July 9, 2025 • 31 mins
What separates excellence from mediocrity in military service? It all comes down to your relationship with standards. While the Army establishes baseline requirements for physical fitness, marksmanship, and professional competence, truly exceptional soldiers view these minimums as merely the starting point—not the destination.
In this candid exploration of military standards and expectations, we dissect the Sergeant Major of the Army's powerful statement: "I don't like to start from the minimum standard. That, to me, is not a place you start any conversation, especially as warfighters." Too often, we encounter soldiers approaching their Army Combat Fitness Test with a dangerous mindset: "As long as I do my minimum, I'm good." This checkbox mentality fundamentally misunderstands what military service demands.
The conversation expands beyond physical fitness to examine how competitive spirit shapes military excellence. When you consistently push yourself beyond requirements—whether in PT, weapons qualification, or professional development—you're building the resilience and capability that combat situations demand. As the SMA reminds us, "This is a hard life. This is not easy. You chose the path that needs a machete."
We also explore the journey from basic compliance to genuine commitment that represents the maturation of a soldier. New recruits rarely fully comprehend what they've signed up for, but effective leadership helps them understand the deeper purpose behind standards and expectations. The Army isn't merely a jobs program—it's a profession with real consequences for national security.
Have you fallen into the minimum standard trap? Are soldiers in your unit sandbagging their performance? Share your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to like and subscribe as we continue exploring what it means to serve with excellence rather than adequacy.
Video is from The Jedburgh Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@jedburghpodcast
Thanks for listening, please download and leave a review.
Remember, you don't have to embrace the suck, if you have the right tools in your ruck!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Roger, sorry, so we just hit 1000 subscribers.
Thank you, guys so much, and inhonor of that, today I want to
talk about competition, and whatI mean by competition is the
(00:25):
army has a standard and thecompetitive portion is us
wanting to exceed that standard,and many times I've seen this,
day in and day out ACFT afterACFT, weapons, qual after
weapons, qual, how, when itcomes down to the come down,
(00:48):
certain individuals will justsay I'm just here to hit my
minimum.
As long as I do my minimum, I'mgood, I'm not trying to compete
, I don't need any points, I'mabout to retire.
Whatever their excuse may be,they come up with it, and I want
(01:08):
to do that by reacting to avideo that I found on the
internet.
It's the Jim Burr podcast andit has the Sergeant Major of the
Army speaking about it's titledIn the Army, you Can't Settle
(01:30):
for the Minimum Standard.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Here's why, sergeant Major, thanks for stopping by,
branch.
Good to be here.
It's good to see you again.
It's been about a year since wewere in here and I'll tell you,
you're a YouTube sensation onthe Jedberg Podcast YouTube
channel.
Okay, whatever you say.
Whatever you say, there's awhole slew of topics and I
(01:52):
actually wrote down some notesbecause you're I might have said
that wrong the Jedburgh Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Go check it out.
It's a good podcast actually.
I watched a few of their.
Once I found this video, Iwatched a few of their videos, a
few of their.
Um, once I found this video, Iwatched a few of their videos, a
few of his videos, and he'severywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
He gets a lot of people on there folks here, your
, your staff is very good, sothey gave me a heads up that you
might be stopping by, and sothere's a few topics like the
blue book standards I've neverbeen to.
I've been to combat.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
The blue book.
So when I was in Alaska we hadour version of the blue book.
This is a different one.
On Fort Hood we have the yellowbook and I have it downloaded
on my phone.
I don't have a hard copy of it,but anytime we have issues or
(02:47):
any thoughts, that be like well,what does the yellow book say?
It's easy you just reach forthe book, check on it and, uh,
just like any anything else,there's, there's regulations,
there's policies, and thenthere's the book being my fair
share of combat, but I've neverbeen to war was one of the
(03:08):
popular quotes.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Since you're talking Blue Book, I was going to ask
you do you have it?
Of course we do, and how's therollout?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
going.
A matter of fact, treydot gaveme an update the other day.
I don't know if this is good orbad, but it's the truth.
I think we're about 373,000downloads Now.
We're close to a million peoplein the army, so I'm always like
the glass is half empty.
I'm like why aren't there amillion people that have
downloaded the blue book?
But it's a journey, right,we're not going to get there
(03:37):
overnight, so, but it is on aserious uptick.
I don't know how many peopleare actually printing it.
I'm still old school.
I like to touch it.
It's a good reminder, kind ofthat was how we grew up, but I
am excited to see they'redownloading it and they're using
it as the reference for whatWright looks like.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
We're talking about standards and that's something
that you've harped on, not onlyin the conversation we had last
year, but even in many of theconversations you've been having
over the past couple months, asyou've visited the formations
and you know I've read some ofthe transcripts and watched some
of it that's been publicizedand you've really doubled down
on standards.
We're about to get into it herewhen we start talking about the
PT test and the Army fitnesstest.
(04:17):
Yeah, talk for a second aboutthe importance of upholding the
standards in the redesign ofthat fitness test.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and that's why Chris was the right Sergeant
Major to come on here.
And Joey, you're seeing Hold on.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Maybe I'm tripping.
Maybe I'm tripping, tell me.
And hey, man, once you get to acertain level, you get to do
what you want.
But am I wrong?
Let me know in the comments.
Am I wrong?
Or could Sergeant Major of theArmy's hair be considered
faddish?
(04:54):
You know the little shark thing.
Whatever it is he has going on.
Am I tripping?
I could be tripping, Maybe I'ma little sensitive, whatever,
but in my opinion it could be a.
There could be some way thatsomeone can.
They won't tell him anything,but it could be construed as
(05:16):
that.
And when we're speaking of ofstandards, I mean everything
that he, he has, he's, he saysbecause I follow him on on
Instagram everything he says anddoes is within the standard and
there's always something thatsomeone does.
But I don't know.
I'm just.
I mean just being a littlepetty wop right here.
Could it be considered or not?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
let me know and now I'm in, out there, like we.
We picked, intentionally pickedthe right people to talk about
fitness, right.
Audio.
Audio and video have to matchright.
I don't like to start from theminimum standard.
That, to me, is not a place youstart any conversation,
especially as warfighters.
(05:58):
But we do have to have aminimum standard, right.
And so that's the journey Chrisis going to talk to you about a
little bit.
It's like, hey, we're raisingthat minimum standard and he'll
go over that in detail.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Okay, it's my first reaction video, so I'm going to
stop it a few times.
Well, he did say one thing thatI do agree with.
