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- [00:00]
Jason Redmond
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Steve Gruber
Welcome back to Navy 250 Sea Power and Freedom. We want to thank our sponsor, Birch Gold Group, for standing with Rav.
- [00:22]
Host/Moderator
It is Sunday the 5th of October in the Riverlord 2025, a very special day. Navy 250, the commander in Chief is heading to Norfolk Naval Station to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States Navy, which took place by the continental Congress on the 13th of October, 1775. Yes, that would be correct. I don't know, eight or nine months before the Declaration of Independence, because guess what? The revolutionary generation understood. They were in a gunfight from Lexington Commons and Concord Bridge to the Battle of Bunker Hill. A couple of months later, they realized two things. We need an army, we need a Navy. And then shortly thereafter, they said, we need a Marine Corps. Right, like the Royal Marines to help man the ships of the United States Navy. First question, Steve grew. If you asked Jason what was his rank and talk to us about understanding, started as an enlistment and finished as an officer, how did that work?
- [01:17]
Jason Redmond
Jason, Steve wants to know how your progression in rank went, where you got into the Navy, how you ended up being an AV seal, how you ended up in the position you were in. Yeah, I started out right here in Virginia Beach. I went through a School at Damnac. I was a young enlisted kid. 1992, headed out to SEAL training on the West Coast. 1995, came back to the east coast, got my commission. I went to Old Dominion University as part of the Seaman Admiral program. Came back as a young seal officer after 911 had happened, and then started deploying straight into the war. And you went to this. You went to the school out in San Diego, went through the whole deal. That's right, yeah. Bud's training for all seals. Younger. There was a period of time we did SEAL training both coasts in the 60s and 70s. But after the 70s, anybody who goes through SEAL training happens out in San Diego. So there's the progression of how he got educated. Steve, I know you also wanted to ask about this. He wanted to ask about the fact that. Go ahead, Steve.
- [02:20]
Host/Moderator
Steve, hang on one second.
- [02:21]
Jason Redmond
We're just.
- [02:21]
Host/Moderator
Hold right there. We're going to go to. I think the President's landing. Let's go ahead and go. Let's jump. Just stop. Let's go. Steve Gruber, real quickly, how did. How do you end up fighting in Afghanistan?
- [02:42]
Jason Redmond
And real quickly, Steve Band wants to know how you end up fighting in Afghanistan. It's a long way from water. Well, for many, SEAL is an acronym that stands for sea, air and land. So we are trained to operate in any environment. Obviously, when the nation calls upon us. It's one of the SEALs job to find, fix and finish the enemy. The enemy was in Afghanistan and we found them and finished them. Find, fix and finish. That's right. And that's one of the great things. I'll speak about that. What a, what a historic moment. I wasn't on the bin Laden raid, but I had friends on that mission. What a culmination of the 911 generation to take out Osama bin Laden. And God bless you and thank you for standing watch for all of us and the work you did. Amen. My honor. It was an honor, Steve. No question. Seen by a man like this. All right. What a, what a day.
- [03:31]
Host/Moderator
Amen. One of our heroes, one of our patriots. Thank you so much. Lieutenant Jason Redmond. Let's go. Do we have now, is the President going to land? We're going to juggle a few things. Okay, let's bring it. Do we have Alex Degrasse? Get Alex De Grasse. By the way, Ambassador Monica Crowley is going to take the stage momentarily. We got the Navy SEALs that are going to make presentations. De Grasse, we're going. The President, the Commander in chief is going off the Virginia Capes today to participate in a naval gunfire exercise. And we're going to see multiple types of Navy warfare. Walk us through. Why. Why is it ironic that we're going to the Virginia Capes today given how important that is in the history and the freedom of our country? Sir.
