"One time i knew a guy for eight years, never learned his name. Best friend I ever had. We still never talk sometime."

Keith > Owl > Al > Big Al 50. Cal. Loved that story.

Jocko, I'm from the early days of SEAL Team. BUD/S class 45 (the first BUD/S class after they changed from UDTRA class numbers - we started 40 and graduated 9). Met your running mate Leif B. at ST-1during a reunion and turned over pics of SEAL ops in VN for quarter deck playback. Enjoy your takes on team ops. Some things don't change even after years of change. It takes heart to get thru training. It takes heart to get thru multiple deployments. Keep up your good work on defining the leadership qualities it takes to effectively run organizations. I had the privilege of leading 3 platoons during my time in the Teams. 1 sub ops platoon with UDT-13 and 2 direct action platoons in SEAL Team One. Unfortunately the last SEAL killed in the jungles of VN was my point man TM1 Lester J. Moe. He was a great operator and teammate. Years later his daughters connected with me and we have since shared many good times at reunions. You're a great motivational speaker and thinker. Keep up your good work on motivating folks to move beyond their comfort zone and push the limits. The only easy day.......

Echo’s biceps have a different reputation than the rest of him. They have their own Social Security number too.

That is such a badass name "Big Al 50. Cal" would've loved to have a nickname like that.

We were on a military training exchange with the Malaysian military in Kuala Lumpur about 15 years ago. A buddy of mine rented a motor bike in our off duty time and wrecked his bike, within an hour of getting it. He flew over the handlebars and broke his collar bone and had to go the designated Malaysian hospital ER. He was forever known as “Scooter”. He hated that nickname, but once it was apparent that it had stuck, he had no choice but to embrace it.

Getting lost would be my specialty 😂😂

Two things that will get me to click on any Jocko video: -The word SEAL -BTF Tony Eafrati

Had an acquaintance worked as a corrections officer in the local county jail and had an negligent discharge with his weapon. He was from that point forward he was known as "Dangerous Dan".

The Al story almost made me spit out what I was drinking! We had a guy in the Air Force that was a jerk and one day we found out that this guy had to have one of his testicles removed and from that point forward we called him the Uniballer, he hated every single minute of that!

"I did a lot of dumb shit" Jocko, immediately proving their previous point "Yes I know that, let me tell you all about your dumb shit"

I know exactly what Jocko is talking about regarding accidental discharge. I was a Spec Ops Helicopter Gunner 20th SOS MACV-SOG IN Vietnam 70-72. I remember an event when we were returning from a mission and we were after flight check list procedures. My fellow gunner Robert C. was clearing the round out of his GAU-2b Mini-Gun to make it safe while on the ground. This starts with disconnecting the feeder, removing the bolt cam sector and rotating the barrels to cycle the loaded rounds through to the discharge chute. The round will not discharge without the bolt cam sector being present, since it is the component that guides the round forward into the breech, locks and releases the firing pin causing discharge of the round. After which it unlocks, retracts and ejects the spent casing. The rotation of the barrels is done with the weapon vertical pointing down and the gunner standing on the ground and his legs apart and the muzzle pointing at a point midway between each foot. That is how we train and how we get checked out on being a gunship gunner. So what went wrong? Let me point out that Bob C was actually an Instructor Gunner. Oh the irony. BC forgot to remove the bolt cam sector, making the weapon safe. BC rotated the barrels with a foot in the target zone. BC discharged a round of 7.62 x 51mm NATO through the instep of his GI issue right foot M-1966 jungle boot. Yeah it also went through his foot. Bwwahahahahahahahahahaha. We forever after got trolled on that F-up. He was suspended as Instructor Gunner until he was trained and re-certified. hehehehehehe. My big F-up was forgetting to lock in the pigtail on my safety harness while prepping to go out on a hot exfil and I fell out.

"Al's not my name at all!" 🤣🤣🤣

That Owl > Al > Keith story is pretty funny, the build up was great! 😆

Being arrogant and egotistical you not gonna last long... Dan Bilzerian aight imma head out.

I was big army and still remember the names of the guys who had an AD ...25 years later. You can never run away from that , ever .