It's the fact that audio andvisual have to match, and what
he means by that is you can'tpreach fitness if you don't look
(06:30):
fit.
Now, fitness comes in variousforms, right, but as humans we
are subject to judge theappearance, the appearance.
And if I Sarn Cruz, am Iteaching MFT or holistic health
and fitness, whatever it is, orI'm giving, or I'm out front
(06:59):
talking about diet and I amlooking like I'm two
cheeseburgers away from busingtape, you're probably not going
to listen to me, even if even ifmy runtime is low, I passed my
ACFT back when it was 540exemption because I need that
540 to not have to deal with thetape.
He is correct, audio has tomatch the visual.
(07:22):
It is just the way it is.
Now, the second thing is it'stwice that I heard him say Chris
.
Is he referring to the otherSergeant Major as Chris?
I think so.
Now my thing is I've heard thatonce you go to Sergeant, once
you're in the Sergeant Majorrealm, you guys go to first name
(07:44):
basis.
And I was talking we've talkedabout this in ad nauseum at
least I have with my peers andI'd be like if, if the O's can
call themselves by first names,why don't we just call ourselves
by first name?
It's just why not?
And the consensus is typicallywell, it just takes away.
(08:05):
We're sergeants and we have tobe the backbone and we can't do
what they do, we can't followthem If they don't want to
follow the standard blah, blah,blah.
Now here is the pinnacle of thetippet of spear, and they call
each other by first names.
So why can't?
Why?
What?
What is it At what point?
Does that convert?
I want to know, and am Iopposed to it?
(08:28):
No, does that convert, I would?
I want to know, and am Iopposed to it?
No, I, I don't care aboutcalling each other by first
names.
If you, when in my first dutystation I was with the 554
military police company instuttgart, germany, they had the
first and tenth special forcesover there and even their
airborne support, the riggersand stuff.
All of those guys were on firstname basis.
It didn't matter, from thelowest private up to the highest
(08:54):
NCO that was there, they justtalked.
Even the officers, they allcalled each other first names.
They just relaxed and that'sthe environment.
But my question is what makesit different for just regular
Army NCOs to just say, hey,saeed, what's going on?
What makes it different justregular army ncos to just say,
hey, saeed, what's going on?
What makes it different?
I don't know, it's it just.
It's just something that comesto my head as he says chris
(09:18):
twice, and then I knew he wastalking about the other guy, the
other sergeant major, becausehe he did the hand movement
right, pointing towards him.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I'm off my soapbox and studying it with the G three
five seven team and and Randand some other folks.
So I'll let him dive deep intothat.
But the but the bottom line isI start the conversation with
you should be trying to exceedany standard.
When I walked in I heard youtalk about the journey that you
remember with the three fitthree event test and you you
(09:48):
know some folks remember we hadextended scales.
Then we didn't use extendedscales.
I would argue the reason we hadextended scales is because it
was a fairly easy test.
So we had, you know, score 370today or 360, you know 350 um,
and then it got to the point towhere it was.
Just you know you put 300 onyour ACFT or on your NCOER or
(10:12):
you just put pass or fail.
And so the journey is aboutchanging the culture of fitness.
What it means to be fit as awarfighter, that's really the
macro, you know topic that thatwe love right now.
We got to dial into the armyfitness test and the minimum
standards for combat arms, etcetera.
Uh, so that's important too,but it's bigger than that.
(10:34):
It's twice a year.
You take this thing twice ayear If you're doing everything
properly in your fitness regimen.
You should be taking that testtwice a year and not even
thinking about it.
Oh, we got the AFTs next week100%.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I live by that.
I don't identify by my age I'm45 and I make sure that I am
ready for the ACFT and the AFTwhen it rolls out.
And that's just me.
And I typically say that Iexpect, like with friendships,
for instance, I say that I don'texpect my friends to do the
(11:11):
things that I do for them.
I can't put that expectation onthem.
I could want them toreciprocate, but I can't put
that expectation.
But in the military, in thearmy, yes, I can put that
expectation for you to give your100%, because that's your job.
And too many times do we show upto these ACFTs?
(11:36):
We know they're coming.
We know February, march orApril, august, september,
october, you're going to haveyour test and you're acting.
People act as if this issomething that comes out of the
blue and we just don't know whenit's going to come.
It's like, oh, we have ACFT,yeah, we do, it's the first one
(12:00):
of the year and then we're goingto have another one in six
months.
And, just like he said, if yourregimen is keeping up to it,
then when it comes around it'snot a big deal.
I remember when I first came inthe army and this is this is why
I give a little leeway to thejuniors, because they don't
really understand what's goingon.
(12:20):
Right, you got to really getthem into it.
But every time I took a APFT Iwould say next time I'm going to
get them, next time I'm goingto get them, next time I'm going
to get them, because you getmotivated.
Afterwards it's like dang it, Icould have got this 300.
I could have got this 70.
I could have 270, which is 90in each event.
I could have had it if I wouldhave taken morning PTs more
(12:44):
seriously.
And that's where it starts thatregimen that he's talking about
more seriously.
And that's where it starts thatregimen that he's talking about
.
It starts every single morning.
You sit and you showing up andmaking sure that you give your
100%.
Now, everyone's 100% isdifferent my 100% for my
(13:04):
counterpart, who I run with.
She's a dietician.
She's also 20 years youngerthan me and her my 100% is
probably like her, 80, 70%, butI'm still giving my 100%.
And if she wants to turn it upto 100, then I'm going to be,
I'm going to lag back on theruns, because she's just better
(13:26):
at running than me.
She's just better.
That's the bottom line.
So yeah, if you stay ready, youdon't have to get ready, and I
know you guys have heard this.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Oh, okay, monday six o'clock.
Roger that All right, thatshould be your attitude.
It can't be a thing or I forgotabout it.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
No big deal.
Yeah, we're going to do it.
Oh, we're doing another one,we're doing an extra one.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Or there's people taking the retest, or there's
people that missed it becausethey were on pass or leave.
Okay, whatever, I'll take itagain with my soldiers.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes, you should not be scared to take another ACFT
with your soldiers.
I don't care If you soldiers, Idon't care if you took an acft
last week and two of yoursoldiers come off, leave and why
not take it with them, whocares?
At least run with them, dosomething with them, don't I
like?
I like what he just said there.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I'm 100 in agreeance with it if you think about elite
organizations, you know adynasties in athletic programs,
college programs, programs wherethey dominate.
Every year, year in, year out.
There's this concept that getstalked about.
