The Rational Soldier | College Grad Drops Truth Bombs

Join me as I share my personal experience and insights on what it takes to become a Navy SEAL. While many people may dream of joining this elite group of warriors, the reality is that it's not for everyone.
In this video, I'll offer advice for aspiring Special Operations team members and share some of the challenges it comes with.
Whether you're considering a career in the military or simply interested in learning more about what it takes to become a Navy SEAL, this video is a must-watch.
Drop a comment & be sure to Like & Subscribe!
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Email me for the FREE Workout PDF: [e-mail]

[@Mbstr1]

Dude seems smart to me, and he is strong enough, even as a smaller guy. I think if he prepares properly, he will be just fine.

[@nickbryan217]

Bro gonna get loaded down with gear at Airborne. “Homie, you likely to jump out the plane and get stuck! Need to add some weight so you can put enough tension on that static line and it won’t take all day for you descend lol”

[@TexasTeaHTX]

I served from 2013-17 mostly with the 101st Airborne and one of my biggest regrets was not shooting for Ranger battalion. These kids need to know how shitty the big Army or Navy is especially with a bad MOS.

[@thesecretjuice]

What was your MOS?

[@TexasTeaHTX]

@@thesecretjuice 11b

[@thesecretjuice]

​@@TexasTeaHTXYou don't like that MOS? I was under the impression that light units like 101st and 82nd would be quite a bit better than other big Army units already. ​

[@TexasTeaHTX]

@@thesecretjuice I loved my job but I hated all the bs and monotony associated with big Army. It’s cool if you don’t mind being treated like a child until you become a senior NCO.

[@nickbryan217]

@@thesecretjuice the problem with big Army is there’s always all these tasking coming out that have nothing to do with being a combat Soldier. “1SG needs 10 to go do road guard duty for the shitter trucks….. post needs some voluntolds to pick up trash and put up chairs for the change of command……” the only place that’s immune to what we call “red cycle tasking” is SOCOM, and even they catch taskers that take them away from training or doing things to get mission ready. Just not as lame as big army.

[@thatkid9896]

I had a friend 5ft 1 inch, bro was running 11 min 2 mile, 100 push ups! GET AFTER IT!

[@rnyce4676]

LOVE THE ZWEIG!!! At the end of the day he’s just a cool dude. GET A PODCAST BRO. Most of us just wanna hear the ZWEIG’S 2 cents on well…… EVERYTHING!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. Real talk!!!

[@jakezweig]

Real talk man I'm working on it

[@rnyce4676]

@@jakezweig THAT’S GOOD NEWS TO HEAR!!!! You bring a whole different game to the KZbin SpecOps platform and no disrespect to ANYONE but you are a Real one and a Real one🤣🤣🤣. Personality is a little like how you talk about grit…… It’s developed over time and you either got it or you don’t. KEEP IT COMING🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💪💪💪

[@muriloninja]

This has to be the smartest, grounded, and most informed young man you have ever had on. He reminds me of me. ha! It's clear he has researched the avenues and what each may entail, weighed his options and is making the most informed decision for himself. Kudos! Go get it sir!

[@jakezweig]

Thats a good thing

[@Newbobdole]

Damn son, he's squared away! I also realize now why my Army recruiter didn't lie to me... I straight up didn't express any specific MOS interest until after I took the ASVAB When he saw the results he said I could choose any job I wanted

[@saileshnatenatesan8495]

Awesome interview 🇺🇲

[@jhleaverton]

Jake I am impressed by this young man ....

[@legomego6943]

Jake, the downhill run for stride length sounds golden 💯. I wish I heard that advice when I was serving

[@mikekimveteran]

Jake gives another mastermind advice session! Great guest. He sounds motivated with a fit mind.

[@jeffd660]

You’re doing amazing things for people Jake. Awesome content as usual!

[@jakezweig]

Thank you

[@Mrd1_j6665]

My DUDE doin' the do. As always you hooking the Young ThunderCats up with TIGHT info and advice. Big ups to My Brother JZ. Awesome Bruh...💯🔥

[@jakezweig]

🔥

[@rohenry9962]

Notification was on point again. 🔥

[@jakezweig]

I'm back

[@MsRotorwings]

Smart kid. I like this guy. He’s done his research. He’ll find a way to work around his height limitations. One of the smartest, if not smartest, guys you’ve interviewed on your channel.

[@jakezweig]

smart guy 10000%

[@apsiTV]

JZ, that was a great interview. I like that kid. Very confident and strategic in his process. Get’m right bro. I wish I had a cheat sheet back in the day. I just had old Vietnam and OG Savages pushing the shit out of you. I’m pulling for this kid. 🫡🫡🫡🫡Go Army!!

