember that rided or near rided
a couple of times. And then we had them on
board for about seven days and that the same and
then the Defense Force flew up a whole bunch of
helicopters up there and field kitchens and then before you
know it, you know we're feeding flying food out in
(30:42):
quite quick succession. It's it's amazing to see that system
when when the government or defense force switches it on,
it gets switched on really really fast and amazingly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
So how long did you serve all up to you
got out are about twenty years?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Twenty years wow, reserves for about.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Fifteen okay, so then you became went in to the
reserves and then now obviously you tell everyone what you
do now, like you've you discovered veterans have a lot
of veterans have mental health issues, but we can all
imagine from what they've experienced and how hard it is
(31:28):
to come back to civilian life. So you've gone back
to the love of water. Your love of water. So,
maritime warriors, what is that?
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, when I was working at the Soldier Recovery Center
as a reserve with another where was that?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Where there?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, at Delically Barracks and nogra working in there, and
that's when i've my first day my company sergeant major
up there, or the warrant officer running the place he said,
or Grant walking on board mate, Sorry to do this
to you that lady you're just talking to a walk
(32:05):
past and sitting on the steps. Can you take her
down toward three? And I think ward three? What the
hell is that? Well, that's a psych war down and
I think, oh man, what And I so I've helped
her in the car and I said to you, go, look,
we're going down to ward three and all down down
the hospital and get you some help. And and then
(32:26):
and then I was thinking on the way down there,
what do I say, like going you having a good day?
I think, how do I talk to how long you've
been at the SRC or how long you've been in Brisbane?
And I think, what do I say? Well, I had
no idea, and it was a vertical learning curve. Then
since then you know, they jump. They put me on
the Metal Health First Aid course, and then I started
(32:47):
getting all the practitioners come through and I'll sit up
the back there and and when they're talking to the
cohort at the Soldier Recovery Center. So that's that's where
all the wounded engine ill in part of the world
or Southeast Queensland, they go through going on accelerated wellness program.
So some of them might be warriors that have come
(33:09):
back off the essays selection injured and they just can't
get past their injury and get better again, and they
want to go back and do it. Some have got
sleep disthorder, anger issues, depression PDSD, broken backs, limbs of
broken cartilages that can no longer pursue their military careers.
(33:31):
So they all come on to the Soldier Recovery Center
program and then they go through and then I think
it's changed somewhat since I was there though, but at
that time they really had to do something to help
people that were injured instead of just kicked them out
on the street and let them fend for themselves. That's right.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
So you learn a lot. How you learn everything about
it then exactly while you were there, So that where
Maritime Warriors was born from. Basically that's where you've got
your idea exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Every time that we took the cohort up to riach, door,
cotton tree, stand up paddle boarding, a bike riding both
along the beach or around Goma and the museum and
on the city hopper, and we walk along the river.
There was one common theme alongst all that is that
everyone became better models of themselves and started to talk.
(34:27):
So some people that only had two hours sleep because
they're changing different mental health medications, then they pick up
and become better models of themselves. Those are ones who
are injury. Always complained that to walk from the car
park into a building, you know they have some difficulty.
But get them out there near the water, you know
(34:49):
they can walk ten times. Man of that knowing that
there's coffee on the end, and wouldn't complain. So then
I think there's something with this with the water. And
I was the same when I went free for when
I went three fall and never saw the water for
three years, I thought, well, there's missing.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
All those negative ions that you get from from the ocean.
What does maritime Warrior is.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Do we take out free programs for veterans and family
me so on the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
We've now got do take them out on the water.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, we take them. We've got a forty three
foot sailing yacht and that that's space on the Gold Coast,
and then we've got the rib here and keep that
at the Sunshine Coast and then that's a six meter rib.
Different demographics will do fishing and snorkeling out of that,
teach people how to do boat driving so they can
achieve you know, like a small time goal coming and think,
(35:48):
I can't do that. I can't put up the sale. Yes,
I can't drive that. And I think we'll jump behind
because it's a it's a big rubber rubber dinghy. It's
like it's the next issue police boat. And I think
you can't do any harm. Have a little of the
dings in it, and and that's and before the end
of the day they're actually in their given orders, and
(36:08):
you know, they've come out of the shell. They're pulling
the road and I jump back on the wheel and
I think, tell you, yeah, let's cycle it through.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Who has Yeah, oh, that's so good. Before you know,
and it's a free program. Yeah yeah, correct, that's amazing.
So if anyone listening wants to get in, that's an
x veter or whatever and their families, So how do
they get They just find you on your.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Website website Maritime Warrior dot org.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah yeah, And you're not I mean,
you do that free program, but you're also you're I
get sneaky little like insights from your wife that you
sometimes are working with movie stars lately.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Oh, well, because you've been that skippering boats or basically
anytime an actor goes near water on what are you
safety divers, right, and you've got to have boats, and
then therefore you need people with commercial qualifications.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Anyone that we might know and we won't tell anyone.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I don't know. Not probably Ron Howard.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Oh my god, only Howard.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
So probably on his latest latest, probably three of his latest.
But the best one I worked with him was on
thirteen Lives the Thai soccer team.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Oh yeah, yep, it's amazing. I loved that.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, myself and another two navy divers and then another
cave diver will dive doubles and then we went in
and on camera and then also safety divers doing all
the cave diving on there and working with the stunt
stunt team and you know they're acted as the police
divers tie police divers and other works. That was fantastic experience.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
That is that's that's something to be Yeah, you'll never
forget that. That was that was incredible, That that whole
story was just incredible, just amazing, Like I I don't know,
I don't know how they got those children now, like, yeah,
it's amazing story. I was fascinated by that, and I
(38:16):
think everybody, you know, everyone in Australia was fascinated by that.
