 you can never get every single qualification, you know, like you can never be done. Like there's always something that you can be better at. There's always a new and emerging technology that we can integrate into the teams. There's always, you know, something that you can be better at. Welcome back to another Airman Vision video. Today we're interviewing Trent, who is special reconnaissance in the United States Air Force, and he's also a co-host of the podcast, One's Ready. Now here at Airman Vision, we don't just have this YouTube channel. We also have a website, airmanvision.com, with a ton of other Air Force information to help you prepare for joining the Air Force. We have a BMT fitness prep guide, a BMT prep guide and an Air Force prep course, plus tons more. So be sure to head over to our website and check that stuff out. But with that being said, let's go ahead and jump right into the interview. So Trent, what is the name of your job and its AFSC? The name of the job is Special Reconnaissance. The AFSC is one Zulu 4X1. The X is your level of training, you know, three, five, seven or whatever else. So that's what the X stands for. Why did you specifically join the Air Force? Now, why does everybody else join? But why did you join the Air Force? So this is, I don't want to go too far down story, storybook lane. I didn't have a lot of options left. I'd made some poor decisions in my life. College wasn't for me. I tried it out. I went to all of the great parties and skipped all the classes. It just wasn't my thing. And then, you know, I was living in like a duplex and not a good part of town. Selling cars and doing a couple other jobs. I had multiple jobs at a time, trying to do all these things. And at a certain point I was just like, hey, I'm going to join the military. My older brother had just joined the Air Force. And I was like, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to just join the Marine Corps, right? Because because I'm a I'm a hard dude to join the Marine Corps. You're going to be way cooler. Yeah. Yeah, my old man was in the Air Force too. So I was like, no, I'm going to check the Marines out. So I checked the Marines out and, you know, I was on my way to sign the paperwork with them. And I drove past the recruiting office where my brother had signed up for the Air Force and he was about to ship. So I called my brother and I'm like, hey, man, why'd you join the Air Force? He says, just go talk to them. You know, so I did. They didn't, you know, they weren't excited to see me. They didn't really want me to join the Air Force, which of course, precipitated my, my desire to join the Air Force. I think that story can relate with a lot of people where you're just like, I don't know what path my life is going down. And you're like, the military is kind of stable or so I've heard. So let's give that a shot. Cause I kind of felt the same way I was going to college. I was going to parties too. I wasn't drinking or partaking. I just showed up to the parties, skipped school. I wasn't doing so hot. And I was like, man, school just isn't for me. And so yeah, it's like, uh, I think there's a lot of people that are at that point in life where they're like, what am I doing? You know, you just kind of have a wake up call where you're like, what, like, where's this headed? Like three years from now, am I going to be in the same spot? I don't want to be here. Yeah. So yeah, definitely relatable. I didn't add the itch for a long time too. Cause I, I think I was new. I wanted to be in the military or do something kind of like what I fell into. But you know, I denied it and denied it and denied it. Like I'm going to, I'm going to go to college and make something to myself or do something like I'm a very prescribed path. And that's just not who I am. And once I came to terms with it, everything got a lot easier. So after you joined, you've been in for a little bit. So how long have you been in to this point? 20 years, 20 years. And like a less than a month ago, I hit my 20 year mark. So I made it is retirement in the future than your future. Yeah. A few months, a few months from now, I'll be having my retirement ceremony and be on my way out the door. Oh, congratulations. You, you did it. You're like one of the 17% that actually did the full 20. Yeah. So if you're thinking about joining the Air Force is about to get a lot better because I'm going to be gone. That's funny. So when you went and talked to the Air Force recruiter, right? You said, didn't really know what to do with my life. My brother had served or was about to my dad serve. So when you went to the recruiter, were you like, I want to be special reconnaissance or were you like, I want to be special operations or you're like, yo, I don't care what it is, just open general. Let's go. Well, like, what did your list look like? And how did you end up being special reconnaissance? So I actually joined to be a linguist. So I went in there, I took the ASVAB and then I took the D lab, uh, which is the language assessment or whatever. And they're like, Hey, you, you scored high enough on the D lab to be a linguist. Like, I wasn't like off the charts or anything. I'm not like super smart, but I did well enough that I was going to be a linguist. However, like I said, my, my, my life was dumps, dumpster fires. I wasn't making good decisions. And so when I, when I hit basic training, they were like, you can't, we can't give you a top secret clearance right out the gate. So we don't know you. You have paperwork and stuff in your history. Uh, you can't get a top secret clearance. So I wanted to be a linguist because it sounded cool. There was flying involved. I like, I didn't think I was a special operations guy. And honestly, I didn't know that these, uh, these jobs existed. Yeah, there was flying. There was survival school and all that other stuff that I was going to be an airborne, you know, crypto linguist. So after that got taken away and I ended up in weather, I got like the choice of five jobs and weather looked interesting. So I joined weather and then I was like, this is miserable. I hate my life. And you know what? Through basic training and at tech school, like I'm not the most physically fit person, but I was in that like top percentage. And I like working out a fair bit and I like challenges. So, you know, when the guys came with their funny hats on and they were like, Hey, you want to jump out of planes and do weather instead of just sitting behind a desk, you know, no offense to weather and all that. I was like, yes, count me in. What do I got to do? And they laid out the path and I started running down it. That's awesome. So you were actually, how long were you in weather then? I was at my first duty station about a year and a half close to two years actually. So you have to go through like airborne and sear. Well, this is a long time ago. So you had to change the name of your career field, right? Cause it wasn't initially special reconnaissance, right? So it was special operations weather. And then now like a few years ago, some folks of the Pentagon are like, Hey, we need these additional capabilities and just build out a new career field. And so the new career field is called special reconnaissance. Okay. So they took the, the previous career field and they just added a little bit to it and changed the name. Yeah. Well, so it was a brand new career field. So we used to be one whiskey zero X two. And we went from that to one Zulu four. So it's a brand new career field. We use the existing manpower and transferred them over because the way that special operations weather was going, we were moving in that direction anyway towards like the more reconnaissance heavy role. But