- [04:14]
Steve Gruber
Thanks, Steve. Well, it's huge. I think the battles of the Cape or the battle of the Chesapeake is probably the most important turning point in the Revolutionary War. And it's something that's not really spoken or taught a lot about, which is kind of interesting. The key was that it was this a set piece naval battle between the French Admiral De Grasse that flew, that came up from Haiti in the West Indies, he had been coordinating with, with, you know, General Washington, who had been for three years, understanding. And I did want to rewind after we get through this top line and walk through that, hey, the key to victory is going to be a combined naval and army engagement depend the British. He understood that he had been pleading with the French after they aligned with us, said, hey, we need a, we need a decisive set piece battle. And we get. I'll, I'll explain through the campaigns in Virginia why it all led to this battle at Yorktown where Cornwallis was Holed up and then under siege by General Lafayette. The French general was also commanding a combined American army unit. But, you know, the French fleet really is what defeated the British that were coming down from New York and then prevented them from relieving Cornwallis either with reinforcements or having him be able to retreat. And so if I can see for a couple minutes, I think just kind of leading up into the Revolutionary War of like, Lane. Okay, that's. That's good. So we all know, important to remind everyone. April 19, 1775, the war starts when British troops went to seize the armaments. Right? So the first attempt, you know, when we think of the importance of the Second Amendment, that's the shot heard around the world, obviously. Then the colonists besieged Boston, where the British were held up. And once we took the cannons from Ticonderoga and we fortified Dorchester Hill, again you see the importance of the navy. The British were forced to flee Boston using their ships. Most went to Nova Scotia. Someone decked down in New York was obviously somewhat of a victory. And then again, the importance of the naval power this side. On the British side, they landed over 30,000 troops in New York and totally crushed us in Long island and in Manhattan, George Washington fleeing down in New Jersey. There were obviously some engagements, certainly the Christmas attack on Trenton, somewhat of a moral victory. And that was sort of gets us through 1776. In 1777, you've got the grand strategy the British had, which is they were trying to divide and conquer and cut off Steve, obviously, New England, which is where the heart of the Revolution and where they were producing a lot of arms and recruits, and then sort of the rest of the colony. So Howe was supposed to, I think, move up from. From New York. You had troops marching down from Montreal and Quebec, as well as troops moving from Erie to converge in Saratoga, thanks to the Patriots, both the oriskanies to bleed. The British army moving from the west. The New York army never made it up. And then the army was obviously soundly defeated at Saratoga, which is one of the most, at that point, historic battle that brings the French into play. Steve. Benjamin Franklin and Washington and all these folks in the Continental Congress were desperate, obviously, really, because they needed a navy, a real navy. Of course, we had the American navy, but we needed ship to the line. We needed to be able to stop the British free flow of troops along the coast. And that was really key. So at this point, after Saratoga, the French say, hey, I think they think we could win this. They get on board, they give money, they give troops, they give A navy. And that was huge. Okay? And so that gets us into 1778, okay? And also the Spanish got involved the Dutch later in 1780, and this really became a world war. So I think that's important for everyone to understand. The surrender of the Battle of Saratoga, I think was the largest city, single surrender of British troops or the first time on foreign soil in the empire that they had, you know, sort of imploded. So at this point, now they're getting kind of frustrated because there's kind of a stalemate in the North. So the British then call that they pivot to a Southern strategy, okay? Betting on loyalist support down in the Carolinas and Georgia and want to sort of cut off the Americans down there. Okay? They took Savannah, then they took Charleston in 1780, and I think that was the largest American defeat in the entire War. Over 5,000 captured. Cornwallis then takes command and crushed Horatio Gates. I mean, probably the second biggest defeat at Camden. Washington pulls him, puts in Nathaniel Greene. But most importantly for the MAGA down there, who love this part of the history, you've got all these partisans, all this guerrilla warfare, you know, Francis Marion, Thomas Sunter, eventually, the Over Mountain boys, which are the Appalachian guys, they march, I think, over 400 miles from Tennessee through the Blue Mountains and crush the Loyalists, I think, at Kings Mountain or Guilford Courthouse at the start of 1781. Okay. All of these guerrilla engagements sort of bled the British, who sort of abandoned their Carolina strategy at the time in the south and moved to Virginia. Okay, so a lot of specifics here, but all of this is kind of leading into the set piece battle. Okay, Where Lafayettes now the French are on the ground with about 5,000 men, Steve, and working. And I mean, there was Americans under the French command on the ground at this point. Washington's in the north. They're sort of shadowing New York. And the French have Rochambeau up there as well with a large army. And the British are mostly housed in New York. And they develop this strategy to say, hey, let's trap them in Chesapeake. And they're talking to Admiral Degrasse with these fast frigates, which is crazy to think about. He's in west indies with about 20 ships, okay, maybe a little more than 20, 25 ships. Okay. They sailed to the Chesapeake. The British maybe think he's going to go there. They send their fleet down. They don't see the French. They go back to New York. At this time, the Lafayette and, sorry, Rochambeau and George Washington are March, I think, 400 miles from New York down towards Yorktown, where Lafayette is starting to engage. Cornwallis. Admiral degrasse gets there first, goes in the Chesapeake, starts unloading, brings about 4,000 additional French troops, which is huge, three and a half thousand, I think from the Caribbean. And now they're engaged in this out of nowhere, Steve. They get surprised and the British Navy appears. They've got about. I wrote this down. I think they had 19 ships. So they had less. Yeah, there you go. 19 ships from the British. Out of nowhere, Degrasse sees this. He's got I think about 24. That's right, ships of the line. So these are big ships. This is like the first really set piece naval battle. And Degrasse panics and actually quickly loads the troops up and the sailors and they go out quickly. Some of the ships were not even fully manned and missing like 100, 200 people. And there was a good opportunity for Graves is the British commander, to engage and probably crush the French since they were not organized. They had the wind, as you know, I forget that that term and I send a picture to, to Cameron. But you've got the, you've got. This is like a historic, I mean like the old, you know, they got two converging lines, the British and the French fighting in like old style, lining up single line and the start of the lines engage fully and it gets to the middle. The British take more casualties. The fre take some casualties as well, but sort of sustain. And for the next couple days, they're sort of cat and mouse. At this time. An additional French fleet from Rhode island that had about nine ships were bringing siege cannons and entrenchment tools and other supplies from the French from Rhode island get there, they were already back in the bay. So at this point, the British realized, hey, now they've got over about 30 ships. They're outnumbering them almost 2 to 1. So they flee back to New York, French are able to land, bring more troops. Washington arrives, Lafayette, they fire them across the bay and they trap the British in Yorktown, forcing the surrender and forcing the entire war to end. Steve. So hopefully that wasn't too much or too fast for folks, but that's sort of a topic.