Saying jockos real name in the mirror three times summons him at 4am whilst benching 1500lbs.

And god said to John “come forth and you shall be granted eternal life”. But John came fifth and won a toaster.

I really do like the good and more relaxed vibes between Echo and Jocko in the older content.

Jocko you should have a chat with Jay Morton (Ex SAS). He quoted you several times in his new book and you both seem to have a similar view on life and self discipline, would be an interesting conversation.

My dads almost 60, former 2and battalion ranger . One of his buddies failed the land nav test and they still tease him about it

Possibly one of the best Jocko clips of all time.

Same thing in the fighter community. In addition, I was surprised by who stepped up, and who didn't, during combat. The bravado beforehand didn't always match up once the bullets started flying.

3:57. “Big Al 50 Cal” story is so funny!!!!

Jocko gave his dad “the talk”

I literally laughed out loud at finding out why Al was called Al 😂😂😂

I think the nickname thing is prevalent in much of the military. My father was a pilot in the Marines and shortly after flight school he was in a bar and at some point wound up under the table. One of the guys saw him down there and said "What are doin' down there, Goofy?". The nickname stuck so hard he had his call sign changed from Hawk to Goofy.

I have loved many of Jocko's guests, but Tony is who I want to see back the most! BTF Tony!

Owl is definitely a cooler name than Al.

I think somtimes a guy just finds himself the right role models

Loved the Big Al 50 Cal story. Loved that nickname too hahaha

Murdering Green Berets is pretty bad for one's reputation from what I hear as well.

I was a navy corpsman attached to a marine infantry unit. I had at least two negligent discharges on the range. Most of it was the anxiety of not being a rifle shooter prior to entry. They definitely made me feel like shit afterwards. Arkwardly the first sergeant didn't even chew me out about it.

Nick names are the same in the Fire Brigade. My station officer was a good a friend and passed away after I moved abroad. I received a call at 01:00 and a woman asked me if I was "Stimpy". His girlfriend went through his phone to find my details to inform me my friend had died and all she found was my nickname. She apologized that she didn't know my name, even though I called my friend every few weeks to stay in touch.

BTF " tattoo'd on ya foe head" classic Sam Adams Boston voice! Love what you guyz do!!

It took me a couple times until I realized that ‘cuss’ meant ‘of course’ lol

I was on a convoy in the marines and got my stick lost in the middle of the night. That was in 2003 and i’m still embarrassed about it

Speaking of the AD's, a blip from the podcast that mentioned the "he was decocking" moment would be hilarious. I could listen to BTF Tony on the podcast for days. good stuff🤙

Gotta think the last description fits David Goggins... why he talks about being abrasive and not fitting in

I was a navy seal, I didnt use guns I was so strong I would just throw the bullets. I also had an adamantium katana and I would cut tanks and helicopters in half with it.

We were out on an op and the Lieutenant JG in charge wandered away and somehow stepped onto a plank covering a hand dug brick lined well. He stood waist deep in the water for 2 hours before we found him. One of the Vietnamese sailors with us called him Lt. Fall-in-well, and the nickname stuck, and forever more he was called Lt. Fall-in-Well by everybody.

Was getting caught part of your master plan!? Bane: "Of cuss!"

Speaking of professional reputation, how do you think scandals hurt elite units in terms of their professional reputation amongst the community? We recently had a huge scandal with war crimes here in Australia with the SASR covering things up of over 39 premeditated incidents.

No such thing as an accidental discharge, only negligent discharges

“Cuss I do” 😂 golden

The story about “Owl” was hilarious.

This is so true,one of our guys started preparing an rpg on training for practice targeting by simple planting it on the ground in the middle of the cover. Captain almost wanted to kill him on the spot and never gave him a chance to shoot even from the rifle by the end of the contract and we also avoided him at all costs

Not a seal but I feel your reputation isn’t built off one instance. Instead it will be built upon repeated behavior. People catch on to trends, if you wake up and strive to do the right things, people will overlook the outlying moments of failure.

"My last desk pop was Septemberrrrrrr 08." The other guys.