there was a lot of stuff that happened in the background that it's probably very uninteresting. That led to the decision for us to, to switch over. So a few of us got together. We got the career field education and training plan. We cut a bunch of stuff out of it. We added a bunch of stuff and revamped the entire thing. So it's a little bit more than just, you know, sprinkling some reconnaissance on top and changing the name. So it was a, it was a pretty big change. And you mentioned earlier, you were miserable in weather, but I want to state, I have met several weather people. I was in ALS, my ALS instructor, my airman leadership school instructor for when I was putting on E5. He was weather. Absolutely loved his job. And then I had another kid in my ALS class, it was weather, loved his job. Like you were being like, oh, it wasn't for me. But obviously, like special operations, isn't for most people. And you've made that work. So it's like, maybe there's a bit of a difference there, too, is because for, you know, somebody that can fit into those normal jobs, you know, weather might be a good fit, but I think you wanted more of a challenge, probably, than what you were getting in weather. Yeah. And well, and it's just one of those things. Like I'm not, it's like the accidental elitism. Like when I say that weather wasn't for me, it doesn't mean I'm too good for it. But like sitting behind a desk and doing that stuff over and over and over again, it just wasn't going to keep me occupied for the long term. You know what I mean? I needed that. It didn't hit the spot. Yeah. Right. And so I don't think I'm better than, you know, regular weather folks. I don't think I'm better than anybody in the Air Force. I just have a different job that I vibe with, you know, like that that was calling me and that pulled me in. And then that's where I fit. It's not anything else. We're all just puzzle pieces and misfit toys. And this is where I landed and it worked out. Did you sign a four or six year contract? I know with Crypto Lake Wisp, I believe you have to sign six anyways because training is so long anyways that they don't want you in training for like three years. And then you just like dip out right away. I don't know if you have to, but I know it was highly encouraged. Just like with our jobs, I think six years is highly encouraged because of the amount of training. There was a bonus for linguists at the time, you know, back in 2003. And so I did sign the six year contract because it was a bigger bonus or whatever. Yeah, the bonuses I think are only for six year contracts. I don't even think they offer them for four. So maybe that's how they get you guys because they're like, hey, dangle that carrot in front of you, you know? And I think my older brother had done a six year contract as well. So I was just like, yeah, whatever, fine. I'll do six years. I've talked to Peaches and Aaron about combat control and para-rescue. And they kind of have similar pipelines for their training because you guys are special operations. You go all over the place and do all this stuff. So I'm not sure, because I don't really know anything about special reconnaissance. So like how long is your tech school? So combat control and special reconnaissance folks will go to the exact same places for training. All the training, you know, you go through your prep course, SWIC, and then your selection course, A&S, pre-dive, dive, airborne, free fall, and your SEER courses. And then the combat controllers, I'm the special reconnaissance guys, both go to, or folks, both go to Pope Armier Field for their PURNUS course, their three level awarding course. It's different when they get there though, because the combat controllers have to go through their air traffic control school, which is up there now. And my folks just go through their reconnaissance courses and then they all meet up, you know, and do a lot of the training together, all the shoot move, communicate, all the stuff that's crossover. And then at the end they do their big exercises together in the long walkout. So, and then they have the graduation ceremony, I'll get their braids at the same time. So it's pretty lined up. I think ours is probably a couple weeks shorter than combat control. We're looking at like a year, year and a half, depending on how your pipeline lays out. So logistically, it's a logistically challenging pipeline for everybody. There's just a lot of moving pieces. So that's the thing, it's like, you've got to hit your courses just perfectly to get through in about a year, I think, technically. But most folks spend a little bit longer than that in the pipeline. How was your tech school, your personal experience? Did you enjoy tech school? Was it a good time? Was it a bad time? Why was it something that you enjoyed or didn't enjoy? So when I came through, we had to be weather first, right? And weather school was like seven months long. They had just increased the length of the weather school when I got there. And so we were, and I was just, I was a regular Air Force, you know, tech school student. So probably just like your experiences, it's just you wake up, march to school, which is whatever the weather is as long as there's not lightning actually hitting students, you're marching to school, sit there all nine hours at a time and you're wet clothes and then you march on home. So the weekends are a lot of fun. Like it's just like everything else in the Air Force, right? And we were talking about this before we started recording, you know, when you're a brand new tech school student and you don't have a lot of liberty, it's not that much fun. Like you're out of basic training, so things are better, but like it's, it's just not that much fun. But with like a seven month test school, tired of tech school by the time you graduate, but you know, you live the life and like your weekends are free and you have a lot of liberty and all these other things. And so yeah, we had, there were shenanigans, just like anything else, like if it's hard, that's good. And then you blow off your steam and you have fun with your people that you've made, you know, friends with, that you're going to talk to for the rest of your life. And it can be a good time. And then you graduate and you're happy it's over. So then when it came to special operations training, how was that for you? Cause you went through a normal tech school, normal Air Force job, then later you cross-trained. It's complicated. Okay, so. Well, because weather is like kind of, it was kind of similar, I guess. So special operations weather was a special duty assignment within the weather career field. And so when I crossed over, it was a weird thing where you had to be a five level weather person and then you could cross over on the special operations side. And all you had to do to get to the special operations side, just to get there assigned there was airborne and your survival courses. So you didn't have to go through SWIC or like selection. You didn't have to go through any of that. Yeah, so we did a lot of our training in-house. So I got over to Fort Bragg and I was there about two weeks, went to a week long shooting school, did six weeks of training up at Fort Campbell. And they were like, hey, you're not gonna go anywhere until you go through the Hurlbur course, which our guys still go through after you graduate as a three level, you go to Florida for like six to 12 months of fall on training. So I was gonna get that before they're gonna do anything with me. But one of our guys got shot down range and they needed a replacement. So after I'd done a grand total of seven weeks of special operations training outside of airborne and sear, I got deployed. And then