Everyone in the world, I mean, as you know, the
whole world was. They're championing for those boys, you know.
And the divers incredible story, incredible, amazing, Like I don't know,
cave diving, that's a whole nother level of skill, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Like I did.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Yeah, yeah, I went diving once in a cave in
Reece and went cave diving and I saw someone panic
really badly because it was for me even it was
quite nerve wracking because you can't see. I couldn't see
any light. But I saw someone panic and then their
(38:58):
face mask get kicked off and it was horrific. It
was horrific because the panic of the mask getting kicked
off by flipper wasn't done very well. I think it
was a little bit not It wasn't safe, you know,
like I'm lucky, but I do remember to see the
panic and I then felt the fear because they were
panicking because their masks because you couldn't see it's oh,
(39:19):
I don't know, it's you can't.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Pay pay lip service to competency experience, you know in
underwater environments and up in the sky, because when it
goes wrong, it goes wrong catastrophically.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
It was just like a tourist came up. You know,
I'm talking like not like you would have done and
what you know, but it's quite it is quite scary
in the dark. Yeah, and then when you see that sunlight,
it's amazing. Yay, I know where I am Now I've
got my bearings, there's the sky. But yeah, yeah, so
anyone else, what else you're doing like movie wise?
Speaker 2 (39:55):
No, no, no, that's it, that's it, just that because
we're only only work on water ones and.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Water on Yeah, so there's not there's not that many yet.
I thought you might be driving.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
It might be lucky enough to jump on three years.
Oh that's pretty good four a year.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Being that sort of skilled. So so now just your
focus is maritime, that's right, warriors, which is fantastic and
I think that's an amazing amazing that you do that.
So how do you fund it because if it's a
free program, yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Well we apply for different grants. We struggle from paid
basically from months and months because even the yacht. You know,
there's a thousand bucks just there just to park the thing. Yeah,
and most are probably every Yeah, we're self funded enough.
And then to be honest, because we can't get the funding,
(40:48):
we're in competition.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Can any businesses help out or.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Well without a doubt, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got twelve
meters twenty four middle meters of the side of the
yacht there, that's a free canvas any on the Well, that's.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
What anyone wants to help out, And that's I think
it's such an amazing cause I was thinking sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Yeah, and we do team building. We do team building
activities for corporates. Okay, myself and a couple other key
personnel like myself Individual Resilience to Building Communication workshop, So
we pick a little bit of work up through that
way and that money goes straight into Maritime Warrior.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Well, if anyone's listening, that's you know, can help out.
They can easily get in contact with you on your website.
So just a little I asked everybody on my podcast,
what's your your experience in written resilience. What's been like
a life motto for you that's as standout, you know,
(41:49):
stood out or in your career.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Respect. Respect, Yeah yeah, respect builds trust. Wow, I love
him and trust, and with trust you can break down
any barrier communications business.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
It's just simply that respect. And what about if there
was a song that sums up mon a hand or
maybe a time in your life. It could have been.
I don't know, it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
I used to listen a little classical, very heavy classical
music on operations that sort of took me away somewhere
somewhere else. Probably the best one is because of my
glass is always half half full, probably Celebrate.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I don't know why, but but that.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
When I listened to that area, it's a.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
It's a been forever ever since been an adult. I
listened to that and it just dance. I don't think, yeah,
I'll gie. I don't think about tomorrow, I don't think
about yesterday. It's all right and the good things in life.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
That song cannot not make you feel good either. I
was just wondering if you busted out some moves when
that comes on. Yeah, oh that's brilliant. Thank you so
much for joining me on Pure Grit. That was thank
you and thank you for what I love what you
do for the veterans and that's amazing and for mental
health like anyone want to get in contact, everything will
(43:28):
be up on the podcast than all the contacts for you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Great, Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Thanks for listening to Pure Grit with Paul McGrath. Now
the web guy's been a very busy boy. You can
now visit the website pure grit dot com dot au,
search Pure Grip podcast on Facebook and Instagram for the
fun behind the scenes stuff. And I was wondering why
Paul had started wearing makeup. Turns out all the chats
are now on YouTube as well, so make sure you
give that a subscribe.
Welcome to Pure Grit with Paula McGrath. If you search
the word grit, you'd see that it means to have courage,
show strength of character, passion, and perseverance. Throughout the series,
paul chat to guests from all walks of life who
have shown pure grit to get to where they are now. Paula, Paula, Yeah, look,
(00:27):
he looks fine. I've done the intro, so ready for
you to talk now?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, you do your talking things.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome to another episode of Pure Grit. Now, today's guest
is someone that truly has grit, courage, and certainly has resilience,
and I think it might be a bit crazy deep
down on the inside somewhere return veteran. He's a son, father,
and a husband. He's served our country in the Navy
as a clearance diver, but then he was also selected
(00:56):
into the very elite sas as a sniper and he's saved.
We're going to find out all about him. But he
has served in places even like Afshanistan. He's jumped out
of planes with oxygen on. I would need to know
more about that. He's also dived out of submarine like
how many and dive out of a submarine. I thought
you're like so deep down your body would crush. We'll
find out about that now. He helps veterans and their
(01:18):
mental health with a great business and he's back on
the water called Maritime Warriors. Please welcome to Pure Grit.
