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From the battlefield to building a new life · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

0:11
It's the tip of the spare in the epic battle to defend the United States of America.
0:22
And the nefarious plots to undermine and destroy U.S.
0:27
National Security.
0:31
Welcome back, America.
0:33
This is your host of the National Security Hour, Fred Galvin.
0:38
And now it's time to get it on.
0:43
We have very special guests today, one that uh had served his country in the most arduous environments.
0:52
He joined the Marine Corps at a young age to be uh infantry rifleman, and then he transitioned to becoming a reconnaissance marine where he served several years overseas in Okinawa, Japan, where he focused his skills and trade craft, and then he actually uh transitioned to another force reconnaissance unit in Camp Pendleton, California, and then from there, the Marine Corps transitioned into uh activating the Marine Special Operations Command, where he served the remainder of his military career, and now he is uh a business owner and the chief executive officer for gunnies, and he does home repairs and floor, and we will get into that in the very final segment.
1:49
But it's uh it's a real honor to introduce Earl Wakanabo, who had uh served with me uh both over in Okinawa, although we are in different platoons, we had uh gone to a few different places in mainland Japan, as well as serving there in Okinawa, and then also uh we served in the same force reconnaissance platoon with first force reconnaissance company just prior to the activation of the Marine Special Operations Command.
2:20
He was uh a Marine in our platoon that we deployed in 2005 to Iraq, uh, which I would say in Iraq that was probably the the height of the insurgency and a very uh violent time that many of the al Qaeda organizations were doing everything they could to kill Americans, and we did everything we could to kill them, and we will get into some of these stories here in this edition of the National Security Hour.
2:51
So I want to uh let everybody know they that your requests as far as hearing uh from a special operator.
3:03
I've heard uh people ask me if they could um have additional guests, and this is a really really special guest, and we're actually doing this face-to-face recording here in Hawaii.
3:17
So without further ado, welcome to the show, Earl Wacanabo.
3:22
Well, thank you for it.
3:24
Uh that was uh really good introduction, thank you.
3:27
Um yeah, I uh you know, I've uh never military was never my avenue.
3:38
Um, yeah, I always wanted to be a professional baseball player.
3:41
Yes, I I went to college and played junior college baseball up in the Bay Area, and uh it was quite interesting because everybody on the team was already drafted, yes, and uh I just walked on, and uh it was a pretty exciting time for me, and uh you know, I uh I was young, I was alone, and uh I uh in high school I went to a boarding school in Riverside, California, and you know, I was I was there by myself, and it uh it was a really exhilarating experience, and so when I went up north, again, that was uh quite intense, and um it was a whole new level level of ball play, and it was uh my beginning of I guess a professional um understanding of baseball.
4:38
Um, you know, I I had some friends down south in Southern California, and uh after a year up there, I decided to go down south and uh play down there and uh a junior college um to try to get some more playing time.
4:57
Yes, you know, and uh what I found that was I was going to school working and trying to keep my grades up.
5:09
It was uh it was fairly fairly difficult for me.
5:14
Um I was living behind this uh Mexican restaurant and next to their trash can.
5:20
It was a little a little tiny apartment, and I constantly smell the food, and yes, I was I was starving all the time.
5:27
So I uh I made friends with uh the owner of the the Mexican restaurant, and yes, he would feed me every once in a while, and I was very grateful for that.
5:36
And uh I has I was dating my uh my wife at the time, and I uh was going biking to her work to pick her up, and uh I'd walk her home.
5:54
And as I was uh in route, I looked over to my left, and there was the Marine Recruiter right there, their little station, and I'm like, uh, what the heck?
6:07
I go in there, and I'm like, look, I uh really don't know what you guys are all about, but you know, I want to maybe change my career path, and um, I was like, you know what?
6:23
If if I don't do this now, you're never probably ever gonna see me again.
6:28
So he was like, come on in the bat.
6:31
We uh scheduled at AsVab.
6:33
We took the Asbab and two weeks later I was in uh Marine Corps Depot, San Diego.
6:37
Nice, and uh wow, what a change.
6:41
Boot camp was fairly difficult for me because uh I didn't like being told what to do.
6:46
Okay, yeah, so but you know the the types of men that I um found were all creatures, you know, all types of creatures, and um it was uh really exciting.
7:00
And um it was uh really exciting.
7:03
So he's let me uh ask you a further question about that.
7:03
So let me uh ask you a further question about that.
7:08
When you went to boot camp, Marine Corps boot camp at San Diego.
7:08
When you went to boot camp, Marine Corps boot camp at San Diego.
7:13
You said it was challenging and more mentally challenging, or if you're playing baseball in college or junior college, that's uh very physical.
7:13
You said it was challenging and more mentally challenging, or if you're playing baseball in college or junior college, that's uh very physical.
7:24
Was how was it physically for you?
7:24
Was how was it physically for you?
7:27
Physically, it wasn't challenging.
7:27
Physically, it wasn't challenging.
7:28
Okay.
7:28
Okay, um, it was.
7:29
Um it was is the mental aspect of it.
7:31
I see.
7:32
Um, it was really structured.
7:35
Um getting up really early in the morning, you know, almost like shock therapy.
7:40
Uh you know, and uh it was at first it was very confusing, but I got into a rhythm and uh almost like a battle rhythm.
7:49
Yes, and um I started to really enjoy the the the structure.