You can't put it on a pedestal.
You can't put competition on apedestal.
So you can't look to the end ofthe week If you're a football
player.
(14:39):
You can't say, hey, my hardestday is game day, your hardest
day has to be the practice.
So when you get to game day'slike, oh, I only got to do this
once when I work with rowingteams and from my days as a
collegiate rower, wecontinuously needed you got to
do like four races in it in apractice.
So when you get to saturday,it's like, oh, you can do this
thing once, once.
Yeah, it's not a thing, yeahyeah, the the vice.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
The vice talks about this really well, uh.
Vice chief of staff, uh,general mingus, uh oneus, one of
our phenomenal teammates we'refortunate to work with here in
the Pentagon.
If you think about our mission,you've got to infill, you have
to do something on the objective, potentially hold the terrain
(15:23):
after you're successful or exfil.
It's not about one step andonly one step, right, and so
when you think about fitness,it's like if I take an AFT this
morning at six o'clock, I have afull day of hard problems to
get after.
It's not you take an AFT andyou're done for the week, right,
(15:45):
and so that's why the cultureof fitness, uh is our main
priority, uh, and we're hopingthat this next phase in the
evolution of a fitness test, uh,will help everybody understand.
To Chris's points before I cameon here hey, this is a journey.
This will continue to evolve,also a year from now.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Ooh he said something that I think is let me see if I
can spin off of that.
He says it's the fitnessculture, is not?
It doesn't stop at PT, right,because you got your ACFT and
then you have to go into work,and then he didn't say anything
(16:27):
about this.
Or, if he did, I missed it.
After you get out of work, youhave to go into work, and then
he didn't say anything aboutthis.
Or, if he did, I missed it.
Uh, after you get out of work,you have to go home.
So I hear a lot of troops saywell, I'd rather be better at my
job than worry about, uh, acftor shooting, whatever.
It is kind of like the, thecombat soldier, for instance,
(16:51):
let's say low density I'mspecifically because he is
combat arms, so he worries aboutmore, about the warfighting
soldier.
But I am a medic and I hear,with the low density, mos is a
lot the legals, the 42 alphas,the finances, the medics, all
(17:16):
the support MOSs.
Well, I'd rather be better atmy job than shooting, whatever
it is.
But as a soldier, you're doingall three.
You're allotted an hour to doPT.
In the morning, however, you dohave more time if you want to,
because you don't have to be thework until nine, some places 9,
(17:37):
30.
To be honest with you, as thearmy has evolved, I've been in
battalions, I've been in units,brigades that say we're called
0930.
So you have a ample amount oftime, but people want to drive
home, sit down, play with theirdogs and let me get off my
soapbox.
(17:58):
So my point is you have morethan an hour available for PT.
Then comes your job.
You have eight hours throughoutthe day to get better at your
job.
Every Thursday you have achance to get better at the
warfighting function or at theskills levels 10s to 40s, and
(18:19):
then you go home and you dealwith your family.
Okay, so you can be more things.
So you can be more things.
Two things can be true at once,but you can be more than just
one or the other.
You do?
You understand what I mean?
Just because you're good atfitness does not mean that
(18:42):
you're not good at your job, andjust because you're good at
your job does not mean that youmore data and then we'll
reevaluate the process again.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Well, I had a chance, since we last spoke, to sit
down with your predecessorsformer Sergeant Major, the 15th
Sergeant Major of the Army, DanDaly who was my first Sergeant
Major.
Black socks and tattoos At thebattalion level and 4th ID, and
we had a really, really greatconversation about readiness and
what readiness means.
And now, as we see what's goingon in society right now, we see
(19:19):
, over the last six, eightmonths, you know, a huge
increase in recruiting and it'sgotten a lot stronger.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
I think back to the conversation that we had about A
huge increase in recruitingcould be a little skewed because
, like I do my research and thearmy did drop from 60,000 to
50,000 or 65,000 to 55,000.
One of the two.
(19:48):
They dropped 10,000 requirementfor recruiting.
So we did hit our goal.
We did hit it earlier and um,but we also have to take a look
at the fact that we did lowerthe bar again.
So two things can be true again, we did hit it, but at the same
time we have to understand thatit was a lower mark.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Challenges.
So can you talk for a secondfrom your perspective about
how's that changed over the lastyear or so?
And how are things like arevamped army fitness test
Reinstilling into the force thiswar fighting first culture,
which then is gonna drive?
Speaker 3 (20:24):
recruiting numbers.
Yeah, so again, you know, youknow this is a.
This is a journey with multiple, multiple chapters in it, Right
?
So we're two years into gettingafter um warfighting ethos, if
you will.
Right, and part of that is hasbeen part of our recruiting
journey.
Um retention stayed steady, uh,continues to stay steady.
(20:46):
As a matter of fact, right now,today, we're crushing retention
.
Um and I don't have any woodclose by, but soldiers want to
continue to serve right Yep, andwe're not taking that for
granted either, and so we'rereally taking a look at how we
retain soldiers and how we useour bonus money, how we use
choice of duty stations forsecond and third term Bonus
(21:11):
money.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
I want you guys to understand I did a video on this
as well when it comes to thecontinuation pay, if troop, if
you're in the brs, I'll post avideo somewhere up here about
continuation pay.
I probably did it on my tiktok,I can't remember.
However, you two, you midtermsoldiers year eight through 12,
(21:35):
you guys are also can get paid,so you're not left out there.
Okay, don't think about that.
Don't think that you're leftout there just to well, oh my
God.
Well, I've been serving so longand they don't show no
appreciation.
They do is just a process onhow to do it and there's
paperwork and you get your pay.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
You get your pay Soldiers who are really diving
into that.
But the warrior ethos for twoyears now kind of goes back to
the blue book, kind of goes backto the standards, kind of goes
back to the oath.
What does that oath mean?
You know, like private Weimertook an oath, did I really know
what the oath was?
Kind of you've heard me talkabout that journey from
compliance to commitment.
Right, it really starts the dayyou ship from MEPS.
What did I really sign up for?
By the time you're done withbasic AIT, you get to your first
(22:23):
duty station.
Do I fully understand and am Icommitted?
Right, that's that journey.
This is a hard life.
This is not easy.
You chose the path that needs amachete.
There's brush that needscleared.
It's a righteous path.
It's hard.
Like we need to embrace thatthis is harder than the average
(22:44):
path and be proud of it.
That's what being part of thisprofession really means.
And so I think when you resetthat and people kind of you know
, sit back and they're like,well, yeah, of course that makes
complete sense.
