On this week's program, host Phil Tower welcomes LT Kegan "SMURF" Gill.
Kegan, who currently resides in Michigan, is a decorated U.S. Navy fighter pilot, an ultra-endurance athlete, motivational speaker, and author of the compelling new book released earlier this year, “Phoenix Revival: The Aftermath of Naval Aviation's Fastest Ejection” (Paperback). It's his powerful story.
Kegan recently headlined an evening with the internationally recognized National Writers Series in Traverse City, Michigan. (June 26th, 2025)
Kegan joined us for this full episode to share his powerful story from his book, Phoenix Revival.
Phoenix Revival is more than a military memoir—it’s a powerful story of resilience, reinvention, and the human spirit’s ability to overcome even the most overwhelming odds.
Get the book: In Northern Michigan via Horizon Books.
Or Via Amazon
Kegan's life coaching skills and public speaking opportunities are available through his website, found here.
Kegan, who currently resides in Michigan, is a decorated U.S. Navy fighter pilot, an ultra-endurance athlete, motivational speaker, and author of the compelling new book released earlier this year, “Phoenix Revival: The Aftermath of Naval Aviation's Fastest Ejection” (Paperback). It's his powerful story.
Kegan recently headlined an evening with the internationally recognized National Writers Series in Traverse City, Michigan. (June 26th, 2025)
Kegan joined us for this full episode to share his powerful story from his book, Phoenix Revival.
Phoenix Revival is more than a military memoir—it’s a powerful story of resilience, reinvention, and the human spirit’s ability to overcome even the most overwhelming odds.
Get the book: In Northern Michigan via Horizon Books.
Or Via Amazon
Kegan's life coaching skills and public speaking opportunities are available through his website, found here.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And it's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. Thank you so
much for tuning in across whatever iHeartRadio station you are
hearing us, or you might be hearing us as a
podcast as well. You can do that at woodradio dot com.
All of our episodes over five hundred episodes available at
woodradio dot com under the podcast section on the left
(00:39):
hand side of the page. One of the best parts
about my job in hosting West Michigan Weekend is I
get to talk with really interesting people, people with a
story to tell, and people who really inspire me.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And my hope is they'll inspire you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Our listener on the other end of this guest in
this is Kegan smurf Gil. Lieutenant Kegan smurf Gil, a
decorated US Navy fighter pilot, an ultra endurance athlete, a
motivational speaker, and author of a compelling new book released
earlier this year, Phoenix Revival. The aftermath of naval aviation's
(01:18):
fastest ejection. We're going to learn about that. It's an
incredible story, and Keegan is joining us on the program
to talk not only about the book, but really what
an amazing turnaround story in his life. He's doing executive
coaching now and public speaking. And we'll tell you toward
(01:39):
somewhere toward the end of this conversation how you can
book Keegan for his services or maybe speak to your group.
I did it there. I called you Keegan instead of Kegan.
Kegan Gil Welcome to the program. It's a real honor
to have you here.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Thanks for having me on the show. It's a pleasure
to be here with you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Well, my good friend and someone you know as well.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Because they invited you to the National Witer Series in
Trevor City and Doug Stanton, you had probably was a
really cool honor, which was to be a featured author
there and speak in Trevor City in the Opera House.
That was on June twenty six, several weeks ago. Tell
me about how that went when, I mean that was
a big deal for you.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yeah, I was really fortunate to be connected through some
friends to Anne and Doug Stanton who really took me
under their wing and helped me get this huge outcome
or a big following from the National Writers Series. We
had a sold out stadium or a sold out event
at the Alluvian and Traverse City and just packed house,
(02:43):
great energy, and it went really well, and I think
blew a lot of people passed right off they got
to attend, and hopefully, hopefully we'll get a chance.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
To do something similar in the future. I think there's
a lot of interest in it.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
But it was absolutely honored to get connected with them
and get some mentorship from them and guidance in this
world of becoming an author, having no idea how.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
That all works.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
As most times when we do things for the first time, well, let.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Me tell you as well, I interview I've interviewed hundreds,
if not thousands, of authors on this program over the years.
I have incredible respect for you, Kevin, for having the
courage to write a book.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
It's really kind of putting your whole life out there, isn't.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
It It is?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
It's you know, it was something I really felt a
calling to do to share my story because I know
what really inspired me was I wanted to be that
light for others trapped in the dark places that I
was stuck, thinking that I was all alone and that
there was no way forward. And so I realized the
only way to do that is to share our stories
(03:48):
when we go through the hardship, when we go through
the challenges and we're able to get through that, sharing
that with everyone has a lot of value, and so
that kind of guided me through it and the challenges
that I face in producing this, and now that it's
now that it's actually come to fruition, I'm so glad
that I took the time and effort and pursued it,
(04:09):
having no idea really how to do it again, but
just you can really learn anything on the internet these days.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's a very good point. So, Keg and Gil, you
were a US Navy fighter pilot. The book is all
about your time in the in the military, but it's
much more than that. It's a story of overcoming incredible challenges,
as you mentioned, going through some really dark periods in
your life, and really how to come out of that
(04:36):
and thrive and really have purpose and determination. It's such
an inspiring story. But let's go back to, first of all,
a little bit about your decision to join the Navy,
you became a fighter pilot. Give us a quick run
through of the backstory.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
There, Kegan.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, so I was, you know, as I got out
of high school, I wasn't really about, you know, anything
in particular. I didn't like being stuck in a classroom.