Grant Monahan, Welcome a Paula A brilliant How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
They're really good?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Thank you for taking the time to come on my podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
That's all right. I don't mind checking in with you.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
You've been away at your often away, aren't you, and
then you come home?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, yeah, go away on different activities.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yep, or different activities. So let's let's learn a bit
about you. So where'd you grow up?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh, oh, Sydney and Gold.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Ghost I am okay. And then what what happened with you? Like,
what made you decide that you wanted to go to
the Navy?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think I was getting up a bit too much
mischiff as a teenager in cadets to try to give me, Yeah,
a little bit of this.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
One idea, good idea, give me off the.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Streets, you could say. So, so that gave me a
taste on the Gold Coast. That was the Navy cadets there,
so John.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
How old were you there?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I would have been fourteen, probably fifteen cadets, yeah, yeah, yeah,
and especially for a young for a young lad, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
What age? What age can you go to cadets from?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I think it's like, I think fourteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Okay, I've just got that in mind for my son
that that sounds kind of good.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah. They have some great programs they really do for adolescents. Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So then you obviously joined the Navy, was it?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yes? Yeah, I did. Actually, in fact, I want to
join the Army, and then Dad was a builder and
he took me out of it. Were basically forbidden me
to join because I had some couple of uncles in
the forces went to Vietnam, and he said, you're not
going to go out there and do that. That's ridiculous.
Do something with your life. And then I was pretty adamant.
(03:14):
Went after I joined the Joint Cadets, and I thought, well,
what a better way to see the world and get
a tick in the box and get an experience, And
that's what I did. I think the first recruiter I
saw was a Navy guy and he quite impressed me.
So so I didn't know any better okay.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So you joined the navy, and then to you what
did you do with the navy? There's all different.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, well, well the navy has a choice, so you
get to join become an electrician.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Right, okay, so you got a trade as well.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I had to get a trade, you know, that's what
the folks said, get a trade. Did that. But as
soon as I've got my trade, then funny off. I
was down a place called Whaler, come up out of
the engine room.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I know, wala.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Forty five degrees I think it was down in the
engine room, non air conditioned engine space and overalls and
steel cap boots, and I saw this rubber dingy go
pass or a zodiac, and I said, did the old chief?
Who are those guys? And they'll go and pass in
basically speedos and straw hats and the sixteens over the
shoulders there they're clearance divers. And I said, man, I
(04:22):
come from the gold Coase and that's me. Get these
overalls off off from the back. And as soon as
I finished my trade then and then I had do
you know, psych tests and physical valuations and medicals. And
as soon as I was good to go, then then
I did selection for clearance divers, and then I become
a Navy diver.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Wow, And so what when you're in as a Navy
diver clearance diver is that? What do you do?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Like?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I suppose the it's the real sharp end of the
end of the Navy. So so classic as the old
beach landing. So an amphibious force of the army is
going to come to a beach landing and the clearance
divers will come and clear the beach door. The come
up and do a gradient survey and clear it of
all minds or put devices on there. So at h
(05:13):
hower they all blow up and clear the beach for
the subsequent landing. You're the bomb disposal team as well.
For the Navy.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
That's a bit scary.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, it's a good it's a good after you know,
sort of a job for for veterans. I've been flying
around different parts of the world post defense blowing up bombs.
Are doing as a contractor. So it gives you a
few tickets. So I've got a commercial diver. I'm a
commercial diver by trade, and I work on a movie
industry and then on movies and then because of that
(05:47):
qualification and then bomb disposal as well depth.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
What depth can you dive to? Because I know that
you have dived out a submarine, so all I think
is that is so deep?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, well, well there's no use only reason why divers
release out of submarines or sub swimmer releases. What it's
called is purely just to get from A to B.
It's just a delivery vehicle, a big taxi, very expensive taxi,
and it's very It just gets you on location of
where your task or job's going to be. So you're
(06:22):
only shallow, so you can come out up about twenty
meters and then and then.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You come you can come out of the submarine.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, and then you then you come up quite shallow,
even shallow than that, because you're on oxygen and on
dive sets that don't breathe off, don't don't give off
any any bubbles load circuit, so no bubbles, no troubles.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So if you have no bubbles, no detection, so you
come correct.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah. Yeah, so you can sneak right in something that
technology has been around since World War two. Amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, that's good to know that because tot we just
think that's going to be bubbles, Like you know when
you go off for a dive, you see you know
you're blowing. Yeah, yeah, you couldn't because you'd be detected.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes, yeah, that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Ah interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Really, you can't dive out too deep for the sort
of things that that I was involved in, which is training.