That's been the last two years,I think you, you reset that and
people kind of you know, sitback and they're like, well,
yeah, of course that makescomplete sense.
That's been the last two years.
I think you're starting to seethat in recruiting stations they
know what they're signing upfor.
This is going to be hard youbet it is, but we're going to
teach you, we're going to coachyou, we're going to bring you
(23:10):
along the journey.
We're not going to help youmeet the standard in the right
way.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And then what Chris is talking about he's right 100%
Troops need to understand.
I don't think.
Well, he's about 90%.
I don't think troops fullyunderstand what they sign up for
.
I think from my experiencetalking to troops, watching them
(23:36):
, listening to them, listeningto when they come out of, like
meetings and when I talk aboutmeetings I mean these sensing
sessions Not all of them areunder the impression that the
Army is the way it is.
A lot of them are coming in,think that they're going to
(23:59):
shoot them up, bang, bang andall that stuff.
And we're way past that era.
That was 9-11 timeframe.
Now we are at a peacekeepingtype deal and they don't
understand it and they get boredout of their mind.
And then, on top of that, theyhave to do PT every.
They have to wake up everymorning and most of the troops
(24:22):
that come in they're used tobreaking night, playing video
games all night and then wakingup whenever they want to.
So they have to wake up in themorning.
Not only do they have to wakeup in the morning, the first
thing that they have to do ishave a good attitude and come to
PT.
Then after that, they got todeal with individuals who who
yell at them.
Probably they have to deal witha standard.
That we're talking about, thestandard and all of this is is
(24:46):
in their first two years in thearmy.
So I don't think they fullyunderstand army.
So I don't think they fullyunderstand.
But I am with them a hundredpercent.
That is our job as leaders tobring them along and help them
out, because this is a job thatit requires more times than that
.
There used to be a commercialabout the army.
(25:08):
It was we've done more beforenine o'clock than half half of
the world, or something likethat, something along those
lines.
If you remember what it is, putit in the comments I can't
remember, I'll Google itafterwards, but still.
So you have to understand thatthe army is a it's it's, it's a,
(25:29):
it's a machine, it's a wheeland it just keeps going Right.
It's a machine, it's a wheeland it just keeps going right.
The army goes rolling along andyou either get with it or you,
or you can't make it, becausethat's what we do.
We do what others don't want todo.
Not everyone wants to wake upand be in shape and be an
infantryman.
Not everyone wants to be atanker.
Not everyone wants to be amedic.
(25:50):
Not everyone wants to be ahuman resource in the military.
So this is something that Idon't think he fully said.
That I mean maybe at his level.
He's thinking that because he'sat a strategic level, but down
here in the nitty gritty, troopsdon't understand it.
(26:11):
They don't understand that.
He's 100% right.
That is our job as leaders thatwe're going to get them to
where they need to be, withoutbending the standard or breaking
the standard.
But troop doesn't reallyunderstand 100% what they're
signing up for.
But he was right about thatpart.
That's what it was when he saidprivate Weimer, when he came in
(26:33):
he didn't know what he wassigning up for.
So that part is is that's whereI got the a hundred percent.
They don't.
I didn't.
And now that I know took me.
I'm going on 18 years in thearmy and it took me about 14.
Uh, I would say, cause I'm kindof slow.
So maybe 13, 14 to fully belike yeah, I, I get the other
(26:53):
side and that was because I gotput on a staff level.
So I start seeing thingsdifferent.
I'm no longer, it's no longerjust about me, it's about the
whole battalion, it's about thewhole brigade.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
All right, you got to continue to be able to meet the
standard over time Because,like we exist to fight and win,
like we're not a jobs program,we have a real mission, uh, with
real consequences for thenation.
If, um, if we don't take theprofession seriously which is
why I you know I'm not hangingout very long you're going to
(27:28):
get to talk to chris, uh,because, you know, I don't know
if he mentioned it, but he's thenext, next USARAF sergeant
major.
He's going to go work forGeneral Donahue in Europe this
summer and you know it'ssergeant majors like him that
remembered where he started outas a private and how he got to
where he is now, and he'spassionate about giving it all
back.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, he's going to be great in that role and we're
going to dig into the details.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Did you guys notice, have you guys noticed that cyber
mage of the army other than his, his, uh, special force or
whatever I think it is specialforces or whatever it is his tab
and his combat patch?
He has no badges on, no badgesand he's he's he's airborne air
assault.
I think it's aerosol airborneand he's airborne aerosol.
(28:15):
I think it's aerosol airborne.
Yeah, he's airborne, and I'mpretty sure he has other things
he has nothing on.
He is super sleek.
So I say that, to say this, evenif you think that because you
have all of that stuff on itmakes you look better, it does.
(28:39):
But you also have to rememberthat you have to look the part
right.
Video has to match audio and Idon't know if it's a tactic of
his like.
If he misspeaks or somethingthey'll be like.
Oh well, you know he's not allthat, but which I doubt.
But just take a look at howsleek his, his uniform is.
He has nothing on and it blowsmy mind because he could just be
(29:02):
stacked.
I'm pretty sure when he putshis, his pinks on that it's all
stacked, but it just.
I just noticed that.
You know, attention to detail.
It took me 10 15 minutes tonotice this, but yeah, that's
interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
We had a fitness test and we were having a good laugh
before this about he's going togo there and take the job from
Sergeant Major Jeremiah oh yeah,also a friend of the podcast,
another warfighter.
I was telling him how wedragged him out there into the
bunkers of Pointe du Hoc lastJune and we did that interview
with him there and they have.
You talked about a real mission, but you want to talk about an
(29:38):
organization that's front andcenter and really the strategic
impact of our forward deployedforces.
I mean, it comes back toeverything you're saying that
this is a no-fail mission thatthe Army has and we need the
right people to do it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, that's without, without exactly what you just
said.
Is there deterrence?
Absolutely not, I would arguethere isn't deterrence.
Why are we sitting there for 80years?
We got to be serious.
We got to be serious about ourprofession.
Um, yeah, we can't compromiseon that.
Yeah, so, all right, I'm gonnaget out of here.
All right, chris has got this,you're in hands.
(30:13):
It's good to see you, friend,you too.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
He keeps up with this Chris thing, man, but yeah, at
the end of the day, you have tohave some type of competitive
spirit.
If you're not good at something, then that's fine, but don't
(30:37):
blame it or don't use the escaperoute of well, I'm only doing
this because I'm not, really Idon't care, or it's not my job,
or whatever.