I didn't want to be stuck in an office. And
there was a little flight program in Traverse City where
I grew up at Northwestern Michigan College, and so I
(05:15):
saw that they had this little flight school and I
thought that sounded like a good time and ended up
signing up. And by the time I was a junior
in college working on my bachelor's degree through Faras State University,
I was a certified flight instructor. I've spent about a
year flying for a small business after I graduated college,
kind of flying all over the country, getting a lot
(05:37):
of first real world experience. But I kind of felt
I still wanted more in my life. I wanted some
sense of adventure. And I had a buddy named Mark
Hall who's a pilot out of Traverse City as well,
and he was applying to go into the Navy for
officer candidate school. And at the time I didn't realize
that there was any other option to go in the
military other than I thought he had to go to
(05:59):
the Naval Academy. You had to have some sort of
family connection to get in the door. And I found
out that's not true at all, and my friend Mark
kind of steered me in the right direction. I put
together a package, and having been a kid that had
seen the Blue Angels flying up at the Traverse City
Air Show in the summertime, I was like, there was
(06:20):
always this disconnect for me, like there's no way some
scrappy little community college kid can go fly fighter jets
for the military, Like that's just that doesn't happen. But
I found out that it can happen, and I sort
of pursued that dream, and I worked hard and prepared myself.
The next thing I knew I was I was in
(06:40):
the Navy's flight program figuring out how to fly these bigger, faster,
more capable military aircraft and was very fortunate to select
the F eighteen Super Hornet coming out of that training.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And then something happened that inspired this book talk about
that if you would keg Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
So January fifteenth, twenty fourteen, I was a young fighter
pilot in my first fleet squadron. We were preparing for
a deployment into a very active Middle East at that time,
and to train for that, we go out and we
practice things as close.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
To real life as we possibly can.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And one of those skill sets is called air combat
maneuvering or BFM Basic fighter maneuvering, which is probably the
epitome of what people think when they think fighter pilot
is pushing the jet aircraft to its edge of its capabilities.
You're pulling high gs, you're trying to shoot down another
aircraft with a visual range of view. In this case
was simulated ordnance. But other than the simulated ordinance, everything
(07:42):
was simulated kinetics. Everything was as close to the real
thing as possible. The g forces were very real. The
stress on the body and the mind just doing ten
things at once and more was very real. And in
the heat of this dogfight, I maneuvered the aircraft to
a dive, and very quickly the aircraft went out of control,
(08:05):
kind of unexpectedly, and I heard the aircraft blaring altitude, altitude,
pull up, pull up, and two seconds before impacting the ocean,
traveling at six hundred and ninety five miles per hour,
I yanked the ejection handle and then discovered the human
body is not herodynamic at the speed of sound, and
(08:25):
it was pretty devastating as my body impacted that explosive
force about one hundred times that of a Category one hurricane.
I ripped off my helmets, causing a traumatic brain injury,
broken neck, shattered arms and legs, quite a bit of
nerve damage and artery damage throughout my body. And I
plummeted into the icy, cold, churning Atlantic swell, and I
(08:50):
was very fortunate to get rescued by a Navy helicopter
and delivered to a Level one trauma center in Norfolk, Virginia,
where I underwent two weeks of multiple surgeries. I believe
at that point I had over a dozen surgeries just
in a one week period, and I lay comatose with
(09:12):
not a very good looking prognosis. But eventually the lights
kind of clicked back on and I woke up with
no recollection of what had happened or where I was,
and between the brain injury and all the MUDs, I
was pretty out of it. But the docs came in
and they told me that I would likely never walk again,
I would never be able to use my arms again,
(09:34):
and my military flying career was over. You know, some
of the first news I heard as I came back
back to the light. But that fired up something within
me to pursue recovery and get better and heal. And
that's really where this story gets interested and where I
(09:54):
think the value of my story is is how do
you get back from being so broken and so devastated
with the loss of your career, the loss of your body,
the loss of your mind. And that's the real story
that I want to guide people on getting back from
that place.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, it's one thing to be physically limited or disabled,
but to have that brain trauma and then to have
your dream of flying and all that go away as well.
I mean, it's doubly crushing. I can understand even the
most optimistic people. I would consider myself a highly optimistic person.
(10:33):
It's just easy to feel the darkness closing in on you, right.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Oh Yeah, it was a pretty overwhelming moment of darkness
as this all came together in my mind and I'm
stuck in my paralyzed body and now where do you
go from there? And really, in that moment, that was
where I had this little spark which was really it
was the spark of fury within me that was, I'm
(10:58):
going to prove them wrong. You want to tell me
I can't do something, I'm going to prove you wrong.
But that's the little spark that I started to feed.
In the meantime, I had this massive, overwhelming darkness that
I could have easily just jumped off and fell into
that pit and never come out of it, as a
lot of people do in that kind of situation. But
because I started to feed that what if, and I
(11:19):
started to visualize what.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
If I could get better, what would it be like.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
To climb back into the cockpit of FA team, what
would it be like to have my arms and legs
working again? And then I took that focus and applied
discipline and consistency every single day of working towards that goal.
So it was sort of this combination of the mindset
and the visualization of getting there and then applying that
(11:43):
to my daily life and keeping that dry fueled, and
over time I had a remarkable transformation physically to the
point where I was able to return to the cockpit
of the Fatam super Hornet against all odds. And this
is sort of where a happy ending of my story
would be, However, the greatest struggles I've faced were yet
(12:05):
to come.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And how was that?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
I mean, you've rehab yourself back to the point where
you're back in the cockpit you can fly again, which
is nothing short of miraculous by the way we're speaking.