- [12:13]
Host/Moderator
Fabulous.
- [12:15]
Steve Gruber
I studied this immensely.
- [12:17]
Host/Moderator
Hang around.
- [12:18]
Steve Gruber
Yeah.
- [12:21]
Host/Moderator
Your directly related to one of the heroes, if not the hero, the Battle of the Virginia Capes. President Trump's going to be out there today in a naval gunfire exercise. Everything you have the great naval air, you have submarine forces, you have surface warfare. The true naval officers, I might add. Just kidding. Short break Back in the war in just a moment.
- [12:50]
Steve Gruber
We'll be right back with more Navy 250, sea power and freedom. We want to thank our sponsor Birch Gold Group for standing with Rav. We'll be right back with more Navy 250, sea power and freedom. We want to thank our sponsor AMAC for standing with Rav.
- [13:23]
Host/Moderator
Okay, there's a live shot right there. The commander Chief will be coming off Air Force One. He's landed in Norfolk. We're about to get rolling all the activities. I think Ambassador Monica Crowley, great friend of the show, will be giving an address, I think on the Truman here momentarily. A couple of Navy seals will also join her to give their real life experiences. Let's bring in another Navy seal, our own Erik Prince Eric. I asked, he had Lieutenant Jason Redmond, one of the real heroes of the Afghan war, was on a moment ago, a Navy seal. The question I asked him or had Steve Gruber ask, I want to ask you. We're going through naval history today, the Operations War of 1812, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, World War II, all of it. Question I got to ask you is why Afghanistan's a long way from the water, as is Iraq. Why were the Navy SEALs so prominent in the great war against terror in those two countries for so many years?
- [14:23]
Eric Prince
Sir, you know, the great thing about the SEAL teams, as our great president descends the stairway carefully, the great thing about the SEAL teams is they've always been adaptive. It started out of necessity when a bunch of Marines got killed in Tarawa in Beijio Atoll, and they started doing udts, underwater Demolition Teams. And then in Korea is when they really first started going ashore, blowing up bridges, blowing up key enemy objectives right off the beach. And then Vietnam really got them feet dry into the rice paddies, into the Mekong Delta, becoming indispensable, true special operators. And, you know, a great compliment to John F. Kennedy for creating an unconventional warfare capability between U.S. army Special Forces and U.S. navy SEAL teams to give the U.S. that kind of unconventional capability to fight unusual problems. The the SEAL teams have always since then maintained the ability to fight in snow, mountains, desert conditions, to be adaptive. And you know, the word SEAL comes from sea, air and land, meaning whatever means you've got to move through to get to your objective, they're going to figure out how to do it. And so it doesn't surprise me that they did so well so far from the sea in a landlocked country like Afghanistan because they're going to adapt to make it Happen now since then they've really done a focus on returning to water. A lot more diving, a lot more submarine operations, a lot more maritime operations. Back to that tradition of one foot on the inbound or the outbound is going to involve water.
- [16:15]
Host/Moderator
Eric, we have by the way, the President just got on the helicopter. So momentarily I think we're going to get things rolling. We're going to cut to the live broadcast on this. Like I said, the ambassador, Monica Crowley thinks we'll start things off with a Talk at about 12:20, 12:30, pretty much on schedule as it rolls. Eric, we have an amphibious ready group off the coast of Venezuela now with 4000 fleet Marines and sailors. And really in the amphibious area, what would be equivalent of a, of a Navy battle group or strike group around an aircraft carrier? Talk to us about that. The capabilities that has and I know you've been very involved in thinking through hemispheric defense, particularly the problems we have in Latin America. Is this really going to be against non state actors? Do you think we're revving up to actually go in take airports, ports and railroad nose in Valenzuela, sir?
- [17:13]
Eric Prince
Certainly they think they've taken four shots at drug boats which are obviously carrying fentanyl or other toxic chemicals on the way to poison America with there's a lot more network to be taken out through Mexico and of course coming by sea. I think the Trump administration is trying to send a message to Maduro that it is time for him to leave, making him very wary, very, very aware that they can provide very deep strike precision bombing into whatever bunker or cave complex he is hiding in, that it's time for him to leave. You know, 13, 14 months ago he flat out stole election that he lost by 40, 45 points and he's maintained himself in power as a true dictator. Now I think the Trump administration wants him to leave. I don't know if they're going to go full kinetic and actually strike targets in Venezuela. I think it's very important for the Maduro crowd to remember that nobody that was at the $25 million bounty level is still alive or didn't stay alive for long. And that now that he's at 50, I hope that the Trump administration instead of just saying up to 50 million leading to the arrest for information, leading to the arrest of XYZ, they just go old school and say $50 million dead or alive and then you'll see some tickets.