[@jakezweig]

Thanks man have to get some good ones

[@ph5915]

Another smart young man! Really sounds like he has it figured out! Hope the height doesn't prevent him from a path he'd really like.

[@jakezweig]

We will see

[@Itsme-mx5tl]

You can also enlist for a different AFSC, the PJ will come during basic and ask if anyone wants to try out. If you make it, the USAF can change your AFSC

[@Saphire023]

Oh shit, I’ve been watching your videos all day and just figured out you’re from steilacoom. I grew up in Lakewood

[@Entree_Iguodala]

I understand not wanting to join the military as enlisted when you have a degree, but what he doesn't understand is that there are a lot of young men and women in the military nowadays joining with bachelor's degrees. And there are a lot of awesome career paths you can do enlisted. I'll tell you this, not wanting to scan IDs at the gate makes sense, but being the junior officer in charge of the guys scanning IDs at the gate isn't much better either.

[@jakezweig]

dont disagree but I would rather make 5x the money

[@nickbryan217]

Infantry officer it’s not an option, you will go to Airborne and Ranger school. No requirement to graduate but you will at least go do the day 1 PT test for both. I’ll never forget just before OCS graduation we had the 11th Infantry Regiment CDR telling us that Ranger school is open to all branches now, not just infantry. And the RTB CDR was there if you want to talk to him about how you go about getting a slot. And then he said, “You infantry guys, don’t even fuckin think about it you’re fuckin going!!” 😂 As far as other branches though, Armor has started sending more guys to ranger school. I’m Armor, back in the day they tried to save the few slots they got for the light unit guys (82nd especially, 101st, 10th, and 25th Inf Div) if you were going to a heavy unit mostly likely weren’t getting a slot. Now the Armor school is at Benning they’re getting more slots than when they were at Knox.

[@vondreas]

Solid advice sir! Too bad I left early.

[@Mc007-]

The young man is open and humble to being a great officer. If he follows the combat arms branch he can be headed to the pipeline of SF or wherever he desires to go. CWO3

[@jakezweig]

My man MIKE

[@AndrewGasser]

Retired now - Jake you are changing lives. I went E to O - USN to USAF. You are so legit

[@jakezweig]

Thank you man

[@codywarren7172]

Leaning heavily on special recon in the Air Force. I’m following stew smiths book on Air Force special operations and has humbled me more than I could of imagined.

[@FJ24.]

Why not go in the Army it’s all the same shit

[@jakezweig]

YES YES

[@thatkid9896]

My advice is kid, don't worry about special forces but first you gotta get through the logistics son. As an enlisted I saw a lot of officers get burnt out on the Army BS. Stay Humble and haters will hate bro. GET AFTER IT.

[@nickbryan217]

Land Nav is the number 1 killer in OCS. It gets more people than any other event, especially night time land nav. Get you a protractor, get a compass, and get on a course. If you’re lucky the ROTC at Baylor has a guy that will go out with you, not a great idea to go out by yourself while you’re learning. Start with day time, and if you’re feeling confident work up to night time. At night you’re not allowed white light, just a standard GI angle lens flash light with a red lens cover. Maybe infantry BOLC , but definitely Ranger selection and beyond you have to break brush. By that I mean you can’t use a road. You can “hand rail” a road but can’t get closer than 10 meters to a road. Rangers/SF “we don’t walk down roads because that’s where you get ambushed….”

[@jakezweig]

Check on jakezweig.com country land nav

[@victor8284]

he has his work cut-out. "Those averaging around 6’ 2” and 200lbs were at least three times as likely to complete Hell Week as those averaging around 5’ 6” and 150lbs" -seal swcc blog. I'm guessing he also has shorter legs based on the squat weight and his ethnicity. Increasing those run times are what is going to make or break him.

[@jakezweig]

Great comment

[@DanniChan_Worldwide]

Shipmate, this is a great video and 100% SPOT ON! My son just graduated from college with a Computer Science degree and got commissioned as Army 2LT and selected for the Signal Corps. He's debt free and set for life!

[@jakezweig]

BIG D

[@1anre]

You ensured he went the ROTC route or you made him enlist while earning his degree?

[@yuk6260]

Hello Jake, they just put out another article: Navy SEAL Instructors 'Hunted' Weaker Candidates Amid Poor Medical Care, Drug Use... They are saying BUD's Candidates are dropping out at a far greater rate than normal... Super athletes going into BUD's but with weak mindsets... Would love to hear a new video on this from you. 😁

[@jakezweig]

shot this article review

[@Mr_deez89]

Dude really said cap or no cap 🤣

[@Loonypapa]

Guy from my neighborhood went Air Force mid way through college, just retired as a 3-star.