Would Lieutenant Kegan smurf Gill, his new book out in
January of this year's Phoenix Revival, The Aftermath of naval
aviation's fastest ejection that was him, the human ejection during
(12:31):
a high intensity dogfight exercise in January twenty fourteen. Keggin's
life change Forever. Kegan's life change forever. So you're back
in flying your active navy at this point, Kegen.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's correct. Yeah, I returned to an active fleet squadron
with BSA one point thirty six Nighthawks station in Lamore, California.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And then what happens.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Yeah, so this is.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Where things really took a dark turn. The residual effects
of brain injury combined with the high stress environment of
naval aviation where you're pulling high g's, you're burning the
candle at both ends constantly. There's a lot of stress,
a lot of pressure, and then I had a aircraft
(13:21):
pressurization system malfunctions that kind of added insult to injury
on my unresolved brain injury from the ejection, and I
ended up getting what's called type two decompression sickness, which
there's any scuba divers listening, they may be familiar with
the bends. If you come up from depth of the
ocean too quickly, the nitrogen can come out of solution
(13:43):
in your blood and cause these little bubbles to form. Now,
if you get those in your joints, it's very painful,
but if those get up into your brain, they can
block the blood slope, which can even kill you or
cause like aneurysm type symptoms. And so I came back
from a flight pretty disoriented. I tried to shake it off,
ended up getting treated in a hyperbaric treatment facility at
(14:06):
a dive base, but still things weren't right, and I
became unable to sleep persistent insomnia. I started getting panic attacks, vertigo,
cognitive impairments, memory lapses. In my life just started to unravel,
and I very quickly went from a high functioning, capable
(14:26):
human that was kind of at the top of the
world after coming back through all of this challenge and
plummeted right back into the bottom of this dark pit again.
And when I reluctantly sought help, knowing that it would
likely cause a you know, my career to crumble, I
ended up going in and see the flight doc, which,
(14:46):
when you're in a position like that in the military,
for multiple reasons, you don't ever want to go talk
about your mental health because you will you know, likely
lose your medical clearance and you could potentially lose your
security clearance. But I knew something was seriously wrong, and
so when I went in. Unfortunately, the route the conventional
(15:07):
mental health care is primarily focused on pharmaceuticals, and once
I started to go that route very quickly in in
my flying career, I was eventually medically retired and continued
that same treatment through the VA, which was more problems,
more pills, more pills, more problems, and my life really
(15:29):
started to spin out of control as those pills weren't
actually doing anything to cure the underlying brain injury. In fact,
they were exacerbating the dysfunction within the physiology of my
brain and nervous system and masking the symptoms. And while
I was getting knocked out into this sort of drug
induced form of unconsciousness. It was not restless sleep, And
(15:50):
so as time went on, things got worse and worse,
until one day my wife came home from a job
interview to find me completely naked, my head shaved, eyebrows missing,
and I had a black garbage bag tied around my neck.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Like a cape.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Because I thought I was going to go fight crime
like a superhero in the northern Michigan snowy weather, and
instead I ended up living in a VA in patient
psychiatric facility for the next forty days, and there I
witnessed an experience firsthand truly abysmal care of American veterans,
(16:25):
and I really had become a prisoner of the war
on mental health that is raging beneath the near of
our civilization, that largely goes unspoken. Yeah, but you know,
many of the things that are being done to American
veterans and civilians in these mental health facilities are the
(16:45):
same things that parallel being a prisoner of war in
that you are confined, you are oftentimes treated as less
than human, as it's very natural to do so when
someone is in a psychosis. You are woken enough every
fifteen minutes with a flashlight in your face to check
and make sure you're not harming yourself. So there's this
(17:06):
severe spleet deprivation that occurs from that. The food is
ultra processed garbage. There's not a fresh fruit or vegetable
in sight. The food is actually depleting your nutrients just
to process that vice restore you. And you're confined in
this little facility. You're lucky if you get to go
outside into a concrete yard surrounded by high rise brick
(17:28):
buildings and metal fencing about once a week. I want
to so there's no connection to nature. Is sunlight?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I want to ask you, you're in a VA
hospital at this point? Are you in a hospital in
Michigan or where are you? And how old are you
at this point?
Speaker 4 (17:42):
I was in Battle Creek, VA in patient psychiatric facility
down a Battle Creek, Michigan. And this was back in
twoenty nineteen, so I guess I would have been I
would have been in my mid thirties at this point, Okay,
And I really yeah, I was in a very dark place,
(18:05):
and eventually I was able to get out of that
facility with the advocacy of my family and When I
got out there, I was just a broken shell of
a human being dealing with PTSD severe mental health issues,
and I was on so many different medications that I
just was completely lost and confused, and you know, I
(18:27):
was kind of like a dog that just wanted to
wander off.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Into the woods in my life.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
And I was very fortunate to come across a network
of nonprofit organizations that got me access to healing modalities,
including a comprehensive lab work and checking my biometrics to
see where the physiology of my body was off, addressing
that through nutraceutical supplementation, traumatic brain injury clinics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy,
(18:59):
psychedelic assisted therapy, and a whole flew of modalities that
are simply unavailable through conventional healthcare, either through the VA
or conventional insurance. But through these modalities and a change
in my lifestyle with a focus on fleet, nutrition, exercise,
(19:20):
reconnection to nature and community, I was able to come
back again from the impossible, this PTSD diagnosis and severe
traumatic brain injury psychotic unknown sort of diagnoses. They didn't
even know what was going on with me, and I'd
gotten so bad, but I was able to come back
to that to become a fully functioning, capable, loving father, husband,
(19:44):
ultra endurance athlete, author, and now I do motivational speaking
and coaching for other people going through this sort of transformation.