when I came back from my first deployment and had like some legit experience, then I did technically the end of the pipeline to be qualified to be doing the job. That's brutal. We've made a lot of progress. That's kind of crazy actually to think about. So what bases can special reconnaissance be stationed at? I'm assuming it's like most other special operations jobs where it's very limited to the locations that you guys are able to go to. Yeah, it's all the two series units. So we have the STS, the Special Tactical Squadron in Japan, one in England. And then we have two in North Carolina. One of them requires an additional assessment. And then Hurlbert, Cannon, and then up there in Washington State, at the McCord, I believe. There's not that many. And then there's the AOTC training bases, Pope, and then down here in Texas and a couple of other places. But those are pretty limited on the numbers. And the AOTC stuff is if you're an instructor? Yes. Okay. So that's if they move you, cause then that's like another special duty within the career field where you'll go and then you'll teach the next generation coming through. Right. I mean, it's just like the rest of the Air Force. You know, all the AFSCs teach themselves, take the manpower to do it. So that's what we do too. So I know this is probably going to be impossible to actually answer. Most questions don't have cookie cutter answers. So on average, you know, like when, cause right now you said you're in an instructor location, but like at your normal duty station, like how many hours you guys work in a week? What's that kind of look like? Well, so I'm a, I'm a Magcom functional. So like I oversee all of my career field stuff in AOTC. So I'm, I ride a desk, I'm up at headquarters, yada, yada. And so like the numbers of hours I week, like in the office, so to speak, some of its remote is like, it's like a 40 hour week. It's, it's pretty office-like. I do get a lot of phone calls, like put my, my cell phone on all my emails. And so like when we're talking about retraining and assignments and all that other stuff, like, you know, work life and personal life bleed over a fair bit. But my instructors on the AOTC side, depending on where they're at, they actually put in a lot of hours cause they're, they're wholly dedicated to making the next generation better. And you know, making sure we get the right people in the career field. And so while most of the time it's probably not crazy, like 50, 60 hour weeks are probably, you know, especially when they're surging with students and getting stuff done, probably not unheard of. And then on team, like if you're gonna, you'd have to do that average over like a two month period or like a year long period, right? Like cause you're gonna have days where like the rest of the Air Force doesn't have a day off, but like you just came off of, you know, 10, 15 days straight of, of just training. And then you're gonna get a day off and go back to work. And so like it's a lot of hours. It's gonna take a lot. So like, you know, like, but like it doesn't feel like work all the time when you're on team. So it's hard, like when do you stop working and when do you start working is not always clear cut. You know what I mean? Like, so it's, well, it takes a lot of dedication probably for what you guys, the training that you guys have to keep up with and the requirements that you guys have to stay current. And so, you know, like you guys probably, you go and stints it sounds like. And that's what it seems like with the other special operations too. You guys will go and use long stints. And then, you know, you guys will get a little break and then you go and you really power through some of those requirements that you guys have to keep up with. But it's just, it's just normal. You know, like when you're on team, at least when I was on team, like, yeah, you have a general understanding of how much you're working. And I put that in quotes, but like that's what everybody else is doing. And you're out there with your friends, your teammates and all these other things. And a lot of it's a lot of fun even though it's challenging and you know, you might not be eating enough or sleeping enough. And it might be, it might be difficult, but it's always a good time. Not maybe, okay. It's not always a good time but in hindsight, it's a good time. It's like the most fun you never want to have again, you know? Exactly. So it, well, it seems like you guys like, you guys, you know, it's quite the commitment to get to where you guys are anyways. So like everybody that's there, they didn't just stumble upon that path, right? Like it wasn't like a two month tech school where you just kind of like, you could sleep half the time and make it through barely. Like you're literally like, no, we had to be on top of it. And like we chose to be here. And so like once you guys get to that, when you guys are actually doing your actual training missions, you guys are all pretty committed at that point. So when you're with a bunch of guys that are motivated, you know, that really want to be out there, I think that just adds to the experience. So you might work a lot of hours, but it may not feel like it at times just because you're, you have the camaraderie in your guys' organization. Yeah. But like there's still complaining. I don't want to make it sound like we're all like gung-ho all the time. Like sometimes, you know, like the teams aren't walking and be like, Hey guys, there's what we're doing. Everybody ruck up or whatever it is and everybody's like, Oh my, everybody does it no matter what, you know, no matter how tired you are. So it's like one of those things where you, at the beginning you're like black. And then at the end you're like, yeah, we crushed that. Let's go. Yeah. And you're like, now that it's done, you're like, I'm proud of myself, you know? Yep. All right. So what do you do in your job? Explain what a typical day, week, month is like, you said like that, you got to kind of like take, take a segment, right? So in general, like when you're on team, that's at your normal stations, like not the instructors. So when you're at a normal duty station, saying somebody in their first 10 years, what is, we'll just go with like a year long cycle. Like what is in general kind of, what does that look like? Like what do you guys even do to work every day or every month in special reconnaissance? So everything is to get ready to deploy. So like unlike a lot of the Air Force, we're more like a lot of the Army jobs where for the most part, we don't have like a state side job. Like we're not allowed to do things state side. So you have like your downtime, like if you get home from a deployment, you're going to have like three to five months or whatever. I can forget the numbers, Aaron's a lot better at this than I am because he has it all memorized because he's still at an STS. But you're going to have your downtime where, you know, rest and recovery, take care of a lot of your Air Force stuff, like going through your ALS, your NCOAs, your professional development schools, all those kinds of things and getting all your paperwork done and all that other stuff. And then you're going to have like your train up cycle or you're getting ready to train up cycle where you start knocking out your shooting schools and all those other things. And then you're going to have like your, no kidding, get ready for deployment cycle. I think it's three different cycles before you deploy. And then, you know, then you're with your team, you guys are like full up train up, doing full mission profiles and all those other things coming together as a team and figuring out what you're going to do before you deploy and then