7:56
Um my drilling structures are very intense, and um just like any other drilling structures.
8:02
Um I had grown to really grew fond of the the brotherhood, yeah, you know, the the relationships I was uh developing.
8:13
And uh once I graduated that SOI was a whole new level, the school of infantry.
8:19
Okay, and you went in with contract to become a infantryman.
8:23
I didn't come to I really didn't know what it was all about, you know.
8:27
I was like, I just want to, you know, I just want to be the best, you know, just like everybody else, and I just wanted to carry a gun, you know.
8:35
And uh that was uh the school of infantry was really broadened that uh that aspect.
8:43
And uh what'd your girlfriend say at the time about going in the Marine Corps?
8:49
Well, she was uh pretty excited, she was shocked.
8:51
Uh it was really sudden, uh very haste, hastily um thought out, and uh, you know, she went with it.
9:01
Um she was very supportive.
9:03
Uh my family was very supportive.
9:05
Um, they were also shocked.
9:07
Um, you know, baseball was always my dream.
9:12
And um and this happened right before 9-11.
9:16
This is correct.
9:18
So there wasn't an imminent war on the horizon.
9:21
No, no, this is all peacetime.
9:23
I went in and May 28th, uh 1998.
9:27
Yeah, and uh so after school of infantry, um 20 uh 3rd battalion, 4th Marines had just moved from Margarita, Camp Pendleton to 29 Palms.
9:39
Um, when I arrived, I was I was quite nervous.
9:43
You always hear these horror stories that were just gonna get thrashed, you know, from the old timers, and you know, and uh when I showed up, nobody was there.
9:51
They were all uh doing a uh exercise in Bridgeport, California.
9:56
And uh when they returned, I was happily surprised that uh they treated me with a lot of respect.
10:06
Um we just started training right off the bat, and the squad leader and the element leaders were so supportive.
10:16
They they challenged me to take a sniper in dock because I I love the fire team rush, you know.
10:24
I'm up, they see me, I'm down, and I would just blaze past everybody in the baton, and I'm you know, number one, I'm like way ahead of everybody, and I'm like, uh oh, this is a live fire exercise.
10:34
I better hold up.
10:36
And uh they were just like, you're you don't belong here, you need to go somewhere else.
10:41
Yeah, so I took a five-day sniper in dock, which was another challenge.
10:46
Um, and I passed.
10:48
There was uh 154 guys that tried out seven made it.
10:53
Wow, yeah.
10:54
And uh we uh were split up into three teams, and we were called pigs, professionally instructed gunmen.
11:07
When you graduate sniper school, marine corps sniper school, you become a hog, hunter of gunmen.
11:13
And I I just love that.
11:14
I love the fact that you know, just the sound of that.
11:17
I was just so intrigued.
11:19
And I uh I did a lot of a lot of work.
11:23
I studied all the time, and what we call the sniper bible.
11:27
I memorize that thing verbatim, every definition, everything.
11:34
And I thrashed for them, you know, of course.
11:37
Um, I had note cards, I had this big cargo pocket of note cards that I carried with me everywhere.
11:43
If I'm standing in line in a chal hole, I'm just steadying, I'm just looking at these things, trying to memorize.
11:49
I just wanted I just wanted it so bad.
11:52
And just a little bit of the background for some of the listeners.
11:55
So when he says 29 Palms, California, I know people are listening all across the country, and some I know even around the world.
12:02
29 Palms is not uh a lavish uh resort area.
12:07
It's it's in complete isolation out in the middle of the Mojave Desert, very hot.
12:12
Wintertime actually gets very, very cold.
12:14
Um, but you can focus on your profession in solitude.
12:18
It's uh it is very uh removed from most modern society, and there's there's not much else to do there but to train and those marines very from the Marines and other Marine Corps bases around the Marine Corps because that's a area where we have these large force exercises, and there's they get a larger amount of ammo allocated to that infantry regiment that's out there.
12:47
So um they participate in a lot of these large force exercises with a greater uh cadence than other units do, and they generally uh my opinion having trained and seen Marines uh from around the Marine Corps, they were they're much more they had a higher level of skills than uh Marines from either Camp Pendleton, California, Hawaii, or in Camp Lejeune, just because they're in a desert environment and they have nothing else as far as distractions, and you see that as uh the case when you're yeah, absolutely.
13:25
Um the there was hyper focus.
13:28
It wasn't uncommon for the team leaders to come in in the middle of the night and tell us to get our ghillie suits on and go for a little run and go swimming in Lake Bandini.
13:35
Lake Bandini was a sewage plant there.
13:38
So yeah, it was uh it was quite uh exhilarating.
13:43
Um, you know, I would uh get off of work at 1600 after formation, and I'd go straight to the library where it was nice and quiet and just steady, yes, constantly steadying.
13:53
Yeah, um uh the movie theater was I think like three bucks at the time, and you know, I'd go there every once in a while just to relax, but I'd go back and uh you know, I'd I'd walk into my room and you know I'd have my uh pig partner, he's there and the front lining rest, and I would join them.
14:00
Once in a while just to relax, but I'd go back and uh you know, I'd I'd walk into my room and yeah, I'd have my uh pig partner, he's there in the front laning rest, and I would join him.
14:11
And we'd do this for hours.
14:11
And we'd do this for hours.
14:13
Uh it was uh it was front lining rest for many uh that haven't heard that before.
