Send Me

Send Me is the interview podcast of SOCOM Athlete, a program that trains candidates for special operations selection, and it rarely strays from the question those candidates care about most: what does it take to get through? Host Jason Sweet puts that question to people who have answered it. Former Navy SEAL Chad Williams, author of SEAL of God, recalls a February Hell Week so brutal that, by his account, February Hell Weeks were dropped for almost ten years afterward. Of the 173 men who started his class, he says, 13 went straight through without being set back. He also teases the summer class before his for training in 75-degree water. Navy SEAL sniper Brady Duke, introduced as running for Congress in Florida's District 7, turns to the boat crew under strain. His advice is plain. When the crew is crumbling, someone has to speak up, pull the men together and refuse to let them turn on one another, even if the crew finishes last in every race. MGySgt Cory Paskvan makes the case for homework: the swim evolutions of the basic reconnaissance course are documented online, yet some candidates still show up having never tried to tread water or swim underwater. John Hamilton talks about finishing the pararescue pipeline in early 2012 and what it was like to arrive at a working special tactics squadron. The show gives time to the unglamorous side of preparation too. In a live interview and Q&A, SOCOM Athlete nutritionist, dietitian and pro bodybuilder Courtney Reeves is brought on to talk through protein, carbohydrates and fat, along with supplements, caffeine and pre-workouts. Another live session opens the floor to SOCOM Athlete students around the country, with Williams returning as the guest about a year after his first appearance. Faith is part of his story, and he is direct about it. He describes making one ambition the center of his life, reaching it, and finding that it could not carry that weight. The register is earnest and patriotic. Several episodes open with recorded audio: a spoken pledge about earning the SEAL Trident, the pararescue motto 'that others may live', and instructors shouting through Recon training. Several episodes also stop to celebrate former students, and one lists graduates who became Army Rangers, finished TACP and Navy EOD training, and passed the Air Force's assessment and selection course for pararescue, combat control and special reconnaissance. The closing minutes belong to SOCOM Athlete itself, with Hell Day training events, a Patreon, a request for reviews and a note that nearly all of the organization's work is volunteer. What a listener gets is firsthand testimony from people who passed these tests, steered by a host whose attention stays on the next candidate. Sweet signs off with the show's name and a clipped 'We are out.'