I've never dived out operationally. You have to say that,
I'm not telling.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Any anything you never did.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So it's but if someone has to
jump out and have a surveyor pipeline or or a
comms cable or something, then you could go out deeper
with a different dive set, and that that certainly happens.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
So what took you from the ocean to deciding Okay,
well I'm a Navy clearance diving out. I think I
might try something else.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, Paul, when I it was a diver, the I
was the only rank in my dive team of leading
seamen at the time there was eleven of us and
that that never served with the s A. And then
from there it was just a rite of passage. But
at the time, strategically Australian military was reforming and reshaping
(08:10):
special operations and then so I was a last or
let's say, the first cab off the rank that still
wanted to do selection and prove from my peers that that,
you know, I could take the next step. But but
the only thing is I had to transfer service and
become army.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Previously divers used to then go up onto what they
call on team or used to do cande terrorism duties
with the sa S because yours if you if you're
on a let's just for instance, you might be on
a on a ferry or or a passenger ship that
gets taken by by terrorists, which which has definitely happened
(08:51):
in the old nineteen eighties. You know a lot of
our infrastructure importance to us in our gas and oil
infrastructure from terrorist organized station does something with an oil rig,
then you have to dive on an oil rig and
and do a hostage rescue or deal with the with
the terrorists on board. So that's why navy was part
(09:12):
of the sas a lot like they are right today
in the link cafe. If the commandos who's now got
this responsibility, if they went and did any any sort
of task like that, or ship along a long way
and got to come in with helicopters and boats, then
a third of that whole assault force are actually navy divers.
(09:33):
But people don't really, Yeah, people don't know that. Yeah.
So when you see the commandos exercising, flying around, jumping
out of all sliding down ropes on a building, then
a few of those would be able seamen or a
third of those guys would be navy divers. Wow. Yeah,
because you have to dive in to secure the ship
(09:54):
or the let's say the landing area then for the
everyone else to come in and rope on. So you'll
do the dive and the sneaky bit getting on the
back of a let's say ship or a platform or
if it's a hotel or whatever it is, or the
opera house, then you can come up a bit more
of a sneaky, cleandestine way without being spotted.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Ah. So when you decided you're going to go for
change to army and go for SAS selection, which is well,
like we all know from watching SAS Australia or whatever
that we go, Wow, it's pretty hardcore to be selected.
I mean that's television. That's what the average Australian goes.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh pretty good though?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Is it good? Is it shows how tough it is?
Does it show.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
That they take a lot of little things, little things, okay,
and dramatize it a little, you know, a fair bit.
But you're doing that twenty four hours, you know, straight
for three weeks trying to get in the sas and
it's it takes you out of you. So I went
on about eighty six kilos. I was fighting fit at
the time, and I came back and I lost ten
(11:04):
kilos in a space for three weeks. Who just from
just from the the amoun of activities. And if if
basically if you get to the end and you haven't
injured yourself, then you've got a fair chance of actually
getting corrected.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
So what do you are you really screamed at?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you know, not at all, not at all. That's
about the only thing that's a little bit Hollywood, A little.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Bit TV, yeah, a little bit TV.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because it's all up here. If you
don't have it up there, if you need someone yelling
at you to motivate you to go do something, then
you're probably not the right sort of person. You know.
We operate in very small teams and you have.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
To do so selection is three weeks. It takes three
weeks to go.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Through to select the individual to even start your training. Wow,
So you don't learn anything on there. It's purely just
a just a character test, a fitness character tests make
sure that.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
You are some of the things that you had to do.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Oh just well, there's a lot of short term there's
a short term memory test. They'll give you an AK
forty seven that you may have never touched before. You know,
strip it, strip it down. Well. Actually, the first thing
you do is your baseline fitness assessments, so straight away
they'll make sure that you've trained and you're prepared to
(12:24):
and you've done the correct preparation. If you haven't, well
then you just haven't showed enough self discipline to get in.
So then once you do that, then then there's different
phases of team building phases and then there's individual phases.
And probably the biggest killer for some people is that
they can work together as a team. And then they'll
pull you for that team environment and then give you
a compass and a map and then push you out
(12:47):
with a whole bunch of checkpoints to go to and
you've got about three days to do it, and you're
not allowed to talk to anyone. If you walked it
walked past someone. You can't you can't say anything, can't
even have a word to them, can't show them anything,
because it's a complete individual phase to really see that
you've got it long. So if you if you can't,
(13:08):
if you can't do that, then then you're not there.
But then at the same time, there's other activities there.
You have to work as a team, and you'll do
a like a stores carry, which is ridiculous. He'll be
maybe ten ten guys in your group, and you'll physically
say every time you have to. Then there'll be be
a funny scenario and you have to have a real
(13:28):
sense of humor. And they will say, oh, chief chief
Zubdus in the next village, he's got a stores truck
that went to his village and all these things are
falling off the back, and we have to help him
as our friend. And even you think we find along
this track we have to pick up and carry to
his village. We don't know where the village is. They
won't tell you. And you see something. It might be,
(13:49):
you know, ten jerry cans of water. Then it might
be a piece of a pipe, or it might be
half a trailer. And then before you know it. You've
got like two truck low of gear that you pick
up and you take move one hundred meters, then go
back and pick up another one.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And move to this really physically.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Twenty four hours. You well, in my one, we did
it for twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Wow, you don't sleep nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Nothing, well, And that's what it's And they will see
the team and then they'll allocate different people to be
the team lead for a few hours. And they'll see
and you have to come up with a rest plan
or no rest plan, depends on what you think. And
you'll have to motivate people or calm people down if
someone else is yelling at someone for not carrying it
(14:37):
as much. And they'll really and the directing staff who
you'll be working with in another three weeks time that
they will be quietly assessing people and just sitting off
in the in the weeds, having a look and seeing
how the whole dynamic.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Of the groups is going.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yep, and then just to see someone's a team player,
see if someone's in it for themselves. And there's a class.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So you got selected, You've got through all of that
grueling section process. You got selected, and then what happens
do they then decide who becomes what like in the SAS.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Or no train the same well more or less. But
there's an insurtion skill. So remember how I'm talking about
the divers divers, Well, the divers will come up, but
in SAS it's water operations. So there's three different sort
of insurtion methods. The way you get into a task
or the way someone might get in and then do
a reconnaissance and then the rest of the squadron will
(15:34):
come in. So it might be free fallers, so you'll
sky dive on oxygen. You might jump forty kilometers away,
twenty kilometers away, whatever, and then bury your parachutes and
then walk in and then slowly assess a target. It
might be let's say an airport, a remote airport, and
then you'll do up a plan or give enough information
(15:55):
and send it back to the commanders can put up
a plan and then the infantry you might roll in
or the rest of the squadron might come in and
assault or or do a hostage rescue or whatever. And
then the other discipline is the is the army guys
in the SAS that dive qualified. They might dive in
or they might take callippers like kayaks. They might come
(16:17):
out of a submarine and just swim near to the shore.