14:13
Uh it was uh it was front leaning rest for many uh that haven't heard that before.
14:18
It's basically like the the completion of the of the push-up position.
14:18
It's basically like the the completion of the of the push up position.
14:23
You're you're just standing there, not like a plank, but elbows fully extended, and you just sit there and
14:23
You're you're just standing there, not like a plank, but elbows fully extended, and you just sit there indefinitely until somebody tells you to recover.
14:32
But uh it's uh it gets you humbled pretty quickly.
14:36
Yes.
14:37
I I looked at the team leaders as gods, they were they were my idols.
14:41
I I loved them.
14:42
They had so much knowledge.
14:43
My team leader, his team leader was uh from the Vietnam era, and I loved the Vietnam era.
14:51
I was so intrigued with that, and uh much respect for uh uh Vietnam um era guys, and um we had deployed to uh Okinawa, Japan.
15:06
Yes, and as we were there, the the battalion was working up and getting ready prepped to go to Fuji um and do some training up there.
15:17
Also at that time in Camp Schwab, Okinawa, um the Fifth Force Recon indoct was kicking off.
15:24
So me and my pig partner was like, hey, let's just do this for some PT, you know, and uh so it was uh 18 hour nonstop exercise.
15:36
Uh I remember towards the end of uh the indock.
15:39
We uh had just finished burying our rubber boats or zodiacs, and we had to unbury them.
15:46
So we were digging these things out, and I got this enormous cramp in my in my thigh, and I just like I was just dying.
15:53
But these guys, they helped me, they pick me up, they're stretching me out, and they they they helped me walk uh in formation for this uh sugar cookie exercise.
16:05
And uh there it was, it was the end.
16:08
Um this was right after a 10k uh ruck run um timed, and um it was uh it was exhilarating.
16:17
It was, I think uh close to uh 200 guys from uh the battalion that went out from different different units throughout the the island, and there was uh let's see, there was six six of us that seven of us, also seven, yeah.
16:38
And uh that was really cool.
16:41
They asked us, hey, do you want to come TAD?
16:44
Um, while the rest of your battalion goes to Fuji, and I'm like, yes.
16:49
And that was the beginning.
16:51
So a couple things.
16:53
29 Palms, really high desert mountainous, some some mountain environment.
17:00
Now you're over in Okinawa, Japan, a tropical, much more humid.
17:04
Um and you're there for a six-month deployment, roughly, and so you're going from it can be cool in the winter, but very hot in the summertime.
17:13
And um we're gonna come up on a little commercial break here.
17:17
Don't go away, but I want to pick right back up.
17:19
Um, as far as the mindset that you had as a Marine Corps scout sniper, and now you're you've just passed the reconnaissance indoctr indoctrination and what that training uh was like for you there, because it's uh that's where my military career started as well, and that's where our paths first cross.
17:40
But don't go away, we'll be right back after this commercial break.
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20:03
Welcome back, America.
20:04
This is your host Fred Galvin.
20:06
We are here in the second segment talking to Earl Wakanabo, who is uh a Marine.
20:12
He retired uh with uh he served with myself over in Okinawa, uh Japan in a unit that uh has changed its name since then.
20:24
Uh it was Fifth Force Reconnaissance Company, and then we also served in the same platoon and uh first force reconnaissance company.
20:31
But as we were just finishing talking before the commercial break, he had uh been a scout sniper with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, it's infantry regiment, stationed 20 on Palms, California.
20:41
Now he had just passed the uh force reconnaissance indoctrination, one of the toughest tests in the Marine Corps.
20:49
Um basically nearly an entire day thrash fest, where you're if you can picture like a marathon where you're in camouflage utilities, and you're constantly in a state of either running, uh swimming, uh getting sandy on a beach and having that sand go all inside your camis on your body, and then just basically being like sandpaper, and then doing other what we call problem solving um exercises where you're just basically getting thrashed and you're you're working beyond your normal limitations, and that is what.
21:00
You're constantly in a state of either running, uh swimming, uh getting sandy on a beach and having that sand go all inside your camis on your body, and then just basically being like sandpaper, and then doing other what we call problem solving um exercises where you're just basically getting thrashed and you're you're working beyond your normal limitations, and that is what the reconnaissance non-commissioned officers are evaluating to see if this individual will ever have the mental um toughness to complete the most demanding task that we have in the Marine Corps, and if that person would ever quit, we want to find that out.
21:47
And you can have tests be six months long, as in many uh other courses and programs, but you can actually find this out in a day.
21:57
Um, and that's what we do to in order to begin the training.
22:03
Uh, that once you go through the whole length of training, it's it's um it can take depending on the school, somebody may have already completed it, couldn't take about a year.
22:12
But uh Earl, if you would just talk a little bit about where you just mentioned you completed the reconnaissance indoctrination and what was that like as far as going back to your unit and and did they give you any um resistance or friction in trying to say, hey, I want to go to Force Recon, or how was that like?
22:33
Yeah, there was a little because you know, I was uh me and my pig partner, I would say that we we were uh headed to sniper school.
22:42
We were not school trained snipers yet, and um they had set those quotas for us, and we chose to go recon.
22:51
So they were a little disappointed.
22:53
Um, but they were also um fairly proud of us.
22:59
Um when we went TAD, we jumped right into uh an amphibious package, amphibi package, and that was so cool.