And I couldn't be more thankful for the challenges that
I've had to face and overcome because I think that
that has helped shape who I am today to allow
me to share this knowledge with others struggling.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
There's so much wisdom, and a lot of people may
never understand the wisdom of being sharpened by the lowest
points in your life, the darkest points in your life,
because when you come out of that, if you're determined
to come out of that like you were Keg and Gil's,
it is really an amazing experience. In this book, Phoenix Revival,
(20:30):
your book is more than just a story about your
time in the Navy or a hero is a US
Navy fighter pilot. It's more than your crash and what
happened to you. It's a story of overcoming, isn't it Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (20:43):
And that's the whole Phoenix Revival theme of the book
is coming back from the ashes of our crash in
our life and if you find yourself in a dark
place where everything seems overwhelming and impossible to overcome. Realize
that this is just an opportunity for you to grow,
and that darkness is something that can shape our character
(21:04):
in ways that we can't get if we just stay
in a happy, comfortable place our entire lives.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
And I want I'm sorry to interrupt, I just wanted
to say, underneath all of this is keken. You and
I could do a whole other conversation, and maybe we
need to do that, a whole other conversation and discussion
on the tragedy of mental health challenges for our armed forces,
(21:32):
veterans act some of them, many of them active duty
in VA hospitals, homeless living on the streets, incredibly unnecessarily
high suicide rates for veterans and active military. Yet you
were able to overcome that. And we've got a few
(21:53):
minutes left. I wanted to hear your whole story here,
and I know it's not your entire story to buy
the book, And that's the whole point of us talking
with Kagan is to really make sure you understand the
story is not about just overcoming it's about resilience. It's
about that little spark that you talked about Kagan and
(22:14):
realizing the human spirit is stronger than you ever realize.
Most people think I would just wither away and die,
or I would be really tempted to do something very
bad to myself at this lowist level. But you kept
that spark even when it didn't make sense. And that's
(22:34):
the whole point here. But I just wanted to have
you touch on that real quickly you were able to overcome.
What would you say to those who have a family
member who's struggling with darkness, depression, maybe even a military
family member.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
What words of encouragement would you share with them?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah, I want people to know that there is a
way forward even in those darkest times. That and this
is a something that's unique to me. This is something
that is inherent in our human spirit that we all possess,
and that's the ability to overcome extremely challenging phases of
darkness in our lives and realize that there are other
(23:15):
ways that you are not your diagnoses. We oftentimes, especially
in the VA system, you get labeled with these diagnoses
and it's like this is your permanent outcome, this is
who you are now. You are a PTS diagnosis, You
are this diagnoses in whatever medical struggles you're going through,
whether you're a veteran or non veteran, we all know
(23:38):
this sort of chronic health crisis going on right now
in our country, mental health and physical health, and just
know that you don't have to be your diagnoses. The
human body and spirit is incredibly capable of healing when
you give it the right conditions to do so. And
while there are definitely some modalities that can and help
(24:00):
accelerate that process, realize the most important part of the
healing is your lifestyle decisions that you make each and
every day. It's not about going and getting these fancy treatments.
It's really about rebuilding yourself from the foundation up, which
is prioritizing your sleep. How do I get better sleep?
(24:20):
What are the things that are disrupting my sleep? How
do I eat better? How do I get better exercise regularly?
How do I get out in nature? How do I
get sunlight? And as you do these really foundational things
more consistently and with time, and you remove the toxicity
that's dragging your body and mind down, it's amazing what
(24:43):
you can recover from nature is the ultimate healer, and
the further we drift from what is natural, the sicker
we become. And if there's anybody out there that's struggling
that would like guidance in this process, that's something I
do professionally. Now. Please reach out to me, yeah on
my website Kegangil dot com and book a discovery call
(25:05):
with me and I can get you started on your
healing journey. Or if you would like to transform your organization,
please have me come in. I can help inspire a
healthy culture at your business, at your whatever your organization
may be, and had been doing so all across the
country now for the past several years. But just know
there's a lot that can be done, and you don't
(25:27):
have to be trapped in this place where you're just
pop and pills to mas symptoms and forever stick the
remainder of your life.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
I'm so glad to hear you say that. And again.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
The website is Kegangil dot com K E G A
N G I L L dot com. His book out
in January of this year, Incredible Story Phoenix Revival, the
Aftermath of naval Aviation's fastest ejection.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
It's available wherever books are sold.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
A shout out to our friends at Horizon Books in
City and Cadillac. Want to shop local, and if you've
ever been in Traverse City, you've walked by Horizon Books.
Hopefully you've spent some time in Horizon Books. They're good
friends of a lot of readers and literary folks in
(26:15):
Northern Michigan. Also, it's available wherever you buy your books. Again,
it's called Phoenix Revival, the Aftermath of naval Aviation's fastest ejection.
And for motivation, for speaking opportunities, you'd love to have
Kegan speak to your company or your group. It's Kegangil
dot com Kegangil dot com. And he's right here in Michigan,
(26:39):
so you don't have to fly him across the country
unless you're listening to us, you know, maybe from Los
Angeles or something like that. Keg and Gill has been
an incredible honor, and I think we do need to
do a part two on mental health for veterans.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Can we do that down the road?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Absolutely absolutely love that opportunity, Sir.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Sir, wow, I feel honored, Thank you. I your story
is so great and I told you earlier I am
just a very optimistic, hopeful person, even on the darkness
of days. I hope people have been inspired by your story.