you deploy. So like everything just like culminates in an appointment. So depending on what you're doing and where you're at, if you're on station, all the STS is like the good parts about the job, right? Like we have gyms, we have physical trainers, we have coaches and all those other things now. We have a lot of really good programs. So you're going to go in, you're going to work out, you know, you might get a briefing from the boss that day and then you're going to go to your team room, your team sergeant, your team leader, your supervisor, whatever is going to tell you what needs to happen, right? And a lot of that is, you know, doing paperwork, getting ready for the next TDY because a lot of it's TDY training. And then, you know, prepping your gear for the next TDY, cleaning your gear from the last TDY, like checking out the weapons, checking out the radios, talking to all the people in the shops, and you're going to start doing this at a very young age. Like as soon as you get on team, like you're going to be handed these responsibilities, showing all the people you need to talk to, emailing people outside of your organization. And just to get all the training right, get everybody ready, tracking everything the right way so that when everybody moves out the door to go on that deployment, everybody's greened up and ready to do their job. So, you know, it's a lot of prep, it's a lot of logistics, a lot of coordination, a lot of going TDY to do stuff. And so it's like just that constant cycle, you know, wash and repeat, sometimes literally where you're cleaning your stuff, you know, unpacking it from the trucks and from the trailers, get it all sorted, pack it back up for the next training event, and then head out there, you know? So then you got to do all the, you're jumping and you're, all the other stuff that you got to do, so. So you had mentioned like TDYs, so that would be like a temporary do this, like really short stints, where like you have deployments, which will be longer, but then TDYs are like short training stints. Cause Aaron and Peach has both had talked about in theirs with combat control and their rescue that they can't do all their training in one location cause sometimes they need to go into the mountains, sometimes they need to go to the ocean, sometimes they need to go to the desert, right? And so you can't, there's no place that has it all. And so there's a lot of times where they'll travel to go and do specific training, like if you guys need to be practicing stuff in the mountains or in the desert, you guys are going to go to those locations. So you're going to be there, so you're actually stationed in, you know, like North Carolina, did you say it was? Yeah. So you could be stationed there, but you guys are going to come to New Mexico to train out in the desert. And then you guys will go back like two weeks later. So that's where you were like, we got to pack all our stuff up. You guys got to take it all the way to New Mexico. Then you do your training, then you come back and then you're like, let's unpack it, clean it, put it all away, you get some time off. And then you're like, and back, let's pack up for the next trip to go somewhere unless you can do the training at home station. What are those training missions look like? So it's weird now that the career field has changed, right? So like my personal experiences are a little bit different than a lot of the other guys' experiences, but like, you know, a lot of the shooting schools were really good. Like everybody talks about Darcy, D-A-R-C. And it's one of those shooting schools where you go, you get shot up with Sim munitions, you get your butt kicked like the first three nights that you're running through the buildings and then you eventually your team figures it out and you have a good time. But like a unique one I was able to do was there's like a pavement course that you can go through. So like when I got to a two-series unit, because we used to be separate and we ended up together, don't worry anyway. I was like, hey, I need to be valuable on this like combat control centric team. So I need to be able to like do their job and do my job at the same time. I was like a tech sergeant moving into like the team sergeant role. And so I went to this course where you have to graduate from this course to drill into runways overseas, to do your assessments, to figure out how many times and what kind of planes can land on these runways, right? Like, so you do all your assessments and you can say like, hey, a C-130 can land and take off from this airfield 2,000 more times before this airfield is gonna fall apart. You know what I mean? So that course was super, super weird. You know, like there was this old Vietnam vet guy that was running it and like he didn't care. Like he was like the gatekeeper. If you did not, you know, meet his standards, you're gone. You're not gonna graduate. You're not gonna have the certificate. You're gonna have to go back and hang your head in shame. And it was one of the higher attrition like courses I've ever been through. But it was super interesting. And yeah, like so I got the cert. And so on my last rotation, I was like the team sergeant and I was the weather guy and I was also the pavement guy. And so when we were like bumping around all over the Middle East getting ready for the Syrian invasion and making sure like all the airfields and everything was good, you know, and also going to Iraq for some political stuff to make sure that airfields were good for some of the birds that were gonna give the Iraqis. You know, like that was my job. So it was actually really rewarding to like have like the weather stuff and also that but also be the team sergeant. So it was busy and was stressful but it was cool to have like an additional capability. And those are the types of things that you really get to do. So like my guys get to do like a sniper. You have to be a qualified sniper to be a seven level now. And so like those types of opportunities and like the electronic warfare and a lot of the other stuff that we're getting into there's a lot of different courses and places you can go and work with people. That's super unique, you know, like so like you can expand your skill set almost as much as you want to. And so like I had that problem when I was on team, I was never home, which really worked out for my marriage. My wife was never really happy about that. And then, because you're gone all the time and then you deploy, right? So like, but there's always another school, another skill set that you can get to and you know, and being TDY with the guys is always a good time. So I think the TDY has served two purposes. It's the training that you need, where you need it. But even if you can't get it home station, it's not always the best place to get it. You know, like you got to like take the team, move them somewhere else, no distractions. And then just all you do is train. Seems like there's more to special reconnaissance too than a lot of people would think. Cause like, even me, I'm like, well, what would like special reconnaissance do? And it almost was like, kind of seems like sear. But I was like, no, it seems like you guys are, like there's a lot that you guys do and you guys intermix. I think now too, a lot of the special operations sounds like they intermix a lot of things. You want to be able to cohesively work together. And so you guys kind of have to overlap a tiny bit. So there's no issues with that. Yeah, there's always going to be overlap, right? Between all the different career fields and the different SOF units and all that other stuff. But the way special reconnaissance works is there's, A, we work for the Air Force, right? So