23:11
Uh they taught me how to swim.
23:13
Um, they taught me boats, uh small engines, um, you know, hydrographic surveys, and one of our final missions was doing a live hydrographic survey um in the northern training area, and uh it was it was it was pretty cool because they actually were gonna use that uh hydro as um to throw on to a type of topical um map survey.
23:41
Yes, and um it was cool being a part of that.
23:46
The the guys in um the the recon they were very professional, so professional.
23:56
Um they took time to teach us.
23:58
Um there was you know, physical activity, you know, kind of like in the stay platoon, um, in the stay platoon of surveillance uh and target acquisition.
24:09
And so I just consumed it.
24:14
I consumed it.
24:15
We went through the ampit package and then we would did a cold water package up north in Iwakuni, Japan.
24:21
Um, we went into uh Sears School.
24:24
Um, they had an MTT uh go to the northern training area.
24:29
Um that was really exciting.
24:31
It's kind of like a GI Jane thing, you know.
24:34
And it was just it was it was it was unbelievable.
24:36
I couldn't you were doing all this while you were still in the infantry, yes, yes, TAD temporary.
24:42
Yeah, yeah, I couldn't believe where I was at in my life at that point.
24:45
Yes.
24:45
I was like, I was at the I thought I was at that pit, you know, too.
24:49
It was just the apex, yes, you know, and uh and then we went ahead and ended with a patrol patrolling package and uh uh patrolling in the northern training area in the jungle, that was a whole different ball game from desert, you know, desert territory uh terrain.
25:07
And these guys, they would just walk so smooth in the jungle, not making any noise.
25:13
We had cami paint on our faces, you know, you know, it was just like, yes, this is where I belong.
25:20
Right.
25:21
And uh, you know, sneaking up on an infantry battalion and just doing observations and reporting back to the battalion, what we're seeing.
25:29
It was like, oh my gosh, this is I can't believe people actually do this.
25:33
This is cool.
25:34
I I felt like those guys in Vietnam, man.
25:37
The train is very similar in that is mountainous, there's thick jungle canopy, and it's very those two things right there make it very challenging to get communication, which is the essential task of reconnaissance marines to not just to observe but to report and trying to communicate outside of a jungle canopy and in a very steep mountainous train is very difficult.
26:03
But then you also have to make sure you're not compromised, is you're a small team, you're surrounded by infantry companies, which are part of an infantry battalion, which if the you were compromised, they could just like the books we would read from the recon marines in Vietnam.
26:18
I mean, they were often up against you know, North Vietnamese army battalions, uh small six, eight-man team.
26:26
And so uh, but uh I would agree that the Marines that I had trained with in Third Reconnaissance Battalion and Fifth Force Reconnaissance Company, those two units were uh I believe the level of focus they had was at a different level because many things there was not a lot else to do.
26:48
There's no distractions.
26:50
Uh it wasn't like there's a big city outside.
26:53
Um people didn't have vehicles, so it was really your tradecraft.
26:58
And uh if you could explain a little bit uh about what led you to the decision of okay, you know, they've assigned you while you're deployed from 29 palms and you're doing this temporary additional duty.
27:12
What you know, you you realize, okay, now this is gonna be a very hard life.
27:17
It's gonna be a big change.
27:19
Yes.
27:20
And at least in 29 palms, you're in the United States of America, you can you can own a car at this stage in your rank, they wouldn't even let you own a car over there.
27:30
And you know, it was a big sacrifice to say, yes, not only do I want to be a recon marine, but I want to be stationed over in Okinawa, Japan as a recon marine.
27:38
What were thoughts going through your head?
27:40
Yeah, so you know, my peers.
27:42
Um, I I I asked them, you know, what they thought I should do.
27:48
I I I like to gain aspects on everything before I make a decision.
27:53
And my peers are like, you'd be an idiot not to go, you know, and my squad leader is like, dude, you know, what the heck?
28:00
The heck.
28:00
Yes.
28:00
Yes.
28:00
And and then the the team leader that I had in the state platoon, he was like, Come on, man.
28:01
And then the team leader that I had in the state platoon, he was like, Come on, man.
28:05
I never had that opportunity.
28:05
I never had that opportunity.
28:07
So I went for it.
28:07
So I went for it.
28:08
We we went back to the 29th palms, and a month later, I got orders to Okinawa.
28:08
We we went back to the 20th palms, and a month later, I got orders to Okinawa.
28:14
Wow.
28:14
Wow.
28:14
Yeah.
28:14
Yeah.
28:16
Quick.
28:16
Quick, very quick, quick turnaround.
28:17
Very quick.
28:17
Quick turnaround.
28:18
Now, this time you were married.
28:18
Now this time you were married.
28:20
Uh, I was going to get married in 2000.
28:21
I was going to get married in 2000.
28:23
Okay.
28:24
Yeah.
28:24
Yeah.
28:24
Yeah, March 2000.
28:24
March 2000.
28:26
I'm I got settled in Okinawa.
28:26
I'm I got settled in Okinawa.
28:29
Okay.
28:29
Okay.
28:30
And then I uh flew back, got married, and I flew back again to Oki.
28:35
It was a it was a quick and you I five and brought the wife at that time or later.
28:40
Yeah, she came later.
28:41
Okay.
28:41
Yeah.
28:42
Um we had uh she uh we were pregnant and uh we wanted to wait till after um ashton was born.
