WEBVTT

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- The most important thing
that makes a team a team

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is the relationship and trust

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that they have with each other.

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So when you do events like
you're doing right now,

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and it's hard, challenging
events, that actually

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brings teams closer
together, increases trust,

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increases relationship, and
that means they're gonna be

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more operationally capable
on the battlefield.

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The most important thing
about taking extreme ownership

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is that when you do
that, you have a problem,

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you make a mistake, if
you don't take ownership

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of that problem, if you
don't take ownership

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of that mistake,

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what are you gonna do to fix it?

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The answer is nothing.

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So if something goes wrong on my team

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and I point my fingers and
blame it on other people,

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now no one's taking
ownership of the problem.

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And then the problem's
not gonna get solved.

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So the most important thing
about taking ownership

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is putting your ego in check

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because it hurts your ego

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to take ownership when
something goes wrong.

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Put your ego aside, take
ownership of the mistake,

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take ownership of the problem,

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get a solution for that problem,

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implement that solution, and move forward.

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Well, when I went to the Battle of Ramadi,

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I had been in the Navy for about 15 years

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and spent that whole
time in the SEAL teams.

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So

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I was, luckily, raised
in that environment.

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So I was raised by other
SEALs, people senior to me,

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senior NCOs, senior officers,
junior officers, junior NCOs

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that I was around that brought
me up in the environment

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that made me into who I am.

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I'm a product of my environment.

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My environment was the SEAL teams.

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My environment was the military.

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And so anything that I became,

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that's what I give all credit
to, the folks that raised me

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in the SEAL teams.

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So when we got to Ramadi,

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the units on the ground were
an incredibly hard fight.

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And we went in

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and tried to provide as
much support as we could

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to those units on the ground.

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One of the worst areas inside Ramadi

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was the eastern part of Ramadi,

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which is what General
Clark was in charge of

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with his battalion.

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And we augmented his
battalion with some SEALs

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and immediately we had an
incredible relationship.

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We had an incredible relationship

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because they had an open
mind to what we could bring

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to the table.

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There was no egos involved.

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We had an open mind into how
we could best support them.

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We knew that they had more
experience on that battlefield.

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We wanted to learn

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from what they had learned.

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We didn't wanna have to re-learn lessons

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that they had already bene through.

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So our minds were opened and
what we wanted to do as a team

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is win.

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We wanted to win.

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We weren't worried about
who was gonna get credit.

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We weren't worried about
who was gonna look good.

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What we wanted to do was defeat the enemy.

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There was a determined enemy there.

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We wanted to help defeat
them and when I say we,

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I'm talking about all of us.

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Every unit that was there
in the city of Ramadi,

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was all working together.

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It was one incredible team.

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And it was an honor for
us to play a small role

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in helping out in that situation.

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General Clark

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I saw him immediately

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in situations just even sitting

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in his tactical operation when
there's gun fights going on

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out in the city, he's maneuvering elements

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around the battlefield.

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His poise, his confidence,
his humility, I was impressed

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from the word go.

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And then I just tried to
give him all the support

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that we could with my SEALs.

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And, again, it was a hard fight.

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We all bled together.

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We all buried our friends

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and it's a brotherhood and a
bond that will never be broken.

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So what people want is to have influence

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over their own future, is to
have influence over their fate,

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have as much control over
their fate as they can.

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So when I want someone to take ownership

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of what's in the world, you
gotta give them ownership.

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You gotta let them get control.

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If I'm in charge of an operation,

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I'm gonna let my subordinates
do as much of the planning

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as I possibly can so they
have ownership of the plan.

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If I'm talkin' to one of my kids,

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I don't say, "Hey, you need
to do this, this and this."

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I say, "Hey, here's what
you're trying to achieve.

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"Why don't you figure
out how to get there,"

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and let them come up with a plan.

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Let them figure out how they wanna do it.

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'Cause when people have
ownership of the plans,

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then they execute those plans

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with more tenacity because
they truly believe in them

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'cause they made them up.

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So that's what I try and do.

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As much as I talk about taking ownership,

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a lot of taking ownership
is actually giving ownership

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and giving ownership
to the people below you

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in the chain of command

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so that they can take ownership.

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They can move forward with
the plan that they created

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and that's when they're gonna execute it

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with the highest level of success

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is when it's their plan.

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To me, this is a complete
honor for me to be here.

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Again, going back to my
relationship and admiration

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for your general,

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also for Colonel Womack who we worked with

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in Ramadi as well,

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it's an honor for me to be here

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to meet a bunch of heroes.

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As far as I'm concerned,
every time I meet a soldier,

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and I've met hundreds
and hundreds of soldiers

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since I've been here, every
time I shake one of their hands,

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I know I'm shaking the
hand of an American hero

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that's out there holding the line,

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protecting our great nation,

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and carrying on the proud
tradition of this unit,

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which is a very proud tradition.

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It

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puts me in a state of awe to
be walking through these halls

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and seeing the history behind the 25th ID.

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- [Interviewer] (mumbles)

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Yes,

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when you go forward

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as a service member of the
United States of America,

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you don't just represent your unit.

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You just don't represent yourself.

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You don't just represent your team.

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You represent the United
States of America.

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So conduct yourself with pride.

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Conduct yourself with professionalism

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in everything that you do.

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And carry forth the freedom
and the beacon of freedom

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that we provide to the world.