like we get a lot of questions, like, hey, why do we need reconnaissance guys? Why do we have range reconnaissance? Why do we have Marine reconnaissance? And then Marsock and then the SEALs and then the Green Berets and then us. You know, like there's a lot of different folks running around out there, but we work for the Air Force. And one of the reasons we developed this career field is there's phases of warfare. And in phase zero, you need to gather data and figure out weak points, strong points, all those other things, how you defeat certain systems, how you're going to create problems for your adversary, how you're going to solve the problems for your customer, right? Which for us is first and foremost, the Air Force. And so everybody's really worried about that near peer environment where we're going up against an adversary that is technologically at a similar level as the United States. And so they've worked out a lot of different things, the same things that we've worked out, like how to shoot down a plane with a system that's not plugged into the internet or into a computer system, right? You have your air gap systems, but everything has electromagnetic emissions. And so like that's how you gather a lot of data on that type of stuff and how you can do certain things with those systems, with different systems that we have to, you know, like cause a problem for them, bring a system down or whatever it is, or either go in there, create space, create an airhead that's safe enough to get other birds in there. So you can, you know, establish an airfield or whatever, bringing the Rangers and the combat controllers and all that other stuff to get it done. So that's what we do. So we have a lot of different skill sets that our folks acquire. And so we have like that sniper seven level skill set as the, it's a lot of team leader stuff and also being good on the glass, understanding your environment. And then if you have to like solve a problem kinetically from a distance, that's something that we really need to have in certain situations. I know this is gonna be another tough question here. So what certifications are trained, you receive through this job, they can be used to land a job on the outside. Because that's one of the big things I think with the new generation too is they're like, how can I use this experience to help me later on? Because I think a lot of people now are understanding more and more that, hey, there's gonna be a life after my military service. So I might do four, six, 10 years, whatever. So, or even 20 and you could get out, you know, in your 40s and be like, I'm gonna start a second career. How does, how does special reconnaissance kind of help you leapfrog into the civilian side? I know there might not be any specific certifications. Aaron and Peaches both had said that there was really nothing specific. Like, yeah, you can go and do like EMT if you're a peer rescue, but they said more so just the mindset of special operations really helps people with like pushing to get any job that they want or like them buckling down and be able to knock out their education or being able to start their own company. So for you, what's your mindset with special reconnaissance and how you guys transition into the civilian world? I think it's the same thing as the other guys. I wanna say like, if you read like Forbes and all those other magazines, the big companies more and more are looking for the right people instead of the right degrees. You know, degrees are becoming less and less valuable depending on the degree, obviously, but like what we're missing out in the greater marketplace are the people that can just get stuff done, the problem solvers, right? And that is a skill set that you might not think is a unique skill set, but to be able to think on your feet and solve a problem and find a way to solve the problem no matter what is the job. That's all of our jobs, you know? Well, we talk about day to day, but like what we plan for is like the worst possible scenario. And that's what we do. We try to see problems coming down, that the pipe, we try to solve those problems before they even get to us. And so those are the things and to be able to overcome the odds to deal with levels of discomfort that are unusual for most people, I think you learn a lot about yourself and the more you learn about yourself, the more you learn about other people. So I think that's why we have a lot of really strong like enlisted leadership from our career fields is because once you know you and you can look at your teammates and you start to understand that everybody's different, you're like, oh, I can maximize the talent on my team to accomplish any mission. And everybody's not the same and that's okay. But as a team, we're gonna be unstoppable and we're gonna make this happen. And so I think those are the kind of skill sets that are really gonna translate into doing really whatever it is that you wanna do. If you wanna go corporate, you wanna do whatever you wanna be an entrepreneur, like those are the things that really make our people successful on the outside. I think partnerships and collaborations are some of the best ways or easiest ways to be successful and you pretty much ingrain that like, I can't do my mission without everybody else working together. And so you having ingrained this idea that like teamwork literally makes the dream work, right? And so when you get out, you have a team mentality where you're like, I can one be a part of a team, because that's another big thing. Like you said, getting hired is like, companies wanna hire people that can work with a team, right? They wanna hire people that can take orders, that can listen, they can work with others in the group and get stuff done. And you get some employees that don't like listening or they don't work well with other people. You guys have a different mentality where you're like, no, like that's literally like first and foremost, like we rely on each other. Like that's like I, I think you guys are really bought into the team mindset. And so I think that possibly would be huge because people, employers want people that can work in teams. Because employers have learned that teams create the best results. Absolutely. And one of the unique things about the Air Force site is not only do we, so we train as teams and sometimes we deploy as teams, but oftentimes we're deploying as individuals to attach to other teams, like your green beret teams, your seal teams or whatever. And so our folks are really good at being, I think one of the commanders calls it like social chameleons because you're a guy and you ship out to a forward operating base and you drop in, there's 12 other dudes there. They don't know you, you don't know them, but you have a job to do. And you have to like rely on them to get the job done. They got to rely on you to do your job. And you have to get, you know, you have to become a part of that team as fast as you can to be successful. You can't wait months to blend in and fit. Like you got to find a way to fit in day one. And that everybody has like a different strategy. You know, like some guys are like big yolk dudes in the gym. So what are you going to do? You're going to go to the gym and start talking to everybody because you're really good at working out. You all got to get on the range to prove that you're competent and capable to go shoot with them and do all these other things. And so yeah, that's something unique about us. It's like you as an E4, we're going to throw you out with another team and just expect you to get your job done and ingratiate yourself to that team and, you know, be part of that team. And then we're going to pull you out of there, you