28:54
So um yeah, and so the whole time it was you know ball to the wall training, yeah, training, training, training, and mission planning.
29:01
That's another thing aspect is the the sniper platoon was very very detailed planning, very detailed, and um recon was also very detailed.
29:13
Um we we would write these mission orders, and we're talking 75 to 100 page mission orders, you know, very detailed to what we're gonna be doing and in seals, you know, after we get out of Hilo, we jump into the jungle and we get in a 360, we just stop, look, listen, and smell, yeah, right.
29:32
And how we're gonna do that, you know.
29:34
This guy's point man's gonna be facing in this direction, you know, the number six man's in this direction, you know, it was just very, very, very detailed.
29:43
And um, I love that aspect of it, and I use that in today's planning.
29:47
Yes, um, so um it it grew and grew and grew, and it was time the war kicked off in Iraq.
29:56
Um, I got orders to first force reconnaissance company and jumped right into a platoon workup.
30:03
Yes, so the war kicked off when you were recon rain in over in Okinawa, correct.
30:10
And uh just for listeners at that time the unit and third recon battalion in Okinawa, Japan was not at that time early on in the war, they were not a part of uh deploying to Iraq, they later did, and um, but now you transferred to first force reconnaissance company in Camp Pendleton, California, they're just north of San Diego.
30:36
And what were the thoughts going through your head when and what was the differences that you saw from Okinawa Japan when you were in a force recon platoon to first force recon company in in uh Camp Pendleton, California?
30:51
Yeah, my mindset completely changed, a whole different focus.
30:54
It was war.
30:55
So it's it's now we get to use all these tools that we have gained and uh uh push forward.
31:02
Um, so with my sniper background, um they sent me to sniper school.
31:09
So we went to uh we went to sniper school and I was in the the class that um failed everybody.
31:18
There wasn't one grunt or recon guy that passed, is the only one in history.
31:24
Wow, yeah.
31:25
Uh the battalion commanders were not too happy about that.
31:28
Uh so we did a we left, we went back to the the uh sniper school and left off where we had failed, and that was in stalking.
31:39
Yes, um, you know, the vegetation wasn't very great at that time, so um concealment was difficult.
31:45
Uh so we once we did that, we we pushed, we went over, and um, you know, we were in that C-130 and we were spiraling down into all of Camp All Assad, you know, and when we landed, and I was like, This is real, this is happening, you know.
32:03
And we get off the we get off the the bus and we're mortared.
32:08
Yes, and you see all these guys jumping into these these positions and everything, and we're just like, Yes, we made it.
32:17
Yeah, it was great, yeah.
32:19
I remember we were in this formation, you had us in formation, and uh these mortars were landing all around us, and you didn't pull us out.
32:30
We all stayed there at intention to do the whole entire thing.
32:33
It was great.
32:34
Uh I think that's um I'd like to have you talk about a few of these events because there's a number of Marines not just there that night, the very first night, but many um areas because we were very nomadic and uh in that deployment where we'd go from one place to the next, we didn't really have a specific area, just western Iraq, the largest area of Iraq and uh the area that Saddam Hussein couldn't even control, but many of the infantry battalions, and we were like a force recon platoon of uh four teams of eight men, roughly 35 guys total, but uh infantry battalions were giving us those debriefs that you can't go into Hadithah, you can't go into Al Qaim, they you'll just get killed, and these are uh areas that they were basically hunkered down at the Haditha Dam and the Al Qaim train station, but um to me that was normal.
33:34
Um, and I'm not trying to boast or anything, but like day one, I don't even remember that.
33:39
I just that's just how the mentality uh, you know, we're here to to kill an enemy, and that is you you will not show fear in the face of an enemy ever.
33:50
Um, but it takes to me not just training mentally and physically, but spiritually to have that kind of um just outlook on life and everything.
34:01
But uh, so were there what was it like for yourself uh as we're preparing for the first mission, and if you can describe any of these missions that uh you recall, yeah, you know, my first sniper mission was right outside Hakania, and we were looking inside the the city, and um I saw these guys uh coming out of this building with gunny sacks or uh with right sacks full of AKs and uh RPGs, and I I told my team leader DA White, I'm like, hey, we got some action over here, and I ranged it out to 6670 or 667 yards, and he's like, go for it.
34:44
And I went ahead and boom, got the guy, man, and shot him right through the back and right in the corner corner of this house, and this other guy peeked out the peeked out the door, and I took my second shot and I hit him in the arm.
34:59
Yes, and then I didn't see him after that.
35:00
And then I didn't see him after that.
35:02
Um, I could see the body being pulled away from around the corner, and that was it.
35:02
I could see the body being pulled away from around the corner, and that was it.
35:06
There was kind of like a wall system around the around the city.
35:06
There was kind of like a wall system around the around the city, and I shot him right through a doorway in that wall into the corner of the house.
35:10
And I shot him right through a doorway in that wall into the corner of the house.
35:15
Yes.
35:15
Yes, and um that was uh that was it was pretty intense.
35:15
And that was uh that was it was pretty intense.
35:20
Um later on that day, literally, we were probably about 50 meters from the road, and we're watching this road because ID and placers were.
35:20
Um and later on that day, literally, we were probably about 50 meters from the road, and we're watching this road because ID emplacers were just everywhere.
35:31
And no kidding.