You inspired me, KEG and Gil, and I want to
thank you for sharing us.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
It's really just incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's an absolute pleasure and I appreciate you sharing stories
like this so that we can all grow together.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah. Amen to that. Brother.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
He is Lieutenant Kegan Smurf Gil. Next time around, we'll
have you explained.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Smurf.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I want to hear the backstory to that, and again
his website kegangil dot com. He's been with us on
this segment, the full episode. Boy was it worth it?
Of West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. That's our program this week.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Let's do this
again next week right here on this iHeartRadio station you've.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Been listening to Iheartradios West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend
is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And it's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. Thank you so
much for tuning in across whatever iHeartRadio station you are
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podcast as well. You can do that at woodradio dot com.
All of our episodes over five hundred episodes available at
woodradio dot com under the podcast section on the left
(00:39):
hand side of the page. One of the best parts
about my job in hosting West Michigan Weekend is I
get to talk with really interesting people, people with a
story to tell, and people who really inspire me.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And my hope is they'll inspire you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Our listener on the other end of this guest in
this is Kegan smurf Gil. Lieutenant Kegan smurf Gil, a
decorated US Navy fighter pilot, an ultra endurance athlete, a
motivational speaker, and author of a compelling new book released
earlier this year, Phoenix Revival. The aftermath of naval aviation's
(01:18):
fastest ejection. We're going to learn about that. It's an
incredible story, and Keegan is joining us on the program
to talk not only about the book, but really what
an amazing turnaround story in his life. He's doing executive
coaching now and public speaking. And we'll tell you toward
(01:39):
somewhere toward the end of this conversation how you can
book Keegan for his services or maybe speak to your group.
I did it there. I called you Keegan instead of Kegan.
Kegan Gil Welcome to the program. It's a real honor
to have you here.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Thanks for having me on the show. It's a pleasure
to be here with you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Well, my good friend and someone you know as well.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Because they invited you to the National Witer Series in
Trevor City and Doug Stanton, you had probably was a
really cool honor, which was to be a featured author
there and speak in Trevor City in the Opera House.
That was on June twenty six, several weeks ago. Tell
me about how that went when, I mean that was
a big deal for you.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yeah, I was really fortunate to be connected through some
friends to Anne and Doug Stanton who really took me
under their wing and helped me get this huge outcome
or a big following from the National Writers Series. We
had a sold out stadium or a sold out event
at the Alluvian and Traverse City and just packed house,
(02:43):
great energy, and it went really well, and I think
blew a lot of people passed right off they got
to attend, and hopefully, hopefully we'll get a chance.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
To do something similar in the future. I think there's
a lot of interest in it.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
But it was absolutely honored to get connected with them
and get some mentorship from them and guidance in this
world of becoming an author, having no idea how.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
That all works.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
As most times when we do things for the first time, well, let.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Me tell you as well, I interview I've interviewed hundreds,
if not thousands, of authors on this program over the years.
I have incredible respect for you, Kevin, for having the
courage to write a book.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
It's really kind of putting your whole life out there, isn't.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
It It is?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
It's you know, it was something I really felt a
calling to do to share my story because I know
what really inspired me was I wanted to be that
light for others trapped in the dark places that I
was stuck, thinking that I was all alone and that
there was no way forward. And so I realized the
only way to do that is to share our stories
(03:48):
when we go through the hardship, when we go through
the challenges and we're able to get through that, sharing
that with everyone has a lot of value, and so
that kind of guided me through it and the challenges
that I face in producing this, and now that it's
now that it's actually come to fruition, I'm so glad
that I took the time and effort and pursued it,
(04:09):
having no idea really how to do it again, but
just you can really learn anything on the internet these days.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's a very good point. So, Keg and Gil, you
were a US Navy fighter pilot. The book is all
about your time in the in the military, but it's
much more than that. It's a story of overcoming incredible challenges,
as you mentioned, going through some really dark periods in
your life, and really how to come out of that
(04:36):
and thrive and really have purpose and determination. It's such
an inspiring story. But let's go back to, first of all,
a little bit about your decision to join the Navy,
you became a fighter pilot. Give us a quick run
through of the backstory.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
There, Kegan.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, so I was, you know, as I got out
of high school, I wasn't really about, you know, anything
in particular. I didn't like being stuck in a classroom.
I didn't want to be stuck in an office. And
there was a little flight program in Traverse City where
I grew up at Northwestern Michigan College, and so I
(05:15):
saw that they had this little flight school and I
thought that sounded like a good time and ended up
signing up. And by the time I was a junior
in college working on my bachelor's degree through Faras State University,
I was a certified flight instructor. I've spent about a
year flying for a small business after I graduated college,
kind of flying all over the country, getting a lot
(05:37):
of first real world experience. But I kind of felt
I still wanted more in my life. I wanted some
sense of adventure. And I had a buddy named Mark
Hall who's a pilot out of Traverse City as well,
and he was applying to go into the Navy for
officer candidate school. And at the time I didn't realize
that there was any other option to go in the
military other than I thought he had to go to
(05:59):
the Naval Academy. You had to have some sort of
family connection to get in the door. And I found
out that's not true at all, and my friend Mark
kind of steered me in the right direction. I put
together a package, and having been a kid that had
seen the Blue Angels flying up at the Traverse City
Air Show in the summertime, I was like, there was
(06:20):
always this disconnect for me, like there's no way some
scrappy little community college kid can go fly fighter jets
for the military, Like that's just that doesn't happen. But
I found out that it can happen, and I sort
of pursued that dream, and I worked hard and prepared myself.