know, and then you're going to go to another team. It's pretty wild. That's a huge life skill is being able to fit into any team that you're thrown into. Cause it just, it proves that you understand teamwork and how to like mesh cohesively with a group. I know we've talked multiple times where you said, Hey, this is a, you're pretty much training for deployment, right? Like everything we do is not, we don't have like an at home job or just preparing for deployments. So you guys have a cycle. What does that look like? What does that deployment tempo cycle look like? I think it's every 15 months or more now. Since we stood up the new two series unit, it takes a little bit longer to get deployed. And, you know, now that the global war on terror is over-ish, everybody's not going on every deployment. So it's a little more like pre-9-11, but like you're going to go do something. You're going to do a joint exercise or some of these other things that you're going to go deploy with. And so it's pretty regular right now. And obviously if there's contingencies, if things pop up all over the world, like deep, you know, people still get sucked out of their units to go deploy, you know, on short notice. And so like during GWAT, it was like once every, maybe that was once every 15 months. And now it's once every like 19 months, almost two years that your deployment, your actual deployment cycle is up from the time that you get home. So it's really not that bad. But, you know, once you're out there, it's you're expected to be going the whole time. And so if you look at like GWAT, like the Army infantry folks would do like 12 month rotations, which are crazy, 12 to 18 months at certain times during the war, where all your soft units are doing slightly shorter rotations. I think it started out at seven months for the Green Berets and ended up down closer to six or five months. And I think that's what we're doing most of the time is five month rotations. Cause you're not, you know, like some folks deployed and no hate to them, but they're working like five, six days a week and they get a day off. That's just not how we work. You're expected to go out there and push and push and push and push the whole time you're there. So it should be pretty exhausted by the time you get home. So basically like a year and a half, two years is kind of how often you can expect to deploy, but in between that's where it goes back to what is your typical, you know, work week look like. And that's where you're like, that whole year and a half is dedicated for getting ready for that deployment. Like you're just, here's all these things we got to be qualified on, trained on, understand, be able to jump into a team as soon as we get there. So you're still like constantly training just you're not fully putting that into motion actively until that deployment, but the whole time the year and a half you're preparing, you're getting ready and building those skills. So even though you're not on deployment all the time, it seems like you guys still say pretty active and super busy. Yes. And the best part about the job is you can never, you can never get every single qualification, you know, like you can never be done. Like there's always something that you can be better at. There's always a new and emerging technology that we can integrate into the teams. There's always, you know, something that you can be better at. So a lot of folks on team gravitate towards different things, right? Like you got the guys that want to be the super jump master and jump with weird things out of planes and all these other things. They're going to go to a bunch of those courses. And then you got, you know, nerds that like me that want to do other courses, things that are a little different. And so like you can never be done. So as long as you stay motivated and you just keep asking to go do more stuff or like you show the competence in a certain area, like you're going to be busy. And that's on top of like the core skill sets, right? What advice do you have for somebody who's interested in special reconnaissance specifically? Like if you were talking to, kind of like you guys already do on ones ready, right? You're talking to some 17, 18, 19 year olds, maybe a 25 year old. And they're like, hey, I saw something about special reconnaissance. I'm interested in that job. What is your advice for those people that are possibly picking that path to go down? First I would ask them, I would want to know if you're actually interested. You know, like there's interest and then there's people and most of the people that we find that are successful, they express it as more than an interest. They're like, I heard about this job or I heard about this community and I felt that I needed to do it. That I, you know, like I had an itch. I had something that, you know, like when I was in weather school, right? And these guys came and talked to us. Like I never questioned my decision after that day. You know, like when you hear something and you're like, that's me. Like I have to do that. That's what's gonna get you through. So like if you're just interested, it's like just do your research and start building capacity, you know? Your physical and mental capacity or whatever it is that you have to do. But like if you have that itch, if you have that calling, so to speak, I would say don't question it. Just get after it. And you might find that once you join the Air Force because you come in like open, you know, special warfare general off the street, you might find that once you get there, you actually vibe with like combat control more than you do with special reconnaissance. And I'm here to tell you like, I don't care what you do, as long as you end up doing something that you value and that makes you happy and makes you a better person and gives you a better life, that's the most important thing. So go with what you wanna do and don't listen to anybody else that hasn't been there for the most part. Obviously like people will give great advice, but like if people are naysaying or whatever, you know, it is what it is. It's like listening to a skinny guy at a gym. Like, why would you do that? So like what you're saying is basically when you know what you wanna do or say, you know, because you come into special operations, people are a better asset to the Air Force when they're where they want to be or where they know they should be versus just like them being like, well, I wanted to be special reconnaissance, but then as they're going through and they're understanding training, they're going through in doc everything, they're like, yo, like, you know, PJ or CCT is really calling me. Like if that's what, because you're probably gonna regret going down the wrong path at that point. If you're starting to see that and you're drifting a certain way, like one, you're a better asset to everybody around you because you're happy, you know where you're supposed to be, you're gonna thrive way more than it being in a path that you're just in just because. But on top of that, you're a better asset to the Air Force and your amount of money that the Air Force is putting into you guys, like you need to be where do you want to be? You don't wanna be stuck in a job for several years where you're like, man, I wish you would have done that. And so even the guys that come in and they think they wanna be PJs because I think being a PJ is the most known, right? Like when you think of special operations in the Air Force, it's like para rescue. Like that's just, you know, that's what crosses most people's mind. And so when you realize when you're going through that training, if it's like, hey, special reconnaissance is something like not many people know