35:32
This guy was on this little this little moped bike, and he had a 155 that had uh strapped to the back.
35:39
He got out.
35:39
Yeah, and uh yeah, my brother um Chris Antonik um took him down.
35:45
Yes, and uh it was so funny because I was like in slow motion, trying to try to get in the action too.
35:53
It was like you know, and then uh he uh some guys came out there, some more insurgents came over, and uh we just we piled them up.
36:05
Yeah, there wasn't a shortage.
36:07
No.
36:08
But that was that was immediately upon arriving in Iraq.
36:12
Yes, there's uh your baptism in fire combat.
36:15
So very first getting our heads dialed in.
36:19
And from there, it was if you can describe, and we're gonna go to commercial break here in a little bit.
36:23
But before then, if you can talk about how it was, you know, going and all these missions all over Western Iraq from and we really we had a little place where we staged our gear, but we were doing missions all over.
36:37
How is that as far as uh what you were trained to do in Okinawa, what we did in our pre-deployment workup before we left Iraq and what uh what uh that was like when you got on the ground.
36:51
Yeah, so you know, we trained constantly, we trained hard and rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals.
36:58
Um that's that was the key.
37:00
Um we we knew everything inside and out, and then when the pressure got hot, it was it was second nature.
37:07
Um it it just kicked in and um we rolled.
37:11
Um there was IED placers everywhere, doing all these sniper robs.
37:16
We're doing we had this deck of cards that we were you know, going after the biggest and baddest, and um we collect get these target patches, target packages made and go after the bad guy, and um, you know, and sometimes we made contact inside those homes, you know.
37:34
Um, and sometimes we didn't, but we did gain intelligence and uh move forward.
37:40
Yes, and right before we go, we uh did a lot of error interdictions going in on helicopters, going after bad guys, and then we used a great amount of error, uh, not just for inserting and extracting, but for uh using close air support to drop aviation ordnance.
38:00
But then we also um there was things that we were doing behind the scenes in leadership to to jam um communications, but this was something that later on we'll get to it right after the next break that you went to school to learn how to control aviation fires, which we'll get back to right after this next break, so don't go away.
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39:54
Welcome back, America.
39:55
This is your host, Fred Galvin.
39:56
We have Earl Wakanabo, uh recon marine and a raider.
40:01
And we were talking to him about his first combat deployment where we really did run up the score in Western Iraq in 2005.
40:10
And you came back from that deployment, and we were immediately uh reorganized.
40:17
Some guys went to some training, some schools, and you went back on another deployment.
40:21
And if you can talk about that deployment, um, as well as just some some of the highlights of that, and then some follow-on training where we'll get to that you went to uh school to control air strikes.
40:33
Yeah, so the second deployment was a lot like the first.
40:36
Um we utilized more air assets at this time.
40:39
Um we're taking inserting um on air platforms, and um it was uh just a lot of direct action.
40:48
Yes, um, taking houses down, um, and uh just looking for the bad guy.
40:54
And you know, after that, um coming off the plane, I remember it was just like looking at the civilians in you know back home in that bus coming back.
41:06
I was just like I was just almost in disbelief.
41:10
It seemed like nobody knew that we were over there.
41:12
Yes, and I just wanted to go right back.
41:15
I didn't even take leave.
41:17
Yes, I didn't even leave it.
41:18
I jumped right into the next platoon.
41:20
Yes, um, the working up.
41:23
And that was uh, you know, that was that's when um Marsak stood up.
41:30
Yes, you know.
41:31
If you could describe real quickly the the caliber of the Marines that you served with in the force recon platoon and inside your team, how that was yeah, top notch, top notch.
41:43
These guys are great professionals.
41:45
Um just a high standard of work level and play.
41:50
Um family-oriented guys, um, we loved our jobs, yeah, and we took it seriously.
41:56
We played hard also, you know, but um it was all it was all about you know getting the team prepped and going out again and looking after each other, and that's what it it boiled down to is looking after each other, you know, looking after the guys, and um so there was very little distraction, you would say, from the actual job at hand because it was so serious, and we we were blessed not to have anybody killed, but that was a reality because that's what we were inflicting on the enemy.
42:00
Um it was all it was all about you know getting the team prepped and going out again and looking after each other and that's what it it boiled down to is looking after each other, you know, looking after the guys, and um so there was very little distraction, you would say from the actual job at hand because it was so serious, and we we were blessed not to have anybody killed, but that was a reality because that's what we were inflicting on the enemy.
42:29
We knew.
42:29
We knew the consequences that our life could be required of us, but uh very uh just like the American Revolution, the good fortune divine providence that uh you know, God brought us all back from that.
42:47
But um, you know, then you were saying uh they stood up the Marine Special Operations Command, and you were part of that uh right from the start is that transition from first force recon to what later would become the Marines Special Operations Command, or specifically in your case, Marine First Marine Raider Battalion.
43:04
But how was that uh for yourself?
43:07
Uh that was pretty exciting.
43:09
Um, you know, all I really saw is it was the same group of guys, you know, and uh we just had more funding um and training opportunities.
43:20
Um I deployed uh with Marsak uh to Afghanistan, my third tour, and um Master Sergeant Crawford was uh my Patoon Sergeant and Major Seeley, uh top notch guys, top notch guys.
43:37
Um when we went over, um these guys are all alpha males, you know, and just meat eaters, and at that time it was like the wild wild west in Afghanistan.
