Maven’s Most Interesting Jobs – Insights from a Navy Seal

Rob DuBois is the founder of SEAL of Peace, a company which specializes in full-spectrum Red Team security assessments and he is the author of ‘Powerful Peace; A Navy SEAL’s Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime at War.‘

Rob took a few moments to help us learn a bit more about his journey to become a Navy Seal.

How did you decide the Navy Seals were right for you?

I asked the Army, Navy and Marine Corps one question: “Who has the toughest commandos?” It was a juvenile question, but it reflected my simple priority as a young man. Realizing today what I really wanted to know was, “Which special ops community will allow me to test and grow myself to the maximum extent possible and enable me to make the greatest contribution to the world?”

Once I got more information about the SEAL Teams and the full range of our work, I found historical examples of special operators to look up to, but there was no one individual I modeled myself on. I do not believe everyone should become a commando, because there are infinite ways to serve, but for me it was the Seals.

Any interesting stories you could share?

After 9/11, I was sent on a 6-week DEA mission to Tashkent to train Uzbek Spetznaz in counterterrorism methods.

New food and travel can wreck havoc on the body! The whole team was getting sick due to the food preparation. My iron stomach earned me the nickname “Goat”, and I was the only one from the team that enjoyed the local delicacies. The Uzbek colonel confronted me about the missing Seal Team (keep in mind that this guy was a real badass, part of the Soviet commandos who parachuted into Kabul and killed the president in 1979). He spoke only Russian and our conversation went like this:

Uzbek Colonel: “Your men are getting sick.”
Me: “Da.”
Uzbek Colonel: “Do you think it’s the cook? I can punish the cook.”
Me: [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Suddenly realizing what could happen] “What? Oh, no. Definitely not the cook.” [The cook was a harmless little local guy whom I had befriended for extra gruel…so I had to start scrambling in my limited Russian to describe the biological effects of things like salmonella and giardia!] “It’s, uh, it’s a problem of the water and the air, and, uh, our American constitutions just aren’t like those of strong Uzbek men! …Yeah, that’s it!”
Uzbek Colonel: “Good point.”
And the cook was never beaten.

Lastly, what advice would you give to someone looking to follow a similar career path?

I tell all young men who ask me about going after a SEAL career: Be willing to die to get it. It sounds melodramatic, but it is the easiest way to make it happen. The commitment to prevail has to be absolute, because it really is the hardest school in the U.S., if not the world. You have to “trust the process,” which has been perfected over fifty years of creating SEALs. I went into it saying, “They’re going to have to kill me to get me out of here.” And the rest is history.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]