about. It's a semi newer compared to the other special operations. So then it's like, well, it's not as cool, right? You know, nobody knows about it, but it's like, but if that's what you feel called to, it doesn't matter if it's cool to other people, it just matters. Like you said, don't listen to other people. Like if people are gonna be naysayers, like you gotta focus on what you want because you're better off being where you want to be. Right? No, no, there's two things I wanna touch. Like the first thing is the PJ thing is I think one of the reasons we have so many people joining to be a PJ is it's easier to sell to like your parents, your teachers, your friends back. Right? Like I'm not joining. I'm gonna save people. Yeah, I'm not a sociopath. I'm gonna save people. Yeah. And once you get over here, it's like, we're like, man, it's like, you know, like you can save people by dropping bombs on other people. Like that's how this works. And they're like, oh, like, no one's here like judging me anymore. Like I can, it's fun to kick indoors and do things. That's a good time. And the other thing is doing things for the wrong reason. I remember I was an instructor a long time ago at Keesler and I would go to lunch with my students every once in a while and I'd sit down and talk to them. And I would tell them, like, especially in like my career field, the odds of anybody A, knowing what you do and B, having you like caring, right? Like no one knows what we do. Like, and generally the Air Force is the only people there's a small group of people that probably understand what we're doing and think it's cool. But it's like- You're the first special reconnaissance person I've ever talked to in my life. Right, right. But like if you're expecting it to be like a Navy SEAL where like people know and like it's gonna get you like all these like a tertiary benefits of whatever when you go to the bar and say that you're this or that or the other. I'm like, that's not what we do. Like if you don't have like, I did a good job and that's enough. If that's not who you are, then like this isn't for you. Like if you're looking for the accolades and the spotlight and all those other things like go somewhere else, go be SEALs write books, go be a SEAL or whatever. Like much love to the SEALs. I know that they take a lot of crap, but no one knows about us. And it's to me like that's awesome. But like to some people, I remember I went to lunch one day and I talked to these kids and like three of those kids quit like the next morning. They're like, yeah, this isn't for me. I was like, okay, bye. They needed extrinsic motivation. Right. And like it's more of an intrinsic motivator is what you need to have in order to keep pushing in your crew because you're not going to get a lot of that. Like people being like, oh, you know, I respect you so much for what you do. They're like, what do you do? Like why is that important? You know, are you, are you para rescue? Cause it's all, you know, like no, no. And they're like, I don't care. But like Peaches has done some wild stuff and you have to like drag those stories out of him. You know, like it's not like he's not writing a book and there's not a bunch of magazine or articles about him, but he is a highly prolific JTAC during GWAT doing what he did. And, you know, and he just is like, hey, I did a good job. People in my career field respect me, which is the only important thing. I have a good reputation. There it is. That's what he said. He said he likes to give Aaron crap cause he's like, everybody loves a hero. Like, you know, and it's like, cause he's like, you know, just PJs in general get way more recognition. Yeah. It's just like some of the other special operations career fields don't get that. And so yeah, if you're looking for that praise and that recognition and people to actually understand when you tell them that you're special operations to like care, you're probably not in the right career field if you're going special like reconnaissance at that point. Because people aren't going to know what you do. And people are just going to be like, sure. No, come over here to disappear. You know, and to the, a lot of people in the career feel like that's, that's what they were looking for. It's like, oh, I'm just going to go out there, do my job and it's going to be awesome. I'm going to get these experiences for me and for my teammates. What advice do you have for people who are just now starting this job? How can they have a successful career? So this is probably good for you because you said you were an instructor. So you used to go and talk with your, your troops, right? So those guys that are just, they just finished their pipeline. They're like to the people that have just got in, what's that experience and information that you want to give on to them for how they can set themselves up? I mean, it's hard because you just went through like a really long pipeline and you're feeling pretty good about yourself, you know? And you have to start over when you get to team. They're the new guy again. They're starting back at step zero. So be humble and then be patient. Like not everything is going to be like the movies right away. You got to wait for your opportunities. You got to work hard for your opportunities. Like nothing changed. Like all the lessons you learn in the pipeline, you don't get to like throw them away just because you're on team. You know, like keep working hard, keep moving forward. Your opportunities are going to present themselves and then jump on them when they do, you know? Be ready for the call. Be ready to go out on that TDY or that deployment or whatever it is that you're trying to get to and keep soaking up training because it's awesome. Cause like there's a weird place where we kind of all the career fields all kind of meet together. You know, like I'm not a PJ, but like all my guys are going to get a lot of medical training. You know, like I'm not a combat controller, but like I've done a lot of their type of training and like same goes for them. You know, there's controllers that are great reconnaissance guys and PJs that are great reconnaissance guys and all these other things. There is no limit to how far you can go in any of these career fields. So it's going to take a little bit of time, but don't doubt yourself, take the opportunities. And if you work hard, odds are you're going to get whatever it is that you were trying to get out of this crazy experience. What are your biggest things of advice for somebody joining the Air Force in general, right? So we're talking, you're talking to the future generation here, not just people that are trying to go special operations, but we're talking about anybody that wants to wear the US Air Force tape on their chest. What's your advice to those people? Take your name seriously. You know, it's a lot of the same stuff, like humility, patience, right? But like for me anyway, the first time that I put on a uniform and I had my last name on it, I was responsible for more than just myself, you know? And also I had US Air Force on it, which meant I was more, I was responsible for more than just myself and it's cheesy and it can, it sounds dramatic, right? That like, oh, like I'm responsible for all these other things, but take it seriously, like take those opportunities to, you know, make your name mean something, make the US Air Force name mean something, you know? And also like that patience thing, it's going to suck for a while. It's a weird thing that happens and I'm on my soapbox a little bit, but like before everybody joins the Air Force and you've seen these people, what do you do when you go to the recruiter after you sign up for the Air Force and