The next thing I knew I was I was in
(06:40):
the Navy's flight program figuring out how to fly these bigger, faster,
more capable military aircraft and was very fortunate to select
the F eighteen Super Hornet coming out of that training.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And then something happened that inspired this book talk about
that if you would keg Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
So January fifteenth, twenty fourteen, I was a young fighter
pilot in my first fleet squadron. We were preparing for
a deployment into a very active Middle East at that time,
and to train for that, we go out and we
practice things as close.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
To real life as we possibly can.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And one of those skill sets is called air combat
maneuvering or BFM Basic fighter maneuvering, which is probably the
epitome of what people think when they think fighter pilot
is pushing the jet aircraft to its edge of its capabilities.
You're pulling high gs, you're trying to shoot down another
aircraft with a visual range of view. In this case
was simulated ordnance. But other than the simulated ordinance, everything
(07:42):
was simulated kinetics. Everything was as close to the real
thing as possible. The g forces were very real. The
stress on the body and the mind just doing ten
things at once and more was very real. And in
the heat of this dogfight, I maneuvered the aircraft to
a dive, and very quickly the aircraft went out of control,
(08:05):
kind of unexpectedly, and I heard the aircraft blaring altitude, altitude,
pull up, pull up, and two seconds before impacting the ocean,
traveling at six hundred and ninety five miles per hour,
I yanked the ejection handle and then discovered the human
body is not herodynamic at the speed of sound, and
(08:25):
it was pretty devastating as my body impacted that explosive
force about one hundred times that of a Category one hurricane.
I ripped off my helmets, causing a traumatic brain injury,
broken neck, shattered arms and legs, quite a bit of
nerve damage and artery damage throughout my body. And I
plummeted into the icy, cold, churning Atlantic swell, and I
(08:50):
was very fortunate to get rescued by a Navy helicopter
and delivered to a Level one trauma center in Norfolk, Virginia,
where I underwent two weeks of multiple surgeries. I believe
at that point I had over a dozen surgeries just
in a one week period, and I lay comatose with
(09:12):
not a very good looking prognosis. But eventually the lights
kind of clicked back on and I woke up with
no recollection of what had happened or where I was,
and between the brain injury and all the MUDs, I
was pretty out of it. But the docs came in
and they told me that I would likely never walk again,
I would never be able to use my arms again,
(09:34):
and my military flying career was over. You know, some
of the first news I heard as I came back
back to the light. But that fired up something within
me to pursue recovery and get better and heal. And
that's really where this story gets interested and where I
(09:54):
think the value of my story is is how do
you get back from being so broken and so devastated
with the loss of your career, the loss of your body,
the loss of your mind. And that's the real story
that I want to guide people on getting back from
that place.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, it's one thing to be physically limited or disabled,
but to have that brain trauma and then to have
your dream of flying and all that go away as well.
I mean, it's doubly crushing. I can understand even the
most optimistic people. I would consider myself a highly optimistic person.
(10:33):
It's just easy to feel the darkness closing in on you, right.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Oh Yeah, it was a pretty overwhelming moment of darkness
as this all came together in my mind and I'm
stuck in my paralyzed body and now where do you
go from there? And really, in that moment, that was
where I had this little spark which was really it
was the spark of fury within me that was, I'm
(10:58):
going to prove them wrong. You want to tell me
I can't do something, I'm going to prove you wrong.
But that's the little spark that I started to feed.
In the meantime, I had this massive, overwhelming darkness that
I could have easily just jumped off and fell into
that pit and never come out of it, as a
lot of people do in that kind of situation. But
because I started to feed that what if, and I
(11:19):
started to visualize what.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
If I could get better, what would it be like.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
To climb back into the cockpit of FA team, what
would it be like to have my arms and legs
working again? And then I took that focus and applied
discipline and consistency every single day of working towards that goal.
So it was sort of this combination of the mindset
and the visualization of getting there and then applying that
(11:43):
to my daily life and keeping that dry fueled, and
over time I had a remarkable transformation physically to the
point where I was able to return to the cockpit
of the Fatam super Hornet against all odds. And this
is sort of where a happy ending of my story
would be, However, the greatest struggles I've faced were yet
(12:05):
to come.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
And how was that?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
I mean, you've rehab yourself back to the point where
you're back in the cockpit you can fly again, which
is nothing short of miraculous by the way we're speaking.