And again you'll be the first, you'll be the reception
party for everyone else, or you'll just go on and
do just a small task. And then another one would
be the vehicle mounted guys are experts in motorcycles and
the full drives and the quad bikes, and they'll come
(16:37):
in and just jump in and go, you know, vehicle
mount and it just purely stay with the vehicles and
do reconnaissance that you know that and see be the
eyes and the ears for the rest of the squadron
or the rest of the army.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So when you were in the army, you became a sniper.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
So well that's just a sub trade, okay. Once you're there,
you go off and specialize in a whole bunch of
different things. So funny enough, if everyone's automatically assumed I
would have gone water operations, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Of course, of your background.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah that's right. But myself and a colleague of mine
another maybe his name's Clay, and we both opted to
go free for all. And we thought, well, sports parachutingow
jumping on weekends for a bit of fun and we thought,
how good is this? And you know, let's go across
the regiment. We'll try something different and we'll go free fall.
(17:32):
And then I did that for three years and then
I missed the water and I went.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Back to the So when you say free fall, like,
I mean, I've done a you know, you know, like
a parachute jump. Yeah, I know if free full for
I don't know what it was from fourteen thousand feet
or whatever. You're going from a lot high. You know,
you're going with oxygen. So you're going from a lot
higher and free falling so much longer because you're free
(18:00):
falling with oxygen.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Yes, yes, that's the only reason why you have an
oxygen because you're height anything from twenty thousand to twenty
six thousand four. Wow, it's about it's a little bit
more than twice of what you do at a sports sports.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So you do, I mean I can't. I've only done
it once, but I'll never forget it. Like, I just
absolutely loved it. Yeah, the free falling bit is what
I love the most. I didn't really I was when
the parachute open, I was like other rides over in
a way, like yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. So
you falling from that height with oxygen, it must be like, oh.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
It's like the first time you do it, Paula. It's
just the same as the sports you do, your sports jumping,
you learn how to fly. Yeah, before you know what,
they'll strap your pack on because there's no use. You
can't just jump in. You need your pack. So everyone
learns to do what I call a basic tandem. So
you might have seventy kilos of gear, your own gear
that you had to strap your rifle down in here
(19:00):
in your ribs when you when you land, and you've
got to learn on how to how to hang your
pack down so you're not going to break your legs.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
When your land.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Stuff and then you'll do all that at ten thousand
and then and then you'll start to go up and
up and up, and then introduce oxygen. And when they
do that, then you're on another helmet and oxygen masks
and oxygen cylinders. So they just keep on adding more
stuff on. So you might be jumping with over scary.
(19:30):
I suppose there's there's that nervous nervousness that everything secured
and right, you can get into a good hard arch
and everything's strapped down and you can reach you know,
you can you can reach all your emergencies, and you
can reach your you know, your pull handle. And and
then it's nervous that no one else has a male
(19:51):
function because I was involved with one malfunction that scared
the hell out of me, not not with me, but
a collage with someone else is rolling under me. And
and then I saw a pilot shoot and he's he's
just come up, and I was, I was a terminal
velocity and he was only like about ten meters away
from me. And if I for thought, well, if I
couldn't slide back out of his way, I would have
(20:14):
come down and just cleaned him up and we would
have both been fatalities. And so there's there's all these things.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, wow, when it goes that's just like I don't know.
What I did is just you know, like what everyone
else does. A tandem jump. I mean a lot of
people wouldn't even jump out of a plane. A lot
of people said, why would you jump out of a
you know plane? But it's I don't know. I reckon.
I was, I reckon. I've been on a high ever since.
(20:42):
Like I loved it. So much. You know, yeah's hear
about everyone else is rolling therew. I didn't have to
jump like you had to jump yourself. I got pushed out.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well, then you go to the next level and they
turned the lights off time onto him unmarked drop zone.
You know. So what you're looking at is the ambient
lighter for Roberson and that's where your indication when you've
got a flare or coming to Claire and.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
So how long would you free fall for? How many minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
About two minutes?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Two minutes?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, And if you've done that tandem, it's like, oh,
hang on, this feels really really weird. And you keep
on looking at your autie and you're tapping, you're tapping it,
and you're tapping it and tapping it, and they think,
oh it's working. Yeah, where everyone else is in free
fall because it just takes for ages when you've been
doing ten thousand and then you suddenly you double it
to twenty twenty. Yeah, yes, it's like, man, this is
(21:40):
just like ages.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
It is taking a long time to have to pull much.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Thinking there's something that's right, and you think there's something
wrong here.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, wow, what a rush that that would be such
a rush. So you did that, Like where, like, where
did you serve? I know, oh that she'd been to. Okay,
you went to Afghanistan?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Was that?