43:50
Um we had very minimum air assets of support.
43:54
Um, and we just got on our Humvees and just went looking for the fight, went into the green zone in Kali Gaz, and we found it.
44:00
Yes, and it was it was it was intense, yes, very intense.
44:05
Um from that platoon, I see in guys today that are retiring, you know, they're just phenomenal men, yes, you know, phenomenal men.
44:18
And these are just those things that you have in the recon creed that you just want to emulate the guys that went before you, right?
44:26
You know, you just want to be better because you're just with good people, yes.
44:31
Um and that right there, if you can talk a little bit because I know experience and knowing people that we both served with, and then when we served together, just like an athlete, you're building off you know, the rest of the men in your team, you know, to perform and increase your own performance, but it can be addicting, it can be taxing on your mind, body, and spirit.
44:53
And how was that for yourself as far as was it easy to throttle back, or were you just constantly looking to surge forward, you know, mentally and physically?
45:03
Yeah, uh, for me, personally speaking, I just wanted to keep going.
45:07
Yeah, I was just I was in full throttle green go.
45:12
And um, I don't like saying this, but it was the truth.
45:17
It was work, then family, you know.
45:20
I I um my wife was so supportive, so supportive.
45:27
Yeah, it's uh that's fairly common that um you know, we used to call it before evolution of Marine Special Operations Command, even before combat, they'd call it first divorce recon.
45:40
Uh, but that's really not um that's not something that was inaccurate.
45:49
It was uh it really required everything.
45:51
But then you go into combat, and um some of the missions there can be it, it's so intense, uh, just like those of you who've ran marathons or sprint or uh played in a sport after you get done, there's this massive amount of hormones in your body, and you get all these endorphins rush, but uh you you do experience that in combat when you finish these missions that you've trained for for many months before you go over and you've uh rehearsed and planned out, and now you're carrying it through.
46:27
But when you're actually engaging in the enemy, that it's not just a one-sided battle where they don't have weapons that they can't fire back, they're shooting at you, and as you described it's intense.
46:36
If you would talk a little bit about uh many people have discussed how that can feel like an addiction, uh and it's so intense that you're you're craving that, like uh somebody that's starving for food.
46:49
How is that feeling for yourself?
46:51
Yeah, I did experience that.
46:54
Um I I just I always felt like I didn't do enough.
46:58
Yes, you know, and I I didn't um I did I didn't you know take down as many Taliban as I wanted to.
47:07
I was I I just wanted to do right.
47:11
And um I I used to live by this motto that uh moral evil is absolutely necessary to the production of moral excellence.
47:21
I don't believe that today, you know, evil's evil, yes, period.
47:25
Right.
47:26
And um, but that did get me through um a lot of challenges and just kind of go back a little bit.
47:34
I just want to say that the wives don't get enough credit.
47:36
Yes.
47:37
That that if my wife wasn't as sportive as she was, I would I probably would have had a little difficulty.
47:44
Yeah, you know, but you know running gunning in uh 2008.
47:50
We went into uh came back and then deployed again in 2010, and uh a lot of the same.
47:58
And then finally, my my fifth deployment I was with the commandos, uh seven the candy, and that's where I had gone to school when we got back.
48:10
I went to uh became a uh a JTAC joint tactical air controller as an operations chief and sniping at the same time.
48:18
Yes, so I would have all these batteries and radios on me, and then uh then I'd have my sniper rifle, you know, attached to the top, and uh it was uh three days on, three days off.
48:29
So we would find the the you know, the hornet's nest and land right in the middle.
48:34
A lot a lot of those things were hot LZs.
48:37
Um, and Ed get off, get off and immediately just call him for you know, calling uh cast and uh it was control after control after control.
48:48
Um and we would fight and then we'd leave.
48:51
You know, it was a disrupt, it was disruption operations.
48:54
Yes.
48:55
So uh we had dinner last night with a long term friend and he was my battalion commander, and uh he was the officer in charge down at UWTG Pack, uh, in what they call N8 training that uh was in charge of the school called tactical air control party school, or basically like an air strike school where all that's taught.
49:00
Long term friend of my battalion commander and uh he was the officer in charge down at UWTG Pack uh in what they call N8 training that uh was in charge of the school called tactical error control party school or basically like an air strike school where all that's taught.
49:19
And remember my first day as an instructor out of Marines Aviation Center of Excellence, and he came out, talked to our CO, asked my opinion on this urban uh target company.
49:19
And remember my first day as an instructor out of Marines Aviation Center of Excellence, and he came out, talked to our CO, asked my opinion on this urban uh target complex that we used to do close air support and air strikes at he'd said, What do you think, Freddie?
49:35
And I said, We need to have enlisted Marines be able to control aviation fires legally.
49:42
We need to have them go through this course, or there's not going to be enough pilots because at that time it was only pilots that could legally control aviation ordinance and and uh so that came to fruition.
49:53
People that we knew went to that course, and then you went to that course, and you were actually using that because you tell me if you had not had that aviation support and or if you were just entirely dependent on a marine pilot being there to do that.
50:09
Would that have even been possible to do without that training yourself or one pilot per uh company back then?
50:16
Would that have been possible?
50:18
Well, I I won't say it wasn't possible or was possible.
50:22
I would say that many people would have been hurt, yes, yeah.
50:25
Um there, I mean, every time we went out, it was a fire fight.