Would Lieutenant Kegan smurf Gill, his new book out in
January of this year's Phoenix Revival, The Aftermath of naval
aviation's fastest ejection that was him, the human ejection during
(12:31):
a high intensity dogfight exercise in January twenty fourteen. Keggin's
life change Forever. Kegan's life change forever. So you're back
in flying your active navy at this point, Kegen.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That's correct. Yeah, I returned to an active fleet squadron
with BSA one point thirty six Nighthawks station in Lamore, California.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And then what happens.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Yeah, so this is.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Where things really took a dark turn. The residual effects
of brain injury combined with the high stress environment of
naval aviation where you're pulling high g's, you're burning the
candle at both ends constantly. There's a lot of stress,
a lot of pressure, and then I had a aircraft
(13:21):
pressurization system malfunctions that kind of added insult to injury
on my unresolved brain injury from the ejection, and I
ended up getting what's called type two decompression sickness, which
there's any scuba divers listening, they may be familiar with
the bends. If you come up from depth of the
ocean too quickly, the nitrogen can come out of solution
(13:43):
in your blood and cause these little bubbles to form. Now,
if you get those in your joints, it's very painful,
but if those get up into your brain, they can
block the blood slope, which can even kill you or
cause like aneurysm type symptoms. And so I came back
from a flight pretty disoriented. I tried to shake it off,
ended up getting treated in a hyperbaric treatment facility at
(14:06):
a dive base, but still things weren't right, and I
became unable to sleep persistent insomnia. I started getting panic attacks, vertigo,
cognitive impairments, memory lapses. In my life just started to unravel,
and I very quickly went from a high functioning, capable
(14:26):
human that was kind of at the top of the
world after coming back through all of this challenge and
plummeted right back into the bottom of this dark pit again.
And when I reluctantly sought help, knowing that it would
likely cause a you know, my career to crumble, I
ended up going in and see the flight doc, which,
(14:46):
when you're in a position like that in the military,
for multiple reasons, you don't ever want to go talk
about your mental health because you will you know, likely
lose your medical clearance and you could potentially lose your
security clearance. But I knew something was seriously wrong, and
so when I went in. Unfortunately, the route the conventional
(15:07):
mental health care is primarily focused on pharmaceuticals, and once
I started to go that route very quickly in in
my flying career, I was eventually medically retired and continued
that same treatment through the VA, which was more problems,
more pills, more pills, more problems, and my life really
(15:29):
started to spin out of control as those pills weren't
actually doing anything to cure the underlying brain injury. In fact,
they were exacerbating the dysfunction within the physiology of my
brain and nervous system and masking the symptoms. And while
I was getting knocked out into this sort of drug
induced form of unconsciousness. It was not restless sleep, And
(15:50):
so as time went on, things got worse and worse,
until one day my wife came home from a job
interview to find me completely naked, my head shaved, eyebrows missing,
and I had a black garbage bag tied around my neck.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Like a cape.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Because I thought I was going to go fight crime
like a superhero in the northern Michigan snowy weather, and
instead I ended up living in a VA in patient
psychiatric facility for the next forty days, and there I
witnessed an experience firsthand truly abysmal care of American veterans,
(16:25):
and I really had become a prisoner of the war
on mental health that is raging beneath the near of
our civilization, that largely goes unspoken. Yeah, but you know,
many of the things that are being done to American
veterans and civilians in these mental health facilities are the
(16:45):
same things that parallel being a prisoner of war in
that you are confined, you are oftentimes treated as less
than human, as it's very natural to do so when
someone is in a psychosis. You are woken enough every
fifteen minutes with a flashlight in your face to check
and make sure you're not harming yourself. So there's this
(17:06):
severe spleet deprivation that occurs from that. The food is
ultra processed garbage. There's not a fresh fruit or vegetable
in sight. The food is actually depleting your nutrients just
to process that vice restore you. And you're confined in
this little facility. You're lucky if you get to go
outside into a concrete yard surrounded by high rise brick
(17:28):
buildings and metal fencing about once a week. I want
to so there's no connection to nature. Is sunlight?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I want to ask you, you're in a VA
hospital at this point? Are you in a hospital in
Michigan or where are you? And how old are you
at this point?
Speaker 4 (17:42):
I was in Battle Creek, VA in patient psychiatric facility
down a Battle Creek, Michigan. And this was back in
twoenty nineteen, so I guess I would have been I
would have been in my mid thirties at this point, Okay,
And I really yeah, I was in a very dark place,
(18:05):
and eventually I was able to get out of that
facility with the advocacy of my family and When I
got out there, I was just a broken shell of
a human being dealing with PTSD severe mental health issues,
and I was on so many different medications that I
just was completely lost and confused, and you know, I
(18:27):
was kind of like a dog that just wanted to
wander off.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Into the woods in my life.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
And I was very fortunate to come across a network
of nonprofit organizations that got me access to healing modalities,
including a comprehensive lab work and checking my biometrics to
see where the physiology of my body was off, addressing
that through nutraceutical supplementation, traumatic brain injury clinics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy,
(18:59):
psychedelic assisted therapy, and a whole flew of modalities that
are simply unavailable through conventional healthcare, either through the VA
or conventional insurance. But through these modalities and a change
in my lifestyle with a focus on fleet, nutrition, exercise,
(19:20):
reconnection to nature and community, I was able to come
back again from the impossible, this PTSD diagnosis and severe
traumatic brain injury psychotic unknown sort of diagnoses. They didn't
even know what was going on with me, and I'd
gotten so bad, but I was able to come back
to that to become a fully functioning, capable, loving father, husband,
(19:44):
ultra endurance athlete, author, and now I do motivational speaking
and coaching for other people going through this sort of transformation.