Speaker 3 (22:05):
That was with the army and sas.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah. My first operation was eat Steamoor in nineteen okays
a long time ago now.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yeah, Yeah, I went to More and Thenmore.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Then we went up to Solomon Islands. They were having
a bit of a civil civil unrest up there or
civil war back in two thousand and one. So we
went up there and helped the un out of that,
bringing the warring factions together. Wow, so they could peacefully,
(22:37):
so they can negotiate their way to some sort of
peaceful settlement so the country could move on. It's a
beautiful country. And I've since done some work up there
doing bomb disposal work, which is great, fantastic people on
both sides.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
So when did you go to Afghanistan?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
That was in two thousand and one? That was okay,
that was the end of about another six month after
that one.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
How was that, Well, that would be volatile. It's always
been volatile.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
You're always every job you get excited, and there's been
so many times that you get called into the theater
out of the briefing room, and you think, right, jobs on, guys,
keep your phones on you there's something bubbling away and
you always see something in the news. When you see
something in the news and you know that Australia has
an interest in that, or allies or if it's big,
then then you think, yeah, we could get involved in here.
(23:29):
In probably September eleven, when I saw those you know,
the buildings fly in, the planes flying, I remember that
didn't realize then to the extent of how much our
involvement was going to be. But between that will my
squadron was on the Cana Terrace responsibilities and at that
(23:52):
time a Norwegian and cargo ship called the MV Tampa
picked up a whole bunch of about over four hundred
and sixty four sixty six I think refugees from a
boat that's sunk or a couple of boats that's sunk.
And then and then the international law of the law
of the seas, whatever it is, the cargo ship just
(24:14):
had to drop them off to the near report, which
was going to be Jakarta, I think it was. And
every time they did that, then then they had a
one demographic on the ship that would storm the bridge.
And then tell them to turn around and head to Australia,
and I think, well, to Australia is like miles that
way we're going to you know, we're just out outside
Indonesian waters and exports Indonesia and they didn't want so,
(24:39):
so then it becomes a ship under dures. So so
a ship's been essentially been taken hostage or or they'd
have the freedom of movement. And then when they're heading
to Australia, that's when that's when there's only one organization
that can take on a job, and that's the SAS.
So that we went up there just about the same time.
(25:02):
We're in the same period that Afghanistan or one squadron,
another squadron headed over to Afghanistan. Time we finished the
canidterrorism responsibilities, we rotated and then will then then we
headed off to Afghanistan and took over from those lads.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
And how was that? Like, there's so much there's been
so much controversy in the media about hypers and says
in Afghanistan. You don't know what to really. You know,
you've been there and you've lived.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It, that that's right and well, and a lot of
that stuff you've seen it on the media. That's that
was past my era, so that.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Was after you. Yeah, you don't know, okay, but I.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Can comment on some of my friends that i've seen
hit burnout. The government continues to just push and push
and push the rotations, the guys that just do not
get any rest. And and they're in it, and they're
in it, and they're in it. And when I say
in it that people are physically trying to kill you,
(26:06):
it's a dirty, dirty game. And then be killed or
be killed or kill or be killed, okay. And when
you're going in in a target and it goes loud
and there's rounds starting to fly, you're fighting for your life.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah. And then if you be trained to do too,
that's right. A lot so many people comment, but they
don't know, you know, like we don't know, we haven't
been there. So yeah, so many people judge and go, oh,
you know, that's terrible. But you're saying you're in the
fight of your life.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yes, yeah, yeah, that's.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Right, and you couldn't trust anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
No, no, But it's still interesting. You're working with some
fantastic people. You're working with the other peers in other countries.
Right from I think there was fifteen different countries over there,
from the Europeans, the Americans, the Kiwis, all our normal
people that we operate with, but some of the all
(27:06):
the other So many different countries and same with the East,
the amount of different nationalities that went into East them
or and that's amazing. You do get to meet some
amazing locals and you try to pick up a little
bit of the culture. At the same time, there's just
a lot of innocence that are just pulled into it.
A lot of a lot of agriculture because that's what
(27:28):
they do. They literally live off the land they well
country of they do farm because that's how the majority
of the people people live. And an income over there.
When I say an income, that all they do is
farm their own land, eat their own food, grow the
chickens and the beef, and tryp and that's that's what
(27:49):
it is. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Wow, So, yeah, you had a good experience there as well.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
As I hadn't. I did have a good experience because
when I see things on the new so I can say, yeah,
I know exactly what they're talking about over there. So
it's all my experiences have been good experiences or memorable
experiences is what I probably what better way?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Yeah, memorable. So then what you know when you said
about the Tampa, I remember that being in the news.
What else you did when you talked about the ship? Yeah,
but there was one you were saying, there was something
that you did with that. Start was at Christmas Island.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh well that was Christmas Island. That was just off
Christmas Island. That was so we boarded the ship just
just outside the twelve nautical mile range, which was sovereign territory.
So I think I've got that right. And then so
that was and that started off the offshore detention, that's right. Right.
(28:57):
Then we were on the board and when we went
into Ristmas Island, we just went into a gym gym
nazing there, and then we acquired our boats hadn't even arrived,
and we've got the Johnny Howard on the old telephone
was you know, through through the chain of command, just
came down and said go go go, We're going now.