Better not fart loud in the SEALs because that would definitely be a new nickname

One of the benefits of growing up in DOD schools as an Air Force brat is that if you screwed up in a memorable way, you had a 50-50 chance of starting with a clean slate at your dad's next duty station. Most of the kids in your class were from somewhere else.

AD is something that stays with you forever. The better the trained you are when you do it, they talk the more about it. When an office worker does it, it's just a funny story that underlines that deskjob even with having a military rank doesn't makes one a true soldier. But when an SF guy does it... that brings serious shitstorm from everybody. When I was deployed, we had two ADs during that time. One was a corporal, who was a PT instructor for trainees at home. The other was an SF guy. We had a lot of office workers, logistic personell, mechanics, signallers, etc, and the only two ADs during that time were done by two of the most trained people out there. You can imagine the shit they received for their remaining time there.

In month 7 of quarantine and I am convinced I will be an important SEAL team member after lock down.

To jocko or anyone else in the comments, I am a freshman in high school and I struggle to stay focused on school and priorities, I always get focused on girls or my friends and push of the important stuff and my work ethic sucks but I’m a smart kid and know I can do better anyone have any advice

20-30 years ago the saying “Quiet Professionals” was a real thing. You didn’t know who was who.

Thank you Jocko for your podcast and advice.. 👍

Big Owl 50 Cow

So glad I came across this podcast. Senior Chief Eafrati is a legend in the SEAL Community. When it comes to reputations, his is one of a hardcore, pipe hitting mf’er.

its the same in the British army 45 years later and lads i served with are still known by their nicknames. One person i know was called Bomber, his container came loose parachuting, he bombed the DZ.

This is the one thing I loved about bring an infantryman...everyday you're treading hard to keep up with the next guy and not be "that guy" whether it's an ARI, AD, DWI, short call for fire on an op etc etc...out here in civilian land most mopes have no clue

Shoot your gun when your not supposed to.- He's talking about Dan Bilzerian. He got kicked out 1 day before graduating as A seal member for fooling around and shooting his gun when he was not supposed to.

My god this is awesome; adding this one to favourites

It's weird hearing a service man use the term, 'former marine,' I used that term with a marine buddy of mine who had been honorably discharged and was quickly corrected. "Once a marine, always a marine." I've never served a day in my life, but I hung onto that because it felt important.

Your word. Telling the truth helps

We had a dude we called chiggers because after going to the field once he was covered in those tiny red bugs called chiggers.

why did you join the seals ? ME: i want a funny nickname...äh...i mean serve my country and shit ^^

Thank You for your time!

The story Reminds me of the Paul Simon song you can call me Al ( jokes aside sounds like a good guy, always good to be aware of your surroundings. More power to him)

"if you're an arrogant egotistical guy everyone's gonna hate you" *cough* dan bilzerian

There's a gigantopithecus blacki raiding my bird feeder. The bug zapper does nothing!

Getting lost on land nav. Shawn Ryan hears this and is like “hey man it fucking happens”

The point you made about arrogance immediately made me think of Rob O'Neil. He must've been a real number to work with.

I you told me Jocko was the default LMG gunner in some FPS game I'd buy it without question lol that guy looks like a military heavyweight champion in every possible way xD

Tony’s a great story teller. And that Owl story is hilarious and is a pretty cool nickname at the same time 🇺🇸🔱

I’ve gotten to do some land nav courses with my brother while he was at West Point, it was a cool family day thing.

"My name is not 'Al' at all. It's 'Owl'!" "Big Owl 50 Cal to you, buddy!"

"If you do something dumb one time, everybody is going to know about it forever." Oh, so being a Navy SEAL is kinda like being on Facebook.

"Former Marine? " Once a Marine Always a Marine I know this because a young Lady called Me on this when mentioning her Father. But I Know That Wasn't Jocko's Point. Best Wishes! M.H.

Humility. Got it. Thanks.

There are a number of guys that I only knew by their nickname. Only to find out years later that it wasn’t a real name. The story about Al, got me to thinking and remembering senior chief Delear (not sure on the spelling). He was the training officer at 22 when I checked in there. Talk about reputation. That mans story is epic.

In the Army, I was on an EOD team, and a lot of the same principals applied there, even when we would get attached to SF teams. I everyone had a nickname on my team, so good some so-so.