And I couldn't be more thankful for the challenges that
I've had to face and overcome because I think that
that has helped shape who I am today to allow
me to share this knowledge with others struggling.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
There's so much wisdom, and a lot of people may
never understand the wisdom of being sharpened by the lowest
points in your life, the darkest points in your life,
because when you come out of that, if you're determined
to come out of that like you were Keg and Gil's,
it is really an amazing experience. In this book, Phoenix Revival,
(20:30):
your book is more than just a story about your
time in the Navy or a hero is a US
Navy fighter pilot. It's more than your crash and what
happened to you. It's a story of overcoming, isn't it Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (20:43):
And that's the whole Phoenix Revival theme of the book
is coming back from the ashes of our crash in
our life and if you find yourself in a dark
place where everything seems overwhelming and impossible to overcome. Realize
that this is just an opportunity for you to grow,
and that darkness is something that can shape our character
(21:04):
in ways that we can't get if we just stay
in a happy, comfortable place our entire lives.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
And I want I'm sorry to interrupt, I just wanted
to say, underneath all of this is keken. You and
I could do a whole other conversation, and maybe we
need to do that, a whole other conversation and discussion
on the tragedy of mental health challenges for our armed forces,
(21:32):
veterans act some of them, many of them active duty
in VA hospitals, homeless living on the streets, incredibly unnecessarily
high suicide rates for veterans and active military. Yet you
were able to overcome that. And we've got a few
(21:53):
minutes left. I wanted to hear your whole story here,
and I know it's not your entire story to buy
the book, And that's the whole point of us talking
with Kagan is to really make sure you understand the
story is not about just overcoming it's about resilience. It's
about that little spark that you talked about Kagan and
(22:14):
realizing the human spirit is stronger than you ever realize.
Most people think I would just wither away and die,
or I would be really tempted to do something very
bad to myself at this lowist level. But you kept
that spark even when it didn't make sense. And that's
(22:34):
the whole point here. But I just wanted to have
you touch on that real quickly you were able to overcome.
What would you say to those who have a family
member who's struggling with darkness, depression, maybe even a military
family member.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
What words of encouragement would you share with them?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah, I want people to know that there is a
way forward even in those darkest times. That and this
is a something that's unique to me. This is something
that is inherent in our human spirit that we all possess,
and that's the ability to overcome extremely challenging phases of
darkness in our lives and realize that there are other
(23:15):
ways that you are not your diagnoses. We oftentimes, especially
in the VA system, you get labeled with these diagnoses
and it's like this is your permanent outcome, this is
who you are now. You are a PTS diagnosis, You
are this diagnoses in whatever medical struggles you're going through,
whether you're a veteran or non veteran, we all know
(23:38):
this sort of chronic health crisis going on right now
in our country, mental health and physical health, and just
know that you don't have to be your diagnoses. The
human body and spirit is incredibly capable of healing when
you give it the right conditions to do so. And
while there are definitely some modalities that can and help
(24:00):
accelerate that process, realize the most important part of the
healing is your lifestyle decisions that you make each and
every day. It's not about going and getting these fancy treatments.
It's really about rebuilding yourself from the foundation up, which
is prioritizing your sleep. How do I get better sleep?
(24:20):
What are the things that are disrupting my sleep? How
do I eat better? How do I get better exercise regularly?
How do I get out in nature? How do I
get sunlight? And as you do these really foundational things
more consistently and with time, and you remove the toxicity
that's dragging your body and mind down, it's amazing what
(24:43):
you can recover from nature is the ultimate healer, and
the further we drift from what is natural, the sicker
we become. And if there's anybody out there that's struggling
that would like guidance in this process, that's something I
do professionally. Now. Please reach out to me, yeah on
my website Kegangil dot com and book a discovery call
(25:05):
with me and I can get you started on your
healing journey. Or if you would like to transform your organization,
please have me come in. I can help inspire a
healthy culture at your business, at your whatever your organization
may be, and had been doing so all across the
country now for the past several years. But just know
there's a lot that can be done, and you don't
(25:27):
have to be trapped in this place where you're just
pop and pills to mas symptoms and forever stick the
remainder of your life.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
I'm so glad to hear you say that. And again.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
The website is Kegangil dot com K E G A
N G I L L dot com. His book out
in January of this year, Incredible Story Phoenix Revival, the
Aftermath of naval Aviation's fastest ejection.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
It's available wherever books are sold.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
A shout out to our friends at Horizon Books in
City and Cadillac. Want to shop local, and if you've
ever been in Traverse City, you've walked by Horizon Books.
Hopefully you've spent some time in Horizon Books. They're good
friends of a lot of readers and literary folks in
(26:15):
Northern Michigan. Also, it's available wherever you buy your books. Again,
it's called Phoenix Revival, the Aftermath of naval Aviation's fastest ejection.
And for motivation, for speaking opportunities, you'd love to have
Kegan speak to your company or your group. It's Kegangil
dot com Kegangil dot com. And he's right here in Michigan,
(26:39):
so you don't have to fly him across the country
unless you're listening to us, you know, maybe from Los
Angeles or something like that. Keg and Gill has been
an incredible honor, and I think we do need to
do a part two on mental health for veterans.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Can we do that down the road?
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Absolutely absolutely love that opportunity, Sir.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Sir, wow, I feel honored, Thank you. I your story
is so great and I told you earlier I am
just a very optimistic, hopeful person, even on the darkness
of days. I hope people have been inspired by your story.
You inspired me, KEG and Gil, and I want to
thank you for sharing us.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
It's really just incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It's an absolute pleasure and I appreciate you sharing stories
like this so that we can all grow together.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah. Amen to that. Brother.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
He is Lieutenant Kegan Smurf Gil. Next time around, we'll
have you explained.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Smurf.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I want to hear the backstory to that, and again
his website kegangil dot com. He's been with us on
this segment, the full episode. Boy was it worth it?
Of West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. That's our program this week.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Let's do this
again next week right here on this iHeartRadio station you've.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Been listening to Iheartradios West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend
is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
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