- [18:51]
Host/Moderator
Is 50 million, is that where it gets the attention that Erik Prince even gets? No, no strikes your Interest, Eric, they went to Capitol Hill the other day to basically brief, I guess around the War Powers act to say we're at a state of war. They told guys in cabaret we're to state a war with these non state actors as cartels from northern Mexico all the way down through Latin America. How important are naval assets going to be to kind of block? You've already seen them take out a couple of these boats. But also in the Pacific because the fentanyl ain't coming up from Venezuela. It's still the Chinese Communist Party. A second opium war against us with their partners in the cartels in northern Mexico. How lethal could Navy Seals and Navy assets be in actually going to kinetic? Because they told Capitol Hill we're going kinetic in a war against the cartels.
- [19:40]
Eric Prince
Sir, I think it's, they're right in saying we are at war with them. There is hundreds of thousands of Americans killed by fentanyl last year. That's far more than what we lost in World War II. We lost 250,000 in the European theater and 150,000 in the Pacific theater during World War II. You're losing almost that number every year just from fentanyl. So it is right to push back and it is right to go kinetic. That's the only, I mean a two by four between the eyes is all that they're going to understand. I know that there was the Mexican cartels reached out quietly looking to make a deal to back away, to allow themselves to preserve their life and their, I guess their existing fortune. I don't know where they stand in that negotiation. That's not my business. But the fact is.
- [20:36]
Host/Moderator
Hang on, hang on, hang on. We are, Hang on, hang on, hang on. We are breaking some news here because this is talk to about at least what you can talk about that about. The Mexican cartels kind of said when they saw the army down there and realized they could have Navy SEALs and direct interdiction and President Trump wasn't prepared to do it. Right. Doesn't care what the Mexican government's got to say about it. All of a sudden they're a lot more open to some sort of lay down their arms and stop this. Is that what I'm hearing?
- [21:06]
Eric Prince
Yes. Look, the fact is the cartels are have unbelievable brutality against any of their opponents or against any Mexican citizen or even a Mexican policeman that tries to stand up against them. But they've never felt JSOC level energy directed at them. And I think they realize just how many of them would get annihilated quickly, whether through precision strikes on the hacienda, precision strikes on any of the factory infrastructure they have, and you would stack a lot of sicarios if they decided to get in a fight with JSOC level expertise. Look that the, the fact is the cartels, they nibble around the edges with some expensive drones or some other expensive capability that they like to show off. It's largely parade, parade level efforts. If, if you decided to get very hard and kinetic against them, you would, not to say you wouldn't lose some friendlies, but you would, you would, you would definitely decimate the cartels. And I think they, they realize that Trump is serious enough, he's a serious enough person that he could deliver that kind of energy on their heads.
- [22:17]
Host/Moderator
Eric, clearly the Chinese Communist Party in the plaque which considers the Caribbean their lake, they're going to watch this intensely today. Give us just the idea of the kinds of things that you anticipate. We'll see during the live fire, the naval gunfire and missile and naval air exercise that the commander in chief is about to view from the bridge of the USS Bush.
- [22:42]
Eric Prince
Well, the super important thing to think about is how do you project power in the Pacific in an era where you have thousands of enemy Chinese missiles that are stacked and you have a lot of cheap precision that they can just throw quantities of stuff at our ships and there is, you know, rolling airframe missiles and SM2 missiles to shoot down incoming threats. Hey, Eric, the fact is we've got.
- [23:12]
Host/Moderator
We'Ve got, we've got the Navy SEAL. That's the Navy SEALs about to take the station. Redmond, let's go live this.
- [23:18]
Eric Prince
I will definitely yield to him.
- [23:22]
Jason Redmond
Welcome. It's truly an honor to be here for the Navy 250th, honoring the greatest naval force the world has ever seen. Now, you have to understand there's a lot of history packed into the last 250 years. But make no mistake, the history of the United States Navy from its beginning to today was built on a foundation of choice and sacrifice. We chose to raise our hands and swore an oath to the Constitution, a choice to sacrifice our freedom, our earning potential, and even worse case, our very lives. To fight against all enemies, foreign and domestic, who presented a threat against the sovereignty and people of the United States of America. So it was in the beginning, all the way to today. In order to understand the full context of what you are a part of, I think it is important to remember our history. So let's go back to the beginning in 1779, when John Paul Jones captured the Serapis off the coast of England to the Battle of Lake Erie, the Battle of Manila Bay, the Battle of Midway to the Battle of Leyte Gulf. From D Day to the Battle of the Philippine Sea, America's Navy has aided our allies, crushed our enemies enemies and stood resolute again and again. 