Episode 8 with Rick Hogg (Special Forces Vet)
Q&A with Mac & C. J.
In the Q&A segment, C. J., Mac, and Jamey answer:
1. Long time listener....Army recon/sniper and current LEO. How can you create a life home/work balance being so mentally and physically fatigued.
2. For a non metal guy who wants to “be cool,” what would you guys recommend as a starter list to launch into?
3. Are night sights a must? Or are fiber optic a good solid choice?
4. How do special forces view candidates who have substance abuse background but have shown reform and recovery thru sobriety in recent yrs. I'm considering going back in the mil after 12 yr break in service and struggled with issues after my discharge in 2007.
5. I’m 52 and get up at 3am to work construction for 8 hours and then commute home for an hour and a half. What’s the best and healthiest energy boost to make it though my work out?
6. Would James Hetfield be considered THE technical master of the axe? Would Metallica be different if Cliff had not died?
7. Automatic or manual transmission? And what situations is one more desirable than the other?
8. What’s your advice for someone joining the army and wanting to make the long walk?
9. What is your favorite metal song(s) that is instrumental with no vocals?
10. What’s been your craziest adrenaline rush and how do you control that adrenaline dump during combat?
11. Is it disrespectful for someone who did not serve in the military to get an American flag tattoo?
12. Can you guys give an in-depth analysis of “Dumb and Dumber?”
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Pat, I found you through a former (1980’s) 1st SFG team mate’s LinkedIn. You were an intense, brilliant, funny as shit hard core dude back then. Good to see you haven’t changed!
Now my wife realizes that the term “douchebaggery” is a real word since I’m not the only one who uses it! Thanks to you, I have added, “shuffling your feet…shuffling your feet…” for my visits to Costco.
Your conversations about the next chapters of life are insightful and helpful. I finished out of First Group in 2011 and get together with some of the guys about once a month. It’s always a breath of fresh air to get into a room full of them. Most awesome people and I always have a sugar crash when I get back out into open water surrounded by all the mouth breathers out there.
And now for the rant. Sort of…
I absolutely HATE when people “thankmeformyservice”.
Viet Nam Vets were treated like crap and no virtue signalling today is going to change that. If they want to do something that shows appreciation, be a grateful citizen by getting off their lazy asses, learning about the candidates and issues IN THE BIG PICTURE OF THINGS, and participate in the election process. Don’t litter. Take responsibility for the student debt they racked up because they were too lazy to get a part time job, live at home, start at a community college, then on to a school they could afford to get a degree that would actually lead them into a building where someone would pay them money to do something other than make espresso. How about they stop bitching about the rising cost of health care and start taking care of their health so they don’t have to use so much of it? “For God’s sake man, get rid of that dick-do belly!” (When a man’s belly sticks out further than his dick do.)
Everyone who has worn a uniform gets an automatic “Thank you for your service”. Even the shit bags, but they wouldn’t know the difference. Saying those words means they have done their part to defend America and don’t have to enlist themselves.
My Drill Sergeants in Basic Training, Infantry School and Airborne school (1980-1981) were Viet Nam Vets. Young guys with CIBs from the 82nd and 101st. My First Sergeant as a Paratrooper was a badass former Ranger who became the CSM of 2/75 on his next tour. My first Team Sergeant after the Q-course ( I served with him in 10th and 1st Group) was a Viet Nam vet. An 11C at that time who received a Silver Star. He told me, for the very first time last spring about that battle. Those men instilled in me an understanding of the consequences of not being prepared for war. Sometimes they said mean things and made me sad… Every one of them shaped the NCO I would become and their lessons were something I tried to instill in the soldiers I prepared and took into Iraq.
I appreciated your comments about the WWII vets. Saw a guy around Veteran’s Day at the store wearing his hat and stopped to talk to him and learned he had fought through Europe to include the Battle of the Bulge. He was a Combat Engineer specializing in Bailey Bridges. VE Day (YEY!), now get on a ship and go to Japan. The bombs were dropped, the ship turned for North America. A week after getting home, he was on a horse in Idaho driving cattle to a rail head. Crazy stuff.
I was at the Regimental Mess on Saturday. We had a little get together with a recent MOH recipient who served in 3rd Group. He’s from the area and the high school he graduated from had him come out for a ceremony dedicating a monument in his honor. He’s battling stage 4 lung cancer now. The guy is 41 and it was his birthday.
People thank me for my service? They don’t know how grateful I am to have shared a space in time with the men I have been fortunate to meet.
Pat, keep doing what you do. And above all, remember: DON’T SUCK!