And I think, well, ship, we're not set up yet.
(29:17):
So we're on barges and borrowed police boats and and
whatever we can get out to the out and hit
the ship before they hit that twelve nautical mile mark.
I did that because I was ex Navy. My team
went straight to the bridge to if we had to
steer on and steer it around. It wasn't the case,
you know, they were all all the refugees were all compliant.
(29:39):
So so there's there's probably the deepest bit of deepest story.
Everyone was quite happy that they were heading towards Australia,
and the crew were crew were good. They were all
compliant with us, and we thought we didn't know what
to expect, you know, we thought there was We thought
the ship was under due rests, as I said, like
(30:01):
a like a hostage style situation, maybe knives out or
different sort of weapons and improvised weapons, bullied bullying tactics.
And then when we went up there, we went up
guns drawn and stormed the bridge and cleared every and
I think there's not much everyone's compliant. That all the
refugees are sitting on the on the decks. There a
(30:21):
few military times. I remember that rided or near rided
a couple of times. And then we had them on
board for about seven days and that the same and
then the Defense Force flew up a whole bunch of
helicopters up there and field kitchens and then before you
know it, you know we're feeding flying food out in
(30:42):
quite quick succession. It's it's amazing to see that system
when when the government or defense force switches it on,
it gets switched on really really fast and amazingly.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
So how long did you serve all up to you
got out are about twenty years?
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Twenty years wow, reserves for about.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Fifteen okay, so then you became went in to the
reserves and then now obviously you tell everyone what you
do now, like you've you discovered veterans have a lot
of veterans have mental health issues, but we can all
imagine from what they've experienced and how hard it is
(31:28):
to come back to civilian life. So you've gone back
to the love of water. Your love of water. So,
maritime warriors, what is that?
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, when I was working at the Soldier Recovery Center
as a reserve with another where was that?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Where there?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, at Delically Barracks and nogra working in there, and
that's when i've my first day my company sergeant major
up there, or the warrant officer running the place he said,
or Grant walking on board mate, Sorry to do this
to you that lady you're just talking to a walk
(32:05):
past and sitting on the steps. Can you take her
down toward three? And I think ward three? What the
hell is that? Well, that's a psych war down and
I think, oh man, what And I so I've helped
her in the car and I said to you, go, look,
we're going down to ward three and all down down
the hospital and get you some help. And and then
(32:26):
and then I was thinking on the way down there,
what do I say, like going you having a good day?
I think, how do I talk to how long you've
been at the SRC or how long you've been in Brisbane?
And I think, what do I say? Well, I had
no idea, and it was a vertical learning curve. Then
since then you know, they jump. They put me on
the Metal Health First Aid course, and then I started
(32:47):
getting all the practitioners come through and I'll sit up
the back there and and when they're talking to the
cohort at the Soldier Recovery Center. So that's that's where
all the wounded engine ill in part of the world
or Southeast Queensland, they go through going on accelerated wellness program.
So some of them might be warriors that have come
(33:09):
back off the essays selection injured and they just can't
get past their injury and get better again, and they
want to go back and do it. Some have got
sleep disthorder, anger issues, depression PDSD, broken backs, limbs of
broken cartilages that can no longer pursue their military careers.
(33:31):
So they all come on to the Soldier Recovery Center
program and then they go through and then I think
it's changed somewhat since I was there though, but at
that time they really had to do something to help
people that were injured instead of just kicked them out
on the street and let them fend for themselves. That's right.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
So you learn a lot. How you learn everything about
it then exactly while you were there, So that where
Maritime Warriors was born from. Basically that's where you've got
your idea exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Every time that we took the cohort up to riach, door,
cotton tree, stand up paddle boarding, a bike riding both
along the beach or around Goma and the museum and
on the city hopper, and we walk along the river.
There was one common theme alongst all that is that
everyone became better models of themselves and started to talk.
(34:27):
So some people that only had two hours sleep because
they're changing different mental health medications, then they pick up
and become better models of themselves. Those are ones who
are injury. Always complained that to walk from the car
park into a building, you know they have some difficulty.
But get them out there near the water, you know
(34:49):
they can walk ten times. Man of that knowing that
there's coffee on the end, and wouldn't complain. So then
I think there's something with this with the water. And
I was the same when I went free for when
I went three fall and never saw the water for
three years, I thought, well, there's missing.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
All those negative ions that you get from from the ocean.
What does maritime Warrior is.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Do we take out free programs for veterans and family
me so on the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
We've now got do take them out on the water.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, we take them. We've got a forty three
foot sailing yacht and that that's space on the Gold Coast,
and then we've got the rib here and keep that
at the Sunshine Coast and then that's a six meter rib.
Different demographics will do fishing and snorkeling out of that,
teach people how to do boat driving so they can
achieve you know, like a small time goal coming and think,
(35:48):
I can't do that. I can't put up the sale. Yes,
I can't drive that. And I think we'll jump behind
because it's a it's a big rubber rubber dinghy. It's
like it's the next issue police boat. And I think
you can't do any harm. Have a little of the
dings in it, and and that's and before the end
of the day they're actually in their given orders, and
(36:08):
you know, they've come out of the shell. They're pulling
the road and I jump back on the wheel and
I think, tell you, yeah, let's cycle it through.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Who has Yeah, oh, that's so good. Before you know,
and it's a free program. Yeah yeah, correct, that's amazing.