you have a ship date? Like what does everybody do? We're all Air Force stuff and they're like super motivated, like- They tell everybody, right? I'm joining the Air Force, I'm gonna do this cool job, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, hey, it's not gonna seem like a cool job when you first get there. And like, so something happens in basic training where everybody goes from being this is something I'm doing to something that's happening to me. Like if you stay in the mindset of this is something that I am doing, I am happening to the process and the process is not happening to me and you never adopt that victim mentality. Like the amount of opportunity in the Air Force, the amount of goodness, the amount of change you can make, the amount of things that you can affect, it's almost unlimited. And it's a fascinating thing to be able to look back on and see it all. And obviously from like my standpoint, it's a little easier to see it all. But like, if you are joining and you're like, I'm security forces and they're like, you get there and everybody's like, security forces sucks. I'm like, does it? Does it suck? Because we have a lot of opportunity in security forces. You can be a dog handler, you can be catam. You can be one of the guys out of Moody. You can be a nuke cop. Like there's eight million things you can do if you're motivated and you don't get sucked into the crowd of naysayers and victims. Like just avoid all that crap and the Air Force, whether you do four years or 20 years, like it could be the greatest experience of your life if you let it be. I think too on top of that where you said it's gonna take patience, like not every job when you first start out is good. But I think one of the most rewarding aspects of any job is being able to move up to become a leader for the next generation, for the guys below you. And like once you become a leader, you start doing less and less of the actual job because you're mentoring, you're coaching, you're training younger guys, right? And I think that's when a job really, because a lot of people think like, oh, I'm joining this job to do this job. And like they think that's gonna be like the most satisfying part of that career. But I think a lot of people start to realize that's actually not the most satisfying thing. Yeah, that like they're gonna go through and you're gonna have a lot of good memories. But some of the best satisfaction that you have is like, you're like, I trained these guys that then I trained these 10 guys and they went out and they did all these achievements, right? And you're like, I have 10 guys that achieved 10 times more stuff than I did. Like that's way more rewarding, I think, than just like the stuff that you do. And so like you said, it's gonna suck sometimes because sometimes doing your day job isn't the most fun thing ever. But if you can have a good attitude about it and you can promote and move up and get in a position where you can mentor that next generation to have that same mindset, right? You can coach those guys to then be successful. And so years down the road, you're gonna look and say, I helped build these guys into the success stories that they are. And I think that maybe is like one of the more rewarding aspects is like, that's why I do what I do is like, I'm trying to help the younger generation. I think that's a big reason for you guys with ones ready is like, you guys are focused on the next generation. Like how can we prepare them? But that's not something that like when you typically come in as a brand new airman, right? You don't have much experience. It's kind of hard to coach somebody because you're literally the new guy, right? Like so you're gonna be the one taking out the trash. So yeah, I think that's great advice though. Like yeah, have patience and know that it's not always gonna be glamorous. Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with taking out the trash. I don't know why that seems like a bad thing. But also like you enjoy coaching, mentoring and all that other stuff. Just be yourself too. Like I know lots of guys that are great, like fantastic. They're good people. They're good on team guys. They're good at all those other things. Probably not gonna be the best instructors. And maybe not even like the best like E-8s or E-9s or if they commissioned or whatever. Like if that leadership roles, like they could be great E-8s and E-9s but like depending on what they're doing. But it's like some guys just wanna do the job. And that's also okay. Like not everybody has to be a leader, you know, quote unquote or whatever. Like trust yourself a little bit. It's whatever you have that itch for like you said, you know? Like you get that itch and you're like, go that path. Like if you don't have that itch to be a leader, then like don't try to force yourself into that role. Like really push yourself into where you're gonna be the best fit and where you feel the most comfortable. If you're where you're belonging, you're being a, you know, and this word is so overused but I'm gonna use it anyway for being authentic to like who you are and what you wanna do. And that's gonna change over time as well. But like if you're just being authentic, then you're gonna have a way better impact not only on your own life, but on the Air Force as a whole. I think that comes with being like, well authentic, just being honest with yourself and with the people around you, right? Like what your expectations are for yourself and you're setting the expectations for everyone around you too, where you're not trying to be something that you're not and you're not gonna, you know, try to fake that either. So I think that's a big thing. It's just to know, yeah, who you are. We're gonna go ahead and wrap this up. Where can people find you Trent? You guys obviously have ones ready. So what is ones ready and where can they find you and what do you guys do? So ones ready is a little project, you know that we threw together myself and Aaron and Jared or Peaches as we call them. So there's myself, special reconnaissance combat control and the power rescue guy on this podcast. And what we're doing is we're trying to fill the void of information that was out there about these career fields and some of the misnumbers and all these other things. So we have a podcast about it. It's tailored towards people that are interested or think they're interested in the Air Force Special Warfare stuff, also TACP. And then we'll talk about Sierra and EOD and all those other things and, you know, off topic subjects often as well. But there's a lot of content on there specifically for the Air Force Special Warfare folks. And then, yeah, you can find us Instagram, everything ones ready, right? Like the podcast is on all streaming platforms and audio and video on YouTube. And then ones ready, at ones ready on Instagram is probably the easiest way to find us. I appreciate you jumping on and sharing a little bit more about special reconnaissance because like you said, you guys are kind of in the background a lot of times. So there's not a whole lot of info out there about you guys. This should hopefully open some people's eyes to what you guys do. Yeah, it's hard too, because like I know what's happening out there to a certain extent. And I'll tell you, like my guys are making a difference. They're jobbing it. So that's about all I can say. But also, man, like thanks for having me on. I hope you can't cut this out of the, don't edit this out. I've been watching your videos for a long time. I saw you way back in the day and that you're doing great work. So don't ever let anybody tell you you're not doing great work. Thanks for the opportunity. Yeah, I appreciate it, Trent.