226 years from the day the father of the American Navy engaged the might of the British Empire. On September 11, 1992 while still attending a small high school in Lumberton, North Carolina a young skinny runt joined the ranks of the world's greatest Navy. Despite his small size, he had big dreams. His name was Jason Redmond. I wanted to join the ranks of the U.S. navy SEALs. And like all of you here, I chose to sacrifice my future to serve our great nation. I would attend ISA school right here in Virginia Beach. And on December 15th, 1995 I achieved my dream. And Seaman Apprentice Redmond graduated from Navy Seal training Bud's Class 202. Stop making fun of me. All of you who weren't born fngs. I would go on to have an amazing career. Three deployments to South America. I would be shot at for the first time conducting counter drug operations in Colombia. We broke into NASA and I remember surfacing from a four hour dive through the mangrove swamps off Cape Canaveral only to find ourselves surrounded by alligators. I won't lie, I had to wash out my wetsuit after that one. I became a SEAL training instructor and made it to Petty Officer First Class before I was recommended to earn a commission. I would attend Old Dominion University ROTC right down the street here. I am sure, just like many of you sitting in this audience while at school 911 happened. I remember watching the towers fall. Standing next to my best friend and fellow SEAL Bobby Ramirez. We looked at each other and acknowledged we are going to war. Bobby and I would get our commissions together and over the next decade I would have the honor to serve alongside some of the legends of the 911 generation. I mourned as we lost so many teammates on June 28th, 2005 when our helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan and Marcus Luttrell would be the lone survivor. I was honored to have served as an Ops office officer for the Captain Phillips mission. I mourned once again at the loss of extortion 17 and served as one of the operations officers and planners for the memorial of our 22 teammates who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom on that fateful day. And like many of you, I watched with tremendous pride when a Fellow SEAL officer I had served with was on the ground in Pakistan on a highly classified mission and made the radio call back to the White House situation Room for God and country. Geronimo. Geronimo. Geronimo. Signaling the death of the most wanted man in the world, Osama Bin Laden. My most impactful mission occurred on September 13, 2007. Operating outside of Fallujah, Iraq in a small rural area known as Al Karma, we were tasked to go after the number one leader for Al Qaeda in the Western province. And moving to target, we walked into a very well executed ambush. In the ensuing 40 minute firefight, myself, Luke and Maddie would be severely wounded. Luke was shot by a machine gun below the knee, almost taking off his leg. Maddie would run forward under heavy machine gun fire, sustaining three machine gun rounds before still managing to drag himself and Luke to safety. During the firefight, I was hit twice in the arm with that, with that least six more rounds striking my helmet, shooting off one of my night vision goggles, hitting me multiple times in the body armor and striking my weapon. I was able to keep fighting and directing until another bullet struck me in the face, knocking me out. Caught in the open, while the firefight continued to rage over me, I was pinned down, patiently waiting for my teammates to win the fight and bring in the medevac. All while my life slowly drained out of me and my world faded to black. While unconscious, my team leader, Jay Aliasen, exposed himself to enemy machine gun fire to run forward and get me back to cover, put a tourniquet on my shattered arm and saved my life. He then proceeded to call in multiple extreme danger close fire missions by an Air Force AC130 gunship. Those missions would end up being the closest air support missions executed in the entire Iraq war. If it was not for my teammates, my team leaders, the 4th SOS gunship crew, and the amazing naval doctors, nurses and corpsmen, I would not be here today to tell this story. Since that fateful night, I've undergone almost 40 reconstructive surgeries. I've had six blood transfusions, a tracheotomy that I wore for seven months and two days. I've had 1500 stitches, 200 staples, five plates, one titanium orbital floor, 15 screws, eight pins, 20 skin grafts, three bone grafts, one Calvarian bone graft. I've had my jaw shattered, broken and rebroken three times. I have my jaw wired shut for over 12 weeks and I lost over 50 pounds. I have spent approximately 190 hours in surgery under anesthesia. Thankfully my Seal teammates continue to remind me that I should be super thankful because apparently all the plastic surgery is merely an improvement on how I used to look. While in the hospital, struggling with my devastating wounds, disfigurement, and the possibility that my SEAL career was over, I made a choice. I could continue to lay there and feel sorry for myself, or I could choose to set the example of so many other amazing warriors that had set before me. I would author a sign I would place on the hospital door on a bright orange piece of paper. Paper that would say, attention to all who enter here. If you're coming in this room with sorrow to feel sorry for my wounds, don't bother. The wounds I received, I got in a job that I love. Doing it for people. I love defending the freedom of a country I deeply love. I will overcome. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere. That sign took on a life of its own, going viral across the media and earning me an invitation. Invitation to the White House to meet President Bush. A lot of people want to make a big deal about it, but I know what it represents. It represents the spirit of the United States Navy and its warriors. It represents all of you. What will your sign on the door say? So we have come full circle. 250 years on this journey from the Revolutionary War to today. Amazing sailors who chose to sacrifice for the future of our great nation. Choice and sacrifice. This final message is to our current sailors. All of you are amazing Americans who chose to serve, willing to sacrifice everything so that our fellow Americans can have life, liberty and pursue happiness. And while we all pray for peace, those of us who have been to war pray the most. I also recognize we must prepare for war. I applaud the Secretary of War for his renew, his renewed focus on lethality and a mindset of war. All of you here are warriors. It is our job to be ready to take the fight to our nation's enemies. We must always be ready, mentally, physically and emotionally. We must be lethal because what is at stake is our very freedom. China, North Korea, Russia and so many others would love to deprive us of our freedoms and understand this freedom is a gift. It must be nurtured, preserved, protected, and in the darkest times, it must be fought for. All of you here are the front line of American freedom. You are the titans of the sea. So from John Paul Jones to the Bin Laden