[@aaronwcary]

Tell him to go Air Force reserves or guard and be a pilot!!!! Best job out there! Yuuuup.

[@dallascorpio]

19th and 20th group

[@thatkid9896]

I don't think this kid understands about Warrant Officer Pilots, son. The higher rank the less you flying planes bro. Name of the game brotha. BEST LUCK!!

[@MrCmcgruder]

Jake I’m 31 and I want to join the army. I lost allot of my youth taking care of my sick mother and farther that passed back to back. Now I’m 31 with 2 kids and I want to join. No degree in anything. I’m trying to do something with my life that’s higher then me that will make me a man. Always had a dream to join the army. My dad was marine he always told me join the core. How do I approach this as I am 31. Trying to go as far as I can in the army.

[@ubielalvarez8270]

Love how you embrace the trolls, just flys waiting to be struck by some truth.

[@jakezweig]

Remove from Meeting!

[@dallascorpio]

National Guard has special forces groups too. Might be a more direct route.

[@jakezweig]

Shit ass route

[@racebannon7355]

Apply to Air Force. I flew 24 years, much of it in Special Ops. 1,000 Combat hours. Numerous Combat Tours. Retired in 06 and now am Major Airline Captain making over $400,000 a year. Plus my military retirement.

[@jakezweig]

POSTER BOY FOR FLYING!!!!! Send me an email please I got something for you [e-mail] thank you for kicking assfor the red white and blue

[@chileelee]

Tell dude to join the Navy and if he's too short to go subs.

[@cosmicmotionstudio]

Mr Zweig I have emailed you for the pdf documents and Im not sure if you saw it but wanted to know if you could check

[@RicardoGutierrez-iv1sx]

Could you do a video on your thoughts of the Amy's "green to gold" program? I have a shit gpa and my recuiter told me it's another way to go officer if I don't make the board.

[@jakezweig]

Wait they want you to enist ???? Fuckthat what is your GPA and GT score

[@RicardoGutierrez-iv1sx]

2.3 and a 124

[@jakezweig]

@@RicardoGutierrez-iv1sx give me a call on Tuesday afternoon ....if you work it you should be fine to go officer....I want to talk to you on zoom ...text me 734 834 7944

[@wildbill60]

Send it

[@Niles-fd8nv]

Nah man, this is the guy you don't want on your team. Why you might ask? Because he is making excuses. He might have decided to do PJ first and heard the recruiters lies which is almost always true. But if that's what you wanna do then that's what you wanna do. Looking at numbers and shit is what it is but what actually matters is what you want and this is the kind of guy that isn't sure about what he wants but wants to do but SOF. I thank Jake because he deters all the guys who will quit and make excuses to go Army Rangers only because of the last line if you fail. Which is true, but if you settle for less from what you originally wanted you will most likely quit RASP as well, or even ranger school. The grind never stops, when you make it to Ranger you're still going to grind anyways. Stop looking at shit easy because it isn't. But I get this guy though, he ain't serious bout it so he's gonna do officer in the army which is cool. Do what's safe man that's on you. If it really matters you don't give a fuck. That's what I believe, no matter what happens if you fail. Because if it's what you want that shit ain't on your mind.

[@jakezweig]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHfaiaJvitx3ra8&lc=Ugxsv8HX9xHjzX-vSMl4AaABAg.9qWtrDOOxM59qYLN4-YQvU

[@gen3kali877]

Jake, opinions on going SF guard instead active duty?

[@jakezweig]

shit man your going to be in schools for the first 3 years.... No such thing as a part time gun fighter

[@rohenry9962]

JZ if the Navy Pilot Pipeline is backed up until 2025, will they have you waiting until the pipeline is moving again to send you to OCS or will they still send you to OCS and then you’d have to wait a long while to get into flight school?

[@rohenry9962]

@Marteeen Thanks for the info.

[@jakezweig]

It depends a lot of them are handing out

[@rohenry9962]

@@jakezweig What do mean? Pipelines are moving again?

[@jakezweig]

@@rohenry9962 they always move just not fast

[@deathlarsen7502]

AS IF there aren't a TON of REAL super smart people trying to be pilots. and I don't mean from a C list school. I'm talking Engineers from A list schools. This guy won't be a jet pilot. He's all over the map

[@erics362]

Can I buy my own trident? 😮

[@YungSnowGod]

Which branch do you think is the best for security forces/ MP jobs?

[@jakezweig]

AF then ARMY then Navy

[@jakezweig]

wait COAST GUARD

[@user-hh3iw9tw1w]

I was wondering if special operations I'd worth it right now considering we're not at war?