It is right.
If you suck, you suck, butdon't make an excuse because you
suck and as a military, as anarmy troop, you have to have
some type of competitive spirit.
You have to have some type ofcompetitive spirit.
You have to.
If it's 300, the bare minimum,you wanna do at least 350, 400,
(31:01):
whatever it is.
Do your best is my point at theend of the day.
But what about you?
Do you do your best?
Are people at your unitsandbagging also?
I'd like to hear you in thecomments.
As you guys already know, itmay take me a day or two, but I
will still make sure that Ianswer any and all comments in
(31:23):
the comment section.
Do me a favor like comment,subscribe all that cool stuff
and remember you don't have toembrace the suck if you got the
right tools in your ruck.
I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see youin the next one.
Peace, Roger Sarn.
Roger, sorry, so we just hit 1000 subscribers.
Thank you, guys so much, and inhonor of that, today I want to
talk about competition, and whatI mean by competition is the
(00:25):
army has a standard and thecompetitive portion is us
wanting to exceed that standard,and many times I've seen this,
day in and day out ACFT afterACFT, weapons, qual after
weapons, qual, how, when itcomes down to the come down,
(00:48):
certain individuals will justsay I'm just here to hit my
minimum.
As long as I do my minimum, I'mgood, I'm not trying to compete
, I don't need any points, I'mabout to retire.
Whatever their excuse may be,they come up with it, and I want
(01:08):
to do that by reacting to avideo that I found on the
internet.
It's the Jim Burr podcast andit has the Sergeant Major of the
Army speaking about it's titledIn the Army, you Can't Settle
(01:30):
for the Minimum Standard.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Here's why, sergeant Major, thanks for stopping by,
branch.
Good to be here.
It's good to see you again.
It's been about a year since wewere in here and I'll tell you,
you're a YouTube sensation onthe Jedberg Podcast YouTube
channel.
Okay, whatever you say.
Whatever you say, there's awhole slew of topics and I
(01:52):
actually wrote down some notesbecause you're I might have said
that wrong the Jedburgh Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Go check it out.
It's a good podcast actually.
I watched a few of their.
Once I found this video, Iwatched a few of their videos, a
few of their.
Um, once I found this video, Iwatched a few of their videos, a
few of his videos, and he'severywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
He gets a lot of people on there folks here, your
, your staff is very good, sothey gave me a heads up that you
might be stopping by, and sothere's a few topics like the
blue book standards I've neverbeen to.
I've been to combat.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
The blue book.
So when I was in Alaska we hadour version of the blue book.
This is a different one.
On Fort Hood we have the yellowbook and I have it downloaded
on my phone.
I don't have a hard copy of it,but anytime we have issues or
(02:47):
any thoughts, that be like well,what does the yellow book say?
It's easy you just reach forthe book, check on it and, uh,
just like any anything else,there's, there's regulations,
there's policies, and thenthere's the book being my fair
share of combat, but I've neverbeen to war was one of the
(03:08):
popular quotes.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Since you're talking Blue Book, I was going to ask
you do you have it?
Of course we do, and how's therollout?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
going.
A matter of fact, treydot gaveme an update the other day.
I don't know if this is good orbad, but it's the truth.
I think we're about 373,000downloads Now.
We're close to a million peoplein the army, so I'm always like
the glass is half empty.
I'm like why aren't there amillion people that have
downloaded the blue book?
But it's a journey, right,we're not going to get there
(03:37):
overnight, so, but it is on aserious uptick.
I don't know how many peopleare actually printing it.
I'm still old school.
I like to touch it.
It's a good reminder, kind ofthat was how we grew up, but I
am excited to see they'redownloading it and they're using
it as the reference for whatWright looks like.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
We're talking about standards and that's something
that you've harped on, not onlyin the conversation we had last
year, but even in many of theconversations you've been having
over the past couple months, asyou've visited the formations
and you know I've read some ofthe transcripts and watched some
of it that's been publicizedand you've really doubled down
on standards.
We're about to get into it herewhen we start talking about the
PT test and the Army fitnesstest.
(04:17):
Yeah, talk for a second aboutthe importance of upholding the
standards in the redesign ofthat fitness test.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and that's why Chris was the right Sergeant
Major to come on here.
And Joey, you're seeing Hold on.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Maybe I'm tripping.
Maybe I'm tripping, tell me.
And hey, man, once you get to acertain level, you get to do
what you want.
But am I wrong?
Let me know in the comments.
Am I wrong?
Or could Sergeant Major of theArmy's hair be considered
faddish?
(04:54):
You know the little shark thing.
Whatever it is he has going on.
Am I tripping?
I could be tripping, Maybe I'ma little sensitive, whatever,
but in my opinion it could be a.
There could be some way thatsomeone can.
They won't tell him anything,but it could be construed as
(05:16):
that.
And when we're speaking of ofstandards, I mean everything
that he, he has, he's, he saysbecause I follow him on on
Instagram everything he says anddoes is within the standard and
there's always something thatsomeone does.
But I don't know.
I'm just.
I mean just being a littlepetty wop right here.
Could it be considered or not?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
let me know and now I'm in, out there, like we.
We picked, intentionally pickedthe right people to talk about
fitness, right.
Audio.
Audio and video have to matchright.
I don't like to start from theminimum standard.
That, to me, is not a place youstart any conversation,
especially as warfighters.
(05:58):
But we do have to have aminimum standard, right.
And so that's the journey Chrisis going to talk to you about a
little bit.
It's like, hey, we're raisingthat minimum standard and he'll
go over that in detail.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Okay, it's my first reaction video, so I'm going to
stop it a few times.
Well, he did say one thing thatI do agree with.
It's the fact that audio andvisual have to match, and what
he means by that is you can'tpreach fitness if you don't look
(06:30):
fit.
Now, fitness comes in variousforms, right, but as humans we
are subject to judge theappearance, the appearance.
And if I Sarn Cruz, am Iteaching MFT or holistic health
and fitness, whatever it is, orI'm giving, or I'm out front
(06:59):
talking about diet and I amlooking like I'm two
cheeseburgers away from busingtape, you're probably not going
to listen to me, even if even ifmy runtime is low, I passed my
ACFT back when it was 540exemption because I need that
540 to not have to deal with thetape.
He is correct, audio has tomatch the visual.
(07:22):
It is just the way it is.
Now, the second thing is it'stwice that I heard him say Chris
.
Is he referring to the otherSergeant Major as Chris?
I think so.