raid, the US Navy has been instrumental in fighting and leading America's wars. All of us here today, we stand on the shoulders of giants. And those giants willingly picked up the flame of American freedom and carried it with them all around the world. And unfortunately, some of them did not come home. The U.S. navy has laid many warriors upon the ultra of freedom. Over my military career, I lost too many friends, including my best friend, Commander Bobby Ramirez. All of them are now part of the eternal flame of American freedom. It is up to all of us to ensure that flame never burns out. For 250 years, the torch of American freedom has burned. It's been carried by sailors from all walks of life, all races, all colors. And it has been seen all around the world. Warriors have carried it with them crossing the beaches of Normandy, on Iwo Jima, Korea, and in the jungles of Vietnam. It has been held high in Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and across Western Africa. When a hero falls and their flame is extinguished, every American's torch back home burns just a little brighter. Every American citizen of the United States is entrusted with a small part of this flame. Most Americans feed their flame and ensure it burns brightly for all to see. Other Americans, they take their freedom for granted, attacking the very ideals that built our nation. And they allow their flames to burn out. Thankfully, there are those of us who wear the uniform, who are entrusted with an oath and presented at the start of our naval careers with a part of the flame to keep the torch of American freedom always burning. Seventeen years ago, I lay on the battlefield in Iraq, pouring my blood into the soil. I looked up and I saw that dark angel standing over me. And he said it was time to go. And I thought he was right. But then I realized I wasn't finished. I had a torch of American freedom to preserve and forever keep burning. So I got up, I walked 75 yards to that medevac helicopter, and I came home. And I vowed once again that I would never allow that flame to burn out while I still hold breath. Today, I pass my torch of freedom onto all of you. You are the future of the United States Navy. Our nation needs you to train hard. We need you to be lethal. We need you to be ready. The Secretary of War has called upon you. My only question is, will you carry this flame of freedom forward as the foundation for the next 250 years? God bless the United States Navy. God bless the United States of America. And go Navy beat Army.
- [35:12]
Eric Prince
Eric Prince.
- [35:15]
Host/Moderator
Jason, let's keep it on. That shot right there, Jason. Jason Redmond. By the way, we have another Navy seal, Jason Redmond. Tell me about him.
- [35:23]
Eric Prince
Just an inspiring story. A guy that took that many hits and to keep that kind of attitude and positive to. To grind away and to will himself back to health. It's just. It's really humbling. And it's one of the reasons I told my kids or any young people that if you. If you're going to join the military, join the most elite part you can, you can qualify for because you'll be really happy with the people you work with. And he exonified.
- [35:53]
Host/Moderator
Navy Navy seal. Let's go right to the podium.
- [35:57]
Navy SEAL Speaker
I can't express how moved and inspired I am for being a part of this 250th celebration of our Navy. I would first like to say thank you to the crew of these ships and sailors for hosting this event. We understand the effort and manpower to make this happen. And thank you for carrying the torch, protecting our families and this great nation. While I was reflecting on this momentous occasion and milestone for our country, I look for a voice or a message to turn to our Secretary of War. And my Navy SEAL ethos came to mind. We are gathered here today in a time that demands strength. Not the kind of strength measured in numbers or equipment or technology, but the strength measured in spirit. The strength of men and women who have sworn an oath to defend our nation. The strength of those who understand that freedom is not a gift. It is earned. It is guarded, and if necessary, paid for with sacrifice. The Secretary of War recently reminded us of a truth we sometimes forget. America does not stand tall because of its weapons. America stands tall because of its warriors. Weapons, rust. Technology changes, but the human heart, sharpened by discipline, courage and resilience that endures, that is what keeps this republic Alive. As Navy SEALs, we don't just know this truth, we live it. The SEAL ethos is not simply words etched on a wall. It's written in sacrifice. It is carried on the shoulders of every man and woman who has ever worn this uniform. It says, my loyalty to country and team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans, always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. That is more than a creed. That is a covenant, a binding promise to each other, to the mission, and to the people of this nation. And it has lived not just on the battlefield, but in the quiet places when no one is watching. In the early hours of training, the late nights of preparation, in the relentless pursuit of excellence, that is where the ethos is forged. The Secretary recent words echo this same. Readiness is not a posture. Readiness is a way of life. And he's right. Readiness is not something we turn on and off. Readiness is not a box to check. Readiness is who we are every day, in every. Every choice we make. It is built in sweat, in sacrifice, and in repetition. It is built when your lungs burn, your body aches, and every part of you screams to quit, but you refuse. It is built when you choose discipline over comfort, when you choose to serve others before yourself, when you choose the harder path because it's the right one. Too often, we think of the fight as something out there, across oceans, in deserts, or mountains. But the truth is, the fight is within. Every morning, when our feet hit the ground, we face a choice. Do we rise to the standard of warriors, or do we fall short? Do we embody the values we swore to uphold? Or do we let fear, complacency, or doubt take root? The seal ethos reminds us, I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. That means the battle is not about glory. It's about grit. It's about facing