So if anyone listening wants to get in, that's an
x veter or whatever and their families, So how do
they get They just find you on your.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Website website Maritime Warrior dot org.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah yeah, And you're not I mean,
you do that free program, but you're also you're I
get sneaky little like insights from your wife that you
sometimes are working with movie stars lately.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Oh, well, because you've been that skippering boats or basically
anytime an actor goes near water on what are you
safety divers, right, and you've got to have boats, and
then therefore you need people with commercial qualifications.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
Anyone that we might know and we won't tell anyone.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I don't know. Not probably Ron Howard.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Oh my god, only Howard.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
So probably on his latest latest, probably three of his latest.
But the best one I worked with him was on
thirteen Lives the Thai soccer team.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Oh yeah, yep, it's amazing. I loved that.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, myself and another two navy divers and then another
cave diver will dive doubles and then we went in
and on camera and then also safety divers doing all
the cave diving on there and working with the stunt
stunt team and you know they're acted as the police
divers tie police divers and other works. That was fantastic experience.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
That is that's that's something to be Yeah, you'll never
forget that. That was that was incredible, That that whole
story was just incredible, just amazing, Like I I don't know,
I don't know how they got those children now, like, yeah,
it's amazing story. I was fascinated by that, and I
(38:16):
think everybody, you know, everyone in Australia was fascinated by that.
Everyone in the world, I mean, as you know, the
whole world was. They're championing for those boys, you know.
And the divers incredible story, incredible, amazing, Like I don't know,
cave diving, that's a whole nother level of skill, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Like I did.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Yeah, yeah, I went diving once in a cave in
Reece and went cave diving and I saw someone panic
really badly because it was for me even it was
quite nerve wracking because you can't see. I couldn't see
any light. But I saw someone panic and then their
(38:58):
face mask get kicked off and it was horrific. It
was horrific because the panic of the mask getting kicked
off by flipper wasn't done very well. I think it
was a little bit not It wasn't safe, you know,
like I'm lucky, but I do remember to see the
panic and I then felt the fear because they were
panicking because their masks because you couldn't see it's oh,
(39:19):
I don't know, it's you can't.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Pay pay lip service to competency experience, you know in
underwater environments and up in the sky, because when it
goes wrong, it goes wrong catastrophically.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
It was just like a tourist came up. You know,
I'm talking like not like you would have done and
what you know, but it's quite it is quite scary
in the dark. Yeah, and then when you see that sunlight,
it's amazing. Yay, I know where I am Now I've
got my bearings, there's the sky. But yeah, yeah, so
anyone else, what else you're doing like movie wise?
Speaker 2 (39:55):
No, no, no, that's it, that's it, just that because
we're only only work on water ones and.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
Water on Yeah, so there's not there's not that many yet.
I thought you might be driving.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
It might be lucky enough to jump on three years.
Oh that's pretty good four a year.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Being that sort of skilled. So so now just your
focus is maritime, that's right, warriors, which is fantastic and
I think that's an amazing amazing that you do that.
So how do you fund it because if it's a
free program, yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Well we apply for different grants. We struggle from paid
basically from months and months because even the yacht. You know,
there's a thousand bucks just there just to park the thing. Yeah,
and most are probably every Yeah, we're self funded enough.
And then to be honest, because we can't get the funding,
(40:48):
we're in competition.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Can any businesses help out or.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Well without a doubt, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got twelve
meters twenty four middle meters of the side of the
yacht there, that's a free canvas any on the Well, that's.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
What anyone wants to help out, And that's I think
it's such an amazing cause I was thinking sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Yeah, and we do team building. We do team building
activities for corporates. Okay, myself and a couple other key
personnel like myself Individual Resilience to Building Communication workshop, So
we pick a little bit of work up through that
way and that money goes straight into Maritime Warrior.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Well, if anyone's listening, that's you know, can help out.
They can easily get in contact with you on your website.
So just a little I asked everybody on my podcast,
what's your your experience in written resilience. What's been like
a life motto for you that's as standout, you know,
(41:49):
stood out or in your career.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Respect. Respect, Yeah yeah, respect builds trust. Wow, I love
him and trust, and with trust you can break down
any barrier communications business.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
It's just simply that respect. And what about if there
was a song that sums up mon a hand or
maybe a time in your life. It could have been.
I don't know, it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
I used to listen a little classical, very heavy classical
music on operations that sort of took me away somewhere
somewhere else. Probably the best one is because of my
glass is always half half full, probably Celebrate.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I don't know why, but but that.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
When I listened to that area, it's a.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
It's a been forever ever since been an adult. I
listened to that and it just dance. I don't think, yeah,
I'll gie. I don't think about tomorrow, I don't think
about yesterday. It's all right and the good things in life.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
That song cannot not make you feel good either. I
was just wondering if you busted out some moves when
that comes on. Yeah, oh that's brilliant. Thank you so
much for joining me on Pure Grit. That was thank
you and thank you for what I love what you
do for the veterans and that's amazing and for mental
health like anyone want to get in contact, everything will
(43:28):
be up on the podcast than all the contacts for you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Great, Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Thanks for listening to Pure Grit with Paul McGrath. Now
the web guy's been a very busy boy. You can
now visit the website pure grit dot com dot au,
search Pure Grip podcast on Facebook and Instagram for the
fun behind the scenes stuff. And I was wondering why
Paul had started wearing makeup. Turns out all the chats
are now on YouTube as well, so make sure you
give that a subscribe.
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