I was "the guy" who had an ad AND same time I lost my rifle. (Luckily this was only a field practice and not real deal) Not my proudest moments and because of that I got demoted. And now every time I a meet new face. My partner tells everyone that lost his rifle and had ad. You just can´t escape that. Did not happen in the US. 6h Sleep is no problem but this field practice was our first "real" one in 6 months. Detailed story we were patrolling and had done 24 hour shift. I had left my "plate and fork" into a camp because this should've been only a 6 hour set before we go to sleep. Well hours go by and we hear on radio that enemy is scouting the area and we cannot leave our post yet. Yeah all good no problems but my patrol mate kinda lost his motivation for some reason and that affected me also. He had water and food but didn´t share it even thou I shared mine with him. Any case fast forward to last 5 mins of the shift before we get picked up, radio yells that we should go to the extraction point. At the exc point we wait for the vehicle and this is where things go wrong. I take off my gear since the "mission" is over and we are just waiting to go barracks. When the new guys arrive I accidentally pull trigger because I didnt had str to lift the weapon properly and the ad happens. No big deal I was aiming ground. New guys have no idea where to go, so I tell my mate to take my stuff and I show the easiest entrance and brief them about the mission. I was so tired I told my friend to take my stuff into the car and wait there. (Our team leader was there, I was squad leader) When I come showing off the places and go back to the car I don´t see my stuff and proceed to check car. For some reason I had my other gear there but not my rifle. I was so tired that I had laid my rifle on the grass like 1 meter from me. I didn't find it so our team leader got really frustrated and came out of the car and started looking for it. He found it in like 10 sec. >Learned my lesson hard way never ever be too tired to control your gun properly and never give up your gun. Still pretty annoyed to my friend because he couldn´t do shit but whine for 24 hours.

I know of a former SEAL operator who quit because he got tired of snatching bad guys out out of their bed in the middle of the night. He said that wasn't what he signed up for.

I had “accidental” discharge last wked, she wasn’t impressed but since then made up for it

A nickname given by brothers in arms is more valuable than the name your parents give you.

I was just a grunt. Everybody who finds out tells me they were GOING to be a seal and they never even served. Just such an unbelievable job the more I learn about it. There is no way in hell I would have made it. Kudos to you savage bastards. Seriously thank you for what you did and continue to do.

Congratulations on 1 million subscribers, get some

Lmfao Guy: stay alive, yknow? Jocko: yep yep

Big Al 50 cal is the coolest nickname I have ever heard

would this pertain to the seals who murdered an army ranger?

Congrats on the 1 million subscribers guys! 😎😎

I still remember our DM having an ND in front of our Company Commander. That was a decade ago. No lie, that crap sticks.

Its not how you're buried that counts. Its how you're remembered.

Lol solid im on abpod cast now realll things

I am a new subscriber and Love your Stories They are very Real...😊😊 I think you guys should get in Contact with a Movie Producers And Put Your True Stories On The Big Screen....They would make for a very interesting Real View Of How These Wars Are Very Real

I knew a guy in the Aus Airforce. There was a guy at his base who had a habit of suddenly shouting "I'm gonna shit myself." before immediately evacuating the room. One time he did this in the mess hall. Unbeknownst to everyone else he had blasted an arse powered beam of gas from the crack of his pants which travelled directly upwards hitting the ceiling and dispersing across the entire room. The gas descended on the room hitting those on the bar stools first travelling downards onto the couches last. Sometimes he would do this inside a tiny unventilated radar shed in the middle of the desert. I regret not asking if the guy ever got a nickname.

My sick name was slaughter, most people didn’t know my real name. I was a really good high school wrestler. When I joined up at 17 they started calling me baby slaughter after WWE wrestler Sgt slaughter. After a few years of proving myself and a little older they just dropped the baby part. This nickname was a double edge sword. it was a conversation starter BUT when I was in the bar there were many a night a tough guy would come up wanting to challenge me.

I’ve been apologizing to my wife for ADs for decades now.

Why do I get the feeling that jocko dosent like David goggins.

Does this apply to David Goggins?