 Life is about constant evolution. Always better today than we were yesterday. Welcome to the Only Easy Day was yesterday, the official Navy SEAL podcast. I'm Scott Williams, and today we are speaking with Captain Matthew Paradise, who is a former Navy SEAL now turned fighter pilot and carrier captain doing fantastic things after he left the team. Good morning, Captain. Hey, good morning. It's great to be here this morning. So, sir, I was noticing in your biography that you came into the Navy in 1985 and went to Buds. You graduated with Class 138, and then from there you went to SEAL Team 2. But before you went to SEAL Team 2, I wanted to talk a little bit about your Buds training experience. What was that like going through Buds training back in the 80s? It was, you know, I didn't, I'll be honest with you, I didn't know a whole heck of a lot about what it took to become a SEAL. Certainly, I knew a little bit about what to expect when I got to a SEAL Team, but it wasn't as highly publicized as it is today, certainly. And so, you know, I was, before I went to Buds, I was on a ship stationed here in San Diego in the USS Tripoli. And, you know, I felt strongly that I wanted to be a SEAL. And getting there was just a matter of, you know, getting in good shape and showing up and doing my best. Did you find that you made a lot of friends while you were going through training, or was it really just, I just need to survive every day and get to the finish line? Oh, no, it was all about teamwork. And I'll tell you this, you know, I really consider Buds as one of the formative periods in my life. And I learned how to be a good friend and how to be a good teammate in Buds. And I would say, you know, I probably didn't start off as a very good teammate, but I certainly learned how to do it. And I made friendships there that have lasted to this day. You know, a lot of people talk about the different personalities that come to light when you go through training, especially the really difficult training, like Hell Week, San Clemente Island, you know, diving. And they say that the guys who are gonna stick it out are the guys who find a way to keep working with their teammates and look past, you know, perceived weaknesses and just pull together as a team. What would you say is probably, from your perspective, the best advice for a young man who's getting ready to consider entering the seal or swick pipeline? Good question, let's see. So I think the first thing I would say is you're not gonna get through the training alone. They're gonna find your weaknesses and they're gonna exploit those weaknesses and you're gonna have to rely on your team members, both in training and when you become operational to band together and to get things done as a team. I would also say that you have to have a sense of perspective. The folks that I went through training with that got too caught up in the moment were the folks that would, you know, ring the bell. And if you can take a step back from whatever it is you're going through at the specific time and understand that it's something that you're going through and in a couple hours it's gonna be better and you're moving on to the next evolution and to not take everything so to heart. And in other words, you might not be doing very well at a specific evolution, but you rely on your teammates to help you get through and a couple hours later they might be leaning on your shoulder. And the other thing that I would say is you gotta kind of have a sense of humor if you don't have the ability to laugh at yourself at all the crazy stuff that you're going through then it's gonna be a lot harder. Now, we talk about that teamwork. We talk about bonding together. You went off to SEAL Team 2, that's on the East Coast and you made your first deployments over to Northern Europe as a mountain and Arctic warfare specialist. That's not something that is really common. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience? You bet. So I showed up at SEAL Team 2 and you know, back then you did the STT sort of locally on the individual coast and as I was going through STT and doing all of that training I heard about a platoon that was forming up and it was a mountain and Arctic warfare platoon. And so I talked to that platoon commander. I grew up in the Northwest. So lots of outdoor activities, climbing, hiking, hunting, fishing, a lot of time in the mountains. And so I really wanted to be in that platoon. I kind of knew a little bit about that. I really enjoyed it. And so when the platoon formed up I was put in that platoon and it was terrific. Yeah, that's quite an experience. I gotta say, cause most people think that the job kind of boils down to becoming a tough guy and then going out to the desert and shooting someone. But it's really got a lot more to do with that. It truly is a sea, air and land experience. And you got to experience some unusual environments. Absolutely. We did training in the mountains of New York in the mountains of Colorado, in the mountains of Washington state. We went up to Goose Bay Labrador to do a lot of pretty cold weather training. And then certainly once we deployed to Northern Europe lots of stuff, pretty far north, some of it above the Arctic Circle, lots of skiing, shooting. It was, it's pretty terrific platoon to be in. What would you say was the best part about team life? Well, you know, that's a tough question. There were so many great things about it. But I guess if I had to choose one it was the platoon itself. Just living and working with a bunch of like-minded, hard charging individuals, that you can literally rely on with your life. And sometimes did that platoon experience just created a bond. And, you know, you got done with every day and you know, I would go to bed thinking, you know, I really did something today. What would you say it was about your experience in the teams that made you want to get a commissioning and become a naval aviator? So, you know, what, as I mentioned before, I really look back at Buds as kind of a formative experience in my life. And, you know, prior to Buds, you know, I didn't do anything particularly well to be completely honest. You know, a little bit of time in school, a little bit of time at odd jobs. But going through Buds and getting into a platoon, it really demonstrated that with a lot of hard work, pretty much anything was possible. And it, Buds and then being in a platoon really expanded my horizon of what was possible. And, you know, by the time I was done with the deployment and I was really, it was like, you know, I could do anything I set my mind to. And so that led to an application for the enlisting commissioning program. I was fortunate enough to get accepted for that, went back to University of Washington up in Seattle. And unlike my first attempt there, it went much, much better because, you know, I had a lot more understanding of what it takes to get through something, much, much greater ability to knuckle down and do the hard work. And coming out of University of Washington, having the opportunity to go to the aviation pipeline, which is something I kind of always wanted to do, it seemed like a natural segue from the teams to move on to the next challenge. So what was it like to get into the cockpit for the first time and fly a tactical jet? It was, it was pretty special. You know, there's, you get to Pensacola and there's a lot of ground training and a lot of, you know, there's a lot of work to do before you climb into the F-18 for the first time. And I'll never forget my first flight in the front seat of an F-18, lightening after birders and heading out to the training range. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work and it was pretty special. And not to mention the cats and the traps, right? Absolutely, that's the, and you know, that's another big sort of milestone in an aviators career, a carrier aviators career at least. You know, when you go to the aircraft carrier for the first time, you're alone. There's no instructor in the back seat and you've obviously trained very, very hard for it, but that pinnacle event is yours and yours alone. And that was pretty special as well. I can just imagine, I would break out in a sweat when I saw that flight deck approaching, it looks like the size of a postage stamp and then think I'm gonna land on that. Yeah, it was pretty stressful for sure. But you know, again, it was, I can relate back to all the training that I did in the teams. You know, you work super hard and when you're, when you get into those extremely stressful situations and you're on STEM power, you know that you have the ability and the training to back up whatever it is you're about to do. And that gets you through those initial very nervous moments. And then somewhere along in my career, it became less stressful and more fun, at least during the daytime. I wouldn't ever say that my night traps were ever particularly fun. But yeah, you get, you do the training, you get through it for sure. Sounds like quite a career of adrenaline rushes. You know, there's a, I guess so. I mean, I certainly didn't plan it like that. But I sort of grabbed, you know, being a team guy that certainly there's a lot of adrenaline inducing activities there. And there are certainly times in the cockpit where that's the case too. But it's not something that I think I ever specifically planned for or charted out. It's just kind of the way it worked out. And then the next turn is that you're in the squadrons long enough and then you're leading them and all of a sudden, hey, you get selected for command and we need to send you to Nuke school. Tell me a little bit about that. So after, you know, essentially a career in naval aviation, culminating in the squadron, the, you know, the tour as a commanding officer of an F-18 squadron, I was selected for nuclear power and it's really like a whole nother career. And so I would, if I tell people I've had three or four careers in the Navy, really. And this was a very big pivot. So, you know, you get, you finish up with being the commanding officer in charge of an entire squadron, a bunch of F-18s. And then you find yourself in the classroom with a bunch of ensigns and JGs. And you're just grinding on equations and trying to learn everything there is to know about nuclear power and the reactors. And that's a pretty humbling experience. A lot of those guys were a lot smarter than I was and I found myself once again, falling back on the habits that I developed in the teams. And that was just a lot of hard work. Yeah, I'm sure that hard work really was required. I mean, you also have your degrees from University of Washington in electrical engineering and your master's in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins. Those aren't exactly lightweight schools. Well, yeah, so the University of Washington piece was, you know, when I grew up in, like I said, in Washington State, grew up in Tacoma, went to University of Washington the first time, right out of high school. And, you know, that was a failure, to be honest. I had a great time in college, but I didn't do a lot of study to be completely honest. And so when I went back to University of Washington the second time, much better prepared. I was very focused on making sure I got the most out of that time there. And then I just had an opportunity when I was stationed in Pax River up in Maryland to enroll in Johns Hopkins. And the systems engineering program seemed like a natural fit for me for what I was doing there in Pax River at the time. Now, it says in your bio that you reported as the CEO of USS Carl Vinson in June, 2018. And here we are a little over two years later. What's that last two years been like for you? It's been terrific. It's certainly, you know, probably the best tour that I've had. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the best men and women that I have ever met in my 34, 35 year career. It's a lot more like the teams than you would think. You know, lots of, you know, 20 different departments, all kind of their own entity, almost like their own little command. And they are manned and led by a lot of hard chargers. And, you know, there's a lot of complicated things that happen on an aircraft carrier. And it's all got to work together in synchronicity before you're able to launch and recover an aircraft. And it's just pretty awe inspiring to be associated with that whole effort. Yeah, I can imagine it. I mean, I've been on carriers before, twice, Carl Vinson and Nimitz. In fact, that was my first and last commands, a float in the Navy. And they really are floating cities. Everything has to work together. You get to know the folks in your department and your sort of your own neighborhood and the bustle above and below decks is just amazing. And visitors always are amazed when they come to the ships to find that, you know, sailors know their jobs and everything seems to work like clockwork. Absolutely. It's great. If you ever have an opportunity, it's tough these days. But if you ever have an opportunity to go check out an aircraft carrier, particularly one at sea launching and recovering aircraft, then I would absolutely jump on that opportunity. It's a pretty neat thing. Yeah, there's nothing like it. One more thing I wanted to ask you about, and it's kind of a focus of the seal and SWIT communities these days. And we're taking a hard look and kind of refocusing on the fundamental values of character. Yep. And you've had a broad experience now in and out of the teams. We know that technical proficiency is great, but how important is having the right kind of character? It's every bit, if not more important than your technical skills, right? The way I look at it is that it's that second axis of your skill set, right? The first axis is your skill as an operator or whatever it is you're doing, your body of knowledge and your experience. The other axis, which is equally, if not more important is the character, the trust that you have developed with your other teammates. And you can be the best operator in the world, but if people don't trust you, and really the trust comes from that character, right? Doing what you're saying you're gonna do, being reliable, being honest, being trustworthy, integrity, if you don't bring that to the game, then you're not gonna be an effective team member. And so it's critically important. That's well said. Hey, captain, I really appreciate you joining us today and providing some perspective on what it's like to begin in the teams and to take your vision and your skills moving forward, to have a career in the Navy that has spanned now over three decades. And continue your great service, sir. We really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you very much for the opportunity to talk today. And it was great talking to you. Thanks, sir. You bet. There's nowhere to hide in Hell with Jets. If you've been skating through blood so far, you will not do so any longer. You take your break. That's what we're looking for.