[@jakezweig]

Depends on who you are and what you want to do

[@user-hh3iw9tw1w]

@Jake Zweig do you have a email to reach you my goal is rangers and hope tier 1 but end goal is federal law enforcement, I can lose weight, I just need a exercise regiment.

[@jw4111]

Smart guy - Navy nuke officer?

[@adama6509]

does being a receptionist at an opticians where you re stood up for eight hours all day having to have to talk to the r-etards that are the general public count as a shit job or do i need something grittier to toughen me up?

[@jakezweig]

Far more grittynesss

[@adama6509]

@@jakezweig rodger that

[@robertl6770]

Gotta be 5' 10 in the navy

[@robertl6770]

To fly

[@jakezweig]

Bullshit 5'4 peddle and arm length test

[@robertl6770]

@@jakezweig has it changed? I know its 20 years since I've checked but you use to have to be 5'10 to fly f18 hornets in the navy.

[@keeloweoac9397]

Sir why don’t u ever suggest the marines? Only army and navy seals.. is marines a bad way to go if u wanna go sf?

[@marshh9640]

Atleast 5 years to go spec ops in marine corps unless you go recon

[@jakezweig]

Very bad path to get to special ops

[@Midnitedreary88]

100k SOF in the Army? Bro, no! There are less Rangers than Navy SEALs. Fact. There are 3500 Rangers There is 6400 Green Berets The rest are ALL support elements. There is 6k Navy SEALs. The US Army does NOT have 100k special forces troops. This kids run time isn’t slow. If he’s telling the truth he is in more than enough shape for any SOF selection. The question is how bad does this kid actually want it, that’s it. I’ve know of guys going through those pipelines who were complete chain smokers. They made. They were just animals. Ivy League and olympic level athletes have washed from SOF pipelines. So, your fitness and ur GPA can only get you so far. You just have to be the guy that doesn’t quit and always pushes toward… You ain’t gonna be doing 17 pull ups after they’ve made you do push-ups and sit ups for 8 hrs. Keep in shape do ur research, pick something you genuinely wanna do and have fun with it and you’ll have zero regrets whatever happens.

[@nickbryan217]

Yea not 100k door kicker operators in the Army. There’s not 100k combat arms guys in the entire force conventional or SOF haha. Army has 31 combat brigades, each brigade has maybe 2000-2500 dudes in some combination of infantry, armor, field artillery, and combat engineers. So 65-70k combat arms guys in the army as a whole period. 75th has 3500 total personnel and maybe half are actual operators, rest are support elements (admin, logistics, comms, & medical) and Co/BN/Regt staff. SF has 4 Groups, about 1000 operators in each group or 4000 total. So 5500 total door kickers between SF and Rangers. Delta unknown but it’s a small number, less than 1000 operators. So 6500 special operations door kickers bros. BUT!! The one advantage that Jake is right on about, if you fail selection you’re still an 11B, and you got to big army working as an Infantryman. You can continue working on yourself and come back and try again. Versus the AF you’re checking IDs at the gate, or Navy you’re a deckhand chipping paint.

[@Midnitedreary88]

@@nickbryan217 💯 If you fail you still have conventional units to place in that still do cool guy shit. Although I also disagree with Jake when he says it’s easier to shine in the US Army SOF. And, he’s wrong, there are some REAL studs in the Army SOF community. As for SF ( green berets ) they grew in numbers. There are about 70 ODAs per company, I believe there are 6 companies to a group. There are 7 groups if you include 19th and 20th group. 12 men to an ODA, that’s a little more than 6k Green Berets serving in ODAs. My opinion though this kid is more cut out for West Point, officer grooming. General one day. He’s a chess guy, he’s a brainiac… He should be sending his resume to Langley to be honest.

[@nickbryan217]

@@Midnitedreary88 yea brainiac like him should either go AF or Navy aviation or go be spook. Guy like him will likely hate the conventional Army. His 30lb brain won’t be able to handle the stupid shit you have to do. As an officer you get shielded from a good deal of it, but even we have to embrace the suck at times.

[@jakezweig]

Who said 100k door kickers? Py ops human int ......160th come man there are 2700 active duty seals ......

[@jakezweig]

It is easier to shine in the Army not saying anything about the high quality kick dudes not saying anyone is better

[@jgdirect]

Who’s who in the zoo lol

[@radzx10daddy24]

Tell bro not to go in the army as infantry he will hate his life trust me if anything have him try out for 160th SOAR basically SF pilots for the army super cool. He's too smart to be infantry

[@jackjack4412]

Infantry officer is different though. I know some West Point engineers in that role. Do you know anyone who made SOF with asthma?

[@c4turtz]

Mr Jake thank you for helping these dudes chart a more suitable path… I applaud you. 🫡