50:29
Yeah, it was a constant fire fight, it was a guarantee.
50:32
Yes, and it was right.
50:34
And uh without those air assets and without that capability, we wouldn't have been able to move forward.
50:41
Yes, you know.
50:43
Um those strategies that we used, I even use today, even.
50:48
I mean, it it's it was a great planning opportunity.
50:52
Um, and the things that we did over there, you know, I use today, you know, all the all the mission planning, um, you know, the logistics um are utilized, and without that capability, we would have definitely been hindered.
51:12
Yes, and so what you did was extremely important um for the for Marshock.
51:19
Yeah, and what you did was extremely important keeping those men alive.
51:23
And I want to talk in the remaining, we we could talk forever.
51:26
Um, and we have talked a lot uh over the last several days since you've been here, and that's something I want to call out in uh the last two topics in our remaining time is these took a toll on your life that took a toll on a lot of people's lives.
51:42
Uh, you've recently had the opportunity to come through a program.
51:46
Uh we started a charity called Hooks of Hope, uh, almost two years ago, and this was designed because there was many people that we had served with in the reconnaissance, force reconnaissance and marine raider community that unfortunately made a decision that uh had an eternal consequences, and they took their lives, and we were trying to do something to stop that.
52:08
And uh a lot of men come with a lot of different reasonings to come through.
52:13
Uh maybe it's to learn, maybe it's because they did need that lifeline uh a full spectrum.
52:20
But it's it is uh truly like it says, it's a hook of hope.
52:26
We're trying to make sure people understand and to strengthen them with education and a network of to improve their mind, their body, and their spirit.
52:38
And uh, we've had the chance here this past week uh to basically go through those steps different than a recon marine, but this is to restore and recover a uh an individual that some of these professionals we've learned uh one of them had described this as a uh a load that's cumulative.
53:00
You go along and you're just carrying this massive heavy pack.
53:03
And I want to talk about uh that real quick as well as I want to save some time for what you're doing professionally right now in your uh career as an entrepreneur.
53:14
But if you would talk about just some of the experiences you've had just recently with hooks of hope.
53:20
So um I had a friend uh in third recon battalion that uh went uh to hooks of hope, and he called me out of the blue and he told me about the program.
53:29
And I was I was astonished.
53:31
I was like, finally, there we were we're seeing solutions here.
53:35
And um, and then you know, I had a great conversation with him, uh, Josh Alexander, and um and then you called shortly later that night, and I that was the Holy Spirit right there.
53:50
I knew it.
53:51
Um after that fifth deployment, I was physically, mentally, emotionally just completely wiped out.
53:58
I had gone non-stop since um 2005 to 2011, just deploying, coming back, training, so that mindset was always on combat.
54:10
Yes, always on combat.
54:12
And I had a really short turnaround, and it was training, training, training, then back to deployment, training, training, training, back to deployment, and I felt that build up.
54:24
Um, you know, I asked for help because I couldn't sleep for you know 30 days.
54:28
I was having these intense nightmares when I was back at home.
54:31
Um, I I couldn't understand it.
54:34
And um I had to have you know, just uh, you know a couple of shots just to get out of the house because I was so hyper vigilant and and it was kind of the ease the nerves a little bit.
54:47
Yeah, um what was since we have limited time?
54:51
What would you think from what you've learned here in this past week that other people that are carrying that load could could benefit and gain from uh hooks of hope.
55:02
Yeah, so the VA, I go to the VA, they gave the Dallas me full of medications, um, counseling, counselor after counselor after counselor, and it just seemed like I kept running into roadblocks.
55:14
Um at Get Hopeful, and then you know, and had a couple few steps back, and then I gained some ground and a couple steps back.
55:21
What I found this week was uh some therapies I didn't even know that you know occurred, the red light therapy.
55:27
Yes, I mean, I when I came here, I had this intense you know pain in my hip.
55:32
Yes, you know, and I was explaining this to you, and it's gone at four days, yes, four days gone.
55:39
Yes, I have great movement in my leg, and I feel good, and now my brain feels like it it actually can focus a little bit better, you know.
55:49
And uh a lot of guys, we have all these we get banged up, yes, and uh there are some other uh some therapies that uh we had learned about and uh you were showing me and explaining to me that these are avenues that these approaches are not heard at the VA, right?
56:00
Uh we had learned about and uh you were showing me and explaining to me that these are avenues that these approaches are not heard at the VA.
56:11
Right.
56:11
And they need to be.
56:11
And they need to be.
56:12
Yes.
56:12
Yes.
56:13
I I I you I witnessed it.
56:13
I I I you I witnessed it.
56:15
Yes, you know.
56:15
Yes, you know, and some of the professionals that you learned from Dr.
56:16
And some of the professionals that you learned from Dr.
56:19
Chris Fried, Dr.
56:19
Chris Fried, Dr.
56:21
Brett Hockey, you know, they they have these this knowledge and they're trying to work with some of these recent initiatives that uh President Trump has.
56:21
Brett Hockey, you know, they they have these this knowledge and they're trying to work with some of these recent initiatives that uh President Trump has signed to allow veterans and specifically the VA to provide this level of care.
56:34
So uh hopefully these these get approved.
56:38
But thank you very much for tuning in to another National Security Hour.
56:41
And until next week, God bless you.
56:43
God bless the United States.
56:45
Thank you again for tuning in.