Now my thing is I've heard thatonce you go to Sergeant, once
you're in the Sergeant Majorrealm, you guys go to first name
(07:44):
basis.
And I was talking we've talkedabout this in ad nauseum at
least I have with my peers andI'd be like if, if the O's can
call themselves by first names,why don't we just call ourselves
by first name?
It's just why not?
And the consensus is typicallywell, it just takes away.
(08:05):
We're sergeants and we have tobe the backbone and we can't do
what they do, we can't followthem If they don't want to
follow the standard blah, blah,blah.
Now here is the pinnacle of thetippet of spear, and they call
each other by first names.
So why can't?
Why?
What?
What is it At what point?
Does that convert?
I want to know, and am Iopposed to it?
(08:28):
No, does that convert, I would?
I want to know, and am Iopposed to it?
No, I, I don't care aboutcalling each other by first
names.
If you, when in my first dutystation I was with the 554
military police company instuttgart, germany, they had the
first and tenth special forcesover there and even their
airborne support, the riggersand stuff.
All of those guys were on firstname basis.
It didn't matter, from thelowest private up to the highest
(08:54):
NCO that was there, they justtalked.
Even the officers, they allcalled each other first names.
They just relaxed and that'sthe environment.
But my question is what makesit different for just regular
Army NCOs to just say, hey,saeed, what's going on?
What makes it different justregular army ncos to just say,
hey, saeed, what's going on?
What makes it different?
I don't know, it's it just.
It's just something that comesto my head as he says chris
(09:18):
twice, and then I knew he wastalking about the other guy, the
other sergeant major, becausehe he did the hand movement
right, pointing towards him.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I'm off my soapbox and studying it with the G three
five seven team and and Randand some other folks.
So I'll let him dive deep intothat.
But the but the bottom line isI start the conversation with
you should be trying to exceedany standard.
When I walked in I heard youtalk about the journey that you
remember with the three fitthree event test and you you
(09:48):
know some folks remember we hadextended scales.
Then we didn't use extendedscales.
I would argue the reason we hadextended scales is because it
was a fairly easy test.
So we had, you know, score 370today or 360, you know 350 um,
and then it got to the point towhere it was.
Just you know you put 300 onyour ACFT or on your NCOER or
(10:12):
you just put pass or fail.
And so the journey is aboutchanging the culture of fitness.
What it means to be fit as awarfighter, that's really the
macro, you know topic that thatwe love right now.
We got to dial into the armyfitness test and the minimum
standards for combat arms, etcetera.
Uh, so that's important too,but it's bigger than that.
(10:34):
It's twice a year.
You take this thing twice ayear If you're doing everything
properly in your fitness regimen.
You should be taking that testtwice a year and not even
thinking about it.
Oh, we got the AFTs next week100%.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I live by that.
I don't identify by my age I'm45 and I make sure that I am
ready for the ACFT and the AFTwhen it rolls out.
And that's just me.
And I typically say that Iexpect, like with friendships,
for instance, I say that I don'texpect my friends to do the
(11:11):
things that I do for them.
I can't put that expectation onthem.
I could want them toreciprocate, but I can't put
that expectation.
But in the military, in thearmy, yes, I can put that
expectation for you to give your100%, because that's your job.
And too many times do we show upto these ACFTs?
(11:36):
We know they're coming.
We know February, march orApril, august, september,
october, you're going to haveyour test and you're acting.
People act as if this issomething that comes out of the
blue and we just don't know whenit's going to come.
It's like, oh, we have ACFT,yeah, we do, it's the first one
(12:00):
of the year and then we're goingto have another one in six
months.
And, just like he said, if yourregimen is keeping up to it,
then when it comes around it'snot a big deal.
I remember when I first came inthe army and this is this is why
I give a little leeway to thejuniors, because they don't
really understand what's goingon.
(12:20):
Right, you got to really getthem into it.
But every time I took a APFT Iwould say next time I'm going to
get them, next time I'm goingto get them, next time I'm going
to get them, because you getmotivated.
Afterwards it's like dang it, Icould have got this 300.
I could have got this 70.
I could have 270, which is 90in each event.
I could have had it if I wouldhave taken morning PTs more
(12:44):
seriously.
And that's where it starts thatregimen that he's talking about
more seriously.
And that's where it starts thatregimen that he's talking about
.
It starts every single morning.
You sit and you showing up andmaking sure that you give your
100%.
Now, everyone's 100% isdifferent my 100% for my
(13:04):
counterpart, who I run with.
She's a dietician.
She's also 20 years youngerthan me and her my 100% is
probably like her, 80, 70%, butI'm still giving my 100%.
And if she wants to turn it upto 100, then I'm going to be,
I'm going to lag back on theruns, because she's just better
(13:26):
at running than me.
She's just better.
That's the bottom line.
So yeah, if you stay ready, youdon't have to get ready, and I
know you guys have heard this.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Oh, okay, monday six o'clock.
Roger that All right, thatshould be your attitude.
It can't be a thing or I forgotabout it.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
No big deal.
Yeah, we're going to do it.
Oh, we're doing another one,we're doing an extra one.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Or there's people taking the retest, or there's
people that missed it becausethey were on pass or leave.
Okay, whatever, I'll take itagain with my soldiers.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes, you should not be scared to take another ACFT
with your soldiers.
I don't care If you soldiers, Idon't care if you took an acft
last week and two of yoursoldiers come off, leave and why
not take it with them, whocares?
At least run with them, dosomething with them, don't I
like?
I like what he just said there.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I'm 100 in agreeance with it if you think about elite
organizations, you know adynasties in athletic programs,
college programs, programs wherethey dominate.
Every year, year in, year out.
There's this concept that getstalked about.
You can't put it on a pedestal.
You can't put competition on apedestal.
So you can't look to the end ofthe week If you're a football
player.
(14:39):
You can't say, hey, my hardestday is game day, your hardest
day has to be the practice.
So when you get to game day'slike, oh, I only got to do this
once when I work with rowingteams and from my days as a
collegiate rower, wecontinuously needed you got to
do like four races in it in apractice.
So when you get to saturday,it's like, oh, you can do this
thing once, once.
Yeah, it's not a thing, yeahyeah, the the vice.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
The vice talks about this really well, uh.
Vice chief of staff, uh,general mingus, uh oneus, one of
our phenomenal teammates we'refortunate to work with here in
the Pentagon.
If you think about our mission,you've got to infill, you have
to do something on the objective, potentially hold the terrain
(15:23):
after you're successful or exfil.
