Action, execution, and persistence beats deliberation any day. My whole life my parents raised me to be a doer and never quit. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger? Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. I love the ocean even more now and will do anything to connect with the mysteries it has to share with me. Once the ocean was used to try and break me during BUDS, but it forged a new level of grit and toughness within me. I have to represent the people who have the spirit but lack the ability.įorce Blue and working alongside my brothers feels like a gift. My favorite line from the SEAL creed is “I am never out of the fight”. It is easy to fall in love with the spirit and energy of men rallying around a noble cause. In saving these special animals many of these SOF veterans save themselves by having a new mission.Ĭan you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?Īs a Navy SEAL you are in the water and around brave men all the time. It feels like a vibrational shift to save something that can’t thank you but you feel it. There is an energy that you can only understand when you are there. While in the Florida Keys we also save sick and diseased sea turtles filled with tumors while working alongside the Marathon Turtle Hospital, which removes its tumors, rehabilitates them, and then releases them back to the wild. Who better than Navy SEALs to fight for something that cannot fight for itself?! Yet they are dying off at an alarming rate. Coral reefs make up over 50% of the oxygen that we breathe, even though they are a tiny percentage of the ocean floor. To see these amazing creatures in their natural habitats is truly a blessing. I don’t watch the Discovery channel, I live it. Obviously it is depressing when you see how wasteful and destructive humanity can be but that is counteracted by the immense pleasure I feel making a difference. We do missions like planting over a thousand pieces of stag horn coral in partnership with the NFL and having professional athletes from the Miami Dolphins and pro fighters join us for our work while we make documentaries like “100 Yards of Hope” so our mission goes much further than just the physical work that we do and so we can reach millions of youth. It is an organization that takes former special operators (SOF) like Navy SEALs, Recon Marines, Army Delta, and Air Force PJ’s & Combat Controllers and puts them in a team with the top marine biologists in the world and repurposes their combat diver skills for ocean conservation. If someone with no arms or legs can keep on pushing through mental barriers, what excuse do I have?įorce blue is another passion project that really shifts my perception about the world. When you see someone that pushes past the labels and restrictions that the world puts on them it is inspiring. To work towards a cause is always a pleasure. I have always wanted to help people and I can not sit ideally by while I see brave men and women suffer. Veterans are not given the respect they deserve by the government and society. Being a board member of The Adaptive Training Foundation is a real honor, where amputee and spinal cord injury veterans and civilians go through nine weeks of training and then redeploy on a surf or ski trip for mountain or ocean therapy. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?įirst it would be supporting the heroes that society has forgotten. You are currently leading an organization that aims to make a social impact. Taking on new adventures, staying active and keeping fit with family and friends like hiking the Appalachian trail or canoeing the Delaware river. I think that definitely sowed the seeds of my future. I did not watch much TV as I was too busy playing with my dad and little brother, working out, and exploring the world. I had lots of chores from a young age including walking the dogs, mowing the lawn, milking cows, and throwing hay bales around. My parents were athletes and champion ski racers and I was blessed to have a barn filled with workout equipment and everything a developing young man could want. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up? Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit.
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