ourselves, our weakness, our excuses, and refusing to let them win. And here's the thing. Not one of us does this alone. We stand because of our brothers and sisters to our left and to our right. We endure because someone else is counting on us. We push through because we know if we falter, someone else bears the cost. That's why the ethos says, I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. Because in the end, this is not just about individual strength. This is about unity, about knowing that the man or woman beside you will not quit, will not surrender, and will not let you down. And in that bond, in that unbreakable trust, we find the strength to overcome any obstacle. Our Secretary of War is not trying to make our time in the military harder. He's trying to ingrain in each and every service member that discipline in both physical and mental readiness is a lifelong lesson. I believe he is not only ensuring that our military is fierce, lethal, and ready today, he is looking toward the future to ensure that we all become leaders in our own communities as veterans. There is a simple truth that when you hang up that uniform, you become a veteran. Only those who have never raised their right hand and taken this oath of service can be called civilians. I believe our Secretary of War wants us to take the lessons learned during our service and become examples for generations to follow, to become the compass for our youth. Examples to aspire to. I can tell you from experience, it is not an easy task finding purpose after the military. It took me decades to navigate emotions, frustrations, and the constant desire to serve again. Ultimately, I found what I call service after service. I realized that serving others and making my fellow veterans my focus helped me feel whole. It gave me purpose, direction and a sense of camaraderie. I now run a Naval Special Warfare Museum in New York Named after Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan. And the movie depicted was Lone Survivor. Every day I must rise to the level of a Navy SEAL because people are expecting it, and they should. Even though I am medically retired, I cannot be an out of shape seal. How can I recite to our visitors that my nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies if I don't look that way? How can we expect our future generations to rise to the occasion or hear the calling if we ourselves do not? I must be that image of excellence in front of our school field trips or any visitor who was expecting to see the tip of the spear. I lean on discipline, learn from years of service, knowing that I still have service to do. I still have to be an example for my own children, my neighbors, my community and my nation. You see, our service never stops. It evolves. In today's world, resilience is everything. The challenges we face are not short term. They are enduring. The missions are longer, the threats are more complex and the demands on our force and our families is heavier. Yet the expectations remain unchanged that we will not falter, we will not retreat, and we will never quit. As the ethos concludes, the loyalty to my teammates and the mission is sacred. I will not quit. I will not fail. That is the warrior's promise, not only to those who wear the uniform, but to every American who looks to us for strength, for safety and for hope. So as we stand together today, let us reaffirm what is expected of us to embody honor, courage, loyalty and resilience. Let us remember that every action and decision we make reflects not only on ourselves, but on the generations of warriors who came before us and those who will follow after. We are not asked to be perfect. We are asked to be relentless. We are not asked to avoid adversity. We are asked to thrive in it. We are not asked to fight for ourselves. We are asked to fight for a cause greater than self, a nation greater than any one individual. That is today's expectation. And that is why we must carry this forward together for the next 250 years. Thank you. May God bless our warriors, our families, and may God bless the United States of America.
- [46:22]
Eric Prince
Eric Prince. Yes, sir.
- [46:26]
Host/Moderator
I know you got to Bounce your overseas quickly. The warrior ethos, what does it mean to you, sir?
- [46:34]
Eric Prince
Look, we live in a republic. We are defended by a very small segment of society that chooses to join and they write an unlimited check. Okay. When you join the military, you're, you're saying to the leadership here am I send me. And that warrior ethos is that you're going to get the job done and you're going to make sure as many of your colleagues can get the job done with you as well and to not quit in the process. And in what Hegseth did this last week in calling all the generals, all 800 of them together, I wish he had used the opportunity to call a huge number of them on the spot. But at least a direct call to accountability and to standards was very, very important because we've had a military culture that's gone adrift over the last couple of decades and we need to tighten up the ship because the storm clouds are coming and we must prepare for that because otherwise it could not, it could go very, very ugly for us if we don't prepare for the realities of the modern battlefield and how cheap and dangerous all these precision weapons are to our survival.
- [47:50]
Host/Moderator
Eric, how did being a Naval Navy SEAL form you as a man and change you as a person?
- [47:58]
Eric Prince
It was I, I owe a lot to the SEAL teams in that entire experience because it truly taught you to always find a lower gear, to not quit that however miserable, uncomfortable, whatever, there is a way to make it work and to, and to survive and to persist and to win. And that's a, that's an attitude I try to provide. I've tried to apply to my, certainly my professional life and personal life as well, but, you know, it's not over. You haven't been beaten until you quit.
- [48:33]
Host/Moderator
Eric Prince, by the way, isn't I think you're one of your sons is a Navy seal.
- [48:40]
Eric Prince
We have multiple kids in the military going through the process.
- [48:46]
Host/Moderator
Thank you, sir. Eric, always honored to have you on here, sir. Thank you for staying up over there and joining us today for our coverage.
- [48:54]
Eric Prince
Donating.