It's not about one step andonly one step, right, and so
when you think about fitness,it's like if I take an AFT this
morning at six o'clock, I have afull day of hard problems to
get after.
It's not you take an AFT andyou're done for the week, right,
(15:45):
and so that's why the cultureof fitness, uh is our main
priority, uh, and we're hopingthat this next phase in the
evolution of a fitness test, uh,will help everybody understand.
To Chris's points before I cameon here hey, this is a journey.
This will continue to evolve,also a year from now.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Ooh he said something that I think is let me see if I
can spin off of that.
He says it's the fitnessculture, is not?
It doesn't stop at PT, right,because you got your ACFT and
then you have to go into work,and then he didn't say anything
(16:27):
about this.
Or, if he did, I missed it.
After you get out of work, youhave to go into work, and then
he didn't say anything aboutthis.
Or, if he did, I missed it.
Uh, after you get out of work,you have to go home.
So I hear a lot of troops saywell, I'd rather be better at my
job than worry about, uh, acftor shooting, whatever.
It is kind of like the, thecombat soldier, for instance,
(16:51):
let's say low density I'mspecifically because he is
combat arms, so he worries aboutmore, about the warfighting
soldier.
But I am a medic and I hear,with the low density, mos is a
lot the legals, the 42 alphas,the finances, the medics, all
(17:16):
the support MOSs.
Well, I'd rather be better atmy job than shooting, whatever
it is.
But as a soldier, you're doingall three.
You're allotted an hour to doPT.
In the morning, however, you dohave more time if you want to,
because you don't have to be thework until nine, some places 9,
(17:37):
30.
To be honest with you, as thearmy has evolved, I've been in
battalions, I've been in units,brigades that say we're called
0930.
So you have a ample amount oftime, but people want to drive
home, sit down, play with theirdogs and let me get off my
soapbox.
(17:58):
So my point is you have morethan an hour available for PT.
Then comes your job.
You have eight hours throughoutthe day to get better at your
job.
Every Thursday you have achance to get better at the
warfighting function or at theskills levels 10s to 40s, and
(18:19):
then you go home and you dealwith your family.
Okay, so you can be more things.
So you can be more things.
Two things can be true at once,but you can be more than just
one or the other.
You do?
You understand what I mean?
Just because you're good atfitness does not mean that
(18:42):
you're not good at your job, andjust because you're good at
your job does not mean that youmore data and then we'll
reevaluate the process again.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Well, I had a chance, since we last spoke, to sit
down with your predecessorsformer Sergeant Major, the 15th
Sergeant Major of the Army, DanDaly who was my first Sergeant
Major.
Black socks and tattoos At thebattalion level and 4th ID, and
we had a really, really greatconversation about readiness and
what readiness means.
And now, as we see what's goingon in society right now, we see
(19:19):
, over the last six, eightmonths, you know, a huge
increase in recruiting and it'sgotten a lot stronger.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
I think back to the conversation that we had about A
huge increase in recruitingcould be a little skewed because
, like I do my research and thearmy did drop from 60,000 to
50,000 or 65,000 to 55,000.
One of the two.
(19:48):
They dropped 10,000 requirementfor recruiting.
So we did hit our goal.
We did hit it earlier and um,but we also have to take a look
at the fact that we did lowerthe bar again.
So two things can be true again, we did hit it, but at the same
time we have to understand thatit was a lower mark.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Challenges.
So can you talk for a secondfrom your perspective about
how's that changed over the lastyear or so?
And how are things like arevamped army fitness test
Reinstilling into the force thiswar fighting first culture,
which then is gonna drive?
Speaker 3 (20:24):
recruiting numbers.
Yeah, so again, you know, youknow this is a.
This is a journey with multiple, multiple chapters in it, Right
?
So we're two years into gettingafter um warfighting ethos, if
you will.
Right, and part of that is hasbeen part of our recruiting
journey.
Um retention stayed steady, uh,continues to stay steady.
(20:46):
As a matter of fact, right now,today, we're crushing retention
.
Um and I don't have any woodclose by, but soldiers want to
continue to serve right Yep, andwe're not taking that for
granted either, and so we'rereally taking a look at how we
retain soldiers and how we useour bonus money, how we use
choice of duty stations forsecond and third term Bonus
(21:11):
money.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
I want you guys to understand I did a video on this
as well when it comes to thecontinuation pay, if troop, if
you're in the brs, I'll post avideo somewhere up here about
continuation pay.
I probably did it on my tiktok,I can't remember.
However, you two, you midtermsoldiers year eight through 12,
(21:35):
you guys are also can get paid,so you're not left out there.
Okay, don't think about that.
Don't think that you're leftout there just to well, oh my
God.
Well, I've been serving so longand they don't show no
appreciation.
They do is just a process onhow to do it and there's
paperwork and you get your pay.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
You get your pay Soldiers who are really diving
into that.
But the warrior ethos for twoyears now kind of goes back to
the blue book, kind of goes backto the standards, kind of goes
back to the oath.
What does that oath mean?
You know, like private Weimertook an oath, did I really know
what the oath was?
Kind of you've heard me talkabout that journey from
compliance to commitment.
Right, it really starts the dayyou ship from MEPS.
What did I really sign up for?
By the time you're done withbasic AIT, you get to your first
(22:23):
duty station.
Do I fully understand and am Icommitted?
Right, that's that journey.
This is a hard life.
This is not easy.
You chose the path that needs amachete.
There's brush that needscleared.
It's a righteous path.
It's hard.
Like we need to embrace thatthis is harder than the average
(22:44):
path and be proud of it.
That's what being part of thisprofession really means.
And so I think when you resetthat and people kind of you know
, sit back and they're like,well, yeah, of course that makes
complete sense.
That's been the last two years,I think you, you reset that and
people kind of you know, sitback and they're like, well,
yeah, of course that makescomplete sense.
That's been the last two years.
I think you're starting to seethat in recruiting stations they
know what they're signing upfor.
This is going to be hard youbet it is, but we're going to
teach you, we're going to coachyou, we're going to bring you
(23:10):
along the journey.
We're not going to help youmeet the standard in the right
way.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And then what Chris is talking about he's right 100%
Troops need to understand.
I don't think.
Well, he's about 90%.
I don't think troops fullyunderstand what they sign up for
.
I think from my experiencetalking to troops, watching them
(23:36):
, listening to them, listeningto when they come out of, like
meetings and when I talk aboutmeetings I mean these sensing
sessions Not all of them areunder the impression that the
Army is the way it is.
