The people with whom I've worked in the Special Operations community are more concerned with an individual's contribution to the team, and their ability to do their job exceptionally well, than their race or sexual preferences.
— Brandon Webb
It's a huge edge, sometime life-saving, to adopt a good idea early and put it into practice.
Training programs shouldn't be designed to deliver competence; they must be dedicated to producing excellence. Serious organizations don't aspire to be comfortably above average.
It's important for Americans to know what the guys fighting the wars have been experiencing, not just from the perspective of a talking-head politician or a four-star general.
I am proud to be a SEAL and serve in the military.
Chris Kyle was a human being, a Texan, Navy SEAL, father, husband, brother, friends to many, and a hero to many; this, at a time when we need all the heroes we can get. I knew him to be a good person, regardless of all the hype floating around in the media.
Great leaders know that adversity produces the greatest opportunities in life.
As a Navy SEAL, and sniper, one of the things I learned was that excellence matters.
Transitioning out of the military after a decade or more of service can be exciting and scary. Even more so when you have a family to support and are not experienced with the challenges of transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
Too often, it's the Washington way to hide, point fingers, and try to place blame on someone else.
The game of political music chairs and finger-pointing by career politicians and agency bureaucrats needs to end.
The consequences of leaking sensitive information is that Americans and coalition forces die, and we lose trust with foreign spies, and our national security is put at risk.
Unconventional warfare needs to remain the heart and soul of U.S. Special Operations Command and component commands.
If any country deserves American support, Ukraine does.
Special-purpose dogs have been a critical component for police and military work in the current war on terror. These dogs are some of the bravest animals on the planet.
Like a lot of business owners out there, I don't desire to face the continual flogging from government regulators who push burdensome and confusing state tax and employment laws on the business. It creates an unnecessary risk when, as an owner, I can just take it offshore.
I make a habit of asking myself, 'Is there purpose to this meeting or conversation? Do I want to build a relationship with this person or company? Is there purpose behind this meeting that aligns with my life and business strategy?' If the answer is 'No,' then I pass every time.
The sniper is like a highly skilled surgeon, practicing his craft on the battlefield.
It's every teacher's job to be rigorous about constantly being open to new ideas and innovation.
I am not a tall man.
Ever since wars have been fought, guys have been writing their stories.
I was happy to be in Afghanistan, doing these real-world operations and taking the fight to the terrorists that attacked us.
Veteran causes are an extremely important issue, especially the transition from military to civilian life.
World records aren't broken in practice, and competitive environments and adversity are the birthplace of champions.
I didn't grow up hunting whitetail, but I would stalk tuna and white sea bass and yellowtail.
The 'Patriot Act,' 'Enhancing domestic security,' and 'Protect America' all sound great - until you realize that they're catch phrases for programs that contain roving wire taps without a warrant and the collection and sale of your personal information to the U.S. government.
It takes guts to realize you screwed up and to then come clean without any excuses.
Benghazi is important because it demonstrates all that is wrong in Washington.
Elon Musk should be at the top of the list of people to emulate when it comes to leading large organizations that are highly maneuverable and use it as a competitive advantage.
What is SOCOM's mission statement in two sentences? Most people I know in SOF cannot recite it. If it's not clear from the bottom up, then it's a problem.
We need a clear plan to put radical Islamic terrorism out of vogue, and it should be eliminated at its roots. American SOF are part of the puzzle, but they do not, by themselves, complete the picture.
The collapse of the Soviet Union could not have been a source of national pride for many in Russia. The one person who has capitalized on this the most has been Vladimir Putin.
Going through SEAL training taught me that it's OK to fall down three times, as long as you get up four. This is a good philosophy for most things in life.
Whether you have incredible products like at Apple or a great service business, it all comes down to fundamental trust and relationship-building with your customers.
Like it or not, Jesse Ventura is a Navy SEAL. He did the pushups and put up with the cold water, just like the rest of us.
I'm a big fan of economist Milton Freidman.
Three days doesn't sound like a very long time, and under normal, everyday circumstances, it's not - but under POW camp conditions, it doesn't take long to wear down a man's sanity.
A lesson learned, both in the SEAL teams and as an entrepreneur, is that failure is sometimes a critical component of success.
The rules of engagement when I was in Afghanistan were very flexible. When you're at war, you're at war.
My big problem with Hillary and the Department of State where Benghazi is concerned is there is just no accountability.
Great performers - in sports, the arts, business, or whatever field - have undertaken massive amounts of training. And when that training is complete... they train some more, and harder than they expect to perform. Why? Training builds confidence and ensures peak performance.
I never shot much when I was a kid, but on the spotting scope, understanding the ballistics and the calculations, I'm a ten.
I like to measure people by their accomplishments in life and how they consistently act.
General David Petraeus is an American patriot and hero.
The September 11th, 2012, attacks on the State Department compound in Benghazi, Libya, is important and should be studied because in the big picture, it represents a failed foreign policy that spans across both Bush and Obama Presidencies.
Small unit autonomy, breaking the right rules, cultural influence, and relationship building has always been the heart Special Operations. Something must be done to ensure these are not lost to the big machine of SOCOM.
The terrorists' only rules? That there are no rules, and this gives them a major advantage.
Law in Ukraine is not black and white; it is shades of gray.
Being a Navy SEAL and sniper taught me all about risk management. Take away all the risk variables under your control and reduce it to an acceptable level. The same fundamentals apply in business.
After serving as a U.S. Navy SEAL, I started a business. In four years, it failed incredibly, but I learned a lot about business, raising equity, and choosing partners.