- [49:00]
Host/Moderator
I'm so conflicted. On the go. Navy beat army now that Mose. West Point. Let's go to the main street. We're going to jump back to the podium as soon as I think as soon as Ambassador Crowley comes. Main studio, Admiral Sonny Masso. Admiral Masso, thank you for joining us today. For our coverage. You're in studio with Cleo. What can we anticipate? We're going to go through a two hour, hour, two Hour naval gunfire exercise. Sonny, you're a surface warfare officer. What can we anticipate today to see out on the Navy gunfire range off the Virginia Cape, sir?
- [49:31]
Admiral Sonny Masso
Well, I think we're going to see an explosion of activity from 5 inch 54 guns. We'll see aircraft maneuvers. We'll see helicopters loaded with Navy seals and special ops personnel, maybe doing some repelling. It'll be an exhibition of all of the capabilities that we offer, potentially even including ribboats that, that are the cornerstone of our vessel, boarding, search and seizure capabilities and really just elucidate all the missions that we participate in and let the good people of the Tidewater area get to see this and celebrate it on behalf of our 250th birthday.
- [50:20]
Host/Moderator
Sonny. Admiral, you know, we've had Navy seals, we've had submariners, we're going to have some naval air folks on later still. The bedrock of the Navy is surface warfare. Walk us through what is surface warfare? Explain it to our audience. Carrier strike groups, all of it, sir.
- [50:38]
Admiral Sonny Masso
Great. So fundamentally in our Navy today we have about 290 battle force ships, which include our 11 aircraft carriers, about 115 to 120 cruisers and destroyers, all gas turbine vessels that can stay on station a long time. They're very capable. They can have sensors that look into exo atmospheric events and they can track exo atmospheric missiles coming and inbound. They're extraordinarily capable. The, the, the backbone of the fleet, though, requires them, you know, to be anywhere. And each of these cruisers and destroyers. And then of course, I, I didn't mention our submarines. We've got about 70 submarines, either ballistic missile submarines and, or fast attack submarines. So we come in with a very viable force that, you know, we're going to be able to demonstrate not just today, but we demonstrate every day. Look no further than our net effect against Houthi rebels and things of that nature. It was really a no brainer. It was well within our swim lane of capabilities. But a surface warfare officer in a surface warfare strike group extends power projection presence of the United States military throughout the world and in any theater where it may be needed. Now, we do have concentrations such as the Straits of Hormuz, the Persian Persian Gulf, Taiwan Straits, areas like that, where we're always in the vicinity and we're projecting United States national interests in all these locales, not the least of which really now as we're kind of looking toward the Philippine Islands and it's a place that I know you're very familiar with, as am I. Since we were there together. But the simple point is watching and checking the Spratly Islands and any threats of aggression that might occur. But in addition to that, a very important mission is our humanitarian assistance, disaster relief roles where we can come in with medicine and veterinary and public works power. All of that, never spend the night, never bring a weapon aboard, wherever we're needed to, to go and to serve and help others.
- [53:12]
Host/Moderator
Admiral Hanger, for one second, by the way, we're going to avoid Post City Stories, Sea Stories today it's a family broadcast. But Cleo Admiral, your theory, your theory, your theory of the case studying our Pacific Fleet sailors. Your theory, the case that the strategic heartland of the United States is actually the vast Pacific. And you talk about the three island chain and manifest Destiny. We've been a Pacific Pacific power since the late 19th century. 290 capital ships. Is that going to, is that going to make it, ma'? Am? Is that, is that what's necessary to actually fulfill the strategy that you think is actual, the naval strategy of the 21st century?
- [53:52]
Cleo
No, and not just that. It needs much more and it needs much more complicated ships and ability to deploy. And as you know, it's in it's already a contested environment to get to the first, second and third vertical island chains, you need to get across the center of the Pacific from Hawaii all the way to Guam, which again is the United States of America. So this idea that you can leave Americans hanging out there like, like happened during World War II, where there are terrible predations by the Japanese on, on Americans in Guam because they're in just left there, means you need to be able to get across the center of the Pacific. And that that takes a lot of gear and it also takes now a lot of digging out of the Chinese who've already embedded with political warfare across the whole center of the Pacific. So yes, first, second and third island chain, but those are the luxuries. First you have to get control over the center of the Pacific and that takes both the equipment and the political will to dig out the Chinese political warfare that's already undermining US power projection in the region.
- [54:59]
Host/Moderator
Cleo, hang on. We got clear. Pascal. Admiral Sonny Masso in the Real America Voice Studios in Washington D.C. we have Captain Fennell with us and we're going to bring in many, many others. We're getting ready for the naval gunfire exercise and others, total warfare, surface, submarine, air, all of it. The commander in chief of the United States will view that from the USS Bush at the center of a carrier strike group going to lead you with the Navy him. We're going to go back to the stage, I think as soon as Ambassador Monica Crowley takes it. That's anticipated. Also getting ready for the go to the out to the strike group off of Virginia Capes. Short commercial break. We return to Real America's Voice coverage of Navy 250 in just a moment.
- [55:49]
Steve Gruber
We'll be right back with more Navy 250 sea power and freedom. We want to thank our sponsor, AMAC for standing with RAV.
- [56:04]
Jason Redmond
This is an iHeart podcast.