A lot of them are coming in,think that they're going to
(23:59):
shoot them up, bang, bang andall that stuff.
And we're way past that era.
That was 9-11 timeframe.
Now we are at a peacekeepingtype deal and they don't
understand it and they get boredout of their mind.
And then, on top of that, theyhave to do PT every.
They have to wake up everymorning and most of the troops
(24:22):
that come in they're used tobreaking night, playing video
games all night and then wakingup whenever they want to.
So they have to wake up in themorning.
Not only do they have to wakeup in the morning, the first
thing that they have to do ishave a good attitude and come to
PT.
Then after that, they got todeal with individuals who who
yell at them.
Probably they have to deal witha standard.
That we're talking about, thestandard and all of this is is
(24:46):
in their first two years in thearmy.
So I don't think they fullyunderstand army.
So I don't think they fullyunderstand.
But I am with them a hundredpercent.
That is our job as leaders tobring them along and help them
out, because this is a job thatit requires more times than that
.
There used to be a commercialabout the army.
(25:08):
It was we've done more beforenine o'clock than half half of
the world, or something likethat, something along those
lines.
If you remember what it is, putit in the comments I can't
remember, I'll Google itafterwards, but still.
So you have to understand thatthe army is a it's it's, it's a,
(25:29):
it's a machine, it's a wheeland it just keeps going Right.
It's a machine, it's a wheeland it just keeps going right.
The army goes rolling along andyou either get with it or you,
or you can't make it, becausethat's what we do.
We do what others don't want todo.
Not everyone wants to wake upand be in shape and be an
infantryman.
Not everyone wants to be atanker.
Not everyone wants to be amedic.
(25:50):
Not everyone wants to be ahuman resource in the military.
So this is something that Idon't think he fully said.
That I mean maybe at his level.
He's thinking that because he'sat a strategic level, but down
here in the nitty gritty, troopsdon't understand it.
(26:11):
They don't understand that.
He's 100% right.
That is our job as leaders thatwe're going to get them to
where they need to be, withoutbending the standard or breaking
the standard.
But troop doesn't reallyunderstand 100% what they're
signing up for.
But he was right about thatpart.
That's what it was when he saidprivate Weimer, when he came in
(26:33):
he didn't know what he wassigning up for.
So that part is is that's whereI got the a hundred percent.
They don't.
I didn't.
And now that I know took me.
I'm going on 18 years in thearmy and it took me about 14.
Uh, I would say, cause I'm kindof slow.
So maybe 13, 14 to fully belike yeah, I, I get the other
(26:53):
side and that was because I gotput on a staff level.
So I start seeing thingsdifferent.
I'm no longer, it's no longerjust about me, it's about the
whole battalion, it's about thewhole brigade.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
All right, you got to continue to be able to meet the
standard over time Because,like we exist to fight and win,
like we're not a jobs program,we have a real mission, uh, with
real consequences for thenation.
If, um, if we don't take theprofession seriously which is
why I you know I'm not hangingout very long you're going to
(27:28):
get to talk to chris, uh,because, you know, I don't know
if he mentioned it, but he's thenext, next USARAF sergeant
major.
He's going to go work forGeneral Donahue in Europe this
summer and you know it'ssergeant majors like him that
remembered where he started outas a private and how he got to
where he is now, and he'spassionate about giving it all
back.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, he's going to be great in that role and we're
going to dig into the details.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Did you guys notice, have you guys noticed that cyber
mage of the army other than his, his, uh, special force or
whatever I think it is specialforces or whatever it is his tab
and his combat patch?
He has no badges on, no badgesand he's he's he's airborne air
assault.
I think it's aerosol airborneand he's airborne aerosol.
(28:15):
I think it's aerosol airborne.
Yeah, he's airborne, and I'mpretty sure he has other things
he has nothing on.
He is super sleek.
So I say that, to say this, evenif you think that because you
have all of that stuff on itmakes you look better, it does.
(28:39):
But you also have to rememberthat you have to look the part
right.
Video has to match audio and Idon't know if it's a tactic of
his like.
If he misspeaks or somethingthey'll be like.
Oh well, you know he's not allthat, but which I doubt.
But just take a look at howsleek his, his uniform is.
He has nothing on and it blowsmy mind because he could just be
(29:02):
stacked.
I'm pretty sure when he putshis, his pinks on that it's all
stacked, but it just.
I just noticed that.
You know, attention to detail.
It took me 10 15 minutes tonotice this, but yeah, that's
interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
We had a fitness test and we were having a good laugh
before this about he's going togo there and take the job from
Sergeant Major Jeremiah oh yeah,also a friend of the podcast,
another warfighter.
I was telling him how wedragged him out there into the
bunkers of Pointe du Hoc lastJune and we did that interview
with him there and they have.
You talked about a real mission, but you want to talk about an
(29:38):
organization that's front andcenter and really the strategic
impact of our forward deployedforces.
I mean, it comes back toeverything you're saying that
this is a no-fail mission thatthe Army has and we need the
right people to do it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, that's without, without exactly what you just
said.
Is there deterrence?
Absolutely not, I would arguethere isn't deterrence.
Why are we sitting there for 80years?
We got to be serious.
We got to be serious about ourprofession.
Um, yeah, we can't compromiseon that.
Yeah, so, all right, I'm gonnaget out of here.
All right, chris has got this,you're in hands.
(30:13):
It's good to see you, friend,you too.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
He keeps up with this Chris thing, man, but yeah, at
the end of the day, you have tohave some type of competitive
spirit.
If you're not good at something, then that's fine, but don't
(30:37):
blame it or don't use the escaperoute of well, I'm only doing
this because I'm not, really Idon't care, or it's not my job,
or whatever.
It is right.
If you suck, you suck, butdon't make an excuse because you
suck and as a military, as anarmy troop, you have to have
some type of competitive spirit.
You have to have some type ofcompetitive spirit.
You have to.
If it's 300, the bare minimum,you wanna do at least 350, 400,
(31:01):
whatever it is.
Do your best is my point at theend of the day.
But what about you?
Do you do your best?
Are people at your unitsandbagging also?
I'd like to hear you in thecomments.
As you guys already know, itmay take me a day or two, but I
will still make sure that Ianswer any and all comments in
(31:23):
the comment section.
Do me a favor like comment,subscribe all that cool stuff
and remember you don't have toembrace the suck if you got the
right tools in your ruck.
I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see youin the next one.
Peace, Roger Sarn.
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